Lost from The Wire

Great to see LOST back on the air this past week, the first episode of the new season (four) gave me hope that maybe it won't all turn out to be a pile of turd. Especially good to see actor Lance Reddick aka Colonel Cedric Daniels from my other favorite show The Wire make a guest appearance as a (possible) Oceanic Airlines attorney / (possible) evil man who visits Hurley in the mental hospital. Word is Reddick is also featured in next weeks episode.

Lost's producer's revealed to Entertainment Weekly "We had been interested in Lance back when we were casting the Mr. Eko part, but he was unavailable due to The Wire. That's how we started circling around Adewale [Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who ultimately took the role]. When a window of opportunity arose after the recent season of The Wire, we jumped on it, with a part that seemed right for his complete focus and intensity."

the newspaper: then and now

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TCM showed a rarely screened Samuel Fuller flick on Tuesday night - Park Row (1952, 82 mins). Self-produced by Fuller himself who put up $200,000 of his own money to make the (for the times) blisteringly drama about blood, passion, and ink spilled over the creation of a new idealistic daily newspaper. Fuller himself started out as a newspaper man and the movie was in part inspired by his own early newsroom memories, his own ideals of a "free press' and an undercurrent of strong oppositional commentary on the downright scary in their virulence McCarthyist witch hunters of the time. The film isn't as stunning visually or ground-breaking story wise as his classics Pickup on South Street, Shock Corridor and The Naked Kiss but it did bring up a lot of issues about what a "free press" is and what a newspaper should strive for. It seems to me that Fuller's attitude and vibe is sorely missing today. It seems especially the case when you contrast the newsroom in Park Row with that in the current season of The Wire. In Park Row we see a newsroom striving to break new ground and bring the people the real story, in The Wire we see what happens when all is lost and a survival tactic aimed at pleasing the money people is put into affect. The Globe in Park Row cares about the people. The Baltimore Sun in the Wire barely cares when people are murdered. I wish America had more people like Fuller. Where is our generations answer to this brave and bold artist?


"Every film must have a message. Maybe I’m too didactic. If so, too bad. That’s just the way I write. Even if people don’t agree with me, I like to make them think a bit. I’m not what you would strictly call an educator, but all the same, I think the cinema must be used in this way…" Samuel Fuller

The Wire returns

Why do I LOVE this show so much? It shows us how Amerikkka really is. It gives us stories that we simply have not seen shown in this way on TV. Without a doubt one of the best portrayals of the American experience that has ever been put out there. And then there's the complex way it deals with race issues from all sides of the fence. This show isn't following some ABC line of BS we've heard before. It's aiming so much higher. Though that said it is also much more than just a sociopolitical lesson. The acting is top notch, the script is top notch, the cinematography is top notch. The Wire really does just beg the question - why can't more TV be this good? Sometimes I despair at TV and want to throw mine out on the street. It's this show that makes me keep my cathode ray emitter. I could post tons here about the show and add a zillion links but I'll just say this - if you haven't got HBO just type in the words "Rapidshare The Wire" and start downloading !! Watching it beats reading about it for sure.

Of course there's more info and goodies at the HBO site and for those with short attention spans here's four seasons of The Wire in four minutes.