Lost: A Tale of Two Charles Widmores

Thankfully this week’s episode does not jump around much, which for that reason alone I’m pleased with the episode.  Our dueling stories are between Desmond and the folks left behind on the Island after they started jumping through time.

When we last left Desmond he had woken up on a ship with Penelope, suddenly remembering that years ago Daniel Faraday told him he needed to find Faraday’s mother at Oxford.  We next see Desmond running to get a doctor back to his ship because Penelope is about to give birth.  She does, to a boy, named Charlie.  That was in the past.  About three years later, we see Desmond, Penelope, and Charlie sailing toward another mysterious island full of self-appointed, magical leaders and disgruntled locals.  That’s right, Great Britain!

As Penelope vicariously wonders for the audience how Desmond all of sudden remembered these things, he brushes it off and leaves the boat to find Mother Faraday.  At Oxford there’s no record of any Faraday ever working there.  Desmond gets all Nancy Drew and finds Faraday’s old lab that he remembers visiting during his time jumps.  The lab is abandoned but we recognize familiar items: Eloise’s maze; the brain microwaver; and a photo of Faraday, a woman, and his crazy mullet hair.  A wise, old janitor tells Desmond there was an accident with a girl and Faraday left.

Desmond finds the girl, Theresa, but she’s a vegetable now from Faraday’s experiments (or maybe she’s jumping through time without a constant).  Theresa’s sister is no fan of Faraday’s but says he ran off to America after the accident.  Thankfully his benefactor, Charles Widmore, stepped in and pays all of Theresa’s medical bills.

So Desmond goes off to Widmore’s office to get the name of Faraday’s mother.  Widmore gives him the information: she’s living in Los Angeles.  Before Desmond leaves, Widmore tells him to go back and hide with Penelope wherever it was they’ve been hiding.  He looks worried.

Back on the boat with Penelope, Desmond tells her that he doesn’t want to continue with his mission to find Faraday’s mother; he only wants to be with her and Charlie.  She isn’t hearing it and they head to Los Angeles.

* * *

Back on the Island, it’s the day after the fire arrow attack and Faraday, Charlotte, Miles, and two other extras are walking toward the creek to meet up with Sawyer and Juliet.  Because the two extras are unnamed, we know they’ll be the first to die.  And boom, there they go, just like Artz.  A spunky, young English woman, Ellie, appears with other mercenaries and takes the remaining three captive, believing they are from the American Army.

Locke, Sawyer, and Juliet wonder what to do with their captives and then the captives start talking to each other in Latin.  Juliet replies in Latin and we learn that the Others all communicate in Latin.  Well lah-dee, dah.

Ellie takes them back to the camp, where we see Richard, still looking ageless as always.  He introduces himself and says he presumes they came back for their bomb.  Faraday & Friends don’t know what he’s talking about but he plays along, hoping it will buy them time until the next jump.  It comes out that the American military has been testing nuclear weapons at or on the Island.  Faraday says he’s there to dismantle the bomb and that he won’t trick them because he’s in love with Charlotte.  Richard trusts him.  While Faraday waits to leave for the bomb, he tells Charlotte that he meant what he said about her.

As the Locke party head back to the Others camp, Juliet asks them to bring them to their camp.  One of the guys starts giving her answers once she reveals she knows Richard Alpert, but the second captive doesn’t like the answer, breaks the guy’s neck, and runs into the jungle.  Locke can’t shoot him, though, because “he’s one of my people.”

Richard explains to Faraday that they found 18 American soldiers setting up camp about a month ago. They asked them to leave but they refused, so Richard had them killed.  You see, he, like Faraday, also answers to a chain of command.  They’re interrupted by the escaped soldier running to tell Richard about his capture by Locke.

Locke, Sawyer, and Juliet see the camp from a distance.  Locke wants to finish his conversation with Richard, who Juliet says has always been on the island and is very old, but Sawyer and Juliet go to help free Faraday. They mistakenly think Faraday is being death marched into the jungle by Ellie.

Faraday and Ellie share some cryptic banter, namely that she looks like someone he used to know, and then they’re at the testing site: a wooden tower with a hydrogen bomb, “Jughead,” hanging down the middle.  Faraday gets closer and sees there’s a crack in the weapon and radioactive material is leaking out.  Ellie isn’t buying this trick, but he doesn’t care.  He says they need to fill the cracked casing with lead and then they should bury it with concrete.  She doesn’t know how he knows it will be safe, but he slips and says that he knows the island will still be there in fifty years.  Oh yes, he’s a time traveler.  Sawyer breaks the tension by pointing a rifle at Ellie’s head.  She drops the rifle.

Locke storms into the camp shouting for Richard Alpert.  The escaped solider doesn’t trust Locke, but Richard orders “Widmore” to put the gun down.  Surprise, y’all, it’s a young Charles Widmore.  Locke is pleased to meet him.  During his summit with Richard, Locke confuses Richard with all of his future talk.  Richard sort of believes him but won’t reveal how to get off the Island.  He doesn’t believe, though, that Locke becomes his leader because the selection process starts at an early age.  Locke tells Richard the date of his birth (two years from then in 1956) and tells him to go visit him at the hospital.  (Remember that from last season?)  Just then, Locke and friends jump in time.  At the next stop, the camp is gone and Charlotte collapses while hemorrhaging from her nose.  I’m not a doctor but I don’t think that’s supposed to happen.

Next week, Kate returns and I’m sure to be disappointed.

Meanwhile, some things to consider:

• How obvious is it that Mother Faraday is Ms. Hawking?  After this week, I’ll move it up to 90% yes.
• Is the concrete structure next to the Hatch where the Others buried the hydrogen weapon?
• Who else in the 1950s Others crowd will we see in the future?  Ellie?  If so, who is she?

Season 5, Episode 3: Jughead (originally aired January 28, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out Desmond’s Kinda Dumb by Robin Reed.

Listen to The J Factor with J.B. and Jaimie here or on iTunes.

For more on Lost, click here.

Wednesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC

Lost: Desmond’s Kinda Dumb

First, thanks to J.B. Perlow for figuring out that the older woman at the end of the last episode was Ms. Hawking, who had a memorable (although apparently not to me) appearance last season.  I maintain that she’s also Daniel’s mother, though.

This week, we get a Desmond episode!  Yay!

We also get not a single appearance of any of the Oceanic Six.  That’s right – no Jack.  No Kate.  No Sun, either, but it’s a fair trade.  Instead, we get a lot of Daniel, plus our standard sides of Locke and Sawyer.

