"Lies and Consequence" [PG] - 3/4

"LIES AND CONSEQUENCE"

PART III

Olivia, Darryl and one of their colleagues, Marcus Anderson, stood near the United Airlines ticket counter; while uniformed cops led a handcuffed suspect away. The three police inspectors had appeared at the San Francisco International Airport to prevent a murder suspect from leaving the country.

"How did you two know that Gregor Cutter was the killer?" Marcus demanded. "And how did you know that he was leaving the country for Hong Kong? Carlotta and I had Klebb down as the one who killed Peter Zoukov. How did you . . .?"

Darryl sighed. "It's called good old-fashioned detective work, Marcus. You should try it sometimes. Olivia and I finally discovered that Klebb actually had an alibi."

"And we checked the airlines to see if any of Zoukov's partners was leaving the country," Olivia added. She shrugged her shoulders. "Cutter turned out to be the guy. Even better, he had the murder weapon on him. Which goes to show that even killers can be idiots." She glanced to her left and spotted a familiar figure striding along the airport terminal with a small entourage.

Darryl also noticed. "Hey, isn't that Jason Dean?"

"That's Jason all right," Olivia answered. "I wonder where he's going."

"I'd be leaving the country too, after yesterday's publicity." Darryl shook his head. "Frogs and some badly-dressed French woman at a business conference. I wonder how that happened."

Olivia straightened up. "I don't know. Maybe I'll find out. Excuse me." She walked away from her colleagues. It took her over a minute to catch up with the self-made billionaire. "Jason?" He and his companions paused in their tracks. "Leaving the country, already?"

Jason's handsome face relaxed into a slight smile. "Olivia. Arresting someone?"

"Of course. Are you going back to Hong Kong, so soon? You and Phoebe haven't been back that long."

A heavy sigh left the billionaire's face. He turned to his assistants and said, "I'll meet you on the plane." Then he said to Olivia, "There's a bar over there. Let's get a drink."

The couple made their way to an Oriental-themed bar. While Olivia sipped from a bottle of water, Jason nursed a glass of bourbon. "I suppose you've heard about the frogs and the French lady at my conference, yesterday."

"Yeah. I . . ."

Again, Jason sighed. "That woman . . . was Phoebe. Apparently, she didn't react very well to me breaking up with her."

The news stunned Olivia. "You and Phoebe broke up?"

"Yep."

"And she was the . . . the badly-dressed French woman?" Olivia shook her head in disbelief. "Where did the frogs come in?"

After taking a sip of bourbon, Jason stared directly into Olivia's eyes. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but since your brother Harry already knows . . ."

Now Olivia understood. "Oh, I see. You finally know about Phoebe and her sisters. About them being witches. Well, after a fashion."

"So you do know. Funny . . . I just found out two nights ago, when they all magically appeared in the . . ." Jason paused. "What did you mean by 'after a fashion'?"

Olivia explained, "Well, the Halliwells believe that since they have magical abilities, they're automatically witches. But in order to be a real witch, one has to be initiated - like a priest or a priestess. I was initiated as a witch when I was seventeen."

Jason's eyes widened in shock. "Wait a minute! You mean to say that you're like Phoebe? A . . ."

"A witch. Yep." Olivia took a sip of water. "In fact, my entire family are witches."

Still dazed, Jason asked, "And you have magical abilities . . . like Phoebe and her sisters?"

Olivia nodded. "That's right. Only, my natural abilities are a little different."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because we were never serious about each other," Olivia calmly replied. "As I recalled, we had only dated for barely two months."

A heavy sigh followed before Jason leaned back into his chair. "And if we had been serious about each other?"

"I would have told you."

The billionaire remarked sarcastically, "That's good to know."

Olivia hesitated before she asked, "How did this whole mess with the frogs and Phoebe's French accent begin, anyway?" Jason told her about a spell cast by Richard Montana - one that had turned Phoebe into Mata Hari. Olivia frowned. "A French Mata Hari? I thought she was Dutch."

Shaking his head, Jason replied, "Yeah, I didn't understand that either."

"So, you had broken up with Phoebe because of the spell?"

Bitterness crept into Jason's eyes. "No. I broke up with her, because she had been keeping a secret from me for nearly a year. Phoebe had claimed that she loved me. But apparently, she couldn't trust me with her big secret." He took a big swig of bourbon. "What about Turner? I suppose that he knows about you."

Olivia suppressed a smile. "He found out about me, five hours after we first met."

"And Phoebe?"

Nodding, Olivia added, "He knew about her before their marriage." She added under her breath, "And she found out about him, too."

