Closet Sci-Fi Geek

Site Downtime

My webhost was having problems all week…hopefully it is fixed…if this type of downtime continues I’ll have to move the site to a new host…so if you try to access the site and it’s not available, that’s why.

But like I said…it’s hopefully fixed…I hope.

Lost Theories: My Head is Hurting

Lost is starting to piss me off. I consider myself to be a smart person so why can’t I figure out what the hell is going on? (And why don’t they just spill the beans already?)

I’m of two minds on this. One, the actual concept is so simple we’ll all be going “d’oh” when we find out. Two, the writers don’t know what the hell they are doing and they are spinning a convoluted yarn that will be as unsatisfying when it wraps up as the X-Files UFO conspiracy was.

Here’s what I’ve observed (note: spoilers from the last episode):

1. Desmond can predict possible futures.
2. There’s a “magic box” on the island that produces what you imagine, according to Ben.
3. Ben produced Locke’s father at the end of the last episode.
4. Ben is in a wheelchair and isn’t healing miraculously, but Locke did…
5. All the characters are interrelated in some bizarre way in the “real world,” in ways that are beyond logic. (Like Jack and Claire sharing the same father…c’mon!)
6. Ben grew up on the island, and doesn’t want other people to leave.
7. The Others are not the Dharma Initiative…they are the “Hostiles” that fought the Dharma Initiative….but…
8. Danielle said that the Others were sick and had caught some sort of disease.
9. The outside world has only been seen once, where there were some guys in arctic weather and they called Penny.
10. Both Locke and Sun have had miraculous healings, where Locke can walk and Sun can have a child (ooorrrr…Sun got pregnant by the bald Asian guy).
11. Two of the Others wanted to die, but they wouldn’t kill themselves…yet they were grateful when someone else killed them.

From this I can potentially gather (and none of this is new theory-wise):

The memories that the survivors have are false and have been implanted somehow, that’s why everyone sees everyone else in their memories. Thus, Locke wasn’t healed. Locke was never in a wheelchair in the first place. Sun was always able to have children.

Ben was able to produce Locke’s father because Locke’s father really isn’t his father but just some other dude on the island who was imprinted into Locke’s memories.

Desmond does have real memories…but he also has psychic gifts…note that when he ran into Charlie in his flashback, Charlie was not famous but just a guy on the sidewalk playing guitar for donations. Was Charlie ever famous? Probably not.

Thus I can figure: The island has the ability to magnify psychic abilities. The island has the ability to materialize thought. Maybe it magnifies whatever your worst tendencies are and you create a personality based on all your internal BS.

Here’s another puzzling question: Why did those two Others want to be killed? Why couldn’t they commit suicide? Would they have to come back if they killed themselves? Does the island not let you kill yourself? Do people have eternal life on the island?

Well, I don’t think I’m getting any farther with all this speculation. One thing for sure: I do not believe the flashbacks the survivors have are real. I am even more convinced now that we know that Locke “survived” a fall from eight stories, and his dad just “happens” to be on the island.

Here are some other theories:

Aliens
Black Holes
Atlantis

V for Vendetta

Natalie Portman stars with Hugo Weaving in this comic book adaption that portrays an Orwellian Britain in the future. “V” is our hero/anti-hero, a masked man whose face we never get to see, but whose erudite voice attempts to charm and persuade for his cause.

I loved this and I hated it; hated it because Hugo Weaving’s voice behind a creepy-looking mask gets kind of annoying at times. This is not his fault; it’s the ridiculous comic-book dialogue he is forced to speak. Portman does a fine job as the female protagonist, but the semi love story that evolves here still doesn’t feel quite right.

I loved the ending; it was surprisingly inspiring, and overall the film had an important point to make about governments gone bad. I give this one a B.

New Closet Sci-Fi Geek Forums Coming Soon

Some have asked me why they can’t get a new user account on the discussion forums. It’s because phpBB has really crappy spam control and the boards are getting 99% spammer sign-ups.

I’ve installed SMF for bulletin board software instead, but I still have to get it configured and looking pretty. Family is coming in town Wednesday morning so it’ll be put online sometime after they leave.

BBC’s Robin Hood

No, it’s not sci-fi, but I figure if you’re a sci-fi geek there’s a good chance you might also be interested in swashbuckling type stuff like a show about Robin Hood.

The BBC’s new Robin Hood series, which premiered in 2006 across the pond, has just premiered in the states on BBC America. I caught the first episode, not really expecting much. My interest in Robin Hood hasn’t extended much past the Errol Flynn version (and that’s just because I’m an Errol Flynn fan). Still, if there’s some swashbuckling to be had, I’ll at least give it a shot.

My concern, actually, was that this new television version of Robin Hood would strive to be too realistic and “dark,” much in the same vein as Battlestar Galactica. Fortunately for me (and not so fortunately for the purists), this Robin Hood has just the right balance of humor, swashbuckling stunts, and a little bit of the serious to make it a truly fun ride.

I do realize there are others out there who have decried this show for being a bunch of claptrap - and if you’re looking for a very serious version of Robin Hood, this isn’t it. If, on the other hand, you want to see a Robin Hood that spurs on your imagination and lives right on the edge of impossible, then you might like this one.

Although our Robin is a bit youngish, I thought he was terrific (and, excuse me, very cute). He may not be as cleanshaven as Errol Flynn, but he has that special charisma that an onscreen Robin Hood should have when it comes to the ladies. (Kevin Costner…ouch.)

The show’s pacing is good, with just the right balance of intrigue and battles. In the first episode, we saw arrows flying, swords a-clashing, and lots of gymastics.

If I had one gripe to the show’s creators it would: Hellooooo, women did not wear such obvious make-up back in 1192!!

Otherwise, I thought this was a blast, and I am surprisingly itchy to see the next installment.