MTV TJ Challenge 5 – My Interview with “The Hills” Star Stephanie Pratt! July 19, 2010
Posted by johnthrasher in Movies/Film, Music, Personally John, technology, Television.Tags: John Thrasher, Lauren Conrad, LOST, pop culture, Spencer Pratt, Stephanie Pratt, Television, The Hills
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For my 5th and final MTV TJ challenge, we were told that we would interview a celebrity of MTV’s choosing for 10 minutes and have to report on it. The catch was that we wouldn’t find out who that person was until 2 hours before the actual interview was scheduled.
I woke up this morning and found out that I was interviewing The Hills star Stephanie Pratt! I was so excited to get somebody from this show to interview! She’s young, relevant, and everyone is talking about her right now. The Hills series finale was just last week! Stephanie has cemented her name in pop culture history with this show, and it was an absolute honor to get a chance to speak to her.
The interview went really really well! I feel like she and I have been friends for years, and we were just catching up! Hopefully one day I’ll get to meet her and thank her for being so kind and gracious during the interview.
Check out the awesome interview below, and find out her connection to my personal favorite TV show of all time, her new handbag line that’s coming out in the fall, and the date that she and I may go on sometime in the future!
The End: Thoughts on L O S T Series Finale May 28, 2010
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Personally John, Television.Tags: ABC, finale, LOST
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I needed about a week to fully digest what the hell happened on Sunday night, as I’m sure those of you who are reading this post can understand. I had a little piece of paper with notes about what I wanted to write, and slowly but surely I realized I could probably write a novel about what I thought about the ending and about the series as a whole. I don’t really know how to make this a cohesive essay, so just bare with me.
The finale itself, I have to say was a bit of a let down. Listen, I absolutely love this show on a very unhealthy level. But, when I got in to the show back in season 3, I, nor you reading this, would ever have expected the finale of Lost to be what it was on Sunday night. For a show that is rooted in mythology, supernatural experiences, and expecting the unexpected, it was a very character-based, sappy, overly-religious ending that seemed very bland and lackluster considering this was supposed to be one of the most talked about endings to a television series in history.
There were no real twists. There were no real turns. There were no answers. Just Jack hanging out in a lava pit, suddenly knowing EXACTLY what it would take to save the island from sinking in to the water. Frankly, the island sinking would have been tons more interesting than anything we saw in this episode.
I don’t want to say that the entire finale was complete shit, because I don’t think it was. There were things about it that made me very happy. Charlie and Claire coming together again was very exciting for me. I also really loved the way the on island scenes were shot. Watching parts of the island falling in to the water was actually incredibly awesome to see. But, really, other than that, I can’t say I was in love with this episode.
I don’t get how Jack just suddenly goes from nearly a background character for almost 3 seasons, to suddenly stepping back in to the position of leadership. And then, if that weren’t odd enough, he also just suddenly knew EXACTLY how to keep the island from sinking in to the ocean. Well great! Glad he just knew since they ran out of time to explain it anyway.
The devices used this season had basically no relevance to the end of the story. Think back to the beginning of this season. Dogen, the Temple, The Lighthouse, the mirror, in some ways even the numbers: none of it was explained or had relevance to the finale!
IN FACT, it’s pretty safe to say that seasons 4, 5, and 6 had absolutely no relevance to the finale at all. If you took away the entire season of jumping through time, and confusing the audience, would it have changed the finale? No, because they ended up right back where they were before the time jumping anyway.
I totally get that Jack’s life was the focus of the show, but I never gave a shit about him, and neither did most of the people I know that watch the show. He could have died at any point in this show and I wouldn’t have cared, including the finale. With a show that focuses on an INCREDIBLE ensemble cast, why would the last scene of the show be all about Jack???????
The final scene was interesting, even though it took me 3 days, and tons of conversations with my friend Kate (thanks Kate!) to fully grasp it. However, as mentioned before, it had no relevance to the rest of the series at all! I’m glad that Kate, Sawyer, Claire, Miles, Richard and Lapidus (WTF) got off the island, but do we not get any sort of understanding of life after the island!? For me, it was not a satisfying ending whatsoever. The mystery of this show isn’t 100% about the characters, it’s about the reasons how and why they got to where they were. None of that was answered at all.
Also, hey Jacob, how did you get off the island to go visit everyone in the flashback season? Just curious.
