Bert Vandecasteele

Month: April 2010

  • Ep. 12 – Everybody loves Hugo

    It’s been a while since we had a Hurley episode in the second half of a season – in fact, it’s been since “Dave”, back in Season 2, I think. The interesting thing is that Hurley episodes usually aren’t used as plot progressing episodes. They’re usually there to fill the audience in on the story that’ll be told in the coming episodes. With Hurley being the “voice of the audience”, it makes sense. This time, it was different, though. For the first time I kind of got the feeling Hurley wasn’t really speaking my voice at all. But his own voice was interesting.

    The Episode…

    On a directing perspective, there were three parallels in this episode – an interesting thing. I’m talking about planting and pay-off: we saw Ilana enter with dynamite in her bag, then shake it around, then put water bottles on top of it, and then finally putting them on the floor before blowing herself up. The same mechanic was used around the well (Desmond and Locke circled it for what seemed like hours before Des was thrown in) and the car crash in the end.

    On the Hurley side of the episode, we got some nice closure. He finally went on the date with Libby (I can imagine the script saying “emphasize the blanket” underlined and bold) and got Michael to make amends with him. Poor Mike. I’m not fond of him, but being stuck on that island without being able to move on? I can imagine better places to be.

    The Questions…

    Yet, still, that car crash had me completely fooled. I thought he’d give the resident wheel chair man a little nudge to make him remember – but this? I think Desmond didn’t run over John Locke to show him what he actually is in the real island world – I think he was actually trying to kill him. Last year we had the discussion if you would kill Child Hitler – this year we’re wondering if we’d kill Hitler in a parallel universe. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I actually like this as much as I do.

    Next Episode…

    The most interesting thing seems to have happened. I think we’re through. I don’t think there’s any character left that needs another flash sideways. So whom will the next episode be about? I honestly have no idea. I think, with Desmond running over John Locke, we might be heading towards a more open, multi perspective point of view on the sideways.

    Picture this: John Locke, badly hurt, ends up in the hospital, accompanied by Ben. They not only run into Jack, the resident doctor, but also Sun and Jin. How the others feature into this story is sort of unclear, but this might be the start. I kind of hope they leave the character stories and move onto something a bit wider in perspective. The stakes are most certainly raised high enough.

    In All…

    I think the fact that Hugo’s flash sideways focused on Desmond in the end, is a way of telling us that the flash sideways as character stories are over. I hope they switch to using multiple perspectives for the remainder of the episodes: I can’t imagine them wrapping the story up if they keep on focusing on one character at a time…

    Favourite Quote:

  • Ep. 11 – Happily Ever After

    If his short appearance in the first episode of the season didn’t give it away, then surely seeing Henry Ian Cusik’s name in the cast list in every episode did: but yes! as we noticed in The Package, Desmond is back. He can finally give a spin on the seemingly ex machina Charles Widmore return – and it’s a good one. A conversation changer.

    The Episode…

    In my opinion, Desmond episodes are usually awesome. They often tend to break the storytelling rules set by the series. Flashes before your eyes was a first step towards time travel; the constant was a full-blown mind fuck with an emotional ending. Happily ever after follows these two episodes: after a magnetic experiment, Desmond is sent into his own flash sideways. As always, we get an episode with little to no cast members in it, but a lot of theorizing and speculating possibilities.

    I loved the little appearances made by ex cast members: the interactions with Charlie were great (and they finally explain why he wanted to die back on the plane), there was the funny George Minkowski, Eloise Hawking made her creepy return (and seems to be all-knowing again), and last but not least, there was Daniel. His speech was the best ever.

    The Questions…

    Some interesting questions got raised after watching this episode – the most important of which is towards the reason of the Flash Sideways device. It’s become apparent that the Flash Sideways are the “fake” stories, the ones that should end. In these stories, everyone seems to get the thing they desire the most on the island (Ben wants a normal relationship with Alex, Kate doesn’t want to be afraid to be on the run, Hurley wants to be lucky…) – with the occasional “wish blowing up in your face” part (e.g. Sun and Jin).

