poll: what'd you think of the LOST premiere?

Season five of Lost premiered last Wednesday, and now that you've had time to search the message boards and exhaust your geeky Lost fanaticism, I wonder: what did people think of the premiere (and I'm referring to both episodes as a whole)? So cast your vote on the left. I think we all know where I stand on the issue...

Update, 1/27: I'm surprised and warmed that other people hate Kate Austin as much as I do. If only Jack had let her carry that damn dynamite back in season one, we wouldn't still be dealing with her destructive incompetence today...

new poll: best comedy series?

In the last poll, you guys voted Leoben Conoy (BSG) and Jim Halpert (The Office) as Best TV Husband, with my man Chuck Bartowski (Chuck) coming in second (or is it third?) with four votes.

Today's poll is also TV related. What is the best comedy series on TV right now? My next poll will be drama series. And then perhaps the following one will look at hybrid shows, like Bones, The Mentalist, and Desperate Housewives. Your choices for Best Comedy Series (on current TV) are:

How I Met Your Mother
30 Rock
The Office
Chuck

Okay, so these are my favorite comedies and the options are biased, but they're solid choices...

new poll: best TV husband?

I have a new poll for you today, and it asks, "Who would be the best TV husband?" This, of course, can be read two different ways: one, who would be a good husband on TV, or two, who from TV would be a good husband. Interpretation is inherently subjective, so have at it. If you think your life is a TV show, go with the former. Or if you want one of these men to exist in reality, go with the latter.

Your choices are:

Jim Halpert, NBC's The Office
Malcolm Reynolds, Fox/Sci-Fi's Firefly
Leoben Conoy, Sci-Fi's Battlestar Galactica
Gregory House, Fox's House, M.D.
Chuck Bartowksi, NBC's Chuck

poll: who should stop making movies?

Results of the last poll: Hans Gruber and Keyser Soze topped the list for Best Character name, and I have to say, you guys chose wisely.


This week's poll: What actor should stop making movies? This is a bit more difficult than you'd think, and notice I left Nicolas Cage off the list because that would've been too obvious. Your choices are:

Ben Stiller, who gave us gems like The Heartbreak Kid, Envy, Starsky and Hutch, Along Came Polly, Duplex, and Oscar-worthy Mystery Men.

John Travolta, who gave us real beauts like Hairspray, Wild Hogs, Domestic Disturbance, Scientologist propaganda Battlefield Earth, indistinguishable The General's Daughter and A Civil Action and Primary Colors, not to mention Michael and Phenomenon.

Brendan Fraser, who gave us a plethora of memorable characters in a variety of performances in Mummy 3, Looney Tunes, the brilliance that is Monkeybone, Bedazzled, Dudley Do-Right, Blast from the Past, and George of the Jungle.

Adam Sandler, who gave us a real array of representation in I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Click, Anger Management, Mr. Deeds, Little Nicky, The Waterboy, and the ever-changeable Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison.

new poll: best film character name

It's official. The worst actor ever is... Nicolas Cage! He won with 60% of the votes. I'd like to thank the nine intelligent movie-goers that recognized Nicolas Cage for what he is (the worst actor ever). Perhaps one day I'll post my thoughts on him, and it's subtitle could be "In Defense of Keanu Reeves."

I've put up a new poll regarding the best film character name. I've narrowed the list down to four. These four names are iconic. They exist outside of themselves. The movie's not just named after them, and they're not simply "a totally awesome character." The names themselves -- how they sound, what they imply, the feeling you get when you hear them -- are at the heart of the poll. So don't pick your favorite character. Pick the name that serves as a signifier for that character and that character's significance.

Your choices are:

Hans Gruber (Die Hard)
Lando Calrissian (Star Wars)
Donnie Darko (Donnie Darko)
Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects)

Other names that could go on this list include:


Scarlett O'Hara (Gone with the Wind), Idgie Threadgoode (Fried Green Tomatoes), Hannibal Lector (Silence of the Lambs), Holly Golightly (Breakfast at Tiffany's), and of course Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), but I eliminated them because the names originated from a novel first. Not to be ignored by adult fiction are Roald Dahl's Violet Beauregarde and Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Scarlett O'Hara is indeed an iconic film name, but the actual name itself is not particularly interesting. Her character would still be remembered in the same way had she been named something else. As far as novel characters go, is there really any question that Atticus Finch is one of the greatest names/characters of all time?


Other fantastic names include Lloyd Dobbler (Say Anything), Norman Bates (Psycho), Norma Desmond (Sunset Boulevard) and the title characters Forrest Gump and Indiana Jones. I think that out of this group my vote would fall for Norman Bates, simply because that name represents all the themes of the film. Those two words, those harsh sounds, mirror the brutality and insecurity of both himself and the Marion Crane character. Although I really enjoy the names Forrest Gump and Indiana Jones, their immortality really rests in the characters rather than the names.

What are some other names I neglected to mention?

poll: worst actor ever

I put a poll up on the left: Who is the worst actor ever? You have until the 20th to vote... and I think the answer's obvious. (It's Nicolas Cage.)