See, writers?  You’ve got some good characters here!  You don’t need to have 18 regulars or whatever we’re up to now.  Give us more Desmond/Penny scenes.  Give us more Jeremy Davies quirkiness.  Give us more Locke/Richard love fests.  Honestly, none of us care anymore whether Jack and Kate get together.  Haven’t you heard?  Sawyer/Daniel is all the rage this season.

And you don’t have to break your contracts with the really-quite-good Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly, either.  Now that we’ve got this time-travel stuff happening, you could put them back in, like, the 1800s or something as completely different characters who happen to look exactly like Jack and Kate.  Let Sawyer freak out over that one for a while.

Anyway.  The actual, not-just-in-my-fantasy-world episode takes place mostly in 2007 (our three-years-post-island-departure Oceanic Six universe) and in 1954 (our time-traveling-islanders universe).

The 2007 edition follows the adventures of Desmond, who is trying to carry out Daniel’s request to find Daniel’s mother.  I guess Desmond doesn’t know about Google, so, disguised in hipster sunglasses and a baseball cap pulled down kind of low, he goes to Oxford.  It looks just like it did last season, and like it did when Charlie was going to high school on the same generic-British-academic-locale set in season 1.  The university is a dead end, but he finds a lead that takes him to the sickbed of a woman named Teresa who’s in a semi-vegetative state and who was, rumor has it, abandoned by Daniel some years back.  He also finds out that Charles Widmore was a big funder of Daniel’s research.  So Desmond, who, bless his heart, has never been the brightest crayon in the box, goes to see Charles Widmore.  Yep, the guy he’s been hiding from on a boat for three years.  Widmore tells him Daniel’s mother is in L.A. and lets him go without killing him.  Yeah, okay.

But before that, we get a flashback to Penny giving birth.  Yep, Penny had a baby a couple of years back, while she and Desmond were living on their fancy secret boat (and that’s love, right there – agreeing to give birth on a boat so your fugitive boyfriend won’t get caught by your psycho dad).  Now, they have a little boy, named Charlie (awwww!) and he’s way adorable.  I like how on this show, just like on every soap opera, they eventually all start having adorable children.

Anyway, when Desmond comes back to the boat at the end of his very unproductive day, he lies to Penny, which is really not something you do to the woman who gave birth on a boat for you.  But of course she sees right through him.  Desmond wants to go to L.A. to find Daniel’s mother, but Penny knows this isn’t going to work out for the best.  Methinks their three years of successful fugitivedom will soon be over.  But, I mean, what, were they just going to live on a boat forever?  Won’t the kid need to go to school someday?

Meanwhile, back on the island, Daniel isn’t giving much thought to his mother.  He, Charlotte, and Miles have been captured by the British/Australian types from last week, who now have bows and arrows.  They also have a hot female squadron leader named Ellie.  I love Ellie, with her non-regulation tank top and her lived-in French braids and her unique-on-this-show tendency to ask questions that make sense.

Miles tells their captors that Daniel’s their leader (Miles is like a less annoying version of Sawyer; I kinda like it).  Ellie and her guys turn out to be Others, circa 1954.  They’re pissed, because a group of U.S. soldiers recently turned up on the island (um, how did they find it?) to test hydrogen bombs.  So, the Others killed the soldiers.  But now they think our time-travelers are here to finish the work.  The captives go along with that story, because what else are they going to do.  And then there’s some business with Daniel declaring his love for Charlotte that made me squirm because Jeremy Davies is so creepy, and then Daniel goes to check out the bomb and probably gets himself a healthy dose of radiation poisoning, so way to go, science genius.

Elsewhere on the island, remember how last week I said Locke killed a couple of guys?  Well, apparently I was wrong because this week the guys are alive and well and being held hostage by Locke, Sawyer, and Juliet.  One of the guys is willing to make nice with our heroes (it helps that they speak Latin, and so does Juliet, since she’s an Other herself) but the other guy smacks the nice one on the head and runs away.  Of course, Locke tracks him to their camp.  And then the guy turns out to be a teenage Charles Widmore!  OMG!  Did not see that coming and I loved it.

Sawyer’s top priority on reaching the Others’ camp, which looks a lot like the set of M*A*S*H, is to save Daniel from getting shot.  Aww.  Locke, however, doesn’t care, and goes marching right into the camp to look for Richard.  Locke is very into Richard now.  I like Richard too so I consider this a positive development in Locke’s mostly uninteresting character arc.  Richard, of course, doesn’t recognize him, which makes Locke sad, even though Richard told him last week this would happen.  But they hang out for a while, and although Locke doesn’t seem to get any useful information from Richard, he has now visited Richard prior to his birth, thus setting up his future greatness in Richard’s eyes.

Okay, I’m getting used to this time-travel stuff.  Writers, if you just want to use it as an excuse to expand the show’s mythology by showing us more of the island’s history, that’s cool, if it’s always going to be as interesting as it was in this ep.  But please don’t make my head spin too much with the whole destiny thing, okay?  I prefer to have my shows spoon-fed, thanks. (Unless they’re called Mad Men.)

Next week, the Oceanic Six are back, and so is Graham Chase, and some aliens.  Well, the Graham Chase part should be fun at least.

Season 5, Episode 3: Jughead (originally aired January 28, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out A Tale of Two Charles Widmores by J.B. Perlow.

For more on Lost, click here.

Wednesdays, 9/8c on ABC

Photographs courtesy of ABC

America’s Best Dance Crew Takes on Britney, Y’all

This week on America’s Best Dance Crew, the dancers took on challenges from the princess of pop herself, Britney Spears.  Say what you will about her, these songs were perfect for the challenge.  Each crew took a #1 song and had to incorporate specific challenges in their choreography.

The first two crews to avoid elimination were Beat Freaks and Strikers All-Stars.

Beat Freaks, seven strong, women dancers took on Britney’s “Womanizer” video having to incorporate both sexy and strong moves.  For these B-girls and hip hop dancers, they had no trouble bringing the strong, but the sexy was a bit more challenging.  Dressed up in men’s suits, the ladies incorporated a little Britney-esque strip tease into the routine.

“We were a little bit scared of the outfits.  It was out of our comfort zone.  Last minute some of us got shortened and we didn’t want to,” said Teresa Espinosa.

“We didn’t know about it either so we ate like pigs before,” added a laughing Maryss from Paris.

The judges and the audience didn’t seem to notice as they were given solid critiques all around from Lil’ Mama, Shane and JC, who thought that they really showed a different side of themselves and embraced the challenge.