    But where does that leave Desmond? What is his task? Or what does Eloise, who knows that this reality is fake, have to do with it? I thought they had resolved her storyline – she was all-knowing because she had read Daniel’s diary – but apparently there’s more to it all. Are they going to be able to resolve this in so little episodes?

    Next Episode…

    Next week’s episode is titles “Everybody loves Hugo” – it’s not hard to know who this is going to be about. I’m excited about this episode: when we first saw Hurley in the flash sideways, we were dumbstruck that he was lucky all of a sudden. After this episode, however, it’s perfectly reasonable. What will they tell us? Surely it can’t feature a lucky guy for fourty minutes…

    In All…

    This was undoubtedly one of the top season six episodes. It was exciting, emotional and completely caught me off my guard with the plot twists that kept happening. I wonder what will happen to Desmond next? Has he really become a messiah?

    Favourite Quote: Widmore: “I can’t take you back. The Island isn’t done with you yet.”

  • The Hunger Games (2): Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)

    When I finished reading The hunger games, I was torn. On the one hand, I wanted to know how the story went on. On the other, though, I was sad that it did go on. I wished that Suzanne Collins had wrapped up the story in one book, kind of like 1984, as one cog in the system that in the end tried to change something but didn’t succeed. Luckily, when reading the second book, it quickly became apparent that Collins did indeed have a few more tricks up her sleeve. And now I have to say that I’m relieved at her markable capability to round this massive beast up in three volumes: the second part alone was so confined that it could have easily been written into two or three books alone.

    After Katniss and Peeta came out of the Hunger Games alive, they found their world to have changed. Not only did the Capitol hate their guts and wanted to make their lives into a living hell, they found they had become the symbol of a boiling revolution. The second book is all about setting up these two plot points: pestering on the one hand, the big explosion that is due on the other.

    There’s just so much that’s going on in this world, and every character in it could easily have a book written about them, showing their point of view. Haymiss, trying to keep his two prodigies alive; Cinna, knowing that the end is nigh; Gale, leading a miner’s revolution in full-blown Guevara style… everyone is important. That’s the strength of the series: it doesn’t try to overexplain things, it just stays close to Katniss, telling everything from her perspective, so we find out things as she learns about them.

    It took a while for me to get it, though – about half a book’s worth. It’s only as the second half commences that I thought I knew where it was heading. It’s nice to get enough puzzle pieces to piece it together, but still get drawn into wrong conclusions. The story twists and turns, anything can happen, but most things you expect to happen, don’t.

    I’m eager to find out where Collins is headed with the last part. A war has now officially started, with friends in the hands of enemies. How will this go on? Obviously, District 13 will factor in what’s up next, but as it has been proven time and again: my predictions are usually wrong.

    I can’t wait!

  • Ep. 10 – The Package

    We’re past the mid point of the final season now. The end is rapidly closing in, but just like last year, I kind of get the feeling nothing’s happened yet. On the other hand, a few episodes ago, they were still kicking ass in the temple or on Flight 815 as it safely landed in LA. Where are we know? Waiting for the ass-kicking on the beach to start, I guess.

    The Episode…

    I love Jin and Sun. Especially Yunjin Kim has a soft spot with me, ever since her chilling performance in “There’s no place like home”, the season four finale. Her performance was so breath-taking, one of the best ones to date on lost, that I – since then – started wondering why we haven’t seen more of her.

    It’s funny how the roles are reversed now: in the first three seasons, Sun’s role was bigger than Jin’s, because Sun was the one being able to communicate. Now, because Jin speaks English, he’s got some more things happening to him – things he’s in the center of. Like being kidnapped by Charles Widmore, for example.

    Ever since they got back on the island, however, I have the feeling the writers have been having trouble giving Sun a satisfying story. All she does for about an entire season is follow the rest, hoping to run into Jin – not very exciting for a woman I thought had a lot of pep.