Lost will always be one of my favorite shows, but frankly it seems that they ran out of ideas in season 3, and it was painfully obvious by the time it all ended. A lot of people seemed to be in denial about the finale by saying things like, “If you didn’t love the LOST finale, you are not a true fan.” I guess 120 some hours and 5 years later, I’m just another fish in the sea.
Review of Times Talk Live With ‘Lost’ Executive Writers May 20, 2010
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Personally John, Television.Tags: ABC, LOST
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SPOILER ALERT: There are only a few VERY tiny mentions of what to expect in the finale in my review, so if you don’t want ANY spoilers, don’t read. I also review the clip from the finale that they showed, which is a tiny bit spoilerish.
Okay, I just got back from the TimesTalkLive event tonight with co-executive writers/producers for “Lost”, Damon Lindleof and Carlton Cuse. Overall the event wasn’t THAT amazing, but no matter what, Damon and Carlton are fun to watch. Here are a couple of points that I made when I was watching, and a summary of the scene that was shown from the finale:
- A Star Wars reference is made in the first 7 minutes of the finale. Damon said this, and Carlton seemed annoyed, even with that pointless info.
- Carlton then responds to a question about Walt saying that we will see him in the finale and that he is special.
- The finale will probably piss a lot of people off.
- There is a top secret, super duper final scene of the show that wasn’t even added until this passed Monday, so to avoid the potential of anyone seeing it.
- The DVD will have 20 minutes of bonus footage that is within the canon of the show (meaning it is part of the world, but never made it to air).
- Jorge Garcia and Michael Emerson joined them on stage. Jorge said something along the lines of “…and when I was filming the final scene.” Whether this was his particular final scene, or the top secret final scene is unclear. If it’s the latter, then it’s a spoiler that he makes it to the final scene of the show.
- Michael Emerson suggests that Ben and Hurley end up finding a way to work together in the finale that will rely on both of them. (Emerson was a bit vague about this, so that may have been said differently)
- They intentionally included Henry Ian Cusick’s (Desmond’s) name in the credits of every episode this season so that they would surprise the audience about when he was going to actually appear in an episode.
They showed a scene from the finale, that wasn’t really spoilery. Here is a summary.
It opens with Locke winding up the rope that was down the well that Desmond was in. Sawyer is in the bushes looking at Locke wondering what he’s doing. Then a gun cocks, and it turns out to be Ben. Ben says something like, “As long as you’re watching, why don’t you join us.” Ben leads Sawyer over to the well with Locke. There’s a short exchange where Sawyer tells Locke he’s here to get Desmond, and then he says to Locke, “I’m guessing you need Desmond to destroy the island?” Locke says, “You’re absolutely right.” Sawyer then says, “Then what Smokey? You going down with the ship?” Locke then says he’s not going anywhere but off the island. He then says, “You and the rest of Jacob’s candidates absolutely are.” Sawyer responds with, “Well we’re not candidates anymore,” and proceeds to knock Ben out, who isn’t paying attention. He takes Ben’s gun and retreats in to the woods. Ben asks why Locke isn’t going after him. Locke says, “I don’t need to.” Ben gets pissed bcause he feels tricked, and Locke says, “Because I said I’d leave you in charge once I’m gone? I’m sorry I left out the part about the island being at the bottom of the ocean. That being said, you’re welcome to join me on my boat. Because once we get Desmond to do what we need him to do, I’m going to sail away from this God forsaken place and watch it sink.” They then both look down at the ground, the camera does too, and there is something there. It was too fast for me to see but, Locke then says, “I think there was a dog here.” And the scene is over. This is all exactly what is said in the scene. I may or may not have recorded it. 
That’s all that was really said or talked about tonight that was of any interest. I’ll post my thoughts heading in to the finale on Saturday, and then a review of the entire series on Sunday night. I can’t believe it’s all over!
My Thoughts on ‘Lost’ Episode 6.16 ‘What They Died For’ May 20, 2010
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Love, John, Movies/Film, Music, technology, Television.Tags: ABC, LOST
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Let me start off by saying I think this was one of the better episodes this season. It’s no secret that this season (especially last episode) has been maybe a little more of a let down for me. I don’t enjoy a parallel universe that really has no relevance to the audience as you’re watching it. However, this episode had a flash sideways that pertained to the overall plot of the episode, which I really enjoyed.
