A 6. évad hivatalos sajtóközleményéből kiderült, hogy a két órás (6×01-6×02 – LA X) premiernek vetítési dátuma 2009. február 2-a. Ezen a napon kezdődik a Lost utolsó évada. Az, hogy ilyen későn kezdődik, valószínűleg azt is jelenti, hogy nem lesz szünet februárban, a téli olimpia miatt sem. A sajtóközleményből hivatalosan az állandó szereplőket is meg tudtuk, bár számunkra nincs benne túl sok újdonság:

• Naveen Andrews -mint- Sayid
• Nestor Carbonell -mint- Richard Alpert
• Emilie de Ravin -mint- Claire
• Michael Emerson -mint- Ben
• Jeff Fahey -mint- Frank Lapidus
• Matthew Fox -mint- Jack
• Jorge Garcia -mint- Hurley
• Josh Holloway -mint- Sawyer
• Daniel Dae Kim -mint- Jin
• Yunjin Kim -mint Sun
• Ken Leung -mint- Miles
• Evangeline Lilly -mint- Kate
• Terry O’Quinn -mint- Locke
• Zuleikha Robinson -mint- Ilana

more expressive this time? ok, I'll give it a shot...

R

David Hewlett, Cynthia Preston, Terry O’Quinn

Leon: How did you like Pin’s lecture?
Ursula: Oh, Marsha Bateman already told me all that stuff…but not about “the need”.  Do you think mother and father ever have “the need”?
Leon: They must…we’re here, aren’t we?

Leon (Hewlett) and his younger sister, Ursula (Preston), are the children of rich parents, one of which – their father – is a doctor.  His main method of teaching his children lessons is to use ventriloquism.  When they’re young, the children believe that the creepy, medical teaching doll in their father’s office is a real person.  As they get older, Ursula begins to understand that it’s just a doll, but Leon continues to believe it’s real, even into his high school years.  When their parents are killed in a car accident, Ursula is shocked to to find that Pin still seems to be talking to Leon.

This is a pretty strange movie, but it actually manages to be sort of touching at times.  How could a movie about a creepy doll be touching?  Well, we see early on that Leon has some issues.  He’s very very protective of his little sister, and has resorted to violence in the past to protect her honor.  We also see early on that Leon has picked up his father’s ventriloquism ability, and Ursula knows it.  Even though she realizes that he’s got some mental problems, she loves him and doesn’t want to see him end up in a hospital somewhere.  But the question is, how long can she allow this to go on before Leon’s violent behavior reemerges?

There are creepy moments involving the doll, and David Hewlett is pretty creepy in his own right.  Cynthia Preston is sympathetic as Ursula, and it’s always cool to see Terry O’Quinn.  My main problem with the movie is that it drags along at too slow of a pace.  There needed to be a little more energy to it.  A little more fun.

It still manages to be pretty interesting, even if it’s not very scary.  It’s also fun to look for the boom mic in at least 2 different scenes.  Though, I guess that can’t be counted as a positive thing.

If you’re looking for something scary, this probably won’t fit the bill, but if you want something slightly creepy and fairly interesting, this might do it.  Especially if you have a fear of weird dolls.

There are better ways to relate to your children than ventriloquism.

10 – 2 for dragging along without a lot of energy – .9 for not being made that well, technically speaking – .6 for not being very scary or unnerving = 6.5

This parody was inspired by LOST Unlocked’s ” Locketober Special” episode, out this month. It’s a bit of a “love letter” to the man of faith ( and the man of science) played by Terry O’Quinn , based on the #1 hit from 1962, ” Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares from “The Donna Reed Show” .

(If you would like to listen to more LOST parodies, click here).

JOHNNY LOCKE

Johnny Locke… Johnny Locke… Johnny Locke… Johnny Locke
You’re a ” Hunter” to me

Johnny Locke..how I love him
He’s got something that I can’t resist
But that silver box revealed that he no longer exists

Johnny Locke… how I love him
My spine tingles when he throws those knives
Every time I think of him, I hope he somehow survives

I remember in that travel office
Found out he’s paralyzed with teardrops in my eyes
Other fellas might have just given in
But with an orange grin… real ” Walkabout” begins

For Johnny Locke… how I love him
And I pray that someday on t.v.
That together we will see him live his destiny

I remember in that homemade sweat lodge
He dreamed of Boone and bears and crawling up those stairs
Other fellas might have just run away
But he grabbed some hair spray and ran to save the day

Oh Johnny Locke… how I love him
And I pray that someday on t.v.
That together we will see him live his destiny

(Johnny Locke ) Johnny Locke (Johnny Locke) Johnny Locke ( Johnny Locke)
You’re a “Hunter” to me
(Johnny Locke ) Johnny Locke (Johnny Locke) Johnny Locke ( Johnny Locke)
You’re a “Hunter” to me
(Johnny Locke ) Johnny Locke (Johnny Locke) Johnny Locke ( Johnny Locke)
You’re a “Hunter” to me

JohnnyLocke.mp3

(Parody of the song “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares {Written by Lyn Duddy and Lee Pockriss, 1962 } New lyrics by Wendy Lincoln, 2009)

I did this watercolor sketch over the summer using a photo on my ipod touch as a reference. This was the first time I had used watercolor in a long time and I was pretty rusty. There are a few things wrong with this but overall it was a good exercise.

