Grade: A

Never mind what I said about last week, because this is the best episode of Fringe so far. With my few, minor doubts squashed for the moment and the growing momentum this show is building, Fringe is easily the best show I've seen out of the crop of new series this Fall. "The Arrival" is not only a good stand alone episode, but a fascinating window into the world Abrams and Co. are working to construct, with new mysteries and characters stepping in to thicken the plot, as they say.

This hour definitely switches the formula up a bit, which eases the fears I'd versed last week of this show falling into a predictable rut. There's no bad guy disguised as a seemingly innocent lead in the case, and Walter does have links to the strange going ons, but it's in a different way than it has been so far. Instead, the bad guy is pure bad from go, even if he and his leftover prop gun from Star Trek fall on the cheesy side, and Walter only knows what he does because his brain is being fed information, which he describes as feeling "like a letter opening for the very first time with instructions on what to do inside".

This week's case has the closest ties to the overarching mythology this show is building, with the introduction of strange, space-age looking cylinder and a very bald man known only as The Observer, whose connection to everything has my interest piqued. We meet The Observer, who is not only bald but eyebrow-less as well, in a diner, ordering up a sandwich to season his bottle of pepper, hot sauce, and eleven jalapenos. He eats what would probably decimate the average human's taste buds while living up to his name and observing a construction site through some high-tech binoculars. An explosion and simultaneous earthquake send everyone but him running for cover. From this first scene through the end of the episode, the mystery surrounding The Observer only grows. He doesn't seem necessarily good or evil, but strictly neutral. He's a hands-off kind of guy that knows what you're thinking as fast as you know it yourself. He's super creepy, but doesn't seem dangerous. And, my first impression is that his presence is a welcome layer of depth to this show.

The second new addition is the cylinder--a sleek metal device that kind of looks like a spaceship from any number of sci-fi flicks. This long, metal thing (which, by the way, is very different from the small, circular...something in "Ghost Network", but equally mysterious in nature) is transmitting (good) vibrations, and it's not the first one to be uncovered. In fact, an old friend of Agent Dunham's discovered the first back in the 80s. She of course sets out to investigate while Walter throws one of his adorable hissy fits until Broyles agrees to ship the cylinder to his Harvard lab. It's a good thing, too, because not long after they leave the cylinder's original holding place, in a creepy, abandoned warehouse, our laser blasting bad guy arrives and kills everyone in sight in his search for the device.

Going back to Walter: I love John Noble's range with this character. He's kooky, but sweet and rattling off the formula for root beer one moment and insane and filled with rage the next, giving death stares to anyone who dares stand in the way of what he wants. I also am coming to love his interactions with Peter more each week, and while Walter is great in any situation, I think Peter's character works best when he's got his crazy old man to bounce off of. The two are a dynamic duo, even if they wouldn't admit it. The only character still struggling to hook me is Anna Torv's perpetually sad-eyed Olivia Dunham. She did crack one smile this episode, but made up for it the rest of the time by remaining strictly straight faced and bland. She is a good sleuth, though, and...she's almost as observant as The Observer himself, finding him popping up in many of the Pattern cases in 3 weeks while it took Broyle's people over a year to make the same connection. There, I said something nice about her, so let's move on.

So not only is this Observer character showing up in picture after picture taken from the scenes of well known cases linked to The Pattern, but he's sending his telepathic e-mail to Dr. Walter. Walter "opens" it and proceeds to shoot up Astrid with a mild hella strong sedative and steals the cylinder. He hides it somewhere and then finally gets the root beer float he's been pining and whining about since the opening scene, which is just as delicious as he'd remembered. He doesn't drink it alone though--The Observer is there with him, being as observent as ever.

Walter gets caught, wandering around in the median of a busy highway, but won't reveal where he stashed the cylinder. He says it's for everyone's safety that he hid it, and while I believed him, no one else seems to. He ends up shouting some pretty nasty things at Peter, who decides he's had enough and goes to pack his things, but not before getting captured by the trigger happy bad guy with the unfortunate looking snow cap on his head. He hooks Peter up to a painful looking device (kind of like headphones...that plug in to your brain, through your nose) and probes his thoughts for the location of the cylinder. Peter swears he doesn't know where it is, but somehow he gives up the answer anyway, surprising himself more than the crazy asshole torturing him.

It would seem this episode is all about the unknown nature of our thoughts. Walter is receiving messages from The Observer, Peter is able to know his father's thoughts without consciously knowing them, and the Star Trek reject is hooking up people to his machine and reading their minds. But most mysterious of all is The Observer and his ability to read anyone's mind as if it's as easy as breathing. Lately I've been preoccupied by the mysteries of the human brain and the great depth of unknown information it holds, and Fringe seems to want to explore those concepts right alongside me. Might explain why I was such an early fan of the show.

Now, back to the action. Olivia gets Walter to give her his hiding spot by telling him Peter's life may depend on it. The big showdown goes down in the cemetery where Peters grandfather (I assume that's who it was?) is buried. Peter watches as his captor uncovers the cylinder, but Oliva shows up just in time to:

A) Do a magical transformation sequence and then kick his ass with magic

B) Use her feminine charms to seduce the bad guy by dressing as Counselor Troi from Star Trek: TNG

C) Instigating a high octane chase scene with a bunch of gun play tossed in for good measure.