Apparently, Jason had not overheard Olivia's last remark for he retorted, "I wonder how long it took Phoebe to be honest to him." He drained the rest of his bourbon. "I suppose that her . . . um, abilities had led them to a divorce? Or was it something else?"

Olivia hesitated. "It was something else. You'll just have to ask Phoebe one day."

"Fat chance of that happening," Jason muttered. "I don't plan on coming back."

"Hmmm. May I assume there won't be a chance of a reconciliation between you two?"

Jason's blue eyes narrowed bitterly. "Worried about your husband and Phoebe getting back together?"

A dismissive snort escaped from Olivia's mouth. "I believe those fears had disappeared after what happened, last summer." Then she paused and gasped aloud, realizing that she had said more than she had intended.

"Last summer?" Jason frowned at Olivia. "What happened last summer?"

For the umpteenth time in her life, Olivia understood why her family and friends have complained about her big mouth. With a sigh, she said, "It's nothing."

But Jason refused to be deterred. "What happened last summer?" he demanded in a hard voice.

Might as well tell the truth, Olivia decided. She took a deep breath. "Cole and I had something of a breakup, last summer. Around July. It's a long story and Piper's ex was involved. Needless to say that at the same time, Cole and Phoebe had finally reconciled over their divorce. After my break-up with Cole, they dated for a while. Three weeks."

Jason scowled. "Great! That's just great! Another secret kept from me. What happened?"

With a shrug, Olivia replied, "It didn't last, Jason. Apparently, Cole and Phoebe couldn't go back to the way it used to be between them. So . . . Cole broke it off."

"He . . . broke it off with Phoebe?"

Olivia murmured, "Yeah. Anyway, Cole and I reconciled after that. And the rest is history. So to speak."

Jason's mouth tightened into a grim line. "Remember when you had asked if there was a chance of a reconciliation between Phoebe and me? Well that chance has disappeared for good." He shook his head in disgust. "I can't believe it! All those secrets she had been keeping from me! I can't be with a woman like that."

"Jason, everyone keeps secrets. Even from loved ones."

The billionaire retorted, "Not secrets that important!"

Olivia sighed. "I guess you have a point." Her cell phone rang. She answered it. "Hello?" It was Darryl, demanding to know of her whereabouts. "I'm in a bar, Darryl. Sorry about that. I'll see you in a few minutes." She hung up. Smiling wistfully, she stood up and added, "I've got to go. Look Jason, I'm sorry that it had ended badly between you and Phoebe. I guess you're serious about not returning to San Francisco."

Jason nodded. "Yeah, I am. I bet that Elise Rothman will be relieved. I won't be peering over her shoulders anymore."

Olivia bent down and planted a light kiss on the billionaire's cheek. "Don't be a stranger, okay? And don't stay away from San Francisco too long."

Miraculously, a smile curved Jason's mouth. "Hey, give me a call if you and Turner ever pop up in Asia."

"I will." Olivia gave her former boyfriend a quick wave and walked away. Before she left the bar, the redhead shot one last glance at the billionaire. His morose expression had returned. Poor Jason, she thought. He deserved a better ending than this. And then she left the bar to find her colleagues.


END OF PART III

"THE ISLAND" (2005) Review

"THE ISLAND" (2005) Review

The summer of 2005 saw the release of a science-fiction thriller called "THE ISLAND". Directed by Michael Bay, the movie proved to be a box office failure in the U.S., but a hit with overseas moviegoers.

Many have described "THE ISLAND" as a a pastiche of "escape-from-dystopia" science fiction films of the 1960s and 1970s like "FAHRENHEIT 451", "THX 1138" and "LOGAN'S RUN". The movie begins with a young man named Lincoln Echo Six, who lives in an isolated compound which strictly regulates its inhabitants' lives. The Overseers control every aspect of the lives of Lincoln, his friend Jordan Two Delta and the other residents from diet and free time activities, to social relationships. The inhabitants hope to win a lottery to go to "the Island", the only place on Earth not contaminated by a deadly pathogen.

Already dissatisfied with his life, Lincoln illicitly visits a power-plant basement where his friend, technician James McCord, works. There, he discovers a live moth in the ventilation shaft, leading him to realize that the outside world might not be contaminated. When Lincoln releases the mother, he follows it to another section, where he witnesses the murders of two lottery winners - one after childbirth, and the other in the process of having his liver harvested. When Jordan becomes the next lottery winner, Lincoln rescues her from a similar fate and the two make their escape from the facility. While the facility's medical official, Dr. Merrick, hires mercenary Albert Laurent and his men to find Lincoln and Jordan, the pair learns from McCord the truth about their existence - they are clones of wealthy sponsors, who intend to use them for spare parts or surrogate motherhood.