So anyway…what DID they die for? Wasn’t Jacob going to tell us that, and then…he didn’t. Or did he and I’m missing something? I really liked the scene with the remaining Candidates. It was a very old-school Lost scene, as I call it. Them sitting around a campfire, talking and figuring things out. There were a couple things that came to mind in this scene though:
First, of all 4 of them could you see anyone other than Jack really stepping in to that position? Sawyer is the only other person who showed any kind of real leadership (Dharma Initiative) through 6 years and 6 seasons. I think it’s funny Kate even made it to that talk with Jacob. And really…Hurley, the comic relief of the show? Jacob (and the writers) thought HE should be a good person to make it to protect the island? Claire would have made more sense than any of those four.
Secondly, I don’t think Jack is the new protector. With Lost, when there are big moving scenes or something huge happens, the editing of the show tends to be a little more dramatic, or emphatic. I just think that scene would have been a little less rushed and a little more poignant if it were the real case. My friend Matt put it best: “I was waiting for Jack’s eyes to light up or something.” Instead, he took a drink, they looked at each other, and that was it. Something smells fishy to me. Maybe Jacob just needs Jack to think he is the protector because it will give him new confidence or something? Either way I’m not buying in to that scene at all.
Moving on, there are other great things about this episode. I was very excited that Ben got revenge and shot Widmore (3 times at that). When Widmore’s peeps killed Alex in front of Ben a few seasons ago, I knew in the back of my head that Ben was going to get his revenge. I didn’t really think about that happening in that moment, but I sure am glad it did…and because he didn’t want Widmore to have a chance to save his daughter. AWESOME!
Also, how about Dr. Linus getting his ass handed to him by Desmond in the flash sideways? I have to say I felt really bad for Ben there. He seems like such an upstanding, decent guy in the flash sideways and it seemed really malicious of Des.
Oh, one really great thing: YAY ZOE’S DEAD! What a stupid, pointless character to introduce this late in the series. Think about it: of all of her scenes, was there anything that REALLY served a purpose? The answer is no.
Finally, the end when John Locke decides to get surgery. The first thing that came to my mind is that maybe he gets surgery, walks again, and we find out in the finale that standing-Locke is the same Locke as the MiB. But then I thought of the timelines, and I’m not sure that can happen. Then again, it’s LOST so…maybe I’m on to something. Either way there are a lot of different versions of Locke throughout the last 2 seasons, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we get some huge revelation about the true identity of any one of them. Locke has always been the smartest person on the show, and something tells me he knows what’s going on.
Either way, Desmond is on a mission to get everyone back at the concert. I wonder how he will get Jin and Sun there, or if he knows they’re dead in island time, and it doesn’t matter that they are there? I think it’s interesting that he is getting everyone together at this concert. There are so many different symbolic things going on with black and white. The piano keys. The black music notes on the white paper. Musicians always wear only black and white. The fact that David will be bringing all of his knowledge of the music together in one place for a recital could even be symbolic to everyone coming to the concert. I can’t wait to find out what song he is playing. Probably something else related to black and white. Will black Rose and white Bernard be there? Probably!
One last thought: I think that David’s mother is Juliet! It’s clearly someone we know or they wouldn’t have made it such a secret, and it’s not Kate since she’s a fugitive. Is it? Anyway, I am 0.000000000001% sure that Juliet plays the piano too, just like David. I vaguely remember her playing in her flash back episode a few seasons back. Can’t wait to find that one out.
Tonight, I am going to the LOST LIVE event which is Damon and Carlton, the executive writers of the show, doing an interview and behind the scenes thing with the New York Times live in NYC. It’s being broadcasted to theaters all over the country, and luckily it’s being shown here in Morgantown. It starts at 8pm tonight, and I’ll be back with a full review of what I know and learned!
I’ll also be posting my final thoughts going in to the finale sometime on Saturday, so come back for that!
I can’t believe my favorite show ends on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I Want This ‘Lost’ T-Shirt! May 10, 2010
Posted by johnthrasher in Television.Tags: LOST
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Lost fans should enjoy this.
Buy it from Threadless for $18!
LOST Taking Break in February For Olympics, I Boycott The Olympics October 26, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Personally John, Political, Sports, technology, Television, Travel.Tags: ABC, Canada, ice skating, LOST, Olympics, Sports, Tonya Harding, Vancouver, Vancouver 2010
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I guess I should have thought of this before but maybe I just wanted to deny it.
LOST writer Carlton Cuse recently was at Harvard and apparently took the time to let everyone know that the show was going to be taking at least a 2 week break for the Olympics.
How rude!
Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of the Olympics (Tonya Harding say what?), but this is so annoying. We were promised an uninterrupted season, which is why this makes me so frustrated.
I guess the good news is that I will now have to watch stick thin little girls doing face plants in to the ice. That’s always exciting.
