While filming a Hollywood movie with a multi-million budget requires meticulous planning, unknowns loom around every corner.
   Filmmakers are at the mercy of many elements -- most notably the weather, according to Ernie Malik, unit publicist for "We Are Marshall."
   "You just hope that Mother Nature is a movie fan and helps you out," he said....
   ...And if you think you have a long-distance work commute, consider this: Matthew Fox, star of the ABC hit TV series "Lost" will be splitting his time between Huntington and Hawaii as he wraps up production on the current season of the show.
   "The sheer distance won't allow him to be here (for a Saturday news conference at the Keith-Albee)," Malik said, adding that Fox is scheduled to arrive in Huntington sometime this weekend. "Then he goes back later for more filming on Lost.... Read the full story here. (1:26 PM)

   Obsessives, stretch your nerd muscles (located mostly in the neck and eyeballs): It's time for some Lost detective work.
   You'll be happy to know we're publishing That Crazy Map from the Hatch blast door in this week's issue -- and also right here on the site.
   (Let's pretend, for a second, that it hasn't already spread all over the Internet.)
   Now I'm no Doc Jensen (though I strongly recommend you check out his insanely rational theories), but a friend has strongly encouraged me to follow this lead: Valenzetti. You'll see the name on the lower left hand corner of the map, along with the words, "...relevance to Valenzetti-related research activity." My friend Googled "Valenzetti" and discovered a Googlewhack, that oh-so-rare search term that brings up only one result, in this case a log of recently registered domain names.... Read the full story here. (9:26 PM)

   On the March 29 episode, a new mystery entered the Lost lexicon: the Map. Blurry as heck and visible for just a split second, it was the show's biggest TiVo moment yet. We decode it for you, as best we can. Read the full story here. (9:20 PM)

   My sister called the other day and asked, "What do you think about Lost?" Mid-way through my rambling list of superlatives, she realized I kinda like it. A lot. Her boyfriend, who works Wednesday nights, was thinking about downloading season one to his iPod. Never having seen the show herself, my sister couldn't tell him if it was worth the trouble.
   I thought the cinematic scope of Lost would be, well... lost, on such a tiny screen, so I suggested renting the DVDs and watching them on a real TV. But he went ahead and downloaded the pilot, and another convert was made.
   ABC happened to be re-broadcasting the pilot episode later that week, so my sister decided to wait and watch it in high-def. She even asked me to remind her when it was about to come on. I'd already seen the pilot twice, but decided to watch it along with her, despite our being in different cities.... Read the full story here. (8:53 PM)

   Yes, folks, it's not a rerun tonight! Lost airs another new episode tonight (the 17th for this second season). Entitled "Lockdown," the episode, written by producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, and directed by Stephen Williams, focuses on Locke. ABC describes tonight's episode as such: When the hatch suddenly takes on a life of its own, Locke is forced to enlist the help of an unlikely ally. Meanwhile, Ana Lucia, Sayid and Charlie go off into the jungle to find out the truth about Henry. Go ahead and discuss tonight's episode at LostTV-Forum.com. (11:45 AM)

   Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox are close to signing to topline Columbia Pictures' "Vantage Point" for producer Neal H. Moritz reports Variety.
   Pete Travis is directing the "Rashomon"-style thriller that depicts the attempted assassination of the president from five different points of view. Quaid and Fox will star as secret service agents.
   Barry L. Levy penned the screenplay. Quaid will next be seen in comedy "American Dreamz", Fox is currently seen on ABC's hit series "Lost" and is currently in pre-production on McG's football pic "We Are Marshall". Read the full story here. (11:37 AM)

   "Lost" in the past? These days, it does seems as though "Lost" spends as much time in flashbacks as it does in the present day.
   That's how we've learned much of what we know about the airliner crash survivors who are stranded on the show's mysterious island, certainly. It's how we found out how Sayid (Naveen Andrews) became a torturer and a tortured soul, for example. It's also how we learned Locke's (Terry O'Quinn) father stole not just a kidney from him, but also a big piece of his heart.
   Tonight's flashback takes us backward again into the life of Locke, who is played by an actor, incidentally, who is no stranger to many people here.... Read the full story here. (11:35 AM)

