Starring- Matthew Fox, Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Malcolm David Kelley, Daniel Dae Kim, Yoon-jin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O’Quinn, Harold Perrineau Jr., Michelle Rodriguez, Ian Somerhalder, Cynthia Watros, Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaie

Having caught myself up to speed on all of the Lost episodes from seasons 1 and 2, I now have some new ideas about the show.

The “others” are scientists of some type participating in a field experiement concerning some type of sickness. This sickness is what infected the French woman’s group of friends. In order to find a cure or contain the sickness, the “others” need people to experiment on. Thus stealing Danielle’s (French lady) baby along with other flight members of Oceanic 815.

The “numbers” come full circle. Hurley (or Hugo) claims he heard a man in the asylum repeating them over and over again which makes me think that he (the man in the asylum) was once in the quarentine before Desmond arrived (crazy man in the hatch who knows Jack from a previous meeting).

The “con.” We all know that Locke was conned by his own father to give up his kidney. But what if Locke’s father is the man that Sawyer is looking for? That would be awesome. Then Sawyer could have his revenge and it would also benefit Locke in the process. Brilliance!

Walt. We all know that he has special powers. Therefore, I don’t think people really see him. What they see is an image of him that he has transported and since his transport is not very good it causes him to speak backwards. Almost like a “help me Obi-wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope,” which would also explain why he is always wet when we see him.

And another one… could it be that these survivors are really being watched… by America? For some reason I also think that Lost is really The Truman Show, only the audience and the key players have not come to this realization yet. This would explain all of the strange mythical like things that are happening on the island, but it may not be an interesting enough spin on the show to have satisfied viewers when it comes time for the denouement.

This episode also reinforced my idea that Ana Lucia is a cop because - she is one. Ha-Ha!

Coming this week: We will learn “What Kate Did.” Hopefully some questions will be answered. Otherwise we won’t have a new episode to think about until mid-December.

“Lost is an ABC production”

Hit - Starring Ryan Reynolds, Amy Smart, Anna Faris, Chris Klein

After leaving home 10 years ago, Chris (Reynolds) returns during an unintentional plane grounding - to find that he still has feelings for his high school crush. Can Chris finally show Jamie (Smart) that he is a new man?

Although this is not the best movie of the year, I found it to be overall entertaining. There are a lot of laughs - especially from Faris’ character. The characters as a whole are underdeveloped (aside from Faris) and the plot line is drab, but the laughs keep you entertained from start to finish.

Anna Faris is the best part of the movie. She seems to play very similar roles in all of the films she selects. But, I still like how she performs all of her comedic roles. Bottom Line: A funny movie that is worth seeing when it comes to the video store.

Comedy

Rated PG-13

Running Time: 1 hour 36 minutes.

Hit - Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin

Walk the Line is a reflection of country music legend Johnny Cash’s life. Beginning with his early days in Arkansas leading to his tours with Elvis, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Walk the Line also chronicles the Cash’s love affair with June Carter.

There is nothing new about this tale of a regular man turned superstar. Watching the story of Johnny Cash is like watching Ray only Cash is not a disabled musician. From this movie I have learned that the life of the musician is as such: struggling to survive in order to do what he loves, falls in love with a woman pre-fame - marries her and has children, becomes famous, goes on the road, wife becomes jealous, Cash discovers drugs, Cash discovers a like for other women, and eventually he hits rock bottom, loses his wife, and does all that he can to redeem himself. Although I have seen it before, I still felt this movie did an excellent job in terms of story, acting and production.

It is hard to believe that Joaquin and Reese have never sang before this time, but I felt they did an excellent job trying to sound like Johnny and June. The love story of Johnny and June is an interesting one and you aren’t really sure how it will turn out- (although we all know they eventually get married) since their love took a long time to bloom.

Reese is excellent- Joaquin is excellent, and the music is great. There really isn’t much else to ask for. Bottom Line: Whether you go to the movie or rent it you will still find Walk the Line to be a good film. This movie could possibly receive an Oscar nomination for both of its leading actors.

Drama

Rated PG-13 for some language, thematic material and depiction of drug dependency.

Running Time 2 hours 16 minutes.

Miss - Starring Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Rosario Dawson, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, Tracie Thoms

Rent is the screen version of Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning rock opera. Rent tells the story of a year in the life of struggling artists living in East Village New York. A story centered around two roommates- Mark (Rapp) and Roger (Pascal) that follows their everyday trials and tribulations. This is the modern day version of Puccini’s La Boheme complete with AIDS, homosexuality, and drugs.

525,600 minutes is way too much time to cover in this awful story of living with AIDS. From seeing the previews you would think this is an uplifting tale of SoHo artists who are just trying to make a name for themselves. I think that this is what Rosario Dawson also believed the film to be about since her interviews reflected that she had no idea what the plot line was. Well, let me just say that I have been anticipating this musical ever since I heard the songs in my Broadway Musical class at USC, and I found it to be over-the-top (is there anyone in this film who doesn’t have AIDS?- rhetorical question) as well as dull.

What is to like? I really enjoyed that many of the actors are from the original Broadway cast (1996) including: Taye Diggs (Benny), Wilson Jermaine Heredia (Angel), Jesse L. Martin (Collins), Idina Menzel (Maureen), Adam Pascal (Roger), and Anthony Rapp (Mark). These actors are playing their original roles and do a great job of singing and acting. Rosario Dawson looks good as Mimi and has a fair voice.

What is to hate? The story. I know there are die-hard Rent fans out there who would disagree but unfortunately I found the best part of the movie is the music sans visuals.

Bottom Line: If you are going to spend money on this film, make sure it is on the soundtrack.