I hope someone else gets beaten in the shins with a lead pipe this year. Winter Olympics are just so boring without the cheating scandals and broken legs dreams caused by jealous athletes.
Is Charlie Pace Alive!?! July 29, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, technology, Television.Tags: ABC, Charlie Pace, Comic Con, Dominic Monaghan, final season, LOST, Season 6
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MAJOR COMIC CON / LOST SPOILERS
So after digging around in some Lost footage from Comic Con 2009, ABC had a video montage of all of the behind the scenes stuff that went down during the Lost panel. When the narrator of the montage mentioned Dominic Monaghan, he pointed out that when Dominic came out to wave to the crowd, he had something written on his hand. Of course I told my friend Matt about it, and he immediately found this picture which clearly shows the words “Am I Alive?” written on his hand!
For the record, Charlie Pace was my favorite character on Lost. I loved every scene he had and thought he was such an awesome part of the show. Additionally, when he died, I was watching the finale at 6a.m. (after staying up all night to finish the season), and BAWLED LIKE A BABY in the wee early hours of the day. It took me a few days to get over it actually. I have never been the type to sob over fictional characters, but this one really hit me hard!
I think it’s pretty clear to me that Dominic Monaghan will be reprising his role as Charlie Pace in some capacity in the final season of Lost, which starts in January.
Lost Season 6 Promo Poster!! July 29, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, technology, Television.Tags: ABC, Comic Con, final season, John Locke, LOST, Season 6
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Wowsers, I am freaking out right now! Apparently this Lost season 6 promo poster was released at Comic Con last week, and features the entire main cast of the series, both dead and alive.
Of interest is the fact that the poster also includes John Locke Jacob’s nemesis (whoever it may be) in the center with his back facing us. What could it mean!?
UPDATE: I just ran across this image that has each character labeled. Though I wouldn’t take it as definite until ABC releases an official version.
My Real Life Connection With the Number Sequence on LOST! April 18, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Personally John, Television, Travel.Tags: ABC, Egypt, LOST, numbers, numerology
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If you’re a Lost fan, get ready to have your mind blown!
April 15 (or 4/15…two of the numbers in the Lost number sequence) has always had a huge importance in my life for so many reasons. Let’s recap.
Firstly, 3 of my VERY close friends have birthdays on this day. Calvin Jones, Matt DeSatnik, and my very good friend from high school, Jenessa Weaver.
I also met a very important friend, Andrew, on April 15, 2007. However, I also lost my uncle on April 15, 2007.
April 15 has always been one of those days that I look forward to living through and one of the days I absolutely dread because of my lost uncle.
Here’s where the Lost connection really comes in to play. If you’ve been watching Lost at all this season, you are probably noticing all of the Egyptian references that are coming in to play. Well, in 2002, Jenessa Weaver and I were driving on April 15 (her birthday). It was pouring down rain, and we were in her 1982 Ford Tempo. While she was taking a ramp on to the interstate we were talking about all of the places on Earth that we want to visit before we die. We were just about to get on to the actual highway when I said, “I want to visit Cairo so badly!” To which Jenessa replied, “Me too! I want to see the pyramids…” Right as she had turned her head to say that to me, the truck in front of us slammed on his breaks, forcing Jenessa to swerve to miss him. We ended up driving over a patch of grass that separated the interstate from the on-ramp, and sliding right in to the median of the interstate which separated the other direction of traffic. By the time the car had stopped skidding and did its two 360 degree turns, we were facing oncoming traffic.
We, of course, survived the minor accident, but it was a very serious and scary situation. As soon as we mentioned Egypt the car in front of us slammed on its breaks and we could have skidded out in to the path of a tractor trailer! A few years later I would lose my 27 year old uncle on the same day. What are the odds?
I know it’s a bit far fetched, but it’s something worth noting and talking about to Lost fans! Does anyone else have any connections with the numbers?
M. Night Shymalan Directing Series Finale of LOST! April 1, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Television.Tags: ABC, LOST, Lostpedia, M. Night Shymalan, scary movies, Signs, Television, The Village
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This could very well be an April Fool’s joke, but Lostpedia is reporting it, so I want to have some confidence. I even looked around for a press release about M. Night Shymalan directing but couldn’t find it. So, it could be.
Either way, it’s an interesting thing to talk about. People on the Lostpedia forums have a mixed reaction. Most of them are saying that it’s an April Fool’s joke, however.
If someone can clear this up, let me know!