Strikers All-Stars made it back to the top spot, and were given Britney’s “Gimme More” to dance to.  Their challenge was to create mirror images of themselves.  Dressed in sleeveless tuxes, this crew looked amazing and their mirror work was tight and clean.  The judges loved them and they were solid performers.  They could be the underdogs of this contest.

Next up were Dynamic Edition, the cloggers who had the challenge of dancing to “Stronger,” using chairs in their routines.  Um, clogs and chairs, probably not the easiest dancing challenge.  This group is unique but I think this week they went wrong with their style and wardrobe choices.  Hot pink vinyl jackets and white jeans with blond wigs were just well, plain wrong.

Shane agreed, saying that he didn’t find them sexy at all, going so far as to say, “I can’t get the movie White Chicks out of my head.”  Dynamic Edition seemed disappointed by their performance (and I’m certain by that comment) but it’s up to America to decide whether they get a second chance.

One of my favorite groups of the night was Quest Crew, which boasts many accomplished individual dancers, including Hok, who was on my favorite dance show ever, So You Think You Can Dance.

Quest had the challenge of dancing blindfolded at some point in their routine.  Blindfolded!  I can’t even dance with full sight and these guys killed it.  Ryan did a full somersault flip over one of his fellow dancers and landing upright (and in a great pose) all blindfolded, making it one of the highlights of the night.  I asked them about the impressive move after the show.

“We added that move last night.  It was a fill-in for something else so it kind of came out of nowhere.”

That move was one that will definitely keep them in the top spot for another week.  The judges loved Quest’s energy, enthusiasm and even goofiness and they killed the challenge with their blindfold work.

The other all-girl crew, “Fly Khicks,” took to the stage and had to incorporate sharp turns into their Britney routine.  While their kicks were sharp and the judges praised them on precision, I felt like this group lacked the energy and excitement that Beat Freaks brought.  I predict they’ll be in the bottom next week.

It was down to just two crews in the finals – Team Millennia and Ringmasters.

Team Millennia took to the stage, forced to dance with hats and canes to Britney’s “Me Against the Music.”  They did the challenge well, although JC said he felt like it was a little too by the numbers when it came to using the hat and cane.  Overall, I felt like it was one of the least exciting performances of the evening.

Ringmasters, a crazy contortionist group out of Brooklyn, was up next and their challenge was to create a tall person (or stilt person) dancing to Britney’s “Circus.”  They were great, even incorporating a note Lil’ Mama gave them last week to add more choreography.  Some of their stuff was a little jarring to me, especially when they took off their shirts and did the flexing of their muscles but it was really innovative stuff.

The judges complimented both acts and Lil’ Mama especially praised Ringmasters for using dance as a way to stay off the streets and be positive role models.  As the judges conferred, I already had a feeling that Team Millennia would be eliminated.  I was right.  Team Millennia left the stage and Ringmasters are back for another week of dancing and contorting.

I spoke with Quest Crew after the show and asked them why they’re America’s Best Dance Crew.  Despite their obvious talent, they were extremely modest.

“We’re not there yet.  We think we have what it takes to be America’s Best Dance Crew.  But everyone’s amazing and we all want the same things.  That’s what makes it so thrilling, that it’s anybody’s game.”

Beat Freaks is hoping it’s their game to win.  “It’s been two seasons of boys and the ladies are here.”

Yes, they are and they hope everyone appreciates what they do every week, creating these dances from scratch in just three days.  Lindsey (aka Out There) wants people to really appreciate what their craft is all about.

“We want America to know that dancing isn’t all about tricks.  It’s about basics and foundation and knowing the history behind what you’re doing.”

With so much pressure to rehearse, perform and even win, I had to ask the girls what they do for fun, when there aren’t any lights and cameras around.

“We nap,” and “We hang out with the Ringmasters.  They make us laugh.”

All the crews were laughing, snapping pictures and visiting with each other after the show.  Lil’ Mama even came backstage and visited with the crews and offered her advice.  She seemed to genuinely appreciate and admire the talents of all these young dancers.

It was an incredible show but the top crews, in my opinion, are Quest Crew, Beat Freaks and Strikers All-Stars.  I’d love to see the ladies take the top title, but all it takes is one amazing performance to change this competition.  And these six crews will be back next week, battling it out and proving why they deserve the title of “America’s Best Dance Crew.”

Season 3, Week 3 (originally aired January 29, 2009)

For a behind the scenes look at ABDC, click here.

For more on America’s Best Dance Crew, click here.

Thursdays at 10pm ET on MTV

Photographs by Hollie Overton. Copyright owned by Poptimal.com.  All rights reserved.  To request permission to republish these images, email editor@poptimal.com.

Burn Notice: Hotspot

I don’t understand people who (and they’re in the minority) berate this show for being formulaic, when the whole appeal of the show stems from that very reason.  Burn Notice is built about the classic fun paradigm of 80s television.  Shows like MacGyver, Magnum P.I., The A-Team, Simon and Simon.  The reason those shows are so beloved and held in such nostalgic value is that they’re fun and comfortable, the kind of shows where every episode was something to look forward to, something to get excited about.  They promised fun and they consistently delivered.

The major trend with scripted tv now is the age of antiheroes.  Shows like The Shield and Damages (every show on FX), and Mad Men and Breaking Bad and The Sopranos and on and on.  These are shows where not only are the protagonists flawed, but they may be without any redeeming quality.  These shows make you question whether or not you should feel anything at all for the characters.  I’m a big fan of a lot of those shows, and I’m in awe of the complexity and layers of the writing.  I understand the trend and I’m all for it.  But you know what?  Sometimes it’s nice to watch stories where the protagonists are good guys, they’re heroes who band together with their loyal friends to right wrongs and restore justice.  Creator Matt Nix and star Jeffrey Donovan get that and they take it to heart.

Michael Westen is a complex character with a fascinatingly layered past, and his relationships are nuanced and evolving…but everyone who watches the show knows that he is the good guy, and that’s fun damn it!  Look at the age we’re living in people, we need heroes to believe in, bona fide heroes who aren’t secretly corrupt or child molesters.  If people don’t respect that and don’t like the idea of having Michael helping a new client every week as the A story and trying to figure out who burned him as the B story (though in this case, the B story is the emotional hook of the show, very similar to the way NBC’s Life is set up), then stop watching the show.  There are plenty of other shows to watch.  But don’t criticize a show for unabashedly being what it is.  I mean I don’t want to watch Desperate Housewives because of the show that it is…so I  made the radical decision not to watch Desperate Housewives. It was a complex, wrenching decision, but I sure hope I can get over it through counseling.

