comment #1

Eloi Manning says ...

I think you got the photo and the video mixed up on the last two posts...

comment #2

Snoop Marlo says ...

Jeff: Surprised there's been no talk about 'Lost''s Season Premiere.. Great TV. Better than 95% of movies being made.

comment #3

BlackCrime says ...

In these long dead stretches, why not put up some Arthouse Cowboy?

comment #4

buster keaton says ...

Realize this VF video is supposed to be light and humorous, but it really does go a long way in showing just how much those overpaid, know-it-all NY magazine editors are so completely out of touch with Hollywood.

Who does Carter call for Oscar advice? Bob Evans -- who last produced a half-way decent movie 30 years ago. (I don't suppose Carter could call Brian Grazer, especially after he strong-armed the producer for a big cash payoff because he casually suggested that Imagine should acquire the movie rights to A Beautiful Mind.)

Even worse, the video is so dopey it has Carter asking his team of butt-kissers if Invictus stands a chance of winning the Best Picture Oscar. (It wasn't even nominated in that category.)

While we're on the subject of Vanity Fair, why wasn't super-hot Zoe Saldana on the cover of this month's issue instead of all those super-pale frail white chicks? Whether she's blue or brown, Saldana is so much more beautiful and kickass than the delicate young flowers Carter chose to showcase. . . .

comment #5

Vidian says ...

Wouldn't it LESS than 3 hours to drive to SB from LAX?

comment #6

Deathtongue_Groupie says ...

Guess that makes it official: HE only has problems with overweight women. Didn't realize Carter had gotten so pudgy and lost so much hair since his Spy Magazine days (the birthplace of snark).

Vidian - it's actually less than 2 hours from LAX to Santa B. And had he flown into Burbank, he could have easily taken the train up. The whole thing costs like $40 (Metrolink + Amtrak) roundtrip.

comment #7

Josh Massey says ...

"Better than 95% of movies being made."

I didn't see a single movie last year I'd put over this last year of "Lost."

comment #8

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

I'm convinced all you people watching Lost for the last 7-8 years are in for a pretty hard fall.

These things never really end well. I'm open to the possibility that this could be an exception, but honestly how many dramatic TV shows can you name that have unanimously wrapped up in a dramatically satisfying fashion? It doesn't really happen.

TV shows can be good at keeping the ball rolling, hitting their mark, stringing you along for the next episode. They are not particularly adept at providing a sense of thematic closure or meaning to a long, winding narrative. That's not really any fault of their own, that's just not the strength of the medium.

That's why I'm a movie guy. Always will be.

comment #9

longrunner says ...

@Snoop - Head over to Alan Sepinwall's blog for that: http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2010/02/lost-lax-multi-tasking.html

comment #10

Punchdrunk says ...

Citizenkaned,

I'm a bit worried that Lost won't end on a high note, simply because they've raised the bar so high. What they've done, even if it's not your cup of tea, is pretty remarkable on a storytelling level.

There are some dramatic shows in recent history that have ended well.

The Shield
The Wire
I loved how the Sopranos ended but I realize it was pretty controversial.

In many cases the problem is either that the show was pushed off the air without being able to end it on their own terms (Deadwood, Freaks and Geeks, many others) or they stuck around well past their expiration date, simply to make more money.

That could've been the case with Lost, but setting their end date a couple of years ago ensured it will not be the case.

comment #11

Gordon27 says ...

I've avoided 'Lost', but I do think I'll like it, when it's all said and done, on DVD. I just don't want to get wrapped up in a show like that week-to-week over the course of years. But, on the other hand, I do recognize that, with a show like 'Lost', you're losing out on the social aspect of the show, watching other people theorize what things might be, that way ... but I'm impatient. I want to be able to get through the show in about six weeks or so.

comment #12

Snoop Marlo says ...

Gordon: You're going to lose your mind seeing it in 1 stretch. Too much going on.

1 more thing: Terry O'Quinn's (Locke) acting is exceptional. He has a great voice too.

comment #13

CitizenKanedforChewingGum says ...

I agree with pretty much all of what you wrote, Punchdrunk. And I agree that The Shield ended pretty well. I think there are exceptions.

It's just pretty much my own damn problem alone with the medium, and I'm willing to acknowledge it at this point. People tell me to check out new shows all the time, and I warn them that I'm not into TV. "Oh, me neither. Just watch it...this will change your life. Meh. It never does (and the people that originally recommended the program always seem borderline-offended by this).

I'm just inevitably disappointed in the amount of filler on these shows. And don't kid yourself -- any show that runs for hour long episodes over the course of 5 years has an awful lot of it. I'd rather just run a new feature on my DVD player every night during prime-time while the rest of America seems to be happily devouring what strikes me as very disposable (not to mention commercial-laden) entertainment.

Just not for me. Like Gordon says, I do acknowledge -- and to a degree respect -- the social aspect of watching these shows in "real-time." It just seems a lot more interesting (read: intellectually stimulating) to me to discuss a closed narrative than an open narrative, I guess. That way, the focus tends to be more on critical analysis ("what do you think that meant?"), as opposed to anticipatory prognostication ("what do you think will happen next?").

comment #14

Punchdrunk says ...

Interesting points, Citizen.

I keep my television watching limited to only a handful of shows. Right now I watch:

Lost
24
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
Friday Night Lights
Curb Your Enthusiasm
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

I catch up with Dexter and Californication when they come out on DVD.

Beyond those I stick to movies.

comment #15

Gordon27 says ...

I'm looking forward to 'Breaking Bad', which I've never watched week to week; I caught up with the 1st season on Netflix, and I'm going to buy the 2nd season because it comes out 5 days before it starts. Great show so far. I have always loved Cranston, and still never realized he could do all that.

comment #16

Joshua Mooney says ...

Love how Bob Evans' phone plays Jerry Goldsmith's score from "Chinatown." I assumed it was a parody through the majority of it. Haven't seen Carter or Evans in the flesh in years, but wow, how Carter's put on the flesh. As for Evans, I'd recognize those coke-stunted synapses anywhere. But surely he is not long for this world.

comment #17

MrG says ...

Six Feet Under also had a wonderful ending.

comment #18

german shorthaired pointer says ...

We have definitely avoided 'Lost', nonetheless POST take into account Cover enjoy it, whenever it really is almost all explained in addition to executed, about MOVIE. I simply never would like to obtain covered " up " in the present like this week-to-week over a long time. Nonetheless, alternatively, POST complete acknowledge which, which has a present for instance 'Lost', you happen to be sacrificing out there to the cultural part in the present, reviewing people try to decipher just what elements can be, doing this... nonetheless I am impatient. I would like and therefore complete that present within with regards to 6 months as well as therefore. german shorthaired pointers