...And Kirk Cameron as The Smoke

First of all, let me start this with a spoiler warning. If you are at all interested in what happened in the season finale of Lost and have not yet seen it (This means you, Sam!), stop reading and definitely don't watch the video.

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Still here? Good.

So on the season finale of Lost, we got a glimpse into the future, with Jack and Kate (and I assume others) presumed rescued, but it not being the happy ending Jack envisioned. So the question was, "Where do they got from here?" Well, this video tries to answer that.

Star Wars Robot Chicken

On June 17, Cartoon Network is running an episode of its Robot Chicken series, focusing on a galaxy far far away. They have released a trailer, as well as some preview bits. I put two of them down below, cause they are just too funny.

You'll Believe a Man Can Fly (and die)

It turns out kryptonite is real, sort of. Some London researcher discovered a mineral in a mine in Serbia, and the chemical composition of this mineral perfectly matches the chemical composition of kryptonite. In Superman Returns, a rock of kryptonite is on display in a museum, and the film lists the chemical compound as being sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6584229.stm

The article says it's white and harmless, but clearly the author does not know the dangers of white kryptonite.

Did you Just Say My Hair is a Mess? Where's Al Sharpton?

So everyone seems to have an opinion on Don Imus lately, so here's mine.

Imus as an idiot. He said something he shouldn't have said, and not he's paying for it. Public humiliation. Suspension. Advertisers pulling out. MSNBC bails out. But should he be fired from his radio show? No.

If you don't like Don Imus, don't listen to him. Nobody's forcing you. That's the argument people have when you talk about the rappers and comedians who make money to be racist and/or degrade women. If you're offended, don't listen. I'd be offended by rap lyrics, so I don't listen. I'm not offended by Chris Rock, so I listen (even he said in his last special, "I'm tired of having to defend rap"). I'm not offended by Imus, so I listen (on occasion).

Here is a link for a column by Jason Whitlock of the Kansas City Star. An African-American, he says that the black community has more important things to worry about than Don Imus.

Imus isn’t the real bad guy
http://www.kansascity.com/182/story/66339.html

A real disappointment to us all...

Indianapolis Colts' quarterback Peyton Manning was on Saturday Night Live the other night and I caught some of it. There were a few good stretches, such as the opening monologue when he introduced his father Archie Manning ("He taught me everything I know."), his brother Eli Manning ("the quarterback for the New York Giants") and his mother Olivia Manning ("She never made it in the NFL. She didn't have what it took. She got cut by th Dolphins and tried in Canada for a little bit. She's been a real disappointment to us all.") I also liked the ESPN NCAA Tournament Pool Party.

But the best bits I saw were the United Way commercial and the Maraka cartoon. The United Way commercial was a play on those TV bits, with Peyton Manning verbally insulting kids as they fail to catch his passes, teaching kids how to break into a car, and drinking a beer in front it them. The Maraka cartoon was a play on the Dora cartoons and children's interactive cartoons in general. As a father who's son gets enposed to interactive cartoon son Playhouse Disney, this was a great bit.

Casino Royale

"Bond. James Bond."

I waited nearly the entire movie for this line. I got it, but it took a long time to get there.

Overall, I enjoyed Casino Royale, the 21st movie of the James Bond franchise and the first to be based on an Ian Fleming story since 1987's The Living Daylights. Casino Royale was the first Bond novel written by Fleming, and likewise it was back to the beginning with the movies as well.

First what I didn't like. This story is meant to be the first James Bond adventure, both by the book AND the movie. Yet it takes place in modern day, with Judi Dench still playing M. It's not a prequel to the 20 previous movies, since a) it's set in present day, b) Judi Dench is refers to as "the new M" in Goldeneye, c) the official Casino Royale MySpace page lists Bond's date of birth in 1968, and d) Felix Leiter makes his first appearance since 1989's License to Kill, except now he's black. No, this is actually a reboot of James Bond.

I know the belief was that the Bond movies were getting too dependant on special effects and gadgets, and that the plots was a little too far-fetched. But that didn't mean they had to destroy the previous history and start over from scratch. Just remove the references to Bond getting his Double-0 status and the movie could have easily been a follow-up to Die Another Day. But instead, we have a new Bond history. This Bond never interacted with such characters as Pussy Galore, Auric Goldfinger, Jaws, and Ernst Blofeld.

I have to wonder, if we're starting all over again, will there be remakes of Goldfinger, The Spy Who Loved Me, Live or Let Die, etc. I'm torn if that would be a good thing or not.