"THE ISLAND" received mixed reviews from critics. Some complained that the movie seemed to be an uneasy mixture of a science-fiction thriller and an action film. Others complain that the movie did not handled the ethical issue of cloning very well. I might as well be honest. I like "THE ISLAND" very much. In fact, it is one of four Michael Bay movies that I consider favorites of mine. And I am not a big Michael Bay fan. Unlike many critics, I thought the movie did an excellent job of mixing science-fiction creepiness and high octane action. Well . . . most of the time. Now, I would not consider "THE ISLAND" to be perfect. But my complaints about the movie are different from those made by other critics. Well . . . not really.

A good number of critics had a problem with the movie's action sequences. They felt it was too over-the-top. I was fine with most of the action sequences. But there were two that failed to entertain me. Lincoln and Jordan's arrival in downtown Los Angeles led to a high octane chase that involved the pair, the Los Angeles Police and Laurent and his team. It was too much and too damn confusing. I found some of the stunts - especially those that involved the two clones hanging from high-rise building to improbable to swallow. It was just too over-the-top for my tastes. I also had a problem with Lincoln's fight with Dr. Merrick in the finale. It involved wires, glass and some rather confusing photography from Mauro Fiore. I have one last complaint. What in the hell happened to the clones at the end of the movie? I realize that they managed to escape the facility. But what happened to them following their escape? Like Lincoln and Jordan, they were adults with the mentality of adolescents or younger. Unlike Lincoln and Jordan, they had no experiences of life outside of the facility. What happened to them?

But for me, the good outweighed the bad in "THE ISLAND". There were a good number of action sequences that I actually enjoyed. And they include Laurent's confrontation with Lincoln and his sponsor, the real Tom Lincoln; and Lincoln and Jordan's encounter with Laurent's team at the Yucca train station in Arizona. But the best sequence for me proved to be Lincoln and Jordan's escape from the facility. I found it absolutely thrilling and well shot by Bay and Fiore. The action sequences also benefited from Nigel Phelps' colorful production designs and especially from the movie's special effects team.

The above action sequences were not the only aspects of "THE ISLAND" that I enjoyed. The movie also featured some rather interesting scenes that I found either creepy, very dramatic or rather funny. Screenwriters Caspian Tredwell-Owen, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci did an excellent job in setting up what I believe is one of the film's best moments - namely the two murders that he witnessed and his discovery of the truth behind the facility. And the latter sequence was truly frightening, but in a subtle way. The most jarring moment proved to be Starkweather Two Delta's attempt to evade the facility's guards and have his organs harvested. That scene really had me on edge. Another wonderful scene proved to be one between Laurent and Dr. Merrick, in which the former begins to harbor doubt about the activities of his client's cloning facility. Lead actor was allowed to strut his stuff in a scene that featured Lincoln and Jordan's meeting with the former's sponsor, billionaire boat designer Tom Lincoln. I found it creepy, yet rather funny. However, the best scene - at least for me - proved to be James McCord's revelation that Lincoln and Jordan were clones. This scene was so well acted and so funny that not only is it my favorite one in the film, but . . . it is just a favorite of mine, period. If I had to list my ten favorite movie scenes of all time, it would be on the list.

I thought the cast was impeccable. Instead of using an American accent, Ewan McGregor used a Canadian accent for his role as Lincoln Six Echo. And it worked. If I must be honest, I have never been a fan of his American accents. And for his performance as Tom Lincoln, the actor used his own Scottish accent. Whether he was the clone Lincoln or the billionaire Tom Lincoln, McGregor was brilliant. I believe that his performance in this movie is among his best work ever. "THE ISLAND" turned out to be the first time I ever became aware of Scarlett Johansson. And she not only impressed me with her performance as the surprisingly strong-willed Jordan, but also made me realized what a strong screen presence she possessed. What I liked about her performance is that beneath Jordan's projected facade of delicacy and charm, laid a tough young woman who also proved to be rather observant of other people. And Johansson did a great job with her role.

The movie's supporting cast included Sean Bean, who portrayed Dr. Merrick, the cloning facility's administrator. One of the best things I can say about Bean is that he is an actor who strikes me as being a persistently first-rate chameleon. He can play hero, villain or otherwise at the drop of the hat. And while his Merrick is obviously a bad guy, he is a very subtle and at times, an emotional one. Djimon Hounsou portrayed the Afro-French mercenary, Albert Laurent. And like Bean, he also gave a first-rate and very subtle performance. In fact, Hounsou's Laurent seemed like an enigma to me. Thanks to his performance, he deliberately made it hard for the audience to surmise whether he was a true villain or someone who might prove to be an ally for the two protagonists.