Okay, enough of that.  Let’s talk about the new episode, which begins with Michael and Fiona teaming up to find out who planted the bomb that nearly killed Michael.  Logically, they check the security cameras of the business along the river near his loft.  In a typically funny scene, Michael obtains the footage by posing as a security systems technician from the firm that installed the cameras, complete with hillbilly accent.  After looking at the tape, he spots a guy who he thinks could be The Guy.

Meanwhile, Sam comes along and offers Michael free tickets to a Dolphins game.  Michael has known his friend long enough to know that there is a catch, and there is.  Sam needs Michael to help him do a favor for Shawn Martin, who played for the team in the 90s and is now a local high school football coach.  It seems that Corey, one of Michael’s players, got into an altercation with Felix, a local gangster who now wants him dead.  Felix took Corey’s little sister Tanya for a ride and attacked her.  She escaped, and Corey went after him with a baseball bat.

Before Michael can get to work, Carla shanghais him to an “informal” meeting (informal meaning she doesn’t tie him to a chair and threaten to harm his family).  She asks him how his investigation of the bomber is coming and says that the bomb meant for Michael was made with the same material as the bombs that killed the other targets.  Michael asks who those targets are but she won’t tell him.

Michael remains ambivalent about helping Corey, thinking the police are better suited.  But he is persuaded by Fiona, who is bubbling over with rage about the whole incident.  Their plan is to put Felix out of the car theft business and force him out of Miami.  They do this by dressing in uniform with Sam and pretending to be representatives of a big, nefarious agency (of course they also cause some mayhem including pepper grenades and thermite, a good combo).  These antics-which include Michael demonstrating how to bullet proof your car with phonebooks-are a lot of fun to watch, but the real highlight of the episode comes on the Michael/Fiona relationship front.

They talk about when they first met, when Michael was undercover in Dublin pretending to be an operative named Michael McBride.  Fiona wonders aloud whether or not she fell in love with Michael or his cover, and Michael replies that he wouldn’t be surprised if it was the cover.  Speaking in the Irish brogue, he says matter-of-factly, “You become who you need to be.”  There’s a sadness in that line, and we get a wonderfully piercing window into the loneliness that must be inherent in doing that kind of work, and why Michael can’t fully commit to his feelings for Fiona.

There’s an even better scene which involves Michael finding out Fiona is alive after thinking she was dead.  Donovan and Gabrielle Anwar are phenomenal in that scene, and I will leave the pleasure of it for people to discover by themselves.  Until next week…

Season 2, Episode 11: Hot Spot (originally aired January 29, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out Possible Side Effects by Paul Secrest.

For more on Burn Notice, click here.

Thursdays at 10/9c on USA

Photographs courtesy of USA

Burn Notice: Possible Side Effects

It has become standard practice for half the shows in primetime to throw a “some content may not be appropriate… violent and sexual content … parental discretion…. yada yada yada…” type notice before each episode.  Whether this is done out of a sense of moral responsibility or just to titillate 11-year-olds is a matter best left between programming heads and Jesus.  But then along comes Burn Notice, a show that warrants an entirely new sort of warning label: “Caution: this program may cause dizziness, double vision, disorientation, and/or symptoms of epilepsy.  Do not watch if you are pregnant, nursing, or may become pregnant” (since that last bit seems to be in every warning label these days).  The blame for this unique problem lies solely in the hands of the show’s editors, who really need to pop a few Ritalin and realize that when it comes to the art of editing, quantity never trumps quality; week after week, the presence of constant jump cuts, split screens, and freeze frames takes potentially smashing action scenes and turns them into seasickness.

That ever present nag aside, this was actually a fairly good episode.  Mike’s still working at Carla’s behest, on the trail of the mutual enemy who tried to blow him up.  At least until Sam comes along giddy at the prospect of Dolphins tickets on the 50 yard line.  And all they have to do for them is take down a gang of car thieves who’ve been roughing up a promising high school football prospect.  Mike, Sam, & Fi create the illusion of a much larger and more dangerous gang, all the better to scare their targets out of town.  They sell the ruse with the power of matching suits and an amazing first strike tactic involving the baddie’s car, lots of broken windows, shotgunned tires, and a coffee can full of enough thermite to melt straight through an engine block.  Moments like that, perfect fusions of style, action, and technology, are what make Burn Notice so occasionally fantastic, but they just aren’t enough to tip the scales in favor of my committed fanboy devotion.

Stolen car laundering and Bruce Campbell wielding a 12 gauge are all fine and good, but what will really set watercoolers bubbling is what finally happened between Mike & Fiona.  After getting dumped by her BF, Fi took an active role in Mike’s bomber hunt and eventually found herself the victim of an elaborate arson trap.  The notion that she may have perished clearly shook Michael more than he expected, and after a long depressed stroll through the rain our hero was shocked and elated to find his Irish lass chillin’ at his pad like nothing was wrong.  Cue a smoldering “thank God you’re not dead” smooch and some off-camera reconciliation sex.  Whether this reunion will stick long term or if they’ll just become Ross & Rachel with C4 remains to be seen, but I always welcome character development.  Good luck, you crazy kids!

Season 2, Episode 11: Hot Spot (originally aired January 29, 2009)

For another take on this episode, check out Cameron Cubbison’s review here.

For more on Burn Notice, click here.

Thursdays at 10/9c on USA

Photographs courtesy of USA

America’s Best Dance Crew: Behind the Scenes

Poptimal got an inside peek this week, when I was allowed backstage at the taping of America’s Best Dance Crew (or “ABDC” as I like to call it).  I’m a big dance geek.  No, I don’t dance because I don’t like being laughed at.  But I respect it and ABDC has some of the best dancers on TV.

As I arrived at Warner Brothers Studio, I watched the audience streaming in, rowdy and excited, carrying signs with their favorite crew’s name and dressed in their finest (and some in their skimpiest outfits) hoping to get caught cheering or dancing or just looking fabulous.

Press arrives early to get interviews but the green room is definitely the place to wait.  Flat screen TVs filled the room and there are plenty of couches and tables to sit and score interviews and munchies too.  While backstage at a show can often seem chaotic, everyone seemed calm, excited and ready to root on their favorite crew.  The challenges this week involve dancing to pop princess Britney Spears’ greatest hits and incorporating specific tricks into each dance, but we’ll get to that later.