Musical

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving drugs and sexuality, and for some strong language.

Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes.

Starring- Matthew Fox, Naveen Andrews, Emilie de Ravin, Jorge Garcia, Maggie Grace, Josh Holloway, Malcolm David Kelley, Daniel Dae Kim, Yoon-jin Kim, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, Terry O’Quinn, Harold Perrineau Jr., Michelle Rodriguez, Ian Somerhalder, Cynthia Watros, Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaie

More than anything, Lost is like an evening soap opera. Most soap opera’s operate on the idea of taking a month to answer a question. The same is true for Lost except they wait until “sweeps” to answer questions. I started watching Lost when the complete first season became available on DVD. My first impression of the show (along with Geoff’s) is that they are all dead. Which would make it possible for Lock to be walking around post crash when he was clearly handicapped before the crash.

Hmmm… why else do I hate this show and yet watch it every week?

Maybe it is because the only good Lost episodes are shown during sweeps- apparently, sweeps is a popular time. If you have been watching recently you will have noticed that Maggie Grace’s character- Shannon - was killed off (but is she really dead????). You also could have guessed that it was going to be her since all of the newspaper’s and magazine’s clearly hinted at the fact that she was a goner. My question is- why get rid of their eye candy? Clearly she is an attractive female. Why her? At least they got rid of a prominent character and not someone who we rarely see or hear from.

My favorite quote about Lost comes from Best Week Ever’s Ron Huber who says something along the lines of,”I tune into Lost and they tell me who is going to be killed on Lost. Look, when I tune into Lost I don’t want to find out things, I just want to watch Lost.”

Last week was a pretty good episode where we learned about the survivors from the back of the plane. Watching their 40 day excersion made me question a few things:

1. I think that Ana Lucia is a cop for a few different reasons. a. She is really good with details and lengths of time “it took you ten minutes to run out of the woods and you weren’t wet.” b. Her interrogation skills are good. c. She emerges as a natural leader. d. She killed two of the “others” with her bare hands. e. She is a good shot- killing Shannon in the process. f. she is an asshole. g. she was able to talk Bernard down out the the tree - which is similar to negotiator style. h. She doesn’t cry easily.

2. I have a strong feeling that the “others” are really grim reapers. It sounds strange but I feel the grim reaper is willing to give up a little more easily when put to the test. Their jobs are already difficult and now they have to fight people- no way. It would also explain why some people disappear so easily.

3. How many more weeks in November? And then , How many more weeks until February?

Lost fans, I know you are out there and I know you also feel my frustration.

Hit (but not as good as the first three) - Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupret Grint

Hogwart’s is hosting the tri-wizard tournament whose participants are to be either 17 years or older. Somehow, Harry Potter’s name is selected and the tournment is now quad-wizard - although they still call it by its original name. The wizards are put to the test in a series of wizard like games. These games are deadly and can take the life of young wizards. Is Harry Potter ready for such a challenge?

The reason this movie was not as good as the last three is because of the awkward editing in sound and story structure. There is particularly one scene at the dance that causes one to believe that at least one scene was omitted because the flow is chopy.

Visually, the story is well created and the tournament is well paced. The actors are entering an awkward pubescent phase of life in general which causes every interaction between male and female to feel strange. But, I guess that is how life goes when you are entering what would be called your freshman year of high school- in Harry Potter’s case his fourth year at Hogwarts. And what is Hermoine doing with a 17 year old? I disapprove.

Bottom Line: Enjoyable enough to see while it is still in theatres.

Fantasy

Rated PG-13 or sequences of fantasy violence and frightening images.

Running Time: 2 hours 30 minutes.

Miss (winner of the Dyson award- it doesn’t lose “suck”tion) - Starring Clive Owen, Jennifer Aniston, Vincent Cassel, Xzibit

Two married business executives (Owen and Aniston) are in a life threatening situation after having an affair. A violent criminal taunts their adulterous behavior and begins to stalk and blackmail them. Now the two must turn the tables on him to save their families.

The trailer promised a Jennifer Aniston you have never seen. This movie didn’t deliver as promised. The trailer promised you would be guessing until the end of the movie, but sadly, anyone with an IQ over 120 would know the “twist.” I put the word “twist” in quotes because the ending was so obvious from the moment we met our criminal that the outcome could not be considered twist-like. The only twist this movie had was the fact that you weren’t getting your money back at the end just because it sucked. Bottom Line: Keep your change and check out something else. The newest addition to the Vertical Limit section.

Best Line: “I picked this jail.”

Thriller

Rated R for strong disturbing violence, language and some sexuality.

Running Time: Too long.

Miss - Featuring the voices of Zach Braff, Joan Cusack, Steve Zahn, and Garry Marshall

A town is in a state of panic when Chicken Little sounds the warning bell for what he believes is a falling piece of sky. It turns out that the piece of sky is really just an acorn, which causes the town to treat Chicken Little like a crazy chicken. Once Chicken Little begins to gain a good reputation, the sky begins fall (for real). Now, Chicken Little and his misfit friends must come together to save their town and the world.

While the animation and character voices were the highlight of the film, the actual story was its downfall. This movie had just as many pop culture references as Shrek 2 but it lacks an interesting plot line to keep its adult audience entertained. I began to check out of the movie the moment aliens entered the cell. The aliens also had a similar style to those seen in this years War of the Worlds film.

Children will enjoy the movie for the pure spectical of the film, and the mild humor.

Bottom Line: Not worth paying the big movie bucks. Wait for video/dvd.

Rated G

Comedy / Animation

Running Time: 1 hour 17 minutes.

To see what movies will be playing at a theatre near you this November, click here.