El Royal Hawaian Theatre inundado de cámaras.  El Festival de Cine de Hawaii premia a Damon Lindelof y Carlton Cuse, creadores de PERDIDOS (LOST), por el impacto de la serie en la isla. Por la mañana, clases magistrales de director y productores. Por la noche, la gala a la que asisten Sun, Ben, Locke y Hurley entre aplausos de seguidores entusiastas. Nunca la ficción alcanzó cotas tan altas. El cine está en crisis. Hollywood ha perdido su musa. La televisión encabeza la ficción con guiones y actores de primera fila.  

Terry O´Quinn y Jorge García

PERDIDOS una serie de éxito. Un misterio narrado entre tiempos que exige al espectador recordar cada capítulo. Una explosión de foros en la red que interpretan cada imagen. Actores que desconocen sus líneas hasta el rodaje, entregándose en cada capítulo. Personajes a medida de los intérpretes. Sun nació de una entrevista con Yunjin Kim y Hurley del propio Jorge García. Locke de la intuición de Terry O’Quinn para construir un profeta sin destino.

El productor ejecutivo Jack Bender, Yunjin Kim y Carlton Cuse

Y Ben soñado para Michael Emerson. Sus amigos le advirtieron que PERDIDOS resultaría duro. El actor de Nueva York creyó que exageraban, rodar en Hawái parecía agradable. En la primera toma le ataron a un árbol y le torturaron. Actuación impecable que convirtió el tándem Ben/Locke en una de las claves de la serie. Ovación de la sala por el Emmy de la quinta temporada. Sorprende su carácter afable e inquieto, opuesto al rostro  frío y calculador de Ben Linus.  

Michael Emerson y la Dra. de producción Jean Higgins

Imágenes para el recuerdo. Sun despidiéndose de Jin al embarcarse en la balsa y el perro intentando alcanzarla. El encuentro entre Kate y Jack en L.A. que descubre que salieron de la isla. Y la escena en que Ben impide el suicidio de Locke y luego le estrangula. Otra  actuación memorable de Emerson. Al final la pregunta inevitable, los planes para después de PERDIDOS. Es como si le preguntan a una parturienta si desea tener más hijos, contesta Cuse con palabras que destilan melancolía. De la nueva temporada poco o nada. Lo único seguro es que Ben recibirá otra paliza y que Vincent se salvará.

Al día siguiente encontramos los tráileres de PERDIDOS al pie de Makupuu Head, al este de Honolulu. En las puertas el nombre de Jack y Hurley. En lo alto, la trasera de un decorado, cámara, micrófono y tres figuras. Tomamos unas fotos. Quizá en el episodio final aparezcan nuestras sombras. Tendremos que esperar a enero para conocer los misterios del Oceanic 815.

Fotos: M.da Silva

HAWAII INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. Hasta el 25 de octubre de 2.009.

PERDIDOS (LOST ) se emite en España en CUATRO los martes a las 23:15 (Quinta temporada)

Father knows best!

I love horror movies about family dynamics, much more so than the Oscar-nominated family dramas, or a tug-at-the-heartstrings family comedy. True family drama — the impassioned love, the frustration, the complications, the rage when things don’t work out the way you want them to — is best expressed on film when someone picks up a hatchet and goes to town at the loved one who disappointed them. I’ve never seen a movie that demonstrates the complexity of step-parenting like The Stepfather. As “Jerry Blake,” Terry O’Quinn previously hacked to bits the family he married into. We can only guess that they were messy, as after doing the deed he stops to stuff wanton toys back into a toy chest. His new family — sparkly Shelley Hack as Susan and cute Jill Schoelen as Stephanie — seems more promising, if only Stephanie would get with the program. Stephanie’s a typically sullen teen who rejects Jerry’s bids for affection (a puppy, homilies like “Things will look brighter in the morning”). How she resists Jerry, toiling in his woodshop beneath a snapshot of the family, wearing a loud red-and-black checked jacket, is beyond me. And it begins to really wear on Jerry’s nerves as well. One can only assume that if Stephanie minded her P’s and Q’s, the Blake family might be a happy one today. But no. Stephanie has to challenge Jerry’s authority and accuse him of being “hung-up” about sex. Moreover, she gets a bee in her bonnet about Jerry slaughtering previous families, and starts looking into the business on her own. O’Quinn’s brilliant performance as Jerry Blake — soon to be “Bill Hodgkins,” as the Blake family crumbles — put him firmly in the category of horror movie icon. First he shocks with a full-frontal nude scene at the start of the movie, then goes on to seamlessly blend comedy with, somehow, a sympathetic portrait of a man desperate to be part of an all-American family. His jaw-dropping “Who am I here?” moment has become justly famous. And for anyone who has ever experienced frustration or anger at the family dynamic, it’s a pleasure to sit back and watch someone else’s id take over.

Is my ribbon making you uncomfortable?

