The Baron's Thoughts on 24's Finale

!!!SPOILER ALERT!!! If you have not watched the Series Finale of 24 stop reading now, unless you don’t care that I am going to be writing about it below.

My history with 24 seems much shorter than many of yours might be. I started watching the show during the finale of Season 5, when Jack was abducted by the Chinese. I then spent the next year catching up on seasons 2-5 while they were being aired on A&E and finally watched season 1 last year. This could be the reason why I still watched 24 with so much excitement; it was still new to me. Jack Bauer became the great American Hero and indestructible towards the end of the series. If I had to pick a team of fictional Law Enforcement Officers that did not have super powers but felt like they were super heroes, Jack Bauer would be on that list along with John McClane, Martin Riggs, Jason Bourne, and I guess you can’t really leave off James Bond. This group would make the A-Team look like chumps. Anyways back to Jack, Monday nights series finale started out exactly how everyone thought it would. Jack is back on a rampage to kill everyone involved in Renee Walker’s death. I almost believed he might even go after the sitting President and was almost certain he would go after former President Logan. Instead nothing happens the way I thought it would. Jack comes back to Earth and it follows the predictable alternate ending. I think the series would’ve ended differently if there was not a movie deal in place for 24. I think Jack would’ve died; he should’ve died. I asked a friend the other day, if Jack died in the finale would he watch a 24 movie that starred Freddie Prince Jr. as Agent Cole Ortiz? Without hesitation he responded, if Bauer dies I am not going to watch an Agent Cole 24. It was this thinking that caused them to let Jack live to fight another day. Now as for my opinion on the final season, there were some story lines that didn’t work for me.

President Taylor letting President Logan walk all over her and compromises her moral standing. In Season 7 President Taylor sent her own daughter to jail for putting a hit on the season 7 villain. She watched as a corrupt group of domestic terrorists killed her son and his fiancé and almost succeeded in killing her husband. Because of her high moral standing she lost her husband because he didn’t agree with her sending their daughter to prison. In Season 8 she decides to sit on information about the Russians being behind the events of the 8th day, information that puts them behind the assassination attempt on President Hassan, murdering Renee Walker, attempting to kill Jack Bauer, and bringing a nuclear bomb into Manhattan. She becomes the key person in the cover up and keeps the information from President Hassan’s family. As the day unravels and Jack gets closer to the answers he wants, while leaving bodies with Russian ties in his wake President Taylor gets deeper and deeper into the cover up. My question is why? Why sacrifice your administration to protect the Russians and Logan? She says it’s for a peace agreement, but how good is a peace agreement that’s covered in murderous blood. President Taylor saves her reputation with the viewers a little at the end by calling off the hit on Jack and not signing the agreement. She is also going to expose everyone involved in the cover up. Congratulations President Taylor, too little too late. At least she stopped Jack’s execution.

Jack’s Murderous rampage. Let’s look at the timeline here for a minute. Jack met Renee Walker during season 7, they spent 24 hours together. Season 8 takes place some 6-10 months later and during that time we learned that Renee left the FBI, went crazy, and tried to commit suicide at least once. Also during that time Jack was healing from an experimental surgery. So we can assume that they didn’t spend a lot of time together during that period. Now on Day 8 they spend a few hours together, where Renee gets a little crazy, as sex with a Russian mob guy, gets taken into custody and then sleeps with Jack when the mission is over. So I am to believe that this relationship is the one that sends Jack on a murderous rampage. When it started he didn’t even know who was involved. When Teri was killed he knew who did it, but he didn’t hunt her down and kill her. When Audrey went mental after being tortured by the Chinese, Jack didn’t start killing more Chinese people to get revenge. So why Renee, why does she send Jack over the deep end? That’s all I want to know, it doesn’t add up.

President Taylor’s last words/apology to Jack Bauer. This is basically how it went:

Taylor: Jack I’m sorry
Jack: It’s ok Mrs. President.
Taylor: Jack I know you wouldn’t have done any of this if I hadn’t been a stupid bitch and tried to cover up the murder of the woman you love and put you in lock down. It’s my fault you killed all those people.
Jack: No shit, so now what
Taylor: Jack you should run, the Russians will come after you……and we will come after you.
Jack: Thank you

Ok so that’s not the exact text but that’s what it felt like to me. One thing I want to say about this whole ending. President Taylor is the President of the United States of America; she has the right to pardon anybody of anything. Why not pardon Jack for the murderous rampage he went on that day? If she would’ve at least he would only have to worry about the Russians finding him. Plus, is President Taylor worried about public criticism at this point, she just covered up murders and jailed a journalist who was going to publish the evidence of the cover up. The President just crapped all over the constitution and she can’t throw Jack a bone here.

