The Selection Box #8 - LOST

As the critically acclaimed series, LOST, sings its Swan Song this weekend, it felt apt to choose it for this week's edition of "The Selection Box"...

If you haven't heard of LOST, you've obviously been living on a desserted island for the past six years, and ironically so have the characters in the series...

As soon as Oceanic 815 crashed onto our screens in 2004, I was hooked on the TV phenomenon that LOST has become and was one show I watched as soon as possible via the interweb, because even waiting 2 days to see it on RTÉ or SKY was just too long a wait...

I'd like to say that LOST has been consistently amazing for all 6 seasons, but I'd be lying if I didn't say they've really dropped the ball this year and the final season has been just about tolerable - having said that I really hope the finale can pull something out of the bag and make up for a lackluster final series of the show...

Regardless of the drop in quality this season LOST is still up there with one of the best TV series of all-time and the poor final season is still a billion times better than most of the crap on the box these days...

Songs of the Week (20/05/2010)

10 more tunes to add to your music device library...

Song of the Week: Europe - The Final Countdown

Europe's 1986 rock classic "The Final Countdown" from the album of the same name... Everyone knows this song, it's a classic and if you don't love it, you're weird... This is the song that got me through the Leaving Cert - thanks for that Europe...

Other Songs This Week:

• Foo Fighters - Wheels
• Travis - Re-Offender
• Travega - Swim While You Can
• Staind - Zoe Jane
• Linkin Park - Bleed It Out
• Oasis - Morning Glory
• Three Days Grace - Never Too Late
• AC/DC - Thunderstruck
• Men At Work - Down Under

Check out earlier posts for more song recommendations...

The Film Vaults #6 - Stand By Me (1986)

One of my all-time favourites, Stand By Me, is this week's choice from "The Film Vaults"...

Any film based on something written by Stephen King is bound to be amazing, but as Stand By Me stays very true to the novella, The Body, on which it is based, it is even more worthy of praise...

Many people won't realise its based on a Stephen King story, since it doesn't necessarily adhere to the usual Stephen King genre...

This is one of the first films I remember seeing as a kid and honestly, what can be more exciting to a child than watching four lads trek along a railway track, dodging trains and getting into all sorts of trouble, in order to go see the dead body of one of their peers? That to me was the peak of excitement and till this day remains one of my most loved films...

It also features and array of well known actors including Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell and Kiefer Sutherland...

It really is a must see... If you've already seen it, watch it again...

The Selection Box #7 - Land of the Giants

We go all the way back to 1968 for this weeks trip to "The Selection Box" for the sci-fi classic Land of the Giants...

Land of the Giants was decades ahead of its time in regards to special effects and production costs - setting a record for the most expensive show to produce at the time...

The premise of the show was basically about a group from Earth whose spacecraft, 'The Spindrift', crashlanded in the Land of the Giants - with the Giants being about 72 feet tall.

The greatest thing about the show is that there is no overall story arc, meaning every episode has a beginning, a middle and an end and you really don't have to invest a whole lot into the show if you don't want to...

It was created by Irwin Allen, who was responsible for some of the best Sci-Fi shows of the '60s and '70s, including Lost In Space...

This show used to be repeated when I was merely a young boy and for years I dreamed of visiting the Land of the Giants, so that I too could have adventures like Steve, Dan, Mark, Valerie, Betty, Fitzhugh, Barry and Chipper, but alas that dream was shattered about the same time as Santa Claus was, so I have to settle for watching repeats of the show on dvd - which is still better than living in the real world...

Songs of the Week (13/05/2010)

Slightly later than usual, but here's another 10 songs that are worth checking out...

Song of the Week: Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)

Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)" which is best known as being the title track in 1985 film classic, The Breakfast Club... One of my favourite songs from the 80s, from one of my favourite films of all time - they don't make them like this anymore...

Other Songs This Week:

• Three Days Grace - Time of Dying
• Shinedown - Breaking Inside
• The Prodigy - Omen
• Travis - Somewhere Else
• Travega - The People
• Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
• Wheatus - Leroy
• Violent Femmes - Blister In The Sun
• Amy McDonald - This Is The Life

Check out earlier posts for more song recommendations...

The Film Vaults #5 - Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Considering I ofter sport a Snake on a Plane t-shirt, it was inevitable at some point it would be my choice in "The Film Vaults"...