If you guessed C, congratulations, you have common sense. But seriously, will Fringe ever have an episode without a chase sequence? So Olivia squeezes off some rounds into the guy, who drops the cylinder. Then right about the time the thing starts making some mighty strange sounds, it burrows into the ground and vanishes. Something tells me we haven't seen the last of...The Cylinder! Meanwhile, Peter meets The Observer in the woods, who finishes all his sentences before he can, like some annoying kid on the playground who grabs your arm and proclaims "Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself!" But in his case, he can just read minds, and this bizarre encounter is the breaking point for Peter, who finally decides to stop threatening to leave and stick around for the long haul. Of course it was painfully obvious from the start that he wasn't going anywhere. Joshua Jackson is simply too dreamy to let go.

Finally we have our obligatory twist, which have mostly revolved around Agent Scott. This week's is no different. Olivia goes home (is this the first time we've seen her humble abode?) and eats a big girl meal of cereal and Johnny Walker Black, but most of it gets spilled on the floor when Agent Scoot appears in her doorway, very much alive. She could have simply been drunk and seeing things, but something tells me that's not the case. Even if the gasp worthy moments at episode end have been about this same guy, they all serve their purpose well. Unlike Heroes, where I'm rolling my eyes, I am gasping at the appropriate moments in Fringe, at for that I deem them a success.

With all these new questions introduced this episode, I've never been more anxious to see the nest installment of Fringe. Will The Cylinder rear its shiny, non-existent head again? Will The Observer reach through the TV and read my thoughts? See you next time The Pattern leaves its mark.

P.S.: Last week's excellent hour, "The Ghost Network", wasn't even written by Abrams, assuring me that this show is in good hands even when he's not around to write. However, this week he's back and dazzling me as usual.

Após dois primeiros episódios, que apenas me demonstraram o "potencial" da série, FRINGE parece realmente ter "pego no tranco" e começado a mostrar para que veio ao mundo.  Sem a preocupação inicial de nos apresentar o contexto da série e seus personagens, este terceiro episódio vai direto ao que interessa: um caso bizarro para ser investigado pelo trio Olivia, Walter e Peter.

Bizarro, aliás, é pouco para descrever o ocorrido: um ônibus é encontrado completamente preenchido por uma estranha substância, com todos os passageiros mortos e presos dentro.

Inciadas as investigações, Walter logo descobre que a tal substância contêm elementos fabricados apenas pela (quem mais poderia ser?) Massive Dynamics. Também é descoberto um estranho rapaz faz desenhos de acidentes que ainda não ocorreram - dentre eles, o do ônibus investigado - praticamente o mesmo "poder" de Isaac Mendez de HEROES.

Ao contrário do que poderia parecer inicialmente, tais previsões não são frutos de algum dom divino ou algo sobrenatural. Pelo contrário, são apenas efeitos colaterais de experimentos realizados pela equipe do própria Walter, anos atrás, quando buscavam desenvolver formas mais eficientes e seguras de comunicação. Ou seja, o rapaz havia se transformado em uma espécie de "receptor" que captava determinadas (e inovadoras) transmissões - no caso, realizadas por um grupo terrorista.

A história, apesar de parecer absurda em um primeiro momento, é construida de forma  eficiente e, principalmente, convincente. Walter monstra-se um personagem cada vez mais intrigante, enquanto Peter e Olivia já parecem estar mais a vontade em suas funções.

Falando em Peter, mais uma vez temos indícios do passado obscuro desse personagem, envolvido em com gente muito perigosa. Prova disso é a cena que mostra ele sendo vigiado e fotografado por um desconhecido. Tal cena também confirma que Walter, muitas vezes, "se faz de doido" pois, apesar de parecer desligado naquele momento, ele estava atento a tudo que ocorria com o seu filho.

Por outro lado, gostaria de destacar, a sequência envolvendo o piano, pois que mostrou um  lado mais sensível dos personagens. Além de Peter, que estava tocando, todos se aproximaram e pareceram emocionados com a música.

Estou gostando muito dos personagens secundários, principalmente os agentes Charlie Francis (Kirk Acevedo) e Astrid Farnsworth (Jasika Nicole) que formam um interessante paralelo: enquanto o primeiro é o amigo de Olivia na polícia "normal", a segunda é sua companheira nas investigações "fringe", onde participa como ajudante dos estranhos experimentos de Walter.

Isso sem contar o ótimo Lance Reddick (o Matthew Abaddon de LOST) no papel dos misterioso Phillip Broyles (papel que me lembra, obviamente, o Skinner de ARQUIVO X, já além de chefe preocupado, ele tem fortes contatos nos "dois lados" da conspiração)

Para encerrar, volto ao início do episódio, onde vemos Olívia participando do enterro do agente Scott, seu ex-amante. Além de mostrar todo o turbilhão de sentimentos por que passa a personagem, já que ela não sabe bem até que ponto foi "usada" por Scott, ainda preparar o terreno para o surpreendente final do episódio:  o corpo de Scott não havia sido enterrado e é mostrado num dos laboratórios da Massive Dynamics, onde encontra-se conectado a um equipamento experimental que está faz um "download" do seu cérebro.

