The Directors Chair

This is Spielberg on form, the direction, the camera angles, the wobbling with the sea, everything is spot on.

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Twenty five years after its original cinematic release, director Ridley Scott releases ‘The Final Cut’ for the movie Blade Runner, supposedly his real vision for the film.

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After a hidden message is left at a murder scene that looks like it implicates Dr. Robert Langon (Tom Hanks) in the murder, both he and a detective, Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou) engage in a hunt to find the real killer of the victim, Sophie’s grandfather. The story takes the pair on a journey across Europe in search of the Holy Grail and exposes some hidden truths the church doesn’t want you to know about.

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I so really wanted to like this film, I enjoy the Punisher as a character but it seems it just doesn’t want to translate well onto the big screen.

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Episode 510 – “He’s Our You”
In Tikrit, Iraq, a young boy is told to kill a chicken or face living outside. Another boy kills the chicken for him and hands it to him much to his fathers delight. But the child confesses it wasn’t him, it was Sayid.

On the island and Sayid is visited once again by a young Ben who brings him a book and a sandwich. He asks if Sayid was sent by Richard and tells him that he wants to join the hostiles and will help Sayid escape. Later Horace and Radzinsky try to question Sayid but he’s not saying anything so Sawyer goes and speaks to him. Sawyer wants to be able to turn Sayid from hostile to Dharma but Sayid refuses.

Roger Linus comes to mop out the jail cell when his son arrives again to visit Sayid. Roger goes crazy and shouts and hurts Ben sending him home as Sayid watches. Horace and company turn up and take Sayid to a guy called Oldham who Sawyer says is “our you”. Oldham gives Sayid a truth serum and asks him questions about the island and stations. Sayid answers truthfully but the folks don’t believe him when he says he is from the future.

Select Dharma members then take a vote back at the barracks on what to do with Sayid and Amy says she doesn’t want someone like him around the children so the vote goes to kill the prisoner. Sawyer goes back to Sayid and tries to set him free but Sayid refuses again saying he knows why he is back on the island now and he wants to stay.

Sawyer heads home but stops off at Kate’s house and asks her why she came back to the island. She tells him she knows why she came but not why everyone else did. They are interrupted by a flaming Dharma van running through the barracks and crashing into one of the houses. Everyone is distracted which allows Ben to free Sayid and they run into the jungle.

In flashbacks we see Sayid killing for Ben and being told that’s it, there are no more men a danger to the people on the island. Then Ben goes to the Dominican Republic to find Sayid and tell him that Locke is dead, killed by Widmore’s men who are probably coming for Sayid next. He tells him there is a man watching Hurley and Sayid asks if Ben wants him to kill these people. Ben says that Sayid is a killer, which Sayid refutes.

We then see Sayid go to a bar after the confrontation at the docks in LA, there Ilana meets him and they share some MacCutcheons whiskey and Sayid takes her back to his hotel. There Ilana beats him up and arrest him, she is a bounty hunter escorting him to Guam for the death of the man on the golf course last year, Peter Avellino.

Back on the island and in the jungle, Sayid is spotted by Jin and tells him that Sawyer let him go, Jin has to call it in but Sayid knocks him down and takes his gun. Ben tells Sayid to hurry they’ll soon be looking for Jin. Sayid tells Ben he was right, Sayid is a killer. Sayid shoots Ben in the chest and runs into the jungle. Ben collapses to the floor.

WOW. Sayid SHOT Ben. Ben as a child no less! What does that mean for the future? Does the entire future change now based on what just happened or has whatever happened happened so Ben always was shot by a young Sayid? If this is the case then an adult Ben surely would know who shot him?

My latest theory is this is how Ben joins the hostiles, Richard will save Ben and Ben will become an immortal just like Richard, only, growing older. I can’t wait to see how they get out of this one. Kate and Juliet go face to face, Juliet didn’t want to tell Kate to clear off but its clear she is worried that Sawyer may now give up on his house game and go back after Kate. I hope now. Juliet is a better catch than Kate.

Bring on next week.

Episode 518 – “A Spark To Pierce The Dark”
We see Dave executing his plan of killing Katherine in the woods and helping Mike grieve over her loss, only its in his head and not happened yet, but it seems to be falling into place when Dave, Katherine and Mike set off to the woods for their camping trip. Dave calls the Ranger station and warns them he’s seen some hunters shooting illegally.