As the performers did their final run-throughs, I had the chance to sit down with Shane Sparks, one of the judges, and Andre Fuentes, Britney Spears’ former choreographer, to talk about the show, what it means for dance and their own upcoming projects.

As a professional dancer and choreographer, Shane is excited to be part of the show for two reasons.  “One is that I get to be me, Shane Sparks, saying what I want to say, doing what I want to do on TV and when you meet me I’m exactly the same.”

But Shane’s most proud of his involvement with ABDC because of his passion for what he does.  “I’m a dancer.  I grew up dancing and I’m around people who love to dance just as much as I do.  And dancers know, you don’t even have to say it, we all just know, you would die to dance.  There’s nothing else more important.”

As a writer and performer, there’s nothing I understand more than Shane’s passion for his art.  Shane’s proud of what this show is giving to young dancers.

“This is the first show ever in history that gave dancers like me, street dancers that only danced in the garage or the basement or on the street, a chance to show off their stuff.  The Ringmasters, (one of the crews) that is not a studio group.  You will not go to a dance studio and see them learning what they do.  They do that straight from Brooklyn, on the street, growing up, watching people and they brought it straight to TV.”

Shane recognizes how lucky these crews are.

“This wasn’t around when I was younger.  All we had was the club, the next party or the next talent contest.  They’ve got ABDC.  They get to get on MTV, get treated like queens and kings.  Get dressed up.  Put their choreography and their show on stage with lights and money behind them with props and you don’t get that every day.”

Andre thinks ABDC is equally important for dance’s evolution.

“It’s so amazing to see dance that’s interactive.  You get an audience and people vote for their favorite crews.  It’s new to America and new to the world and so that for me is the great thing about it.  It’s imploding all over the world.  That’s why I think ABDC is so great.  They take the professional side, like shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, but they also get people off the street and you know, they show what they have to offer.”

While Shane’s excited about all the crews, he does admit that there are several crews, Beat Freaks, Quest and the underdog clogging group, Dynamic Edition, that he predicts will be battling it out at the end.

While I can’t dish on whether he’s right and any of these groups made it to the next round, I can tell you that both Shane and Andre have things in the works.

Shane’s particularly excited.  “Get ready for Dreamgirls, my pet project, holding auditions at the end of March, and preparing to run at the end of 2009.  It’s going to be opening at the Apollo and touring.”

Andre, who once helped Britney make her choreography pop, is enjoying being part of ABDC.  “I’m working with new artists, getting my name out there.  Right now I’m loving MTV and the way they’re treating me.”

I couldn’t agree more.  MTV was great.  The dancing was hot, exciting and cutting edge.  Getting to meet these talented and creative dancers and choreographers was amazing and inspiring to see artists doing what they do best.  I can’t tell you the results but check back for a recap of the performances, backstage interviews with some of the hottest crews and my pick on who’s heading home next week.

For more on America’s Best Dance Crew, click here.

Thursdays at 10pm ET on MTV

Photographs by Hollie Overton Copyright owned by Poptimal.com.  All rights reserved.  To request permission to republish these images, email editor@poptimal.com.

Oscar the Grouch Snubs Everyone

Every Oscar season there’s always the diligent whining over which small gems were overlooked, the griping about quirky indie flicks (coughJunocough) or crowd-pleasing blockbusters (coughTitanticcough) getting too much attention, and all-too-accurate complaining about the lack of substantive roles for women in Hollywood.  But this year, seriously, Oscar, what were you thinking?

So Oscar, here’s my list – by a partial, prejudiced, and partially ignorant film critic – on who was nominated and who should have been:


Best Picture:

Actual Nominees:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

Milk

The Reader

Slumdog Millionaire

Who should’ve gotten the nod:

The Dark Knight – Some pictures aren’t forgotten.  There seems to be an unwritten rule at the Oscars – ever since the Titanic backlash – that successful box-office flicks must not be worthy of any more gold than that which they raked in at the theaters.  Well, in the words of Liz Lemon, suck it. The Dark Knight‘s darkness, grit, and humanity showed that audiences can take a lot of depth in the right package.  The ensemble cast was perfection (and I’m not just talking Ledger) and it redefined a genre.  Plus, I’m sure to remember it long after I’ve forgotten Milk.  If that’s not Oscar worthy, I don’t know what is.

Revolutionary Road – Talk about a snub.  This picture had Oscar written all over it, from the cast, to the director, to the cult novel it was based off. (Just look at all that white space on the poster waiting for the accolades.) This was right up Oscar’s moody, brooding, anti-suburbia alley.  And yet, it’s practically absent from the nominations.  I wasn’t in love with this movie, but it did spark quite the animated psychological debate between me and the guy I took to see it.  It was troubling and thought-provoking, as well as the only picture that really explored the female perspective on life (take a good look at the other nominees, folks).  Forgetting this one was a big, big miss.

Frost/Nixon – Okay, the Academy of Motion Pictures did get this one right.  The better of the two play adaptations this year (Doubt being the other), it worked with its “stage” and not against it, giving the verbal fist fight between deposed president Tricky Dick and young journalist Frost a documentary-like feel.  The ensemble was perfect and the subject was all engrossing when it could have easily been a historical bore.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Yeah, the Academy got this one right too.  I’ve heard a lot of squabbling over it already – no it wasn’t as emotionally charged as it could have been.  Yeah, it’s a lot like Forrest Gump.  But for all you film snobs that seemed to have forgotten Forrest Gump won.  It’s also a beautiful story with lush, gorgeous cinematography that certainly takes you to another place.  It’s delicious escapist fare and exactly the kind of movie that should be nominated for an Oscar.  That said, it definitely shouldn’t win.

Slumdog Millionaire - This one should.  It shouldn’t win because it’s the little indie pic that could – unless by “indie” you mean filmed in India – because it’s got Danny Boyle at the helm so it’s not exactly some out-of-nowhere surprise.  It should win because it’s the best picture I’ve seen this year.  I’ve yet to find a single person who didn’t love it and wasn’t moved by it.  It’s uplifting and joyful – and since when do all Oscar winning pics have to be dour, guilty, sad-state-of-humanity dramas (I’m talking to you, The Reader)?  I’ll take the jubilation of Slumdog any day – Bollywood dance numbers and all.

Honorable Mention: Wall-E.  If it weren’t for the relatively new best animated feature category, I’d be saying Wall-E for best pic of the year – which it still might very well be.  At least it’s guaranteed to take home Oscar gold in its own category.

