Category Archives: Pop Culture

Thoughts on LOST

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LOST

The survivors of Oceanic 815 have captured our hearts and minds for the past 6 years. The day after, it’s difficult to assess just how the show’s end will fall into the annals of television history. Some people hated the finale. Others, like me, thought it was fitting and touching.

Cuse and Lindelof created a world that sparked controversy and debate. Was it purgatory? Who were Jacob and the Man in Black, really? OMGWTFPOLARBEAR? They should be commended for such a huge accomplishment. I predict multiple Emmys in the show’s future (too little too late?).

There are people who are indignant about the way the show ended and to them, I say, please remember that it was still just a TV show. It was a special one, but just a TV show. It entertained, made us think, theorize and discuss in a medium where people typically just sit back and enjoy their half-hour nuggets and then go about their lives.

Monday morning, I woke up and I was still thinking about the show and its end. I feel like it paid respect to us as viewers that we have the ability to fill in the blanks. We don’t need everything explicitly spelled out and explained because what’s the fun in that? If Cuselof would have laid out exactly what everything meant, wouldn’t that have been a disservice to the show that meant so many different things to so many different people?

At the heart of the show, it was always about people. It was about relationships and how we are all flawed and how those flaws are really what makes us interesting and beautiful. The mystery of the island provided this fascinating backdrop that made us ask questions and stay engaged. But ultimately, through a combination of flash-forwards, flash-backs, flash-sideways and excellent storytelling and top-notch acting, the characters of the show became real and tangible to us.

The people on the island were all flawed in one way or another. The show lasted as long as it did and succeeded because we saw ourselves in the survivors of Oceanic 815 and their very evident flaws. That’s why I loved the show and the finale.

The fact that I’m still thinking about it more than 24 hours later means one of two things: A) it went way over my head and I’m still trying to sort it out, or B) it was completely awesome.

I’m going with Option B.

Some quick Golden Globes thoughts

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Like many people, I watched the Golden Globes last night. Awards season is a favorite for Alli and me and we picked up some Original Pizza, some Throwback soda and settled in for a night of glamour, movies and TV…all from the comfort of sweats on the couch.

First things first: Ricky Gervais was really disappointing. For as much smack as he talked prior to the show about how he was going to be brutal to the stars, all he really did was self-promote (not unheard of) and get in maybe one good dig at Mel Gibson. The rest of his jokes were just really MEH.

Some other thoughts:

  • I really felt that Jane Lynch got robbed for supporting actress in a TV series. I’ve never understood why they lumped all the supporting actors and actresses into one all-encompassing category, including comedies, dramas and mini-series. She should have won. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Big Love, but Sevigny didn’t deserve it. Sue Sylvester is the heart and soul of Glee.
  • Speaking of Glee, I’m so glad that it won. I love that show.
  • I still have very little desire to see Grey Gardens.
  • Toni Collette won a shocker for TV actress in a comedy. I won’t say she’s not deserving…I was just really surprised.
  • Alec Baldwin is the new Tony Shalhoub.
  • I think that Julianna Margulies winning Best Actress in a Drama series was a shock to everyone except Julianna Margulies.
  • T-Bone Burnett does not look like he should. He should at least have a beard.
  • I really like how the Oscars splits the screenplays into adapted and original. Like Just Cara said, when you are blessed with great source material, it’s hard to mess it up. Unless, of course, if you’re Rob Marshall.
  • I love Robert Downey, Jr., but I was really hoping for Joseph Gordon-Levitt to pull out the Best Actor Comedy win. He was awesome in (500) Days of Summer, one of my favorites of the last year.
  • The room was amazingly cold toward James Cameron during both of his acceptance speeches. And I was thinking, it’s gotta suck to be a filmmaker during the year that James Cameron comes out with a movie. It’s once every 10 years, but still. It’s gotta suck.

Overall, it was a decent show…not a ton of huge surprises. Would have liked to see Gervais push it a little more. It will be interesting to see Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin host the Oscars. I doubt they will go after any of the actors in attendance, but you never know.

Another thing to note, if you’re a Twitter user and you watch the Twitter stream during shows like this, I highly recommend following Doug Benson. He hosts a podcast called “I Love Movies” and is totally hilarious.

I’m with Conan

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Today, Conan O’Brien said what everyone hoped he would say to NBC: take a hike.

