J.J. Abrams | pinartarhan.com

Fringe starring Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv & John Noble

Posted on December 15, 2010 Written by ripitup

Fringe starring Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson & John Noble

Pilot Episode

Boston.

FBI Agents Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) and John Scott (Mark Valley) are having a secret relationship, as agents in the same unit are discouraged from gettting romantically involved. However one late phone call to a bizarre incident shows that their romance is the least of their problems.

The Passengers have died in the most mysterious circumstances and Homeland Security is also involved in the investigation. It doesn’t help that the agent in charge is Phillip Broyles (Lance Reddick) is not the biggest fan of Anna.

While Olivia and John chase a lead, John becomes exposed to the same strange material that killed the people on the plane. His tissues thicken and he goes into a coma, giving Anna a limited amount of time to save him. She learns that her best chance is the genius scientist Walter Bishop (John Noble) who has been in a mental institution for the past 17 years. Her only access can be through his son Peter (Joshua Jackson), a guy with an IQ about 190 and would rather spend time in Iraq then see his dad…

Olivia manages to get Peter to see Walter and have Peter sign him out. But Walter’s methods seem just as insane as she is. Will she be able to save John? And is the plane incident only the beginning of a series of highly disturbing events?

What’s to Come & Characters

Olivia eventually makes peace with Reddick and tries to come to terms with what John had been keeping from her. Reddick recruits her to investigate similarly weird phenomena that can not be solved without Peter and Walter, so they become a part of this elite team.

Peter doesn’t like his father’s past involvement with this Fringe Science, as every case seems they run across happens to be at least partly Walter’s fault. However he likes working with Anna and ends up getting to know his dad better. He also often finds himself translating his father’s language to Anna and others, as well as using his genius IQ to help matters.

There is a talk of The Pattern and a gigantic corporation called Massive Dynamic, founded by William Bell – a scientist who used to be Walter’s lab partner. Massive Dynamic seems to be behind all Patter- related things. However being a powerful company and ever- playing the helpful party, Olivia finds herself asking help from the woman running the company – Walter’s right arm- Nina Sharp (Blair Brown)…

Creators, Alias & Lost

Fringe TV Series was created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci. If you like this mystery/thriller genre with a sci-fi touch, you probably heard of J.J. Abrams who created the hit series Alias and Lost.

Fringe’s plot differs vastly from the previous shows of course but as a hardcore fan of Alias, I can’t help but noticing some fun similarities. The parallels should probably be the topic of another show but if Massive Dynamic reminded you of SD-6 and Nina Sharp reminded you of Arvin Sloan, we are on the same page: ) )

The Verdict

Creating highly engaging and addictive TV shows is J.J. Abrams’ specialty. And while I wasn’t able to get caught up in the hype of Lost, I enjoyed the show to a certain extent. But I always felt that it lacked the heart of Alias and well, while Alias still remains my favorite, Fringe is a close second.

I didn’t think I’d be interested in fringe science until Fringe started but now I can’t get enough of the episodes. The show comes up with semi-surreal plots that are too realistic to be sci-fi and too fantastic to be realistic.

The characters are interesting and the cast is pretty good. However the stars of this show are the episodes themselves. The show is currently in its 3^rd season.

I really hope J.J. doesn’t lose interest in this one and leaves it hanging as he moves on to greener pastures (shows).

9/10 from me. Rated at 8.8 on IMDB.

Fun Note:

It seems like Anna Torv and Mark Valley really got caught up in playing a couple in love, since they got married in 2008. They are separated now, though.

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Recommended Posts, Movies & Series

Alias Review- TV series created by J.J. Abrams

Forever Young- movie starring Mel Gibson & Elijah Wood- written by J.J. Abrams

Regarding Henry- movie starring Harrison Ford & Annette Bening – written by J.J. Abrams

The Shadow Dancer- romantic drama starring Joshua Jackson, Harvey Keitel & Claire Forlani

Regarding Henry starring Harrison Ford and Annette Bening

Posted on June 3, 2010 Written by ripitup

Regarding Henry starring Harrison Ford and Annette Bening. Image from http://www.landrethonline.com/Gerry%27s%20Movies/images/4499f.jpg

Henry Turner (Harrison Ford) is a successful and ambitious lawyer who doesn’t really care much about right or wrong. He is not exactly an affectionate man and although he seems to be getting along OK with his wife Sarah (Annette Bening), he is stern and not really loving towards his 12-year-old daughter Rachel.

