J.J. Abrams Asks, ‘Can You Do Better?’ Regarding ‘Lost’ Ending

J.J. Abrams Asks, ‘Can You Do Better?’ Regarding ‘Lost’ Ending: "

It’s been over a year since the Lost finale, and it doesn’t seem like the outcries have died down yet. “I loved it!” and “It sucked!” are the most popular responses the ending has seemed to gotten. However, when you’re hitting the message boards, you’ll mostly come across the “it sucked” sentiment.

Now, J.J. Abrams asks those “it sucked” folks if they can do better:

“For years, I had people praising Lost to death, and now they say: ‘I’m so pissed at you for the end of Lost.’ I think a lot of people who were upset with the ending, were just upset that it ended. And I’ve not yet heard the pitch of what the ending should have been. I’ve just heard: ‘That sucked.’”

This response reminds me of when a commenter asks, “You think you could do better? You think you can make a film better than Transformers: Revenge of the frickin’ Fallen?!?” Well, it’s not my job to do better, nor was it any of the viewers of Lost to do so. It’s odd when a commenter poses that question, but it’s even odder to see a guy like Abrams say it.

Why does it matter if a dissatisfied viewer can’t come up with a better ending?

They’re not the storytellers getting paid plenty of cash to be creative. Even as a fan of the series and as someone who’s fine with the ending, I think Abrams’ idea that people are only upset with the fact it ended is pretty questionable. The fine folks at io9 don’t seem upset just because it ended, and they’ve delivered a solid pitch to what they think the ending should have been.

Can you think of better ways the show could have ended?

Source: Guardian

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‘Super 8′: JJ. Abrams gives us a tour of the film’s pop-culture artifacts

‘Super 8′: JJ. Abrams gives us a tour of the film’s pop-culture artifacts: "

"Super 8" (Paramount)

The film “Super 8” is a valentine to amateur moviemaking, vintage coming-of-age films and the pop-culture texture of the late 1970s and early 1980s — so, essentially, the sci-fi thriller is also a tour through the mind and heart of writer-director J.J. Abrams. Nowhere is that more evident than the “Super 8″ scenes that follow the young characters into their rooms at home; the walls, floors and desks are cluttered with carefully chosen artifacts from the long-gone era of vinyl and polyester. Abrams and I sat down with some movie stills and he talked about the retro backdrops that are, for him, touchstones from the movie of his own memories.



Aurora “Hunchback of Notre Dame” model: In the photo above, Joe Lamb (portrayed by Joel Courtney) is painting a classic Aurora model. “In the movie we have a whole scene, a whole page [in the script], about dry-brush technique, and that’s all about the stuff I used to do. I never had one of those magnifying glass things — pretty fancy — but these Testor paints and the kits were like everything for me. It was hours and hours. There’s a whole series of Aurora models — the Invisible Man, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolfman and Dracula — there’s one with Batman hanging on a tree with a batarang and Superman, I think. I painted that Hunchback one. They were just the best models.”

Cassette player: Down on the bottom right corner of the photo above you can see the buttons of a black tape deck. ”My grandfather used to have a cassette deck like this that we would always use to record stories, little audio plays, when I was a kid. We would just talk, too, and go back and listen later.”

“Detective Comics” No. 475: Hanging on the wall in the photo below is a copy of a classic Batman image – the Joker “fish-gun” cover by the late, great Marshall Rogers. The 1975 issue was part of a landmark run that collectors are still celebrating but Abrams picked it with less calculation.”I just thought it was cool looking.”

Captain Action vintage toy (Antiques Gallery)

Captain Action toy: The jaunty blue figurine at the top of the photo above is Captain Action, the toy hero that could be outfitted with separately sold accessories to look like Batman, the Lone Ranger or the Phantom. ”I was never big into Captain Action but people on the set were freaking out that we had it. I just liked the look of him.”

R2-D2 action figure: A toy version of the beeping, barrel-shaped hero of ”Star Wars” is perched on the shelf in the photo above, right next to the red cup with pencils. “He’s always in everything I do. We’ve hidden him in various things. He’s in ‘Mission: Impossible III’ and ‘Star Trek.‘ We also had a cover of a ‘Star Wars’ magazine [in another room scene].”

Othello board game: Right underneath the Parcheesi box in the photo below is Othello, the black-and-white strategy game with 64 squares and 64 discs. “Othello was a big one — Shakespeare’s greatest contribution to board games, although I have to say Parker Brothers’ Lear wasn’t so bad either.”

Super 8 projector: Abrams said he was surprised how fast his childhood skills came back to him when he reached for the projector in the photo below. ”I had a different model but very similar and it was weird on the set how I walked over to it and just started threading the film, the sense memory of it. It was like I had done it 10 minutes ago.”

