That's Funny, Cause He WAS Shakespeare!

I wonder if that line was written because Joseph Fiennes was Shakespeare...in Love.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: I Spy...

So, I have a really busy weekend — tons of writing to do for classes/midterms next week. However, I had to take a moment for a post I've been wanting to do for a long time.

I'm very easily excitable and have a real knack for recognizing faces and voices of actors. Put the two together and you get random bursts of squealing from me whenever I spot an actor who shows up in several shows I love. It's been happening a lot recently: I rewatched an episode of Life and noticed the actor playing a homeless man is also Sheriff Dearborne on True Blood, and then I also remembered he was Oldmann, the truth-serum making Dharma-version-of-Sayid on Lost. And the woman who plays Jessica on True Blood, Deborah Ann Woll, was also on an episode of Life. Exciting stuff (if you're me)!

What tipped the scale in favor of writing this post was the appearance of three brand-spanking new SQUEEE moments on Thursday's episode of FlashForward*. First, Joseph Fiennes' character's AA sponsor talks to a bartender (who's just serving him soda) who turns out to be Cassidy, aka Sawyer's baby-mama, on Lost. Then Joseph Fiennes' wife on the show — played by Penny from Lost — is randomly having lunch with Zoe from Firefly**. Those were pretty neat moments for me, but the pièce de résistance was noticing that the German security officer was played by they guy who was Captain Englehorn in Peter Jackson's King Kong (though it's not a TV show connection, it still counts as excitement in my book).

* I really feel like FlashForward is just one big modge-podge of actors from other projects. I know actors have almost always been in other projects before, but this show is full of them. The FBI LA office director was the chief on Law & Order: CI, Joseph Fiennes is Shakespeare in Love (and should NOT be talking with an American accent), his wife is Penny*** from Lost, the other FBI agent is Harold from Harold and Kumar, the man Penny is going to have an affair with is Commodore Norrington from Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.

** Though FlashForward revolves around an interesting concept and has some funny moments, I think my inability to remember characters' names and only refer to them by the actor's name or a different character they've played is a bad sign that I'm not invested in the show.

*** Seriously, she will always be Penny.

9/22: The Day of Supplication to the TV Gods!

I was just coming back from an event at Church, when I ran into my friend, Kelly (Paul). We chatted for a minute before she said, "Oh, and Happy Hobbit Day."

"What?" I said.

"Hobbit Day," Kelly said, expecting me to already know.

After a moment, I suddenly realized. "September 22, yes!" I said with glee. "Happy birthday Bilbo and Frodo!"

But then, a strange sensation came over me. I went back, remembering...

WWWOOOOSSHHHH

September 22, 2004. It was a simpler time. I was just starting my sophomore year in high school. The Red Sox were only just in the running for the wild-card race - again. My sister had just started her freshman year at Fairfield. We had just gotten a new couch in the den where our TV is. And there was a hole in the television landscape where Friends and Frasier had been.

Then, at 8 pm, everything changed.



Feel free to watch the whole episode over again. I'll wait. Because it's worth it.

Beautiful, ain't it?

WWWWOOOSSSSHHHHH

Back in the present day, I begin to squeal uncontrollably.

That's right. Happy Lost Day everyone! Five years ago today ABC brought us what is arguably one of the most important shows in the last decade, if not the history of prime-time TV. Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on a strange Island. They were not rescued. They heard a monster. Jack was a doctor with control issues. Kate was a fugitive with a heart of gold. Charlie sang "You all everybody" and gave up drugs. Sawyer was a wise-ass con-man. Hurley was a chill dude except when the numbers were involved. Sayid was an Iraqi tech guy looking for love. Claire was pregnant with possibly a magic child. Jin was Korean and seemed mean to his wife. Sun was the stifled Korean wife who secretly spoke English. Michael was the rash father. Walt was his "special" son. John Locke was the wise bald man who used to be paralyzed. Boone was the do-gooder rich boy. Shannon was his spoiled step-sister. Vincent was the yellow lab. Rose was the spiritual older woman who believed her husband - also on the plane - survived.

What a simpler time it was! The cast aways were concerned about where the water was coming from, what they should do with the fuselage. There were no Others, no distinct knowledge of Smokey. No Dharma, no hatches (at least not the interiors), no buttons to push, no shootings, no Benjamin Linus, no ageless Richard, no time-bending/nose-bleeding, no Freighter invasions, no getting back to the Island, no flashes besides those that when back, no giant statues, and definitely no Jacob.

Though events on Lost have gotten quite complicated, it's still a character-driven show with all the big questions of life and death in this extreme situation. The bigger meanings are the subject of many theorizings — Doc Jensen is my personal favorite, especially his (and Dan Snierson's) Totally Lost videos — but I've never had the head for figuring out that stuff by myself. I just love the complex people that have been created, their interactions with each other, how they have grown and changed, and what they are willing to do in the crazy world that is the Island.*

There's also a lot of fun that happens on the show and because of Lost. Here are my personal favorites:

Charlie's physical comedy when trying not to read the kidnapped Claire's diary. It's so simple, yet sweet, endearing, and still makes me laugh.



"What?" It needs no more explanation. Ben has the best ones. Obvs.



Another compilation that makes my heart very happy, because it's Sawyer-centric. The nicknames are very inventive, which is a credit to the writers, but Josh Holloway's deliveries make them more than just witty, they become sublime. This is seasons 1-3, for seasons 4-5, see here.



