'Lost' cast reveal Season 3 secrets
KAHUKU, Hawaii (AP) - The hatch is history.
That was just one of the third-season secrets revealed by cast and crew of the TV drama Lost, who gathered here Tuesday night to mark the release of the DVD set, Lost - The Complete Second Season.
"The hatch has definitely had its moment," confirmed executive producer Bryan Burk, referring to the mysterious underground bunker that was the set for much of the series' second-season drama. "Lets just say it was one big explosion."
Lost cast members Evangeline Lilly, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Terry O'Quinn, Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjim Kim were among the attendees at the party at the Turtle Bay Resort, about a 20-minute drive from where much of Lost is filmed on the north shore of Oahu.
Before heading in to celebrate their second-season work, the cast was asked to address their show's surprising lack of presence among this year's Emmy nominees. Though it was last year's Emmy-winning drama, Lost was not among the current crop of nominated series, nor were any of its leading actors recognized.
"My first reaction to it was, 'Good.' I don't want us to become that show that becomes so righteous, so above everything else, that we're untouchable," said Lilly, who will serve as a presenter at the Aug. 27 Emmy telecast.
Lilly, who was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., and grew up in small-town British Columbia, plays Kate on Lost.
"When we started, our big question was, 'Will anybody even watch this show?' And then when people started watching, we were thrilled. And then when we got recognized critically, we were beside ourselves. So, when we didn't get nominated, all we had to do was remember where we came from."
Writer and executive producer Carlton Cuse told The AP he wasn't losing sleep about the Emmy snub, either.
"Were we disappointed that we didn't get a nomination for the show? Yes." he said. "But the show has been so blessed: the attention, the success. We're not going to focus too long on what we don't have."
Lost fans can expect some big changes when new episodes return to ABC Oct. 3.
There won't be any more frustrating repeats. "Now, when Lost is on, it's on," Cuse explained. "And when it's off, it's off. And when it's on, you know it's an original Lost."
The producers said six all-new Lost episodes will air in consecutive weeks this fall; the season's remaining 17 new episodes will be scheduled without interruption from mid-winter to late spring.
As for the story: If the first season was all about the original plane-crash survivors adjusting to their new lives on a deserted island, and the second season was all about the so-called "tailies" (those who were in the tail of the plane, whom the originals had thought were dead), "this year," Lilly said, "we've opened this up to another whole other people, a whole other location, a whole other facet through which we can tell stories."
Michael Emerson, who plays the leader of "The Others" group, noted, "What I know is that we get to go live with The Others, where they learn a little more about their life and, hopefully, their mission, their agenda, whatever that might be. Maybe we'll get to warm up to them."
Producer Burk promised that many of the second season's looming questions would be answered in the first six episodes. But, warned actor Daniel Dae Kim, "I think for every question that's answered, there's another one that's posed, and that's kind of what keeps people coming back."
Cuse said the new season will include more action and adventure, and that new characters could well serve as love interests. And, he added, Sawyer (Holloway) and Jack (Matthew Fox) will definitely be competing for the romantic affections of Kate.
But don't expect the show to get all soft.
"There'll be a lot of love. There'll be a lot of comedy," Burk said. "But we can never forget that these people are in a very dark place."
CBC to broadcast COC's entire Ring Cycle
Though they might not get to Toronto this fall, opera fans across Canada will be able to listen to the Canadian Opera Company's upcoming production of the Ring Cycle on CBC Radio, the public broadcaster announced Wednesday.
While tickets to the four-part epic are nearly sold out, CBC Radio Two will broadcast Richard Wagner's famed tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) live from Toronto.
"This ranks as one of the biggest broadcast events CBC Radio Two has ever brought to Canadians," said Mark Steinmetz, director of radio music for CBC Radio.
Hosted by CBC Radio personality Howard Dyck, the broadcast will air the opera performances set for Sept. 12, 13, 15 and 17 — the first of the three cycles scheduled for September.
Tickets for all three Ring Cycles have nearly sold out.
Historic production
The Ring Cycle comprises four operas — Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried and Gotterdammerung — and, in the past, both the COC and other Canadian companies have occasionally staged one of the four operas as part of their regular season programming.
However, the COC's full production in September is the first-ever Canadian production of all four operas consecutively, as Wagner intended when he unveiled his masterpiece in 1876 at his Bayreuth Festival in Germany.
The production this September also marks the COC's first major endeavour in its new home, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.
In addition to the live broadcasts of the first cycle, CBC Radio's Go and Studio Sparks will air live from the Four Seasons Centre in September. Other Wagner and Ring Cycle-related programming will also be featured on other radio shows, while a CBC Radio contest currently invites listeners to "remix" the famed Ride of the Valkyries from Die Walkure.
Ryan Phillippe is Batman's New Foe
Ryan Phillippe has been cast as the dual character villain, Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the Batman Begins sequel.
IMDB.com reports the Cruel Intentions star apparently snagged the role out from under other hopefuls, Liev Shreiber and Josh Lucas, to play opposite Heath Ledger and Christian Bale in the upcoming movie, The Dark Knight.
Phillippe follows in the footsteps of previously Two-Faced Tommy Lee Jones, who played the role in 1995's Batman Forever, where he was paired up with Jim Carrey, as Edward Nygma - aka: The Riddler.
Sir Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman will be returning to their respective roles in the next film - and there's even talk Philip Seymour Hoffman could make an appearance dressed in coat and tails - as The Penguin.
Elvis fans mark anniversary of death
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Fans of the King from around the world are in Memphis, Tenn., honoring the 29th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.
Presley died of heart disease and prescription drug abuse at his Graceland mansion on Aug. 16, 1977. The singer's fans traditionally file past his grave site at Graceland on the eve of the anniversary. A spokesman says as many as 10,000 fans could visit the mansion for this year's vigil.
President Bush and his wife, who brought Elvis fan and Japanese leader Junichiro Koizumi to Memphis in June for a tour of Graceland, sent their regards.
The White House sent a letter to be read to the fans noting Presley's "special place in the cultural life of America." It says the anniversary gives fans around the world an opportunity to come together, share memories and celebrate Presley's legacy.