"THE ISLAND" also provided comic relief from first-rate actors such as Ethan Phillips, Kim Coates, and Brian Stepanek. Michael Clarke Duncan gave a brief, yet very effective performance as Starkweather Two Delta, the doomed clone whose elation at being chosen to live on "the island" became despair over discovering that he was being operated on for his organs. It was a great moment for the Oscar-nominated actor. But my favorite performance came from Steve Buscemi, who portrayed Lincoln's friend, engineer James McCord. Remember my rhapsody over the scene featuring McCord, Lincoln and Jordan? Well, he was mainly responsible for making it so memorable for me. Mind you, both McGregor and Johansson also contributed to the scene with some excellent acting. But Buscemi made it for me. I believe it was one of his finest moments on screen - big and small.

I will not claim that "THE ISLAND" is a perfect film. It had a few action scenes that seemed over-the-top for me. And I believe it could have been more clearer about the fates of the clones at the end of the movie. But I cannot deny that it was an entertaining film with an intriguing plot. And for me, it worked, due to Michael Bay's energetic direction and a superb cast led by Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson.

"LOST" (2004-2010): Favorite Character Centric Episodes - Part III

Below is Part III of a list of my favorite episodes featuring "LOST" characters:



"LOST" (2004-2010): FAVORITE CHARACTER CENTRIC EPISODES - Part III


Claire Littleton



1. (1.10) "Raised By Another" - Claire endures a series of bad dreams of someone attacking her, which leads to Hurley checking the plane's passenger list. Flashbacks reveals Claire's discovery of her pregnancy and a psychic urging her not to hand over the baby for adoption.




2. (2.15) "Maternity Leave" - When Aaron becomes sick, Claire, Kate and Danielle Rousseau travel to where Claire was held captive, an abandoned Dharma medical station, in the hope of finding a cure. Flashbacks reveal her memories of being a captive of the Others.





John Locke



1. (3.13) "The Man From Tallahassee" - Locke, Sayid, and Kate encounter the Others' homes for the first time and find Jack relatively happy amongst them. Flashbacks reveal how an encounter with his father left Locke paralyzed.




2. (5.07) "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham" - This episode featured Locke's efforts to reunite the Oceanic Six and return them to the island.




3. (1.04) "Walkabout" - Locke leads an expedition to hunt boars, which leads to his first encounter with the Smoke Monster. Flashbacks reveal that he was in a wheelchair before Oceanic 815's crash.




4. (1.19) "Ex Deus Machina" - While searching for a means to open the hatch, Locke discovers that he is losing sensation in his legs. And both he and Boone find a Beechcraft 18 teetering on the edge of a cliff. Flashbacks reveal Locke's first meetings with his parents.





Charlie Pace



1. (3.21) "Greatest Hits" - Desmond Hume has another vision of Charlie's death, but this time his death ultimately will result in Claire's rescue. Meanwhile, the survivors discover that an attack by the others is even more imminent than originally expected.




2. (1.15) "Homecoming" - Claire is back among the survivors, but still has no memory beyond the plane flight. Ethan confronts Charlie, threatening to kill the other castaways one by one until he gets Claire back, leading the former rock star to take action. In his flashbacks, Charlie tries to get drug money by stealing from a rich girl.





Hugo "Hurley" Reyes



1. (4.01) "The Beginning of the End" - Upon learning that Penny Widmore did not send the freighter to find Desmond, the survivors of Oceanic 815 split into two groups led by Jack and Locke. Hurley deals with being one of the "Oceanic Six" survivors in the flashforwards.




2. (1.18) "Numbers" - Hurley finds that some of Rousseau's documents contain the repeated numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42; the same numbers that he had used to win a lottery jackpot. Hurley sets off on his own to find Rousseau.





Jack Shephard



1. (3.22-3.23) "Through the Looking Glass" - Jack's plans to kill a group of Others bent on kidnapping some of the castaway women backfire. The episode also featured scenes of Jack spiraling in drugs and alcohol during his off-island life.




2. (6.14) "The Candidate" - Sawyer and Jack hatch a plan to divert the Man in Black's attention and leave the island without him on Widmore's submarine, but disastrous consequences await them. In the flash sideways, Jack investigates the cause of Locke's paralysis and offers treatment.




3. (1.11) "All the Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues" - Jack, Kate, Locke and Boone engaged in a search for Claire and Charlie, who had been kidnapped by Other spy Ethan Rom.




4. (2.11) "The Hunting Party" - Jack leads an expedition to search for Michael, who has left to find the kidnapped Walt. Flashbacks revealed the last days of Jack's marriage.