One day things change completely when Henry gets shot in the head during a robbery. He doesn’t remember who he is. Moreover, he can’t (remember how to) walk or talk. Sarah does his best to help him out. Henry’s best friend becomes Bradley (Bill Nunn)- the physical therapist who is literally teaching how to get back on his feet. When Henry recovers, his speech and walking go back to normal while he still doesn’t remember who he is. He goes back to live with his family. He tries to figure out who he is and he gets to know more and more about his old self, he doesn’t really like what he finds out. As he reconstructs his life, he is a loving and modest fan. And although his family adores the new Henry, his boss, friends and colleagues aren’t all that thrilled and more complications will get in Henry’s way.

Regarding Henry is a wonderful emotional journey with touching performances from all of the cast, especially Ford, Bening and Mikki Allen who plays the daughter. The story is wonderfully humane. For the first time in my movie-watching years, this is the movie that made me a true admirer for Harrison Ford’s talent as an actor. Sure, he is a great action hero and I was pleasantly surprised by him in Six Days Seven Nights, where he showed more comedic talent. But here Ford shows an entirely different side. His role starts as arrogant, cold, charismatic and confident. He then goes through a bewildered adjusting process where his character gains innocence. Later he is eager to learn and love and makes for a great transition. It is always a pleasure to watch Bening on screen and Mikki Allen is really good as Rachel. It is a film by Mike Nichols who loves directing different genres. Remember his Wolf? Or Closer? The fact that this story is written by J.J Abrams (creator of shows Lost and Alias) may be a surprise for Lost fans. After all, this story has no mystery, suspense or action. It is all about life, feelings, family and love. But for those of you who have seen 1992’s Forever Young (starring Mel Gibson, Elijah Wood and Jamie Lee Curtis) will make perfect sense- as that timeless romance/comedy/sci-fi as it was also written by J.J. Abrams certainly can create and write great stories, regardless of the genre.

Regarding Henry is a 1991 movie, rated 6.5 on IMDB- voted by over 12.600 people. I will admit that it is not one of the most impressive or original scripts ever written but this doesn’t change the fact that this is one solid and heart-warming film. I think it deserves a 7, at the very least. Oh, obviously, do stay away if you don’t enjoy drama.

Harrison Ford Movie Reviews:

Six Days Seven Nights

Firewall

Air Force One

Alias TV Show starring Jennifer Garner, Michael Vartan, Bradley Cooper and Victor Garber

Posted on November 2, 2009 Written by ripitup

Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow in Alias — Some of Sydey’s many disguises in Alias

Before 2001, I had no idea who Michael Vartan, Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper were. I had no idea the terrific actor that is Victor Garber existed and that Ron Rifkin made such a great villain. In 2001 – before Lost- there was Alias. The connection between the two shows? The creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams. The two shows could not have been more different. Yes, both include mystery, some unexplained supernatural possibilities (Alias will remember “Rambaldi”) and lots of action. But for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Lost became the phenomenon that it still is. Sure it is captivating and all, but Alias had created an addiction in me that Lost didn’t. For those of you who never caught Alias, here’s the plot (although I should mention that the order we are given the story is more complicated & intriguing than my orderly version).

THE BACKGROUND

Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow

Sydney Bristow (Jennifer Garner) is a promising college student, with a great boyfriend Danny (Edward Atterton) and loving friends (Will and Francie; played by Bradley Cooper and Merrin Dungey). Her estranged father Jack (Victor Garber) is a businessman she barely talks to and her mother died when she was a kid.

What she told Danny and her friends:

Graduation is taking a tad longer, since she is “working at the finance department of a bank called Credit Dauphine”.

REALITY, as Sydney knows it:

It’s not really a bank. It is SD-6, a secret branch of the CIA and Sydney is a secret agent there. She fights well, speaks many languages and knows her hi-tech gadgets, prepared for every mission by the fast -talking and nice geek Marshall

(Kevin Weisman). Every time she tells her friends, she is going on a business trip, she is actually going on a deadly assignments with her partner/trusted friend Dixon (Carl Lumbly). But Danny proposes ans she feels obliged to tell him. So she does..

He gets into shock and leaves a drunken message on her machine. The agency guys has him killed. Why would CIA kill an innocent civillian? They wouldn’t. They also wouldn’t go after her to kill her.

REALITY

She’s rescued by her absent businessman father and is told the truth: SD-6 is not CIA, in fact SD-6 is an enemy of CIA. Also, he is not a businessman; but a senior SD-6 agent. He offeres Sydney an escape route. But Sydney is upset and she wants vengeance. So she proves herself useful to her boss Arvin Sloane (Ron Rifkin). She further proves her loyalty by undergoing tests/interrogations and is cleared. After all, she is the best agent they have. Then she goes to the real CIA and joins them.

There she meets her “handler” Michael Vaughn (Michael Vartan– the guy who is supposed to tell her about the counter-missions. Oh,that’s right! Now she is only pretending to be loyal to SD-6, while being true to the actual CIA. Now each mission has a counter one, making the timing harder, the missions more dangerous. She also has to pull this off under the unsuspecting nose of her SD-6 partner, who is genuinely a good guy that doesn’t know what SD-6 is really up to…

Then of course her father isn’t really only SD-6. He is also CIA, and he is loyal to them, not Sloan.

