Remember Me - Remember it

From the vault:

Last week, when I finally saw Summit Entertainment’s latest flick, “Remember Me,” I didn’t know what I was in for. I definitely wasn’t prepared for the experience that awaited me.

The film lives up the promise of the lesson it presents in its opening line: “Gandhi said that whatever you do in life will be insignificant, but it's very important that you do it because nobody else will.” “Remember Me” proves just why this is important. It tells the story of a young man, Tyler, who is struggling with finding himself when he meets a girl, Ally, who seems to put his life into perspective, but is just as damaged as he is.

The movie, however, is definitely not a love story. It’s so much more than that with an underlying emotion so powerful; it’s difficult to put into words. Even more impressive, is that it is a film that will stick with you long after you’ve left the theater. The images from the end of the movie still haunt me a week later.

There is a tie as to which is the most shocking aspect of this film: the ending or the fact that Robert Pattinson, who plays Tyler, can actually act. Having only seen him in the “Twilight” films and the fourth “Harry Potter” movie, I was under the impression that he was just another pretty face in Hollywood – a celebrity, not an actor. This movie has me doubting this assumption though. He is equally matched by Emilie de Ravin (Ally), who does a masterful job balancing Pattinson. The rest of the cast is equally compelling, my only complaint being the lack of compatibility between Pattinson and Pierce Brosnan, who plays his father. This was unfortunate given the large number of dramatic scenes the two share.

I won’t spoil the ending for you, but it came as a complete shock to me. All-in-all, “Remember Me” is a must-see. Just, not if you’re looking for the feel-good movie of the year.

Why The Good Guys is the Funniest Show You'll Find This Summer

These days, everybody needs a good laugh. These days, everybody wants to root for the good guys. That's why "The Good Guys" is my choice for summer watching this summer. It takes all the things you love about buddy cop dramas and wraps them up in one package. And that package is an hour chock-full of laughter. And the best part about the humor is that it isn't cliche or forced, dumb jokes. Its pretty smart humor.

Colin Hanks (Roswell, Orange County) and Bradley Whitford (The West Wing) lead the cast as police partners (Sorry, detectives) who always manage to stumble upon big crime while investigating petty crimes for the Dallas PD. Hanks is the young cop, eager to prove himself and stuck with Whitford, the old legend who is stuck in the 70s.

The humor of this team is beyond compare. Hanks comes from some pretty comedic stock and Whitford proved he could handle smart humor and time it perfectly in his 7 season run on The West Wing and the short-live Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Example?

Jack (Hanks): You do know peanut shells are basically tree bark.

Dan (Whitford): Salty delicious tree bark.

I posted this as a Facebook status after watching the second episode along with one statement: "The Good Guys = Funniest thing on TV this summer.

A friend saw this and started watching and now he can't wait for the next episode.

Check it out...you won't be disappointed. You'll just be reminded why you love TV in the first plabe.

Glee, Season 1: Top 10 and Bottom 5

So, the first season of "Glee" has officially come to an end. I, for one, don't know how I'll make it the whole summer without new episodes...so I've taken to rewatching the episodes...

This has inspired me. I want to rank the musical numbers...but not just the top 10, like Entertainment Weekly did last week before the finale, but the bottom 5 too. Because even "Glee" isn't perfect...

TOP 10

10. Beth - This was the sweetest solo Puck had, and I loved that Finn jumped into it to try and apologize to Kurt. In an episode that was already rife with emotion, this just kept it there.

9. Imagine - Touching. Soulful. And amazing. Not that that song already wasn't. The Glee Kids just pushed it over the edge. And I loved them doing the sign language during it.

8. Don't Rain on My Parade - "Sectionals" is in my Top 5 episodes and this song is one of the main reasons why. I got chills when I heard it the first time.

7. It's My Life/Confessions Part II - The boys won the mash-up contest in "Vitamin D." Just saying that since the show never did.

6. To Sir, With Love - In case there wasn't enough crying during "Journey," this song sent me over the edge. I've always loved this song, but in this context it was just that much more poignant. The only way it could have been better was if the show had actually been cancelled (instead of renewed for not one, but two more seasons).

5. Bad Romance - I usually hate Lady Gaga. No, not usually. Always. Except for this song. It's catchy, the costumes were amazing and I can't stop singing it.

4. Bohemian Rhapsody - Who said I could only name songs done by New Directions? This song was amazing, though I have to admit when I first watched it I was highly distracted by the cuts to Quinn giving birth. However, I have rewatched it multiple times now and I can't get over the amazing performance Jonathan Groff gave of this classic Queen song. Go watch it again. You'll love it too.

3. Somebody to Love - The first time this song aired in "The Rhodes Not Taken", I immediately wished I had been recording the episode so I could rewind and watch it again. And again. And again. This was the first great group number since the "Pilot" and the moment when I knew the show was back in stride after it's early episode missteps.