Last season I had an issue with Tony flipping sides but after last night it surprises me that Jack has not done the same. Everything Bauer did for his country and they can’t even say thank you.

Chloe and Jack’s Farewell. First let me congratulate Chloe for living through 7 seasons of this show, especially as close as she was to Jack. Aside from Chloe and Jack, Kim was the only other series regular that lasted the duration. The whole season I was waiting for someone to kill her and then they almost had Jack do it. No chance Jack would do that to her. But the ending when Jack calls Chloe and she is watching him on the CTU big screen broadcasting a Predator Drone’s video feed was a little too cheesy for me. Jack repeatedly looks up into the sky and is looking directly into the camera, Chloe is crying, they have their tearful goodbye, the whole scene seemed odd and didn’t feel right. Then the camera zooms out and Jack takes off running. Then the screen fades to black while the clock counts to 00:00.00.

The ending left me with disappointment. Series finales should tie up loose ends. My friend AJ said it felt more like a season finale then a series finale. Jack gets no happy ending and he is on the run as a fugitive, I guess if I want closure to this show I will have to spend $10 to see the movie whenever it is made.

What Will the Wizards Do?

Now that Ted Leonsis is the Owner of the Washington Wizards what should we expect from this team? Especially now that they have the #1 pick in the 2010 draft. The Wizards have won the John Wall sweepstakes, but does it make sense to draft him? I’ll get back to that question in a minute. Leonsis bought the Capitals back in 1999 and the team was not that bad. He brought in super stars like Jagr and Robert Lang and had stars like Peter Bondra and Sergei Gonchar on the team. The problem was they never made it far enough. So during the strike year in 2004 Leonsis and his GM George McPhee blew up the team and started building around the young stars like Alexander Semin and Alex Ovechkin (the teams #1 draft pick in 2004). Ovechkin was the centerpiece and nobody is going to argue that, but the players drafted by the capitals from 2002 until the present also include, Fehr, Schultz, Green, Varlomov, Alzner, Backstrom, and Carlson. All of these players have played major roles in getting the Capitals to where they are now as a team. A team that won the most games of any team in the NHL this season. A team that should be playing for the Eastern Conference Championship right now, still a little bitter. What many Capitals fans may not remember though is that it took 3 years before Leonsis and McPhee built the team that has won the South East Division the last 3 years. So the question is will Leonsis build a championship caliber team out of the draft or will he take the number 1 pick this year and sign somebody in free agency and try to make a run at the playoffs.

Building around the number 1 pick and trying to unload Gilbert Arenas seems like the most likely option. If this is the case I think the Wizards should take John Wall with their pick and build around him. Then hope they can get somebody later in the draft or trade Gilbert for more draft picks. If the Wizards can get two guys out of this draft they could be in a similar situation to Chicago with Rose and Noah. I think it would be a better position because Wall has more upside to Rose. The good news is the Wizards could maybe make a run at the playoffs, but to be honest it would be better if they ended up in the lottery again so they could get another top tier player. The hope is the Wizards do not succeed too fast so that they can build that team. Although if they do, Leonsis has shown that he will spend money on the right veteran players. If this is the way the Wizards go about building a team the Wizards will be Wall’s team, not Gilbert’s.

As I said the other option is the Wizards take Wall or maybe Evan Turner with the first pick. This will depend on how long the Wizards really want to hold on to Gilbert Arenas. Either way Arenas is on this team for another year or two so why not take Wall or Turner and add someone like Chris Bosh and be competitive for a year. Now why would Bosh come to Washington to play? So he doesn’t have to play in Canada anymore where his team is less important than the high school hockey teams. The other hurdle with Bosh is giving him a tempting enough offer to keep him from following Bron-Bron to Chicago, New York, New Jersey or LA. However if Bosh doesn’t want to play in the Nation’s Capitol the Wizards could go after Amar’e Staudemire. Staudemire has found his game from four years ago over the past few months of the season and has been healthy for the first time in those same 4 years. The problem is I don’t see building a team right away as an option unless they get rid of Arenas. The contract Arenas has is worth too much money and the team has to get out from under it before they can spend on a big time free agent.