Com este terceiro episódio FRINGE, para mim, já ultrapassa HEROES, mostrando-se realmente um série que, além de uma premissa interessante, consegue nos brindar com ótimos roteiros. É uma cópia de ARQUIVO-X, sim, porém feita com grande competência, enquanto HEROES, que tenta emular X-MEN e THE 4400, mostra-se cada vez mais comprometida pelos fracos roteiros.

Assisti ao primeiro episódio de FRINGE logo que este "vazou" na internet. Como sabia que haveria um bom espaço de tempo, antes da chegada do segundo, acabei nem comentando sobre a série no blog. Faço isso agora, após ver THE SAME OLD STORY.

O episódio piloto havia sido bem interessante, porém tenho que confessar que ele não conseguiu me "fisgar" naquele momento. Achei o ritmo um pouco monótono e, principalmente, não me interessei pelos personagens.

Já neste segundo episódio, as coisas já começaram a se encaixar melhor. O cientista-maluco-mor, Walter (John Noble) é uma figuraça: genialidade comparável a de Albert Einsteins (comparação citada no episódio), ele tem momentos de "desligamento" total, principalmente após passar 17 anos preso em um hospício. Além disso, aparenta guardar segredos tão terríveis, que poderiam fazer deve um vilão no futuro.

Já seu filho Peter (Joshua Jackson) ainda não se achou na história. Alterando momentos  de cinismo e egoísmo com momentos totalmente "bom moço", ele  ainda precisa ser moldado como personagem.

Sua parceira Olivia Dunhan (Anna Torv) porém, é quem mais me preocupa na história, pois lhe falta muito carisma, principalmente para ser a protagonista da série. Aliás, é impressão minha ou já estão começando a sugerir um "climinha" entre Olivia e Peter? Aquela cena, com os dois conversando, ele pegando na mão dela...

A história desse episódio foi bem bacana, parecendo para mim, praticamente uma refilmagem daquele episódio de ARQUIVO-X com o Eugene Tooms (o cara que se alimentava de fígados humanos para sobreviver). Aliás, acho que seria muito mais bonito para o sr. J.J. Abrams se FRINGE se chamasse OS NOVOS ARQUIVOS-X...

Duas coisas me incomodaram na série:

1)     As investigações estão parecendo fáceis demais. Com isso, perde-se um muito do elemento tensão, pois temos certeza que Walter sempre terá informações importantes (e ex-colegas envolvidos) para resolver o caso.

2)     Precisavam ter inventado uma mega-boga corporação (a Massive Dynamics), que provavelmente será a culpada por trás de todas as conspirações da série? Não era mais fácil culpar o governo? Sei lá, ando assistindo SARAH CONNOR e lá está uma corporação por trás de tudo... Em LOST, idem, temos a DHARMA... HEROES, também... Enfim, sempre tem uma corporação envolvida!!!!! 

Para encerrar, achei válidas as tentativas de se incluir humor na série. Apesar de ainda não terem acertado o ponto, acho que este será um recurso interessante para quebrar a "sobriedade" da série (os caras conseguem reproduzir as imagens gravadas na retina de um cadáver e eu fico aqui falando em "sobriedade").

E qual será o segredo de Peter? Será ele o resultado de algum experimento de Walter? Isso tem alguma coisa a ver com os números citados pelo cientista, enquanto tentava dormir? Afinal: será que Peter consegue mover a ilha? Ops, acho que misturei as séries... 

¿otro monstruo gigante destruyendo nueva york? ¿otra monster movie? No, o sí, pero en las manos de J.J.Abrams, algo tan simple y repetitivo se ha conevertido en algo novedoso, el enfoque en primera persona desde una videocámara, la profundidad y realismo de sus actores casi desconocidos por el público, y por supuesto la puesta en escena de Abrams. Pero el gran logro de esta película es sin duda alguna, la impresionante campaña viral que ha desplegado Abrams vía internet, algo que ya probó con muchísimo éxito con su serie Perdidos. Páginas de internet falsas simulando telediarios de todo el mundo informando sobre extraños ataques, secretos escondidos en diferentes videos, pistas a cuentagotas en su página oficial, algo que no ha cesado tras el estreno. Las pistas, los misterios, y secretos acerca de Cloverfield se acrecentan con el tiempo, con decenas de videos colgados en youtube, fotos escondidas, imagenes casi invisibles a lo largo del filme. Pistas que bien quieren esclarecer el caso Cloverfield, o dan luz a una posible secuela, que es lo más seguro. Esta secuela podría llamarse Aladygma, o bien esta última ser una nueva sorpresa de Abrams, ya que los videos en youtube sobre este tema aumentan pero son aun desconcertantes. Aun así, en su página oficial, aparece una fecha, esperemos a ver... sin duda, la película ha creado muchísima espectación, y continúa haciéndolo con unalegión de seguidores que pretenden desentrañar el misterio que se esconde tras Cloverfield.

Aquí os dejo el trailer original...

Una de las imágenes finales, con sorpresa incluida, atentos a la parte derecha de la pantalla...

http://www,aladygma.com

Esta es la página de Aladygma, a ver quien puede descifrar estos números...

