On 24, Jack Bauer to fight back from an impossible end!

Less than 12 hours after I watched the latest episode of 24, I heard that Keifer Sutherland has decided to come back for an eighth season. I found the timing of the announcement to be a bit odd when the show is continuing to try to build suspense and momentum. Why? Well we left off last night with Jack Bauer having tested positive for exposure to a rare disease called Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. While he was intentionally exposed via a terrorist bio-agent, it is explained in the show that there is no cure and that 100% of patients die.

So to me, that begs the question of how Jack gets out of this one. I mean it’s not like they are going to come up with a cure to a disease that has no cure. So what will it be? A false positive? Presumably that would have to be it unless they stretch the truth so far as to come up with an anecdote. While that may work for the show, it’s just not in the cards in the real world right now and having just had a friend pass away from the disease, I know many people who want answers as to the future of research. No, I don’t expect to get answers from 24, but it should be interesting to see what happens and I’m definitely psyched that Jack will be back again next year!

Dancing With The Stars just isn't my cup of tea!

I’ve thought about writing a post about Dancing With The Stars for quite some time and haven’t gotten around to it for two main reasons. First, I hadn’t watched enough episodes to give an opinion and second, because after I starting watching it, I hoped the show would grow on me. Sadly, it has not.

While this show has had great success and as my wife, puts it, “is good clean fun,” I think the trouble I have with enjoying it is that I just don’t like dancing all that much. I suppose a good counter-argument to that would be that it’s fun to watch the “stars” progress as the show goes on, but unlike her, I don’t find myself interested in these people on a dance floor. The odd thing about it for me is that I actually have a friend and former classmate in the show right now, but I still don’t find myself interested.

I do think that there is a lot of hard work that goes into the routines and some of the dancing is beautiful and at times, exciting, but after a long day at work I would rather watch one of my favorite shows that try and find enjoyment in something I clearly don’t grasp like so many millions of others.

No Holds Barred In Battlestar Galactica Finale!

There’s a moment towards the series finale of Battlestar Galactica that literally transcends generals over science fiction fans. While I don’t want to give any details of the two-hour finale away, I can say that for a brief moment there was a melding of the old and new Battlestar Galacticas. As if in homage to Glen A. Larson’s 1978 short-lived television series, and even perhaps a nod to 1980’s Galactica 1980, the theme most to these two shows played lightly as the fleet traveled together towards the sun. As a fan of all three, I was almost overcome by a sense of pride, and yes, some sadness as well.

I know that BSG will live on in several forms. Caprica, the BSG prequel series has been in production for some time and there are also two movies planned, based on BSG, but standalone. Nevertheless, suffice to say, the end has truly come for what some would consider the most impressive sci-fi television shows ever created.

On Friday night as my wife and I were sitting in a mountain hotel, her preparing for bed, and me getting ready to watch the finale; my wife asked my sort of half-jokingly if I thought this would be the best episode of the show I’d ever seen. I told her I didn’t think that it would be and to be honest, I was wrong. I was so blown away by everything that took place during those two hours. What more could one ask for in a series finale. There was triumph, defeat, death, life, and finality. Unlike most science fiction stories, the one thing that carried into the finale that has always made Battlestar Galactica special is that it has always embraced a theme of humanity above all. I know for a fact that there’s a lesson in there!

The legitimacy of American Idol...

To this day, I’ve still never seen a full episode of American Idol and although I often find myself somewhat curious, I can’t say as though I really have plans to. It’s not that I have anything against the show or the contestants, but I can’t help feel that there are a ton of highly talented musicians who will never get discovered while those chosen to be on this reality show can make millions without ever playing a smoky underground night club or packed up their van to tour towns where no one’s ever heard them.