My favorite fake video is a classic from season 1, but it still makes me laugh soooo much. "You know what, I'm sensitive to you."



Lost Rhapsody originally came from the first season, with the use of cutouts and Weird Al's version of "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Bohemian Polka." Though the original was great because it was the first, the second's beautiful rotoscoping and spot-on lyrics make it just that little bit better.



That's a heck of a lot of videos (and I could easily add at least 3 more). But I'll just leave this little taste, and let you look around for yourselves. It's the least we can do to celebrate the wonderful contribution to arts and entertainment that Lost will always be.

* Also, Josh Holloway is a great, and greatly attractive, actor. Those gratuitous shirtless scenes make all the bad worth it.

** We cannot forget Hobbit Day as well. Here's a video that addresses both joyous occasions to celebrate this day.

I Want My 'Bones' Right Now!

I hear this Bones teaser trailer for the new fifth (fifth?!) season has been out for a little bit. But a perfect storm of interruptions — moving back into college, the Bones Hulu page for some awful reason not wanting to play anything, most of the campus' internet going out over the weekend — prevented me from seeing it until just time moment. And my, what a wonderful thing it is. There is honestly nothing I do not like about it, from the delightful intro by Glee's Jane Lynch (though I personally feel a bit lukewarm about that show, any dose of Jane Lynch is a good dose of Jane Lynch), to the underground death pit (not that I like death, but it's a fresh kind of murder-site).

Enjoy!



Looks like serious fun! And from what I hear, the premiere is typical Bonesian fun. This trailer also taught me a valuable lesson, for just when I thought the most attractive Boreanaz could get was sporting a big ol' smile and a sharp suit, here he is sporting a big ol' smile and some delicious scruff.

Which is the best Boreanaz look? Discuss.

Pet Peeves: Inaccurate Pictures

I first saw the term "pet peeve" in The Simpsons Forever! book - and I initially thought it had to do with pets. I still don't know quite where the term comes from, but now I know that it basically means "things that annoy me." And that pet peeves are my specialty. From my mother's CHHMMM EEEEMMMGGGMM throat-clearing to anyone who throws away food.

So, one of my irrational pet peeves is mislabeled/misrepresented entertainment information. And Hulu, though I love it so, just committed a major boo-boo. In the scrolling list of recent Hulu additions there is a page for Lost: Season 1 (above). Yet clearly Desmond, Juliet, Ben, Daniel, and Miles (hiding behind the title) were NOT in Season 1. Judging by those characters and the lack of certain others I'd say this is either Season 4 or 5, probably 5. This happened in a previous Hulu ad for Lost: Season 1 showing a promotional shot for Season 2. I could forgive that, because most of the characters were the same. But using Season 4/5 is a huge discretion in time. Fail, Hulu.

Fail.

Hulu, once Again You Rock My Heart! This Time, to Space(ed)!!

I've heard that some people get into relationships with their DVRs. They record things you love, suggest others you might, and when they're temperamental, your whole world smashes to pieces.

Well, I wouldn't know. But what I DO know is that I think I'm starting to fall in love with Hulu. Sure, I've been expounding its virtues for a long time, but that was more like a bit of a crush. But after logging in today and watching the flipping menu to see what new offerings there were, what should I behold? Only one of my favorite. Shows. Ever. No, not Lost (there's a good chance they should be there soon though). Nor Arrested Development (they're already there). Or Firefly (again, Hulu's already got it). Its Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes nee Stevenson's amazing Channel 4 1999-2001 series Spaced, about a pair of new friends who pretend to be dating in order to get a flat.

To celebrate/entice additional obsessees, here's an admittedly longis clip (this is showing a lot of restraint). Hopefully you'll enjoy. If not, well, let's say irreverent modern British humor is not everyone's cup of tea.

Can Robert Downey, Jr. Star In Every Summer Movie Season?

There's no use denying my crush on Robert Downey, Jr. Even back in his unfortunate, so-glad-you've-recovered druggie days, he was devastatingly charming as Ally McBeal's short-term boyfriend. But since the amazingness that was Iron Man, I just can't get enough RDJ. Tropic Thunder was not a huge opportunity to see His Hottness underneath all that makeup, but oh boy, did we get to see his intense, hilarious, Oscar-nomination-worthy acting chops — which IMHO is just as sexy as his chiseled features.

Obviously, I was more than happy to finally be able to see the trailer for the Guy Ritchie-directed, RDJ, Jude Law, and Rachel McAdams-starring Sherlock Holmes.



My first thoughts during the trailer were "Oh, so this is going to be just your average Guy Ritchie movie? (which I'm not the biggest fan of)" There were a lot of explosions, and RDJ's accent didn't seem quite right. But then about the 1:32 mark, with the intense music, things start getting really good. I love the sideways shot of Rachel — I have a real softspot for sideways shots, maybe it's the use of the widescreen to frame things in an interesting way — the defeated way Sherlock throws the tiny sledgehammer (oxymoron?) at the Giant-man's chest with no affect, and the "pillow" line. Priceless. Can it be July 24th already?*

And next summer RDJ's going to be in Iron Man 2. Really, he should be in every summer.

* Obviously it did not come out this summer. But I still cannot wait, now for December!