   Apple has added a 'Season Pass' option on iTunes for ABC's popular Lost and Desperate Housewives. Several readers note that the iTunes Music Store now offers an option for the Season Pass, which is $35 for each series. Both shows offer a 'Season Pass' that includes all current and future episodes of Season 2 as well as an option to buy all of the previous Season 1 episodes for $35 as well. Earlier this year, Apple launched a multi-pass option, which lets users buy TV shows on a monthly basis -- including 'The Daily Show with Jon Stewart' and 'The Colbert Report' and Men's NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament as well as launched its 'Season Pass' feature with the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Apple has also been exploring new ways to market and sell music videos in bulk as interest in downloadable video grows. Read the full story here. (11:34 AM)

   After chatting for a half-hour on the phone from Hawaii, he mentions that fans might be interested to know that tonight on Lost, "there's a pretty long scene in which I'm shirtless."
   Then he adds, "Oh, man, I think I'm red."
   Ever since an episode in November featured a shirtless Kim, 37, revealing rippling abs, his profile has jumped. He's a sex symbol, and even rarer, an Asian sex symbol.
   "Let's face it: Asian men aren't necessarily considered sexy in America, and severe underrepresentation in the media has a lot to do with that," says Phil Yu, creator of angryasianman.com, which tracks all things Asian. "It's not that Asian men aren't or can't be sexy. You just normally don't get to see it.... Read the full story here. (11:43 PM)

   Attention "Lost" fans: TV Guide reports the pre-crash lives of recently reunited couple Bernard and Rose will finally get a back-story of their very own, with a flashback episode scheduled to air during May sweeps.
   While the producers of the show are mum on details, sources confirm that Rose has something very surprising in common with mystery man John Locke. In other plot developments this May, we'll find out why Oceanic Air flight 815 crashed and witness the return of avenging Father Michael. Read the full story here. (10:40 PM)

   Although the gorgeous Australian's star rose quickly in Hollywood by landing a role as the pregnant plane crash survivor Claire on "Lost" (ABC, 2004 - ) after playing only two other roles in the United States, the path of the beautiful blonde Aussie starlet was one of careful study.
   The Melbourne native began studying ballet at the age of nine and was accepted to the prestigious Australian Ballet School at 15. She performed with the Australian Ballet Company and with Danceworld 301. Born in December 1981, de Ravin studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia and the Prime Time Actors Studio in Los Angeles. Her first TV role was on the international series "Beastmaster: The Legend Continues" (Alliance Atlantis and Tribune Entertainment) as Curupira, Guardian of all Game Animals, which was shot in Australia for US television.
   The sweet-faced young blonde had only been in the United States for one month when she was chosen for a role as the mysterious fourth alien on "Roswell" from 2000 to 2001. de Ravin also appeared in the remake of Stephen King’s classic "Carrie" (2002) before being cast away in to "Lost" fame in 2004. But the big screen ha also beckoned, first in a small role in the offbeat Indie thriller Brick, and now as a family member terrorized in the chilling remake of the horror classic The Hills Have Eyes.
   In a Los Angeles hotel room, at the end of a long day doing press, Paul Fischer spent some alone time with the Australian actress, who talked horror, Hawaii and what she hopes will be revealed on America’s biggest TV hit.... Read the full story here. (10:36 PM)

   If you're tired of reruns - and we know you are - this should brighten up your day. Lost finally airs a new episode tonight, this time focusing on Sun and Jin. The episode, entitled "The Whole Truth," was written by Elizabeth Sarnoff and Christina M. Kim (the writing team who wrote "The Hunting Party") and is directed by Karen Gaviola. ABC describes the episode as such: Sun wrestles with the thought of telling Jin a newfound secret that threatens to upset the entire balance of the survivors' community. Meanwhile, Locke enlists Ana Lucia to interrogate the prisoner in order to extract more information than he, Jack or Sayid could. Go on and discuss the episode at LostTV-Forum.com! (11:34 AM)

   "Lost's" Naveen Andrews is looking over film prospects to do over hiatus time, but notes, "It all depends on whether the dates work around the series. When ABC owns you, they own you. I'd think they'd be loathe to let you off and do movies when they could be squeezing your life blood.
   There's a huge season finale May 7 to promote," he adds.
   The candid Andrews doesn't foresee a long future for his hit mystery drama. "To me, it's always been the kind of show I couldn't imagine going as long as 'Friends' -- three, maybe four season at the very most. Surely after the third season it really will be scraping bottom."
   He shrugs. "Maybe not.... Read the full story here. (11:31 AM)