Well, the main reason harkens back to those same teenage drama years. Fruitstand confession (TM): I used to watch Dawson's Creek religiously. Oddly enough though, it wasn't Dawson, the wannabe filmmaker, that I watched it for (he was dull, as evidenced by his rather predictable choice of idol: Steven Spielberg). No, the boy I drooled over, the boy who I imagined in my daydreams kissing and reforming, was Pacey.

Over the years, Joshua Jackson, who played Pacey, descended into ever worse thrillers and horror movies, his face getting doughier and less bad-boy every time. But he's back now, it seems, as one of the leads on this strange show. So, to humor my fifteen-year-old self, I had to at least watch the pilot. Right?

The episode starts with a plane in which everyone's face melts off. Tough yet sensitive FBI agent Olivia Dunham investigates, and stumbles across weird shit. The premise of the show (as far as I understood it): there is some kind of mysterious pattern. Seemingly unrelated weird and horrific events might have something to do with it. Apparently, the only one who can make sense of it is loony professor Walter Bishop. And apparently, the only one who can get the professor to co-operate is his brilliant but troubled son... Pacey!

Of course (mild spoilers), the two leads must have this will-they-or-won't-they chemistry. This means the FBI-agent Dunham's currently banging will have to either die or turn out to be evil (or both). Furthermore, there will be loads of pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo (check), cool and creepy special effects (check), a nefarious organisation and more questions than answers (check and check).

It might have been my mildly intoxicated state (I crashed a physics BBQ), or just my general disdain for show that present "science" as being something arcane and really more like magic, but I couldn't get very exited about all this. The tone was also a bit too self-serious to my liking, and Pacey (yes, I am going to keep on calling him that) a bit lackluster. I will give this one one or two more episodes to hook me (unlike, say, 90210), but so far, it isn't doing it for me.

Except, that is, for the final quote, which is pure campy ridiculousness.

Anyway, did you watch? What did you think? Or do you find J.J. to be impossible overrated?

Now I can dig that Lauren and Stephanie have a class together in the tight quarters of what must be the former janitors closet of FIDM. I can buy that they were assigned seats together like it is junior high science class. I can even see them bonding over the lunacy of Spencer.

I'm just having a hard time wrapping my mind around Lauren hanging out with Heidi's sister. Why would she do that, why get near the crazy? Though, post-Spencer maybe people are naturally drawn to her.

No. Suspension, help me not think about it or try to make sense.

Yo ya he visto el episodio piloto, y la verdad que no me ha dejado indiferente. Una trama que engancha con un prologo de lo más impactante. Fringe promete mucho, buenas dosis de acción, misterio e intriga, con actores conocidos como Joshua Jackson. J.J.Abrams ha querido poner toda la carne en el asador con este proyecto, mientras perfila sus realizaciones en el cine...La nueva enrega Trekkie... Y como muchos ya especulan, incluido yo, Fringe se podría convertir en el sustito meritorio de esa serie de culto de los 90, expediente x. Veremos si las audiencias la respaldan...

I only wish.

After being annoyed half to death by coy little viral marketing ploys from J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield, I had mixed feelings about sitting down to watch the pilot episode of Fringe. On one hand, I adore shows about detectives investigating vaguely supernatural phenomena. Milennium, The X-Files, Mushishi, Mononoke, Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro -- I even watched Nightwalker, which was about vampires (a subject I find particularly lame). On the other, Cloverfield was the only movie I ever walked out on: nauseated by the combination of grating characters, horrible camerawork, and no monster to eat aforementioned grating characters, I walked out after maybe fifteen minutes (it felt like hours to me). I later looked up clips of the movie on recommendation of a few friends who said when the monsters finally did come out, they'd be worth it.

I got a clip of a girl exploding or something. I'm not entirely sure, since the camera was shaking so badly and the video itself was a little pixelated, but I think there might have maybe been a monster. Or something.

And so, after viewing the first episode of Fringe in its entirety, I can honestly say that I resent J. J. Abrams with the special fervor I reserve for mediocre things that are ridiculously overhyped -- a list that includes Neon Genesis Evangelion, The Da Vinci Code, and most of M. Night Shyamalan's movies.

Fringe begins on a flight to Logan Airport in Boston. There's a nervous passenger aboard, and for once, his apprehension seems justified as the plane is shuddering up and down -- turbulence to the max! He injects himself in the stomach as a fellow passenger offers him some gum, even though shoving a pointy object into your abdomen while you're being hurtled up and down sounds to me like a bad idea. But instead of Cillian Murphy headbutting the guy in the face with a pleasant smile, random passengers begin screaming -- their faces are melting off! My, that's a fast-moving pathogen.

No sooner than the co-pilot opens the cabin door to see the commotion, his face melts off, too! As the captain punches the autopilot button, we get to see a complete waste of special effects as the co-pilot's jaw falls off in a gooey mass. Unnecessary and cheap gross-out scene, check.

Meanwhile, we're in for another dubious treat. The main character (who is a wo-mannnn, as the writers of this pilot absolutely will not let anyone forget for the entire duration of the show) is in bed with a coworker. As they make out in an eyerollingly heavy-handed bedroom scene complete with loud, annoyingly sloppy kissing noises, they provide hamhanded exposition along the lines of, "Baby, you know how that our branch of work, law enforcement, doesn't regard kindly interoffice romance? I'm so glad that we are for this reason hiding our relationship, because if we didn't they might find out about it, seeing as how we're important law enforcement agents and all. That might be the end of us, because we clearly care for each other as evidenced by our constant need to paw each other and hint at our extremely satisfying sex lives."