Gabby wants sex with Carlos but he’s not giving it to her, he is busy at work and too tired when he gets home. Gabby consults Tom, the only person left on the street now everyone is busy working and is told that all men want to do it no matter how much they resist. Gabby tries again and fails, this time Carlos ties her up and leaves her. The next morning Gabby awakens to find a gift left for her.

At Carlos’ work Lucy is upsetting everyone, including Lynette, by making them work late and long hours. Later she shouts at Lynette for complaining about her to Carlos and not going directly to her. Then Gabby arrives, angry that her and Carlos seem to be falling back into old habits, she has brought their kids with her and palms them off on Lynette who then leaves them playing in Lucy’s office.

Lucy fumes when she finds the girls playing with her expensive figurines and immediately berates the Hispanic maid outside her office. Carlos and Gabby watch the commotion and Lucy insults the children causing Carlos to fire her.

Susan gets a surprise when Karl turns up wanting to enrol his son in their school. Susan plays along but when young Evan draws scary pictures Susan is concerned and Karl is called in to discuss them. Tempers flare at the school and Susan throws paint in Karl’s eyes. Evan keeps drawing bad pictures and Karl comes to Susan and explains its because his mother has left them both. Susan is sorry, she always wanted Karl to feel how he made her feel but now he does she doesn’t like it.

As a result of therapy Bree learns it is her fault Orson steals and so agrees to do anything to help him, including selling her business. As the deal is about to be wrapped up she has a change of heart and refuses to let him control her like this and doesn’t sell. Orson says he may steal again and Bree says she doesn’t care.

Edie, after much faffing about, finally gets the fax from the newspaper about Dave who is currently executing his plan. He has the gun and Katherine is in his sights, he is about to shoot when his phone goes off causing him to miss Katherine. Edie has text Dave telling him to come home now. Mike and Katherine run back to the cabin and leave, Dave tries to comfort them but can’t.

Back home Dave confronts Edie who knows everything about his past. She wants to know if Dave ever really loved her or just used her to get onto Wisteria Lane. She calls Mike to warn him but Dave gets in the way and strangles Edie but stops just before she can die. Edie runs out of the house.

Meanwhile Orson has snuck out and broken into an old ladies home, but she catches him and hits him with a baseball bat. She stumbles out into the road as Edie heads straight towards him in her car. She swerves, misses him but crashes into a pylon causing one of the cables to fall. Orson flees the scene and Edie gets out of the car only to be struck by the cable and electrocuted.

Fantastic episode, looks like Dave may get away with it after all but I’m still concerned that his original plan didn’t see him kill Mike. Surely once Mike has grieved he’ll be able to get over it unlike Dave, unless Dave is next going to target MJ. Be interesting to see how this is going to play out in the final few episodes.

Episode 320 – “Cold Snap”
Sylar seems to have left the house of the Hunter and instead has left him a present, Doyle, hanging up like the puppets he tries to control. Mohinder is then led to a room in Building 26 where the Hunter shows him all the heroes they have now drugged and they then drug Mohinder.

In a taxi Noah and Angela talk, things are getting a lot tougher now and Noah has had to turn Angela into the government, he gives her advanced warning and she manages to escape capture. Later, Noah is next shown the room and he says that he can get ‘Rebel’ for the Hunter, to further prove his loyalty. But in order to do this, they’re going to have to release Tracy.

After escaping her cage Tracey finds the room with all the heroes in and releases Mohinder, Matt and Daphne. They all escape but Tracy goes her own way only to be caught by Noah. He offers her a chance of freedom, if she leads him to Rebel she’ll be given a chance to escape, Tracy agrees.

Meanwhile Daphne is taken to hospital and treated, she wakes up and finds that everyone thinks she’s Gwen Stefani. She tells Matt to give up on her and runs away. He later finds her in Paris and she wants to know how he got there so fast, he said he flew and shows her he can fly. She wants to be taken on a flight around the tower and he agrees but when in the air Daphne wants him to let her go, she knows that this is all in her head and she’s still in the hospital. She asks Matt to take her to the moon, she’s ready to die. He does and in the hospital, she passes away.

