Lost leak

This weekend, ABC staged an event in Hawaii to screen the season 6 Lost premiere for fans. There was a red carpet arrival followed by a few words from the producers and then a commerical-free screening of the two hour show on a beach at sundown. Wow.

A Hawaii fan was on hand to record the whole thing, and you can watch here , at least until the lawyers take it down.

The video and especially the audio are piss poor, but if you are a big fan who can't wait until Tuesday night, you can bear with it.

I just watched, and must say I'm more confused than ever. No spoilers here, but let's just say the first episode title of LAX is correct... Oceanic 815 does land in LA instead of crashing on the island. Yet it appears there are still plenty of adventures to come for our castaways on the island. Say whut?!?

Anyway, it's nice to see some of our former cast members back... the reappearance of Charlie seemed to draw a lot of cheers from the crowd.

The grocery store rant

Just got back from Kroger, and I have something I need to unload (besides groceries):

I live in the Stifft Station/Capitol View neighborhood, which is roughly bounded by Markham on the north and I-630 on the south. It runs from the state capitol on the east to UAMS on the west. For years, most residents of this area have shopped at the Hillcrest Kroger, which is closing for remodling and expansion. Today, in fact, is the last day for the old store, but since the shelves have been empty for weeks I have been asking myself where to buy groceries until the neighborhood store reopens this spring.

So I ended up going way out west (for me) to the Kroger at Markham and Rodney Parham. Nice enough store, but too damn far.

This brings up the question: why don't downtown and midtown Little Rock have more grocery shopping choices? The old Skaggs/Harvest Foods in Riverdale is now closed, the few downtown area stores have a poor selection to choose from. So people from UAMS to the Quapaw Quarter are left wondering where to go to find a grocery store deli or a descent selection of meat and produce.

The Little Rock grocery market has been suffering ever since Safeway left town a decade or more ago. Harvest Foods was okay, but its prices were too high. Since HF closed, Kroger has had a near monopoly, and the freedom to jack up prices, which they have seemed to do regularly.

I think we need more competition. I'd love to see Safeway, Piggly Wiggly, Mad Butcher or even Wal-Mart's Neighborhood Market stores come to Little Rock. Even a few groceries in the promised University Avenue Target store would help.

Okay, enough ranting... now to unload the groceries and make lunch.

P.S.
I know folks living in rural areas probably don't get this. After all, they're used to driving 10 miles or more to the nearest store. But urban living is supposed to be different. I expect to be able to get a pizza delivered, to get high-speed internet service and to run to the grocery store without needing to set aside a couple of hours.

Where's Avatar?

By the way, Avatar didn't make my list of the year's best (see below), but that doesn't mean it wasn't a lot of fun.

Yes, it has a preachy political message and James Cameron brings his usual ham-handedness to the script, but Avatar does have some very cool CGI effects and the most immersive, least gimmicky 3D process ever. In fact, I'd recommend any movie fan see this film in IMAX 3D before it disappears from the big screen. Watching at home, even on the best HD TV, simply can't equal the experience.

Oh, and Zoe Saldana is the real discovery among the cast of this film... the lovely young actress was also seen in the 2009 feature Star Trek as Uhura.

Top 10 Movies of 2009

Here's my list of the best for the past year. Yeah, I know I'm about a month late, but at least I beat the Oscar nominations (by two days). There are still a couple of big films I haven't seen (Crazy Heart), but I have now been able to catch most of the films I wanted to see. So, without further ado... here we go in no particular order:

HURT LOCKER - Finally, one of the most underrated action directors in Hollywood, Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Point Break), is getting recognized for her fine work. It's been cool watching her upstage ex-husband James Cameron (Avatar) at some of the awards shows this month. Hurt Locker, one of the best war movies ever, focuses on the work of three men in a unit that disarms roadside bombs in Iraq. Gripping stuff.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS - Quentin Tarantino's latest is a revenge fantasy in which French Jews and Jewish-American soldiers in WWII take out Hitler and the rest of the Nazi command structure. Climactic scene in a Paris cinema is something only QT could envision. Two long, talky scenes (the farmhouse and the tavern) are classic Tarantino, building the tension and suspense to a fever pitch. Don't miss.

