- On last night's LOST ... I had really been looking forward to last night's episode since I heard a few days back that it was co-written by one of the best writers out there today, Brian K. Vaughan (sorry, I know I misspell this name everytime I write it ...). Anyways, Brian K is the brilliant writer behind some of the absolute best comics of the last five years, like Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina. He has a distinct writing style that mixes great characterization with smart, insightful references to pop culture and current events. And he expertly mixes dry humor with great action and is a master of serialized storytelling, writing some of the best cliffhanger endings around. Anyways, I had some high expectations for Lost last night, and I was more than satisfied with what I saw - a great episode that had Vaughan's fingerprints all over it.
This episode was just totally solid from start to finish. While it wasn't a blockbuster mythology-steeped ep, it was jam-packed with little bits of cleverness that really added to its quality. Everything felt well-crafted, from the spot-on humor (Sawyer's crack about having to play a game of Ping Pong every 108 minutes), to the genuine emotion that was created around Desmond's love for Penelope. The dialogue had Vaughan's trademark wit (and geekiness - gotta love the Superman vs. Flash debate), and even kept up his knack for inserting lots of random trivia into his stories, leaving you with the feeling like you actually learned something afterwords.
Also, Desmond is just cool. Give a ton of credit to Henry Ian Cusick, who does a great job at making Desmond both a likable everyman and a mysterious riddle of a character. While I don't think anyone was clamoring for the secret origin of his use of the word "brother," (he wasn't just a huge Hulk Hogan fan?) the monastary flashbacks were a lot of fun and did a nice job of adding another interesting chapter to his backstory.
In the end, this was a very satisfying episode that had some of the sharpest characterization, tightest plotting, and most dead-on humor we've seen in a while from Lost. Good stuff.
My Grade: A
- Caught up on Tuesday's GILMORE GIRLS, which I really enjoyed. I don't get why some are so down on this season of the show. Sure, it's had some rough patches, but from a writing standpoint this week's ep was basically indistinguishable from past seasons' level of quality. The hay-bail maze was a classic Stars Hollow subplot, and all the character stuff really felt spot on. The dialogue was smart and zippy without being overbearing (loved April's obsession with the word "fabulous", and Kirk as a minotaur was flat-out hilarious), and anyone who's been a soon-to-be college grad could relate to Rory's agonizing over her post-collegiate career plans. I still find Logan to be kind of a hard-to-read character, vut then again the show has always both excelled and frustrated with its difficult to pin-down, three dimensional characters.
My Grade: A -
P.S. - Who would win in a fight - Doyle on 24 or Doyle on Gilmore Girls? I think Paris could probably kick Chloe's ass ...
Some quick movie thoughts:
- So Galactus is nothing but a malevalant cloud in Fantastic Four 2? Yeah, Jack Kirby must be rolling over in his grave on that one. WTF is wrong with the production team behind the FF movies? Get a clue!
- Edward Norton as Bruce Banner in the new Hulk? This is GREAT casting. Kind of weird though since Ang Lee's Hulk had a similarly great casting choice in Eric Bana, who in my view did an excellent job in that movie. I know some (not me) hated Lee's direction in that movie, but I don't think anyone would complain if another director took over but used the same cast. Just odd to totally reboot the franchise like this.
- Looking forward to a free screening of HOT FUZZ this weekend!
OTHER STUFF:
- Man, this Alberto Gonzalez stuff is yet another huge black mark on the Bush administration. The sad part is that it will likely be swept under the rug just like the whole Valerie Plame situation. Where is Karl Rove in all this? How come he ALWAYS avoids the hot-seat? It's just unbelievable how these things become such political issues when in fact it's a clear-cut case of right and wrong. Luckily, in this case, it looks like there is a pretty bipartisan outcry. I just hope that it's not yet another instance where there is some initial outrage only for things to fade away after a flurry of denials and "I can't recall's."
- All of this Virginia Tech stuff is just so disturbing and tragic. See my earlier post for more, but the thing is that since then, we've been exposed to a ton of new information regarding the killer and his past history of mental illness and hints of what he was capable of. A few points I'd like to make:
a.) I've already seen many blowhard talking head pundits looking to use this tragedy as a way to get in shots at the entertainment industry. I can't stand this -- it's one thing if examining the killer's interests and influences leads to new insight into his methods and motives. It's another to place a black mark on movies and games due to the actions of one mentally-ill person whose actions are completely removed from that of a healthy, right-thinking consumer of entertainment.
b.) On the other hand -- what's with people who are totally resistant to looking at any tragedy like this in the context of taking it as an opportunity to reexamine gun-control laws? It's one thing to universally condemn the entertainment industry, which had only a tangential effect on this tragedy, in the case of a person with little ability to distinguish reality from fantasy. It's another matter altogether to look at this tragedy and be outraged that a man like this could purchase WEAPONS DESIGNED FOR NO OTHER PURPOSE THAN TO INFLICT FATAL HARM. The gun lobby in America is absolutely ridiculous in their total unwillingness to impose restrictions on what firearms can be sold and by whom. On Hardball the other day, Chris Matthews had a great point - to get a driver's license, one has to pass a rigorous, multi-part exam and meet a number of physical and mental requirements. How then is the standard by which one applies to drive a car so much stricter than the standard to OWN A GUN? It's really, really absurd when you think about it. Now it's true that when you're talking about a crazy person with a death wish, there's only so much you can do to prevent him from acting out. But for the love of God, how does a person like this get a license to own a gun? It's the equivalent of selling a gun to a nine year old.
c.) Now, I totally agree with people who are upset with the media's often sensationalistic approach to this story. However, I think NBC deserves credit for responding to the package of photos and videos it recieved yesterday in a responsible and respectful manner. I watch the NBC Nightly News yesterday, and Brian Williams and co did a great job of prefacing the footage from the package in delicate terms that helped give context to the disturbing footage, in a way that surely did not serve to glamorize the killer by any means. The press has a responsibilty to share information that helps to shed light on a story, and this footage was a crucial piece of the ongoing news story. NBC should be commended for how it handled this.
d.) It really is fascinating to hear from this guy's roommates and classmates, none of whom really knew what to make of him. I mean - it's unbelievable, listening to one of his suitemates on TV, it was assumed that he was a foreign exchange student since he never spoke, to anyone, ever. Where are his parents in all this? It just seems so odd that a mentally ill kid is living on his own with zero parental involvement when he clearly has major, major issues. When I heard that the killer's English class plays were online, I immediately thought, as a writer, "well, you can't judge someone by their writing." I remembered how my nervous parents read (and still read!) every single thing I write analyzing each word for insights into my mindset at any given moment. I've always hated this, but at the least it showed that someone was paying attention. Reding these plays, with a clear level of personal projection, and an emphasis not on narrative but on violence for violence's sake, I took back my previous hesitancy to judge one on one's writing and thought "yeah, this writing IS indicative of something about it's writer - this guy needed serious, serious help."
All in all, a terrible tragedy. Like many, I've been glued to the TV and internet the last few days just trying to process it all.
- Okay, I'm out for now - I've got more to say but it's back to work. Cya.
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