Lost... Back to the Future Style

In typically Lost fashion, tonight was one of those episodes that created more questions than answers. Tonight's episode focused almost solely on Desmond. We learned that the island can cause a reaction that can make people time travel on a conscious level. Desmond began freaking out because his mind kept going back and forth between 1996 and 2004. All the while Desmond was thinking it was 1996 - therefore he didn't know where he was or who Sayid was. 

We learned from Daniel Farraday that when this happens the person needs to find a constant between the present and the future or their brain will short circuit and they will die. In this case Desmond's constant was Penny. As 1996 Desmond in 2004, he talked to Daniel Farraday who told Desmond to track him down at Oxford in 1996 so he could help him. '96 Desmond tracked down '96 Michael who told him he needs a constant between his present self and future self. Desmond then tracked down Penny and told her he needs her phone number. As 2004 Desmond he knew the date was 12/24/04. In '96 he told Penny he would call her on exactly that day in 2004. After he talked to Penny, he no longer had episodes between the past and present.

The end of the episode ends with Michael looking through his journal - which now would be altered b/c he had met Desmond in 1996. He flipped open to a page that said in red: If anything goes bad, Desmond Hume will be my constant.

AI Minus 4

4 American Idol contestants were booted in the results show tonight. 3 of the 4 I saw coming, and one was kind of a surprise. The 4 eliminated were: Alexandrea Lushington, Jason Yeager, Alaina Whitaker and Robbie Carrico. The one I was surprised about was Alaina. I thought Amanda or Kady would go home instead and those 2 were both at the bottom - they just didn't get sent home this week. And apparently there is a rumor going around that Robbie wears a wig, but we may never find out the truth now. :(

Project Runway! Project Runway! Project Runway!

Watching Project Runway tonight was a little like watching the Oscars on Sunday. You knew who was going to win (or in this case lose), you still enjoyed watching it, and the outfits were interesting.

As I was watching Chris March say his goodbyes, a thought occurred to me. He looks exactly like that one dude from Beetlejuice! It kind of creeps me out actually. (Side Note: Apparently that guy from Beetlejuice is named Glenn Shadix. He has his own website where he basically only sites Beetlejuice in his filmography and where he sells autographs of himself for around $25. Check it out: www.glennshadix.com)

Tim Gunn was hilarious tonight. First of all, he said "F-ing," which made me fall in love with him even more. Secondly, he had a great analogy for Chris' collection about a monkey house. When you first walk into a monkey house you say, "Ew! It stinks." After about 20 minutes or so you realize it's not so bad. And by an hour you think it's great and you don't smell a thing. But the second a new person walks in they think, "Ew! It stinks." Love, Love, Love TG!

American Idol... Girls Night (70's)

Tonight the girls performed on American Idol. Don't worry... only one more week of the split nights, and then the guys and girls will both be performing on Tuesday night.

My favorite tonight was probably Brooke White. I liked her a lot last week too, but tonight she definitely did better. She just seems so down to earth and I think she really knows who she is as a singer. My favorite from last week, Ramiele didn't quite do it for me this week. Her cuteness could get annoying.

A few performances could easily be forgotten. I'd say Amanda Overmyer (skunk hair), Kady Malloy (B Spears impersonator) and Alexandrea Lushington are probably on the chopping block. 

AI Boys Night... 70's Edition

This week is 70's week on American Idol. Tonight the boys performed. After tonight I still like my 2 favorites from last week: Michael Johns and Jason Castro, but their performances were definitely not among the best. Danny Noriega did pretty well - and he coined a new phrase that high school girls are going to be over-using from here on out: "ish." As in kind of. 

David Archuleta - the 17 year old, was by FAR the best one of the night. His performance was probably in the top 10 of all time as far as American Idol performances go. He made Paula cry - and not going to lie, I had intense goosebumps. I'm really excited to follow him throughout the season.

If I had to guess who's going home on Thursday, for sure I'd put my money on Jason Yeager. Then for me it's probably Luke Menard - even though Randy and Paula thought he did okay. Either him or Robbie Carrico, who I liked, but who may not be that memorable. We'll see if I'm right or not in a few days.