And rightfully so. Leno indicated he wanted to quit, so NBC (wisely) locked up Conan to replace him. Then, Leno decided he wasn’t so sure about quitting. So NBC, in their infinite wisdom, changed their schedule to give Jay the hour lead-in to The Tonight Show, effectively taking the wind out of Conan’s sails…I mean who really wants to watch Leno do the pre-Tonight Show and then another hour of the regular Tonight Show? It’s just excessive.

But Leno couldn’t go quietly into the night. No one watched his show (because it was terrible and unfunny), so NBC once again decided to do something stupid (I’m still mad they cancelled Inside Schwartz) by throwing a complete wrench in their late night lineup, which still is uncertain.

So Conan, the real loser in all of this, decided enough was enough. His letter, addressed to “People of Earth” is funny, yet firm enough to let NBC know that he will not allow them to destroy the storied Tonight Show on his watch. Whether they actually listen to him is anyone’s guess. My assumption is that Jeff Zucker (who I am amazed still has a job through all this and their many other blunders, one of which includes almost cancelling The Office after the first season) will likely just let Conan go like he did David Letterman and re-hire Jay Leno to helm The Tonight Show. Which would be a mistake, if you consider Twitter to be the pulse of the nation. Four of the top 10 trending topics are about O’Brien, NBC or “Team Conan”.

But since when has NBC had any sense about what people care about. They are far too fragmented and their programming is 30% made up of Law & Order episodes. There’s a reason that they’re in 4th place. They’ve got a bunch of morons running the network.

It’s sad, too, because there is some good talent on NBC and some entertaining shows. But they don’t have the slightest clue how to market those shows or nurture their growth. Instead, they are reactionary and impatient.

And that just doesn’t work.

Would Kurt Cobain have killed the Web?

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What if the internet had existed in its current state when Kurt Cobain committed suicide?

This question was brought up as I was listening to Rob Sheffield’s Love Is a Mix Tape on the way home from work tonight. Sheffield is a music writer and his book — the concept at least — is really smart. Can our lives be told through mix tapes?

Do we even know what mix tapes are anymore?

I got to thinking about Kurt Cobain and his suicide because Sheffield talks about it in his book (SPOILER ALERT! Cobain kills himself!) and how when he died, how all they did all weekend was watch MTV for the news…something…anything about Kurt.

It reminded me of when the King of Pop died in June. Because his death occurred under such strange circumstances and he was a curious, quirky guy, the reaction on the web was weird. Some were quick to remind us of his questionable relationships or the way he burned through money and others did their best to remember him as the genius he was.

Then I thought about the demographics of the people who use the web — punk kids with blogs, hipsters in skinny jeans with Tumblogs, Twitterers — and I got the feeling that they’d be all over Cobain’s suicide. Not only would it have broken Twitter into a Fail Whale loop, I think it might have brought internet giants like Google and Facebook to their knees. I get the feeling that even YouTube would have struggled to support the onslaught of streaming and embed requests.

This is not a post about how Kurt Cobain was a better artist than Michael Jackson or that one of them contributed more to music than the other. I was just thinking that while the reaction to Michael’s death was huge, I get the feeling that Cobain’s might have been even bigger, given the demographics of those who are most active on the web.

What do you think?

What are you even doing?

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Alli and I were watching The Big Bang Theory last week and a preview for that godawful Twilight saga knockoff vampire movie came on. Almost simultaneously, Alli and I asked, “John C. Reilly, what are you even doing?”

It got us thinking. There are some seriously strange choices being made in Hollywood by good (well, at least formerly decent) actors. So I thought I would write a little post devoted to them…hopefully to call them out onto the carpet.

John C. Reilly

You earned an Oscar nomination for your work in Chicago. You’ve garnered more than one Independent Spirit nomination. You starred in Scorsese flicks, including The Aviator and Gangs of New York.

Then came Talledega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

After that, you became convinced that you were Will Ferrell’s best friend, shacking up with him for a myriad of stinkers, including one of the worst movies I’ve ever subjected myself to in my life: Walk Hard. Here’s a tip for you, John: next to your godawful timing, Will Ferrell looks like a comedic genius. That’s why he keeps putting you in his movies…you make him look funnier.

