TV REVIEW : LOST 5.04 "The Little Prince"

"The Little Prince" did some good stuff and some really annoying stuff. The opening showed Kate holding Aaron, the night before Jack asks everyone to lie. Kate is pitching the idea that they say Aaron is her child. The scene was flat from the start - unnecessary for the story (we had already assumed something like this went down and we made the leap with the show... why shoot the scene?) and really not very well done on the show.

I get that the scene was to point to the direction of the episode (Kate might lose Aaron) but really, it did not work.


Actually, a fair amount didn't in this episode. Specifically, the writers have gotten very lazy. I am tired of scenes of "What did you just see?" "Nothing" "Why are we doing this?" "That's not important right now." These bits are used to stall until the proper scene starts up. The story is good, but the execution of dialogue is weak.

I do understand that the show has often sacrificed REAL dialogue for story driven time wasting... but it is badly on display here. Let's move on to what I did like.

One little surprise was seeing Claire's mother in L.A. and then finding out it was Ben who was trying to take Aaron. It was nice that I was wrong.


Another moment was one for Locke - his explanation of why he needed to endure the pain of his mistakes - that was worthwhile dialogue... and it made his realization of that all the more important.

The converse was the scene of Sawyer watching the birth of Aaron and seeing Kate - that did not work for me at all.


The biggest winning moments came with two major reveals: Hey there is Jin!!!

I am really glad Jin is alive and back on the show. I thought we might not get this solved until the end of the season - seeing it now surprised and thrilled me.

The other great moment had to do with Jin's rescuers...


Danielle Rousseau and her French gang!!!

I am very excited to see her story.

Overall, the island scenes still moved the episode along well. Methinks the boat and Ajera Airlines water bottle belong to the Oceanic 6 (even though they were chasing our Losties and shooting at them) and that our gang was in the future at that moment.

The O6 should be back on the island soon enough (just gotta go through some Sun drama and a Hurley break out ep). Still a good episode - just clean up some dialogue and get the O6 moving!


LOST 5.04 "The Little Prince" : B

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TV REVIEW: LOST 5.03 "Jughead"

I was a little worried after about 15 minutes of "Jughead" - but things became very very cool. The ep could be called a Desmond centric story, Des was off to Great Britain to find Daniel Farraday's mother at Oxford. Of course, there was no record of Farraday, but his stuff was still left in his office (this was a bad scene... bad writing!). This led him to a time-traveling woman who had worked with Farraday and who was living on life support with funding by... WIDMORE!

None to shocking.

Penny had a baby... blurg. The baby's name was Charlie, which I thought was a great reference to the man who brought them together - our drowned guitar hero... but then Cara said "Isn't her Dad named Charles?" Hmmmm. Des met with Widmore... meh. He made plans with Pen to head to L.A. - ok ok.


This real shiz was Jughead itself! Holy crap it is a Hydrogen-Bomb... dangling on some rope!?!??! When the bomb was revealed the ep finally started to kick into gear. Here is a little theory coming from someone who has watched too many TV/Movies... that bomb will be essential to the dramatic ending of the show.

EXT: H-Bomb Jughead is sitting on the ground in the rain. Jack hovers over it with a gun - Ben stands in front of him and Locke floats above the ground in spiritual form.

BEN/LOCKE: "Jack, don't do it."

JACK, in a breathy huff - sarcastically: "All roads lead here."

Jack shoots and the island explodes. THE END


More coolness came with Locke talking with Richard Alpert (who is delivering the most kick ass lines of the show... "Not that I want to contradict myself...") about searching him out in 1956. We sorta knew this scene was coming, but it was a blast!!


A juicy nugget was this little dish who marched Farraday off to the bomb. She was british, unsure of Farraday... and more importantly, recognizable to Farraday! Methinks this is a young Ms. Hawking - Dan's mom!


And that would make this man Dan's pop! WIDMORE!!! Holy crap! This was the reveal of the ep. I loved it. Man, Locke should have hauled off and slugged this guy - or done a Sawyer bitch slap!

Little Mr. Widmore used to work with Alpert - he was on the island in 1954... whoa.

Uber cool kids... LOST is a rocking!