Thankfully, they're soon called away because people are, you know, having their faces melted off. TO LOGAN!

Logan Airport is snowy and no doubt completely fucking freezing as it often is during winter in Boston. It is also announced by GIANT OBTRUSIVE 3-D LETTERING that identifies that this does, indeed, take place at LOGAN AIRPORT IN BOSTON. Once there, the main character, who I will refer to as Female White Lead because that's what all her lines scream, is addressed by Black Commanding Officer. Black CO is careful to refer to Lead as things like "honey" and "lia-sooonnnnn" (she is an FBI liason, if I remember correctly) to hammer home the point that he is Sexist and Angry at Lead for her past effort defending young girls against sexual assault from military officers like him. I wish I was making this up.

But soon enough Lead and her Love Interest (who I'm guessing was doomed to die as soon as the bedroom scene chatter started) are off to see the wizard investigate a warehouse full of animals in cages. It's a secret lab! Later, there is an unnecessary explosion. Not, however, before more revolting "romantic dialogue". This is pretty much verbatim:

Female White Lead: "You said you loved me. In the motel."
Love Interest: "Yeah."
Female White Lead: "That was a big deal."
Love Interest: "Yeah, well, you didn't say anything back, so I just kind of let it go."
Female White Lead: "I've been sort of bad at this for a long time. Until you."

I can only pray that they handed out barf bags to the test audience. I rarely get to see such stilted, unconvincing love-talk, so I can only assume that either a) people in love really do hammer out lines like this, or b) these lines were written by some scriptwriter whose idea of a romantic interlude is to pat someone woodenly on the back like a malfunctioning robot and intone, "You-Are-The-Best-Thing-That-Ever-Happened. To Me."

Anyway, after the unnecessary explosion that almost melts the ass off Love Interest and decommissions him for most of the episode, Lead hobbles off to find the son of the mad scientist who maybe perhaps can save Love Interest from his face melting off (cause the explosion hit him with pathogen chemicals, lolz). Enter the son, Snarky White Guy. Guy and Lead run off to retrieve Crazy Dad, who demands sciency things like cows and tissue samples and suggests they dunk Lead in a rusty tank of water and put her out so she can shaaaare dreeeeams with Love Interest to find the guy who created the explosion. Again, not making this up. The most entertaining part of this exchange is when Guy responds to one of Lead's questions with, "I read books. It's fun. You should try it sometime." Apparently, this astoundingly witty comeback short-circuits Lead's neurons, because she proceeds to spend the next three seconds face slack, while perhaps trying to come up with some repartee. You can almost hear the sound of the "durrrrr" between the lines of the script here.

So, they dunk her with some LSD and ketamines, but for some reason she has to take off enough clothes to please the male audience while adhering to broadcast standards before she goes in. They track down the evil guy in Love Interest's dream with the help of an amputee secretary, who is unnecessarily creepy and talks annoyingly obliquely about some conspiracy. Unfortunately, Lead fails the "Are you a god?" test, so we don't get to find out much about the no doubt sinister, seedy underbelly of science.

After figuring out a way to save Love Interest and the appallingly unconvincing delivery of lines like, "John, can you hear me, baby? Baby?", we are treated to more Conspiracy. No one is who they say they are! Who can we trust? Why would anyone bury super secret recordings under three inches of loose dirt that can easily be brushed aside by hand? Why would evil guy kill his brother to demonstrate his L337 scientist skills instead of, say, the people threatening him? Is there any scientific basis at all for a chemically created substance would melt people's faces off, be communicable like a disease, and randomly "self terminate"? Roll credits, please.

Everyone in this show is a cliche, right down to the way characters go out of their way to refer to Lead as "honey" and "sweetheart" to emphasize that she is a WO-MAN, and WO-MANS are not appreciated in Leadership Roles. Worse, they're not even sympathetic cliches. Lead is too busy being The Woman to let things like The Law and morality stop her from tearing up everyone else's life for the sake of Love Interest. Love Interest is mostly comatose. Snarky Guy is too busy having daddy issues. Crazy Dad randomly wets his pants. Black Commanding Officer is a 2D sexist cutout who was included so that the creators could represent "people of color" (boy, do I hate that phrase).

Aside from some general similarities, Fringe has nothing in common with its most obvious fellow supernatural show. There's none of the sly, good-natured wit or quietly haunted past that defined Mulder. There's none of Scully's ordered rationalism or willingness to challenge the outright outrageous pseudoscience. We're supposed to believe that Lead cares enough to try anything, put everything on the line to save Love Interest, yet they barely even talk to each other -- and when they do, they sound like self-absorbed teenagers instead of sober officers. The mad scientist, who has supposedly been institutionalized and hopelessly trapped for years, is laughable when compared to predecessor characters like Lance Henriksen's tortured, desperate Frank Black. He spends most of his time remarking on how he expected his son to be fatter and demanding livestock. It's like the creators of this show just cobbled together a bunch of archetypes and cliches and hoped for the best.

