Nostalgia

In the past couple of days (that can mean two days or two weeks or more, however you want to see it) I've had way too much free time (meaning I have hardly any lectures but SHOULD be doing IMMENSE amounts of independent study), so I've found myself making some dips in the nostalgic pool of my past passions and addictions. There's been the usual, more recent stuff like The Hunger Games and Klaine, but I also enjoyed some Chaplin comedy again the other day, and really feel like I need a fix of River Phoenix, too. And all this Episode VII talk makes me want to put on another 6-movie marathon, because it's been way too long.

Today I made the fateful mistake and was silly enough to read one of my posts from the early summer of 2010. That time was important in my fangirling life in the sense that Lost ended in May, and I was left nursing a hole bigger and more aching than no other fictional work has ever left in me (except for the Harry Potter books, maybe). This means that I wrote a lot about Lost. And now I read one of those post. And you know, if I give Lost my little finger, it'll soon have my whole hand. Both hands. And feet, and all my other limbs, too. I'm lucky I don't have the DVD's at my flat right now. Still, another Complete Lost Marahtron is an inevitability waiting to happen.

"Dear diary. Still on the bloody island. Today I swallowed a bug."

Good times!

In other news, I am currently occupying myself in catching up on my New Year Resolutions (I'm trying to tackle August at the moment, so there's still some way to go), being addicted to Breaking Bad (pun kind of intended) and feeling sorry for myself for being so broke that I'm not free to go to movies anytime I feel like it. Then again, I'm silly and easily persuaded, so the other day I agreed to go to see Paranormal Activity 4 with some friends. I've only seen the first one (and I'm pretty sure I was drunk at the time), and I haven't seen a horror movie in cinema since The Ring 2, which is for a reason. So, at the theatre I noticed that the new Bond was playing at the same time, and I started a passionate persuading process to convince my friends to go see that instead. We couldn't make up our minds, so at the ticket booth one round of rock-paper-scissors made the decision. I lost, and slept with the lights on the following night. And it wasn't even a particularly scary movie! I don't know how I slept after The Ring 2. Maybe I didn't.

Now I'm just waiting for The Hobbit, while hoping no one will say a word to me about Breaking Dawn Part 2, because I know I'd just say what the hell and throw that money to the wind.

I mentioned Breaking Bad; I should really write a post about it, it's a pretty cool show. Apparently I'm also writing my Bachelor's Thesis on it. Humanities, you know...

Also, I have a massive, Disney-related post on the way, which I've been working on for a year or something. It's the bomb! Although it has nothing to do with Breaking Bad. That Jesse Pinkman slang is just contagious.

EDIT// It's soon 1am and I've been sitting here for hours watching and listening to Disney videos on YouTube. This is going to be a long night...

a year not Lost

Today it's been one year since Lost ended, since I saw the series finale! Freaky! And what do you know, I'm still here, alive and even kicking a little. At times I was sure my life would end with the best TV show in the universe, but somehow I've soldiered on! And honestly, it's been so easy that a year younger version of me would be disgusted or at least very ashamed. But hey, the year hasn't been a total loss, as there's been Glee, which has been filling the hole born a year ago better than I ever expected anything to fill, at least not this soon.

But still as much as I lovelovelove Glee, it's obviously not Lost. Case in point: season two of Glee ends this week, and I'm not half as pumped as I always was waiting for any season finale of Lost. Nothing makes me freak out like the show used to make. I shall never forget those days of insane screaming, hitting my head on a wall and running circles on the backyard (season 5 finale), almost bursting open an operation scar on my stomach (season 2 opening), and laying on a bed for a half an hour, staring at the roof with wide, watery eyes (season 6 finale). Aw. Good times.

I think I'll celebrate this occasion by, for the first time ever, keeping it short and not letting things get out of hand when talking about Lost. I also might call everyone by rude nicknames, play backgammon and Connect Four, listen to The Mamas and the Papas, enjoy some imaginary peanut butter, engage myself in a heated conversation about destiny and faith, and maybe go buy myself a pair of white tennis shoes.

Finally, a truly series-defining quote, for old times' sake:

"Was he talking about what I think he was talking about?"
"If you mean time-travelling bunnies, then yes." 

Oh how good to see that pretty face again.

P.S. I happened to remember that I still haven't finished the final season six post of my Complete Lost Marathon. Hmh. If I found my notes I could maybe finish it one of these days...

The Walking Dead season one - brains, blood and lots of guts

I just finished the first season of The Walking Dead. I began watching yesterday. And it's not weird because the season has only six episodes. I'm not head over heels for the show, but apparently it's quite addictive and I will catch the second season, too. (It begins on August in the U.S. So I might be watching it live! Hoho! What a funny thought...)

The series builds around police officer Rick Grimes (played by a distractingly familiar-looking fellow called Andrew Lincoln, who I just couldn't make myself place without help, but he's no other than the "To me you are perfect" guy from Love Actually! I was fooled by the lack of British accent, I guess...), who one day gets shot and the next thing he knows, he wakes up in a messed up, deserted hospital, with no one around but dead people. Or undead people, however you like to look at it. Zombies, anyway. It's pretty cool that the word 'zombie' is never mentioned during the whole season, by the way! Anyway, the series follows Rick meeting other survivors, trying to find his wife and son, and killing quite a lot of zombies on the way. You know how these things work.

I'm not the world's biggest zombie enthusiast, but enough so to get interested in a series like this. The zombies in The Walking Dead are pretty cool and some impressively gross. The characters are not the strongest area of the show, as most of them feel very indifferent or even annoying, at least to me. My infamous Main Character Syndrome is at work once again: I don't really care for Rick (you should be back in London, chasing Keira, man!) and Sarah Wayne Callies's Lori is probably my least favourite character. She's cold and colourless and I don't like the look on her skinny face. Back when she was hanging out with Michael Scofield I actually liked her a bit.

A character I do like is Glenn, who answers for most of that scarce comic relief in the show. I know it's mostly the ethnicity factor, but he reminds me a lot of Miles from Lost. Daryl Dixon is another favourite, whom I've by the way named a Sawyer, just with less sex appeal than the original one. And there are many other Lost archetypes I spotted, too. It's funny how that show still sneaks in the back of my head and affects the way I look at the world. Or TV shows, at least. It's quite easy to try and find parallels with these two, as they are quite similar in nature. (Lost is better, though. Way, way better. Okay, I'll shut up.)

I was a bit surprised to go to the internet and read that people like the show, yes, but hope for more action and zombie killing, and less talk and character moments. I guess it's just my distinctive character-driven taste, because I thought that the action and the drama were in a pretty nice balance, and that just enough zombies got killed. Actually, majority of the most poignant, most memorable moments have to do with zombies, yes, and killing them, yes, but with some deeper thought or story behind the act. The mindless slaughtering with flying guts and dropping heads and splashing blood is fun for a while, but I don't like it as the main point. The word is there will be more of that on season two (because apparently I'm one of the fewer viewers who'd like to see more group dynamics and learn about the characters), so we'll see how that works for me.

Well, anyway. It was nice to watch something other than Glee for a change (not that there's anything not-nice in watching just Glee), as I gave up watching the second season of True Blood due to a total lack of interest, and I still haven't found a cut-price season three box set of Mad Men. The Walking Dead is a pretty interesting and fresh show, and I'm looking forward to the next season, however bloody it will be.

P.S. After being inside by myself all day, watching the show, I went out and imagined that all my neighbours were zombies. I had a very exciting walk to the corner shop and back.

2010: A Summary of a Year

2010 is almost over. Can you believe it, because I can't! The year has been pretty good, I've seen many awesome films (and quite a bunch of less awesome films as well, but that's unavoidable, I guess). I hugely regret that I didn't make a list of all the films I watched during 2010 (it did cross my mind, damn it), because I'm pretty sure I've broken a personal record. 2010 was also the year when I started blogging, so I guess we can say my year hasn't been a total waste!

To wrap the year up, I look back to the various phases I went through this year. (A phase: A period of time during which I am hugely enthusiastic about something or someone, and can't fully concentrate on anything else.) There's been unusually many of them! Also, I'll very reluctantly make an unofficial top five of my favourite movies of 2010. Don't take it too seriously. There are too many potentially awesome films I haven't yet seen! It's mostly there just for show.

**

My SIX PHASES of 2010

The Robert Downey Jr. phase (January - March)

Not often I go see a film in the cinema twice. Even less often three times. But I did see Sherlock Holmes three times, and I can only blame the unbeatable charm and overflowing hotness of RDJ. During the phase I also watched a lot of lousy films from his early career (and one damn good one that led to another phase later on) and the fourth season of Ally McBeal. That's when the phase probably reached its peak and I was more fanfirl-y that I've been in years and it was highly disturbing and I'm glad it's over now. (And I'm only half-kidding.) I'm still very much RDJ's girl, and I regret I managed to miss Due Date in cinemas.