LOST 5.03 "Jughead" : A-

TV REVIEW: LOST 5.02 "The Lie"

Last season we started off things with a Hurley centric episode, "Beginning of the End," that found our large friend running from the police in his beloved Camaro. The second ep of season 5 again went to Hurley to lead the way (episode 1 was all over and so is this ep, but the title and a lot of the show lean towards Hurley... so maybe we can bank on that).


We start off with Hurley trying to deal with the action packed surroundings of Sayid's crazy safe house. Three dead guys, a drugged out Sayid, and one killer Shit-zu t-shirt later... and we find Hurley being pulled over by a cop.

I am not sure how I knew this... I suppose it was because Hurley does see dead people and that Ana-Lucia was the only cop on the show (discounting an unlikely Nathan Fillion cameo)... but the second I saw the reflection I knew it was her... and I loved it!! Ana was always stuck being such a downer, but with a little tweak of her character (come on Ana, life ain't that bad) and all of the sudden she is cracking me up! This little bit was the highlight of the show. Well done.


Challenging the Ana cameo for best part of "The Lie" is the story itself. I was dying watching Hurley and his family deal with the incapacitated Sayid. His mother's line "Why is there a dead Pakistani on my sofa?" just slayed me.


Yet, the top prize almost went to Neil Froggurt and his unsightly demise. Froggurt was a character mentioned in Season 2, but was fleshed out in the Webisodes preceeding last season. Again, the show had me giggling.

The on-island story is obviously going to be what makes all of us LOST fans drool. The strange army attacking the losties... I think we lost a few log carrying red shirts... I kind of thought these guys were Black Rock pirates - but the three soldiers at the end through that off... maybe it is a young Charles Widmore!

Yummy.


There were a few hiccups... Jack is still not doing much yet. Sun is creeping me out - Kate's story is moving slow... Hurley getting arrested at the end is merely a staller to keep things happening off island (though a humorous prison break should be a joy). The nugget with the arrival of Ms. Hawking at the end was worth the wait. All the bits with the chalkboard... the pendulum... the old (Swan-esque) computer... it all kind of leads to finding out where the island is... and when.

Things are starting off very nicely!

LOST 5.02 "The Lie" : A-

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TV REVIEW: LOST 5.01 "Because You Left"

This has been a great hiatus from LOST! I got Cara addicted to the show, started listening to some really good LOST podcasts... and nobody has gone on strike (knock on wood)!!

Last Wednesday brought a great Hawkeye victory over the Wisconsin Badgers and also the first episode of Season 5 of LOST. Cara and I got home around 12:30 from Iowa City and I was forced to watch the two hours of LOST waaaay past my bedtime.


Things got off to a rocking start with an alarm clock going off at 8:15 - waking a baby and a rather annoyed father named Edgar Halliwax... or Marvin Candle... or Peter Chang! Doesn't matter.

I was a little bummed that I knew who it was right off the bat. The comic-con video that the producers showed kind of led me to believe that Chang would be a part of this season - and that Daniel Farraday would end up spending time with Dharma. None of this is a problem though, I loved the hell out of the opening.


Off island, the Oceanic Six are all split up and unhappy with one another. Ben is attempting to get the group together (Sun is not playing nice at all - talking with Charles Widmore... saying she wants to kill Ben!).

On island, the losties are time traveling around - skipping like a record between timelines. This is a very big leap for the show, going completely sci-fi on us. I can dig it. Mostly... the bit where Daniel speaks with Desmond giving him marching orders... saying it all works because he is special... kind of a stretch. Oh well, still fun.


The most fun of "Because You Left" had to be when Ethan shot Locke - just seeing Ethan again was exciting and it really surprised me to see him come stomping out of the jungle. Locke tells him Ben declared him the leader of the Others... and Ethan wasn't hearing any of that. Then the jump to Richard arriving to let Locke know that he is going to have to die... oh, it all started with the Nigerian plane crashing!! This show is so cool.


Hour 1 flew by so quick I barely realized what had happened. The episode structure is completely all over the place (just as Damon and Carlton said it would be) and that might be a little tough to handle at first... but the pace is moving!

Thank crap that LOST is back!!

LOST 5.01 "Because You Left" : A-

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Getting LOST

Watching LOST has not always been such an obsession for me. When the first season arrived, I was heading over to Holly and Dan's place and watching every Wednesday this odd show with very strange elements in it. We got excited about the monster in the jungle - loved watching the small twists (who is Ethan?!??) - and enjoyed seeing the dramatic flashbacks. Yet, once Season Two hit and I was not going over to Hol's place anymore... I lost interest.