Now back to the review. The story starts with Bond is just another operative with MI6, although that changes very quickly. While I was stunned, thinking "Where was the opening Bond walk through the barrel of the gun," the beginning is in black-and-white, as Bond has to take care of a former MI6 agent who selling secrets. Bond needs two kills to get his Double-0 status, and with a few gunshots, he accomplishes that. One of the shots ends up being the "through the gun barrel" shot. Very cool.

As the story continues, Bond's pursuit of somebody (was never really clear who) at an embassy in Madagascar leads to Nassau (Bahamas) and Miami (Florida), where he stops a terrorist plot to blow up the first unveiling of a new jet. About 50 minutes in, the plot switched gears to Casino Royale and a high stakes poker game. Le Chiffre, banker to the world's terrorists, has put together a poker game with 10 players and a $10 million buy-in with a $5 million re-buy. Bond needs to ensure that Le Chiffre doesn't win, or else the world's terrorists (or more appropriately, a mysterious organization that Le Chiffre is answering to) are going to be $100+ million richer.

Bond works with Vesper Lynd, an accountant for Her Majesty's Treasury. They go to Casino Royale posing as professional gambler Arrington Beech and Stephanie "Broadchest" (we're led to believe that the last name was a joke by Bond, although it would certainly fit the history of sexually-explicit or silly names for Bond girls), although the time it takes for Bond to discard the alias could be measured it tenths of a second.

From there, we get to danger, betrayal, love, and of course poker. It was a big issue that the high stakes game is No Limit Texas Hold 'Em Poker, and not Baccarat. But honestly, how many people really know the rules for Baccarat? Even seen a hand that features a Flush, two Full Houses, and a Straight Flush? Neither have I, until this movie.

Daniel Craig was an excellent Bond, in my opinion. Christine wasn't nuts about how his first kill was portrayed, calling it graphic and too amaturish. Yet I think that that's what the makers were going for. This is a Bond who doesn't have years of experience as a spy. He's very new to the job as a killer, and he makes a few mistakes throughout.

There is actually a nice love story on here too. Bond girls have historicaly been girls that Bond romances without any real lasting emotion, with the exception of Bond's brief marriage in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. But Vesper Lynd seems to make a kept man out of 007, who is so smitten that he hands in his resignation to MI6. Never fear, though. James Bond will return.

My Favorite Lines
Bond: Vodka Martini.
Bartender: Shaken or stirred?
Bond: Do I look like I give a damn?

Bond: I always thought M was a randomly assigned initial, I had no idea it stood for...
M: Utter one more syllable and I'll have you killed.

Bond: Now the whole world will know that you died scratching my balls!

Vesper: I'll keep my eyes on our government's money and off your perfectly formed ass.
Bond: You noticed.
Vesper: Even accountants have imagination.

Bond: Dry Martini.
Bartender: Oui, monsieur.
Bond: Wait... three measures of Gordon's; one of vodka; half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it over ice, and add a thin slice of lemon peel.
Bartender: Yes, sir.
Tomelli: You know, I'll have one of those.
Infante: So will I.
Bartender: Certainly.
Felix Leiter: My friend, bring me one as well, keep the fruit.
Le Chiffre: [annoyed] That's it? Hmm? Anyone want to play poker now?
Felix Leiter: Someone's in a hurry.

New "Aliens" Series?

A few years back, a series of 3-minute episodes appeared on Cartoon Network. Called Star Wars: Clone Wars, there were 20 episodes chronicalizing the events between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith (there were also five "Volume 2" episodes, each lasted about 12 minutes).

Anyway, now in the same idea as Clone Wars, there is a series of episodes being put together in the Aliens universe. Now, anyone who know me knows my love for that series. I have the Alien Quadrilogy 8-disc DVD pack of the four films. I actually just watched Alien last night. Aliens is probably one of my top five favorite films of all time. In high school, I devoured the Aliens series of books, and some of the comic books. I saw Alien3 and Alien Resurrection in the theaters, and bought the original Joss Whedon script of Alien Resurrection (I think the film would have been better with a different director and being more faithful to the script). I never really got into the Alien vs. Predator series, and was severly underwhelmed by the AvP movie, to the point that I still haven't bought it (I mean, how can you make an Aliens film PG-13?).

Anyway, the new series concept is called Aliens: War Games. It takes place in a future where the aliens menace is widespread, and is about the training of a newbie in the Colonial Marines. The first season is supposed to be about Newbie's hot training programs. HOT means not simulated. For example, the first episode is the start of a training program where Newbie is send into a terraforming installation to find a single alien and kill it.

The first episode is now on YouTube, and the video is below. To view the high-resolution version, click on this link.

BRRUUUCCCCEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This commercial was on during the Giants-Eagles game (my rant on that game is upcoming). It features none other than the immortal, infamous ("Infamous means you're MORE than famous. This guy isn't just famous; he's IN-famous!") Bruce Campbell.