Best Director

Nominated:

(See Directors of nominated Best Pictures above)

Should’ve been nominated:

Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight)

Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road)

Ron Howard (Frost/Nixon)

David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire)

Why?  Haven’t you been reading?

Best Actor

Nominated:

Richard Jenkins (The Visitor)

Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)

Sean Penn (Milk)

Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Who should’ve been:

I’m giving it to Frank, Sean, and Mickey, and though I didn’t drink The Wrestler Kool-Aid like all the other film critics obviously did, I’m still giving it to Mickey Rourke for the win.  Come on, don’t you want to see him thank his cats this time?

Leonardo DiCaprio – Just when I thought the Academy had warmed to him, they snub him completely.  His performance in Revolutionary Road was certainly better than Brad’s really difficult job of looking pretty in Benjamin Button.  Leo’s performance in political thriller Body of Lies was also more nod-worthy than Brad’s Benjamin, where Leo easily outshined Russell Crowe, went through a grueling torture scene, and even uglied himself up with that hideous beard.  But it seems the Academy will only nominate Leo for something when they’re worried about upsetting the wrath of Scorsese.  Well, at least it’s looking good for Leo next year then.

Clint Eastwood – Seriously, you forgot the Clint?  Was it because he’s a Republican, Hollywood?  Because he already lost that race.  Snubbing him for his performance in Gran Torino is like rubbing salt in an old man’s wounds.  Let’s hope he doesn’t show up and shoot finger pistols at anyone.

Honorable Mention: Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen for Appaloosa.  I know the Academy doesn’t give out Oscars for best Duo Performance.  But these two together gave the best male performances I’ve seen all year, hands and pistols down.

Best Actress

Nominated:

Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)

Angelina Jolie (The Changeling)

Melissa Leo (Frozen River)

Meryl Streep (Doubt)

Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Who Should’ve Been:

Meryl Streep – Because it’s not really the Oscars if Meryl’s not nominated for something.

Melissa Leo – I’ll admit, I haven’t seen Frozen River, but I’m willing to give Melissa the benefit of the doubt here.  Unlike Angelina, whose mere performance in The Changeling‘s trailers was enough to turn me off.  Please, Angie, pout some more.

Michelle Williams – I know this year is all about the Ledger love, and I love him too, but his former love deserves a little attention too.  She entirely carried rarely-seen indie gem Wendy and Lucy and should be recognized for her tender, transformative performance.  But I guess the Academy only had room for 3 female-dominated, indie flick roles this year.

Anne Hathaway – In this category, I’m not contending too much.  Anne gave a career-altering performance in Rachel Getting Married, and the nod is very much deserved.  She may also very well steal the little golden man out of the next Oscar vet’s hands.

Kate Winslet – But not for The Reader.  Yeah, I know she was a Nazi with guilt and dirty secrets and she’s naked all over the place.  But come on, Kate Winslet is always naked.  The girl is comfortable in her skin, and good for her, but her performance in Revolutionary Road (for which I’m becoming a diligent advocate) was far superior.  It was all subtly, angst, and anger.  Every lip twitch was perfect.  Plus, she’s going to win this year – because the prescient Ricky Gervais knows how funny the real world is – and I’d much rather she win for the hard-earned Road than a forgettable Nazi snoozer.

Honorable Mentions: For memorable performances in flicks from across the pond, Kristin Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long) and Sally Hawkins (Happy Go Lucky).  Unlike previous years, there were lots of meaty female performances this year, and I wish they all could’ve gotten a little Oscar love.

Best Supporting Actor

Nominated:

Josh Brolin (Milk)

Robert Downey, Jr. (Tropic Thunder)

Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)

Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road)

Should’ve Been Nominated:

Does it matter?  This is Heath Ledger‘s award.  No one is going to take it from him – and if someone does, I wouldn’t want to be that guy.  That said, I’m going to jump off the Revolutionary Road bandwagon I’ve been on and say that James Franco should’ve gotten the nod for Milk instead of Michael Shannon.  Though tip of the hat to the Academy for the Robert Downey, Jr. Tropic Thunder nomination.

Honorable Mention: Dev Patel for a phenomenal debut in Slumdog Millionaire.

Best Supporting Actress

Nominated:

Amy Adams (Doubt)

Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

Viola Davis (Doubt)

Taraji P. Henson (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)

Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)

Who Should’ve Been:

Rosemary DeWitt – Anne Hathaway got her due props with a nomination for Rachel Getting Married, but the girl playing Rachel got nothing.  DeWitt was superb in Rachel and helped make Anne’s performance all the stronger.  She too deserves a nod.

Marisa Tomei – She gets a nomination simply for meeting the Oscars’ nudity in an indie picture quota.

Amy Adams – This wasn’t Adams’ best performance, but in the long tradition of the Academy Awards, I’m giving her this nod as an apology for being snubbed las year.  She completely rocked Enchanted.  She sang, she danced, and she even ran just like a Disney princess.  She’s a talent, for sure, and I can’t wait for next month’s Sunshine Cleaning when she returns to her charming, quirky indie roots.

Viola Davis – Her performance as the conflicted mother in Doubt surpassed Adams’ mousy nun.  It’s a well-deserved nod for an actress we probably won’t see much of again.

Taraji P. Henson – She was a clear, bright light in Benjamin Button‘s hazed over world.  While most of the characters in Button felt detached from the audience and too shiny and plastic to be real, Henson’s faithful, loud, and endearing Queenie stole the spotlight from her A-list co-stars.  She should win, but Penelope Cruz will win – though if it were up to me, her obnoxious role in an obnoxious movie would not have been nominated in the first place.

Honorable Mention: The entire supporting female cast of Synecdoche, New York for being indie-fabulous.

Let’s face it, this year’s Oscars are making me grouchy.  Many of my favorites were flat left out, and some rather undeserving performances have gotten nods on star power alone. (Yes, you Brangelina.) But you know it’s a sad year for Oscar when the Charlie Kauffman script doesn’t get a nod for best original screenplay, and Bruce Springsteen’s original song for The Wrestler is completely forgotten.  Seriously, Oscar, you dissed the Boss?

That’s it Oscar, get back in the trash.

For more movie reviews, click here.

For more awards shows, click here.

Photographs courtesy of IMDbPro and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Fringe: The No-Brainer

Is it just me, or do you feel like Fringe builds you up, just to let you down?  We already knew they couldn’t produce more than two decent episodes in a row, but this one and its borrowed plot reminded me of better shows.  So when I’m done here, I’m going to watch Smile Time.

