Lost Season Four: "The Constant"

Set your device to 2.342, set the oscillator to 11 Hz

What I Liked

• It's a Desmond/Penny (it never is just Desmond) flashsomething! His episodes are always the best. It could be a cheesy love story with him and Penny but it never is.

What I Didn't Like

• Fisher Stevens is dead already? What a waste.
• If Desmond and Penny don't find each other, I'll be extremely disappointed.
• I wish Sayid had suggested to Desmond, "Before the battery dies, give Penny our coordinates!"

What We Learned
1996:

• Desmond was in the Royal Scot Regimen
• Daniel was a professor at Oxford and was working on sending consciousness through times
• A journal from the Black Rock-the slave ship on the island-survived and sold by Tobard Hanso and Charles Widmore bought it

2004:

• Keamy, Omar, Ray are three of the Freighties
• The freighter is in last port in Fiji, in the Pacific Ocean
• The Satellite phones can only call each other
• When exposed to high levels of radiation/electromagnetic energy, going to and from the island causes one's consciousness to shift through time
• George Minkowski in charge of communications on the freighter
• George Minkowski answered Penelope's call when he wasn't supposed to
• Someone destroyed all the communications equipment
• If your consciousness jumps one time too many, it will be too difficult to get your present and you might get a brain aneurysm
  

Questions:

• Why didn't they want Frank to bring Sayid and Desmond back to the freighters?
• How many people are on the freighter?
• Is Sayid going to regret trading his gun for that phone?
• Where's Regina (the voice on the phone)?
• Who's the captain?
• Why didn't the freighties on the island want to talk to George Minkowski before?
• What time period is George going back to?
• If Penny moved, how did Desmond have her number on the army base? (if it's 1996, she probably doesn't have a cell phone)
• What are the odds that Daniel and Desmond would be in the United Kingdom at the same time?
• Was Daniel a habitual weed smoker in 1996?
• Was Daniel exposed to radiation because he didn't protect his head during his experiments?
• If so, how did he get to teach at Oxford?
• Did Daniel reach the conclusion about the setting for his machine on his own in the future and sent Desmond back to tell him(which should cause a paradox) or was Desmond always the one who told him in 1996 and he just forgot?
• If the latter, how did Daniel forget meeting a guy who said he was from the future?
• Is Desmond going to die?
• What happens if Desmond dies in 1996?
• Who sabotaged all the equipment?
• Who opened the door?
• What are in the contents of the journal from The Black Rock?
• Why did Charles Widmore want the journal?
• If Mr. Widmore doesn't "hate" Desmond, who does?
• Why didn't they need an area code?
• Has Daniel been transferring his consciousness between multiple points in time?
• If so, does that explain his memory loss?
• If so, what point in time is he transferring from?
• If so,is that why he cried at the discovery of Oceanic 815 but didn't know why?
• If so, did Daniel know about the island before anyone else because of Desmond?
  
• Where was Ms. Hawking? Does she only appear for temporal course correction*?
• If Minkowski and the other guy who died where affected by just rowing to the island, would Locke experience similar effects if he were to leave the island?
• What happens is Desmond tries to return to the island?
• What happens if Desmond flashes to a time before he met Penny?
• Since they aren't really flashbacks or flashforwards, what should we call Desmond episodes?

* I'm a geek so sue me.

Blog of the Day: Garfield Minus Garfield

Apparently, without Garfield and Odie around, Jon Arbuckle is a little bit nuts.

Who's surprised?

100 Things That Annoy Me

It's been awhile since I've done one of these things.

Thanks to Cindylu for the inspiration.

