Josh Holloway joins the cast of 'Mission: Impossible IV'

(This news feature was written by me for the site www.thefilmpilgrim.com, on which it can also be found)

'Lost' fans rejoice - we have more Holloway heading our way. The 'Lost' star is in final negotiations to appear in the as yet untitled fourth Mission: Impossible installment, in his first major role since the hit show wrapped up this year.

J.J. Abrams (who was the executive producer on 'Lost'), having directed Mission: Impossible 3, is only co-writing and producing this time around, with directing duties being handed over to Brad Bird, whose previous directing credits (curiously) are limited to children’s films such as The Incredibles and Ratatouille.

Abrams, as expected, is making sure that the crew and ever growing cast remain tight-lipped on any details about the film.

Starring alongside Holloway and Tom Cruise will be Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker, The Town), as well as franchise veterans Maggie Q, Jonathan Ryhs Meyers, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames.

This will be Holloway’s biggest film role to date. His career started with an appearance in the Joss Whedon show Angel as a ‘Good looking guy’. After that he acted in a series of low key films (even once working with future Lost-colleague Jeff Fahey), appeared in several single episodes of TV shows such as CSI and NCIS, and lent his voice to the video game Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars, before finally landing his role as James ‘Sawyer’ Ford on 'Lost'. During the show's six year run he was only able to appear in a couple of little-known indie films – Whisper and Stay Cool – him having to pass on larger opportunities since they tended to overlap with the filming of the show.

Other 'Lost' cast members, however, were far more fortunate with their scheduling commitments; many of them managed to grab roles in major films: most notably, Naveen Andrews appeared in Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror; Evangeline Lilly nabbed a small role in The Hurt Locker; Matthew Fox appeared in Vantage Point and Street Racer; Emilie De Ravin appeared in popular noir feature Brick, horror remake The Hills Have Eyes, as well as Public Enemies and Remember Me; Henry Ian Cusick appeared in Hitman; Nestor Carbonell had a small role in The Dark Knight; and even Maggie Grace returned to the public’s attention with the The Fog remake.

The casting of Holloway is a smart move by Abrams. To reveal a small insight into the psyche of one die hard 'Lost' fan’s mind: I would go and see any film that had Holloway, Evangeline Lilly or Henry Ian Cusick in it, just for that simple fact, and the same goes for several other members of the show’s cast. Add to this the huge female draw that Holloway’s undeniable sex-appeal will bring and that’s a considerably large number of people you have managed to add to your potential audience.



Previous Mission: Impossible films have managed to further raise the profiles of such actresses as Thandie Newton and Michelle Monaghan, so hopefully, if Holloway is given a role that both makes use of the Sawyer-esque charm that we all love and also shows him capable of acting outside of that persona, this film could do the same for his career.

Other members of the 'Lost' cast are also throwing themselves headlong into films now that Lost is over; both Evangeline Lilly and Kevin Durand will appear in Real Steel, a boxing drama about robots doing battle; Jeff Fahey and Michelle Rodriguez will appear in Robert Rodriguez’s Machete, as well as Michelle Rodriguez appearing in the upcoming alien invasion film Battle: Los Angeles; Daniel Dae Kim will appear in The Killing Game and the Philip K. Dick short story adaptation The Adjustment Bureau; Dominic Monaghan will appear in Soldiers of Fortune; and others, such as Harold Perrineau and Nestor Carbonell, are involved in various other projects.

The film production crew of 'Mission: Impossible IV' are scouting locations in Vancouver, Prague and Dubai for a fall shoot, aiming for a December 2011 release.

