My theories & questions about last night’s episode:

• Were the supplies dropped via parachute intended for the survivors of flight 815? If so, that means that Dharma (or someone else) knows about their crash and location. Are they being fed to remain alive on the island while unwittingly taking part in an experiment, or being drugged via the food?

• Was the distorted sound coming from the speakers in the hatch a warning system of incoming supplies? Did the hatch doors shut because an alarm was triggered by impending the arrival of the supplies?

• The warning speaker in the hatch is like something you see at a subway station. I believe there is system of underground tunnels somehow connecting all hatches. Remember that in the Pilot episode, Rose mentioned that the monster sounded familiar; that she was from NYC…

• Did all of the other hatches also lock down and receive the same warning?

• If the supplies were indeed dropped…from what? No one heard a plane or helicopter. Was it a stealth military-type plane? Of course, hot air balloons are pretty quiet…

• In Locke’s flashback, as he was standing in the parking lot of the motel, an Oceanic airplane flew by overhead at a very low altitude, but it was almost silent..

• We are assuming that the supplies were dropped. They could have been planted there by the Others.

• Are Dharma supplies dropped from Oceanic planes? Did flight 815 malfunction during a drop, causing it to crash?

• Did the hatch shut down to turn off the electromagnetic fields so it wouldn’t bring the supply plane down? A hot air balloon would not be affected by an electromagnetic field…

• I doubt that entering the numbers is related to the hatch locking down. Why would Dharma design it so that a blast door prevents access to the computer when the hatch locks down?

• In Hurley’s flashback last season, we learn that he first got the infamous numbers from a crazy man. Is it possible that this guy used to deliver supplies to the island, and that the numbers are a request for supplies?  Or did he overhear/intercept a message containing the numbers at some point in his life or career?

• Was the mural on the hatch wall (outside of the blast doors) created by someone who was in the hatch, saw the map when the doors closed, and then tried to recreate it from memory? Or did this person leave the hatch to go explore the island, and update the map upon his return?

• Whoever drew that map was in lockdown for an extended period of time. Did this person know how to make it lockdown on purpose?

• Locke has serious trust issues; he really wanted to trust his dad, and couldn’t. Turned out to be the same way with Henry Gale.

• Is the fake Henry Gale really Kelvin, Desmond’s hatch partner?

• Is the fake Henry Gale related to Bernard? They have similar features.

• Did fake Henry Gale recognize the numbers when Locke repeated them to him? He sure recited them back fast.

• Was fake Henry really knocked out after falling off the shelves trying to get to the vent in the ceiling, or was he faking it to stall? Perhaps he knew exactly what would happen with the computer numbers and/or the lockdown.

• It took Henry some time to return to Locke once the hatch doors reopened. Was he on the computer, in contact with the Others, telling them his location? Or were the Others trying to contact Henry?

• When Helen follows Locke to the motel and confronts his father, she asks “are you him?” That is what Desmond asked Locke the first time they met too.

• Was Helen in on the con with Locke’s dad? It seems too convenient that she was reading the obits and found his father’s name, and that she always shows up to catch Locke in a lie about his dad…

• Locke inspected Nadia’s house. She was Sayid’s girl.

• Is Locke’s dad the real Sawyer, the con man that Island Sawyer was seeking to kill to avenge the death of his parents?

• We haven’t found out how Locke became paralyzed, but I’m sure it had something to do with the two thugs who were after his father. And did Locke ever go back up to the motel room to grab the $200k?

• There must be some significance to Jack being in Thailand…

• Sawyer mentioned being in Tallahassee. That is where Kate was buying a ticket to escape to in one of her flashbacks.

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I was surprisingly impressed with Inside Man. I went in with lowered expectations because Spike Lee’s last major release, She Hate Me, was appalling. However, I have enjoyed most of his earlier films and was not disappointed with his latest. Aside from a few grainy flash-forward scenes, Inside Man did not showcase typical Spike Lee flair. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Jodi Foster play such a morally ambivalent, manipulative character, but she nails this role with a smarmy grin to accompany her corporate sheen. Denzel Washington applies his usual wit and charm to the film, but manages to supersede his sex symbol status with a convincing performance as an everyman with a cheap, cluttered apartment in NYC. As is the case in many of his films, Spike Lee’s love of New York is evident and appreciated in Inside Man. In 2002, he was the first filmmaker to highlight the city and feature the altered skyline (in 25^th Hour) after the tragic events of 9/11.

 

This brings me to a sensitive issue. The preview trailer for United 93 is now airing before certain films. Each time I’ve seen it, the audience around me has squirmed and whispered. On one occasion my movie companion even started crying after watching it. So perhaps I am not the only one who is not ready for this film. In my personal opinion, it is too soon and too fresh in our history. I’m not sure I’ll ever see this one.