Let's get it on

1. Akon's voice
2. People who claim to be die hard fans but can't name more than five people on the team (you can just be a fan of a player)
3. That face Eli Manning makes when he botches a play
4. Any article by Bill Simmons about Boston teams (except this one)
5. The current exchange rate with US Dollar and any country across North Atlantic Ocean
6. Being stuck at work late because I'm waiting for someone to send me something or respond to something
   
7. Southern hip-pop especially when the song is just an excuse to do a variation of a "kick, twist, finger snap" dance
8. Meetings/Conference calls at work scheduled between 12:00-1:00 PM
9. E-mails or phone calls requesting work that requires more than 30 minutes of your time 15 minutes before you're going to leave
10. People who talk on Bluetooth headsets but don't think they look strange
11. Isiah Thomas' continued existence on the Knicks sideline
    
12. A-Rod interviews
13. People who talk throughout the movie
14. People who look at their cell phones/Blackberrys during the movies (Thanks, Andrea. I was letting that one go until I met you)
    
15. People who talk about a movie or television assuming you've seen it and spoil something
16. Paying extra money for a comic book and just getting 4 extra pages and 8 more pages of ads
17. That point in a book where you know you don't like it but you've come this far so you have to finish it
18. Spam comments on my blog
19. Invites to add more applications to my Facebook page
20. Myspace pages that are so busy they crash my browser
21. E-mail spam that starts out like "hi" in the subject line but then in the message in says "Do you want a bigger penis?"
22. When something I want goes on sale the second I decide that I'm not going to spend anymore money
23. Skunky beer
24. Celebrity tabloid culture
25. When people act like my racial identity is tied to my interests or my social activities
26. Couples who act like "schmoopies" in public
27. Fox News Channel
28. Waking up 30 minutes before your alarm goes off
29. When a McDonald's has a different Dollar Menu than the one I'm used to in Harlem
30. The sound of cat murders/orgies that goes on every other night behind my apartment
31. When they have block parties on my block and play offensive music despite being across the street from a church
32. When you order a DVD online and it arrives but the DVD got lose in the packing and it is all scratched up
33. When my DVR/cable gets messed up due to inclement weather
34. When someone gets to the register at a fast food place and acts like they've never been to a fast food place before
35. Chappelle Show: The Lost Episodes
36. When a presidential address disrupts my favorite television show
37. When I get lost or stuck in a video game
38. Friend requests on Facebook or MySpace from people I am 100% sure I don't know
    
39. When people complain about how much the Yankees spend on their roster, especially when those people are fans of other big city/big spender teams like the Mets or the Red Sox
40. The "Why are you single" question
41. Jessica Alba's acting
42. When an album has more shitty songs than good ones and no great ones
    
43. My own debilitating laziness
44. When a new female character appears on The L Word and she just happens to be gay
45. When people are cast in movies because they are famous, not because they can act
46. When I'm downloading something off a torrent and it stops at 99.7%
47. When people try to manipulate you into doing something, not by asking directly, but by trying to make it seem like it's something you wanted to do anyway and you notice and you would have done whatever they had wanted if they just asked but now you almost want to say "no" just because of the shitty attempt
48. Run-on sentences
49. Close talkers
50. Stuart Scott (just talk like a normal human being)
51. When good shows not only get cancelled but don't get a chance to wrap up the show semi-cleanly
52. When shitty shows never end (especially if you find yourself hooked on it for some reason)
    
53. When Yankees fans boo Yankees (except for Kyle Farnsworth)
54. Bandwagon jumpers
55. People who don't believe that you aren't a bandwagon jumper
56. When comics come out a day late because of a holiday
57. When the office is closed on a Tuesday or Thursday but you don't get Monday or Friday off respectively
58. When a comic book I love is turned into a really shitty movie (i.e. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)
59. An itch in my lower back that is out of my reach
60. Being put in the friend zone before you get a chance to make your move
61. When girls make sure to tell a story that includes the phrase "So my boyfriend..." and you weren't even interested in her like that
62. When girls make sure to tell a story that includes the phrase "So my boyfriend..." and you thought you had a chance
63. When a concert I want to go gets sold out in less than 15 minutes
64. Standing behind a tall person at a concert
65. Expensive umbrellas that fall apart after the first strong gust of wind
66. Losing a good umbrella at a bar
67. When multiple projects come in around the same time with the same deadline (give or take a day)
68. When something you want is on sale but not in your size
69. When you buy something and then it goes on sale but too much time has passed to get a price match
70. Rude people at the register (especially at fast food joints)
71. Beers that cost more than $7
72. Having to go to Brooklyn for a party that starts at 10 PM
73. Any "no panties" pictures of Lindsay Lohan/Britney Spears/Paris Hilton/etc.
74. Poorly choreographed wrestling matches
75. When people can't take a joke
76. Junk mail
77. People who don't know how to walk on the sidewalk
78. Tourists in Times Square
    