I watched the first few eps of Season Two, but after that - I quit on LOST.

Flash-forward to the end of Season Three - news stories came up of how the series had completely shocked fans and sent viewers into a whirlwind of activity. I got interested again. So I picked up some DVD's and caught up before Season Four. Thus began my addiction.

While watching the DVD's I also listened to the Official LOST podcast - once I ate up all of those I moved onto The LOST Podcast with Jay and Jack - then The Transmission - and the Dharmalars! By the time Season Four hit, I was addicted to 5 podcasts and one majorly amazing website - LOSTpedia.

Season Four came and went and stunned me... then came nine months of waiting. Since then, I have added more podcasts (Donald is LOST, The LOST Mystery Podcast, LOST Chatter, etc.), spent far too much time searching through various online reviews and posts... and one more thing. I re-watched every episode with Cara.

I am not sure when she decided to allow this to happen, but sometime she accidentally let it slip that she would watch LOST from Season One all the way to Season Four with me before Season Five begins. We have spent days watching three to four episodes at a time (we did five once - it did not go well) and she has really taken a liking to the show.

LOST does have some not so good moments and frankly we kind of enjoy ripping on the show and some of the badness... but I have had a blast going through every exciting moment with her. From the initial shock of the Pilot - to watching Charlie overcome his heroin addiction - to Claire's birthing of Aaron - to the open of Season Two - to the deaths of Ana-Lucia and Libby... all the way to "WE HAVE TO GO BACK!!!"

We have four episodes left to watch before next Wednesday. Then we will finally be completely LOST.

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Films of 2008

2008 is quickly drifting away and sadly, I only saw 17 films this year! I thought I might toss them up here to share with all. Frankly, after listing them and making a top 10 - I am a little sick. I really need to get out and see some good stuff.

Films of 2008 - from best to worst;

The Dark Knight: A
- Yeah, Chris Nolan did a fine job of following up Batman Begins. TDK moves and shakes and is filled with many wonderful moments that tower over its faults (of which it has many). I was entranced by Ledger's performance - really enjoyed how much Harvey Dent was a part of the plot... and tolerated the ending. I wish Nolan would go back and make this puppy a 3&1/2 hour epic that appropriately deals with Two-Face - but we will take this brilliant piece the way it is!

Wall-E: A-
- Pixar nails it again. Though I did hate that the humans were real live actors to start then turned into animated creatures... hmpf.

Iron Man: A-
- Solid - Downey Jr. Rocks!

Tropic Thunder: A-
- Solid - Downey Jr. Rolls!

In Bruges: B+
- I could listen to Colin Farrell talk all day in this flick.

Speed Racer: B+
- Shocked the hell out of me... the critics demolished it! Not very fair - I enjoyed this film a ton!!!

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: B+
- Pretty damn funny - thought it might be better... s'alright.

The Incredible Hulk: B
- Bit of a bummer - some good action sequences.

27 Dresses: B-
- Cara liked it, I did not hate it.

Sex and the City: C
- Cara loved it, I did not.

Step Brothers: C-
- Reign it in boys... 80% garbage.

Sex Drive: C-
- Too bad, loved the trailer.

The Bank Job: C-
- Nope - boring.

The Foot Fist Way: C-
- Funnier as a 5 minute video.

Semi-Pro: D
- Bad year for Ferrel, what the hell were they thinking here?

The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian: D
- Got drunk with Cara, Sara, and Jerry... and still hated this.

21: D-
- I love poker... I nothing'd this movie.

NOT MENTIONED: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: No Grade
- Uh, I can't even really talk about this film... most of the experience has been erased from my mind.

That's all I got out to see! A little depressing. Nothing compared to last year.

Watch out - LOST is coming on January 21st!!!!

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The Amazing Race Game!

Tech Show 2.0: Techy Talk from Jed Findlay on Vimeo.

Frye Camp '08: Pics

Here is the last video and actually it is just still pictures from our journey. I hope you enjoy it.

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Frye Camp '08: Pics from jedfindlay on Vimeo.

Frye Camp '08: Tuesday & Wednesday

Another exciting video from Frye Camp '08!!!

No - really - these are good. Come on... watch it.

Please?

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Frye Camp '08: Tuesday from Jed Findlay on Vimeo.