Pass.

However, I can now confirm that Cloverfield is terrible, but in that really frustrating this-could-have-been-great-but-they-fucked-it-up way*. Here's a list of What Is Rubbish About Cloverfield:

1) The High-Def Yet Slightly Shaky Camera: Amazing how the camera work, shaky though it might be, is astonishingly high-definition throughout, as if they're carting around an enormous studio camera instead of a crappy handheld. Plus an array of boom mikes to pick out all the salient dialogue through the background noise, and sharply pick out all the carefully-edited spot FX. Behold its artful shakiness, which shakes just enough to be disorientating but remarkably keeps still just so you see all the important things you need to see.

At one point, they get some fake blood on the lens as if to acknowledge this very point and make it more real, but they wipe it off so that it's LIKE NEW, with no dust, saliva, smears, cracks or stains of any kind despite being in a WAR ZONE.

2) The Isn't It Lucky They Got Just Enough Footage To Explore All The Main Plot Points: Fortunate, isn't it, that they happened to have the camera on when they happened to bump into the chief of army operations who happened to talk about how they're going to waste the whole of Manhattan using a particular military code word that we may or may not hear later on. And of course that they stopped in front of enough TVs and TV stores to record the headlines from news bulletins to keep us updated.

3) The Ooh, A Fake Government Documentary Film Bit: Topping and tailing the movie with a 'TOP SECRET US GOVERNMENT FILM' screen does not help your case when you follow it with POUNDING TITLE CREDIT music and a list of actors. At least The Blair Witch Project tried.

4) The Completely Irrational Love Must Conquer All Danger Impetus: How shall we get them to head right back into the war zone where the monsters are instead of fleeing for their lives like any sensible citizens? Simple - get the most pig-headed fratboy among their number to receive a text from his erstwhile flame, causing him to venture back whatever the cost, 'cos, y'know, love conquers all and he might get some action out of it. And obviously his friends follow him into certain oblivion, because the only thing stronger than love is Hollywood Friendship. I'd have run for the hills.

5) The We've Run Out Of Ideas So Let's Do A Depressing Ending ending: Killed off most of the cast? Done your big helicopter crash set piece? Faced down the monster eye to eye? Been attacked by little tiny monsters in the subway? Better just end the film immediately by chucking a load of rubble over the last two then. After all, a crushingly-depressing ending worked for Night of the Living Dead, Ring and, ahem, Kingdom of the Spiders.

6) The On The Fly Rapid Editing Choices Made By Panicking Cameraman: Seemingly, some seriously quick-thinking, on-the-go editing was undertaken by our noble cameraman, who until two hours ago had never held a camcorder. Why else would you cut to starting to film yourself running away as fast as you can from mortal danger, or cut back into the action when there are mortars flying past your head and tiny monsters biting your ankles?

7) The Let's Waste The Seeing-The-Monster Scene Twenty Minutes Too Early Bit: About 20 minutes in, on the telly. Big grey thing with fangs and gawky arms. Twenty-five minutes in, it's accompanied by little crawly pseudo-Facehugger aliens on another news bulletin. Completely wastes the 'aagh the monster' money shot, and ruins the unveiling of the tiny crawly monsters.

8 ) The Better Have A Gory 28 Days Later Style Bloodbath Bit: Didn't we mention that being bitten by one of the crawly monsters makes you explode in a miasma of blood and flesh? No? Better explode a cast member then not mention it subsequently, then.

9) The Fleeing From A Colossal Monster, Why Not Enjoy A Cool Mountain Dew Product Placement. Enough said. Yuck.

10) Let's Face It, This Might As Well Have Been An Old Monster Movie Script You Bolted The Shaky Camera Bit Onto To Tap Into The Social Media Zeitgeist Thing. The whole progression of the film, what they see and do etc. follows your bog standard horror film formula so closely that there's no suggestion the screenplay was written around the innovative camera approach - rather that the latter was shoehorned in to make a bad, paper-thin film tolerable.

Basically, a good idea ruined by massively ham-fisted execution throughout. And don't even get me started on how all three of them, plus the camera, survive completely unharmed from a helicopter crash.

*see also Exhibit B: Creep and Exhibit C: The Descent, two films that start off with potentially excellent premises for a horror movie, then tail off into rubbish monster schlock, tedious cat 'n' mouse games and an unrewarding and frankly dull payoff to finish.

Questa è la sezione del nostro blog dedicata al telefilm Fringe, in cui troverete le trame degli episodi, notizie sul cast e tante tante altre cose. Per commentare gli episodi però vi invito ad iscrivervi al nostro FORUM.

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Questo è uno di quei film che dividono: o piace o fa schifo. Personalmente pur trovando molti difetti non posso dire che non sia avvincente per cui il mio giudizio finale è positivo.
Innanzitutto il film può non piacere per il modo in cui è girato e cioè come se fosse la ripresa di una videocamera digitale in soggettiva. Ciò significa che non ci sono panoramiche, carrellate ed il movimento è frenetico e un po' da "mal di mare". In questo ricorda vagamente "Blair Witch Project" ma direi che il parallelismo tra le due pellicole finisce qui.