   Luc de Groot sent this email to us: "VT4, TV channel of the European SBS group, launched the second season in Belgium last Monday. In addition, the Belgian weekly Dag Allemaal inserted a DVD containing a summary of Lost Season 1 in this week's issue. Special photo footage is also included. If any of your readers want a copy, let them mai me at ldg@lucdegroot.com." (11:28 AM)

   Learn the real secrets behind the strange mysteries unfolding on the uncharted island of ABC's hit television series Lost. No, not the plot secrets, but rather the clever visual effects used to maintain the web of suspense that keeps viewers glued to their TV sets each week. In a one-on-one interview with visual effects supervisor Kevin Blank, Cinefex reveals the lowdown on many of Lost's most memorable moments, from the midair disintegration of Oceanic Flight 815 to the island's marauding polar bears, tree-chomping invisible forces and other surreal surprises. The article is accompanied by color photography offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the work of the show's effects vendors. Order your copy now by calling the magazine's circulation department at 1-800-434-3339 or visiting its online store at www.cinefex.com. (10:48 PM)

   Prison Break star Wentworth Miller has come up with a novel way to boost ratings on the show - by merging its storyline with hit castaway drama Lost.
   The hunky actor's "little fantasy" would offer a surprise twist blending the jail saga with the popular island survival series, which stars Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly.
   He jokes, "In the last episode of the season, we slip into the prison's sewer systems, up through these grates, and pop out a hatch - and we're face-to-face with Matthew Fox, and we spend season two on a tropical beach." Read the full story here. (10:03 PM)

   Chances are any ABC show you're currently watching will be going long when they end their seasons in May.
   The network said Tuesday that the season finales for each of its three most popular scripted series -- "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" -- will run two hours. So will the season ender for "Boston Legal." And "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "America's Funniest Home Videos."
   And the series finale of "Alias"? Yep, two hours....
   ...On Sunday, May 21, "Home Edition" and "Desperate Housewives" will both finish their seasons in extended fashion, with the former airing at 7 p.m. ET and the latter at 9. The fun continues May 22, when "Alias" will finish its five-year run on the network -- a switch from the Wednesday timeslot it will occupy on its return to the schedule next month.
   The move to Monday for "Alias" gets it out of the way of "American Idol's" final week and also makes room for "Lost" to finish the year with two hours' worth of mystery on Wednesday, May 24. "Lost" also had a two-hour finale last spring.... Read the full story here. (9:57 PM)

   Two years ago, I started a little site tracking every little detail, snippet, and news item about this intriguing new series pilot from the creator of Alias and starring Charlie from Party of Five, a hobbit from The Lord of the Rings, and a former Young American(s). Two years later, Lost-TV remains one of the biggest and most popular sites dedicated to the ABC series. Thank you to everyone who has helped keep this site booming! We promise to continue to deliver on content, particularly here on the front-page. We're currently fixing up the site design, as well as some new pages on the site, and we hope to bring it to you before this season ends. Once again, to all of you fine folks who visit the site, THANK YOU! (10:13 PM)

   Lost (Music from the ABC Television Series), a CD containing some of Michael Giacchino's Emmy Award-winning musical underscoring for the show, will be released tomorrow, March 21, in stores everywhere. The CD should include such memorable music as the music played at the end of "Do No Harm" and during Charlie's "death scene," as well as the main title theme. You can order your copy at Amazon.com. (10:08 PM)