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Review - 'The Lawnmower Man: Director's Cut' on DVD

(This review was written by me for the site www.thefilmpilgrim.com, on which it can also be found)

Release date (UK DVD) – 18 October 2010
Certificate (UK) – 15
Country - USA
Director – Brett Leonard
Runtime – 140 minutes
Starring – Jeff Fahey, Pierce Brosnan

It cannot be denied that Stephen King is capable of writing great science fiction, some of which has been successfully realised on the big screen (David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone (1983) and Paul Michael Glaser’s The Running Man (1987) for example), and in 1992, director and screenwriter Brett Leonard chose to adapt one of King’s science fiction short stories titled ‘The Lawnmower Man’.

Dr. Angelo (Pierce Brosnan) is a top scientist working for Virtual Space Industries, who (though his morals are in the right place) is attempting to develop a new and effective war weapon out of the technology of virtual reality. After a chimp test subject breaks loose and causes havoc, a mentally challenged lawnmower worker named Jobe (Jeff Fahey) is willingly pulled into Dr. Angelo’s work, becoming his first human test subject. Dr. Angelo increases Jobe’s intelligence to an astonishing degree, but along with this, dangerous ideals form in Jobe’s head and he discovers that he holds a few extraordinary powers.

The Lawnmower Man is firmly and openly an exploration of the benefits and also detrimental effects of the technology of virtual reality (a new advancement at the time of filming). It serves primarily as a cautionary tale about what might happen to our culture and the way in which we communicate with one another (right down to how sex will be altered) should we become too enveloped and essentially enslaved by these false words in which we can play the God of our own universe. At the same time, however, it speculates on whether virtual reality holds within it the amazing potential to ‘evolve’ the human mind (and what dangers might arise if this is done too quickly and taken too far), and the possibility that it could be the vehicle used to create a Utopia on Earth (Jobe’s goal in the film; albeit through twisted, murderous means).

The three books we briefly see sitting atop Dr. Angelo’s television set towards the start of the film – The Ascent of Man, The Science of Mind, and Science Fiction Films – tell the viewer everything they need to know about what is to come.

It is a story that draws strong parallels with Daniel’s Keyes’ classic SF novel Flowers for Algernon (surely an influence on King’s story) – in how a dim-witted individual gains incredible intelligence at a rapid rate through breaking-edge science, and this having fatal results. It also shares a strong parallel with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – in how a creator nurtures his creation through science and that creation eventually turns into a monster (indeed, at one point Jobe says to Dr. Angelo: “I’m sorry you hate what you created”).

This is the most unjustly criticised and underrated film that I have ever come across. Many deride and despise it; on the internet movie database (IMDB.com) it currently holds a dire rating, and elsewhere one reviewer calls it ‘a drool-inducing sci-fi disaster’. My being an SF addict perhaps makes me a little bias in my final judgement, but this is a film that has everything that the medium of film strives to convey; there is strong emotion, a haunting score that compliments the horrors at play, great acting (both Fahey and Brosnan are exceptional), moments of hilarious comedy, a compelling story, and perhaps most importantly, an intelligent and thought-provoking premise – and a highly relevant one, even to today’s society – that the viewer can grapple with; right down to it delivering a uniquely ambiguous ending, which the viewer can make up their own mind on regarding its meaning.


Many people today – mostly male youths – spend the vast majority of their time immersed in the false worlds of video games (much to the complaint of their girlfriends, which this film also observes via Dr. Angelo’s stringent work habits – his partner complaining: “I’m young Larry, I don’t want to become a recluse just for you; I’m into reality reality, not this artificial reality.”) Video games themselves are becoming ever more life-like and thus seductive all the time; we are drawn in by the ability to create our own world, with our own rules, where we can act without consequences, and this temptation poses a long-term threat which this film viably highlights.

Religion is treated here cleverly: first the film shows it to be a safe haven in times of need, then as a corrupted and brutal thing (the church priest being easily swayed by money and whipping Jobe brutally at any excuse he can find). It is also rife with religious symbolism and statements: from Jobe’s Christ complex, to him nailing Dr. Angelo to a cross in the virtual world, to his statement when fully embedded in the virtual world: “I am God here!”