The River Phoenix phase (March - April)

The short-ish but passionate River Phoenix phase was triggered by the end credits of Stand by Me, as my even-slower-than-usual brain realised that the charming young fellow in the film was actually River Phoenix. Many of his film are almost impossible to come by, but judging by every film I have got my hands on, River was spectacularly talented and an amazing person and all the praise he's ever got is most definitely deserved. Also, when it comes to talking about River Phoenix, one can't get away without mentioning that he has one of the most photogenic faces EVER.

The Lost phase (~April - June)

My Lost phase has been going strong since 2006, but this year it culminated around the series finale in May. All year long I had been regularly freaking out once a week, as the final season teased and shocked and thrilled me to pieces. Lost is the most popular label on my blog, which shows that the Lost phase still isn't over. Just this week I completed a project I had been fantasizing about for years, as my Complete Lost Marathon finally ended. Lost truly has been one of the highlights of the year, but it was also a significant highlight of the whole decade. Dude, it's been awesome.

The Charlie Chaplin phase (June - July)

This is one of the few times ever I've become this excited about something that could easily be considered 'intellectual' (not that Lost, for instance, isn't, ahem). Thanks to RDJ (yep, I still think I owe him this), I read Chaplin's autobiography, loved it, and watched all of his films I could find. Oh and loved them, too, to say the least. I found it quite amazing that I so thoroughly enjoyed something that had been done before the 90s, or even before the invention of talking pictures! So uncharacteristic of me. Chaplin's films are wonderful, oh so wonderful and I'll be eternally grateful to RDJ. Haha.

The Disney phase (August - September)

Before and especially after our spectacular trip to Paris - which included that fateful visit to Disneyland - I couldn't make myself watch anything that wasn't animated and or didn't have a happy ending and a few cute animal friends. I watched more Disney films in a month than I did during the whole year when I was five. And oh did I have a blast! By the time I got annoyed at The Little Mermaid and actually began to look the films critically (first time for everyhing), I figured the time had come to finally shake the phase and move on. Luckily, an old favourite was coming back from a summer hiatus.

The Glee phase (October - December, and beyond)

 Glee, oh Glee! Just when I thought Lost had left a hole in me that nothing could ever fill, along came season two of Glee, and reminded me that there is one show out there that has that potential. Not that the hole is completely filled (won't ever be), but it doesn't ache anymore. Glee has been quite a dominant factor in my life recently: I created a blog dedicated to it, I'm listening to the songs on repeat, I ordered a ticket to their live concert and I want to marry Chris Colfer (oh, if I were a boy!). Glee has quite a steady position in my life, and this phase will continue to live on... Side by side with whatever I next get crazy about.

**

My (unofficial) TOP FIVE of 2010

Rare Exports

Okay, so. Rare Exports is here, because 1) it was a good film and 2) because it's not every year Finns make a film that one might even consider when thinking about the best films of the year. I might have liked The Deathly Hallows a bit more, but hey, the patriot in me wanted to give this film some more credit. (And I make sure DH pt. 2 will be on my top five of 2011. Promise.) And it's not only that it is a rare export when it comes to domestic cinema. Rare Exports is an imaginative and bold piece of work, it creeped me out, it made me laugh and gave me chills and, quite unexpectedly, a touch of Christmas spirit as well.

Kick-Ass

Kick-Ass kicked off my summer of various action adventures, such as Robin Hood, Iron Man 2 and Prince of Persia, and ended up kicking the crap out of all the rest. It is an entertainment bomb. It introduced two bright stars of tomorrow, Aaron Johnson and Chloe Moretz, and also features the brilliant Christopher Mintz-Plasse. One of my favourite moments (in addition to everything that includes Hit-Girl) still is when the main character is worried that if he dies, he won't find out how Lost ends. What a relief I don't have to worry about anymore! Because, on some of my less proud moments, I did. Anyway, Kick-Ass kicks ass.

Inception

Er, what? What is Inception doing this far from number one? Wasn't it pretty much the most mind-blowing thing I'd seen in ages, a complicated and intriguing masterpiece by the genious also known as Chris Nolan, and simply just the grandest cinema experience ever? Well, yes. As you can see, I haven't numbered the top five, even though they are supposingly in the order of superiority. It just felt wrong. When my friend asked me what my five favourite movies of 2010 were, he also asked me to mark put a star after each film that was so damn incredible you forgot it was a film you were watching. (continues below)

The Social Network

(cont.) (He asked me for the list in Facebook. By the way.) Inception was the only was that I starred. So why oh why are The Social Network and another film topping Inception? Well, quite frankly, I don't know. I'm just listening to my gut. I can't say which one I liked more, because they are so very different. Both left me in awe, but in different kinds of awe and for different reasons. I actually at one point promoted Inception to number two, but finally dropped it back down again, because this was the original order on the list in Facebook. And as we know, Facebook is the bible of today's world. And yes, The Social Network is freaking genious.

Toy Story 3

So here we are, then. 2010 is just about in the bag and my most favourite film ended up being... not a sci-fi epic nor an origin story of a web page... but a third instalment of an animated film series. Um... okay? I guess what happened here is that number three and number two were too busy wrestling with each other that they forgot one little Toy Story 3. Whoever saw that coming? ... I did, actually. (Just remembered that I did!) Here's a direct quote (with spelling errors and all, sigh... 'askes'... I should probably fix that) from my Inception post from July:

" So - if someone askes me in the end of this year what was the BEST film of 2010, I will probably say Inception. If they ask what was MY FAVOURITE film, I will say something else. Something silly like Toy Story 3 or Kick-Ass or Harry Potter. "

And yes, I don't think this is such a scandalous or unexpected choice after all. I mean, whoever has seen the film knows it's brilliant in so many wonderful ways. I'm definitely campaigning for Toy Story 3 to win the best picture Oscar, and not only because I like underdogs and tend to fly the flag of those who REALLY don't stand much chance of winning, but also because I think it has a tremendous amount of potential. I mean, don't you want an animated picture to win the Oscar some day? So why not now? (Yeah, yeah, okay. In my dreams. Anyway.)

**

Okay. So. A wrap-up of a wrap-up... 2010. What a year! And I have a sneaky feeling that 2011 might be even better! There sure are a big bunch of films worth expecting on the way. 2010 took us beyond infinity, but who knows, we might go even further next year.

Happy two thousand and eleven, everyone! Enjoy the fireworks tonight!

What is it about Jorge Garcia and islands...?

I was happy to read in the news that everyone's favourite dude, Jorge Garcia will be returning to an island. Though it's not the Island where he used to hang around as the sweet and hilarious Hurley, it is still mastered by J.J. Abrams. His new mystery series is called Alcatraz, which gives a little hint about the identity of the island in question.

I don't know what Garcia's character will be like, but it would probably break my heart to see him act anyone less cuddly than Hugo. Or at least it would be very confusing. Still, I'm very much looking forward to this.

By the way, it looks like J.J. is quite determined to keep the old Lost actors working, as there's been talk about that show starring Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn, as well. Haven't heard anything about it in a while, though, I hope they haven't given up the brilliant idea...

By the way, my Lost Marathon is a bit stuck due to the fact that I've been pretty efficiently gleeking out for the last couple of weeks. And for some reason I don't feel like watching Ab Aeterno, which would be next in line... Well, one of these days. Maybe this insane gleeking will start to calm down soon and I can think of something else too, for a change.

Lost Season Five - there and back again

SPOILER ALERT! 

Number of episodes / Days it took me: 17 / 5 (...Haha. That season 6 boxset and all those unseen extras sure are motivating... Also, I have a week off from school so that helps too. Oh well. Excuses, excuses... I'm just no-life.)

What goes on on season 5: As Ben turned the wheel, he 'dislounged the island from time' (don't look at me, Daniel Faraday's words, not mine...), so the remaining Losties are now jumping there and back again in time. Fun, right? Well, not quite so. See, they start suffering from something that Dan calls 'like really bad jetlag', so their noses start to bleed and stuff. Luckily, Locke follows Ben's footsteps and turns the wheel again, thus leaving the island and stopping the time-jumps. The thing is, he left the island believing that he needs to bring everyone who previously left back there. So, after three years, when they actually do return, they only screw things up, as it turns out no one really needed rescuing - they had built good lives for themselves in the island, in the 1970s. The Dharma Initiative sure is a good employer! Meanwhile in the 21st century, Locke (who died off the island) seems to be alive and kicking again, but really it's just Jacob's evil (?) brother (who I'd like to call Flocke), who uses John's body for some evil (?) business that involves Jacob being killed. Back in the 1970s, Jack believes he is destined to detonate a hydrogen bomb, positive it'll prevent the crashing of Oceanic 815. So all five season would be in vain? Nice, Jack.