Hiro and Ando are wondering how Matt Parkman has become a baby when they find a photograph of Matt and his ex wife Janice, this must be Matt Parkman’s baby. The baby Matt has an ability, he can touch things and make them go. Janice returns home and finds Hiro and Ando, they tell her baby Matt is in danger when the agents arrive. Ando tries to fight them off but he can’t, then baby Matt touches Hiro and he stops time. He has his power back. But he can’t teleport. He takes a frozen Ando 12 miles away and to safety.

Angela is being chased by the agents, she gets trapped in an elevator but Peter comes to save her and flies her away.

Tracy meets ‘Rebel’, it’s Micah! He thought that because Tracy looked like his mum they had something in common but Tracy is guilty for leading the agents right to her. They try to escape but they get trapped in a car park. Tracy asks Micah to turn the sprinklers on and then run. He does and Tracy freezes the entire floor of the car park and all the agents, including herself. The Hunter and Noah approach and smash Tracy to bits, we then see her broken face, a tear runs down it.

In the Statue of Liberty, Peter asks Angela what they do now…to be continued.

I thought this was a much better episode this week, kept pace, kept the action and intensity high and we saw two deaths, unless Tracy morphs Terminator style back into herself. Although Ali Larter did want out of her contract so maybe this is it? Mind you weren’t there three of them made? Or was the other one Nikki’s alter ego?

Bit of a let down finding out Rebel was Micah but at least it wasn’t someone rubbish like Noah or Angela. No Claire this week, great stuff, she’s so wooden these days. More like this please.

Y2Rating: 7/10

Episode 210 – “Evicted”
Bring out the box of tissues as the Conchords are no more. After the landlord realises he can’t cash their cheque because they’ve paid him in New Zealand dollars, the Conchords are evicted. Murray invites them to stay with him but warns them he’s a sleep-groper so they refuse and end up staying with Mel.

There is a Russian song that really doesn’t fit into the show and then the Conchords decide to fulfil Murray’s idea of putting on a musical about their lives. On opening night Murray invites some people from the embassy but it was probably a bad idea. After the show Murray has some great news and some pretty terrible news. The good news is they did it, the bad news is the musical brought attention to their illegal immigrant status and so they are sent back to New Zealand.

I was hoping for perhaps a happier ending, however this was fitting and the episode was funny if lacking in music. How has this season been then? I’ve enjoyed it, sadly I’ve felt that songs haven’t been of a great standard which only furthers the fact the Conchords were struggling to write material for this series. Looking forward to the DVD however, this does warrant a second watch.

Y2Rating: 7/10

Episode 710 – “Fox-y Lady”
The Griffins tune into Fox news everyday to see the sexy looking anchorwoman but when the show goes into High Definition she is instantly fired because she actually looks ugly in HD. Lois applies to be the new anchor and gets it as Brian fumes that Fox only report what they want to. This is proved when Lois is tasked in finding out if Michael Moore is gay but the story is scratched when Moore’s man lover could be someone the station admires.

It turns out that Moore and his lover are the same person, all played by Fred Savage who Brian suggests is the worlds greatest actor. Meanwhile Chris, Peter and Meg devise a new TV show called ‘Handi-Quacks’ about disabled ducks. All Meg’s suggestions are belittled until eventually they kick her off the show. Peter pitches the idea to Fox who want to make some changes but Peter refuses and takes his idea away.

Laughable in places, great to see Fred Savage somewhere other than repeats of the Wonder Years.

Y2Rating: 6/10

Episode 411 – “Bar Mitzvah Shuffle”
Debbie dumps Steve for Etan as he is more mature thanks to his pending Bar Mitzvah. Steve devises a plan to get Debbie back as elaborate as Oceans 11 but he accidentally frames Snot for stealing Etan’s bar mitzvah money.

Meanwhile Stan and Francine come up with an idea to pitch to the telephone companies in order to find mobile phones when they’re on vibrate mode. But they don’t make the pitch for a reason that isn’t disclosed. Instead they break the fourth wall and storm off the set.

I’ve been laughing a lot more at American Dad lately and the laughs didn’t stop here. Even the petty fart machine was funny.

Y2Rating: 7/10