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V for Vendetta is fantastic; a compelling, thought-provoking, mysterious ride anchored by an incredible Natalie Portman. It really is a shame that this movie was released so soon after the Academy Awards because Portman deserves a Best Actress nomination for her performance, and by next year her portrayal may be overshadowed in the wake of other strong actresses and films. Portman’s character, Evey, is complex and conflicted, heartbreaking and entirely watchable. The film would not have resonated as much had Scarlett Johansson or Bryce Dallas Howard, who were also under consideration for the role, taken the lead.

 

Hugo Weaving is a gifted actor; he is able to convincingly make V, the man behind the mask, alternatively sympathetic and evil using only his voice and body language – without so much as a glimpse of his face. British actor James Purefoy was originally cast as V but left shortly after filming began for unknown reasons, clearing the way for Weaving (a favorite of the Wachowski Brothers, who wrote and produced V). In addition to voicing Rex the male sheepdog in the two Babe films, Weaving appeared in fabulous fashion in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in 1994. He then gained a cult fan following as Agent Smith in all three Matrix movies, followed by yet another successful trilogy, The Lord of the Rings.

 

The film is as aesthetically pleasing as you would expect from a Wachowski Brothers production.  And although the brothers did not direct this time around, it is quite clear that they had their hands in every aspect of the movie. In fact, director James McTeigue was one of their assistant directors from the Matrix trilogies.

 

Although set in the future, V’s political undercurrent is surprisingly prevalent and somewhat realistic. The pace is appropriately intense, and there are a few unexpected twists and turns. Aside from one scene with slow motion violence bordering on gratuitous, I loved V for Vendetta and recommend it to anyone who can appreciate both great acting and a story that intermingles sci-fi with history.

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Here are some thoughts & theories about this week’s epsiode of Lost.

• Sawyer had a pregnancy test among his hoarded supplies, which means that someone else on that flight thought they might be pregnant. The question is this – is it someone who survived the crash? Did Sun have one in her suitcase and was hoping that Sawyer found it? If so, that means she did sleep with her language tutor.

• Was Jin’s procreation power magically restored, like Locke’s legs? Did the crash or the island or the hatch or Dharma have anything to do with it?

• It can’t be coincidence that Sun started to feel the signs of pregnancy right after babysitting Aaron. And I’m not convinced she’s actually pregnant by normal means. Was she injected with something? Those Other scientists certainly have the meds and are seeking children. I also seem to recall that Locke’s mom told him he had no father, that he was an immaculate conception…

• Henry Gale is an Other. Someone did crash a balloon on the island, but not him. He and the Others saw the accident and killed or kidnapped the balloon passengers, and now Gale is using their story. That would explain how he knows the location of the balloon.

• Jack said he couldn’t hear Ana Lucia talking to Gale inside the holding cell  even when he was standing right next to the door, and yet Gale was able to hear Jack and Locke talk quietly further outside that same door? This reinforces my theory that Gale has super hearing powers, which is probably one of the characteristics of the Others.

• How could Gale have known that more than just Ana Lucia went looking for his balloon? He told Jack and Locke that the map he drew could lead to a set up, and then the Others would “trade them for me.”

Random Thought (not related to the latest episode):

• Did Locke know what was going to happen on the island before he boarded the plane? Was he told that the island would somehow cure him if he agreed to oversee a hatch? Was Locke the replacement sent for Desmond? When he first found the hatch in the jungle and couldn’t get it open, he yelled that “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” like he knew he had to get in there…

 

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Last night I waited in line with several hundred people to attend a sneak preview of Thank You For Smoking, and because I am genetically programmed to be early to everything, I was able to secure a seat.

 

I’ll sum it up quickly – the movie is very entertaining, brought to life by a great cast and script. Rookie director Jason Reitman does an admirable job adapting Christopher Buckley’s book for the big screen. Lead actor Aaron Eckhart really shines as a smug tobacco lobbyist; it is as if the role were written specifically for him. Although he has appeared in many quality movies, Eckhart is probably recognized most from his role as Julia Roberts’ boyfriend in Erin Brockovitch. But fans of Neil LaBute’s darker films (Nurse Betty, Your Friends & Neighbors, etc.) have been well aware of Eckhart’s talent for several years. The supporting cast of Thank You for Smoking is also strong: the reliably wacky and brilliant William H. Macy (Fargo), the very underrated Mario Bello (The Cooler), a surprisingly funny Rob Lowe, a pre-Cruise Katie Holmes playing it dirty, the fantastically expressive JK Simmons (Oz), and ‘it’ boy Adam Brody from The OC. 

I recommend this film to anyone looking for a good laugh and a scathing, sarcastic glimpse into the world of big tobacco.

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