ns wordpress will be offline until our webhost provider gets us more space….see you at bostonfilm.com!

Just when my attention span starts to wane, the good folks at LOST do the right thing and ratchet up the body count. Add an extended martial arts sequence and cool Smoke Monster sound design and this epi’s a winner. I just hope it’s not too late to try out for Locke’s ultimate frisbee team.

Anyone else disappointed with the final season, so far? I dunno, I’ve waited five whole episodes before digging into this final season of LOST and I must say, the writing on Desperate Housewives (!) has been far more entertaining. The paralysis has really mellowed Orson, existentially speaking.

Back on LOST, how many more times are we going to see the same annoying conversation: “Where are you going? Are you coming with me? Why can’t I go where you’re going? Why can’t you tell me?” Jack stares at Kate. Kate stares at Jack. Jack’s head explodes. Again.

And what’s with the Raiders Of The Lost Ark theme music playing all the time – is it because each episode looks more like Activision’s Montezuma’s Revenge? That said, ABC owes it to its fans to push out better CGI for LOST. If you wanna build a stone lighthouse in HD, you better have some realistic shadows or sunlight shining on it. Problems with the CGI start with EP1, as in the lame underwater sequence. What does it mean that ABC doesn’t add the extra 5-10% that these sequences need?

The preview for S06 EP6 says it all – there will be answers! Well there better be, because while I get that there’s an alternate reality with no Island, who cares? It’s not very exciting, despite having much better dialogue.

MVP for Season 6 – Jorge Garcia as Hugo. His sheer size might overshadow the nuances of his performance for some viewers…however he’s the only character we can relate to. He doesn’t know why, but he hangs in there, just like us. For the team at LOST – I pray that the weight of achieving narrative unity doesn’t overshadow the delivery of good scene writing…so far the Season 6 cast hasn’t had much to work with. There’s just not a lot of meat on those bones.

So much for the perfect season. So be it. I can always watch it “on demand”. (cue chainsaw buzz, mouse click, click, clicking away – ‘you’re clicking away your life, johnny…’)

JOHNNY MIC’S HOPPIN’ JOHN
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 ham hocks
1 meaty hambone
1 cup chopped ham
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup bell pepper
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
32 oz. chicken stock
32 oz. water
1 lb. collard greens, ribs removed, chopped into 2 in. squares
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 lb. frozen black-eyed peas

Heat oil in large soup pot, then brown ham hocks and ham bone, about 6 minutes, remove from pot. Add chopped ham, onions, carrot, celery, bell pepper and garlic. The onions will give off enough liquid to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pot. Saute 4 minutes or until onions begin to get soft, nestle ham bone and hocks back in the pot. Add chicken stock, water to cover. Add bay leaves, thyme. Add collard greens. Set pot to simmer for 1 hour. After 25 minutes, add black-eyed peas. Cook remaining 35 minutes or until peas are soft. Serve over wild rice or long grain rice or both. Happy New Year!

According to this recent Globe article, McDonald’s has found yet another way to suck by hiring Arnold Communications to shoot more of these lame spots. The ad agency says the accents suck on purpose, but the Globe article confirms what I suspected all along — the actors are from New York.

I always knew this weird commercial was not right (wrong). To paraphrase Bloodsox scribe Rob Zeitz, a New Englander would ask for his coffee by saying: “Gimme my *&@!’in coffee!”

Thank you so much for the snowy owl. It is much more exciting than the craptastic presents I usually get.

Some folks say that Christmas Vacation was not very good, but I think it gets better w/age. Catch it if you can to see the master slapstick artistry of Chevy Chase, which by our crumbling standards, is nowadays in short supply.

1977-2009

Good luck on your secret mission.  She would’ve been great in anything written by ns, especially for her voice….

Ms. Murphy will appear in no fewer than four new releases in 2010.

Wharpua sent me this. I’m thinking about sending it to…um, everybody? Forget the virus, I’ve caught the cold, thanks to the good works over at Red Letter Media. The suicidal pretense of the voice over alone is worth its weight in Galactic Credits. Watch the next chapter on YouTube by clicking here.