A song by The Killers opens the episode.  Coincidence? A teenage boy chats on his cell phone…wait, do boys chat?  A teenage boy speaks manfully on his cell phone with a friend before hanging up and focusing on his laptop.  A blue light flashes in the room, which could just be a trick of the light, but this is Fringe, so not likely.  A pop-up message prompts young Gregory to stare at the screen, instantly hypnotized by a series of flashing images.  I’m immediately reminded of that awesome episode of Angel.  One of the best!  Oh, I’m so tempted to recap that episode now rather than this one.  But right, back to Fringe.  The kid cries, his mom walks in and out, oblivious, and then a hand reaches out from the computer screen.  It’s all very Pulse, but a lot creepier.  Finally, the hand grabs Greg’s head and liquefies his brain!

We only know his brain’s a puddle because Olivia sends the body to the Lab for Doc and Peter to examine.  Doc finds the time to work when he’s not trashing Charles Darwin.  I’m not really going to recap that lecture.  You’re welcome.  Olivia and Francis visit Greg’s parents, and learn he had a friend named Luke Dempsey (no relation) and that Greg was a bit boring.  Except for all the time he spent on his computer.  Olivia brings Greg’s hard drive to the lab and asks Exposition to examine for possible clues.

Wait, wait, wait.  Exposition explains that the hard drive is fried.  When Olivia doubts the assessment, Exposition says, “Linguistics major, computer science minor.  I’ve been taking apart computers since I was eight.”  Are you f—ing kidding me?  Next week we’re going to learn that Exposition was actually a double major in astronomy so she can read the stars to solve the next riddle, while explaining the myths of Orion in Latin for the sake of advancing the plot.  I mean, for real?  Can’t Peter and his criminal past/MIT training hack a computer?  Or wouldn’t he at least know someone who could, and then maybe we’d get some more back-story on him?  Oh, I don’t even know why I bother.  I hope the writers pull a MOWE and kill Exposition at the end of season one.  It’d be shocking and welcome.  At least Tony was likable and useful.

ANYWAY.  Olivia questions Greg’s friend, Luke.  The two were friends since they were kids, because their dads worked together, and remained so even when the two Papas went separate ways.  So, nothing helpful.

Another liquefied brain body turns up at a car dealership.  Exposition exposits that the dealer’s computer was fried like Greg’s, and both of the computers downloaded a huge file before crashing.  Her computer science minor can’t tell where the files originated, so Peter offers to hit up a criminal friend for help.  See?  Now I’m bored for being right.

Back at the FBI Building, Agent Harris hard asses Olivia.  He gives her 12 hours to take care of business, then he’ll shut her down and pass off the case.  I’m confused about Harris.  If the Fringe program is sanctioned by the government, what’s the issue?  Isn’t their work too important to shut down?  Or is it just a bureaucratic thing because the Fringe-ettes aren’t filling out the right paperwork?  I know, I know, stop thinking about it.

So Peter visits Hakim, a computer specialist who requires bribing in exchange for help.  These two have an unspoken history, but I give it to Hakim.  There’s nothing intimidating about Peter, dressed in a sailor’s pea coat.  Hakim reluctantly helps, but also can’t find the program’s point of origin or learn what it is.  However, he can locate the address of the person downloading it right now: It’s Olivia’s niece, Ella!

Really?  We need this?

Off Olivia races home, arriving in time to save Ella, who’s dazed and pale.  Agent Francis shows up (huh?) and promises to have the computer forensics division examine Olivia’s laptop.  Wait, there’s a whole division of people who work on computers for the FBI?  Why exactly was Exposition involved, and why would it be necessary for Peter to take the hard drives off the premises?  My brain hurts.  Like, almost-liquefied-hurts.

Peter flirts with Rachel, but nothing embarrassing, just the “oh my, aren’t you great with kids!” kind of flirting.  Ella tells Peter and Olivia about the hand out of the computer, and as Olivia examines the laptop more closely, clever editing brings us into the secret lair (could it be a warehouse???) of this week’s foe: a balding, chubby guy with a menacing voice.  In case we didn’t get it, he says, “Oh yeah.  I’m the one you’re looking for.”  Thanks, dude.

Enter the villain’s son, Luke Skywalker!  Er, Dempsey!  Isn’t that interesting!  We learn that Luke loves his father, and that Papa D has been unemployed with the best assortment of computer screens and computer technology I’ve ever seen.  Recession, my ass.

In Evanston, Illinois, a wife finds her day trader husband dead and brain liquefied.  Turns out, the dead man married Dempsey’s ex-wife, and Greg’s dad was Dempsey’s old boss, who fired him six years prior.  1 + 1 = 2, so the Fringe-ettes figure out Dempsey’s their man, avenging people who have wronged him.  Dad’s missing when they attempt an arrest, so they pick up Luke instead.  Luke lawyers up, and Olivia releases him.

Because she’s tricky.  She hopes he’ll lead them to his father, and Luke does.  Olivia and Peter follow Luke’s cab to a warehouse(!).  Luke confronts Papa D, then hides when the Dempseys discover Olivia creeping through the building.  Eventually, she finds Papa Dempsey’s control center, followed by his gun pointed at her head.  Papa Dempsey puts another gun under his chin.  He threatens both suicide and to shoot Olivia, but not necessarily in that order.  He’s frazzled, folks, and can’t make up his mind.  He catches sight of his monitors and the hypnotic program.  Presumably, the hypnotic state causes his finger to slip and he shoots himself (offscreen).  A dead father means Luke’s arrested … as an accessory?  No clarification is given.

Later Harris meets with Broyles and complains about Olivia’s tactics.  Broyles defends her, and warns Harris that a vendetta against Olivia is a vendetta against Broyles, and all the red tape in the world can’t protect Harris then.  Not that Harris cares, of course, but Broyles makes the most of his three minutes of screen time.

In an interesting little sub-plot, Peter receives a letter from Jessica Warren, the mother of the lab assistant who died seventeen years ago in one of Doc’s experiments.  You know, the one which resulted in his incarceration in that psych ward.  Have they not mentioned that enough for you?  Peter tries to keep Mama Warren away from Doc, because he feels Doc’s not stable enough for an angry mother’s tears.  He and Olivia argue over whether or not Peter underestimates his father, and finally, Peter gives in and arranges the meeting.  All Mama Warren really wanted was to speak with Doc, since he was the last person to see her daughter alive, and she’s looking for a few memories.  Not as emotionally moving as you’d think it would be, but how awesome if the dead lab assistant comes back to life and starts haunting Doc?