I’m not saying you can’t make people laugh, but let’s try something serious every once in a while. You were great in Magnolia and Boogie Nights. Maybe call Paul Thomas Anderson up and ask him what he’s got cooking…

The Rock

I’m guessing you have a development deal with Disney.

That’s cool. You do what you gotta do to pay the bills. But even folks who cash in every once in a while on big budget box office hits will occasionally throw in something that stretches you as an actor.

Look, I understand that it has to be difficult to feign interest as you star in kid movie after kid movie, but could you at least throw in Rundown 2 for me? God knows that Seann William Scott could use the work.

I really enjoy you as an actor. You’re charming and engaging and you’ve got great delivery and timing despite the fact that you cut your teeth as a pro wrestler. That being said, please stop trying to re-brand yourself as “Dwayne Johnson”. It’s obviously not helping your career since your last 5 movies are as follows: The Tooth Fairy, Planet 51, Race to Witch Mountain, Get Smart and The Game Plan. Your next flick, The Other Guys, by Adam McKay, looks promising.

But if it sucks, the people are going to take back their claim on your elbow.

Eddie Murphy

Norbit. Dr. Dolittle. Daddy Day Care. The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Meet Dave. Imagine That. These movies aren’t even worth linking. You do know that the release of Norbit easily knocked you out of the running for your Oscar win for Dreamgirls, right? Because it seems like you don’t realize it.

You are a part of one of the most successful animated franchises in history and your character is probably the most beloved out of the bunch. But don’t be like Donkey. Don’t be stubborn. Make some better choices. You have it in you. We just haven’t seen it in a while.

Cuba Gooding, Jr.

You won an Oscar. You starred in Snow Dogs and Boat Trip. POOF!

There went your career. NEXT.

Renee Zellweger

When not buoyed by good writing, be it from Cameron Crowe or Helen Fielding, or your singing voice, people can’t help but notice your annoyingly scrunchy face. And I wouldn’t mention it if your acting was not slipping either, but these days, it seems like you are just playing the same person over and over and over again in one bad romantic comedy after another.

Nicholas Cage

submitted by Wrytir

Pretty sad when a former Oscar winner has to lean on his Dan Brown-like National Treasure series to keep his career afloat. I know that not getting the Superman reboot was a big blow to Nic, but did you have to respond by going and making that one with the flaming skulls? Outside of one or two big wins, your careers seems like an experiment in crap. I know that you’re trying to burst out of the shadow of the extremely talented Coppola family, but did you have to stray this far?

Now, I am well aware that there is only one female on this list. It’s either that there are very few bad roles for females in Hollywood or that movies are dominated by bad male roles. I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll tell me in the comments. So who would you like to write a letter to asking them: What are you even doing?

Spring Awakening

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I was extremely lucky to win tickets from Lost In Reviews to the opening night of the Spring Awakening tour in Kansas City this evening. (Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review.)

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Alli and I were really excited to have a night out (on a Tuesday!) to see the 2007 Tony Award-winning musical with music by one of my favorite musical artists, Duncan Sheik.

The musical is based on a controversial German play by Frank Wedekind and focuses on the themes of sexuality and violence. The original play was banned in Germany because of its racy themes, but an amazing thing about the play is that many of the themes still ring true over 100 years later.

The show is staged very uniquely, with a simple, straight-forward set containing seating for audience member on the stage and several movable chairs that can be configured to portray a schoolhouse, a study, an oak tree (trust me on that one). There is also one minor moving part to the stage, but it’s almost unnoticeable. The lighting design for the show won a well-deserved Tony and is phenomenal. It was yet another part of the show that was unique…unlike anything I’ve seen.

The band is at the back of the stage — a piano, acoustic and electric guitars, upright bass, drums, maybe 1 or 2 other instruments. It’s an interesting choice because you notice them, but you don’t at the same time because many of the songs are performed directly to the audience, giving them more of a rock concert feel than the musicals that you’re used to.

And while we’re on the topic of the music, I have to talk about Duncan Sheik’s brilliant score and Steven Sater’s great lyrics. Somehow, they manage to take 1890′s German kids, have them sing indie rock songs with titles like “The Bitch of Living” and it all works. The performances by the actors at our show were phenomenal. I was particularly impressed by Taylor Trensch, who plays Moritz (arguably the third lead in the show). He was raw and his singing was on point. He really was the stand-out.