Coolest new characters: Pierre Chang, though he's not really new. And that's the coolest thing! That slightly creepy dude from the old Orientation tapes is back, and in a way no one would've guessed back when we watched him babble about the Swan Station in season two. Awesomeness, I say...

Coolest storylines: The time travelling, telling us a lot about the history of the island, the Others and good old Danielle Rousseau. + The Dharma times, because that was just so deliciously genious. It's awesome enough that we get to meet old buddies like Dr. Chang, Radzinzky (who's such an a-hole I'm only happy to know he'll end up blowing his own brains out) and little Ben face to face, but we also get to witness the constraction of our very own Hatch, meaning the Swan Station. And of course Jack the janitor wiping blackboards is something worth seeing. + After seeing the last season, it was also very enjoyable to watch the Man in Black (or Flocke or whatever you like to call him) work his magic and plot his evil schemes behind the face of John Locke.

Coolest foreshadowings: Faraday says that the rules don't apply to Desmond, that he's special. + It's not foreshadowing, per ce, but the church where they meet Eloise Hawking is the same church where they... hang out in season 6 finale. Cool! Never realised it before. + After Ben 'summons' the monster, he hears something moving in the forrest and he tells Sun to go inside, because "What's about to come out of that jungle is something I can't control." ... And Locke appears. I remember chuckling at it in the first time around, but actually, it was just spot-on. + The word 'candidate' is mentioned for the first time. + The battle between good and evil is ready to start for real. Only we're not sure who's good and who's bad.

Coolest character developments: Sawyer, I mean James, I mean LaFleur. In three years he did some serious growing up, worked his way to a position of a respected leader, and found himself some true love. I love the new, mature James, but I also love that the old chain-smoking jackass is still in there somewhere, ready to kick some ass when necessary. I also ADORE Miles this season! In Some Like It Hoth, we get to have a look behind that facade of awesome sarcastic comments, and I like what I see. I also get a kick out of Ken Leung's acting. The way Miles acts around Dr. Chang, avoiding eye contact, pretending to be respectfully indifferent, is fantastic. (Also Jack, going all man of faith, but I'll write about it more in the season 6 post, after the transformation is complete.)

The "...meh" moments of the season: Sayid says that the nine months he spent with Nadia before she died were the best of his life. NOT the two steamy weeks on the island. Guess the writers forgot this when working on the series finale... Meh. + Hurley witnesses the numbers being put on the hatch lid - which would've been totally cool, only the numbers weren't on the lid, you idiots! It's always so dull when they make such obvious errors. Like in season 6 they say Charlotte is an archeologist. NO SHE'S NOT, she's an anthropologist! This is serious business for us Lost geeks.

The "OMGSFRgtrh"#¤#T%TY!!!11" moments of the season: Charles Widmore was an Other?? ... And so was Dan's mom?? ... And Widmore is Dan father?? Gee. + The end of The Little Prince, when we meet... a French-speaking science team and a French-speaking pregnant lady, who says her name is... well, we guessed it already. Oh and JIN! ALIVE! WHOO! + "This is your captain, Frank Lapidus..." OMG, YES! Everyone's favourite Yahoo is back! He won't be doing anything useful but dropping awesome comments, but I welcome him back with open arms! + Sayid shoots little Ben. That was a bit cruel... + Ben being judged. That's a very good scene, a bit OMG, a bit WTF and a bit snifsnif. The biggest OMG factor is that the CGI in this scene is amazing. Haha. No offence, but I didn't think they had it in them. And Michael Emerson rocks once again. + Eloise shoots her son, Daniel. And she knew it would happen before he was even born. Confusing, but so harsh.

The "WHAT-THE-F..." moments of the season: Through most of the season, Sayid is wearing ladies' clothes. That purple blouse and a tank top with a plunging neckline. I could wear that. WTF, costume designer? (Er, okay, I don't have enough WTF moments. Had to write something here. But seriously, that outfit is ridiculous.) + (Okay, one real WTF thingy.) When we were led to believe that John came back from the dead, I was very WTF and confused. Also, I didn't like it at all. That was just too... freakish. And I didn't like the 'new John'. (Terrific work by Terry O'Quinn, by the way, the way he played Flocke... Still a bit like John, but something was... off. He was just too sure, too confident.) So when it was revealed that he actually was dead and there was just some other dude playing around with his appearance, I was quite relieved.

The "snifsnif" moments of the season: Kate tells Claire's mum the truth and hands Aaron over to her. It was quite touching though Kate seldom makes me feel anything at all. Maybe it's because Aaron is so damn cute. + In the end of Some Like It Hoth, Miles sees his dad and his baby-self and he realises his dad actually cared about him. Aw, poor Miles. + The 'first death' of Juliet. God, that's just heartbreaking every time. Great acting.

The "HAHAHAHAHA" moments of the season: Hugo, when talking about Jeremy Bentham: "I need a cool code name." + John (who apparently wants even more mystery in his life): "What is it?" Richard: "It's a compass." J: "What does it do?" R: "It points north, John." + Carmen Reyes: "Why is there a dead Pakistani on my couch?" She shows up once a season and sweeps the board clean! + Ben: "Hello, Hugo." Hugo: "Yaaaaargh!" I've watched this video like ten times in a row now. + James, Juliet and co. are being shot (by whom??) while they're canoeing, then they feel a flash coming on and James goes: "Thank you Lord!" They travel in time and end up in the middle of a storm... "I take that back!" + Jack to Ben, in the plane when they're going back and waiting for something to happen: "How can you read?" Ben: "My mother taught me." Coolest thing is that he lies even when he's joking like that - his mother died when he was born. Another example comes later when Flocke says: "Mind if I ask you a question?" And Ben goes: "I'm a pisces." Bet his not. + Hurley and Miles discuss time travel. + Hurley: "We car-pool, help global warming, which hasn't happened yet, so maybe we can prevent it." + Hurley to Miles, about the ability to talk to the dead: " You're just jealous because my power is better than yours." + Dr. Chang's quiz show and Hurley, who just never learns how to lie. Brilliant!

The "awwwwww" moments of the season: Hugo's I <3 my Shih-Tzu t-shirt. + Hurley tells his mom the truth, in a very Hurley-ish way. ("...Well is was never really clear on that.") + Des and Pen named their son Charlie! And he's cute, with those blond curls and all. + When they are jumping in time, James sees Kate in the jungle, delivering Claire's baby. Then he tells about it to Juliet and they bond. Aww. + Reunion in the beginning of Namaste - James, when hugged by Hugo: "Easy on the ribs, Kong." Hurley: "'Kong'... I actually missed that." And when Jin says something he goes: "Dude, your English is awesome." + Rose, Bernard, Vincent and the peaceful, 'don't get involved' way of life. + Sun finds Charlie's ring! Shame it ends up in the bottom of the ocean after all.

The "WHOO! Kick ass!" moment of the season: This isn't literal ass-kicking, but it makes me go HA HA. Young Charles Widmore, after escaping John and co: "Their leader is some sodding old man. You think he can track? You think he knows this island better than I do?" Well, Charles... ha ha!

The moments I can't fit under any other category but want to mention anyway because they are simply awesome: Locke by the Beechcraft, both times. Wonderfully complex. Flocke told Richard to tell Locke that the others have to come back and that he needs to die. And Richard told Locke what Flocke had told him to tell him, because he thought Flocke was Locke. + Hurley gets tips from Ana Lucia. "Libby says hi." Aww. + Jack & John destiny talk vol. 3, as John is brought to Jack's hospital and John says that they have to go back. He doesn't get Jack convinced (though he plants a seed of doubt), which leads to... the suicide-turned-murder of John Locke. What a great scene. Ben did it once again, took us totally by surprise. + Hurley making suggestive conversation with Miles and Miles' dad, who doesn't know the adult version of his 3-month old son is sitting next to him. Later on the episode, there's this awesome chat between Hugo and Miles, spiced up with a little Star Wars. (Like Miles says: "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard." And yet, somehow it works just splendidly.) + All the flashback in The Incident, Jacob visiting Kate (it's almost freaky how much the little girl looks like Evangeline Lilly), James (the letter! Poor little boy), Sayid, Jack (the true 'count to five' story revealed... It was a lot more humiliating that he let Kate believe) and John. + Ben kills Jacob. It's cool how Jacob lets Flocke to manipulate Ben and has short of accepted that he will die. "What about ME?" "What ABOUT you?"