   A closed eyelid fills the screen. Suddenly it swings wide open, and the pupil, at first dilated, immediately contracts, as if reacting to brilliant light. That's the first shot of the first episode of "Lost," ABC's phenomenally successful dramatic series, now in its second season. Several variations of this image recur in later episodes - a tantalizing hint that somehow the show is an allegory of the process of awakening, of opening to the light of awareness. More hints will follow....
   ...But "Lost" holds our interest with those teasing glimpses of a cosmic and possibly dharmic dimension. Occasionally punctuating the passengers' struggle to survive are such perspective-busting developments as the appearance of a polar bear in the jungle, the crash-induced healing of a paraplegic, the recurrence of an apparently mystical sequence of numbers first on the slacker's lottery ticket and then in several other improbable places, and the discovery of an abandoned bunker that houses some sort of clandestine project straight out of "The X-Files," complete with aging computers stamped with the logo of the mysterious Dharma Initiative - a logo that also turns up tattooed on the skin of an attacking shark.
   What's going on here? Is mainstream TV really making a meaningful foray into the Buddhist world? Or is it merely rummaging through the thrift shop of Buddhist terminology for the odd hat or trinket in which to play dress-up? The last time the word "dharma" was prominently featured on a network series, it turned out to mean a cute blonde hippie girl married to an uptight yuppie named Greg. Certainly at least one of the "Lost" writers seems to have some real knowledge of Buddhist practice. The apparatus in the Dharma Initiative bunker includes a doomsday machine that requires its caretakers, in order to fend off catastrophe, to watch a counter and vigilantly reset it every 108 minutes - maintaining mindfulness in increments of 108 being a familiar activity, of course, to anyone who has used a standard 108-bead mala to count off repetitions of mantra.... Read the full story here. (10:05 PM)

   Marshall University and the official voice of Thundering Herd athletics, "The Dawg" WDGG 93.7 FM and the Herd Insider magazine will host a block party to kickoff the filming of the Warner Brothers movie, "We Are... Marshall." The film will focus on the crash of the Marshall football charter on November 14, 1970, that killed all 75 persons on board, including most of the football team and coaches, plus administrators, local doctors and officials, fans, parents and the Southern Airways crew of five.
   "We Are... Marshall," a rallying cry of football supporters since Marshall's days at Fairfield Stadium in the 1980s, will then follow the rebuilding of the Thundering Herd program, beginning in 1971 with the "Young" Thundering Herd, who won the first home game following the crash on a last-second play, through the dark days of the 1970s, the re-birth of the program in the 1980s and very recent successes of bowl wins, conference championships and national rankings.
   The party will be Saturday, April 1 (no fooling!), from 4:00-9:00 p.m. on Huntington's Fourth Avenue which will be closed for the party from 11th Street to Eighth Street. The main venue is in front of the historic Keith-Albee Theater, where the film may premier. There is no cost to attend, and street vendors will be available for food, drink and other concessions, including a special commenmorative issue of Herd Insider magazine....
   ...All actors involved with the movie have been invited to attend the block party, including lead Matthew McConaughey (who starred in "Sahara" in 2004 and recently opened in "Failure To Launch," with Jennifer Aniston) as MU Head Coach Jack Lengyel, who was hired in 1971 to rebuild Marshall football following the disaster; Matthew Fox (of ABC-TV's hit series, "Lost") as Assistant Coach William "Red" Dawson, who drove to the East Carolina game while recruiting and then helped rebuild the program after the crash; David Strathairn (of "Good Night, and Good Luck," for which he was nominated for best actor in the recent Academy Awards for his turn as CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow) as MU interim President Dr. Donald Deamon; and Anthony Mackie (of "Million Dollar Baby") as MU football player Nate Ruffin, who missed the flight to ECU due to injury and captained the 1971 Young Thundering Herd.... Read the full story here. (10:02 PM)

   Daniel Dae Kim is still startled when fans start screaming at the sight of him.
   "In New York or Los Angeles, it can be a bit overwhelming," says Kim, who stars as the Korean castaway Jin-Soo Kwon in the hit ABC series, "Lost." "They're appreciative of what I do on the show, and one person may ask for an autograph, then others. I'll hear shrieks on the street, which can be unsettling. It's a bit more low key in Hawaii since we film there."
   Not that Kim is complaining. A veteran actor, Kim has played everything from sci-fi military officers on TV shows like "Enterprise" and "Crusade" to a government agent on "24." But "Lost" has made him a hot commodity in Hollywood, winning him a place on People's list of the "Sexiest Men Alive" in 2005 and recognition as a household name.
   Still, he notes, the more things change, the more they stay the same.... Read the full story here. (10:01 PM)

