Spoiler heavy review below the break

The main question bothering me at this point is that we have passed through a number of ‘days’ or whatever passes for days now on the Island this season, and been following events in LA and elsewhere in the real world 3 years later. Of course we don’t know ‘when’ the island is, but we know that whatever is happening back there as the events in LA occur, Desmond has had a flashback to send him hunting for Faraday’s mother and Ben is suddenly working towards a deadline. I feel I need to keep reminding myself of this and if at some point the groups are reunited, I don’t want to feel cheated by a huge chunk of events on the Island being glanced over. As ever, the way events unfurl this may not become an issue.

This week, left Desmond out of proceedings, returned to the point where we left the Oceanic 6 and the survivors on the Island were continuing to struggle with their ever changing situations and how their bodies were reacting. The end of the episode delivered perhaps the most inevitable twist of the year – that a favourite character, Jin, was still alive. If only Sun knew that her intention of seeking revenge for Jin’s death was unnecessary and more likely to keep them apart. The episode ended as if it had delivered a shock, but anyone some way invested in the show, will be able to guess that a group of French people washed up on the island is likely to have Danielle Rousseau amongst their party. Jin of course, who has to date been floating on a door is entitled to be shocked. The events of the series are proving a way of investing us in the history of the Island. Sawyer witnessing the birth of Aaron was a nice touch, and tied all the events of the episode together. The conveniently timed flashes and the terrible aim of the survivors assailants are starting to seem a bit contrived. Also, I’m newly confused about the time travel aspect – where have Rose and Bernard gone? – their futures have played a part in the past of the island. Faraday is clearly suspicious of this wondering have those around him been on the island previously – at least this is my reading. Also, I’m trying to recall past episodes to wonder did Rousseau ever make a reference to meeting Jin, the same question applying to Whitmore and John Locke when they met in the past last week.

As for events in LA, why did Ben so openly admit to taking legal proceedings against Kate – its certainly a method of intimidating her into returning the Island, however the power of this manipulation is surely gone having told her. Also, is the lawyer acting on behalf of more than 1 Lost character a coincidence? It’s Lost – so most likely not! We left things with 5 of the 6 in close proximity to each other – the most immediate road-blocks they have is Hurley being in jail, though there seems to be some behind the scene manipulation going on as ever, and of course Sun is intent on killing Ben. She must have hired an incredibly effective detective agency, that can keep track of Benjamin Linus, and also one that supply guns in chocolate boxes.

A satisfactory episode on all, I’m gripped to each so far this season and think that maybe after 5 years the style of the show has finally broken me, or maybe my overdriven attempts to interpret each episode and review them here has given them new weight. Episode 4, no complaints.

Importantly, the merits of ‘Lost’ has passed Tuathal by and this has been to the detrminent of his quality of life. Tuathal has agreed to watch the season opener so that he can see the error of his ways. We also lost Simon along the way, he at one time a fan, is no longer committed. Hopefully he will find his way back. I’m thinking some episode reviews might be in order. Here are some previews of the episode.

Watch all the Watchmen previews released to date including the latest full length trailer that lets you in on some plot – here. I’m not a fan of slo-mo but apart from that proceedings look excellent.

Whiskey in the Jar

The year in film to date marked a true highpoint around Oscar time and now has lulled into a world where ‘Meet the Spartans’ topped the US box office in the past few weeks. In the midst of any tacograph of creativity there is usually some talent worth watching but in an age of as much production being leant to marketing as the quality of movies I can’t help but look for that great white hope of ideas and talent. One director I am really enjoying is Marc Foster, who has shown tremendous diversity in delivering the wonderful ‘Finding Neverland’, the sombre ‘Monsters Ball’ and you can’t but be intrigued by the potential of him being at the helm of the new Bond. J.J. Abrams is working consistently in the background of a number of TV shows and some large scale movie projects but I can’t help but feel there are only some few degrees of separation between him and the output of Jerry Bruckheimer, while Zac Helm heralded as the second coming after the over rated ‘Stranger than Fiction’, has yet to deliver upon any early promise and M. Night Shyamalan proved to be a one trick pony with an indecipherable name. Readers, what I am missing in my life is a Joss Whedon-type or better yet some new material from Joss Whedon.

