Saturday, February 13

Lost: The Detox

Hola, all.

Believe it or not, I actually manage to watch/think about a few things other than Lost each week. Each weekend, I'll be posting briefly about/commenting on non-Lost related media that I'm currently digging/trying out/mad at. It's my hope that you'll feel motivated to share your own finds, favorites and follies. If you're here strictly for your Lost fix, skip right over these. You'll barely notice them.

This week:

1. The Lost Room - Every once in a (great, great) while, the SciFi channel produces something worth watching. The Lost Room is one of those miraculously not-terrible productions. In fact, it's kind of great. Originally meant to serve as the opening 'chapters' in a planned, ongoing show, The Lost Room ended up as a three-part miniseries. It's self-contained, and basically stands on it's own as-is, but the untapped potential of the world this show created will make you wish that someone had had more faith in The Lost Room's prospects.

There's real intelligence to the writing and world-creation, and like Lost, the show's creators were clearly trying to communicate some pretty heady ideas within the context of their kooky genre story. There's a good chance that I'll be rewatching The Lost Room once Season 6 of Lost comes to a close. If I do, I think I'll invite those of you who are interested to rewatch it along with me. It's that good.

2. Supernatural - I've been enjoying Eric Kripke's blue collar monster soap opera since it began, and while I wouldn't label it great television I would call it pulpy, very entertaining tv. If you're a fan of Neil Gaiman (from whom the show cribs liberally this season), Clive Barker, Buffy or Angel, then chances are you're already watching this show. But on the off-chance that you aren't, allow me to play Captain Obvious and recommend it. While I've been sorta underwhelmed by this season so far, the past two installments have been excellent.

3. Whip It - My wife rented Drew Barrymore's directorial debut this week, and I was genuinely surprised to find myself enjoying it. It's good to see Daniel Stern working. Whip It is the opposite of 'consequential,' but Whip It's mixture of grrl power, indy shoe-gazing, and genuine warmth made for a nicely sweet experience - one that I'd favorably compare to Adventureland. Between this film and the entirely-underrated 'Roll Bounce,' competitive rollerskating has now produced two surprisingly-watchable films. Color me bewildered, but pleased.

4. The Brothers Bloom: original motion picture soundtrack - I like to listen to music whileI write, and this week's selections included Nathan Johnson's ridiculously good score for this film. I'm not a big film score buff, but this album stands on it's own.

Enjoy the weekend!

7 comments:

  1. I recently discovered the album "Sigh No More" by UK band Mumford and Sons, and it blows my mind every time I listen to it. It's very folk, but they have a great ear for a pop-rock hook. My favourite musical discovery in a long time.

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  2. Thanks much for the 'lost room' suggestion.

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  3. Is this supposed to be the last season of Supernatural? I haven't heard anything, but my friend says that this season is essentially about the Apocalypse, and I imagine that'd be kind of a tough act to follow. I've been meaning to start watching it for a while now, but if it's about to end I might just wait and then do a gigantic marathon.

    For Supernatural/Lost fans: http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2010/02/lost-supernatural.html

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  4. No clue if this is the last season or not. If the wayward Winchester sons decide to carry on after the apocalypse, they've got a potentially terrific story to tell about the five things that the colt can't kill.

    Erik - you're welcome. Hope it's enjoyed.

    Daniel - I'll have to check them out. Gracias.

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  5. I like this addition to the blog. I just started watching Caprica, which is pretty good so far. I've had the Lost Room sitting in my Netflix queue for more than a year. Your recommendation got me to move it up.

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  6. You stated that you've enjoyed the Nathan Johnson's score for "The Brothers Bloom", please tell me that you've seen the film. I thought it was criminal how little support Summit Pictures gave both "The Brothers Bloom" and "The Hurt Locker" this past summer. Also Nathan's score for his brother Rian's previous film "Brick" is also excellent (great movie as well).

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  7. Scott, I have indeed seen the film. Rian Johnson is an exceptionally talented filmmaker. I have issues with Bloom's third act, but I adore what Johnson accomplished.

    I enjoyed Brick's score, but was blown away by what Nathan did with 'Bloom.'

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