I still think John Wall is the way to go with the first pick because Gilbert is going to be gone as soon as the team can unload him. One thing I know with Ted Leonsis owning the Wizards now this team will be fun to watch over the next few years.

Oh and cant you see everyone doing the John Wall Dance in DC? Brammer?

Top 10 Movie Sequels

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I’ve had some writers block since my last post. This weekend I went to see Iron Man 2, don’t worry I’m not going to divulge the plot. However I am going to do a top 10 list of the BEST MOVIE SEQUELS. Let’s be honest we love Top 10 Lists, if for nothing more than to disagree with the person who wrote the list. Here are some rules I am going to put out there first.

1. Movie must stand alone. Meaning you don’t have to watch a third movie to finish the plot of the second. This rule takes out movies like Pirates of the Caribbean 2, The Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, The Bourne Series, both Star Wars Trilogies, etc., because the story being told was really one movie even though it was split into two. The best example Being Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2.
2. It has to be the second movie in the series. This is why greats like Rocky IV when Rocky ended the Cold War and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade are not on this list.

3. Rewatchability. Yes I know it is not a real word, thank you let’s move on. If you read Bill Simmons blog you understand what this means. All this means is the movie has to be good enough that you enjoy watching it over and over again. This also means Iron Man and Boondock Saints will not be on the list because it’s too early to tell.

4. Horror Movies don’t count. Let’s be honest with ourselves, there are way too many and its usually the same plot line with different characters because the majority of them died in the first movie.

5. I need to have seen the movie – I will apologize now to everyone who thinks God Father II should be on this list, I hear it is really good. I would like to watch it, if I can borrow the Box Set I will return it to you and hopefully my life will have changed as much as you think it should. If you want to recommend movies not on the list I do read my comments.

Now those rules are not too difficult are they? So here it goes, The Late Show with David Letterman’s Top 10 Movie Sequels. Oops, I mean The Baron’s Top 10 Movie Sequels.

Honorable Mention: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me – This movie was made when Mike Myers was still funny as a non-animated character. This movie has three things that make it so good, 1) Heather Graham in tight clothing, 2) Mini-Me, and 3) Fat Bastard. People still walk around and quote this movie. What hurts this movie the most is Goldmember was not that good and Myers is making a Fourth for some reason. There is also the fall of Myers career, much like the next man on our list.

10) Ghost Busters II – How do you follow up defeating a giant sized Marshmallow Man? By opening the 10th Level of Hell in NYC, bringing Lady Liberty to life and walking it through the streets of Manhattan to defeat Vigo the Carpathian, and bringing back the main cast along with Slimer. This may not be better than the original but it is really close. It’s also good for the family and children of all ages. Slimer if you remember the original was captured and put into the Ghost Chamber. The decided to bring him back for a cameo in the second movie because of the popularity the cartoon series gained in which Slimer was more of a pet that lived at the Ghost Busters station.

9) Beverly Hills Cop II – Eddie Murphy is back as Axel Foley and he’s back on another case in the 90210. This time Foley is welcomed to Beverly Hills to help on a case with Taggart and Rosewood to try and find the people responsible for shooting Captain Bogomil. The Trio of Foley, Taggard, and Rosewood find themselves in some crazy situations throughout the movie that add to the comedy, but we all know that Murphy carried this movie, everything he did in the 80’s turned to gold. It’s too bad this movie probably gets lost on a lot of people because most of us cannot remember the last time he made a good movie.

8) Lethal Weapon 2 – Riggs and Murtaugh are back this time to take down a South African Arms dealer. This movie also introduced Joe Pesci’s character Leo Getz. Remember, “I'm Leo Getz, and whatever you want, Leo gets.” This is also the one where Roger is trapped on his toilet because there’s a bomb attached to it. In the end Rigs and Murtaugh get the bad guys and destroy most of the town, but it is still fun to watch. The comedy of this scene almost makes the movie. Another great Police Comedy and it’s not the last one on this list.

7) Back to the Future II – Marty McFly and Doc Brown are heading to the future this time in the DeLorean, this time it flies. Once it hits 88 mph they are in the year 2015. In this futuristic time not much has changed except skateboards hover and cars fly. I guess we have 5 years before this movie’s perception of the future is disproved, but I don’t think we will see flying cars anytime soon. This is a classic film, I enjoyed the whole series. The movie itself is not complex, but for the mid to early 80’s the special effects weren’t bad. Plus how many of us would drive a DeLorean if given one?

