LET'S GET LOST

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTIONS WILL APPEAR ON MY TWITTER AT 1PM PDT (4PM EDT) ON THURSDAY 23 JUNE 2011.

Yes, OK, this is the Summer MOVIE Cave, and up to this point I've only been giving away movies.  This week, that changes.  Here are the reasons:

1) I own one of what I'm giving away this week, and it's really awesome.  Someone else should be able to bask in just how awesome it is, especially if they're also a fan.  And doubly especially if they're maybe NOT a fan - yet.

2) I'm going to Vegas this weekend.  It was supposed to be for a bachelor party, but that unfortunately was moved to the East Coast, and a two-day trip for me was going to turn into a five-day trip, so I couldn't make it.  Also, they were still going to charge me for the Vegas room I had already booked for one night.  Also, I feel as though giving something away a mere evening before my trip to Vegas provides me with instant karma that I plan to cash in right around the vicinity of the blackjack tables inside the Palms hotel.  Also, I realize that admitting my complete lack of actual altruism probably negates any real karma that might have been earned I had been earnest about such.  Also, fuck off and stop asking questions.

3) LOST is probably my favorite piece of entertainment in the last ten years - film, TV or otherwise.

LOST, to me, seems to be the ultimate experiment in, "We've got an idea here of what we're going to do, but let's throw all this shit against the wall, see what sticks, and if they give us a Season Two, we'll figure it out from there."  And you know what happened?  They did.  And that's what great writers do.  Sure, maybe it ended up being a much bigger monster than they anticipated, and maybe they got overwhelmed at times trying to tie it all together, but ultimately...MAN, did it ever work, at least for me.  And yes, I'm one of the people who loved the last season and especially the last episode.

I can't remember any show in recent history that left me stalking my television in the way that LOST did.  Every week when that logo floated across the screen and the familiar quick-shot score kicked, I was rapt on my couch, stomach full of butterflies.  When it was over, I was positively rabid for it to be the next week already.  And usually yelling something at the top of my lungs.  I think the "NOT PENNY'S BOAT" moment might have left me emotionally crippled for upwards of five hours.  And every week, after I recovered, I scoured the Internet endlessly trying to keep up with the discussions and the reactions and the theories.

And that's the thing...once I really got into it, this ceased to be *just* a TV show.  Working in the industry, peeking behind the curtain...I'm one of those people for whom the magic of it all is occasionally (no pun intended) lost.  You start to watch things as a writer, as a developer, etc.  I never had that problem with LOST.  It totally swept me up and carted me off, and damn if I'm not grateful for it.

This was also a significant show in that it was one I did NOT follow from the beginning; I had to catch up on several seasons of the show via DVD.  I'd never done that before, and honestly truly underestimated how lucky we are to be living in a time where TV shows make it out as acquirable media just a few months after they've had their on-air run.  I hate the idea that I might have had to watch the show WITHOUT having access to the first couple seasons as much as I do the idea of having never been able to watch the show at all.  And as I mentioned in point #1 above...I couldn't be more excited that someone who never gave LOST a chance when it was on the air might potentially win this week, and therefore be exposed to it.  And potentially be as blown away as I was.

Less than a year ago LOST: THE COMPLETE SERIES was released, and holy Christing shit, I couldn't have ordered one any faster than I did.  It comes with, obviously, all the episodes from every season and a whole bunch of behind-the-scenes bonus content encased in a temple-shaped box.  It even has a slew of cool little extras, like the game that Jacob and the Man in Black are often seen playing.  And I want you to have one.

Now a lot of people have done some very polite complaining that I've only been giving away Blu-ray stuff, and so far, they're right.  So this week, I'll be giving away not just one LOST: THE COMPLETE SERIES Box Sets, but TWO - one on Blu-ray, one on DVD.  And I'll be asking a specific, different trivia question for each one.  So that's two trivia questions this week, two chances to walk away with one of the coolest physical media box sets ever created.

Haven't decided if I'll bend the rules a bit and ask LOST-related trivia questions or if I'll stick with film stuff, but either way, there will be some relation.  And either way, Thursday is going to be a hell of a lot of fun.