Those who find this film a shambles mostly complain about its dated visual effects (which are presumably poor for 1992), but dates aside, I argue that they are no worse than those used in the film Tron (1982), and that film is a revered as a cult classic.

Where the film’s ambition does fall a little flat is in its prediction that by the year 2000 everyone would be as immersed in virtual reality as we are in television. This is simply a risk that predictive SF takes, and I don’t think that this film can be faulted for perhaps predicting too early in the future a problem that may yet still arrive. Another fault is perhaps in the kind of powers that Jobe acquires – telepathy, telekinesis and more – and the way it showboats them for the sake of some action scenes.

For Lost fans this is a minor gold mine with regards to the cast; with Jeff Fahey and also Doug Hutchinson being familiar faces from the hit SF show (and indeed the Lost writers likely chose these actors due partly to them staring in this film, since Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse were heavily influenced by King).

If you are a big fan of science fiction, you may just find this to be the surprisingly superb, undiscovered gem that I found it to be. Fans of Lost would be well served just viewing it to see a young Jeff Fahey in action. Those not inclined towards SF should perhaps steer clear, as the harsh effects, occasional spouts of scientific jargon, and the film’s hard-SF premise might prove a little too heavy and ‘geek’-saturated for some.

The extras on this double disc set are numerous, but slim in running time. There is a storyboard that is shown alongside a scene from the film, the deleted scenes that were taken out in the commercial version (very interesting to observe – since this version is all the better for them being kept in), a featurette made at the time of filming, and even the entire sequel (far more despised by people than this film), Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace, on a separate disc, plus more. No director’s commentary, however, feels a little lacking for such an edition.

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Supernatural - 'Exile On Main St.' (Season 6, Episode 1): Head trips in suburbia

"Come on Dean... did you really think you were gonna get to keep all of this?" - Azazel

Well, most of us bemoaned the news that this show would venture beyond its true ending, and into an unwarranted 6th season. News of what this extra season would entail didn't sound positive either - that it would focus on the brothers picking up the pieces after the apocalypse (not to mention the news that Kripke would no longer be a part of the show).

Based on this first episode alone though, ours fears are proving unjustified. Firstly, we are given the return of the Djinn (and not one Djinn, but three). 'What is an what should never be' is one of my and I think many people's favourite episodes of this show, and we have been starved of this very interesting creature since then (unless I have forgotten another Djinn episode somewhere in between - please enlighten me if so).

I feel that this episode can be seen as a complimentary piece to 'What is an what should never be', and what that episode (and its title) ultimately told us is that Dean (and Sam for that matter) can never lead a normal life; this shown by the fact that all of the people that Dean saved he finds have died in his alternate reality - although it may be unfair (as he points out), he is destined to be the hero and make sacrifices for the sake of others. And what I think last night's episode shows is that this wish to live a normal, happy life is a delusion that Dean enforces upon himself.

Whilst what Dean sees whilst in the Djinn-induced dream state is clearly his fears made visible - Lisa suffering the same fate as Mary and Jessica, and his son the same fate as Sam (plus Azazel's creepy warning that something is bound to get the boy eventually) - as any nightmare would do, I can't help but wonder if there is a wish-fulfillment element here. In WIAWSNB, what Dean dreams of is an idealised family life - his wish come true. Presumably, although the Djinns here are fighting and thus have no direct control over Dean's dreams, surely the state that the Djinn put people in is still tailored to make the victims dream of idealised scenarios, in order to make them want to stay in their dream (them being more willing delude themselves into believing that it is real if it is pleasant), so that they might remain a long-term victim for the Djinn to feed on.