It is full of action. Car chases, gadgets ( lipstick with cameras and all that nice stuff), disguises, plane crashes, travelling all over the world- even 3-4 countries in each episode back to her resident location: Los Angeles.

MISSIONS

Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow

Michael Vartan and Jennifer Garner in Alias.

Of course as smart, gorgeous and dangerous as she is, Sydney is only human and taking all of the below very badly:

Arvin Sloane:

*Arvin is the man whom she regarded as a father figure until he turned out to be a psychopath and her fiancée killed. He also sent men to kill her. We also know he has lied to her everyday, since her recruitment. Now she has to see him everyday and smile to his face; so that she can bring the whole organization down when the time comes.

Not to mention the fact that she has to live with the fact that she worked for that organization for 7 years, thinking that she was helping the government whereas she had been betraying it.

Jack Bristow

* What is worse than an absent father? Probably a father who lied to you all your life, and seems to be revealing the truth at his own convenience: Oh yes, he has more secrets. He is not just SD-6, he is also CIA-a double agent. He also seems to be deprived of emotion. The guy has a poker face that makes him a great agent and the social bonding skills that make Hugh Laurie’s House seem like a teddy bear. He does love his daughter but he really has to work on the honesty issue. Her mother may not have been a school teacher after all. Telling what happened to her will be a spoiler, sorry…

WILL & FRANCIE

Will and Francie played by Bradley Cooper and Merrin Dungey

*Oh, she has great friends who know nothing about this secret life so she can only talk about trivial stuff with them and hang out. They love her and for the lives of them can not figure out why Sydney doesn’t leave her boring bank job. Pl?us, Will is a journalist and nosy by nature; and he suspects Danny’s murder was no ordinary crime. If he gets close, he too will be killed so she has to protect him from himself. It gets tricky to lead a double life when you live with one of your friends (Francie) and the other is fixed on solving your dead fiancé’s mystery.

DANIEL HECHT

* She has to live with the fact that her fiancée Danny was killed by her boss, and because she told him who she is.




MICHAEL VAUGHN



If her cover is blown, and he is discovered to be of CIA, they are both screwed (as in risking to be murdered by SD-6)…It really doesn’t help matters that they keep getting closer and become increasingly attracted to each other…

Their relationship never lacks adrenaline, friendship, honesty, sexual chemistry, bottled up feelings and not to mention the fact that they both face death almost everyday. It is nerve-wrecking to go on missions and fight together on the field- without being detected by SD-6 and it is worse for Michael to sit and watch as Sydney overtakes one deadly mission after another. So she can tell Michael anything. But she can’t even go out with him. Another thing about her life that drives her mad.

This is as close to a date it gets for Syndey Bristow and her handler Michael Vaughn. She’s being briefed about her missions while pretending to be too strangers streching on the benches.

So this eventually happens: Sydney and Vaughn get together. But how many episodes does it take? You are just going to have to see it for yourselves.

The Guest Stars

Yes, of course each episode has many guest stars but some of them are remarkably famous and it was certainly fun to see them in those kick-ass episodes: Ethan Hawke, Christian Slater and Quentin Tarantino.

Ethan Hawke appears in Alias episode Double Agent (Season 2, Episode 14)

Christian Slater appears in two episodes of Alias: Endgame (season 2, episodes 15 & 19)

Quentin Tarantino appears as McKenas Cole in 4 episodes of Alias.

TO SUM UP:

Season 1 is brilliant with an incredible season finale.

Season 2 does not dissapoint. Moreover it features guest stars that I love; such as Ethan Hawke and Christian Slater.

The whole season is amazing and the finale is arguably even more shocking than the first season’s. In season, 3 the show is still good- you hardly get upset with the script but with some actions of some characters (major actions of major characters, to be exact) but after season 3…The show is no longer addictive. It lose its vibe. The characters and their actions aren’t interesting anymore. The story twists are sort of desperate and you say “Come on,what the…?” a lot. Don’t even get me started on the 5th season. Of course they are worth watching in the sense that you want to know what eventually will happen to characters you have come to care about but still, if you quit with the 3rd, I am not gonna blame you.

My guess is J.J Abrams found a new show idea that he liked (Lost) and fell out of love with Alias. Writers wrote with the philosophy of “anything goes” and since this is not a soap opera, they failed.

However I watch the first 3 (and especially 1st &2nd) seasons over and over. After all, real life is never going to get that interesting and exciting. It is fun to be in a world of lies, deceit, passion, fights and chases and espionage for about 40 minutes each episode.