it is what it is.

Seven Ways Flashforward Resembles Lost

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0700

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TV addicts already knew that one of the fall season’s most anticipated shows, Flashforward was going to have some similarities to Lost, since ABC desperately needs to find a way to fill the hole left by Lost when it ends in 2010. And they aren’t being shy about the hat tip, either; we saw a couple of Lost references in the form of an ad for Oceanic Six, the doomed airline. We’re sure there were more but we watched it online very late.

We had a serious case of deja vu watching the show, which is set in Los Angeles and based on a sci-fi novel of the same name by Robert J. Sawyer.

1. Two of the Same Awesome Actors. We’re watching and enjoying ourselves and then thought we saw a familiar face. Um, OMG, “What’s Penny doing over there? Where’s Desmond!” Sonia Braga plays a doctor Olivia Benford (she’s Mark’s wife); meanwhile, her accented brethren, Dominic Monaghan (long lost Charlie) is signed on for two eps.

2. The Chaotic Opening with Things Exploding and Fireballs Nearly Missing our Beloved All-Knowing-Must-Save-Everyone-Fearless Leader, Jack Mark.

As FBI agent Mark Benford makes his way in what looks like downtown L.A. —which appears even more apocalyptic than usual, what with the exploding gas tanker trucks, and cars that have piled on top of each other—Mark hears people screaming and crying and runs erratically in all directions trying to save everyone he can find. He’s nearly taken out by an exploding fireball, but survives so that he can become the series leader, telling a bunch of confused people to stay calm and directing them to help while looking kind of frazzled and purposeful.

3. The Character Who We Already Know is Going to Die.

Like Charlie, John Cho’s character Demetri Noh is aware that he might not make it to the fateful date on April 29, 2010, because unlike everyone else, during the blackout, he didn’t see scenes from the future. He saw nothing at all. Desmond in Lost, of course, predicted Charlie’s demise, and tried fruitlessly to prevent it, until Charlie realized that in order for the events on the Island to unfold correctly, he had to die. Will Demetri have a similar realization or will he try to fight it?

4. The Flash Forwards as a Plot Device:

We have to wonder if the Lost folks weren’t given a hefty chunk of change for this bit of intellectual property. Lost fans will recall the finale of Season 3 that revealed the first flashforward was a doozy, totally turning the whole show upside down. (“We have to go back!”) The mystery wasn’t just what happened, but how everyone got there. Flashforward is a little different. People have vague clues that they are piecing together collectively from snapshots in their future memory. However, with Lost, part of the problem is that once we could see how the puzzle was going to be finished, it took the air out of the reveal.

5. The Weird Animal Sighting.

In the downtown is on fire scene, Mark is basically harried, but normal, considering that hell has just frozen over, until he comes across something that literally stops him dead in his tracks. We waited as the camera panned over and thought, “SMOKEY IS THAT YOU? (Smoke monster!)” Nope, just a kangaroo, which apparently either hopped itself all the way over from Australia or was transported in a time traveling wormhole ala the polar bears in Lost. Also: the kangaroo/Australian connection is another hat tip to Lost, which is where flight Oceanic 815 was headed when it crashed in the Island.

6. The Previously Hopeless Character with a Renewed Sense of Purpose (and Maybe Even a Second Life).

At the beginning of the ep, we see a young doctor, Bryce Varley, played by Zachary Knighton, standing on a pier by the beach, holding a gun up to his chin about to shoot his head off. Then everyone goes blackout and he wakes up to see that a little boy in the water needs help, and jumps to his rescue. Later, he confides to Sonia Braga’s character Olivia, that he was about to commit suicide, but during the blackout, he saw his future and it was good, very very good. If we were the betting types, we’d call this the John Locke character. When Locke arrived on the Island his paralysis was miraculously cured, and the formerly depressed man had a renewed sense of life and vigor. And like Locke, Bryce seems to be game to save people; will he be the one to challenge Mark in the future? And what does Locke-tk say to Braga during his confession: “Whatever I was thinking about doing, obviously wasn’t meant to happen.” To which we say, “Uh-oh. This feels awfully familiar.”

7. Fate and Destiny vs. Free Will.

Remember when Hurley explains to everyone that the future can’t be changed, that no matter what they do, what is supposed to happen will happen. Mark and his sobriety sponsor Aaron have nearly the inverse conversation. Mark wonders if because he saw himself in his flashforward as being a drunk again, if there’s nothing he can do about it, and demurs. “Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Maybe because you saw it, you can change it. What if you can, you know ghost of Christmas future crap.” Ever the skeptic, Aaron answers, “What if I can’t?” Well, we’ll say this: that’s not very Jack-like of him.

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This Is Why Sasha Grey Seems Like a Genius

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:40:23 -0700

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/17/pleasure-business-of-porn_n_237452.html

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Michael Emerson is Better Than All These Fools

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 10:30:59 -0700

Just give the man an Emmy already. He deserved it for Season Four of Lost, and they slept o that, but it’s really never to late to honor the best villain on television. No one does creepy and campy better than Michael Emerson. Sing it!

Who he’s up against: (nothing!)

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Christian Clemenson, Boston Legal
Michael Emerson, Lost
William Hurt, Damages
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
William Shatner, Boston Legal
John Slattery, Mad Men

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0„20045108_20045123_20291534_2,00.html

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My love for Mickey Rourke, just got even bigger. Mickey Rourke...

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:02:03 -0800

My love for Mickey Rourke, just got even bigger.

Mickey Rourke Acceptance Speech Best Male Lead Film Independent’s Spirit Awards 2009 (via schnauzerlogic)

"She said Balfour has a alibi, he was with one of his three girlfriends the night of the slaying."