I really enjoyed this show as did Alli. I was amazed that something with its subject matter in a play over 100 years old could still be so relevant and meaningful. The singing was powerful, the music was eclectic and modern, yet fit the pervading themes of the show.

Glee fans (like me) will recognize Lea Michelle (who plays the diva Rachel) from the commercials since she was the original Wendla, the female lead in Spring Awakening. I think this kind of goes without saying (what with her being on a regular TV show and all), but don’t expect to see her.

For those theater-goers who might be interested in seeing the show, I highly recommend it, but that recommendation comes with a caveat: if you are easily offended, stay away. The musical embraces the same theme that Wedekind focused on in the play: sex. There are references and portrayals of masturbation, allusions to teenage sex and abuse, as well as homosexuality and abortion. As I was reading up on the background of the musical, I was absolutely floored that Wedekind’s original themes were still so relevant (and controversial) today.

There is actually a Parents’ Guide on the Spring Awakening website that may give you some idea as to whether you can handle it.

Understand, I definitely don’t want to discourage anyone from going to see it. I hope that people take the opportunity to go see this show while it is in town. Kansas City gets a small share of good touring Broadway musicals and this is one that you should not miss. That is, if you can handle it.

Free Speech vs. Anonymity

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The internet is abuzz with the story of Rosemary Port, the blogger behind the “Skanks of NYC” blog. Google was sued by one of the targets of her vitriol (a model named Liskula Cohen) and was forced by courts reveal her real life identity.

Port, a 29-year-old student at FIT, is unapologetic. In fact, you could argue that she’s even more outraged than Cohen, who initially brought the defamation suit against her, considering that Port is now suing Google for $15 million dollars. Nevermind the fact that Google was only abiding by a court’s ruling…

I promise I'll never hide my identity if I run a blog that calls you a skank

What bothers me most about this story is what bothers me a lot about blogs and internet commentary. People like to hide behind the First Amendment and believe they should be allowed to spout hateful, libelous comments without the consequence of actually having to own up to their comments.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

But there’s nothing in the First Amendment that guarantees anonymity in your free speech. See, that’s the difference and where the internet can be a dangerous place. People can hide behind aliases and while many would argue that anonymity allows for a more free exchange of ideas (as has been upheld by a 1995 Supreme Court ruling), the truth is that it has very little to do with the First Amendment.

There are organizations that will try to tell you that you are entitled to your anonymity. There has even been precedent set by previous rulings, but frankly, the court’s ruling that Google must release Port’s identity is going to set a whole new standard.

I’ve long thought that the anonymity afforded bloggers and commenters on the Web allowed people to expose their hatred and racism (just a quick reading of the comments — comments that I would reject — on Tony’s Kansas City will show you that). But those things are actually truths that people just normally don’t share in real life. More dangerous is the flat out fallacies and untruths that people write, hiding behind their veiled “online persona.” I know there are people that do it for the protection of their job or their family or whatever, but I guess that’s just not the kind of blogger I want to be.

I’ve always tried to be myself online. I would hope that my readers will always hold me to that, especially the ones that know me in real life.

What do you think? Is anonymity a part of what the Web is about or does it afford authors and commenters too much leeway?

Genius gathers crazy

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Is anyone else sick of the Michael Jackson coverage?

Look, the guy was a musical genius. There’s no doubt about it. Sure, he was eccentric (to put it nicely) in his personal life, but let’s be honest: his crazy was just an elevation of the musical phenoms that came before him. Elvis. The Beatles. Kurt Cobain. All of these musicians are considered to some of the Greatest of All-Time. And every single one of them was at one point surrounded by an entourage that only fueled their madness.

  • Elvis had Colonel Tom Parker and Priscilla.
  • The Beatles had Yoko Ono and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
  • Kurt Cobain had Courtney Love.

I’d say that these folks are lightweights compared to the crazies I’ve seen trotted out daily to comment on Michael Jackson’s estate. His lawyer. His other lawyer. His previous lawyer. His “close friend”. His spiritual advisor. His nanny. It’s an unending stream of people who have done nothing but suckle at the teat of his fame and exploit his insecurities to make themselves rich.

What is it about the ridiculously talented that keeps them from finding stable and normal people to help them with their careers? Is there a service where famous people can send out for their “advisers”? 1-888-NUT4HIRE?

I just don’t get it.