pop-culture for the people

(BEWARE MATEY’S, THERE BE SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Six years and 6 months ago I was fortunate enough to have accidentally stumbled over some new TV show simply labeled “Lost” on a file sharing system.  I’m typically in the know regarding new television shows and movies in production however this time I was completely in the dark.  I had downloaded an early version of the show that didn’t yet have all the titles or special effects in place yet.  However it was immediately apparent this was something big, something different.  I went online and found some other people who had seen the same leaked video and the buzz that was beginning.  At this time JJ Abrams, though known for Felicity and Alias,  was not yet a hot property.  So it was quite a surprise to find that ABC had commissioned him to create the most expensive television pilot episode ever made.

The first two seasons of the show, the first episode in particular, was probably one of the most mesmerizing I’ve ever seen.  The intriguing plot, interesting characters and mystery of everything was so hypnotic it was hard not to get wrapped up in the story and people.  However there were some ups and downs in the seasons.  Season three drifted astray for a while, though it did get Brian K. Vaughn (Y The Last Man) as a head writer and he stayed on through season 5.  I’ve been pretty dismissive of this entire last season in general.  Season after season we asked Where are we?  What’s in the hatch?  Who are the Dharma Initiative? Will Des find Penny? and questions went on and on.  As the final season neared to a close it became more apparent that the questions didn’t seem to be leading to any real resolution.  Instead it only introduced more new questions.

“You know when I used to get high, I’d watch nature programs on the Beeb. Polar bears are meant to be quite clever, very clever. They’re like the Einstein’s of the bear community.”

By the time the final episode came a long I was getting very nervous about how it would all end.  Unfortunately the critics were right all along, they had no idea where any of this was going.  We were all so worried that the show so known for cliffhanger season finales would end the series with us hanging.  Instead of giving us a cliffhanger they just kicked us over the cliff.  In the end the creative team of writers basically answered all the hanging questions with a “Meh, doesn’t really matter.  Just enjoy your time together eating coconuts, picking on the fat kid, and fighting unexplained monsters because in the end that’s all that really matters.”  The final 5 minutes of the last episode is just a cast reunion in some random Unitarian church (notably missing are Michael, Waaaaaaalllt and Vincent).

So that’s what we are left with.  No it isn’t as bad as the ending of Battlestar Galactica (which was pretty bad in my opinion), nor did it have the sad and slow fizzling out of The X-Files, The Sopranos (lame, loose cop out ending), Star Trek Enterprise (a holodeck. . . really?), 24 (people that thought Bauer was going to die are suckers.  It was obvious 24’s heading for movies).  How about some shows that had half way decent endings?  Life on Mars was a short lived American version of an English show that had a half decent ending like Jericho a show so loved by fans the network brought the show back to give it a proper, though short ending.  Or Dollhouse, which also had a short but decent ending.

“Look, I don’t know about you, but things have really sucked for me lately, and I could really use a victory. So let’s get one, dude! Let’s get this car started. Let’s look Death in the face and say, ‘Whatever, man!’”

The writing team could have given us a better ending if they had actually cared enough to write a framework for the story to begin with.  Interview after interview with the producers there were promises that there were real reasons for everything that happened.  In the end most of it was just a lie because they realized they could write anything and wave their hand later using a little Jedi mind trickery.  To all the folks that said “they really couldn’t have ended it any other way” I say bollocks.  Though I admit by writing themselves into a corner they were more likely to give us a crap ending.

The X-Files creator Chris Carter wanted to give a proper end to the show at season 5.  The network pressed for more and so began the slow fizzle.  With Lost it seems like ABC knew they had a hit and wanted to keep it a hit for as long as they could dangle the carrot and people were willing to follow without seeing the string.  They succeeded in giving us 5 years of amazing television entertainment that will be remembered for years to come.  And a final season that should otherwise be forgotten like the Matrix sequels, brutha.

If you want to a good list of questions that were never answered, watch this.  And a note on the post credits stinger weirdness.

It’s been a rough a rough couple of weeks to be a celebrity!  Who’s next?  Tony Danza?  Paris Hilton?  Yolanda Vega?!  Nobody is safe!

First we’ve got David Carradine who was apparently into some seriously kinky kungfuckery.  Turns out it was his own Five Fingers of Death that done him in.  Unless of course you believe the nonsense his family claims he was trying to uncover some deadly undercover kung fu assassins (no I’m not making this shit up!).

Then Ed McMahon (who now rests peacefully in a hermetically sealed mayonnaise jar, never before seen by human eyes, sealed by Funk and Wagnall’s on their porch since noon today) cashed in his oversized price check a few days ago.  Hopefully he’s playing second fiddle to God these days:

Farrah Fawcett, who lets face it, was famous more for her ability to create many an awkward teenage-boy violation-of-personal-privacy when bedroom doors were opened without knocking, than her ability to fight crime.  I can think of worse ways to go but jeeze, anal cancer?  That’s seriously right up there.

Michael Jackson moon walked off stage and was Gone Too Soon.

And to wrap it all up BILLY MAYS died today too.  I get a sneaking suspicion that heaven is fairly squeaky clean (no nead for Orange Glo, OxiClean or Zorbeez) so I hope he finds a hobby for eternity.  If anything I would have thought Vince “Sham Wow” would have slapchopped his way into the hereafter first (rather than slapchopping hookers).  I guess we’ll be seeing fewer of these great parody videos:

I really hope that’s it for now.  A little too much celebrity death for my liking.  May they all rest in peace.