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:16:14 -0800

“She said Balfour has a alibi, he was with one of his three girlfriends the night of the slaying.”

"On the aforementioned “Sorry,” Rose suddenly sings an otherwise innocuous line..."

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:30:30 -0800

“On the aforementioned “Sorry,” Rose suddenly sings an otherwise innocuous line (“But I don’t want to do it”) in some bizarre, quasi-Transylvanian accent, and I cannot begin to speculate as to why. I mean, one has to assume Axl thought about all of these individual choices a minimum of a thousand times over the past 15 years. Somewhere in Los Angles, there’s gotta be 400 hours of DAT tape with nothing on it except multiple versions of the “Sorry” vocal. So why is this the one we finally hear? What finally made him decide, “You know, I’ve weighed all my options and all their potential consequences, and I’m going with the Mexican vampire accent.”

- Chuck Klosterman reviews Chinese Democracy | The A.V. Club

What homophobes look like. via www.latimes.com

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:19:07 -0800

What homophobes look like.

via www.latimes.com

"Patrick Campbell worries Barack Obama will raise his taxes but thinks John McCain will send people..."

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 09:34:27 -0700

“Patrick Campbell worries Barack Obama will raise his taxes but thinks John McCain will send people off to war. He says that leaves him leaning toward Obama … maybe.”

- My Way News - AP poll: 1 in 7 voters still persuadable

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES

"Even so, Ms. Maddow said, she has finally committed to getting a set, primarily so that her..."

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:44:48 -0700

“Even so, Ms. Maddow said, she has finally committed to getting a set, primarily so that her companion can watch her program.”

- A Fresh Face on Cable, Rachel Maddow Produces a Sharp Rise in MSNBC Ratings - NYTimes.com

Seriously, can’t we just say, “girlfriend?” Who wouldn’t want to be Rachel Maddow’s girlfriend!

"Obama’s had another advantage in these debates, one that is difficult to quantify but very..."

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:50:19 -0700

“Obama’s had another advantage in these debates, one that is difficult to quantify but very real: he simply seems more comfortable, and confident, than McCain. Part of this is, sadly, attributable to the physical awkwardness imposed by McCain’s war wounds and his bouts with cancer — the restricted arm movements; the scarred, clenched jaw. But there is also a pent-up anger to McCain. He seems to be concentrating so hard on trying to stay calm that he doesn’t have much energy left over to answer questions in a free and creative way. He is not the sort of person, in the end, that you want to invite into your living room for a four-to-eight-year stay. Barack Obama is. We are witnessing something remarkable here: Obama’s race is receding as he becomes more familiar. His steadiness has trumped his skin color; he is being judged on the content of his character.”

- The Obama Surge: Will It Last? - TIME

"He’s a great debater, and he looks pretty doggone confident,” Gov. Sarah Palin said of her opponent."

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:28:02 -0700

““He’s a great debater, and he looks pretty doggone confident,” Gov. Sarah Palin said of her opponent.”

- The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia

[Ed Note: who TALKS like this anymore?]

"Given the past week, the debate should have been a cinch for Obama. But, just as in the primaries,..."

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:53:31 -0700

“Given the past week, the debate should have been a cinch for Obama. But, just as in the primaries, he willfully refuses to accept what debates are about. It’s not a lecture hall; it’s a joust. It’s not how cerebral you are. It’s how visceral you are. You need memorable, sharp, forceful and witty lines.”

- Op-Ed Columnist - Sound, but No Fury - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

"Doctors remove benign lesion from Bush’s forehead"

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:38:21 -0700

“Doctors remove benign lesion from Bush’s forehead”

- I’m pretty sure that’s called his brain.

Doctors remove benign lesion from Bush’s forehead

"Back and Forth on Prop. 8 The presidential election is now being viewed via the prism of Sen. John..."

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:50:25 -0700

“Back and Forth on Prop. 8
The presidential election is now being viewed via the prism of Sen. John McCain’s choice for VP, Gov. Sarah Palin. This election can now be defined as pre-Palin and post-Palin. Plus: Prop. 8 attracts wads of money on both sides of the fence, schools weigh in on same-sex marriage, and Chicago looks to be getting a GLBT-only high school.”

Video

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:19:38 -0700

via Kitchenpundit.com via www.popandpolitics.com

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 15:17:08 -0700

via Kitchenpundit.com via www.popandpolitics.com

Heroes. via d.yimg.com

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:50:08 -0700

Heroes.

via d.yimg.com

Making fun of community organizers is like hitting a puppy.

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:18:06 -0700

Making fun of community organizers is like hitting a puppy.

": “As a representative of the global community, a visitor from abroad, I don’t want to..."

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:14:27 -0700

“: “As a representative of the global community, a visitor from abroad, I don’t want to come across a little bit biased, but could I please ask of you, people of America, please elect Barack Obama, please, on behalf of the world. “Some people, I think they’re called racists, say America is not ready for a black president. “But I know America to be a forward thinking country because otherwise why would you have let that retard and cowboy fella be president for eight years. “We were very impressed. We thought it was nice of you to let him have a go, because, in England, he wouldn’t be trusted with a pair of scissors.””

- Russell Brand upsets MTV audience with sex and politics - Telegraph

"He called former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani “the most underqualified man since George Bush to..."

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 13:11:22 -0700

“He called former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani “the most underqualified man since George Bush to seek the presidency…Rudy Giuliani, there’s only three things he mentions in a sentence — a noun, and a verb and 9/11.” (”

- P.U.M.A