Easily one of the greatest blockbuster films of the last 10 years, Snakes on a Plane does exactly what it says on the tin, and while it had received many negative reviews, it has easily become a cult classic, because lets face it, what's not to like - it's got Samuel L. Jackson, one half of Kenan and Kel, hundreds of Snakes, and an airplane. Put that all together and you've got a film that everyone should see...

Now its not the type of film that was likely to win any awards and it didn't, but its still a great film that you can watch over and over and still realise how awesome it is -  a bit like Die Hard but with Snakes and a Plane, rather than Alan Rickman in Nakatomi Towers...

However, whatever you do don't watch Snakes on a Train expecting it to be similar, because its not - its awful and is no way connected to the brialliance that is Snakes on a Plane...

The Selection Box #6 - Friends

A controversial choice in this weeks edition of "The Selection Box" with Friends...

First hitting our screens in 1994 and being a hit all round the world, six year after its ending Friends is the sitcom equivalent of marmite - you either love it or hate it, and unfortunately due to an excess amount of repeats over the years, being a lover of Friends has become quite unfashionable as of late - which leads to people secretly liking it, but its becoming less and less common that one will admit it publicly that they like the show...

I am not one of those people shamed to admit it - Friends is hilarious and always will be - no matter how often I've seen a certain episode, I still find it funny and can easily be cheered up by popping on a Friends DVD after a rough day...

So while its currently quite unfashionable to be a Friends fan, if you enjoy the adventures of Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe and Joey, don't be ashamed to admit it, because sooner or later it will come back into fashion, and many of those naysayers will soon be jumping back on the bandwagon and saying the show is cool again...

Songs of the Week (06/05/2010)

Another 10 songs that are worth checking out...

Song of the Week: Travis - Something Anything

"Something Anything" is the first single taken from Ode To J. Smith, the 2008 album from Scottish Band, Travis... Travis were one of the first bands I ever started listening to and this is probably one of their best songs, and easily my favourite...

Other Songs This Week:

• Three Days Grace - Wake Up
• Elbow - Grounds For Divorce
• Muse - New Born
• The Primitives - Crash
• Alice Cooper - Poison
• Peter Gabriel - Down To Earth
• Seal - Kiss From a Rose
• Face To Face - The Devil You Know (God Is A Man)
• Nickelback - Something In Your Mouth

Check out earlier posts for more song recommendations...

The Film Vaults #4 - Into The West (1992)

My choice for "The Film Vaults" this week is possibly my favourite film of all-time, Into The West...

Why is Into The West one of my favourite films of all time? Well, first off its Irish... Secondly, its got Gabriel Byrne, Colm Meaney, David Kelly and Brendan Gleeson all in the same film, as well as many other fantastic Irish actors... Thirdly, it's a film about two travellers making their way across the country on a stolen horse because they think they're cowboys... What more can one ask for in a film?

Ultimately, Into The West is just a fantastic film that absolutely everyone in the family can enjoy and is packed full of fantastic scenes and great quotes...

If it wasn't for my fear of horses I may have tried to recreate the events of this film myself at one point, but alas it was not to be...

I'd write more about the film, but I'd much rather go watch instead - I suggest you do the same...

"Tito! Tito! Don't leave me Tito!"

The Selection Box #5 - Saved By The Bell

Bit of a blast from the past this week for "The Selection Box" with Saved by the Bell...

Even though it only ran from 1989 to 1993, repeats throughout the '90s ultimately resulted in Saved by the Bell moulding me into the person I am today - a smooth talker who's scams always go awry, just like Zack Morris, although he always seemed to have better luck with the ladies...

Obviously I was disappointed when I eventually got to secondary school and it was nothing like Bayside High - not a bright orange walk-in locker in sight and the closest thing I ever got to The Max was Eddie Rockets...

No matter how many times I see a single episode of Saved By The Bell, it still manages to bring a smile to my face and since I managed to wrangle up the entire collection on DVD, even on a rainy day I can take a trip to sunny California and the brightness of the Bayside High corridors - possibly the cheesiest sentence I've ever written in my entire life...

So maybe you're thinking, its just an old school kids show with stereotypical characters who represent different American High School cliques, and that's exactly what it is, but its also amazing and has a cracking theme tune... "It's all right, because I'm Saved By The Bell!"