"Super 8" (Paramount Pictures)

“Famous Monsters“: The magazine pops up several times in the movie. “What I was most grateful for as a kid was that Dick Smith “Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-up Handbook” issue that one of the kids in the movie talks about. There was some kind of falling out years ago between Smith and ["Famous Monsters" founder] Forry Ackerman but that issue was so important to so many people. I loved that magazine. I own the first issue. We had Creepy and Eerie and the Warren magazines in there, too. Vampirella with that costume. You know you can’t spell titillating without…”

“Earthquake” poster: “I was obsessed with the design of the poster for ‘Earthquake’ so we have it in one of the kid’s rooms…it was an image of people just falling. I can’t tell you how many times I just drew it. I was just massively obsessed. We also had ‘Logan’s Run‘ up there, a poster. What is conspicuous is how we don’t have Steven Spielberg posters. We don’t have any evidence of Spielberg in these rooms, which is a little funny to consider.”

– Geoff Boucher

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J.J. Abrams Finally Talks ‘Star Trek 2’, and the Possibility of ‘Star Trek 2 3D’

J.J. Abrams Finally Talks ‘Star Trek 2’, and the Possibility of ‘Star Trek 2 3D’: "


The future of J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek sequel has been a mystery for a while now. The movie industry has turned into a brand name driven environment where as soon as a film makes ten bucks over its budget, a release date gets set for the sequel. And it’s usually a date that’s closer than the filmmakers would like. So what’s been going on with Star Trek? Are we going to get a sequel? And if not, why not? Who does J.J. Abrams think he is? Recently a clue surfaced in the ongoing mystery when co-writer/producer Roberto Orci said that while a script wasn’t finished, they had a big ol’ outline done, and they were just waiting for Abrams to get done with his current projects before they pushed production into high gear. And now a second clue has come to light.

While talking to Cinema Blend, Abrams himself confirmed that Star Trek 2 would in fact be his next project; and he even talked a bit about its release date and whether or not he’s looking to make it in 3D. He started off by saying, “The next thing we’re working on, and hopefully we’ll be able to pass information out sooner or later, is the next Star Trek.” When asked about the too close for comfort release date that Paramount has the film penciled in for, June 29^th 2012, Abrams was less than committal. “I care much more that it be good than it be ready,” he said, “I’m, obviously doing everything I can to make sure that schedules don’t get screwed up. But I don’t think anyone wants a movie on time that’s not worth your time.”

Twelve months from now seems like a ridiculously small window to put together a gigantic, effects driven film like a Star Trek sequel. It sounds like Abrams is going to play hard ball with the studio about giving him enough time to make everything come together right, and I certainly hope that they give in to reason on that matter. Too often these days we see big summer films scrambling to get their effects work done last minute, resulting in a less than perfect product showing up in theaters. And I don’t even want to think about what might come of a rushed screenwriting process. While there were a lot of things that I liked about the first Star Trek, there were also plenty of clunky moments that could have been smoothed over with another rewrite or two.

While he seems to be adamant about not rushing the movie into theaters, Abrams seems to be a little more flexible on the question of whether or not the Star Trek sequel will be in 3D. When asked about the possibility, the director said, “I’m not yet considering it, but you know, I haven’t gotten any phone call from people in suits. I know what’s good for me.” Recently we’ve been seeing signs that the 3D craze may finally be waning, but it sounds like if Paramount execs decide it is in the best interest for Star Trek to go 3D, then Abrams will soon be in the market for some 3D cameras. Have we seen a bunch of lens flares in 3D yet? Could be promising.


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Must-See-TV From ‘The Dark Knight’ Writer - "Person of Interest"

Must-See-TV From ‘The Dark Knight’ Writer: "

It’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to watch anything on CBS, aka the “procedurals and comedies network.” I’m not knockin’ either one, they just don’t do anything for me (yes, even The Big Bang Theory, an admittedly geek-centric show). CBS hasn’t much luck with genre television in the last few decades, but that’s about to change. Because if there was ever a winning combination, it’s the two powerhouses behind this Fall’s Person of Interest.

The first is Jonathan Nolan. You know him as the screenwriter of the best (and highest-grossing) superhero movie of all time: The Dark Knight. He’s also the younger brother of celebrated director Christopher Nolan (also of The Dark Knight). Jonathan is the creator of Person of Interest, his very first TV show.

The second is J.J. Abrams. Director of Star Trek. Creator of Alias. Co-creator of Lost and Fringe. His “Bad Robot Productions” is producing Nolan’s series. And that series has got Hollywood biggest buzzing.

So what is Person of Interest? Until now, all we’ve known is that a former government agent and a reclusive genius team up to prevent the most dangerous and violent crimes. The idea of “crime prevention” sent many a speculator’s mind to Minority Report.

But this isn’t anything quite so futuristic or scifi. There’s a hint of scifi in it, but it’s more of a crime thriller. It’s definitely in the same ballpark as The Dark Knight, as you can see in the first few seconds of the three-minute trailer below, which has just been released by CBS. Person of Interest stars big-screen actor Jim Caviezel as the former government operative, and Lost‘s Michael Emerson as the man who sends him out to prevent crime.

The plot device used to supply the information needed to prevent major crimes is just subtle and mysterious enough to work, and I’m loving the hardcore-yet-realistic action. Person of Interest looks — much like J.J. Abrams’ other new Fall show — like TV you can’t afford to miss. CBS believes in it so much that they’ve given it the timeslot of their former ratings juggernaut, CSI: Thursdays at 9:pm.




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