2. Regionals Journey Medley (Faithfully/Any way you want it/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'/Don't Stop Believin') - This medley is one of the best things I've ever seen on TV. It was flawless and it was wonderful to see more than just the Finn and Rachel show like we had at sectionals. I am such a fan of them both, but I also love Puck, Santana and Artie's voices. And Mercedes taking "Don't Stop" into that key change gave me chills the first time I heard it.

1. Keep Holdin' On - This group number from the end of "Throwdown" is my favorite number the show has ever done. The raw emotion in it (and in Dianna Agron's eyes) make me tear up everytime I hear/watch it. And it finally means that something good came from the movie "Eragon."

Honorable Mentions (because 10 just isn't enough): "Like A Prayer," "4 Minutes," "Jump," "Smile (Charlie Chaplin)," "Sweet Caroline," "Over the Rainbow," "Leavin' On a Jet Plane," "And I'm Telling You," "Hello," "Gives You Hell," "Total Eclipse of the Heart," "Rose's Turn," "Run Joey Run," "Dream On," "Funny Girl," "Maybe this Time"

Bottom 5:

5. Bust a Move - Dear Mr. Ryan Murphy, Matthew Morrison is a Broadway baby and therefore should not be a rapper. Not when he's proven to be such a great Balladeer (See "Over the Rainbow"). This was the most horrendous of all his rapping, so please give it a rest in Season 2. However, you can still let him dance. Thank you. Sincerely-Me.

4. Smile (Lily Allen) - This song was just odd. I'm watching it as I type this and I still think its awful.

3. Poker Face - I already take issue with Lady Gaga. But making this song into a ballad was an offense not even having Idina Menzel & Lea Michele singing could make up for.

2. Hair/Crazy in Love - This number, like #4 above was just weird. No other words to describe it.

1. Safety Dance - Don't get me wrong. I was excited to see Artie dancing. But this song was too long and too annoying. Sorry guys...I just couldn't handle it.

And in "The End" the "Lost" were Found

This is the last thing I will ever get to write about Lost. So I guess I better make it good.

After 6 long, and sometimes exasperating seasons, the book on Lost was closed Sunday night. And though several fans are crying foul in the way it ended, I'm cheering at the top of my lungs.

I've read several analyses of what happened on Sunday and I think the most important thing we have to remember is that the title of the show was never about the character's physical states...it was about their spiritual states. In "The End" their souls, which had been wandering Lost when flight 815 crashed in 2004, had finally found peace as they found each other in the afterlife and made their way on to the next part of their journey...in a very Titanic-esque ending scene that was moving and seemingly poetic.

Lost has always been about redemption, even when they were time-travelling and knee-deep in confusing mythology no one could really keep straight. And in "The End" redemption was had by all.

And tears were shed by many. In my book, it was a perfect ending for the show. I didn't know what I was expecting to happen, but I know that if I had had 2.5 hours of straight answers, I would have been disappointed and that has never been Lost's style. However, the show did always have a thing for symmetry and the way it ended in the way it began was a beautiful touch.

For my final words on Lost, I simply have this: I am happy, content and quite frankly, in awe of the genius that was, is and will always be LOST.

There will never be another show like it. And for that reason it will never be forgotten.

The Fourth Age of Disney

I believe that the fourth age of Disney has begun. Now, you’re probably scratching your heads as to what I mean by that. In my mind, there have been 3 previous ages of Disney movies: Classical, Neoclassical, and Pixar. Still confused? Allow me to explain myself a little further.

The Classical Age of Disney is also the longest. It began in 1937 with the release of Disney’s first animated feature film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and ended in 1986 with the release of “Oliver and Company.” It saw the release of 27 Disney animated classics and was the building of an empire.

The Neoclassical Age of Disney could also be called the “Golden Age,” when the Disney Empire was the strongest it ever was and produced some of its finest, most memorable work. It is also the age of Disney we grew up during. For me, this age begins in 1988 with the release of “The Little Mermaid” and ended 11 years later with the 1999 release of “Tarzan.” Though they made many noble attempts at continuing their 2-D animation roots, they couldn’t, beating themselves with their own third age.

The third age of Disney (the Pixar Age), was the age of revolution. Sharing some overlap with the Neoclassical Age, it saw its beginning in 1995 with the release of “Toy Story” and ended just two years ago with the release of “Wall-E.”

Now, after reading that last sentence you are probably confused, asking “Wasn’t ‘Up’ made by Pixar?” It was. But the release of “Up” actually marks the beginning of the fourth, and most current age of Disney. It seems after 10 years, Walt Disney Animation has finally figured out a way to harmoniously create in both 2-D and 3-D animation. “The Princess and the Frog,” released last fall, was only the beginning of this Age of Harmony. In the coming years we will see Pixar films such as “Toy Story 3” and “Cars 2” released alongside new 2-D films like “Tangled,” which is based on the “Rapunzel” story.

This marriage is something people like me have been long looking forward to. As a member of the “Golden Age Generation,” but as someone who loves Pixar animation, I’m excited to find myself in an age that will give me both. The Age of Harmony will give our children the best of both worlds we got growing up, allowing Disney to innovate the world while staying planted in their roots. What could be better than that?