79. People who don't flush the toilet after use
80. When people complain about not getting answers in Lost
81. Women who don't like to be on top
    
82. People who treat their opinions like facts
83. When I buy a DVD and five months later a 2-disc special edition comes out
84. When people show up 10 minutes before a movie starts on opening weekend and complain that there is nowhere to sit
85. People who call you 5 minutes after they sent you an e-mail and say, 'Did you get my e-mail?"
86. Seeing a bad movie in the theater
87. When you order food to go with special requests ("medium well", "no tomatoes", etc.) and you get home and they didn't do it
88. That look the Chinese food delivery guy gives you when he feels you haven't tipped him enough
89. That tone friends at work (or co-workers pretending you are friends for the time being) get when they are going to ask you a favor they think is unreasonable
90. My paycheck
91. Calls from headhunters
92. Calls from vendors looking for business
    
93. When people treat politics like they are voting for High School Prom Queen or King
94. When people who try to walk into the subway car before everyone gets off
95. When people jaywalk with baby strollers
96. When the bartender can't mix drinks properly and there is either too much alcohol or too much chaser
97. UPS
98. When an article of clothing you love gets ruined in the wash or gets a mysterious hole
99. The quality of toilet paper at the office (it's apparently 0.5 ply sheets)
100. In the summer, when you are about to get on a subway car and it's pretty empty but before it's too late, you realize you are in either the no A/C car or the "homeless guy who has shit himself" car (or both!)

So what annoys you...besides me?

The Only Reason I Watched The Oscars Last Night...

I'm so happy they won. I openly clapped alone in my bedroom.

The Fall

This is from Tarsem who directed that visually stunning but dumb, The Cell.

Hopefully, second time's a charm because this looks beautiful...

THE FALL
by downcrush

Movie of the Week: Be Kind Rewind

I'm black and I love Michel Gondry.

I just thought I'd get that out of the way.

Anyway, I loved this movie. It was really funny and sweet. A tribute to the love of filmmaking and the power of community.

Mos Def and Danny Glover were good and Jack Black wasn't too annoying (which is all you can ask from him at this stage of his career). The real stand out was Melonie Diaz.

You should check out the exhibit at the Deitch.

Lost Season Four: "Eggtown"

I knew it!

What I Liked

• "You totally just Scooby Dooed me." I love Hurley.
• "Enjoy your breakfast." Damn, Locke.
  
• Even though I knew it, great ending!

What I Didn't Like

• We haven't seen Rose & Bernard since the first episode
• While a good episode, it wasn't has great as the previous ones. Kate-focused episodes tend to be that way.
  

What We Learned:

Flash-forward:

• Kate loves makeup off the island
• Kate goes to trial for ALL her crimes and pleas not guilty
• She was locked up during the course of her trial
• Kate has a son!
• Jack comes to the defense of Kate as a character witness
• Everyone thinks only eight people survived!
• Kate's mom is dying.
• Kate's mom would trade her testimony to see her "grandson" but Kate doen't budge
• Kate's mom didn't testify anyway and she got off for time served, 10 years probation and she can't leave the state.
• Jack still loves Kate
• KATE HAS AARON!!
  

Island:

• Locke is keeping Ben in the same room they keep Locke's father
• Ben is healing up rather quickly
• Ben still mentally owns Locke
• Locke is acting like the new Ben
• Sawyer still hasn't lost his con man tricks
• Miles would forget he ever saw Ben for 3.2 million dollars
• The helicopter never made it to the freighter!

Questions:

• How many Dharma snacks are left on the beach?
• If everyone knows that Oceanic Air 815 crashed on an island and not in the ocean, how was the fake Oceanic Six that was discovered explained?
• Why have the survivors agreed to lie about the details of the crash?
• Who does the public think are the other two people who survived the initial crash aside from the Oceanic Six?
• Are these two people dead?
• Why was Kate so sure she wasn't pregnant? It's only been like a week since she slept with him.
• Who does Miles work for?
  