In the new DVD Orphan, Esther wants to be part of a family too, although her notion of fitting in differs quite a lot from that of Jerry Blake’s. Adopted by bourgeois couple John and Kate Coleman (Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard), Esther was something of a standout at the orphanage. Sitting by herself upstairs painting, and singing “The Glory of Love” with questionable pitch in a Russian accent, she somehow manages to charm the Colemans with her admission that she’s “different.” Then again, the couple seems more like they’ve popped by Ikea to pick up a Lack shelf; on their first visit to the orphanage, they select Esther and check her out. CCH Pounder, a favorite of ours, plays Sister Abigail, who offhandedly mentions that Esther always wears ribbons around her wrists and around her neck, and will go bananas if anyone tries to take them off. The Colemans breeze right by that one, and Esther’s immediately whisked to their palatial house where Mom fiddles at the piano and Dad works on his “designs” in a room somewhere in the enormous abode. And while cute lil’ sis Max definitely takes to Esther right away, bratty bro Daniel sees right through her — to a point. One thing I love more than horror movies about family dynamics? Twist endings. And Orphan’s got a doozy, nicely pulled off by Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther.  Orphan is enjoyable, a film you can drink cocoa to. It’s got plenty of scary moments — and that nice twist at the end — and some well-placed yucks, but none of the tortuous gore marking some of this season’s new releases. Both The Stepfather and Orphan are available at Reel Life South.

Some cinematic purists were upset when a remake was made of the 1973 political thriller The Day of the Jackal. The original, starring Edward Fox as The Jackal, stood the test of time, they said. So, the “remake” was renamed The Jackal. I liked both, but the Sixties version certainly was a great, if not superior, film.

And now, the 1987 horror/thriller The Stepfather has a remake.

Why?

I saw the original, and it was absolutely creepy. Terry O’Quinn was marvelous as the serial killer who kills off his family and moves onto another one in search of a perfect family. The scene where his stepdaughter’s teacher visits him under the guise of looking for a house to buy is, well, chilling.

It makes you think they must really be hard up for movie ideas in Tinsel Town if they’re making remakes of great older movies that don’t need a remake.

Here’s the trailer for the original film…

"The Stepfather" Movie Poster

If there’s one thing the horror community has been near-unanimous about recently, it’s that the remake of the 1987 suspense-thriller classic “The Stepfather” is bound to suck.

There’s plenty of evidence to support this preconceived notion. It’s directed by Nelson McCormick, who gave us the thoroughly uninspired reworking of “Prom Night” a couple of years ago. It’s a PG-13 teen horror. It’s thoroughly superfluous since the original still holds up terrifically. And most importantly, it doesn’t have Terry O’Quinn, whose standout performance as the titular homicidal quasi-family man was the heart and soul of the ‘87 flick.

Again with the silent tyranny of expectations. I figured this movie would suck, and suck bad. I was wrong.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way first — Dylan Walsh, The Stepfather himself, is no Terry O’Quinn. Not even close. The fact that O’Quinn has gone on to huge success as John Locke on “Lost” is no surprise to anyone who’s followed his career since the original “Stepfather.” He should have won the Oscar for that, no question, so it’s good to see him doing so well these days.

Walsh can’t come close to replicating that performance, but he really doesn’t even try to. His take on the idea of a guy who marries into “broken homes”  in a never-ending, thoroughly insane quest to find the perfect family to call his own, and then kills them all if things aren’t working before moving on to give the same homicidal hustle another try in another town is entirely different. As good? Hell no. It’s less subtle, less detailed, less complex, and much more overt and, frankly, two-dimensional. But it’s okay. It’s not enough to carry the film on its own, but he’s not asked to as much as O’Quinn was.

Calling himself David Harris, he moves to Portland, where he meets recently-divorced Susan Harding (Sela Ward, who the years have been very kind to) at the grocery store. In no time at all, he’s moved into her house and marriage is on the horizon. Susan’s sister gets David a job at her real estate office. Susan’s two youngest kids take to him nicely. Her ex-husband was a philandering jerk who abandoned his family and our guy David has no problem looking like the “good guy” up against “competition” like that.

Things start to go a little pear-shaped for him, though, when her oldest son, high school senior Michael (Penn Badgley), comes home from military boarding school, where he was sent for unspecified disciplinary reasons. At first, David tries to ease Michael’s concerns about him taking up with his mother and gets him readmitted to his local Portland high school so he can be closer to his girlfriend (current horror “it” girl Amber Heard, who spends most of the movie poolside in a bikini), He even asks Michael to be his best man when he takes his mother’s hand in marriage. Things seem to be off to a good start.

But Michael can’t shake the feeling in the back of his head that this guy is bad news. Soon he and, eventually, others begin to notice things about David his mother either can’t or won’t. He pays for everything in cash. He builds storage cabinets in the basement that he keeps locked. He screws up important details about his past. He doesn’t like his picture taken.

Okay, we know from the very first scene that David (or whatever name he’s going by) is a ruthless serial killer. There’s no question about that. The suspense her doesn’t come from wondering if he really is who we’re afraid he might be — we know that from the get-go. The suspense comes from wondering if he’ll be found out in time, and if everyone will survive that revelation if indeed it comes about.

Like the original, the bodycount here is low. For a serial killer flick, it’s relatively bloodless, it must be said. But it’s taut, well-paced, thoroughly suspenseful, and features some solid characterization from all the principal players. In short, it’s a believable premise, believably executed.