6) Rocky II – I can hear it now, how is Rocky II only number 7? It’s because as good as the second one is, four is better. The story is similar to the original except at the end when Rocky defeats Apollo Creed and utters one of the most famous lines in movie history, “Yo Adrian, I did it!” The thing about the Rocky movies are Stalone makes you believe he is an Average Joe the whole time and you know exactly what his character is going through the whole time. So when he beats Apollo you feel like you have won the Heavy Weight Title.

5) Bad Boys II – This movie was on the other day and yes, I started watching it and sat through it till the end. The sad part is I own it on DVD and even though it’s in a box in storage right now I still would’ve watched the TV version. Martin Lawrence (Marcus) and Will Smith (Mike) are great together. The first movie was really good but I think the second might be better. Marcus and Mike are trying to take down drug runners from Cuba during this movie. There are some really good chase scenes in this movie, starting with the chase through Miami where Mike is driving his Ferrari after a semi truck that is chasing Marcus’s sister. They destroy half the city in this chase. A little side note but I love how two cops can destroy a city and all they get is a stern yelling at by their superiors in a movie. The last chase, Mike, Marcus and his sister steal a Hummer as they are chased through Cuba on their way to Guantanamo. This chase by far surpasses the chase at the end of the first Bad Boys. We also learned that rubbing our ears and saying, “Woooosaaaa,” will calm us down.

4) Die Hard2: Die Harder – Back before John McLane became somewhat of a Super Hero he was just a cop with bad luck. McLane found himself in another situation over the Christmas holidays when he waits for his wife at Washington Dulles International Airport. McLane battles mercenaries who are trying to free an international criminal before his trial. The suspense thickens when McLane finds out his wife is still circling the airport waiting to land. McLane always gets into the craziest of situations and this film is no different, but at the end he saves the day and saves his wife. The Die Hard Series also gave us one of the more memorable movie quotes, “Yippie-Kai-yay Mother F***er.”

3) Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom – This film is the reason the MPAA needed to create an intermediate rating between G and R. Along with Gremlins the violence was too much for the G rating so the creation of the PG-13 rating followed after complaints that Temple of Doom was given a G rating. The first movie distributed with the PG-13 rating was Red Dawn in 1984. Indiana Jones is one of the best characters written for the big screen. The movies are a little out there, but fun and exciting from start to finish. The little Asian boy in this movie, Short Round, was hilarious too.

2) The Dark Knight – This is how you write a sequel to a comic book hero movie. Many will argue that Superman II or Spiderman 2 was the first to write a good sequel, but I couldn’t disagree more. I like both of those movies, but Superman II was a terrible story. Outside of the Superman battling General Zod it was pretty lame. Superman gave up his powers for most of the movie, how can that make for a good movie? Spiderman 2 was good, but Spiderman is sometimes over the top cheesy. The Dark Knight set the bar high, until Iron Man 2 this weekend I have not seen a Sequel that balanced the story with the action to make for a full experience while watching the movie. It also helps that the Joker was such a phenomenal character. In my opinion Heath Ledger played the most convincing Joker I’ve ever seen. I loved Jack as the Joker, but it doesn’t hold a candle to Heath’s. The deeper side of the film that looked at the characters themselves was amazing. The Joker and Batman are very similar with the difference being Batman has a code of ethics and Joker does not. Then there was the transformation of Harry to Two-Face showing how easy it would be for Batman to become the Joker. It was hard not to put this movie at the top of the list, but when you read what made it you should understand.

1) Terminator 2: Judgment Day – T2 set the bar high for action movie sequels. If you ask me this move was far superior to every other movie in the Terminator series. Terminator: Salvation was good and surpassed expectations, but is that really an accomplishment after Terminator 3? In T2 the T800 (Arnold) comes back to protect John Conner from the T1000. At the beginning of the movie you have a hard time believing that the T800 can do anything against the T1000. The T1000 cannot be destroyed. It isn’t until the end that the T1000 falls into the vat of molten steel. The T800 follows him into the vat hoping to destroy all evidence of the robots in an effort to save humanity. The movie starts with a great chase scene and ends with a great battle. There is action and suspense throughout the film. This series also provided us with another memorable line from movie history, “I’ll be back.”

I know there are going to be disagreements with this list so I look forward to hearing them. I highly recommend going to see Iron Man 2 if you have not already.