Il film parte spiegandoci a schermo che quello che vedremo è un video di proprietà degli Stati Uniti memorizzato su Sd card recuperato da una videocamera ritrovata in un'area precedentemente nota come "Central Park"... uhm uhm...
 A questo punto vediamo quello che la card contiene e cioè il video: si inizia con la ripresa (appunto) da parte di Rob in data 27 Aprile sul panorama visto da un appartamento direttamente su Central Park ed una ragazza che dorme nel suo letto (Beth). Poi vediamo che decidono di andare al luna park di Coney Island e di colpo il video diventa datato 22 Maggio durante un party per l'addio a Rob che parte per il Giappone: in pratica il fratello non ha cambiato la card e sta sovra-registrando... (durante il prosieguo vedremo infatti piccoli spezzoni del video in data 27 Aprile).

Durante il party in cui Beth litiga e se ne va, nel video ripreso da Hud, un amico di Rob, scopriamo - tra l'altro - che Rob e Beth si erano lasciati. Ad un tratto sembra esserci una forte scossa di terremoto seguita da un black-out ma, appena saliti sul terrazzo i nostri vedono un'enorme esplosione che fa implodere un grattacielo...
Urla, fuga fino ad arrivare in strada e scoprire, con la testa della statua della libertà che piomba in mezzo alla strada, che una creatura gigantesca e mostruosa sta distruggendo Manhattan. Ed il peggio è che la creatura ospita parassiti simili a granchi-ragni-cane non propriamente amichevoli... Da qui inizia la fuga sempre ripresa da Hud verso il ponte di Brooklin'. Poi a Rob giunge una chiamata di Beth bloccata nel suo grattacielo semi-distrutto. Rob decide di tornare ad aiutarla insieme agli amici. Non dico di più sulla trama.

Il film è terrificante (nel senso di che spaventa davvero) per la relativa somiglianza con la distruzione delle Torri Gemelle (imposione, polvere, gente in giro come zombie, fogli di carta svolazzanti) ed è molto avvincente. Tiene sempre sul chi vive poichè la telecamera ha un solo punto di vista e quello che "non vediamo" è ovviamente molto più pauroso di quello che notiamo.
Ancor più terrificante è però il modo in cui la gente reagisce alla situazione: tutti con il cellulare a fotografare la testa della statua! (Ciò mi ricorda una vignetta in Ratman in cui all'invasione degli ufo tutti gli italiani scattano come pazzi fotografie...) :)
Il ritmo è frenetico, la visuale ridotta e comunque piuttosto realistica, gli effetti molto ben fatti e il mostro viene rivelato poco alla volta. Il punto di vista soggettivo accresce il senso di smarrimento (un po' come in "La guerra dei mondi" ove non si capisce l'origine del male e cosa stia succedendo di preciso).
Certo ci sono dei "buchi": una batteria della videocamera inesauribile, certe riprese sembrano professionali e credo che in alcuni momenti nessuno riprenderebbe ma penserebbe solo a scappare...

Il finale è particolare e osservate bene il frammento del luna-park con il mare...si vede da cosa è stato generato - forse - il mostro.

La storia (contenuto) è praticamente semplicissima ma il modo in cui viene rappresentata (forma) è davvero sorprendente ed eccezionale quindi se da un punto di vista puramente di soggetto la storia si merita un 5.5 dal lato sceneggiatura direi invece 9 (il 10 no per evidenti "buchi").
Quindi in sostanza gli dò: 7
Ciao, J

La Fox ha ordinato al creatore di Lost J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman e Roberto Orci la sceneggiatura di “Fringe”, serie sci-fi che la Bad Robot di Adams produrrà con la Warner Bros. TV. Secondo quanto riporta l’Hollywood Reporter la serie, per il cui pilot lungo due ore sarebbero stati stanziati dieci milioni di dollari, è incentrato su una giovane agente dell’FBI (sebbene non ci siano ancora nomi per il cast, pare che il ruolo andrà a Keri Russel, che ha già lavorato con Abrams in Felicity) che si dovrà confrontare con inspiegabili fenomeni lavorando con uno scienziato.

Secondo quanto dichiarato dagli addetti ai lavori, Fringe sarà una sorta di “successore” di X-Files (serie trasmessa proprio dalla Fox), e come X-Files avrà riferimenti a misteri e cose paranormali, ma sarà anche una sorta di ‘finestra’ sulle relazioni umane, tra l’agente, lo scienziato, e il figlio dello scienziato. “Molte delle storie delle serie tv sono collegate a persone che si trovano in situazioni straordinarie, ha detto Abrams, questo show è invece un misto tra ‘Stati di allucinazione‘, ‘Scanners‘, e tutti i libri di Michael Crichton/Robin Cook che trattano di medicina e scienza”. Le similitudini con X-Files non sono casuali: la serie con protagonisti gli agenti Fox Mulder e Dana Scully è andata in onda con successo per nove anni, prima di finire vittima del proprio successo, con ascolti buoni ma non adeguati agli alti costi di produzione: il network spera che Fringe, che tratta tematiche non troppo dissimili da X-Files, sappia catturare uno zoccolo duro di fan, in particolare quelli orfani della serie terminata cinque anni fa.