I confess to being somewhat disappointed that the new version has chosen to put a male character in the smart-kid role rather than the tough, independent young female we got in the original — a role which really stood out at the time because in the 1980s cinematic landscape, the job of women in horror films was to take their shirts off, scream, and get killed. But that’s my only major gripe. Apart from that, this is a pleasantly smart, well-realized updating.

If you’ve never seen the original, this movie will be all kinds of fun(and you should then take it upon yourself see the original ASAP—it’s finally out on DVD from Shout!Factory). If you have seen it, you won’t be nearly as disappointed as you expect to be. This new version of “The Stepfather”  is hardly the classic the first was, but it’s much better than any admittedly unnecessary, teen audience-marketed horror remake has any business being.  Okay — it didn’t actually need to be made by any stretch of the imagination, but since it has been, I’m glad the end product turned out to be so surprisingly enjoyable.

• 1-jén a dzsungelben forgattak, ahol régen a Hydra-szigetes jeleneteket forgatták. A templom külseje volt a díszlet. Kép itt és itt. Matthew Fox (Jack), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), John Hawkes (új szereplő – Lennon?), Kimberly Joseph (Cindy), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) és Naveen Andrews (Sayid). Egy hosszú, fekete hajú ázsiai férfi is jelen volt a szereplők között, valószínűleg Hiroyuki Sanada volt az. A főszereplők mind Dharma-ruháikban voltak. Jack-é és Sayid-é csupa vér volt.
• A tengerparton forgattott Yunjin Kim (Sun), Jeff Fahey (Frank), Zuleikha Robinson (Illana) és Michael Emerson (Ben). Illana és Ben Locke holttestét cipelték. Kép itt, itt és itt.
• Múlt hét szombaton két helyszínen is forgattak. Az egyik Locke régi munkahelyén zajlott Terry O’Quinn-nel (Locke) és Billy Ray Gallion-nal (Randy Nations – Locke főnöke). A másik helyszín a Waipahu középiskola volt, ahol rengeteg diáknak öltözött statiszta volt. Egy lány-kosárcsapatot is alkottak. A két jól öltözött színész: Michael Emerson (Ben) és Terry O’Quinn (Locke). Képek itt találhatóak.
• Hurley sárga Hummer-je és Locke doboz-gyáras kocsija állt egymás mellett Locke munkahelye, vagyis Hurley dobozgyára előtt. A jelenet: Locke (Terry O’Quinn) tolószékében kigurul az épületből egy papírral és egyéb irodai eszközökkel teli dobozzal. Amikor a kocsijához és, észreveszi, hogy a Hummer túl közel van parkolva, így nem tud hozzáférni a kocsiajtóhoz. Dühében elkezd kiabálni és szétdobálja a dobozban lévő cuccot. Hurley (Jorge Garcia) odaér a parkolóba, és beszélget a mérges Locke-kal. Előveszi a zsebéből a csekkönyvét, ír egy csekket, majd odaadja Locke-nak. Itt és itt vannak képek.
• Ugyanabban az utcában forgattak, mint a 2. évadban Locke flashbackjében, amikor Nadiával találkozik. Locke (Terry O’Quinn) beszáll a dobozos kocsiba és elvezet Helen (Katey Sagal) házához. A teljes jelenetet nem látták, viszont annyit tudni, hogy elég nagy köztük a konfliktus, és a jelenet úgy végződik, hogy Locke elesik, amivel beindítja a locsolót, és ott fekszik kétségbeesetten a földön.

Sela Ward

By Ian Spelling – New York Times Syndicate.

“The Stepfather” is a remake of the 1987 thriller of the same name, a cult hit that starred Terry O’Quinn. Ward plays Susan, a woman whose perfect new boyfriend, David (Dylan Walsh), turns out to be a sociopath. Susan misses all the warning signs, but her son (Penn Badgley), recently returned home from military school, immediately suspects that something’s up with his potential stepdad. Amber Heard plays the son’s girlfriend.

“One of the producers told me that they were looking at a list of the all-time-scariest movies,” Ward said. “Where that list came from and who rated the films, I don’t remember, but ‘The Stepfather’ was consistently on the list, and that’s why they remade it.

“I was offered the movie ,and I met the director, Nelson (McCormick), and he promised me that I’d be in good hands, that it wouldn’t be a really cheesy B-movie. So I trusted him and off I went. When you make one of these movies, it’s hard to tell how it’ll turn out, because it’s really all about the execution and the editing. So you do have to trust your director.

“And the shoot went fine. It was a blast. Dylan is really a fun guy, funny and great to work with. Everyone was good. Nelson picked actors who could put across the characters without a lot of micromanaging the performances. It was not getting blood out of a turnip.

Amber Heard

“Probably the hardest thing for me was having to stand there and scream my head off at an imaginary power saw. Amber Heard is in some of those screaming scenes with me, and she’s just a great screamer. So often I’d stand there and let her scream away, and I’d just watch her in amazement. I would say that the screaming part of these kinds of movies is not my thing.

“I actually did this because I thought it’d be fun, because I’ve never been in a thriller like this. I thought it’d be a challenge, and I like to be challenged. If I’m a little bit afraid of something, it’s even more reason I need to do it.”

Amazon Bestsellers!

Leon (David Hewlett) and Ursula (Cyndy Preston) in "Pin."

