Lost Again: Season 1, Episodes 5-8

By on Jul 14, 2010 in Recaps |

I’m on a quest to re-watch every episode of Lost, one per day. As I polish off each DVD, I’ll post my thoughts on the episodes contained therein. “White Rabbit” SYNOPSIS: After Jack fails to rescue a survivor swept out to sea, he becomes frustrated with how everyone is looking to him for leadership. He chases the hallucination of his father into the jungle and narrowly avoids death when Locke saves him from plunging off a cliff. Locke tells him that maybe the hallucination of his father means something and tells Jack to continue on his quest. The hallucination leads Jack to a source of freshwater, where he also finds his father’s coffin—empty. Meanwhile, the survivors turn on one another when the water supply gets critically low. Jack returns just in time to quell the conflict and to tell people that they need to start living together or else they’ll...

Lost Again: Season 1, Episodes 1-4

By on Jul 10, 2010 in Recaps |

I’m on a quest to re-watch every episode of Lost, one per day. As I polish off each DVD, I’ll post my thoughts on the episodes contained therein. “Pilot, Part 1” SYNOPSIS: In the aftermath of the horrific crash of Oceanic 815, the survivors recuperate while wondering both about the possibility of rescue and about the ruckus in the jungle. Jack, Kate, and Charlie set out to find the cockpit. They find the pilot, miraculously alive, who tells them that they were a thousand miles off-course at the time of the crash. The monster comes back and kills the pilot, while the three other survivors escape with their lives. THOUGHTS: A hell of a way to start a series. In the beginning, everything was so simple: it was just a survival show. Who at the time could have conceived the scope of the drama, mystery, and emotion to come? J.J. Abram directs with tautness and...

Oscar, Plain and Tall

By on Mar 8, 2010 in Recaps |

I had intended to “live-blog” the Oscars last night, but technical difficulties totally cock-blocked that idea. So instead I’m “live-plus-same-day-blogging” it, to borrow a Nielsen term. I was very excited to see this year’s broadcast because it seemed to have a lot more hype and energy than broadcasts past—and because director/choreographer/SYTYCD-judge Adam Shankman was producing. But it didn’t seem outstanding to me—just ordinary. I’ll explain: Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin were good hosts, but the jokes weren’t as hilarious as I was expecting. And their opening monologue was upstaged by Neil Patrick Harris’s song-and-dance. Next year, I vote Ricky Gervais. Or, for that matter, Tina Fey and Robert Downey, Jr. I’m glad the Legion of Extraordinary Dancers were featured during the Best Score pastiche, but their...

2009 Emmys: My Recap

By on Sep 22, 2009 in Recaps | 3 comments

Now that I’ve finally watched the last hour of the 61st Annual Emmy Awards, I can confidently say that this year’s broadcast was one of the best in recent history. And here are my favorite aspects of the big show: Neil Patrick Harris. Coming off of last year’s terrible hosting job by otherwise talented reality-TV hosts, Neil Patrick Harris did a hell of a job as emcee. I haven’t seen much of his work, but I enjoyed his jokes, his reverence for television, and especially… The opening number, in which he poked fun at the industry and at viewers, hit on both Christina Hendricks and Jon Hamm, and blazed through a long list of television networks in record time (begging for “Oxygen” by the end!). Props to Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman for writing the number. The set. Not only was the band onstage, but the control room was, too. Fitting—and cool....