It's All About the Bunnies (the Time-Travelling Bunnies, that is)...

As many of my readers know, I am an avid Lostie...with the airing of last night's episode, "Happily Ever After," I have added a new dimension to my theory about the show. For your picking pleasure:

There are 2 things we currently need to be concerned with: What are Jacob/the Anti-Jacob/the Island? How are the sideways world and island world going to collide? Oddly enough, both these things coincide (a seemingly rare occurrence on Lost). And both have to do with bunnies. Time travelling ones.

In preparation for last night's episode, I rewatched two of my favorites: "The Constant" and "There's No Place Like Home (Part 2)." I couldn't have picked a better 2 episodes. We all know the Orchid station is where they experimented on bunnies with electromagnetism to propel them through time. The bunnies immediately brought to mind Watership Down, which Sawyer and Boone had been reading. But, I claim this connection to be a red herring. We need to think in literary terms of this season.

Earlier this year we saw Jack's son in Sideways World with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (a story where two worlds collide...the world of what you need and the world of what you want-keep this in mind as I keep writing). In this story, Alice goes down the rabbit hole to get from one world to another. Ben went down the rabbit hole (quite literally, it was a hole made where they used to experiment on rabbits) to move the island. Last night, Desmond went down the rabbit hole a la electromagnetism, similar to what he did in "The Constant" - except this time is was a bit more stable.

We saw the beginning of the end last night. As you so astutely predicted, Desmond is how the world's are going to merge (with the help of Sideways Charlie and Faraday (RIP)). The nuclear blast knocked all of them into 2 different planes. The sideways world is where they've gotten the one thing they always wanted - but isn't necessarily the best thing for them, as it seems to come at a great cost. Luckily for all the Sideways', Desmond's gonna get them together and show them the light - hopefully without Charlie's method of driving off a pier.

All right. Down the Rabbit Hole. Check.
How does this tie into Jacob/Anti-Jacob/Island War?

In a word: Dichotomies.

Lost has always been about dichotomies. Black and white. Good and evil. The past and present. The present and future. What you want and what you need. Science and Faith. Things that can't be reconciled, are about to be reconciled.

War is coming to the Island. Presumably, the last showdown between good and evil. What is good? What is evil? Talking about either is talking about a relative thing. And if you've been paying attention, you've noticed that neither Jacob or the Anti-Jacob are wholly one or the other.

In Ancient Greece and Rome, the gods were not wholly good or evil. They had both sides, like the Island's demi-gods. It was thought, according to mythology, that Earth was simply a giant chess board where the gods pitted humans against one another to see the outcome. Sound familiar?

The difference here is, no one has told them there is no good and evil. They both think they're right and the other is wrong. Which is why Desmond must take all the passengers of Sideways 815 "down the rabbit hole." Somehow, by seeing what they have (what they thought they wanted) in comparison to what the Island has shown them about themselves, they will see there are no dichotomies and there will be no war. Or at least, not a complete bloodbath.

This is what Lost will be: There's no good and evil - only what you think is right. There is no black and white - only shades of grey.


I hope this made sense. Thanks for reading to the end. I could be completely wrong...but after last night, this is what I've come to.

Why Parenthood is the best thing on TV

I am about to make a statement that is going to make a statement that is going to upset some people. Ready? NBC’s “Parenthood” is the best show on television. Why? Well, that’s a little more complex.
The show centers on the Braverman family: parents Zeek and Camille, adult children Sarah, Julia, Crosby and Adam, each with their own families to deal with also. Sarah recently went broke and had to move herself and her two teenage children back in with her parents. Julia is a workaholic, who fears her daughter likes her husband better. Crosby, a commitment-aphobe, recently found out that he has a five year son. And Adam has a teenage daughter and a young son, recently diagnosed with Asperger’s.
In the past decade or two, American television has seen a shift in the portrayal of the American family. While I see that as a good thing (most families aren’t the Cleavers), this shift has almost gone too far.
That’s why “Parenthood” is so good. It’s portraying a real family. They have had their problems, their trials, their differences and their rifts between each other, but at the end of the day, they are still a family and know how to come together and love each other unconditionally when it’s most necessary.
All families are a little dysfunctional. So is this one. All families have their problems. So does this one. There is someone within this family that everyone will be able to see in their own, or a family of someone they know. They don’t gloss over things and they aren’t so dysfunctional they are unbelievable. They present with grace that no one is perfect – that we can all only do the best we can with what we’re given and go from there.
There was a scene in the third episode that is the epitome of what I love. Julia was having trouble teaching her daughter to swim. Adam and his wife were waiting to hear back from a school for their son, who was recently diagnosed with Asperger’s while dealing with the fact that they were missing out on their daughter’s life because of the attention they put on their son. Crosby was still coping with the revelation about his son and Sarah was still picking up the pieces of her former life. To celebrate the little girl learning to swim, however, the entire family came together to celebrate at the pool.
The show is well done, without being overdone. It’s dramatic without being melodramatic. It’s real without being overly heavy. And I think we need more TV like it.