Frye Camp '08: Monday

Here comes Monday! Watch out as some people have a blast catching fish... while others wait and wait.

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Frye Camp '08: Monday from Jed Findlay on Vimeo.

Frye Camp '08: Sunday

Here comes Sunday! It is not as long as Saturday's and there is not much going on - but at least you get a sense of why we love the place.

Enjoy,

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Frye Camp 2008: Sunday from Jed Findlay on Vimeo.

Frye Camp '08: Saturday

Howdy folks!

Well - we have returned from our annual visit to the cooler but perfect northern Minnesota - Frye Camp!!

I shot some video and took some pics that I will be posting this week (or next). Keep watching for some truly exciting stuff!!! Well... at least there will be lots of little Maddy to balance out my ugly mug.

Enjoy! BTW - Nass, eat your heart out!

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Frye Camp 2008: Saturday from Jed Findlay on Vimeo.

FILM REVIEW: "Why so serious? "

"Batman Begins" was a breath of fresh air for Batman fans - a film that at once, took very seriously the characters of the Batman world and also successfully created a believable and fascinating film around those characters. The movie was not without flaws (scripting - badly handled action - etc.) but overall, it was an astounding step forward for Batman fans.

"The Dark Knight" is another animal altogether. I am so thrilled to say that the film not only satisfied my Batman hunger - not only did it improve upon the first film... but frankly, this new film seems as if another director made it all together.


"The Dark Knight" is truly dark. There are some majorly horrifying moments with the Joker punishing his victims. There is also a lack of levity (something that "Begins" sometimes suffered for) - which I feel improves things. Each moment of the film is played as a very serious drama. That statement really doesn't explain what I mean... there is not a moment where you feel you are watching a film that is set outside of the world we know. The Joker is a TERRORIST! He is a demon - a killer who is out to prove that his beliefs are absolute and the world itself is damned.


As many have heard, Ledger's performance is something to behold. Like Daniel Day-Lewis' Plainview, here we have an actor who demands the audiences full attention and dominates everyone is sight. Honestly, I had high expectations for the performance and I was still surprised.

What took me as well was the character - the Joker is a fundamental questioning of the idea of order. He wants to demonstrate that trying to make the world better (saving it - how ever you want to put it), is merely an act of aggression on a violent and desperately selfish being that will turn on you for the slightest advantage. He does not care about money... power... or anything... he just wants to pull out the legs of your chair and watch you swing.

That creeped me out.


Of course, being the big Batman fan I am, I cannot completely heap praise on the film. Two-Face gets a limited amount of time and thusly the dramatic arc of Harvey Dent is somewhat stunted. But again, the film surprised me; Harvey Dent may get more screen time than Bruce Wayne (hell, I think Gordon gets more screen time than Wayne!!!). Eckhart does an amazing job here, leading us into a character who should have been a simple flat device for the film... yet comes off very strong... Dent's ideals are the world we want... I completely was energized to see Bruce realize that he could relieve his own suffering by allowing Dent to become the face of justice. This gave power to Dent's role, thus making his fall all the more tragic.

But really - I wish Dent/Two-Face would have culminated in a 3rd film. There was far more ground to be covered with the character and it was sad to see them close it up (granted, it may be returned to in the 3rd but not in the way it deserves).


In the end, this film is brilliant. I applaud Warner Bros - the Nolans - the cast - everyone involved with production... and especially the marketing crew. They kept Two-Face out of the ads (it is gruesome!) and all of the great Joker stuff is in the film, not in the ads (wait to you hear the speech before he delievers "WHY SO SERIOUS?" - it will send chills up your spine).

I am really excited to see this again - and in IMAX!

THE DARK KNIGHT: A-

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The first Video Journal of Ragbrai

Video Journal: Thursday, July 17th from Extension Cy-Riders on Vimeo.

Vimeo Group Hubnub

Extension Cy-Riders on Flickr

Extension Cy-Riders test

Extra Wedding Pics

Just a quick note on a few wedding pics that we have received - I never get tired of looking at myself.

This one is up there for Jeremy's face though... classic awful moment.

The rest are all about Kreitner naughtiness!!


Oooh boy!


Hubba hubba!


Naughty Kreitner!!!

We are off to celebrate the 4th with Big K and the McCabes - more later... and maybe more naughty Kreitner photos from that!

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