Gone Baby Gone

I finally finished watching Gone Baby Gone Saturday night. I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

If you don't know the plot - which I didn't - I'll give you a brief synopsis. It follows Casey Affleck's character (Patrick Kenzie) who is a private detective along with his girlfriend in Boston. The two of them specialize in missing person cases. When a little girl goes missing they get called by the family to help investigate - trouble, suspense and police corruption ensue. 

Amy Ryan definitely deserved her Oscar nomination for supporting actress for playing Helene McCready, the mother of the missing girl. Apparently her Boston accent was so believable, that Ben Affleck asked her what part of Boston she was from. Affleck makes his directorial debut in Gone Baby Gone. Not bad. Not bad at all. I'll probably rate it as 4 stars on my Netflix.

"I got a bunch of people here who love you like crazy..."

After a short hiatus, Intervention was new tonight! Tonight's episode followed Brad, the 24 year old Iraq War veteran who is an alcoholic. While he did 2 tours in Iraq, he can't blame his addiction entirely on that - he has some family issues and he was abusing substances before he joined the military. 

If there is one thing I've learned from watching Intervention, it's the word "enable." His family members are definitely enablers. He lives with his dad and stepmom who don't really try to cease his drinking. After all, they give him a roof over his head despite the 5 blackouts/week and his habit of drinking and driving. Plus... Brad works at a liquor store, yikes. 

The Intervention went fairly well. I love Jeff VonVonderen (the Interventionist) and how predictable he is - he always says the same lines. Brad agreed to go fairly quickly, but left treatment after 21 days. His family decided they were no longer going to enable him. He's not welcome back in his father's home and is living with friends. 

Tearjerker Scale: 9 out of a possible 10. Something about crying males, makes me cry. Especially dads, and don't even get me started with grandpas. :(

And the Oscar Goes To...

There weren't a lot of surprises tonight, but overall everyone was deserving of their wins. Hooray for the MN nominees - The Coen bros and Diablo Cody - for coming out victorious.

The Winners are...

Picture: No Country for Old Men

Director(s): Joel & Ethan Coen

Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis

Actress: Marion Cotillard 

Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem

Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton

Original Screenplay: Juno - Diablo Cody

Adapted Screenplay: The Coen Bros - No Country for Old Men

Animated Film: Ratatouille

Art Direction: Sweeney Todd

Cinematography: There Will Be Blood

Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side

Documentary Short: Freeheld

Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum

Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters

Makeup: La Vie en Rose

Original Screenplay: Atonement

Original Song: "Falling Slowly", Once

Animated Short: Peter and the Wolf

Live Action Short: Le Mozart des Pickpockets

Visual Effects: The Golden Compass

My Sunday Morning Obsession

Every Sunday morning I look forward to tuning into CBS Sunday Morning. It's usually the first thing I think about when I wake up. What better way to jump start your Sunday than by increasing your knowledge on topics that might have otherwise been foreign to you? I've learned a lot of things on Sunday morning and the best part is I usually find myself searching for even more information on the stories I watch throughout the coming week. It's on my DVR list, and it should be on yours. 

An Oscar Day Present!

Angelina Jolie is pregnant. No doubt about it. There was speculation when she basically wore a Mumu to the Golden Globes, but last night at the Independent Spirit Awards there was no hiding it.

Fun Oscar Facts!

- Joel & Ethan Coen have never won an Academy Award for their directing. Their only Oscar comes from Best Screenplay for Fargo.

- Joel Coen is married to actress Frances McDormand.

- The Coen brothers refused to give Josh Brolin (Llewelyn Moss) an audition for No Country for Old Men. Brolin had directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino direct an audition tape for him, helping him to get the part.

- The hairstyle of Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) in NCFOM, was modeled from a photograph of a 1979 brothel patron. 

- While filming on location in Texas, the Coen brothers had to stop a day of filming after a dark black cloud of smoke appeared in the sky, ruining the shot. The dark cloud turned out to be the result of director Paul Thomas Anderson practicing oil derrick pyrotechnics on the set of There Will be Blood. The Coen brothers were able to resume filming the next day, after the smoke finally dissipated. 

- Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood) had his first big break directing Boogie Nights.

- Paul Thomas Anderson has never won an Academy Award.

- Paul Thomas Anderson dated Fiona Apple for 2 years. Currently he is dating SNL actress, Maya Rudolph. The 2 have a daughter, Pearl, together.

- Daniel Day-Lewis is married to the daughter of famous playwright, Arthur Miller (Death of a Salesman).

- Michael Clayton is the only film in the 2008 Academy Awards to obtain more than one acting nomination.

- Viggo Mortensen briefly dated the daughter of another '08 nominee. He dated Lola Schnabel, Julian Schnabel's (The Diving Bell & the Butterfly) daughter for 2 years.

- Viggo Mortensen is multi-talented. He speaks 6 languages - 4 fluently. He is a published poet and currently owns his own publishing company. He is an accomplished photographer - having an exhibit at the Robert Mann gallery in NYC in 2000. He is a Jazz musician who, to date, has released 3 CDs. For the film, A Perfect Murder, where he played an artist, he actually painted the murals for his character's art studio.

Friday night... not so much a good TV night

Writers strike or not... has anyone noticed that there are NO good TV shows on Friday night? I mean don't get me wrong... if desperation ensues I do enjoy me some 1 vs. 100, but give me a break. 

So... I'm off to watch Gone Baby Gone. I'll let you know. Ben Affleck as a director - we'll see.

Oh yeah... Normally, I would be out to dinner with my rich, devastatingly hansom boyfriend on a Friday night, but it appears as though he got pulled into an important meeting. 

Lost: 5 of the Oceanic 6 Revealed (well... maybe)

Lost... by far one of my favorite TV obsessions. Not a lot of people that run in my circles are in to it, but they should be. I realize it's a daunting task, but just rent the DVDs or head to ABC.com to view all of the episodes. Trust me... you'll be hooked.

Tonight was the 4th episode of the season and we learned the 5th person to be rescued off the island... Aaron! Didn't see that one coming before tonight. So, out of the Oceanic 6, we know 5: Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sayid & Aaron. That is... if Aaron is actually considered one of the 6. 

We also found out that the O6 lied to the public - telling them only 8 survived the initial crash. Just more open-ended questions, but part of the fun is yelling WTF!?!?! at the TV every Thursday night.

By the way... if you are in to Lost, by far the best website I've found is lostpedia.com. Okay... now I really sound like a huge nerd.

4 Say Goodbye on AI

4 contestants were eliminated on tonight's American Idol results show: Amy Davis, Colton Berry, Garrett Haley & Joanne Borgella. At this point in the game it's all about a good, memorable performance. Honestly, even though I didn't like Garrett I thought he might get the younger vote and stay on for awhile. But that hair! I thought we were going to have another Sanjaya on our hands. 

Watching American Idol becomes a lot more enjoyable when it's down to the top 12, but we still have 2 more weeks of the guys and girls performing on separate nights before we get to that point.

I Love Oscar Night!

The 80th Annual Academy Awards are this Sunday (2/24) on ABC. I love going to see the nominated films. It's like a scavenger hunt - crossing off the movies/performances as I see them. Below, I'll recap some of the nominees, who's projected to win and who I'd like to win.

Best Picture:

Atonement

Juno 

Michael Clayton

*No Country For Old Men - People Magazine pick, Entertainment Weekly pick

*There Will Be Blood - Jodi's pick

I would love to see There Will Be Blood win this category, but I also loved No Country, and have to route for the MN natives, the Coen Brothers. I'd say either of those 2 have a good chance, but it looks like the critics are going with NCFOM.

Best Actor:

George Clooney: Michael Clayton

*Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood - People, EW, Jodi

Johnny Depp: Sweeney Todd

Tommy Lee Jones: In the Valley of Elah

Viggo Mortensen: Eastern Promises

The only performance I haven't seen is Tommy Lee Jones'. I have In The Valley of Elah next on my Netflix queue. Hands down, though, DDL blew me away. He definitely deserves it.