Don’t call me crazy, just look at John Scott!  And by the way, where is that Hotness?

We round out the episode with Rachel and Olivia at home chatting (because they’re girls), until Peter arrives to thank Olivia for her subplot help.  Rachel walks by, and she and Peter share a look.  You know, the kind of look that has Olivia going, is that flirting flirting, or just flirting?

So if none of this brain-melting is Pattern-related, why do we care?  Hopefully, they’ll link it all up later, otherwise, Fringe has once again broken its string of good episodes with a really lame one.

Next week: Olivia pushes the limit, and back to nightmares on airplanes!

Season 1, Episode 12: The No-Brainer (originally aired January 27, 2009)

Listen to The J Factor with J.B. and Jaimie here or on iTunes.

For more on Fringe, click here.

Tuesdays at 9/8C, Fox

Photographs courtesy of Fox and IMDbPro

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans – When Vampires & Werewolves Fight, Everyone Wins

Have you, like me, ever wondered what would happen if Hollywood were to crossbreed Braveheart, Spartacus, and Twilight? Didn’t think so. I just happen to spend my idle moments pondering very strange things. So imagine my surprise when Underworld: Rise of the Lycans brought that cinematic mashup to life. The Underworld saga has been a moderate success story of this past decade, sparking the career of director Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) and beating Catherine Hardwicke to popularizing the vamps n’ werewolves genre by two years. They represent an enjoyable fusion of stylish action and Byzantine backstory that genre fans knock back like Pixie Stix. Forbidden romance, political intrigue, eugenics, decapitations, Kate Beckinsale in leather, there’s something for everyone! Now the question looms of whether or not the franchise can succeed in prequel form without Wiseman behind the camera or Beckinsale in front.

Rise of the Lycans kicks off somewhere circa 1200s not long after the creation of vampires & werewolves. You see, in Underworld lore, these fabled creatures of the night are not products of any mystical influence but rather a Spiderman-ish scenario involving two brothers with screwy DNA and run ins with a bat and wolf. More than a little silly, but the script takes the concept seriously enough to sell it. The vamps have been using the 24/7 bestial werewolves as cheap labor until one gives birth to a humanoid child, the first with the more familiar power of full moon transformation. Viktor (Bill Nighy) raises the babe into a psychologically unhealthy combination of son, slave, and pet, all the while using his blood to create more like him. Once grown, Lucian (Michael Sheen) becomes understandably dissatisfied with his lot in life and makes a break for freedom with a little help from his star crossed gal pal Sonja (Rhona Mitra), Viktor’s daughter. Action follows in quantity as Lucian endeavors to free his brethren, get the girl, and teach dad a lesson.

Seeing top notch British thesp Sheen in theatres simultaneously in both Underworld and as half of the titular Frost/Nixon is enough to give a film buff whiplash, but I am forced to respect his versatility and complete commitment to any role he plays. Mitra, while no Kate Beckinsdale, gives a capable performance and looks great in skin tight chain mail. Nighy, however, is a bit of an enigma to me in this role. Movies like Love Actually and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy show that he’s got a natural comedic gift, and his CG drenched turn as Davey Jones in the second 2/3rds of the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy proved he’s got range and villany chops. So when he spends 92 minutes tearing through scenery and overreacting to every little thing, I’m not sure whether I should applaud his intentional arch campiness or just scorn him as the second coming of Ben Kingsley in Bloodrayne. The numerous fight scenes are well choreographed, and just enjoyably gory enough to score an R rating without scaring away girlfriends who get dragged along. But they get a tad on the repetitive side, and the sight of medieval fantasy action shot in a blue/black hue constantly recalls the far superior battle for Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers.

If you’re a fan of the first two Underworlds, don’t hesitate to welcome Rise of the Lycans into its canon. If you’ve run out of Oscar bait to catch up on or just have no interest in such things, you could certainly do much worse than this romp of swords and fangs. But either way, don’t pay more than matinee price.

Grade: Rent it!

Photographs courtesy of IMDB Pro.

To read another review of this movie, check out Underworld: Invention of the Lycra Chain Mail by  J.B. Perlow.

Underworld: Invention of the Lycra Chain Mail

To be fair, I was unfamiliar with the Underworld series before going to see the prequel, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.  But thanks to my friends at Wikipedia, the basics are these: there is a race of Vampires–created from man by a virus–and there is the race of Lycans who are part man and part wolf (a/k/a Werewolves).  In this prequel, we learn the story of Lucian’s birth, escape from bondage, and rise as the leader of the Lycan race against the Vampires, who are led by Viktor.

In Lucian, we have a Sparticus-type figure who, while only part man, desires like all men to be in his natural state: a free person.  At the same time he is enslaved by Viktor, he is Viktor’s favorite.  He is also Viktor’s daughter’s favorite and the two routinely sneak off for the love that dare not speak it’s name but the recipie is one part bestial, two parts necrophilia, one part vanilla.  Once Lucian can take no more of being treated like an animal, he rallies his lupine brethren into rebellion, and that, boys and girls, is why many years later, Remus was allowed to teach at Hogwarts.  But I digress…

How interesting that this would be the first film I’d see in 2009, after ending 2008 with Valkyrie and Frost/Nixon, considering those two films also starred Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen, respectively.  That they could pull off these very different roles so effectively speaks to the range of their acting abilities, for in the two title roles they are effective.  The rest of the cast is incidental and forgettable.  The female lead, Rhona Mitra, reminded me of the usual unremarkable females in fantasy films, and the only other person I remember is Kevin Grevioux, who’s moving in on Michael Clarke Duncan‘s turf as the friendly/disturbed, jacked black guy.

Even though this movie will not push me to see the rest of the series, it had its redeemable moments.  For those who want to see what Tony Blair, or at least his main portrayer, looks like under his suit (not me!), Sheen is barely clothed for most of the movie.  The sets and architecture of the medieval fortress puts the design of Helm’s Deep to shame but still pales in comparison to Minas Tirith.  The big battle scene at the end is also nothing special but the ample demonstration of the ballista makes up for it (at least if you’re into military history, like me).  But again, all comparisons of anything medieval looking always take me back to The Lord of Rings and, as I say with every similar fantasy battle since the, I am always disappointed.

Photographs courtesy of IMDB Pro.

For another viewpoint of this movie, read When Vampires & Werewovles Fight, Everyone Wins by Paul Secrest.

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