Film has the power to make us feel and think.  There are many fantastic moments since the dawn of film.  Here’s my top 5 moments in film.  At least the ones I can think of at the moment!

Please note: There are SPOILERS aplenty in this article so if you haven’t seen these movies beware!

5. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

The ending.  Close tie with the ending (similar in many respects) of Fight Club.

How do you end one of the most interesting black comedy political satire films?  Blow up the world!  Nuclear mutually assured destruction paired with Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again”; it’s a thing of beauty.  The ending was mirrored closely with the ending of Fight Club though with a very different meaning and way of getting there.

Fun Fact: Slim Pickens was not told this film was to be a satire.  He was instructed to play his character straight.

4. Bladerunner (1982)

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.”

Okay this scene is towards the end of the film and it’s the end of a confrontation between the main antagonist Roy Batty, a “replicant” (a cyborg of sorts) and the protagonist Deckard who’s job it is to hunt rogue replicants.  The replicants have a built in life span and Roy knows his expiration date is about up.  Like humans he wants to understand why they must die and does everything he can to forestall the inevitable.  Ultimately he realizes the futility and accepts his fate.

It’s a surprisingly touching moment for science fiction movie scene between a cop and a robot.  It’s about realizing your mortality and knowing that your memories and life experience will die with you.  Perhaps if Roy spent some of his time writing a therapeutic autobiography instead of staring at interstellar construction yards he wouldn’t have spent the last moments of his life killing people.

3. A Trip To The Moon (Le Voyage dans la lune) (1902)

About halfway into the film when the astronauts land on the moon.  It’s a great scene and one of the most memorable in early film as it is a creative mix of special effects and science fiction with a true narrative (albeit simple).  Watch below or download it here.

Fun Facts: If you were watching MTV during the 90’s you will find this film familiar as the Smashing Pumpkins recreated it for their Tonight, Tonight video.

For those interested in absurdism you might be interested to know that it is also one of the first examples of ‘pataphysics in film.

2. THIS IS CINERAMA (1952)

The Atom Smasher roller coaster scene.  Now I’m not old enough to have seen the roller coaster scene when it first came out but I’ve heard from several people who did that it was breathtaking.  I’ve seen the scene for myself in a clip on the Blu-Ray of How The West Was Won on my big screen TV at home.  It’s an exciting thrill ride on a roller coaster.  If you can imagine watching a screen that is three full size movie theatre screens wide you can start to imagine the experience.

Cinerama was a brand new experience to most movie goers when it debuted in 1952.  In the same way IMAX changed the way films are made and projected Cinerama used three massive synchronized cameras aligned to create a widescreen view of the film.  It was incredibly expensive to make films (as well as project them) so there weren’t many made in the early 3 camera process.  A later process was developed that used a single camera (and single theatre projector) that brought the cost down.

Film started in a square picture format, closer to standard definition television.  Today we take for granted the widescreen format of movies.  Even our televisions are now widescreen (with the transition to widescreen HDTV).  So the next time you are bragging to your friends about your new widescreen home theatre setup thank Cinerama for popularizing the idea of widescreen.

This Is Cinerama was not a particularly great film in that there really isn’t a story, it is essentially a technology demo.  It did however change the way films are made and viewed forever.  Unfortunately the film is not available on home video nor film for that matter.  It was left in legal limbo and it is unknown what will happen to it.  You can see parts of the film and get an idea of the process from the How The West Was Won Blu-Ray though.

Fun Facts: The craze of -orama names like Bowlorama, Discorama etc. were all the result of the popularity of Cinerama.

The Atom Smasher roller coaster was located at Rockaways’ Playland in Queens, NY.  It was torn down in the 80’s and a housing development sits there now.

1. What’s Up Tiger Lily? (1966)

“Woody, would you explain the plot to the audience?”

Okay this is my favorite moment in film history and it’s a great but silly one.  It was during the height of the cold war.  The first four Bond movies had recently been released and spy thrillers were massive box office smashes.  What’s Up Tiger Lily? started as a sloppy Japanese Bond knockoff Woody Allen bought the rights to and redubbed and reedited into a spy film spoof.

We’ve been introduced to our hero, Phil Moscowitz who finds himself in the middle of a plot to steal the recipe for the world’s greatest egg salad from a gangster.  Cut throughout the film are crazy song and dance numbers by the Lovin’ Spoonful.  No, I’m not making this up.  It’s just as weird and wonderful as it sounds.  Then in the middle of the film the movie breaks to an interview with Woody Allen.  The interviewer asks Woody Allen if he would explain just what the hell is going on here.  Woody then simply says, “NO”.  The movie immediately continues its sillyness.

This moment is great because Woody recognizes the insanity but instead of hitting the audience with a sledgehammer of plot he simply says, “figure it out your own damn self”.  How many times do you get frustrated when someone watches a movie and later complains they didn’t get it?  “Star Wars was confusing, I didn’t get it.  Explain to me what happened?”.  NO.

Fun Facts:  Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (and RiffTrax) is in many ways a direct result of this film.

A year later Woody Allen would join a group of comedy heavyweights to help write the original film Casino Royale, a Bond spoof.  Though that film does actually use and name the character James Bond it exists somewhere outside of the realm of Bond canon.

HAVE YOUR OWN TOP MOMENTS IN FILM?  Let us know in the comments!