I may be wrong, but I think that what Dean sees here whilst in the Djinn-induced state might be his true, subconscious desires coming to light. For any Lost fans, much in the way that in the episode 'Hearts and Minds', when Locke drugs Boone with hallucinogens, Boone's real desire comes forth - to be rid of Shannon (his sister) for good; and the death of the person being the only true definitive end to the problem they present to you. What Dean witnesses is the death of Lisa and the ruining of his child - arguably events that, if they were real, would relieve Dean of all his ties and guilt of abandonment, and allow him to become a hunter again, whilst also giving him a revenge kick off of which to feed. Dark, I know, but I think a possibility.

We know that Dean is unhappy with his family life; from the first instance of being poisoned, what does he see?: signs that a monster is in town, which would force him to resume his hunting life, even if only temporarily. This episode is about Dean's true desires, and what we (and he) discover here is that at heart he would rather lead the tortuous life of being a hunter than be a family man. Through previous seasons he has stated repeatedly that all he wants is the latter, but I think that this episode reveals (albeit ambiguously) that Dean has discovered that what he thought he desired is a fallacy.

Abstract theories aside, we are here introduced to a brand new set of hunters who will apparently work alongside the brothers, along with Samuel. It's not fair to judge them on their first appearance, but the one who resembles Gary Sinise a little seems the best one to me, and the girl seems like she will get very annoying very quickly.

It was also great to see Frederic Lehne back, however briefly.

We're led to believe that Sam and co. are up to some kind of mischief by taking the last Djinn hostage at the end, but I'm not so sure; perhaps they've resorted to dirty tactics to discover the location or weaknesses of these new types of monsters that they've "never even seen before" (if it is possible to torture information out of a Djinn).

I think that this is a strong start to a season that might prove nowhere near as dire as many of us were expecting.

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The Mentalist - 'Red Sky at Night' (Season 3, Episode 1): Lies and distancing

"Anybody who gets close to me - bad things happen to them" - Jane

If there's one character I missed in the summer hiatus for any of these seasons it has to be the sharp wit and mental acrobatics of Patrick Jane. And we return with the humour on top form; from a running gag about the power of suggestion concerning a dead mouse, to Jane's simple utterance of "professional-schmessional" as he vaults over a wall away from the team, headlong into breaking the rules, we are reminded from season 3's off that what makes this show so great is its humour, illusionist/mentalist content and the wonderful charm of Jane.

Season 2 ended with a close encounter with Red John, leaving us wondering just how Kristina fits into John's plans (whether she is an accomplice or a victim). The effect of Jane's mistake last season is carried over here in an effective manner; he, more than ever before, is concerned about the fact that those who get close to him end up having bad things happen to them. This motivation leads him to refuse to take part in the team's latest case, which in turn causes Lisbon to take the drastic measure of lying and conning Jane unashamedly into a situation where he can no longer refuse to take part.

We have, in the form of Gale Bertram, a brand new authoritative figure who Jane can take an immediate disliking to and is thus at odds with constantly; one highlight here being Jane tricking Bertram into spouting utter garbage live on television (even though it was a necessary play of Jane's in order to solve the case, as usual).

There is also a brief, awkward, spark-infused moment between Van Pelt and Rigsby, showing that the writers won't be letting that troubled relationship lie. I just hope we don't end up going full circle with it, with regards to it endangering their careers, like last season.

As for the case at hand, the affair is a simple one; highly placed figure goes missing, we find out he's not the saint everyone seems to believe him to be, the case turns into a murder investigation and a minor side character ends up being the culprit, all solved neatly, of course, by Jane.

What marks this as a great start to the season for me is the quality of the humour. Here's hoping this season treats us to many more Red John episodes than last time around (although the stand alone episodes are good, it's far too late in the game now for the writers to keep feeding them to us in such quantity), and the ball actually starts rolling towards a decent endgame.

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Fringe - 'Olivia' (Season 3, Episode 1): Identity crisis, Collateral-style

"Sometimes you just gotta believe in what you can't see" - Henry

'Fringe' is back for a new season and this will be the first show that I attempt to discuss every week, hopefully keeping up with every episode. Now, I fully realise that I don't have the TV analytical skills of someone like Alan Sepinwall, who can spot every popular culture reference (and there are always many) within a Chuck episode without blinking, and who offers key insights into such things as the writers' thoughts, but you'll just have to make do with the skills I do have.