I understand that the American people want other people they can cheer for and in a small way, it’s part of the American dream, but what about the dream of a singer who may happen to be 30-years-old (You must be under 30 to enter the contest) or who is dedicated to their band and doesn’t want to break from them to attend on of the try-outs? Millions of artist make their way up through hard work and years of perseverance while individuals who may or may not be able to write a song or play an instrument, get a chance to be a start in a manner of weeks. For pure entertainment value, I get the premise, but as for idols; I just don’t think they’re truly being represented.

Too many gimmicks and not enough substance in Quarantine!

Now and again we like to get some cheap thrills from a movie. These may be at our expense, or more importantly, not at the studio’s, i.e., through cheap production. Nothing was more evident of this than The Blair Witch Project, which had the right gimmick and enough suckers to buy the story line. That being said, it was scary and in the end, that’s all that matters.

Not unlike The Blair Witch Project or even Cloverfield, Quarantine is a movie that asks the viewer to watch through the lens of one of the characters and tries to show the plot unfold through real time drama. I recall when watching this, my wife asked me if it was “Cloverfield Jr.,” most likely due to the lesser known actors and lack of special effects.

Being the movie fan that I am, I hardly noticed many of the aforementioned gimmicks or even similarities to pervious movies. The issue I did have was the character build-up. I mean Jay Hernandez is awesome as an actor in anything he does and I loved that he was in this, but we didn’t need about 30 minutes to introduce us to the fire station crew. Why? Only two of them matter a few minutes later, and then shortly after that, one.

My point is that this movie has suspense, drama, horror, twists, and some shocking revelations, but they take too long to get to. Too much of the plot is predictable and this leads us to an ending that is reminiscent of The Descent. I suspect they went that route
‘cause there was no where else to go.

Hall & Oates still resonate with music lovers after 30 years!

Yesterday decided to talk about literature and for a second day in a row I continue to branch out into other pop culture arenas. Now it’s no secret that I’m a fan of music and even love to sign a note or two. On my other sites I’ve discussed some bands in particular that I’ve become quite fond of over the years.

And so with that, I think that I will do at least a weekly feature on a musician or band that resonates with me in some way. For my first selection I’ve chosen one of the most popular musical dues of the 70s and 80s and at the same time, one of the most over-looked bands regarding their fabulous contributions to the music scene.

While Daryll Hall and John Oates – together as Hall & Oates – formed as a band in 1969, it wasn’t until 1972 that they released their first album and four more years until they had their first top ten hits with “Sara Smile” and “She’s Gone.” The band’s mix of soulful riffs and poignant lyrics shot them to the top of the music scene in the 1970s, but they are often labeled as an 80s band. Not so. Yes, they had some hits in the 80s, but the crux of their best music was released between 1975 and 1980.

And I’d be remiss not to mention that until recently, I didn’t quite appreciate the musical impact these two had on others. Yet each year when the powers that be meet to discuss who should be on the ballet for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Hall & Oates continues to get snubbed.

Shutter Island deserves a read before the 2009 movie premiere!

When it comes to comparisons between novels and movies, I consider myself a book guy. That is to say that I find it rare that a movie adapted from a book or novel can live up to the original work. Such scrutiny is typically heightened when the novel in question is by an author I’m particularly fond of. That being said, I really think that Dennis Lehane’s novel, "Mystic River" was done extremely well and was able to retain the soul and feel of the story as told by the greater-Boston native.

While "Gone Baby Gone" was a decent movie, there were quite a few changes and necessary omissions that didn’t do the story or characters justice. Now with Martin Scorsese directing one of Lehane’s most ambitious works in that of "Shutter Island," I really am curious. If you’ve read the novel, you know that the story is not only mesmerizing and complex, but is done in such a way that the reader can’t help but be totally thrown off by the ending. I of course, won’t give that away, but I highly suggest that you go to your local bookstore and read the novel before the movie comes out next fall. For first time Lehane readers, I guarantee you’ll find yourself buying more of his work and you will understand why this mystery fiction master has had so much of his work transformed into major Hollywood productions.