    So it’s nice to see their sidestory. A lot of past friends of ours returned: Patchy, Omar, Keamy… I wonder if the crash saved their life in the “real” timeline? I wonder if they were going to have Jin killed in LA aswell, but for a different reason? The whole secret relationship thing had me fooled; it blew my mind twice. Blame me for being naive, but it was a truly awesome feat to pull off.

    The Questions…

    The biggest reveal of the week, however, was my being right about Desmond being inside the submarine. As soon as Widmore mentioned electromagnetical pockets, I was convinced Desmond would return soon. I wonder how hey got back? The shot with Sayid in the water was priceless, by the way. I wonder if Naveen laughed his ass off at the silliness of it, and then marveled in the end that it did, in the end, look good?

    Next Week…

    Happily ever after focuses around Desmond. This raises an interesting question: will we get a flash sideways, or a flashback? I mean: I would love to find out how he ended up in Widmore’s hands, but on the other hand, the idea of a flash sideways featuring Desmond sounds awesome aswell.

    Oh, and this episode title does not sound good. I hope they don’t hurt Des. Or anyone else for that matter.

    In All…

    Yunjin Kim acting that she was shot was enough to rate this episode an A+ for me. I don’t know why, but I really felt her pain. It was nice to see how Jin ended up in the freezer, but on the other hand, it was also a bit of an anticlimax. Sayid just ran off. I’m wondering more and more how they are going to tie these flash sideways up. Time is running out, and we still don’t know what they’re there for or why we’re watching them.

    But they’re entertaining, and that’s good enough for me.

    Favourite Quote: Miles: Unless Alpert’s covered in bacon grease, I’m not sure Hurley can track anything…
    Frank: Hey. Don’t talk about bacon.

  • The Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)

    I’m not going to lie: I’m not a big reader. Actually, I guess I have to admit I’m pretty picky about stories in general: because I’m so interested in creating them, it’s become very hard to enjoy them without thinking how I would have done it myself. Only rarely do stories make it possible for me to switch off completely. Usually, these are the stories that break some sort of boundaries and consciously sail into the grey areas – the dubious, the uncertain, the creative, the impredictable. “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins is one of those.

    It already starts when the premise of the book is stated: Katniss and twenty three other teenagers from a future world named Panem get dropped in a huge arena, where only one can come out alive. The idea isn’t clever an sich: the movie Battle Royale (or just plain old gladiators) has done it before. It’s in taking this concept seriously on an emotional level that the plot starts working: you know in advance you’re going to lose all but one of the characters you’re rooting for.

    In succeeding in this, Collins manages to create a gripping, exciting story that’s so nailbitingly tense you just won’t be able to put it down. The story twists around on more than one occasion, and delivers a satisfying conclusion leading into a second part.

    I for one can’t wait to start reading the second part, even if I am a bit weary: safe for the last few chapters, The Hunger Games was so well-rounded as a story that I don’t really want it to go on. But, when looking at the premise of the game, you know that a won battle doesn’t equal a won war – and that’s where this is leading up to…

  • Alice in Wonderland

    AW_Title w-Disney_wI’m going to try and be brief about it. Mainly because I don’t think there’s all that much to be said about Alice in Wonderland (2010). That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad movie – it’s just so mediocre, that there’s very little to say. You either like it, and look over it’s little flaws, or hate it, and inflate the flaws to boiling point. I’m one of the latter people.

    Jab-ber-wock-keeeee

    The premise is simple enough – and pretty much has the American McGee idea: Alice, returning to Wonderland (now baptised “Underland”, because that’s just a smart thing that no one else ever could come up with), faces the biggest demon of all: her on insecurity. Oh, and a Jabberwockee (did I spell that right?).

    Now, with said Wockee comes the first problem the sub-par screenplay runs into: the premise is so absurd that they need to introduce it at the start of the movie in a prophey, then ram it down our throats five more times until we finally believe they would actually pull a stint like that. And the movie does not disappoint in its perseverence: a hundred minutes later, Alice is indeed dressed up as a Pevensie, and fighting that Jabberwockee. You’ve been warned, the movie seems to say. You’ve been warned.