A few more random but ever so awesome quotes: Jack, when his putting his dad's shoes on dead John, like Ms Hawking told him to: "Wherever you are, John, you must be laughing your ass off that I'm actually doing this." I hope he is. I hope he's like HA HA. + Frank: "We're not going to Guam, are we?" That comment was born to be a legend. + Ben: "You're a killer, Sayid." & "You were right about me. I am a killer." + "Hello, Ben. Welcome back to the land of the living." A killer line, definitely. + Flocke as Locke: "I was hoping we could talk about the elephant in the room." Ben, quite matter-of-factly: "I assume you're referring to the fact that I killed you." + "What lies in the shadow of the statue?" + Sayid about Jack's hydrogen bomb plan: "If this works, you might just save us all. And if it doesn't? At least you'll put us out of our misery." That's the spirit, Sayid...

Dumbest Jack moment of the season: Refusing to save little Ben. And thus causing Ben to 'lose his innocence' or whatever and making him the wonderful evil Ben we've all grown to hate and love. Tables turned, jackass...

Funniest Sawyer nickname of the season: Plato, referring to Daniel. Because well, he was even more difficult to follow this season. To quote James and Miles: "Is he still crazy?" "It's on a whole new level, man."

Best openings: The season opening (though it doesn't quite reach the coolness level of the openings of seasons 1, 2 or 3. Or 6.) - we see Pierre Chang get up at 8:15, feed little Miles, go to work, talk fancy science stuff. When his gone, this guy says "Time-travel? How stupid does that guy think we are?" to another guy, who turns out to be Daniel. Yeah, pretty stupid... + 316 - it begins pretty much like The Pilot, which is always cool. And it's also cool how they first show us that they got back to the island, and only after tell us how. They do that a lot. I like it. + And of course The Incident - the introduction of Jacob. Again, they first show us the answer and only afterwards tell us what the question was. Who knew they'd show us Jacob just like that? That's so typical of Lost. (Just like the mystery of the hatch in the season two opening.) The scene is the main key to the last season. It's as close to perfect as it can get.

Best endings: LaFleur - after convincing Horace that three years is definitely enough time to get over someone, he gets to test his claim as he meets Kate (and Jack and Hurley) again. And most of all, The Incident. When I watched it for the first time and that screen turned white instead of black, I just freaked out - jumped around, banged my head against the wall numerous times, ran a few circles on our backyard, possible screaming a little. Now that's what you call a cliffhanger.

Best special features: Making up for LOST time. It sums up quite nicely what's so cool about season five. And why time travel rocks.

Best of the Blooper Reel: Kate and the horn. Jack and Hurley and romantic comedy. Sayid's head.  Ethan: "Where are you?" Charlotte and Dan dancing. Hurley's dad, sweep sweep. Haha.

Best episodes: LaFleur (because that's where the season really gets going), Dead Is Dead (because Ben is awesome), Some Like It Hoth (because Miles is awesome), The Incident (because... because).

The questions I wanted aswered but they never were: I always wanted to see those 'Others 101' lessons - as Juliet called them - where they are thought Latin and Kung Fu (or whatever) and how to not leave tracks and move gracefully in the jungle and general badass-ness.

The quote to summarize season 5: "Three years, no burning cars. You're here one day... Get on that hose!" or maybe Richard's "I'm starting to think John Locke is gonna be trouble." (Followed by Ben's :"Why do you think I tried to kill him?") "Do you have any idea how badly I want to kill you?" kind of summarizes the whole series, in a way...

Overall how it felt like to watch season 5 again: During the first watch of season 5, I remember feeling quite nostalgic about the early seasons. As awesome as the storylines now were, I couldn't help missing all those little character moments that I'm so very fond of, and that I was now getting less and less. But true as this might be, I like season 5 a lot. In addition to all the praise I've already given, there are a few more things.

As I've mentioned before, I love Juliet and James together. I was rooting for Kate/Sawyer before, but after LaFleur, it was bye bye Skate and hello Suliet! But I still like the scenes between Kate and James, because the chemistry is still there. For example there's that one scene where they discuss Clementine, James' daughter Kate looked up for him, and how their (Kate and Sawyer's) relationship would've never worked.

The Lamp Post is such a cool station! I wanted to see more of it. The pendulum swinging eerily on the background and the map on the floor... Also, I almost added a new category, 'The coolest intertextual reference of the season'... Narnia, anyone?

One more Ben-related thought, then I promise I'm done. There was a time during this rewatch, when I felt sorry for Ben. There is that cool moment when Ben looses his temper, because no one appreciates the work his doing for them to get back to the island. I thought, "Yeah! And no one ever thanks him." I didn't remember anyone ever thanking him. Then, my memory was refreshed. In The Life And Death Of Jeremy Bentham, John thanks Ben for talking him out of killing himself. A minute later Ben strangles him. Hmm, I wonder why no one ever thanks him...

I was supposed to make this post shorter than the previous ones, but oh well. I tried, okay?

What's next: My next week looks unpleasantly busy, with various deadlines (which I soon have to stop ignoring...), baby-sitting duties, extra lectures, and party preparations, so I don't know when I'll be able to start with the final season. But as soon as I do, it won't take long till I'm done. The end (/The End) is near...

Lost Season Four - a boatful of dull supporting characters on the way!

 

SPOILER ALERT!

Number of episodes / Days it took me: 14 / 13 (Pathetic! In the good old days I would've been done with it in a day.)

What goes on on season 4: A group of scientists from the freighter parachute into the island and for a while they pretend they're gonna save our friends, but of course they aren't. There're some differences and they split up to Team Jack and Team John. Then some real E V I L guys with bad-ass super guns come to capture Ben and kill everyone else. There's some shooting and other shady business, but luckily Ben turns a wheel and the island disappears and everyone's happy! Also, Desmond travels to 1996, but only temporarily, Jin's English is improving FAST, and Michael makes a comeback, which might have been an OMG moment, if the actor's name hadn't been in the opening credit for the whole season. (I never thought Mike as a particularly cool character, but this season he kind of is.) Then we say goodbye to Claire and never again see her without a wig.

Coolest new characters: Despite the harsh title of the post, there are a few characters that prove themselves quite worthy, though most of them only later on. Of course there's Miles "Awesome, the ship sent us another Sawyer" Straume, Frank "Yahoo" Lapidus and Martin "What does it look like we're doing? We're shooting things" Keamy. And then there's Daniel "Half the stuff he says goes way over my head. The other half goes way, way over" Faraday. Charlotte is okay, too, I guess, but I can't come up with a good quote to describe her.

Coolest story lines: The most interesting thing this season is to follow the forming of the Oceanic 6. You know, who got rescued and what happened to them. It's also a joy to watch Ben work his magic - manipulating, talking his way out of tough spots and getting what he wants... most of the time.

Coolest foreshadowing: Dan and the cards, implying that there's something wrong with his memory. Hmm. + Time-travelling 101. "You can't change the future" and so on. + The name of Dan's rat is Eloise. + Charles Widmore's connection to the island. Him buying the logbook of the Black Rock and saying to Ben that the Island is his, it always was. + "Nice day for a swim" and Juliet and Sawyer getting drunk after the freighter explodes. So the bonding begins... Me likes.

Coolest character developments: Ben, probably. He goes through a lot - he's a captive, he talks himself free, he watches his daughter get killed and finally he does an unusually selfless thing and leaves the island to rescue it (sure, just before that he caused the death of a boatful of people, but anyway...). We also find out he has/had a serious crush on Juliet, which is weird and also creepy. It's also cool that in the flash-forwards we meet Hugo crazier and darker than ever. Good old fun-time Hurley is only a distant memory... 

The "...meh" moments of the season: Something Nice Back Home and Jack's appendix. That was a totally boring plot for an episode, especially at this point. OMG I wonder if Jack's going to die of a ruptured appendix!! + The beginning of the season wasn't very good. I'm especially disappointed at the opening shot - no eye! Just mangoes, or papayas, or whatever that fruit was. A funny opening, yeah, but I wanted the tradition to keep on going... (Anyway, it's cool that Hurley got the opening episode.)

The "OMGSFRgtrh"#¤#T%TY!!!11" moments of the season: Sayid's hair in the flashforwards. OMG man, who's your hairdresser? Also, he's working for Ben. How did that happen? + Kate is Aaron's fake mum in the future! So where's Claire? + The end of Ji Yeon as we learn they tricked us with mixed flashbacks and forwards and Jin never got off the island. + Karl and Danielle are shot. That was a fast and brutal ending for those characters... + And the person in the coffin is... OH MY GOD, HOW DID _HE_ END UP IN THERE??