Before Lost and after The Stepfather, Terry O’Quinn turned in a brilliant performance in a little known horror gem called Pin… A Plastic Nightmare (sometimes known simply as Pin). Pin is the life-size medical dummy used by O’Quinn, playing Dr. Linden. (Pin is also, as proved by a very disturbing tryst with an undiscerning nurse early in the film, anatomically correct.) Dr. Linden and his wife lead a compulsive life that impinges on the emotional well-being of their children, Ursula and Leon. (Objecting to a playmate of Leon’s, Mrs. Linden complains “He looks dirty and diseased!”) O’Quinn even throws his voice so that the kids get life lessons from Pin. And sure enough, this method of parenting backfires big-time: Ursula grows up to be the town sexpot and Leon the town crackpot. While Ursula (played by Cyndy Preston) eventually cleans up her act, Leon just amps up the cuckoo. Fans of Stargate: Atlantis won’t recognize the usually stocky, dark-haired David Hewlett as Leon; lanky and blonde and eerily resembling his screen dad O’Quinn. As Leon and Pin (yes, the medical dummy) become closer and closer, Leon becomes more and more on the lookout for anything or anyone that might come between him and his BDF (Best Dummy Forever). He even appears to be throwing his voice so that Pin alternately scolds, compliments, and lectures him. Either that or Pin is… alive? Pin is delightfully creepy, offbeat, and utterly unique. It delivers some good chills and remains unpredictable until the end. I like when Ursula’s new boyfriend, Stan, looking to ingratiate himself with the distrustful Leon, brings a box of chocolates for Pin. Leon’s grudging “score one to Stan” grimace over an elaborate meal of Coq au Vin is absolutely priceless. Made in 1988, the film is on DVD with very interesting commentary by director and co-writer Sandor Stern (who also wrote the original Amityville Horror screenplay). Available, of course, at Reel Life South.

Silver Bullet (1985)

Silver Bullet is a 1985 horror film based on the Stephen King novella Cycle of the Werewolf. It stars Gary Busey, Everett McGill, Megan Follows, Corey Haim, Terry O’Quinn, Lawrence Tierney, Bill Smitrovich, Kent Broadhurst, David Hart, and James Gammon. The film is directed by Dan Attias and produced by Dino De Laurentiis.

Tagline: It started in May in a small town and every month after that whenever the moon is full… It came back.

• The film was made for an estimated $7,000,000, earned $5,400,000 in the U.S. market and nearly $13,000,000 internationally.

• It was filmed between October 1984 and December 1984. It was released in the U.S. on October 11, 1985.

Buy this Title on DVD

• The film was shot in Burgaw and Wilmington, North Carolina.

• The UK DVD release of the film in 2001 contains the original movie trailer and spoken commentary by director Daniel Attias, both of which are unavailable on any other officially released DVD, including the US edition which was released on May 28, 2002.

• Foreign-language adaptations have often based their titles on some variation of “The Werewolf of Tarker’s Mill” instead of “Silver Bullet”.

• The werewolf was designed and created by special effects expert Carlo Rambaldi. (Conan the Destroyer, E.T., King Kong, Alien.)

• Kiderült, melyik szereplő Jacob gyermeke. Ezen a linken a tovább mögött láthatjátok, hogy ki az.
• A 3. részben Claire (Emilie de Ravin) szülőorvosának kabátjára az van ráírva, hogy Dr. Goodspeed, és William Mapother (Ethan) alakítja.
• Katey Sagal (Helen) a 6×04-ben tér vissza, ahogy Billy Ray Gallion (Randy Nations – Locke régi főnöke) is.
• Suzanne Krull, aki Lynn-t játszotta a 3×10-ben (Hurley jósnője), szintén visszatér a sorozatba. Állítólag Terry O’Quinn-nel (Locke) lesznek közös jelenetei.
• L. Scott Caldwell-t (Rose) nem rég Hawaii-on látták, tehát valószínűleg őt is fogjuk látni a 6×04-ben.
• Zach, Emma (a gyerekek) és Cindy (Kimberly Joseph) is visszatérnek. A templomnál forgattak mindhárman.

Why do you find it so hard to believe?

Nobody ever really talks about Heaven’s Gate. They talk about how much it cost, how much it made, or, ultimately, how much it lost. It was a financial bomb that had considerable negative hype swirling around it from before day one. People pointed to this film as the prime example of Hollywood excess, of directors being given too much control. It really comes down to who you believe should have the most say on a movie set, the director or the studio, but what I never understood was how everybody “knew” it was bad even though nobody had watched it. If you saw the ticket receipts, and everybody did, you’ll know that this movie did BAD, so bad that the studio responsible had to close its doors. And, admittedly, that’s pretty awful, but that really doesn’t have anything to say about the movie. That’s purely the backlash of a vengeful American public, quick to slap down anybody who they feel is flaunting their enormous wealth in their faces, instead of laughing quietly like most wealthy people. What does Heaven’s Gate mean besides the dollar signs that trail behind it like a struggling, hemorrhaging calf? Well, I found it to be a lot more than what they told me it might be. In fact, I think this might be one of the biggest surprises I’ve had all year. Michael Cimino directed a superb film with an odd plot and a slightly bloated budget, but I think the world has thrown the baby out with the bathwater on this one, and I’m gonna go grab that baby before it goes down the drain!!!