   To hear Evangeline Lilly talk, her path to stardom on the hit series "Lost" was almost beyond her control. Perhaps a bit like her character, Kate, and the rest of the "Lost" castaways who submitting to a grand plan, or was it just bum luck? crashed at the obscure Pacific isle where the ABC thriller (9 p.m. EST Wednesday) has stranded them.
   Granted, Kate was aboard doomed Oceanic Air flight 815 in handcuffs, a fugitive from justice. She was being brought back to the U.S. from Australia to stand trial when the jet tore apart in midair.
   Nothing so tumultuous for Lilly.... Read the full story here. (8:37 PM)

   Were the mutant men of The Hills Have Eyes gentle with Emilie De Ravin?: "They were actually really, really nice people. Michael and Robert were so sweet. I mean, they still are. They're really nice so it was kind of weird because they're so mean and so disturbing. I mean, Michael's like three times my size so if you squeeze your wrist too hard, he almost broke my fingers."
   Was the Morocco set of Hills Have Eyes as nice as Lost's Hawaii set?: "A little less comfortable in the desert. I'm not used to the desert. I haven't really spent that much time until then. So you have to climatize and adapt to the heat which the first few days I thought, 'I can't do this. It's so insanely hot.' The middle of summer in the middle of the desert over there, it was sweltering hot. But you get used to it. You kind of don't think about it after a while. I'm glad that happened.... Read the full story here. (10:02 AM)

   Fans of both the hit TV show Lost (which features a guy haunted by a sinister sequence of numbers) and indie filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (whose breakthrough film, Pi, was about a dude obsessed with devilish digits) will have to wait a bit longer to see if these two geek tastes can taste great together. The director has respectfully bowed out of helming one of the current season's remaining episodes due to scheduling conflicts. "The timing didn't work out," Aronofsky tells us. "I'm expecting a child." (The mom-to-be, of course, is Oscar nominee Rachel Weisz.)
   The director, who is putting the final touches on his long-awaited sci-fi drama The Fountain, is also prepping a new movie called Flicker, an adaptation of the cult novel.... Read the full story here. (1:34 AM)

   Clothes Off Our Back, which auctions off clothing and other items from various Hollywood events with proceeds going to children's charities, is auctioning off two new Lost-related items. One is a Bottle of HQ Hypnotiq Liqueur autographed by the entire cast of the show at the first season DVD release party in Hawaii (August 2005), which is currently going for $1100. The other is Terry O'Quinn's Teva flip flops from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, currently going for $200. If you have the cash, then I strongly urge you to bid; the proceeds are going to worthy causes, plus you get some cool Lost swag. (1:11 AM)

   It's Wednesday, which means it's time for a new episode of Lost... Oh, wait. No it's not. Not tonight, at least. Tonight is... another repeat! Apparently, for many Lost fans, waiting really is the hardest part. Writes Mark Morrison: "Do you think that the producers of the show are concerned with the fact that they have WAY too many reruns? I have spoken with many Lost fans who say they are getting more and more aggravated by this all the time."
   Well, I suppose I can offer my two cents... but let's ask the producers themselves.
   "We wish we could run the show in one continuous block," says exec producer Carlton Cuse. "Unfortunately, we can't physically produce more than the 24 hours of the show we produce each season. Those 24 episodes have to spread across the entire 35-week TV season. The network needs originals at key times, like premiere week and during the three sweeps periods. The show is too valuable to the overall ratings picture of the network to run it out in one block. Therefore, massive repeats. We are victims of the way the TV season lays out. We feel our viewers' pain because we experience it ourselves.... Read the full story here. (8:37 PM)