    Sticking it to the man

    But that’s okay, apparently: Alice in Wonderland – the movie – might be the complete opposite of what the books were about, the movie at least looks good. There’s loads of colour, the constant shrinking and growing is awesome, there’s some excellent acting going on (Helena and Stephen, I’m looking at you), the art design is superb and the costumes breathtaking.

    And that’s the tone this movie (and, in general rule, Tim Burton movies) sets: an idiot came up with this story, but at least it looks good. There’s so many dramaturgical inconsistensies, and sometimes I even think I’m starting to nit pick and pull it apart too much, but who am I kidding? These things are just there. Those five characters in the opening of the movie, the ones you don’t get to know nor do you care about them, and they all get to have their asses handed to them by Alice at the end of the movie (because she learned something! and the audience won’t know unless she says it out loud! like in school!)… those characters are just there. Even though four of them shouldn’t be. But they are.

    In all…

    There you go, off you go now. Now you can watch the movie in peace, knowing what to expect. You’ll probably come knocking on my door afterwards, saying “but Bert, it wasn’t that bad”, and I’ll say that that is because I warned you. So better bring me flowers and candy instead.

  • Ep. 09 – Ab Aeterno

    For years, we’ve been yearning for the long-awaited Richard Alpert flashback. So, naturally, the expectations were through the roof. Luckily, the creators anticipated our anticipation and upped the ante: not only did we get a lot of Richard Alpert goodness, but we got a moving character story aswell.

    The Episode…

    Let’s start with the most shocking revelation: the island is a cork. It keeps evil at bay, stopping it from spreading. Interesting is, that I was so wrapped up into Richard’s emotional story, that I completely overlooked this revelation the first time around. But it is pretty important. Do we finally know what this place is all about? Is Jacob telling the truth?

    You have to hand it to Mark Pellegrino: his performance of Jacob was different than the ones we’ve had before. Before, Jacob was reassuring, sort of like a deity. This time around, though, we got to see a much rougher side to the man: he seemed devious, if not a bit treacherous, and hella pissed off. It’s interesting, and of course raises the question: who is good and who is evil? It’s hard to say, so I’m just going with it.

    Two mysteries got solved at the same time: a tidal wave (I suppose summoned by either Jacob or the Man in Black) flung the ship into the statue, breaking the stone and causing the Black Rock to land in the middle of the jungle. That is of course what makes sense: the ship is intact, whereas the statue broke down. Odd, but I’m going with it. I remembered something else at that point: when are we going to find out why no one could make babies on the island? I always figured it had something to do with the statue, but I guess I’m wrong.

    The Questions…

    This episode delivered – I don’t think it raised any questions with me. But now we know why Richard doesn’t age, and how old he is exactly. But we found out much, much more than that. We now know that there’s a reason to like him.

    Next Week…

    The Package is an episode centering around Jin and Sun. That means we will finally figure out who the watch is going to be delivered to! I wonder if they’ll see each other again, or if that will have to wait until the series finale… At any rate, I love Yunjin Kim’s performances, so I can’t wait to see Sun step out of the shadow and do something different than cry “Where’s Jin?” all the time. Poor Yunjin, completely underrated.

    Maybe we will find out what’s behind Widmore’s door next week? Could it be Desmond?

    In All…

    Richard’s connection with Isabella brought back a lot of good old start-of-series memories. I more than once thought of Desmond and Penny – that’s just how good Richard and Isabella seemed. It’s amazing how they can set something like this up out of the blue and make it look like it’s always been there. You don’t cry foul because they can’t possibly have thought this out when they introduced Richard in the third Season, because the emotions he feels just seem so real.

    If I liked Richard as a mythology character before, I like him as a human being now. His backstory was presented in such an epic, slow-moving way. Someone told me she was completely involved, which she found stupid because she knew he’d make it in the end. But isn’t that the force of true storytelling in movies? That you’re constantly living in the present?

    Favourite Quote: Ilana: He is. So, Richard, what do we do next?
    Richard: [Laughs]