Heaven’s Gate is about 228 minutes. It’s incredibly long, and it has a lot of story to tell. The most bare-bones description that I could give is that it takes place around the turn of the century and focuses on a hoity-toity Harvard graduate named Averill who ends up being a sheriff in Wyoming. Somehow. His jurisdiction is Johnson County, and he is currently embroiled in a bitter battle between wealthy land owners and poor European immigrants. The immigrants are destitute, and have taken to cattle rustling, which is righteously pissing off the land owners, who are considering a violent force-out of the immigrants. Averill sides with the townsfolk, who are merely good people driven to extremes by hunger and poverty, but the land owners have their own enforcer named Champion to enforce THEIR law, and they don’t take kindly to learned Harvard interlopers. This standoff intensifies when it is revealed that the land owners have hired a gang from Texas to come out and drive the townsfolk out of Johnson County, dead or alive (which I’m pretty sure is a more expensive endeavor than letting the immigrants take a cow or two).

Meanwhile, a love triangle blooms between Ella Watson, madam of the local brothel, Averill, and, of course, Champion. She’s a fiercely independent woman, but she’s stuck between two completely different men, and it’s tearing her apart. She can see the good in Champion, and even teaches the big lug his letters, and Averill is just an all-around good fella who has a beard to die for. I can see why this is roughing her up so bad inside. But what about the land owners!?! With the angry Texans coming for poor little Johnson County, what will happen to the men and women who have made their lives there? Will they stand up and fight? Or will get crushed into rust-colored Wyoning dust under the boots of the evil cattle barons? Can Averill save the day, with his stunning moral compass, or will he be bested by cattle-baron lapdog Champion? Or will their feelings for Ella inspire a truce? Find out next time on: Heaven’s Gate!!!

Wow. My hands ache from all that exposition. And I’m not even close to touching the whole movie. You have so many people and stories here that it could’ve been cut into an original movie and its sequel. Heaven’s Gate suffers from Gone With the Wind Syndrome (GWtWS); its hopelessly in love with its own time period. It goes to great, outrageous lengths to recreate the feel of an authentic Wyoming cattle community, from the dress to the music to the speech styles. And there’s something fascinating about a movie being in love itself, I must admit; it’s contagious, and you can easily catch the romance that oozes from every pore of a movie like this. But America certainly kept its immunity up, as we can see from the zero-and-a-half people who have seen Heaven’s Gate.

But it’s really not so bad. Perhaps I have the patience of a saint, but I found a lot of things to enjoy about this period epic. First and foremost, the score must be congratulated. Composer David Mansfield creates an uplifting, nostalgic American sound that pleases me to no end. His inventiveness with different instruments is noteworthy, and I have to give him a big thumbs-up for making me feel a score in my soul for the first time in a while. And keep an eye out for the man himself on roller skates playing a fiddle in the clip above!

Director Michael Cimino has always been somewhat controversial, but it all has to be taken in context. Cimino took advantage of what seemed to be a time in American cinema where the directors had more say, when they could somewhat dictate the size and scope of the movies they made. He wanted large, extravagant films that were almost unrealistically epic in their vision, and he wanted the studio to take the fall if the movie tanked. This is a flawed philosophy, obviously, but what about the end product of this? Heaven’s Gate looks amazing. It’s ahead of its time as far as technical prowess goes, and Cimino undeniably captures something in the lens that I, at least, responded to. Some scenes, like the Harvard graduation scene, the scene with Champion shooting the cattle rustler, and the climactic Johnson County shootout, dip their toe in timelessness and immortality. There’s something so weeping about it that captures my imagination. Although I’ll be the first to admit that some of these scenes were unnecessary (why did we need to see the Harvard graduation in its entirety? Wouldn’t a flashback have sufficed?) and the film feels bloated to the point where I would shave about 10 minutes off it, I like the cut of Heaven’s Gate’s jib.

All right, time for actor round-up! We got a lot of people to cover this time!

Firstly, Kris Kristofferson as Averill, good. I had no complaints with him; I actually found his character to be a little refreshing compared to your normal suave lead. He’s gruff, he’s rough, but he seems to have a bit of a secret intellectual side (Averill DID graduate from Harvard, you know). All around, pretty good.

Christopher Walken IS Nathan Champion, the cattle barons’ hired gun, and he is great. Long before he was extremely weird, 1980 saw him as only a mere eccentric whose quirks added to the reality (or surreality) of his roles. Champion is a gentleman with a loaded weapon, and he has his moments of ruthlessness, but Walken adds enough flourishes to actually get you to like the guy, despite his ties to evil-ness. My favorite scene with Walken: when Champion gives Ella her birthday present, and whispers strangely that his house finally has wallpaper (???). Classic!

Isabelle Huppert as Ella Watson, very good. A weird entry in Huppert’s already exotic oeuvre of acting choices, the role of Ella Watson was something good for her. She has this devil-may-care attitude that excited me greatly, and also works well for a madam. What interests me most about her character is her heart; Ella is heart-breakingly sweet once you understand her, and scenes like the birthday really accentuate her precious vulnerabilities, which must be taxing as an actor. Still, she’s dragged through the mud quite a few times for this role, and I commend her for her hard work as a character that doesn’t live on the corner of Easy and Convenient.