   In the landscape of television dramas, "24" and "The L Word" have little in common. Fox's real-time action series trades in white-knuckle attempts to foil dastardly terrorist plots; Showtime's lesbian melodrama doles out emotional upheaval and the sexual politics of the beautiful. But this week, the two series have employed an increasingly widespread plot device: in the past 48 hours, both "The L Word" and "24" killed off popular lead characters....
   ...So far this season, main characters have died on "Lost," "Smallville," "Las Vegas," "One Tree Hill," "Desperate Housewives," "Battlestar Galactica" and previous episodes of "24." The killing isn't over, either: the casts of "The Shield," "Everwood," "ER" and, again, "Lost" and "24," will be culled by the end of May. And the always-violent "Sopranos," which returned on Sunday, promises to be a bloodbath: its season premiere featured one death by natural causes, and one shocking suicide by hanging.
   As viewers have more choices of what to watch, and as quality shows compete across the broadcast and cable networks for loyal audience members who will return week after week, the stakes of dramatic series have risen. Some shows — "24," "Lost" and "The Sopranos" — illustrate dangerous worlds where death is always close. Viewers not only expect casualties on those series, they sometimes summon them. Recently, vocal "Lost" fans — fresh from the loss of Shannon (Maggie Grace) in November — began calling for the death of Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez). The Internet din grew so loud that Damon Lindelof, the show's executive producer, publicly denounced the rumors on TVGuide.com last month.... Read the full story here. WARNING! THE ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS TO OTHER SHOWS SUCH AS "24" AND "THE L WORD"! (10:21 PM)

   John Terry, who currently plays Jack's dad on Lost, has been cast in a new pilot from Touchstone Television for ABC. The pilot is entitled Secrets of a Small Town, a murder-mystery drama about the murder of a teenage girl and the disappearance of her sister in a small town, which kick off a chain reaction that leads to both emotional and humorous discoveries that have been long buried. The show is from executive producers Chris Brancato, Bert Salke and creator Charles Pratt, Jr. and is directed by Adam Davidson. The pilot also stars John L. Adams, Tyler Christopher, Sean Patrick Flanery, Angie Harmon, and Denise Richards. For more information, check out Reuters, The Futon Critic, and FilmForce. (1:14 AM)

   In a TV world where even Tony Soprano can get shot in the gut in the season opener, nobody is safe. And if Fox's "24" is any indication, not only can any character go at any time, there likely won't be a lack of company....
   ...In an already risky industry in which shows get canceled without notice, there is no such thing as job security for actors no matter how beloved their character or how long they have been playing him or her — even on a hit show. The lack of character-centered dramas in film has allowed for a renaissance in television, but the 200-channel universe has made it tougher to hold the attention of the audience, so writers have had to raise the stakes. For stories that deal with terrorism, crime and even the supernatural, death often becomes a logical outcome....
   ...As audiences are opting to stay out of movie theaters and spend more time on the sofa, shows such as "24," "Lost," "The Shield" and "The Sopranos" are fulfilling the appetite for drama. This renaissance in television also attracts A-list actors, directors and writers who are willing to experiment with genres and storytelling that leaves viewers with their jaws dropped....
   ..."If you go back and start watching plots and the complexity of television, even from 10 years ago, especially 20 years ago, things have changed pretty radically," said "Lost" executive producer Carlton Cuse. "I think the stability of the natural cast was one of those untouchable things in television. The wisdom was that the audience is investing an hour, the networks are promoting the cast, and you just can't do that. But people have discovered that wisdom isn't true. The episodes where those kinds of deaths happen become more vivid and memorable and part of the mental lexicon.... Read the full story here. WARNING! ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR OTHER SHOWS SUCH AS "24"! (1:11 AM)

   You thought "First Descent" was being announced too early... well that's nothing. Having just come out in theaters yesterday Fox Searchlight Home Entertainment will be releasing Wes Craven's horrorfest "The Hills Have Eyes", which stars Aaron Stanford (Tadpole, X2), Kathleen Quinlan ("Apollo 13","Breakdown'),Emilie de Ravin ("Lost," "Roswell") and Dan Byrd ("Mortuary", "Salem's Lot") onto DVD June 20, 2006. Unfortunately, no further news is available at this time. Stay tuned, and we will bring you the latest details as soon as they arrive.
   A new take on Wes Craven's 1977 film of the same name, THE HILLS HAVE EYES will be directed by award-winning French filmmaker Alexandre Aja from a screenplay he penned with Grégory Levasseur. The film will be produced by Craven, Peter Locke, who produced the original THE HILLS HAVE EYES; and long-time Craven producing partner Marianne Maddalena, who produced Craven’s blockbuster SCREAM series amongst many others.... Read the full story here. (1:07 AM)

