Sixth Time's a Charm

At last night's Oscar ceremony, only a handful of nominees went home happy. But that's how it always goes. But everyone should have been happy that Hugh Jackman didn't bomb and fall flat on his face. If it had happened, it wouldn't have been his fault.

The producers took a new (and secretive) approach, and kept almost everything under wraps until Showtime. What was most certain was that Hugh would sing and dance. What was uncertain was how bad the musical numbers would be. One for two ain't bad.

I liked the way the acting nominees were introduced by five previous winners in the category. And while it was a little surreal and awkward to see old vets like Shirley MacLaine gushing about newbies like Anne Hathaway, it was a nice way to honor the nominees.

One thing that didn't work: having Queen Latifah sing live during the "In Memoriam" tribute. It would have been fine if they had kept her off screen, but the camera swirled about her and the screen like it was an episode of COPS. It was often impossible to see who was being memorialized, which defeated the whole purpose.

Most of the winners were not unexpected. Kate Winslet finally won Best Actress on her sixth try. If she had lost, she would have joined Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter as Oscar's biggest female losers. And while Meryl Streep has two Oscars to her credit among 15 nominations, she can now also boast that she has lost more than anyone else (13 times).

With the exception of Sean Penn squeaking past Mickey Rourke, there wasn't much suspense: Slumdog Millionaire dominated (including a win for director Danny Boyle and for its adapted screenplay), and the Supporting statuettes predictably went to Heath Ledger (touchingly accepted by his family) and Penelope Cruz.

Also of note:

-The best presenters (by far) were Tina Fey and Steve Martin. Maybe they can star in a few movies or a show together after 30 Rock ends.

-Did anyone else think Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Adrien Brody looked particularly scary?

-Anne Hathaway has a nice singing voice, doesn't she? Damn.

-Angelina Jolie looked like she had just shoplifted at Emerald City.

-I missed seeing clips from all the nominated performances.

-It was gracious of Jerry Lewis to not say much. Ditto Sid Ganis.

-Producers promised a "short" telecast. It ended up being much longer than The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. 'Nuff said.

LOST: 316

The opening shot: Jack's eye shooting open, and a slow pan back to reveal him lying in the jungle. Yes, it's just like the opener of the first episode of the series, but there was something different about this one. Jack looked a smidge less confused. And he ran to a lagoon, where he immediately found Hurley and Kate.

Flash back 46 hours, and Ben is still struggling to get the Oceanic 6 to Ms. Hawking. All he has is Jack and Sun, along with Desmond, who leaves in a huff, still smarting from his "Time Travel in 42 Minutes" lesson from Ms. Hawking two seasons earlier.

Yet, somehow, less than two days later, all of them are assembled on the Ajira Airways flight to Guam. Kate is mysteriously minus Aaron, and makes Jack promise not to ask why. Hurley comes aboard with Charlie's guitar case (filled with snacks?) and Sayid presents himself handcuffed with his own personal marshal. Sun also shows up without argument, as does Locke (in a coffin wearing John's dad's shoes - don't ask). The end takes us full circle to when Jack, Hurley and Kate suddenly find themselves on the island, confronted with a VW Bus-driving, Dharma-clad, gun-slinging... Jin!

Tidbits:

-Ms. Hawking tells us an enormous amount about how Dharma found the island in the first place. Is this brilliant physicist she refers to her own son, Daniel? And is what she says to be trusted?

-Ben looks awfully roughed up after he runs his errand. It's important to note that he called Jack, all bloody, from a marina. When we last saw Penny and Desmond, weren't they living on a boat? Methinks he's getting revenge on Widmore for the death of Alex. Let's just hope Penny survives.

-Who was that guy in the airport who told Jack he was sorry about his friend? Since he was on the plane, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him, as well as Sayid's marshal lady.

-Did you notice that every time Jack tried to take a drink, he was interrupted? It's like the Island doesn't want him to go all FuglyBeard again. Good choice, really.

-Since it appears Jack and crew have landed in the late 70s or early 80s, should we assume they'll run into the other Losties, in addition to Jin? Speaking of that guy, I bet his English is totally kick-ass after spending some time in the Dharma Language Lab.

-Could Ben, Sun, Hurley and Sayid have landed in a different time?

-Ben is such a liar. He said he knew nothing of Locke's death by suicide, yet in next week's episode, which is entitled "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham," we saw him near Locke when he's about to hang himself.
Can't wait. B+

LOST: This Place is Death

The title is ominous enough, isn't it? "This Place is Death"? We all know a lot of death happens on the island, but having it flaunted in our faces is a little creepy.

What an action-packed episode! Jin, along with Danielle's crew, encountered Smokey in 1988. He also witnessed the "sickness" Danielle referred to when her crew died. We also got our first glimpse of the Temple so often spoken of... or a least a little corner of it.