John Hurt as Billy Irvine, good. Averill’s old Harvard buddy who is also in Wyoming being a cattle baron. Oh no! Hurt uses his dry, dignified airs to add a layer of smarm to Heaven’s Gate that I didn’t know it needed but was fine with it once it had it. Irvine is a consummate drinker, and Hurt plays a GREAT drunk. Although I don’t agree with his ideology, I could watch Irvine be drunk all day.

Sam Waterston as Frank Canton, so-so. The leader of the evil land owners, Waterston I felt had a lot more growing to do as an actor by 1980. He just didn’t feel right for the part. I still feel like he’s Nick from The Great Gatsby; I don’t buy him as villain numero uno. In five years, I could see that out of him, but as Canton I just feel like he could’ve done a little better.

So many other people populate this movie, like a young Mickey Rourke, a young Jeff Bridges, a young-ish Terry O’Quinn, an old-looking-but-young Brad Dourif, and a very young Willem Dafoe in his first movie! What a way to start out! I would go through them all, but we’d be here all night, and I’m sure you’d rather just search through my hundreds of other reviews instead, right? Right?!

In the end, it’s all about personal taste. I don’t think this is a movie you can condemn as being bad across the board like Gigli and Cutthroat Island; it had a definite reason for existing and a definite artistic purpose. Heaven’s Gate was made by a serious director with a serious intention, and even though he failed and financially wrecked a company, that intention at least came through. There are a lot of quality scenes, the score is excellent, the cast is decent and features a lot of young stars, and the movie is just excellently shot for its time. But I recommend you at least watch and decide for yourselves; who knows, you might just be a closet Cimino fan and never knew it! Either way, I give Heaven’s Gate 7 1/2 surprise wallpapers out of 10. Check it out!

WHEW! Okay, give me a minute to compose myself, and let me start tackling the review for The Last Detail! See you soon!

• Nemrég ismét a Dharma kikötőnél forgattak. Most Josh Holloway (Sawyer) és Evangeline Lilly (Kate) forgattak egy közös jelenetet.
• Itt van rengeteg forgatási kép szeptember 21-éről. William Mapother (Ethan) és Jeff Fahey (Frank) is látható.
• Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) szerepelni fog a 6. évad premierjében.
• Rob McElhenney (Aldo) jövőhéten repül Hawaii-ra forgatásra.
• Alan Dale (Charles Widmore) is hamarosan Hawaii-on lesz a 6. évad forgatása miatt.
• Jorge Garcia (Hurley) és Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) megerősítették azt, hogy az 5. évad végén felrobbant a bomba.
• A Juliet-et játszó színésznő Elizabeth Mitchell nemrég ért haza Hawaii-ról és még legalább egyszer vissza fog menni forgatni.
• Jorge Garcia még mindig abban bízik, hogy megkapjuk Libby sztoriját, de azt mondta, hogy ne nagyon számítsunk Cynthia Watros visszatérésére.
• “Miután elolvastam a forgatókönyvet, ez volt az első az egész sorozatban, hogy azt mondtam volna: ‘Atyaég, ez elképesztő.’” – Terry O’Quinn (Locke) a 6×01ról.

Sorry folks, I’ve been so busy wrangling zombies for our ZOMBIELAND Zombie Walk, I’ve neglected today’s DVD releases … and boy howdy, what a weird set of releases.  You’ve got a classic cartoon from the ’80s, a woman-hating Italian gorefest, an obscure Spanish thriller, and a sequel released on DVD prior to the original film.  Well, without further ado, here’s what you can find in stores today:

September 29th, 2009
- The Real Ghostbusters: The Complete Collection – Despite the theatrical release of the first GHOSTBUSTERS a little over twenty-five years ago, there seems to have been a substantial groundswell in mainstream interest as of late for New York’s resident parapsychologists; consider not only the release of the Ghostbusters video game and the merchandising being pumped out by leading toymaker Mattel, but even Columbia Pictures’ development of a third GHOSTBUSTERS film.  Whatever the reason for this sudden phenomenon, the release of all 147 episodes of this long-running cartoon series is a very pleasing result, and rather than gratuitously staggering DVD releases over a period of years in order to drain consumers of as much money as possible (see home video tactics for “Batman: The Brave and The Bold,” “The Spectacular Spider-Man,” “The Muppet Show,” and countless others), we’re getting one massive, monolithic boxed set containing so much sheer Ghostbusters, it’ll likely cause the fire and brimstone to come down from the skies, rivers and seas boiling, forty years of darkness, earthquakes, volcanoes, the dead rising from the grave, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together … mass hysteria.  With a hefty MSRP of $179.99, you get 147 episodes on 35 discs packed into a deluxe firehouse collector’s box with lenticular panels and five separate steel DVD cases along with twelve hours of bonus material.  Inevitably, this classic animated series will drop in price, as this is likely a must-have for only the most hardened fans, but word is that this is a complete collection boxed set that won’t disappoint.

