Cone of Silence » Entertainment

Three Decades And Something For Today

Dave — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:28:28 +0000

What have I been up to in my spare time for the last 1½? Bonding with my teenage daughter.

Surprisingly she wanted to watch an almost 35 year old classic.

Rocky. You have to understand that when I talk of watching a movie made before the mid-90’s both of my teenage daughters look at me like I’m a dinosaur; as if they are in wonderment about whether filmography could have even existed in such an ancient era.

Of course watching Rocky lead to viewing the entire series of films spanning 30 years. We have both thoroughly enjoyed Rocky thru Rocky V (she learned what Roman numeral IV stands for). We have yet to make it to Rocky Balboa, the 6th in the Rocky franchise. Maybe we’ll squeeze it in this week, maybe not.

Regardless, even with the relative simplicity of the movie as compared to similar in the same genre, it was endearing with more wholesome values than most fare out there.

Rocky (1976)	Rocky II (1979)
Rocky III (1982)	Rocky IV (1985)
Rocky V (1990)	Rocky Balboa (2006)

End of an Era

Dave — Wed, 26 May 2010 04:13:45 +0000

Lost is done. My first impressions after two days of mulling… not sure.

The brilliant writers of an awesome TV show did their best. And they succeeded in a beautiful symmetry in the series. Obviously (based on the series conclusion) the focus of the series was the characters understanding their interdependency. This was handled well. I have no complaints here.

I never watched the show for the characters. The characters moved the story but I watched for the story-telling. The story behind the characters is lukewarm in its conclusion. Lukewarm because it is incomplete. At this point too many “red herrings” were presented and never closed. This is the point in which I am unsure. Due to the brilliance of the writers these story elements could have been addressed and I simply missed them. This is what I hope as I ponder the past 4½ years (I was pulled into the story half way through the 2nd season).

Here is a list of issues that were major enough red herrings as to require an answer:

The “numbers” were significant, at least to Dharma – why would Dharma broadcast via radio transmission
Going back a step – the radio signals were broadcast earlier than Dharma (70’s), again WHY would someone broadcast these numbers
If Jacob did not allow anyone to leave the island – why leave a loophole wherein, Dharma, Michael & Walt or even Ben could leave?
Ben has been to Tunisia and elsewhere by previous turning of the Donkey Wheel, as can be noted by various passports and currencies. 1) How did he get back to the island, 2) why when he turned the wheel did the island not go wonky in time like when John turned the wheel
When the island disappeared where did it go. If it simple went to another time, then theoretically it went to the future in which it was sunk – but then it never sunk.
Why did Dr, Chang keep changing his name?
Did the man in black (MIB) take the form of black horses?
How did the drug running plane get to the island from Africa?
Was Hurley’s friend Dave really in Hurley’s mind?

More to be added to this list as this is a quick recap of 6 years in my head. And please notice I am not asking why Dharma is still dropping shipments years after they have had no contact with the island… and who is Dharma anyway?

Deliberations In Process

Dave — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:54:40 +0000

Last week I speculated that I was generally unhappy with Lost and it’s series wrap-up. With only ONE more episode left (2½ hours!) I may have spoken too soon. We’ll see.

I was pleased with last nights episode. It was what I have come to expect – by giving me something I couldn’t expect; something compelling and interesting.

Four days and counting.

I’m Not Liking Where I’m Being Taken

Dave — Thu, 13 May 2010 22:25:27 +0000

Lost. Deep down I hope I’m not the one that lost something here. I mean there are 3½ hours of air time (including significant commercial interruption) and, until this season, I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what comes next. Sure there were up and down episodes over the seasons, but without a doubt, this season is not equal to it’s predecessors. I hope I am wrong.

The following Lost blog, which I have monitored closely over the last several years pretty sums up my feeling about this weeks episode.

I understand why this episode was produced. It’s half origin story and half mythological brain dump. And there were some interesting bits, no doubt there. But let me sum my opinion up this way: If “Lost” had focused on Jacob, MIB and their wacky “Mother” from the very beginning, I never would have watched this show. I just don’t care about these characters and their deep psychological scars. For six years we’ve watched a fantastic ensemble of great actors playing great characters battling with their own Big Problems. The Jacob-MIB-Mother trio felt like window dressing. And is it just me, or was the acting a little meh?