As Charlotte continued to spout blood from her nose like a geyser, she told Locke to look for a well if the Orchid disappeared. Sure enough, just as Juliet commented that it sure was lucky they landed in a time when the Orchid was still there, another white flash and the station was gone. But Locke headed down the well as giddy as a schoolboy.

Down there, he found none other than Christian Shepherd. Or shall we say Jacob? I wasn't sure who he was supposed to be. Is he Jacob in the "human" form of Jack's Dad? When Christian said that John must turn the Frozen Donkey Wheel himself, I believe it when he said he couldn't help him. Maybe he wasn't really there, in the physical sense.

And Charlotte... poor Charlotte. As her brain continued to mush, she got verbal diarrhea and revealed that she was born and raised on the island. And... here's the kicker... she remembered an "older, scary man" told her never to come back - Daniel! She then murmured something about chocolate and died.

Back in LA three years later, Ben provided proof (in Jin's wedding ring) that Sun's husband was still alive, and he brought her and Jack (along with Desmond, whom they met outside) to the church and Mrs. Hawking's lair. Whew!

Notable bits of this episode:
-If Danielle were alive in early 2005, would she suddenly remember (a la Desmond) that she met Jin in 1988?
-It appears that Desmond is poised to go back to the island with the Oceanic 6. Does this seem plausible? I guess he'd have to stay on the show, wouldn't he? Will he bring Penny? Is Mrs. Hawking going with them? 'Cause she's sort of awesome.
-I don't think this is the last we've seen of Charlotte. And it certainly sets up a time travel element for Daniel to go back in time and plead with her.
-Is it just me, or does Juliet seem remarkably calm through all this?
-Danielle's husband, just before she offs him, refers to Smokey as the Temple's "security system." This is how Danielle describes the monster way back in Season One. Apparently that stuck with her.

Same time next week! B+

Dreary Monday News Roundup

Actor James Whitmore, 87, the Emmy and Tony-winning actor, died Friday of lung cancer. His long and varied career included stage turns has Harry Truman and Teddy Roosevelt, as well as appearances in westerns, musicals (Oklahoma!), science fiction (Planet of the Apes) and drama (most recently, The Shawshank Redemption). He earned a Lead Actor Oscar nod in 1975 for Give 'Em Hell, Harry, his stage-to-screen turn as Truman.

Word on the street is that someone on Lost dies this week. Will it be Charlotte's bloody nose? A flying arrow in the chest? Will Locke succumb now, only to become Jeremy Bentham later? Only time will tell. Tune in Wednesday.

It was announced last week that the Emmys have made some changes to the awards, including expanding the number of nominees in each main category from five to six. A popular vote will also play a larger role in voting for the nominees and winners.

The BAFTA Award winners were announced on Sunday. The film victors were Slumgdog Millionaire and its director, Danny Boyle, as well as Mickey Rourke, Kate Winslet, Heath Ledger and Penelope Cruz in the acting races. It might forecast who wins the Oscar, but the winners don't always line up.

LOST: The Little Prince

And it's back to the Ocean Six. Well, most of them.

The fourth episode of Lost's fifth season brought these characters one step closer back to the island. Jack tried to convince Kate they had to go, while Kate followed the lawyer who threatened her (Angela Chase's dad!) to a hotel where the found... Claire Littleton's mother. It turns out, she knew nothing about the threat of a blood sample, and later Ben fessed up to sending the lawyer after Kate.

Meanwhile, Sun babysat Aaron (bad choice, Kate) and received a package in the form of a gun in a box of chocolate (sweet revenge! Get it?). By the end, she took Aaron with her in the car and looked like she might blow someone's head off.

Back on the island, the Losties left behind jumped around in time three different times. They went back to the night Boone died, Claire gave birth to Aaron and Locke was lit up by Desmond's hatch light. They went (forward?) to a time on their way to the Orchid where they got shot at in the water. And then they went back again to 1988, where Jin washed up on shore (he's alive!) and was rescued by a French crew led by... a young, preggers Danielle Rousseau.

My favorite part of this episode was Sawyer's view of Kate aiding Claire in birthing her son. It was like he was seeing Season One Ghosts, and it was a poignant moment when he realized interacting with Kate, as much as he wanted to, was not a good idea.

I think it's important that Charlotte was not the only one to suffer from Bloody Nose Syndrome. Miles got it too, and then Juliet. Are we to think that the amount of time one has spent on the island relates to how "sick" he/she gets from jumping around in time?

Next week will apparently focus on Sun and Jin's child, Ji Yeon. What do you think - is it weird that Sun has left her behind in Korea? Will she go back to the island without her? And is it Ben Sun is after, or Kate... or Jack? Talk amongst yourselves. A-