Best Actress:

Cate Blanchett: Elizabeth, The Golden Age

*Julie Christie: Away from Her - People, EW

*Marion Cotillard: La Vie en Rose - Jodi

Laura Linney: The Savages

Ellen Page: Juno

I saw both La Vie en Rose and Away from Her. I found Marion Cotillard's performance to be far more riveting than Julie Christie's.

Best Supporting Actor:

Casey Affleck: The Assassination of Jesse James

*Javier Bardem: No Country for Old Men - People, EW, Jodi

Phillip Seymour Hoffman: Charlie Wilson's War

Hal Holbrook: Into the Wild

Tom Wilkinson: Michael Clayton

Best Supporting Actress:

Cate Blanchett: I'm Not There

Ruby Dee: American Gangster

Saoirse Ronan: Atonement

*Amy Ryan: Gone Baby Gone - People, Jodi

*Tilda Swinton: Michael Clayton - EW

This one I am not sure about at all. While I haven't see Gone Baby Gone, I think Amy Ryan could have a chance here.

Best Director:

Julian Schnabel: The Diving Bell & the Butterfly

Jason Reitman: Juno

Tony Gilroy: Michael Clayton

*Coen Brothers: No Country for Old Men - People, EW, Jodi

Paul Thomas Anderson: There Will be Blood

PR

If you don't know what PR stands for, go ahead and move on to the next post. Project Runway! Gosh, this season has gone by so fast. The reunion special is on tonight. These are always enjoyable. Ricki and his crying... Yikes! M. Kors describing his style when he was younger. And... I DO love montages of all sorts, and that's what reunion specials are all about. 

Out of the 4 finalists - Chris, Rami, Jillian and Christian - I would love to see Jillian win, but I think it might be Christian. I wouldn't be disappointed if he won. Afterall, he is pretty "fierce." I think he has a lot of talent and if I had to bet money on it, I would go with him. Chris, although he is hilarious, is not even a contender in my mind. And Rami and his draping! Well, we'll know in a few weeks...

My next read

I just bought The Double Bind today. I'll let ya know!

American Idol... Girls Night

For some reason, I never enjoy the girl nights as much on Idol. Even so, there were a few good girls tonight - and a few not so good. I would have to say my overall favorite right now is Ramiele Mulabay. She's so cute and has a great voice. I also really enjoy the "good girl", Brooke White, but I wanted her to have a bit stronger performance. Syesha is also an amazing singer and it will be fun to watch her. Off to vote for Ramiele and hope she doesn't get kicked off tomorrow....

American Idol... Yep

I admit it. I'm a sucker for American Idol. I'm not obsessed with it, but it makes me feel like a part of something bigger - and there's really not that much on TV on a Tuesday night. Well at least not until those actors get back to work and new shows start to get produced following the writers strike.

So, tonight was the night that the top 12 guys perform. Who are my faves so far? I was afraid you'd never ask. I really enjoyed the last 2 performances by Jason Castro (dreds) and Michael Johns (Aussie). And, it was almost as if my DVR was trying to tell me something b/c at the end when they were summarizing all of the performances it cut out all except Jason and Michael. I think it's a sign. I'm hoping those 2 make it to the top 12 at least and hopefully farther.

What I'm Listening to Right Now

The Juno Soundtrack

What Netflix Movies are at My House

I gotta watch Oscar Nominees right now!
The Assassination of Jesse James
Gone Baby Gone

Next in my Queue:
1. American Gangster
2. In the Valley of Elah
3. Across the Universe

What I'm Reading Right Now

Actually... I just finished this book today. If you like historical fiction, which I do, this is a good one. It's about people with leprosy in the late 1800s and 1900s that were sent to the island of Molokai in Hawaii to be isolated from the rest of the population. It's a wonderful story centering on one girl that gets separated from her family at age 7 because of the disease. It follows the joys and sorrows of her life. A beautiful book and surprising find since I hadn't heard of it before buying it at Target.