• Why 3.2 million dollars?
  
• Who IS Ben and what CAN he do?
• Daniel and Charlotte's game of concentration: fun or another test of the island properties?
• What does Locke mean when he says he's "responsible for the well-being of the island?"
• Why did the DA insist that Kate not leaving the state be a part of her deal?
  
• How big was that settlement that Kate can afford a house like that?
• WHAT HAPPENED TO CLAIRE!?!?
• What about Desmond's prediction to Charlie about Claire getting on the helicopter?
• What about the psychic's warning to Claire that she has to raise Aaron or bad thing would happen
  
• Does Jack know that Aaron is his half-nephew at this point?
• Is Aaron one of the Oceanic Six? Technically he wasn't on the plane
  

Movie of the Week: Definitely, Maybe

I should start with a confession. I like Ryan Reynolds. More than I should

I'm not saying I have a man-crush on him. I just like him more than his career thus far should let me.

I liked him in Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place and National Lampoon's Van Wilder but he's made a lot of bad career moves but if you mention that he's in a movie, I'll think, "Oh I liked him as Van Wilder."

So saying all that, this may have colored my impression of the movie but I liked it.

It was cute which is what it was going for.

For a romantic comedy, I didn't want to gouge my eyes out which as a guy is all you really ask for.

Pineapple Express Red Band Trailer

Lost Season Four: "The Economist"

What the FUCK is going on!

What I Liked:

• Sayid makes it off the island. Thank God! Between him and Hurley, I don't care who the rest of the Oceanic Six are
• Three great episodes in a row.
• Lines of the night: Hurley, "Oh awesome, the ship sent us another Sawyer" and "Yeah, I saw you break that guy's neck with that breakdancing thing you do with your legs. I think I'll hang back here."

What I Didn't Like:

• I agree with Ausiello, they have gotten over Charlie's death rather quickly. It hasn't been 24 hours since they found out Charlie's dead.
• Locke hasn't done much to engender the trust his team has put on him.

What We Learned:

Future:

• Sayid pooled his golf lessons from his time on the island.
• Oceanic Six received a large settlement
• Sayid is an assassin/hitman for Ben(!)
• Sayid prefers the "chick" spot in post-coital cuddling
  

Present:

• There was a secret room in Ben's house in Othersville containing a Bourne-like cache of passports and currency
• Sayid's stupidity cost Ben a dollar.
• Sawyer doesn't want to leave the island
• Kate joins Team Locke...for now

Questions:

• What kind of details did "Taller Walt" give Locke regarding the Freighties?
• Who is R.G. (Naomi's bracelet)?
• Why hasn't Sayid been in charge this whole time?
• Did Sayid give up on Nadia?
• Why couldn't Locke find Jacob's cabin (or why is Jacob's cabin not making itself available to Locke)?
• Is Naomi wearing the same braclet as Elsa?
  
• Why is Jeff Fahey the only one of the Freighties listed as a "guest star"? Doesn't bode well for his time on the island?
• Why does Miles care about Locke so much?
• Who is Regina (on the freighter)?
• What does the fact that the beacon was delayed by 31 minutes(!) mean?
• If time is moving slower on the island than in the real world, how are the freighties able to have real-time radio transmissions with the boat?
  
• What exactly is Daniel testing for?
• Considering Sawyer was on the original raft, why does he want to stay on the island now?
• Was Miles kidding when he said "not yet"?
• How did they get Desmond and Penny's photo?
• How often has Ben been off the island with his cache of passports?
• What work does Charlotte have to do on the island?
  
• Why is it important that Frank has to stay on the same bearing he came in on with the helicopter?
• Who did Elsa call after she shot Sayid?
• Does the fact that Ben makes it off the island imply that the Oceanic Six mean more people make if off the island with less fanfare?
• What happened the last time Sayid "thought with his heart instead of his gun"?
• How is Ben protecting Sayid's "friends"?
• Who are the people Ben is having Sayid kill?

A Nice Epilogue to the Giants Super Bowl Win

While we we're celebrating in New York and buying our Giants Super Bowl Champions t-shirts from Modell's, off in the community of San Gregorio, Diriamba, Nicaragua...