[Fonte: Televisionando.it]

Inspirado em uma velha canção do LEGIÃO URBANA, chamada OS ANJOS, tentarei expressar minha opinião sobre CLOVERFIELD de uma maneira bem simples: imaginemos um enorme liquidificador, onde são colocados os filmes GUERRA DOS MUNDOS (do Spielberg), GODZILLA (o original) e a BRUXA DE BLAIR. Alias, nem colocaremos A BRUXA DE BLAIR no liquidificador. Ele será a forma, onde a mistura será depositada.

O resultado dessa receita, na minha modesta opinião, seria algo parecido com CLOVERFIELD.

Não pareceu apetitoso? Vou melhorar um pouco: utilizaremos apenas a idéia central de GODZILLA (um monstro destruindo uma cidade) e o apuro técnico de GUERRA DOS MUNDOS (descartando as bobagens daquele roteiro). Como tempero, as chocantes imagens, ainda vivas na nossa mente, dos atentados do 11 de Setembro. Não podemos esquecer do toque de criatividade do produtor J.J. Abrams (criador de nada mais, nada menos do que a série LOST). Agora sim, colocaremos a mistura na forma BRUXA DE BLAIR e teremos o sensacional e impactante CLOVERFIELD.

O filme se inicia durante a festa de despedida de Rob, que está de mudança para o Japão. O cenário é seu um apartamento em Manhatan. Durante a longa introdução (que, na sessão em que assisti ao filme, afugentou vários expectadores com pouca paciência), acompanhamos as filmagens dessa festa, sob o ponto de vista de Hud (ou melhor, da câmera que ele opera), grande amigo de Rob.

Apesar de longa, essa introdução tem uma função clara e fundamental para o sucesso do filme: é através dela que passamos a conhecer bem os personagens e, por isso mesmo, que nos preocupamos com o que virá a acontecer.

Assim, quando a primeira explosão acontece, já estamos praticamente nos sentindo parte daquele ambiente: "Pô, o Rob vai embora justamente agora, que conseguiu ficar com a Beth...". É com pavor que, na seqüencia, assistimos à vários prédios desabando. A partir daí, o filme se limita a seguir esses personagens em sua desesperada tentativa de sobreviver.

O diferencial, claro, é o modo super-realista com que tudo é mostrado. Os efeitos são simplesmente espetaculares. Cenas como a queda de um helicóptero (mostrada sob a perspectiva que alguém que está DENTRO da nave) e aquela, para mim já clássica, que mostra a cabeça da Estátua da Liberdade sendo arremessada em uma rua movimentada, simplesmente me deixaram boquiaberto.

É claro que o filme tem os seus defeitos e algumas coisas são difíceis de engolir (principalmente o fato do personagem não largar a câmera e não parar de filmar nem nos momentos em que claramente corre o risco de morrer). Porém, se ignorarmos esse fato, assim como algumas outras pequenas falhas, CLOVERFIELD mostra-se como uma experiência única.

Para quem ainda não o assistiu, aqui vai uma dica: corra para o cinema mais próximo, antes que saia de cartaz.

Que a greve dos roteiristas pegou em cheio a produção de filmes e seriados a gente já sabia, curioso eu fico é sobre Star Trek, um filme sobre um seriado. Será que o impacto foi maior?

Pois é, não será neste ano que poderemos acompanhar as aventuras da equipe aci-fi mais conhecida e aclamada da TV. A adaptação do clássico vai demorar para chegar.

A Paramount atrasou o lançamento do filme, que seria no natal deste ano, para 8 de maio do ano que vem. A notícia vem da Variety, revista norte americana. Segundo a notícia a alteração foi puramente fincaneira - nada a ver com a greve! Para a Paramount o filme tem mais chances de lucrar se for lançado como um blockbuster de verão do que uma diversão natalina.

O filme vem sendo vinculado a imagem do já famoso produtor J.J. Abrams, responsável por sucessos como Cloverfield, Lost e Alias. O cara é o diretor do longa, uma adaptação da série original dos anos 70, uma das franquias mais veneradas entre as da categoria "ficção científica". Nele você acompanhará o Capitão Kirk em seus dias de juventude.

O elenco conta com Chris Pine como Kirk, Zachary Quinto (Heroes) como Spock, Simon Pegg como Scotty, e John Cho como Sulu.

Fonte: tvguide.com

Ouça nosso podcast sobre Gilmore Girls:

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originally slated for a worldwide release on December 26th 2008, appearantly J.J. Abram's rebooting of Star Trek has been pushed back to May 8th 2009!

this was announced in the wake of the writer's strike coming to an end, and developers Paramount taking stock of their..... uhm..... stock. while Paramount have stated that after seeing some early footage, they believe that the film now has greater potential as a summer tentpole movie, this only fuelled the rumours that the shoot is not exactly going well. especially considering that up to now, including trailers and posters (all of which had the original release date on them), Paramount have spent over $10 million on pre-publicity. another reason Paramount gave for moving the date is due to an already over-packed Christmas season, and this new summer date will prove less competitive. but we here at CORRECT OPINION aren't sure how true that is, especially when you consider X-Men Origins: Wolverine (May 1st) and The DaVinci Code sequel Angels & Demons (May 15th) will be direct competition.

so there you have it. you heard it hear first. unless you heard somewhere else already.