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Today I am bringing you the first of a series of six posts that will show up periodically over the next few months. The theme? Lost! Or, a look back at Lost, to be more precise. I recently completed my Lost DVD collection, so I've begun a Lost "marathon" of sorts. Now, "marathon" would usually imply watching the entire series from start to end in one go, buuuut 6 seasons of Lost would take me almost a week to watch, and with work, sleep, and life in general to get in the way, it's more of a series of mini-marathons.

Anyway, to the point. I finished the first season of Lost today, and so, first post. It's really interesting going back and watching the first season again after seeing how the series ends. I really noticed a lot of hints of things to come, and also noticed a lot of the hints to mysteries that never get explained.

I still absolutely love the opening scene to Lost. Starting with the eye opening, and Jack waking up in the woods, finding his way to the beach and seeing the chaos that is the planewreck in the sand. It was just amazing. I think that scene is what really hooked me. Even without knowing anything about what was to come, I was completely taken in by that scene, and the rest of the episode just sealed the deal.

The format of the show is something very original, too. We meet all of these characters, not just on the island, but off the island too in a series of flashbacks that give us a little bit of insight into who they are that their fellow castaways don't get to see. It would be easy for these flashbacks to seem out of place, but there is always something specific in the flashback that ties to what is going on. We also see that a lot of the flashbacks show the specifics of what led these people to get on that plane.

One major think that came to mind today when I was watching the last few episodes was the tragic story of Jin and Sun. I won't get into it too much because that would be spoilers, but they are my very favourite couple of the show. They will definitely come up in future posts, but the end with their goodbye as Jin gets on the raft just breaks my heart, even though I know what comes next.

There are so many elements introduced in this first season that I would love to touch on, but I could go on all day. The "Adam and Eve" in the cave, the Frenchwoman and her seemingly crazy stories, the whispers, the smoke monster, the Black Rock, the numbers and Hurley's curse, Walt's abilities, the "others", the hatch, the snatching of the baby, the cord on the beach, the radio transmission, and the radio message Boone hears before he dies. All of these things are just little clues, or tips of icebergs, of what's to come.

With so many mysteries unfolding, the season ends in a cliffhanger with the hatch open (despite so many things pointing to leaving it alone), the mysterious "others" kidnapping Walt and blowing up the raft, leaving Jin, Michael, and Sawyer for dead, and the rest of the Oceanic survivors fearing some sort of attack. I know what's coming, but I can't wait to go through and watch for all of those things that I never noticed the first time through, or whose significance I just didn't quite get until the series came to a close.

Thor! And Other Marvel Films

If you've read my blog even once, or ever met me for that matter, you know I am a huge nerd. And most should probably know that I have a lot of nerd-love for Marvel comics. So it should be no surprise that I was looking forward to Thor! Right from the original announcement I've been waiting to see this one. And see it I did. Twice even. Double the Chris Hemsworth. Yum.

I have been really impressed with the quality of movies Marvel has been putting out lately.
Iron Man: Top notch! The first of the new Avengers themed/lead-up movies that really raised the bar!
Incredible Hulk: Great! Huuuuuuuuge improvement over the previous iteration (which I consider unwatchable, so anything would have been an improvement).
Iron Man 2: Almost as good as the first one, and still fantastic! And then...
Thor: Just all kinds of awesome! I have literally no complaints at all! (except that it was in 3D...)

I love these movies 'cause they all tie in together. Each one has little nods to the others and they build off of each other. Thor had it's fair share of that. They mention Tony Stark and refer to Bruce Banner, and the inclusion of Agent Coulson in a more prominent role, along with SHIELD making more of a presence made this movie a lot of fun. Also, Clint Barton (AKA Hawkeye!)!! And that is all just the extras!

I am really not much of a Thor fan, so I was going into this movie knowing very little about the character and his history, not to mention the cast of supporting characters. I really enjoyed my introduction to Thor and the other gods of Asgard, as well as Jane Foster (and the clever way they mentioned Dr. Donald Blake). So much so that I had to go online afterwards and spend hours researching.

It's interesting that these Marvel Studios movies are so fantastic, while all of their co-produced films are just kinda crap in comparison. I am really excited for X-Men: First Class this summer, but I know it won't be the same calibre of film. It's gotta be better than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but really, I could make a better movie in my backyard (if I had a backyard) than that Wolverine film. Marvel needs to rope in the rights on all of it's different franchises and take creative control back 'cause all of these different co-productions are killing Marvel movies. I think it would be awesome if we could see little cameos and mentions in all of Marvel's movies. Have Spider-Man swing by in the background of an X-Men film. Have the Avengers consult with Beast. Mister Fantastic video conference with the leaders of the other major Marvel teams. Or just the casual mentions of other Marvel characters in the films. No more of these completely separate universes.

Anyway... The next major Marvel film will be Captain America: The First Avenger this summer (while Andrea and I are at Comic-Con!) and I really can't wait! It looks like another great one (even if it is gonna be in 3D...). What do you think of Marvel movies? Fan? Not-so-much? Lemme know!

If you'd like a proper review of this movie, visit my good pal Andrea's blog. I agree with her on most parts. Except Natalie Portman. I loved her in this movie.