Blog of the Day: Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like

I've never felt less black...

Indiana Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer

Oscar Movie of the Week III: Before The Devil Knows Your Dead

If George Costanza was a real person, this would have been his favorite movie of all-time.

Why?

Because Marisa Tomei spends 55% of her onscreen time nude.

I really shouldn't put this with the other Oscar Movie of the Week reviews but if Philip Seymour Hoffman was nominated for this (he wasn't and I wouldn't replace any of those nominated with him), I wouldn't be mad. He was really the stand out.

The film itself was good albeit predictable. I hate it when every little mistake a criminal makes comes back to bite them in the end.

Oscar Movie of the Week II: Michael Clayton

It was a good legal procedural and George Clooney and Tim Wilkinson were very good (especially Wilkinson who was crazy but not too over the top).

But best picture? Really? I mean i liked it well enough but at no point was I thinking, 'Wow, this is one of the five best pictures I saw this year."

Oscar Movie of the Week I: There Will Be Blood

I saw this movie almost a week ago and I couldn't decided whether I loved it or thought it was ridiculous. I've settled on both.

First of all, Daniel Day Lewis is amazing. One of those "Oscar was locked up in the first 30 minutes" typer performances. However, between him and Paul Dano, who was also very good, the performances were so over the top that some scenes were flat out unintentionally hysterical. What didn't help was Lewis was at 15, Dano was at 10 and everyone else at 6-7.

Despite the fact that the story dragged in the middle and in some parts jumped around too much, overall it was very well-made. If I didn't know it was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, I wouldn't know it was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. If No Country For Old Men won Best Picture and he still won Best Director, I wouldn't be mad.

R.I.P. John Alvin

You probably don't know who John Alvin but you know his work.

Here are some of my favorite posters of his...

Lost Season Four: "Confirmed Dead"

What I Liked

• The freighties are here!
• Someone finally asked about the smoke monster

What I Didn't Like

• Jack and Kate weren't inquisitive enough with the freighties
• As much as I love Ben as a character, they really should have killed him by now. Sawyer's right. It's only a matter of time before he betrays them.

What We Learned

• Oceanic 815 was found off the coast of Bali in the Sundra Trench allegedly
• Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies) - physicist*
• "Rescuing you and your people...can't really say that's our primary objective."
• Locke's lack of a kidney saved his life from Ben's gunshot
• Miles Strom (Ken Leung) - exorcist, talks to ghosts
• 324 total passengers on Oceanic 815
• Tell my sister I love her is a code for trouble, Naomi was warning the Freighties
• Charlotte Lewis (Rebecca Mader) - anthropologist
• Charlotte found the remains of a Dharma polar bear in Tunisia
• Frank Lapidus (Jeff Fahay) - pilot, was supposed to be flying Oceanic 815
• Oceanic Air 815 pilot's name was Seth Norris
• Matthew Abbadon put together the team, Naomi was the team leader
• They are here for Benjamin Linus!
• Ben doesn't know about the smoke monster*
• Ben knows the freighties are after him because he has a man on the boat!

Questions

• Why did the discovery of the alleged wreckage of 815 upset Daniel so much?
• Why did Daniel have a gas mask?
• Who does Matthew Abbadon work for?
• Why did Abbadon select a physicist, a ghostbuster, an anthropologist and a former Oceanic pilot for his team?
• Who else is on the freighter?
• What does it mean that the light "doesn't scatter quite right" on the island, according to Daniel
  
• Who is Ben's man on the boat? (I'm guessing Michael)
• How Ben never shoots anyone in the head?
• How come no one ever gets a cold on this island?
• When was that photo of Ben taken? Has he left the island?
  
• That obviously wasn't Oceanic 815 (the full plane was discovered when we know the front of the plane is on the island amongst other things) discovered underwater so what plane was that?

* Could be a lie

I Will Glady Take The 'L' On This

48. ...The New York Giants will never win a Super Bowl with Eli Manning at quarterback.

- Me, 100 Opinions I Hold That Are Open To Discussion

Here are the rest of my photos from the parade

Super Tuesday Is Upon Us

My Favortie Memories #101