   Although the gorgeous Australian's star rose quickly in Hollywood by landing a role as the pregnant plane crash survivor Claire on "Lost" (ABC, 2004 - ) after playing only two other roles in the United States, the path of the beautiful blonde Aussie starlet was one of careful study.
   The Melbourne native began studying ballet at the age of nine and was accepted to the prestigious Australian Ballet School at 15. She performed with the Australian Ballet Company and with Danceworld 301. Born in December 1981, de Ravin studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia and the Prime Time Actors Studio in Los Angeles. Her first TV role was on the international series "Beastmaster: The Legend Continues" (Alliance Atlantis and Tribune Entertainment) as Curupira, Guardian of all Game Animals, which was shot in Australia for US television.
   The sweet-faced young blonde had only been in the United States for one month when she was chosen for a role as the mysterious fourth alien on "Roswell" from 2000 to 2001. de Ravin also appeared in the remake of Stephen King's classic "Carrie" (2002) before being cast away in to "Lost" fame in 2004. But the big screen ha also beckoned, first in a small role in the offbeat Indie thriller Brick, and now as a family member terrorized in the chilling remake of the horror classic The Hills Have Eyes.
   In a Los Angeles hotel room, at the end of a long day doing press, Paul Fischer spent some alone time with the Australian actress, who talked horror, Hawaii and what she hopes will be revealed on America's biggest TV hit.... Read the full story here. (1:05 AM)

   Karastan has added Evangeline Lilly, star of the ABC television series Lost, to its growing list of celebrity endorsers, the company said.
   Lilly will be featured in four print ads that begin running in the April issues of shelter and lifestyle magazines including Architectural Digest, House & Garden, Martha Stewart Living, Metropolitan Home, Oprah, Real Simple, Southern Accents, Town & Country and Veranda.
   Two of the ads promote the company's rugs and two promote its carpets. Both are produced in full-page and spread formats. The campaign was created in-house and continues the tagline, "Make a statement. Your own."
   Lilly is the third celebrity to endorse the Dalton, Ga., company's carpets and rugs. Previous celebrities were actress Andie MacDowell and entrepreneur Marcia Kilgore, who is the founder of Bliss Spas.... Read the full story here. (1:04 AM)

   First impressions can be deceiving. Especially in the case of "Lost's" Emilie de Ravin.
   Scurrying into a coffee bar in Toluca Lake 20 minutes late — De Ravin was stuck in traffic — the actress seems fragile, almost waiflike. Tiny — she's 5 feet 2 — the 24-year-old Australian has that same gamin quality of the young Audrey Hepburn or Leslie Caron. Just like those two legendary performers, De Ravin was also a ballet dancer.
   So it's all the more surprising that her two upcoming movie roles call for her to conjure up an inner strength that doesn't seem possible coming from such a small-boned frame.
   In the new horror film "The Hills Have Eyes," which opens Friday, De Ravin plays a precocious teenager named Brenda who is angry that she's on a road trip with her family across the barren, hot desert.... Read the full story here. (1:02 AM)

   Confused? You're not alone.
   Mid-season -- that time of year when networks float new shows they figure weren't good enough to make the previous fall's schedule or weren't ready in time -- is a lot more crowded this year....
   ...The TV map is in upheaval due to the usual logistical hassle: It takes eight working days to produce a single episode of an hour-long, weekly drama. As well, the situation was further complicated by the recent Olympics....
   ...This time, however, the other networks, sensing weakness -- rightly, as it turned out -- went after the Olympics with a vengeance, with new episodes of hit shows 24, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Survivor and Lost. And, in a move so aggressive it even took industry insiders by surprise, American Idol aired no less than four times during the Olympics' second week. It showed just how vulnerable the Winter Olympics are to counter programming....
   ...The result is chaos, this month and next, as CBS returns with fresh episodes of CSI and Trace at the same time ABC is forced to pre-empt or air reruns of Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy.
   ABC is forced to air reruns because, by airing fresh episodes of those series last month, it left itself without enough new episodes to fill in between now and the traditional five-week, season-ending ratings period that begins in late April.... Read the full story here. (12:59 AM)

   Many apologies, but the Pictures section of the site has been temporarily removed. We're sorry to everyone who have uploaded wallpaper and icons, but we believe someone took advantage of this feature to install a spam scam to the site. As a result, we have to fix things. But don't worry, we'll try and get the gallery back up as soon as possible, and it'll be better than ever! (11:58 AM)