The Wayward Cynic

In an episode that seems to further the idea our castaways have a preordained destiny — on-Island or off — but that ends with the idea everyone has the power to choose their path, it’s only fitting I choose to break with habit and admit I can’t give 110% effort to tonight’s recap as an early AM flight to Baltimore awaits me. Maybe that’s a good thing; rather than spending sixteen paragraphs talking about Jack’s lost faith and Ben’s machinations with all manner of mind-bending run-on sentences, I can do the same thing in bite-size bullet points! Or maybe some boldface fonts instead; I feel like mixing it up a bit. Behold, bullet points, I have chosen my own destiny — section headings based on random notes I took while watching tonight’s episode. Alright, this is getting insufferable; onward.

“Don’t make me break out my death-dealing laser eyes, Jeff.”

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director: Martin Scorsese
starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams

Scorsese’s billing on any movie typically renders it a must-see, though Shutter Island doesn’t seem like his typical fare. The film, based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, has a story more akin to a Saturday afternoon pulp detective matinee (does that reference make sense?) than an epic tale of multiple characters and events over the course of a decade or so (see: GoodFellas, Gangs of New York, etc.). The story itself is entertaining, sure, but it ain’t exactly Bill Shakespeare. All that said, Scorsese’s “must-see” billing is the product of his deft directorial style and ability to portray characters meaningfully enough to make you care and invest yourself in their dealings, and such is the case with Shutter Island. This while managing to tell a story that keeps the characters and audience off-balance throughout — everything feels a bit “off” during the precedings, and along with the nature of the story, imparts a sense of foreboding and increasingly unbearable tension up until the film’s climax. You’re never truly at ease watching Shutter Island, and that’s a good thing.

DiCaprio’s as good as ever, but I’ve never found him “right” for any of his roles, perhaps other than Catch Me If You Can. I think my main problem with him stems from him looking more like a teenage kid than an adult. His characters have often suffered from that lack of “adult-ness,” despite his abundant talents in the acting department. He’s good enough to make you forget it most of the time, but it sticks out anytime I see him in a film. He manages to bring off Teddy Daniels’ descent into madness (or perhaps ascent into sanity) convincingly.

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Alas, my semi-annual tradition of blogging the Oscars was foiled by more important matters last evening, so I’ve invited a guest writer to recap the festivities. Please welcome The Wayward Cynic’s newest columnist, Snakes McGee!

oh, and my recap from last night is: for some reason doogie howser is on stage singing. he is doing an alright job actually, and I can’t wait for….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Congratulations to all the winners and see you next year! Hooray for Hollywood!

“For every man, there is a scale. On one side of the scale, there is good; on the other side, evil. This machine tells us how the scale is balanced. And yours…tipped the wrong way.”

“Sundown” wasn’t quite the companion piece to season 1’s “House of the Rising Sun” I’d surmised in my recap yesterday, but the mirror-image theme continues. Both Sayids, our infected 1.0 and our X (as I’m now calling the 2.0 storyline) versions, accept and embrace their dark sides.

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As if I didn’t have enough to occupy my time, I decided to watch some season 1 Lost episodes to prime myself for the remainder of season 6. As you may or may not have noticed, each of the season 6 episodes thus far have served as a sort of mirror-image or companion piece to their season 1 counterparts (“LA X” to the pilot; “What Kate Does” to “Tabula Rasa;” etc.). This week brings us “Sundown,” presumably a Sun/Jin-centric episode, and so we go back to season 1’s “House of the Rising Sun,” originally aired October 27th, 2004.

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