The "WHAT-THE-F..." moments of the season: The polar bear skeleton in the desert. + Ben waking up in the middle of the same desert, wearing a lovely, warm parka. + Ben somehow 'summoning' the monster. (It was weird then, but after seeing the last season it's pretty cool.) + Christian and Claire in 'Jacob's' cabin. The brainwash has already begun! + "He wants us to move the island." Um, okay? + Hurley playing chess with dead people. "Checkmate, Mr. Eko." That was creepy. + Ben turns the 'Frozen Donkey Wheel' (after saying: "I hope you're happy now, Jacob." Gee, that Jacob must be quite a character...) and the island vanishes. Alrighty then...

The "snifsnif" moments of the season: People grieving over Charlie's death. Especially Hurley's sorrow is always hard to swallow. + The phone call in The Constant. Oh dear god what a scene. Des&Pen is true love, y'all. + Sun on Jin's grave in the end of Ji Yeon. + The death of Alex. That's just the most brutal death in the whole series. For once, talking didn't get Ben out of a tricky situation. And the last words she heard were his father saying that she means nothing to him. That Keamy is an E V I L dude... + Oceanic 6 reuniting with their families. I was supposed to place this under the "...meh" category, because I always thought that was a bit anticlimactic, considering how long we'd been waiting for that moment. But this time it made me teary, so I guess it's a "snifsnif" moment, then. + Jin (and the freighter) go BOOM. Sun's reaction makes it sad, despite the events of next season.

The "HAHAHAHAHA" moments of the season: Miles when pointed out he doesn't seem too affected by Naomi's death: "Sure I'm affected. She was hot and I dug her accent." + "Can you fix it?" Sayid: "I need a minute." Just classic, haha. The gadget is literally slaughtered to death but Sayid needs only a minute. + As the freighter people attack the Barracks, Sawyer tells a man to go back inside and right after he gets shot. Alright, not funny, but it happens three times in a row - "Get back inside, now!" Bang. "Get back inside!" Bang. "Go back!" Bang bang. Haha. + John gives Hurley a box of crackers from Ben's stash and Ben tells Hurley they are 15 years old AFTER he's stuffed his mouth full of them. Aw, Ben. + "Jesus Christ is not a weapon!" Aw, Carmen Reyes. + Sawyer, Hugo and John in a seemingly tense strategic conversation, and then Sawyer says he's attacking Siperia. Haha. + Rose: "Who told you you can eat those peanuts?" Miles: "May I eat these peanuts?" And Miles to Dan as he's trying to signal he wants to talk to him: "Something wrong with your neck?" Ah, Miles The Awesome is emerging! + Frank as the helicopter's fuel tank is leaking: "I'd feel a hell of a lot better if we were a few hundred pounds lighter." And cut to Hurley looking awkward. Haha, ouch.

The "awwwwww" moments of the season: Hurley doing a canonball. + Charlie visiting Hugo. Some wouldn't consider it particularly aww, but I just love seeing those two together again. Charlie slapping Hugo and all that. Aww, I miss him. (And Dom looks pretty good in the scene.) + The Lost Christmas Special, meaning The Constant and the Christmas tree in Penny's house as the make the phone call. So damn sweet. + Jin & Bernard and the marriage talk. + Sawyer worrying about Hurley: "You harm as much as one hair on his curly head, I'll kill you." Aww. LaFleur is on the way. + And of course, Ben and Hurley sharing the Apollo bar. (Or granola bar or whatever.) That was totally random, but aww I love that little moment. They would make a good team. Woudn't they...? + Ben saying goodbye to John: "I'm sorry I made your life so miserable." He actually sounds completely sincere for the first time ever. Don't know if he was. + The reunion of Pen and Des. Aww, damn, the joy is killing me!

The "WHOO! Kick ass!" moment of the season: Sawyer going Rambo - fighting a group of professional soldiers with supermega guns, by hiding behind garden furniture and shooting with his little handgun. I call that kick-ass.

The moments I can't fit under any other category but want to mention anyway because they are simply awesome: Jack lying for Kate in court. + In The Shape of Things to Come there's a wonderful little moment as Ben learns the Freighter people are attacking the Barracks: he pulls a gun out of some secret hiding place, Sawyer goes like WHOA and reaches for his own gun, but Ben just hands it to him without paying any attention to his reaction or breaking off the hasty instructions he's giving. I just like that moment. + The Oceanic 6 press conference. + Claire's mum telling Jack his father had a daughter and that daughter was on the plane, too. And then she goes and tells Kate she has a lovely baby. Ouch. + Jack and John meet after a whole season and have another cool chat about destiny. Then John tells Jack that he will regret leaving the island and that they are gonna have to lie. John always knows best! + Sawyer being a hero - jumping off the chopper to save the others.

This post is becoming ridiculously long considering the season has only 14 episodes, but I have to add a paragraph of its own for the scenes with John and Ben in the Orchid station. Because there're a million great moments in those scenes! Or at least... five. 1) Going down in the elevator. Silence. John: "How deep is this station?" Silence. Ben: "Deep." Silence. 2) John: "Is THIS the magic box?" Ben, annoyed: "No, John, it isn't." Forget the damn magic box, I was just messing with your head! Haha. 3) John, after watching the Orchid orientation video: "Was he talking about what I think he was talking about?" Ben, with a amazingly straight face: "If you mean time-travelling bunnies, then yes." A line like that proves that Lost is kind of a unique TV show, doesn't it? Haha, awesome... 4) John, as Ben keeps carrying metal objects in the time-travel device: "You know he said specifically not to put anything metal in there?" Ben nods, slowly, in a how-dumb-do-you-think-I-am kind of way. And finally, 5) after Ben lethally stabs Keamy, and thus triggers the bomb in the freighter, John says, horrified: "You just killed everyone on that boat!" And Ben just goes: "So?" Oh Ben, the lovely Ben.

A few more random but ever so awesome quotes: John about surviving Ben's attempt to shoot him: "I'd probably be dead if I still had a kidney there." + Dan's diary: "If anything goes wrong, Desmond Hume will be my constant." + Juliet: "It's very stressful being an Other." + Ben about a rabbit John's cooked him: "This didn't have a number on in, did it?" + Ben to Michael on the phone after he's agreed to work for him: "Then consider yourself one of the good guys." + Ben: "Because destiny, John, is a fickle bitch." + Jack when returning to the 'real world': "It's okay. They think that we are in shock." Sun: "We are in shock, Jack."

Dumbest Jack moment of the season: He's shaved his chest. Why, man?

Funniest Sawyer nickname of the season: Yoda, meaning Ben, of course. And Yahoo. Because that fits Frank so well. No offence, of course.

Best openings: Cabin Fever - we see a young girl preparing to go out, dressed in 60s clothes and listening to 60s music. She's hit by a car and in the hospital she gives birth to a boy she wants to name John. + There's No Place Like Home pt 2, continuing the 'Jack and Kate meet at the airport' scene from season 3 finale.

Best endings: The Other Woman (I like that clever title, by the way!) - the previously captive Ben strides cheerfully to his house, smiling at Hugo and Sawyer (who look quite puzzled) and singing out: "See you guys at dinner!" + TNPLH pt 1 - the O6 scattered all around and Ben surrendering to Keamy, ever so cooly. And then there's that quote that just defines Ben quite perfectly: "How many times do I have to tell you, John? I always have a plan."

Best special features: The There's No Place Like Home pt 2-3 commentary by Darlton. It's funny! + The Island Backlot : Lost in Hawaii, describing how they turn Hawaii into Tunisia, Iraq, Korea, Berlin... Those people are quite handy!

Best of the Blooper Reel: "...I'm not making much sense, am I?" When do you, Daniel, when do you? + "This is Kate, this is Sun, this is Naveen... Oh fuck." + Des and Jin running. And screaming. In a girly way. + That sound Josh Holloway makes as Kate says: "I'm not moving in with you." Hilarious! + The same guy posing with the backgammon board. + "If I was a dictator, I would just shoot you and go about my day." That's an awesome line anyway. Oh, these guys... This could be the funniest blooper reel of them all.

Best episode: The Constant, of course. I haven't said much about it, except for the phone call, but it should be praised, a lot! However, I'm only going to praise it a little, this time. Desmond is awesome and Henry Ian Cusick is awesome and whoever edited the episode is awesome. I love how the transitions have been made! It's simply an awesome episode. One of the best, if not the one. Also, The Shape of Things to Come, Cabin Fever (cool things like Richard in John's flashbacks, the teenage John - who was already familiar with the character's catch phrase - and all the talk between John and Ben...) and There's No Place Like Home.

