Lost Locke-Down, Arcade Fire, TMNT, and MORE!

What's up everyone ...

- To start out, last night's LOST was plain and simply kickass, continuing a string of A-level episodes. This was Terry O'Quinn at his absolute best, and it was so great to see him reestablish Locke as the great character that made his mark on instant-classic episodes like Walkabout. I mean, this episode alone should see an Emmy reserved for Mr. O'Quinn. Take the scene where a newly-paralyzed John Locke was lifted into a wheelchair for the first time - wow, talk about intense. The sheer emotion and sadness on Locke's face was almost hard to watch. Locke is now, once again, one of the most interesting and complex and tragic characters on television, which is a huge relief after the last Locke centric ep from earlier in the season, which was uncharacteristically crappy. But last night - last night Lost hit a total home run. Great scenes with Locke and Ben - two great actors going at it. Lots of intrigue with Kate and Jack, interesting stuff with Alex and her mom Rousseau as well. The level of plot development, for once, felt spot on. We were given plenty of tidbits to chew on but it's not like they went overboard and blew the mystery of the show either. Right now, Lost has this great feeling of momentum where it really does feel like the curtain is slowly being pulled back more and more each week, even as the aura of mystery remains. Great stuff. The one huge vice of the show is the diminishing relevance of the flashbacks, but last night delivered one of the few *money* flashback arcs the show has left - the story of Locke's paralysis. These flashbacks were intense, tragic, dramatic, and cleverly tied into the main plot on the island. Man, Locke's dad is one evil bastard - when he pushed his own son out of a building ... man, that had to be one of the more sadistically evil things I've seen on a TV show in a while. Anyways, this was just great TV and I'm now more excited about Lost than I have been in a while. Thank you, Lost writers and actors, for (at least temporarily) silencing my doubts about the show. All other shows: this is how it's done.

My Grade: A

Okay, time for a rare MUSIC REVIEW on the blog. My review is of an album that I've been talking about here and there for a little while now ...

ARCADE FIRE - NEON BIBLE Review:

- So as you may know, I tend more to be into rock music that gets you on your feet and ready to go, rather than more mellow, contemplative fare. So it is a rare occasion that a band comes along - REM, Pearl Jam, a few others come to mind - who really blow me away with not just their ability to uplift, but their ability to sing about the larger issues, the bigger picture. This is why I can't stand most "emo" music. Whiny crap that has no bite. It's one thing to be a band with a wicked sense of ironic humor a la Weezer. It's another to be one of the endless line of lame bands who try to tap into your inner twelve year old girl: Death Cab, Modest Mouse, Dispatch, etc ... But Arcade Fire is different- their songs have that feeling of Dylan or Springsteen, even if the vocals lack that rougher edge. Their songs feel legitimate - a product of their time - a substantive reflection of the world today. At the same time, the music is big, huge, epic, operatic - with multiple vocals, varied instrumentation, and a real narrative feel. Neon Bible isn't a concept album per se, but it feels like one giant statement - a sad yet oddly optimistic look at the world we live in. There's politics here, pop culture, references to 9/11, Ashlee Simpson, the religious right, and more. But the social commentary never feels cheesy or forced, and instead it all lends to the music's haunting tone, that churns out ideas that stick with you. For the last few days, for example, I've had the utopian chant, "No Cars Go," stuck in my head, and I keep coming back to the images in the song, trying to figure out what it all means. Before that it was "Intervention," which sucks you in to its loud, bombastic lament, which, I think, is about the War In Iraq, but who knows. In the end, this is just great, timeless music, that at the same time is of the here and now. It's rich, textured songs seep into your brain and don't let go. I'd highly recommend this album.

My Grade: A

MOVIES:

- I am so excited for TMNT. Who's with me on this. I love the fact that this movie is out there and poised to be a hit with kids and nostalgic young adults everywhere. I mean, anyone my age will speak in hushed tones of the glory days of Saturday morning TV - when heroes were heroes. GI Joe, Thundercats, He Man, and the Ninja Turtles. Now it seems like every movie or TV show geared towards kids has fuzzy animals spouting instantly dated pop culture references or incomprehensible Japanese anime imports. Well hey kids, get ready, if this movie is indeed vintage TMNT then you're about to have your minds blown. I'm so excited that a new generation is about to learn the difference between a sai, a kitana, a bo staff, and nunchucks. That there will be kids running outside with red and purple and blue masks screaming "Cowabunga!" and "Totally tubular!" I remember how awesome it was back in the day when the original movie came out. I was so excited, although kind of nervous that it wouldn't be as good as the cartoon. But man, once I saw that movie, I was in Turtle heaven. I remember, I entered some drawing contest at my local supermarket, and I actually won the contest and won a gift certificate to the grocery store. I had no idea what I could use that on. Cookies? But then I went and saw that they sold VHS tapes at the store, and suddenly, it all clicked. The Turtles movie was due to arrive on home video any day, as I knew from all the TV ads. I waited patiently until the week of release and then had my mom drive me to the store. I snatched up the Turtles movie and proudly brought it to the register. And man, I must have watched that thing hundreds of times, and after I had worn it out, my brother rediscovered it and watched it another hundred times. Between the cartoon, that movie, the TMNT videogames, and the obiquituous action figures, my childhood was practically spent in a TMNT-induced daze. Of course, all those warnings and alerts about how the show was too violent for kids seemed to finally wear programmers down. For a while, it was out with TMNT and in with relatively toothless fare like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. As a camp counsellor for years, I pitied the kids who were so sheltered that they never knew the glory of mutated sword-fighting amphibians and the rest of my childhood action heroes. Well, TMNT is back, and I can't wait for another generation to be corrupted!

Alright, I've gotta jet, but I have more to say so check back tommorow, foo.