A SERIOUS MAN - The Coen Brothers' new film is set in their home state of Minnesota like their Fargo, but this one focuses not on the Lutheran world of Garrison Keillor, but the the Coen's own Jewish culture. This movie features an opening sequence in Yiddish with subtitles. Very funny in that dark Coen Bros way. I don't think any movie has ever made me feel like more of a goy.

ZOMBIELAND - A horror movie, yes, but one with a definite attitude and lots of humor. Special guest appearance by Bill Murray makes it worth the price of a rental.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE - This Spike Jonez-directed feature was a surprise treat for me this year. I didn't grow up with the book, so went into the film with no real expectations. Maybe a bit overlong, but a fine children's movie for adults. Reminded me quite a lot of The Wizard of Oz.

UP IN THE AIR - George Clooney stars in this comedy/drama about a man who has long kept emotional connections at bay, but who finally considers opening up and letting someone else into his life. His journey, culminating in a heart-breaking scene where Clooney takes a phone call while riding in an airport shuttle, proves one of our biggest movie stars is also one of our finest actors.

AN EDUCATION - A slight British romantic comedy set in the 1960s in which a 16-year old girl falls for a 30ish man. Not as creepy as it sounds. Newcomer Carey Mulligan as the teen is the best reason to see this one.

GOODBYE SOLO - A fine independent film about an odd couple of sorts. Souleymane Sy Savane stars as an immigrant cab driver who befriends a customer (played by former Elvis posse member Red West) who may or may not be suicidal. Sweet, funny, ultimately a little spiritual.

BIG FAN - Former Onion editor Robert Siegel, who wrote last year's wonderful The Wrestler, makes his directorial debut with this strange little character study. Comedian Patton Oswalt stars as a sad, middle-aged man who lives with his mom, works as a cashier in a parking garage and devotes his entire life to the NY Giants. He calls a sports-talk radio show every night to rant about the team and spends his Sunday's watching the Giants play on a tiny TV as he and a buddy tailgate in the parking lot outside the stadium (NFL tix are costly, after all). When he finally meets his favorite player in real life, things don't go as expected. A surprisingly excellent late entry on this list. I credit Terry Gross of NPR's Fresh Air (a "big fan" of this film) for hipping me to it.

MOON - Best science fiction film in years, Moon is the feature-length debut by director Duncan Jones, once known as Zowie Bowie. (Yes, he's the son of Ziggy Stardust.) Sam Rockwell is excellent as a man wrapping up a three-year solo tour on the moon, where he works for a mining company. As the time nears for his return to Earth, Rockwell's character begins to unravel. A smart, thought-provoking movie reminiscent of Kubrick's 2001. A must see. I can't believe Moon didn't make a bigger splash in 2009, and that Rockwell is not nominated for a boatload of acting awards.

Here's the trailer:

Lost returns!

What better place to start a new blog than an entry about Lost, the best show in years on network TV.

The final season of this landmark series begins Tuesday night @ 7:00 on ABC, and this year we may actually get to see every episode live here in central Arkansas. In the past, Lost has aired on Wednesday nights, which meant that about two out of every three episodes were pre-empted by SEC basketball on KATV. Channel 7 taped the show and aired it late that night, after the 10:00 news, after According to Jim (or whatever other crap sitcom they aired at 10:30), after Nightline AND after Kimmel, usually around 1:00 a.m.

What was particularly irksome was that it wasn't just Razorback games, but other non-hog SEC games that 7 was contracted to air... or so they claimed. I did a story for KUAR a couple of years ago about this crazy phenomenon, and KATV program director Richard Farester said they had no choice but to air the SEC games, but the ABC station in Fort Smith/Fayetteville somehow managed to keep Lost on in primetime when there was not a hog game. Same network, same hog contract, different outcome. Hmmm...

Anyhow, as I said recently on http://www.filmfodder.com/tv/lost/ (the best Lost blog out there) "I love Lost, this wonderful episode recap and discussion group, AND the producers' weekly audio podcast. Taken together, they've been the richest, most immersive television experience ever."

So, for those of us addicted to the show, just a few days of waiting left. For those of you who are not hip to Lost, well I regret to say it's probably too late to get on board now. The best advice I can offer: buy the whole series on Blu-Ray, take off work for about three weeks, lay in a supply of junk food and watch it from the beginning.

Another reason to watch: Lost star Evangeline Lilly. Here she is from a season one episode.