The question I wanted aswered but they never were: What are the rules between Ben and Widmore...?

The quote to summarize season 4: "Rescuing you and your people... I can't really say it's our primary objective."

Overall how it felt like to watch season 4 again: Season 4 is a mini season (because of the damn writers' strike), which I think has a negative effect on the overall coherence of it. They obviously had to change some plans, and it seems like the season is missing something. It might sound a bit mental, but I''ve always felt a bit distanced from season 4 - by 'distanced' I mean distanced in the same way you might feel distanced from a person. It just never felt as close to me as the other seasons. (Ah, the joys of blogging! Nowhere else could I have claimed I feel distanced from a season of a TV series, without getting funny looks. Thanks for understanding. If you do. Haha.) Anyway, despite the weak early episodes and the fact that my marathon was stuck for days because I didn't feel like watching Meet Kevin Johnson, season four is good, and interesting, mixing flashbacks, flash-forwards and some time-travel. And it has The Constant and The Constant has the best scene (emotionally, at least. One of the best, at least) ever, I dare say.

What's next: My Season 6 box set arrived today, and suddenly I'm in a hurry to get season 5 over and done with! Season 5 is very enjoyable, too, but I just can't wait for the never-seen-before extras and commentaries! That's the last Lost-related thing ever I can wait for and then that's that. Boohoo, I have to say goodbye one more time! (At the same time, as I paid the bill today, I was glad it was the last time ever I have to spend money for this purpose. Gee, good shows make you poor.) But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Next, some crazy time-travel, yippee!

Lost Season Three - it's US vs. THEM and I'm cheering for THEM

 

SPOILER ALERT!

Number of episodes / Days it took me: 23 / 10 (Now that's more like it! Could do even better, though.)

What goes on on season 3: There's a war! I like the Others, so I hope they'll win. Jack, Kate and Sawyer are imprisoned by the Others. Jack bonds with an Other, Juliet. Kate and Sawyer bond, too. Yikes, I feel a love square coming on! Jack is forced to do a surgery on Ben and Sawyer & Kate get away, and then Kate goes back to rescue Jack, but he doesn't want to be rescued because the Others have promised he can go home, but John blows up the submarine so they just all get back to their camp and Juliet is with them too, and that's a bit awkward. Whoo, eight clauses, one sentence! Hmm, I can do better. Like this: When the Hatch exloded it blew off Desmond's underwear and also gave him psychic powers, so now he can see the future, or flashes of it, and he sees that Charlie is going to die, and he tries to stop it for a while, but because - as Eloise Hawking says (though we don't yet know that's her name) - the universe has a way of course correcting, he can't keep Charlie alive forever, so that's a bit sad, but luckily we learn the epic story of Jack's tattoos, that's enough brilliant storytelling to compensate for killing a great character. That was about 14 clauses. Damn I'm good. Also, Sun is preggers and a woman called Naomi parachutes on the island and they contact her boat and everyone's all cheery. For a while. If only you knew, people...

Coolest new characters: Juliet! My favourite female character. She's so mysterious and you can't quite figure her out. I like her soft voice and how she walks so awkwardly. Also good old Ricardo aka Richard is introduced, but I was never a fan, really.

Coolest storylines: Charlie's approaching death. Juliet trying to fit in and earn the camp's trust. Also, I liked how it became even clearer, that Sun is the evil one in her and Jin's marriage. Jin was always just a bit unlucky.

Coolest foreshadowings: "You're not my type", says Tom to Kate. Well, we know who is by the end of next season... + "They'll be fine... for a while", says Boone is John's druggy vision, regarding Claire and Charlie. They weren't so fine by the at of the season anymore... Also, the name 'Jacob' is mentioned for the first time, though we are still a long way from finding out who he is (did we ever, really?). Time Travel is introduced for the first time this season. I don't know if that counts for foreshadowing, but anyway. And Dharma van and Roger, though their secret is revealed already within the season.

Coolest character developments: Charlie, I must say. How he began to change after he heard he was going to die. (Also, Tom Friendly has gone all mushy wushy. He was so scary last season. He looked like a werewolf when we first met him. Seriously, that was my first impression. Shame he died.)

The "...meh" moments of the season: Well, you know. Stranger in a Strange Land. It's just so embarrassingly LAME. Also after three seasons of "Everyone of us is gonna die!" threaths, they kind of start to lose their power. Yeah yeah, so we're all gonna die again, who cares? That's the third time this week.

The "OMGSFRgtrh"#¤#T%TY!!!11" moments of the season: "No matter what I try to do... you're gonna die, Charlie." Ooh, that sure made my heart skip a beat or two... + "I'm your father, Claire."  Jack and Claire are RELATED?? Lost went all Bold and the Beautiful. Also, Jonh's dad pushing him from an eigth-storey window. Ouch. And when Naomi told they've found the plane and there were no survivors. And finally, the purge, Ben killing his father in a flashback and right after that shooting John and abandoning him in that ditch with dead Dharma folk.

The "WHAT-THE-F..." moments of the season: Room 23 and that brainwashing video. Creepy stuff. + Everything that Mrs. Hawking talks about, like men with red shoes and destiny... + Jacob's cabin, and everything that happened there, the 'Help me' and the mayhem afterwards. + Taller ghost Walt. And finally, the last scene of the season. "We have to go back!" Didn't see that coming...

The "snifsnif" moments of the season: Juliet and her sister, Rachel - their goodbyes, and when Juliet sees Rachel and her nephew from screen. I so much wanted Juliet to get back home to them... And then, the true tear jerker moments: Charlie's Greatest Hits (Helsinki, whoo! We're famous! Now everyone in the world knows that Finland equals North Pole and that every woman in Finland has a blond hair...). Charlie saying goodbye to Aaron and Claire. Des offrering to sacrifice himself instead of Charlie. Charlie knocking Des unconcious. Charlie's shoe floating towards the surface as he dives to the Looking Glass. Charlie's death. Oh, the tears streams. That's a tie for the saddest death with that one double death on the final season...

The "HAHAHAHAHA" moments of the season: Sawyer celebrating winning the fish biscuit and Tom being a killjoy by saying: "Only took the bears two hours." + Kate: "You expect me to work on this dress?" An Other man: "You can take it off if you want." Sawyer: (grinning suggestively at Kate, getting a bad look from her and then saying "angrily" to the Other) "...How dare you." + Charlie pissing John off when he's temporarily mute: "You wanna talk to trees? Yeah, I've heard they're wonderful conversationalists." Haha... He kind of had it coming. + Charlie to John as he's about to enter the CGI polar bear's cave: "Hairspray? Now I hate to be the one to point this out to you..." + Hurley offering one of his shirts to Des, whose clothes the hatch blew off: "How do you feel about tie dye?" + Hurley, Charlie and "Dezzie" getting pissed with MacCutcheon. + Jin's Korean ghost story and boys' night out. And how Hurley is such a terrible liar: Sawyer: "What are you doing?" Hurley: "...What are YOU doing?" S: "Taking a leak." H: "....So are we."

Tricia Tanaka Is Dead is the funniest episode of Lost, so here's an entire paragraph dedicated to that. Jin "volunteering" to help Hurley with the van. + Hurley and Jin communicating: Hurley yelling: "I UNDERSTAND", and Jin looking a bit 'wtf?'. + Hurley explaining the word 'crafty': to be good at crafts. + Sawyer returns from the imprisonement and goes rage to Hulrey about his missing stuff: "Where the hell is my...??" Hurley: "Dude!" And then he hugs him. + Hurley's optimism: "It's OK. Jack's gonna be okay. We all are." And Sawyer, sarcastically: "Well what a relief." + Sawyer doing 'Bottoms up' with 'Skeletor' and teaching Jin English: "I'm sorry. You were right. Those pants do not make you look fat." And this is one of the funniest dialogues of all time: Sawyer: "What's your problem, Jumbo Tron?" Hurley: "Shut up, red... neck... man." Sawyer: "Touché." What a hilarious scene, haha. Oh, and one from Hurley's flashback: Hugo's mom, the awesome Carmen Reyes covers the ears of a golden Jesus statue ("That's one hell of a Jesus", like Hugo's dad says) and whispers: "I have needs."

