Pilot review: Fringe

Q: How long has he been dead?
A: Five hours.
Q: Question him.

Great ending to a phenomenal pilot. Fringe is the newest creation from the brains behind my favorite show of all time LOST. The premise of the show revolves around an FBI agent, a mad scientist and Charlie Conway from Mighty Ducks. Each week it looks like they are going to tackle another aspect of "Fringe" Science (teleportation, paranormal activity, etc...), and this week introduced us to some sort of chemical that makes a person translucent. (Which was a pretty awesome special effect)

The pilot begins with JJ Abrams infatuation with planes and we are placed on board following one specific passenger who seems to be injecting himself with insulin and flipping out over the turbulence in the air. All of sudden, the insulin guy gets up and runs around the cabin and pandemonium ensues. Next thing you know, every person on board has their face and body melted away by something or someone. Fortunately the pilot was able to put the plane on autopilot and the plane landed safely at Logan Airport (side note-I love how the 3d-location titles are placed throughout the episode) Fast forward to our main character Olivia and her secret-boyfriend/colleague lying in bed and getting simultaneous notice of some incident that happened at Logan airport. Olivia and her beau arrive at the airport almost simultaneously and they are greeted by Alvarez from OZ and Major Daniels from the Wire (who both play great roles in this series). Alvarez or Charlie Francis in this one, informs them that no one is allowed on board without a hazmat suit. After talking her way on board, Olivia and a few others get on the plane and discover the carnage. Pretty graphic stuff for an 8 o'clock show, but next week it moves to 9pm, so I guess its more acceptable at that hour.

Going through the rest of the episode quickly, we witness Olivia's paramour get blown up by some chemical compound but he survives. It is at this point that Olivia seeks out the bad king from Lord of the Rings and Charlie Conway to help her solve whatever is wrong with her partner. The interplay between The Bishops (king and Conway) as father and son was probably the best aspect of the pilot for me. Joshua Jackson seems to have grown into a great actor and I'm glad we have three strong leads between him, Anna Torv and John Noble.

Basically, and without getting too complicated, they use FRINGE science to figure out a antidote to whatever was ailing her partner. The dream sequence where they connect Olivia and her partners brain together was very well done and gives hope for things to come in this series.

All in all, I'm very excited for the future of this show and I look forward to exploring all these Fringe theories that it looks like they will be getting into. I know I didn't speak a lot about the comparisons to LOST, but while it was stylistically similar and a few times i caught myself glimpsing at all the background details like a crazy LOST fanatic would, I really felt this show held up on its own and really won't make people worry about Sci-fi overload when coupled with LOST.

Check it out on Sunday for a repeat of the pilot if you haven't watched already.

Review of: The Brave One

The Brave One is pretty much a 2 man movie, but it was a pleasant surprise. Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard (and his partner to some extent) dominate every reel of film in this one. And I don't mention this as a negative. Both give amazing performances.

This was one of those movies that comes out and I just go "uggh, that looks horrible" and I never give it a shot. However, lately I've been hitting up On Demand to find some movies that I'd otherwise not pay to see in the theater or even pay to rent. In this case, I'm glad I gave it a shot.

Jodie Foster, as unattractive as ever, actually plays the role of cold-blooded vigilante killer to an almost believable level. Getting back to my first point, I can't imagine the type of person that finds foster attractive. She is one of those few women (or men for that matter) that fit into that weird third category of person. Basically she is just a thing, for lack of a better word. There isn't anything remotely attractive about her, but for some reason that doesn't diminish her acting ability.

The movie starts out with Foster and my number one Lostie, Sayid (or Naveen Andrews) taking their dog out for a walk. They meet some unexpected thugs out on the street and without giving away too much, this was the incident that pushed Foster into her vigilante role. At some points in the movie, I asked my wife if Foster was actually Batman.

Howard plays a recently divorced detective who seems to care a lot about his job and protecting people. I thought he was excellent in this role and didn't overplay one scene he was in. I was actually questioning why his wife divorced him in the first place as he seemed a well-adjusted guy with a decent job and seemingly good personality. I finally just chalked it up to the directors wanting to add a little sexual tension between him and Foster and it worked better that he was single.

Even with the vigilante stuff that would probably seem very unbelievable in real life, the movie never really felt that out of touch. They never pushed the killing too far or emphasized Foster as some sort of superhero and in the end, I think that's what helped the movie work. As for the ending, it was very well done and actually probably the most satisfying resolution you could have wanted once you sit through this one.

All in all, a pretty decent flick and it gets a well deserved Guilty verdict.

If you have the time, I definitely suggest going out and renting this one.