That said, I’ll give the writers credit for revealing Jacob to be the island’s Norman Bates. Discovering that for many years he was a naive and gullible pawn in his crazy adopted mother’s machinations … well, that just wasn’t expected.
Filmfodder.com

Please give me the brilliant writing that I have learned to expect over the past 5 years (I came to the island late). Please do not disappoint with one of those endings that answer your questions but leaves you saying “that was lame.” Please tell me I am wrong.

In the words of Captain John Miller (Saving Private Ryan), “Earn it.”

Swallowed Whole

Dave — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:08:12 +0000

Last night as I watched one of those television shows I’d grown up with I was prompted to jump on the Internet and do a little research. Instant access to information of all kinds is a blessing and a curse. But last night it was a blessing.

In episode 1 of season 2 of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea the diving bell was swallowed whole by a whale. A very fast, very big whale. I for one appreciate the sensational, over the top shows Irwin Allen prolifically produced in the ’60’s. Allen wanted Voyage to be riddled with science and last night was no exception. In the “belly of the whale” dying words discussion between Admiral Nelson and his guest in the diving bell, Nelson mentioned the story of a late 19th century sailor swallowed by a whale.

James Bartley was that man. See a synopsis of the story below:

…A whale was sighted, the harpoon boats were launched, and the whale was successfully speared. In the violence that followed, however, one of the smaller boats capsized, throwing two crew members into the sea. One of them drowned and the other, said to be a man named James Bartley, disappeared.

The whale was eventually subdued and its carcass hoisted onto the ship where the crew started carving it up for blubber. After a couple of days of work, they got down to the stomach, where some workers noticed something large inside, ‘doubled up’, and showing signs of life.

They cut the stomach open and there lay James Bartley, unconscious and somewhat digested, but alive. They doused him with sea water, put him in the captain’s cabin and after a couple of weeks of recovery, he was back on the job.

Truth or Fiction.com

A fantastic story, yes. A bit fanciful, maybe. But don’t you love it when the writers incorporate a bit of mythos in with fact to increase the believability? Where it becomes difficult to separate fact from fiction is where new fiction can begin.

When these story elements I find it easier to ignore fishing line pulling submarines thru their diving maneuvers or fantastic stories of men in scuba gear swimming into the mouth of a whale and journeying to it’s stomach to find their diving bell.

Lost on Lost

Dave — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:03:03 +0000

It’s time for the self-confidence to come crashing to an end. For 5 seasons I have developed and formulated theories. Most have not panned out but I could at least develop and test my theory each week. This final season I am at a loss to do anything of the kind. I simply cannot postulate a coherent theory about what I am seeing on or off island.

Flashbacks and flashforwards were fine but how in the world do I reconcile flashsideways, in alternate timelines that don’t fit the pieces I know to be true… or do I know that?

A Junkman Goes to the Moon

Dave — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:50:17 +0000

Short-lived as the series was, it made it’s mark on my imagination. I remember that 2 hour made-for-TV movie in January 1979. I remember feeling that I would not for anything give up my dream of going to the moon… and Harry did.

As I slowly work my way through the 19 episodes I am brought back to that Saturday evening January 20, 1979 when “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island” were replaced with the dream of a junkman.

A Classic

Dave — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 23:36:33 +0000

I had almost forgotten this classic. This is their first motion picture in which this routine was used.

I still don’t know who’s on first?

More Mysteries

Dave — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:15:37 +0000

So if Dead is Dead, is John Locke smokey?

Kill Me Once, Kill Me Twice

Dave — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:19:23 +0000

By my count John Locke has been killed by Benjamin Linus twice now. In “The Man Behind the Curtain” (Season 3 episode 20) and in “The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham” (Season 5 episide 7) we see Ben in all his glory. As it turns out there’s room for a third time – or maybe the tables will turn before this is all over.