Before I get into my praising of Joss Whedon and his stellar work, if any of this seems fanboyish then so be it – he rocks. And on. Whedon is perhaps his own worst enemy, his departure from the Wonderwoman project was said to be acrimonious and his relationship with the powers that be were strained from the beginning. Too big a project to be left to his own devices as essentially happened on ‘Serenity’ his delayed delivery of a story that sought to introduce a complex character within complex surrounds did not meet the rote franchise superhero formula required of him. We may think the school boy crushes and frustrations of wealthy billionaires are complex but not when you consider them within the context of the layers Whedon has added to the superheros he has created. After 7 years of TV, he still managed to mine worlds of emotion, humour and challenge from the characters in ‘Buffy: The Vampire Slayer’. It was a treat to watch some of the moments of the final series tie back beautifully to the original themes of the show reminding us of how rich a show Whedon created. So too in ‘Firefly’ there was the production value of a movie put into 12 half hours of television and they rank as some of the funniest and best made television I have watched. Whedon expounds on the philosophy behind his storytelling in this interview, this excerpt on is opinion of spoilers describing exactly what I admire in his work:

It’s the idea of surprise being the point of storytelling, and the most honest emotion, because it’s truly humbling. Surprise means you have to reassess what you thought. It means that you were wrong about the way things were structured, and that’s exciting, and really important. It also makes for a good story. I mean, The Sixth Sense is fine the second time around, but honestly, the first time around, it’s dazzling. When it matters, when it makes a difference, letting a story happen to you, letting a narrative take place instead of just waiting for placeholders is a better experience, and it feeds you. We need narrative, it feeds us in a particular way, and deconstructing it completely before you’ve actually experienced it, I think it leaves us unfed.

With ‘Firefly’ cancelled and its movie resurrection considered a financial failure, projects in either TV or film have been lacking. Apart from 2 episodes of ‘The US Office’ which he directed in 2007, we have seen no new material from Whedon since 2005. Whedon, a fervent supporter of the writers strike did man the picket line on more than one occassion acting as a spokesperson, otherwise his time has mostly been committed to developing comic books continuing the stories of ‘Buffy’ and ‘Angel’, as well as his long term association with the X-Men comics. This is all good and well but I like live action and smart story telling and if we must suffer Carmen Electra and Britney Spears parodies at No. 1 can we at least not hope for some quality further down the list.

This in mind I have looked into what we can expect from Whedon in the future – distant or otherwise. ‘Goners’ a supernatural thriller and ‘Cabin in the Woods’, a horror movie, are both projects written by Whedon which he has proposed directing, though neither are green lit and ‘Goners’ has been subject to many re-writes in a pattern all too familiar with Whedon’s projects. At the 2007 Comic-Con the oft-mooted ‘Ripper’ series, focusing on stories surrounding Giles from ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ was said to have been all but agreed with the BBC, though little follow up on this does not inspire confidence. All is not lost though as with the writers strike now over, Whedon has teamed up with Eliza Dushku (‘Faith’ from ‘Buffy’) in a show called ‘Dollhouse’.

]]> http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/03/31/joss-whedon-where-are-you/feed/ 0 http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/03/07/movie-tickets-com/ http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/03/07/movie-tickets-com/#comments Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:51:16 +0000 simon http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/03/07/movie-tickets-com/ This might mean much to anyone but it does to us.

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What 3 words could possible elevate this day to wonderous blue hazed heights ? – yes indeed – The Smurfs Movie. Read here of the work undertaken so far, with the movie being set for a release next year and it bodes well so far with the talent behind Lemony Snicket associated with the project.

]]> http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/21/smurftastic-news/feed/ 0 http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/21/sweet-child-of-mine-with-hand-farts/ http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/21/sweet-child-of-mine-with-hand-farts/#comments Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:28:03 +0000 simon http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/21/sweet-child-of-mine-with-hand-farts/ Not sure what to make of this high art or crap. No I am not talking about Marcel Duchamp

]]> http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/21/sweet-child-of-mine-with-hand-farts/feed/ 0 http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/05/movie-review-cloverfield/ http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/05/movie-review-cloverfield/#comments Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:02:36 +0000 ck http://www.thedossingtimes.com/blog/2008/02/05/movie-review-cloverfield/ One thing was immediately apparent to me on leaving the cinema after seeing

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