The "awwwwww" moments of the season: Kate learning Sawyer's real name after they share the kiss and Sawyer gets beaten up, and Sawyer says Kate tastes like strawberries (NO WAY! She hasn't brushed her teeth in a week!). After they have some steamy sex, Sawyer asks if she meant it when she earlier said she loved him. Kate kisses him. Sawyer utters, sounding quite casual and careless: "I love you too." + Sawyer and Karl and the guy talk. + Day-seizing with Charlie and Claire (before things got in the way, of course). + Claire's bird message: "Don't give up on us." + Hurley tricking Sawyer into making amends. It's wonderfully awkward as Sawyer tries to be nice to Claire. + Hurley holding the broken satellite phone by his ear and saying: "Mum?" + Des meets Pen. That's what you call love at first sight, people! + Charlie's goodbyes to Hurley: "Just remember I love you man." "Yeah, whatever, I love you too." + Rose: "Say it again." Bernard: "I am a dentist. I am not Rambo." And yeah, every sight of John's red little car makes me go aww. I want a car like that.

The "WHOO! Kick ass!" moments of the season: Sawyer getting even with Danny by throwing him against the fish biscuit machine and electrocuting him. + Hurley winning Sawyer in ping pong. + Hurley charging to the beach with the van and saving the day. And of course this kick-ass line by Rose: "If you say 'Live together, die alone' to me, Jack, I'm gonna punch you in the face." However, it doesn't get more kick-ass that this. Sayid is a killer machine, even with his hands tied.

The moments I can't fit under any other category but want to mention anyway because they are simply awesome: Jack: "So you're a doctor, huh?" Juliet: "No, I'm a repo woman." Touché... + Ben showing Sawyer they are on another island and quoting Of Mice and Men ("Don't you read?"). + Eko's final 'confession' on the gorgeous field of red flowers: "I ask for no forgiveness. For I have not sinned. I have only done what I needed to do to survive." And then he is SMOKIED. +  Des the Monk. 'Brother' just got a whole new meaning... + The ultimate Sawyer vs. Sawyer showdown. It was a great, great moment, and sad, too. And Sawyer, or should he be called James now, is so confused afterwards. What to do after you've done what you've been aiming for all your life? + John has Ben all figured out: "You are the man behind the curtain. The wizard of Oz. And you're a liar." You got that right, John...

A few more random but ever so awesome quotes: Yeah, yeah, I added a category. Again. Although I shoudn't have. Well, shame on me. There are just too many cool quotes without a proper place! Sawyer: "Don't blame me just because you were stupid enough to fall for the old Wookie prisoner gag. + Kate: "Welcome to the wonderful world of not knowing what the hell is going on." + John: "You have electricity." Ben: "We have two giant hamsters running in a massive wheel in a secret underground lab." + Hurley to Des: "No offense, dude, but as far as superpowers go, yours is kinda lame." + Sawyer about the ping pong table: "If we don't play every 108 minutes, the island's gonna explode." + Naomi to Jack: "What did you do for living before you became Moses?" + Juliet when Sawyer asks what the runway is built for: "The aliens."

Dumbest Jack moment of the season: Can I just say Stranger in a Stranger Land? Well, that's more like the Dumbest Lost Moment... Jack's also a real jackass in the flachbacks of The Tale of Two Cities, accusing his father for having an affair with his ex-wife. Right, Jack...

Funniest Sawyer nickname of the season: Captain Bunnykiller. There's just something about Ben and bunnies. Also, International House of Pancakes referring to Hurley (that's mean, yeah, but quite imaginative, I must say!) and Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon (=Sun and Jin, of course).

Best opening: The Tale of Two Cities, the season opening. Whaaat, I can't find it on Youtube?? Well, you know the scene. If you don't, here's a short reminder: Juliet, Petunia Clark's Downtown, book club, the plane breaks apart in the air, and we see Ethan and Ben ("So I guess I'm out of the book club.") and Goodwin and realize that holy crap, the Others live in civilised, idyllic, cute little houses!

Best endings: The Glass Ballerina: after Ben intrtoduces himself "honestly" to Jack ("I've lived on this island all my life." My ass you have...) he proves that they do have contact to the outside world. Cool. Also, Par Avion: for a moment is really looks like they've brainwashed poor Jack. And Exposé... Chilling, or what? And Through the Looking Glass, of course.

Best special feature: The Lost Book Club.

Best of the Blooper Reel: Dominic Monaghan in his element once again: kissing Jorge's arm, and being oh so adorable in so many other ways, too. Elizabet Micthell's awesome laughter ("I feel like Darth Vader!"). + "Open the door, Jacob, that's not funny." + "Jumbo Tron, Jumbo Tron..." + "NOT EVERY NOOK AND GRANNY JOHN!" "Good god, Holmes!" + Tom Friendly running.

Best episodes: Flashes Before My Eyes, because Desmond is awesome and everything he does is awesome. + Exposé. Some say it's a Filler with a capital F and the only good thing about it is that Nikki and Paula are finnished off, but I quite like it. It sure is different and it's cool we get to revisit all those iconic moments and locations, like the crash site and Boone asking for a pen. And all those clever lines like "We all know what happens to guest stars" and "Promise we never end up like them (Boone and Shannon)" and the part with the Beachcraft: "Go up there!" "No way, it's gonna fall." Also, Greatest Hits is awesome. The finale is not bad, either. It has a cool title, at least.

The questions I wanted aswered but they never were: Why was John wet after blowing up the submarine? I seemed like it had a purpose, but I suppose they gave that storyline up... And Jacob's cabin... I'm still not quite sure what was going on there.

The quote to summarize season 3: "We're not the enemy. But if you shoot me, that's exactly what we'll become."

Overall how it felt like to watch season 3 again: Better than I expected it would! Season three is supposedly the 'worst' season, and I was prepared for making a real effort, but I enjoyed pretty much every episode and never got stuck! I especially had doubts about the early episodes, like The Glass Ballerina, Further Instructions (it is the weakest John-centric, though. But is has a cool opening (it also has the longest 'Previously on Lost' section ever...), and Eddie is cute. And Boone.), The Cost of Living and I Do, but I ended liking them all more than earlier, even I Do. The flashbacks are quite girly and sweet, which is uncharacterictic for Kate, but it's refrreshing, as it's not that same old 'Kate on the run' scenario all over again (though she is on the run). Also, watching Paulo and Nikki is so much more fun and less painful now, knowing they won't stick around for long... So, overall, season 3 was a pleasant surprise! Though I will once again miss Charlie.

What's next: Well, apparently there's a freighter floating somewhere nearby, so I guess they'll come and save the day. Or not. Anyway, I don't have too pleasant memories of season 4, either, so we'll se what happens... At least it'll bring me the The Constant.

(Damn, writing these posts is exhausting... My fingers are half-dead.)

Everyone's favourite Kate + some catching up

The lovely, lovely Kate Winslet has a birthday today! I usually don't bring up people's birthdays, but since I've been starving my blog for a few days now, I thought this could be a nice excuse to write a post. And she really is quite lovely, isn't she? I could make a habbit of just posting a random picture of Kate Winslet on the days I have nothing else to say. Yeah, she's lovely. Happy birthday, birthday girl!

Also, I added the most popular lables to the sidebar and apparently I talk too much about Lost. Nah, well, soon I've said everything I have to say about the sublject, and then I'll probably shut up for a while. Anyway, the Complete Marathon is going quite well, I'm two episodes away from finishing season 3! Looks like the more school work I have, the more Lost I watch. Makes sense, really.

The last book in The Hunger Games trilogy is also almost finished. Well, there's still a hundred and something pages left but I think I'll wait for tomorrow night and then dig in for the last time. Wow. Why do good books end so soon? ... Maybe because they are good? Duh.

This post is starting to look like a news broadcast of my life, so I might as well keep going:

I'm currently working on a massive post about my favourite actor and I'm putting a bit too much time and energy on it, but since it's not just a favourite, but THE favourite, it's only fair that I do.

Today I wrote a causal analysis on 3D movies and I can tell you it's one of the crappiest texts I've written in a while.

I also tried to learn French by listening to one of those educational CDs while I was cooking lasagna, and my French upstairs neighbours were singing Beatles very loudly and not very well, and I thought about turning the volume up and really pissing them off, but I didn't.

I think French is really difficult.

I'm looking forward to Saturday and a friend+boyfriend's housewarming party (they've lived in the flat for five months now, but who cares) and I could gladly just skip the rest of the week and jump straight to that. Motivation, where are you?

That concludes our broadcast tonight. (Isn't it great to sometimes write shamelessly beside the point? Speaking of which, we got an unusually cool assignment at school - to sit in a cafe or some other public place for 45 minutes and just... write. That'll be, eh, interesting, I'm sure...)

EDIT // I just got a kick out of this... If Facebook existed years ago. Haha. "Oh it'll be a killer alright."

Lost Season Two - press execute for cool new characters and the best setting ever

SPOILER ALERT!