- THE STEPFATHER II – With Screen Gems’ remake of THE STEPFATHER only weeks away from theatrical release, it only makes sense to release the franchise’s previous films on DVD in hopes of capitalizing on the public’s insatiable love for domestic horror.  In this sequel – inexplicably released prior to the original film, which won’t be on DVD until October 13^th – the titular sociopath escapes from a sanitarium and shacks up with another single mother who also just happens to have an overly suspicious son.  Terry O’Quinn reprises his role and stars alongside Meg Foster (co-star of John Carpenter’s THEY LIVE and Evil-Lyn in the Dolph Lundgren MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE film) and the star of LADYBUGS and television’s “SeaQuest DSV,” Jonathan Brandis.  Granted, this sequel wasn’t as warmly-received as the original, but luckily, Synapse Films has included special features, among them deleted and alternate scenes and a brand-new featurette.

- THE HANGING WOMAN – I know precious little about this 1973 Spanish horror film aside from the fact that it also bore the titles THE GLASS JUNGLE, TERROR OF THE LIVING DEAD, THE ORGY OF THE DEAD, RETURN OF THE ZOMBIES, THE HANGING WOMEN, and BEYOND THE LIVING DEAD.  Prolific crap actor Paul Naschy makes an appearance, too, but try to find me a low-budget Spanish horror-cum-exploitation film without him, am I right?  On the plus side, this DVD also includes another Spanish horror film, THE SWEET SOUND OF DEATH.  The plot seems a little schizophrenic, lumping together Satanists and zombies in the midst of 19^th century Scotland at the behest of an out-of-towner arriving to claim his substantial inheritance.  View at your own risk, folks – these foreign skid row horrors can be a bit sluggish to say the least.

- THE NEW YORK RIPPER, The Special Edition – Italian auteur and gorehound icon Lucio Fulci directed and co-wrote this blood-soaked yarn of a Donald Duck-voiced serial killer stalking the streets of the Big Apple.  In all fairness, Fulci’s films are frequently loosely strung together vignettes of brutal, gut-wrenching violence often garnished with the slightest hint of sexuality; more so than even fellow giallo director Dario Argento, Fulci’s films often feel creepily akin to violent pornography, lingering on the female form before rending it asunder in some spectacularly sloppy fashion.  THE NEW YORK RIPPER is no different, introducing us to beautiful women and soon thereafter relishing in their grisly demise.  In this film alone, you can see a man get his face blown off, a woman stabbed to death, a woman have her throat slit, a woman have one of her eyes slit open by a razor blade, and, oh yes, a woman sodomized and stabbed to death with a broken bottle.  This Blue Underground disc features the film uncut and uncensored along with a few special features, but be forewarned: THE NEW YORK RIPPER isn’t exactly the apex of Fulci’s work – if you can stomach the blood-soaked misogyny, it might be the titular killer’s Donald Duck-inspired voice that makes THE NEW YORK RIPPER especially unbearable.

I cannot believe what a waste my life was just a few short years ago. Then, on September 22, 2004, my life became complete when ABC premiered LOST on this date.

Over the years we’ve met an incredibly complex group of characters who’ve faced everything from the mundane aspects of life on an (supposedly) uninhabitated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to the far more complicated aspects of surviving on such an island.

We’ve met Jack, the pragmatic and scientific physician whose lack of faith forced him to be an unwilling de facto leader of the survivors.

We’ve met Juliet, the  compassionate and caring physician whose faith was tested time and again by the island forcing her to rethink her purpose.

We’ve met John, the dreamer whose faith would ultimately make him the leader of the island.

 We’ve met Kate and Sawyer, two troubled souls on a mission towards redemption for their past sins.

We’ve met Charlie and Claire, two more troubled souls whose mission towards redemption, once completed, went down a tragic path.

We’ve met Jin and Sun, for whom the island provided a new start and renewed love.

We’ve met Sayid, perhaps the only survivor of the plane crash who’s path towards redemption has taken a terribly wrong turn.

We’ve met Michael, driven to insanity by the demands of fatherhood and the island, meeting his fate as the only means of redemption. 

We’ve met Bernard and Rose, whose love for each other surpasses and negates their physical reality.

And we’ve met Hurley. Besieged by what he thinks is a string of bad luck provided by those infamous six numbers, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42, Hurley consistently became the voice of reason, humor and honesty among the survivors.

We’ve met The Others, led by Ben Linus, perhaps the most convoluted and troubled character in television history. A man who began to believe his own lies in order to serve the island. All the while realizing and mourning his own mortality.

We’ve met The Dharma Initiative, a utopian society of scientists on a mission we’ve yet to fully understand.

Above all, we’ve met The Island. By far the most important character in LOST. Through the various guises of The Island we’ve seen the growth of faith, the promise of eternal life, the accountability for one’s actions, and above all, the realization that all is not what we see.

Happy Birthday, LOST!

In 1994, I was excited about My So-Called Life and Friends, but not much else on the TV schedule caught my eye. A friend of mine loved ABC’s Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, so I would go over there to hang out and watch it.

Being sci-fi buffs, we decided we should check out Earth 2, a new show that aired an hour before L&C on NBC. I have this tendency to at least try out all the new science-fiction shows, knowing that even if I like them, the odds of them surviving beyond one season are slim. I quickly gave up on M.A.N.T.I.S. over on Fox, but found myself more intrigued by Earth 2.

–>to continue reading, follow the link over to the full article on TV Squad