Firstly, it's great to see the guest appearances for this show getting better; last season giving us such acting (and nerdy SF-reference) greats as Peter Weller, and now, interestingly - since there there is no clear geek culture link that I can see - Andre Royo of The Wire fame.

This episode shouted Michael Mann's Collateral at me continually; with the taxi driver hostage to a fugitive situation, whom towards he the taxi driver then becomes sympathetic and ever more entangled with, to the point of almost being complicit, and the taxi driver having a profound effect on the thoughts of our fugitive, etc.

Olivia struggles with her identity until she eventually buckles and seemingly believes that she is indeed alt-Olivia (presuming she isn't duping Walternate and co.), which we're told is a key move towards Walternate's unknown endgame.

Seth Gabel's character Lincoln Lee is treated to more characterisation here (and how cool does he look all scarred up and not giving a damn? - that's got to hurt like hell, no matter how good medicinal technology is in this universe), something that was necessary since this show has for a long time resisted introducing new long-term characters (though it could perhaps be argued that it is all the better for this) - presuming Lee is here to stay, since we know we are going to be treated to a great deal of time spent in the alternate universe this season.

I grew so used to Anna Torv's hazel coloured hair in this episode that seeing Alt-Olivia's blonde hair at the end gave me the same repulsed reaction I had when I saw the hazel do for the first time. I'm forced to conclude that they both look good on Torv, but just should never be viewed in quick succession of one another (something we unfortunately won't be able to avoid).

Overall, this was a great character piece for Olivia, excellently portrayed by Torv, which allowed us viewers to spend some much deserved time exploring this alt-verse, whilst also setting up some key plot scenarios to take forward. A great start to the season.

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Review - 'Before They Are Hanged' by Joe Abercrombie

And so The Bloody Nine rages on... I am reading Abercrombie’s wonderful trilogy with quite broad gaps of time in between each book, but as soon as I picked up the second book in the trilogy, Before They Are Hanged, the addictive tales of Ninefingers, Glokta, West and all the others came flooding back to me in pleasant cascade.

It is hard to write a review of this book without giving away any plot points to those who haven’t yet read The Blade Itself, so a different approach shall be adopted: asking the simple questions of whether this is a successful continuation of the trilogy and whether it improves upon the first book.

I feel that this novel succeeds in both respects. Firstly, the battles here are larger, more frequent and often grimmer than any we witnessed in the first book. Secondly, for the first time we feel like we’re on a real quest and the plot is actually heading in some tangible direction, as we follow Bayaz’s band of lovable misfits (even if this sense of purpose is snuffed out violently by the ending and we’re left back at square one).

Each of the three main plot threads – Bayaz’s group, West’s plight in the North and Glotka’s mission to defend the city of Dagoska – (and the continual and skillful switching of point of view to various different characters within) I found all very compelling; to the point where I couldn’t decide which story I most wanted to jump back to at the close of each chapter.

The most powerful quality of Abercrombie’s writing is certainly his characterisation; from the Dogman to Jezal, there are a host of characters here that you can’t help but become strongly attached to as you watch them grow into better people and often stronger warriors.

Whilst I found The Blade Itself to be a little lacking in parts, this is a much stronger step forward for this trilogy. Based on how this book wraps up and how little is accomplished here when all is said and done, it looks like Abercrombie is saving pretty much everything for the final stretch (Last Argument of Kings). Rather than this book serving us key plot progression, as it seems to me most second books in a trilogy provide (you’re past introductions and not quite ready for the final sprint, so all the effort is put into taking those necessary steps towards the endgame), this is rather progressive only in the sense of characterisation – but it’s so good that this isn't a bad thing at all.

8/10

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