The three hour finale starts tonight, actually two hours with last week’s episode played again with some more footage added. I really don’t know what’s going to happen. I’ve been extra careful with spoilers. I have absolutely no predictions other than I’m going to go nuts waiting for next season.

Hopefully they’ll kill Michael off. I think Jin will do something heroic on the boat, dying in the process. I have no idea what plans are for Desmond - Penny still needs to find him and he’s still Faraday’s constant.

I’m curious how they’re going to move the island. Obviously they’ll do this as the Oceanic 6 leave, making the 6 think the island vanished. I’m inclined to think that the island will end up in Antarctica simply to explain why Ben is wearing a parka. Or maybe he transports Keamy and his men there, stranding them to a frozen death, and transport to Tunisia.

This is a weird season and hopefully some things will be explained. The ship will blow up. Frank will hopefully not die - I dig him and want him to be a part of the cast. That’s about it. Here’s to the possible best 2 hours in television history.

Also, I bought this poster - but it hasn’t arrived yet.

Rock on.

CNN ran a story today: Monkeys control robots with their minds

Did anybody learn a thing from watching Planet of the Apes? And here I was worried about global warming and bat-shit politicians.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
I was actually surprised that I enjoyed this as much as I did. While not a total reboot of the series, this TNMT lacked any origin story and had new villains. I don’t know why they didn’t bother to use one of the older storylines/villains from past graphic novels - I would have liked to see Krang or some mousers and maybe Baxter, since they are free from real-world muppetry. The animation was great but what I really dug was how color and shadows were used. The art direction on this was fantastic (although I didn’t like how the human characters were done). Rent it if only for the art involved.

Something Wicked This Way Comes
A unique Disney movie from the early 80’s that scared the crap out of me as a child. Based on a very good Ray Bradbury book, SWTWC is about two kids in the 1930’s(?) and a dark carnival that comes to their sleepy town. It was slower than I remembered, but it does have a few good scenes.

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride
Makes me want to rent Where the Buffalo Roam and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas again (or maybe buy). This reflection-type documentary has friends and celebrities talk about their relationship with and life of Hunter S. Thompson - gonzo journalist and prolific writer. Lots of good clips from the movies and footage of Thompson acting batshit. Recommended.

Next up: Ratatouille, The Water Horse, and Death at a Funeral.

So Wednesday of this week, I went with a friend to see LOTR: The Fellowship of the Rings at Wolftrap. It was being played with a live orchestra. It sounded amazing too. It really fit in with the movie. We had front row tickets and after awhile it seemed too close. Plus, I was seated next to some jittery fellow that shook violently throughout the first half. I was like “Are you having a brain seizure? Do you have palsy? How many cases of Red Bull did you drink? Been doing speed long?”
During intermission we decided to move about halfway back so we could see the orchestra better. There was a guy with an accordion - I’m not sure what part of the score demanded an accordion though. During the elvish sequences, a woman came out and sung in elvish - which was a nice touch.
It was a bit too cold - but we had brought some warm clothes thankfully. It was a good time and I’m definitely going to see the next two movies when they come out this way.

Kinsey
This was a pretty interesting film mainly due to its lack of action (well, maybe certain types of action). It was driven by director and actors and it had a subject that’s near and dear to my heart. Human sexuality. Kinsey was a biologist that wanted to make a definitive study of human sexuality. Sure there is kinks to work out (<.<) but opened the doors to an honest dialog about a supposedly taboo subject. While it's not something I'd keep in my collection, I do think it's a good movie to watch.

Nausicaa: The Valley of the Wind
I totally dug this movie just for it’s concept. In the far future, the earth is overtaken by large toxic fungus jungles. Mankind is pushed to the jungles’ outskirts while giant insect thrive inside. A young princess of a oceanside village deals with mankinds’ past, her warlike neighbors, and the insects they want to battle with - all beautifully illustrated and animated by director Miyazaki.

Castle in the Sky
This is Miyazaki’s secound movie. It’s a bit different, but plays on similar themes. It does contain some convenient plot devices. It’s about a young girl that has a special jewel necklace that points the way to a hidden floating fortress. She meets several people along the way that help her finding it. It is a good movie, but not as good at Nausicaa or Miyazaki’s later movies.

Next up, Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, Something Wicked This Way Comes, and Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride (a Hunter S. Thompson doc)

Sideshow Collectibles is offering the first Jack Shephard 12-inch figure for $100. I’m a big fan of the show, but this guy looks outright goofy for a hundred clams. His head is a wee bit big, dontchathink? (link)

Slowly getting the facial features down for the painting…

I can’t help it sometimes. My inner child is well aware that I have a bank account. I got Thundarr the Barbarian action figures in the mail today…

How come all the blonde barbarians always rock a pageboy/bowl haircut?

Richard is Like Dick Clark
The dude is seriously older than dirt. That was a nice surprise of the episode right off the bat. Then we have to talk about Locke being selected from birth as “Island Special” - whether or not Ben was aware of this, at least we know that Richard has known. Also - we’re getting an awful lot of “no smoking” references when an island personality shows up. This happened right before Richard appeared the first time. Locke’s grandmother was told she wasn’t allowed to smoke. This also occurred in the previous episode when Jack was putzing around with the smoke detector and his dead father appears. I don’t know if this eludes to Richard and Christian being spirits/jinns or what have you or not.

Horace Doesn’t Need Home Depot
It turns out that Horace Godspeed built the cabin for him and his hot wife (Samantha Mathis). Horace was the one who helped Ben’s father when his wife gave birth to Ben in the woods - and brought them to the island, via the Dharma Initiative. I was slightly disappointed with this revelation, as I was hoping that the cabin was far older than 12-20 years.

Keamy is a Bastard
I think that Keamy has a nuclear trigger strapped to his arm that will blow the island to bits if his heart stops. He’s a right bastard anyway for killing Alex and now the doctor and the captain. I also think the boat is going to blow up in the finale, killing Michael, maybe Desmond - and the Oceanic 6 will be found by life raft. Of course, Desmond might be in the coffin - a result of a feud between Ben and Widmore, and Desmond saving Penny’s life by taking a bullet (or something).

Claire is Hanging With Ghost Dad
Ok, so I’m thinking Claire is dead. She seems awfully content to sit in a dark cabin with her dead daddy and without her baby. I think she blew up in Othersville. And I’m kinda pissed that she might know more than Locke at this point, which, if she is alive, makes her way more powerful than him.

Random Thoughts
So Charlotte knows Korean - does she have ties to Paik? She couldn’t be there for Sun. And is Faraday evil? And why is Jack heading towards Keamy’s party? Is Matthew (the orderly that tells Locke to take a walkabout) part of the island or is he working for Widmore? The last time we saw him he was hiring Naomi for something sinister - and before that he was asking Hurley if the others were alive. Being part of the island, wouldn’t he know this? Is he like Richard or maybe the same but on the other team? Tonight’s episode should be good.

I found a nifty way of removing the blue lines. This one is a bit overworked.