Number of episodes / Days it took me: 24 / 18 (... just like last season! I thought it took me much longer... Sure felt like it did.)

What goes on on season 2: We get to go inside the mysterious hatch, to start with! There's a cool Scottish guy in there and he's been saving the world for three year by pushing a button. He takes off and Locke & co. take over the job. Also, the passengers from the tail-section of the plane (or what's left of them) unite with our friends with a bang. Then they catch a man who calls himself Henry Gale from Minnesota, but really he's an Other and on his way of becoming one of my favourite characters. Michael wants to find his son (... I think. He doesn't talk about it much. Only in every freaking sentence he says...) and is ready to do anything, I mean ANYTHING, to get him back. Not cool, Mike. Well, we know what's waiting for you...

Coolest new characters: Desmond (aah, I love him! Maybe THE favourite character of mine. Maybe), Ben, eh, I mean "Henry" (obviously. What would Lost be without him, really?) and Bernard (didn't care much for the other tail-section characters, but Bernard rocks).

Coolest storylines: Everything about the hatch. It's just my favourite setting in the show, it's so cool! The computer and the beeb beeb beeb sound, the lavalamp, the ping pong table, the record player, the marks on the wall (counting days, weeks...?) and all that... Pushing that button is just brilliant! How they keep pushing it to "save the world", no matter how ridiculous that sounds, because you just never know... Shame it blew up. I also like the "Henry Gale" storyline.

Coolest foreshadowing: There's a lot of that this season! All that ambigious stuff about the Dharma Initiave - the Orientation film, Pierre Chang (not going by his real name yet), the Incident, Radzinsky... Just think how cool it is we get a hint of all these things so early on! Also, hinting that the Others are civilized, the Widmore Labs pregnancy test, the look in Sun's eyes after she tells Jin "the whole truth", Penny's line "with money and determination you can find anything"... And the statue! Damn, yeah! (Though I'm still a bit bitter about that lousy explanation... Mumblemumblemuble...) It was also cool that they said the line "what's done is done" a couple of times, as it'll play an important role later on. And of course, how could I forget the genious introduction to the epic story of Jack's tattoos and Phucket! ... Kidding.

Coolest character developments: Michael goes through a lot this season. And John's struggle with his beliefs is interesting to watch.

The "...meh" moments of the season: Fire + Water is officially my least favourite episode of Lost. There are a lot more boring episodes I feel more indifferent about, but this Charlie episode just always makes me feel so bad. I never enjoy watching it. Poor Charlie.

The "OMGSFRgtrh"#¤#T%TY!!!11" moments of the season: Shannon getting shot. Damn, that was cruel! The monster's first proper appareance was quite shocking, too. We went short of inside it and there were those flashes... Cool. The biggest OMG moment was in the finale, delivered by Desmond: "I think I crashed your plane." Aweeeesome. EDIT // Well, damn it. As Harri kindly pointed out, I forgot to mention the obvious OMG moment, the deaths of Ana Lucia and Libby in the end of Two for the Road. That was OMG, alright...

The "WHAT-THE-F..." moments of the season: The dripping wet ghost walt, whispering strange things. That was super creepy, too. The Pearl station Orientation video, claiming that pushing the button is just a psychological experiment. The last scene of the season - the two guys in that very snowy place, a flashing red light and a call to Penny Widmore... "I think we found it." Cool.

The "snifsnif" moments of the season: The end of Collision - the slow motion reunions of Michael and Vincent, Jin and Sun (my favourite of all their reunions), Rose and Bernard (so sweet, so joyful, so touching!). Hurley on Libby's deathbed. "I'm sorry I forgot the blankets." Oh god... Libby and Ana's funeral - Hurley's speech especially.

The "HAHAHAHAHA" moments of the season: Kate kicking Jack's ass in golf. The poker ("How about you put your mangoes where your mouth is."). Bringing back the Scott/Steve joke, I always found that funny. I also get a kick out of that 'got caught in a net' gag - "Is that what they're calling it these days?" Charlie is hilarious this season. His humour is short of mean, even meaner than before, becase he's going through those dark times, but I like it! For example, his line to Ana, regarding Sayid: "Humour is not his strong suit. (pause) And I'm saying this to you." And him pretending to give the gun to Ana and but giving it Sayid instead, and asking Eko if he's building a Starbucks. Not to forget: "Did either of you see a guy run through here? In a bathrobe? With a coconut?" "No, I saw a polar bear on roller blades with a mango." Ah, Charlie...

The "awwwwww" moments of the season: Hurley giving Charlie peanut butter in the end of Everyone Hates Hugo. Kate helping Sawyer swallow the pill by stroking his hair and whispering into his ear. Hurley giving the thumbs up to Jin when Sun's not looking and Jin giving the thumbs up to Hurley when he's about to have the picnic with Libby. The whole failed surprise picnic thing is very sweet, at least until the other participant gets shot. S.O.S. is perhaps the most aww episode ever, because Rose and Bernard are the sweetest couple of Lost.

The "WHOO! Kick ass!" moment of the season: I had to add this one category of moments, although I tried not to. Anyway, here it is now, and the most kick-ass moment of the season is Hurley beating the crap out of Sawyer. It's funny too, with Jin watching the tussle amused, but also a bit tragic, because of what's going on with Hurley in that episode.

The moments I can't fit under any other category but want to mention anyway because they are simply awesome: Sayid and Hurley listening to the radio broadcast that "could be coming from any where in the world" ("Or any time." Haha. Who knows, really?). Jin listening to the others, but only hearing gibberish. They did it once already on season one, and again, it's a great reminder of what is is like for Jin, not understanding a word of what people around him are saying. Sawyer admiting to Jack that he's the closest thing he has for a friend, after Ana's death. End of dave - hell, for a moment I wasn't sure if it was all real after all! The final scene at the pier... "We're the good guys, Michael."

Dumbest Jack moment of the season: "How long do you think it would take to train an army?" 

Funniest Sawyer nickname of the season: "This is how people end up dead in scary movies." "If this was a scary movie, I'd be with a hot chick, not you, Barbar." "It's Babar." Also, Pippi Longstocking. I think he was refering to Kate. Heja Sverige!

Best openings: Man of Science, Man of Faith has perhaps my favourite opening scene ever. I remember seeing it for the first time, feeling confused and checking if I had the right channel on. Not only it's the first appareance of my soon-to-be favourite character, it's also wonderfully confusing and unexpected in the most brilliant Lost kind of way. 'What's inside the hatch?' was the question on everyone's mind, and there you go, they didn't keep us waiting. Add the Mamas and the Papas song and that's it, a perfect opening. Also, the first 30 seconds of The Other 48 Days are quite cool.

Best endings: "You guys got any milk?" That's so chilling, seriously! Like the first glimpse of real Ben.

Best special feature: The World According to Sawyer. Isn't he lovely?

Best of the Blooper Reel: "I can't quit you, baby." & "I must have been... doing something." & "That baby IS delicious." And of course, Dom Monaghan dropping the branch, then looking up and smiling idiotically. That guy is hilarious...

Best episodes: Man of Science, Man of Faith, I think. Also Live Together, Die Alone, because Des rocks. And Long Con.

The questions I wanted aswered but they never were: Libby and Santa Rosa. Argh, you guys!

The quote to summarize season 2: "Just saving the world."

Overall how it felt like to watch season 2 again: The rewatch evoked quite a lot of memories from the time I first saw this season. I'll share a few of them with you: When the season opening aired, I'd just had a surgery and there was a fresh operation scar on my lower stomach. Anyone who's ever had a scar in their stomach knows you can't do anything with your abs without a terrible pain - so no laughing, no getting up too quickly, no sudden movements. So, when the first commercial break of Man of Science, Man of Faith came (that was after the first appareance of ghost Walt) I was so freaking excited about the season's killer start that I got up from my bed, ran to the living room, hysterically tried to explain what an awesome show Lost is, and then had to kneel down and swallow tears because I noticed my stomach was about to burst open. Haha. Understandable, really. That was one hell of an opening. Also, by that time I was so freaking ignorant that I actually expected to get some vital info from an episode called The Whole Truth. Nah. Finally, I remember being bitter because in the finale, before the Others put the bag over her head, Kate looks at Jack, not Sawyer. Back then I still thought Kate should be with Sawyer, and I remember why, they share some great scenes and that chemistry is undeniable. Of course, that was before season five and... Oh well, I'll get back to that in time.

What's next: The truth about the Others!

Ps. I don't know about the quality or coherence of this post, I have a nice little flu and fever and it's making my head quite hazy. Sorry. I'll never go to a foam party again.