Lost at the ovies
Numbers

Poster courtesy of MovieGoods

Apocalypse Now


Hurley takes off into the jungle on a mad quest to find out why Danielle, the French lady, wrote the cursed lottery numbers over and over on a piece of paper. Hurley wants answers to his questions about the numbers and risks the dangers of the jungle to find her. Sayid, Jack and Charlie set off to find Hurley, finally finding him just as he's about to set off a booby trap he's stumbled upon. They continue on with him to try to find Danielle.

At one point in the trek Charlie starts asking Hurley about his strange behavior.

Quote:

Charlie: "What do I want? I want to know what we're doing in the middle of nowhere? And don't tell me it's because of some stinking batteries. One minute you're happy-go-lucky, good time Hurley and the next you're Colonel-bloody-Kurtz. It just doesn't make any sense. It's not you." Excerpt from Numbers, written by David Fury and Brent Fletcher

Quote:

An immense Vietnam War epic, Apocalypse Now fully realizes the chaos and absurdity of this jungle conflict before slipping into the same trap. Opening with the hypnotic beat of helicopter blades, the scene merges with Captain Willard's (Martin Sheen) view of a lazily spinning ceiling fan. In his Saigon hotel room Willard inhabits a private purgatory, unable to function at home in the States yet reluctant to return to the front line. Used to working alone on top secret missions Willard is briefed on his final task, an operation which doesn't exist and never took place. Deep in the jungle, over the Cambodian border, Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) has broken away from higher command and formed his own military cult. Citing his obvious plunge into insanity and unsound methods, the military have accused Kurtz of murder and want Willard to assassinate him.

The movie Apocalypse Now was based on the book Heart of Darkness

IMDb listing

Poster courtesy of MovieGoods

Citizen Kane

The closing scene was a zoom-in shot of the numbers on the hatch. This same type of closing shot was used in Citizen Kane as the camera focuses in on the sled named rosebud.

For anyone who might not have seen the movie, Kane's dying word, "rosebud" is pondered throughout the film -- what does it mean? Why would that be the last thing uttered before dying? All sorts of theories are about this enigma, but no one can figure it out. However, as in "Numbers," in the final seconds of Citizen Kane, the viewing audience finds out the significance of "rosebud." It's the brand painted on an old sled that Kane played with as a child. We see the letters fading into oblivion as the sled is tossed into a furnace and destroyed.

Sam Toomy's wife is wearing a blouse with a pocket. And on that pocket is a rosebud.
Thanks to Templeton at the Fuselage

IMDb Listing

Poster courtesy of MovieGoods

Indiana Jones Movie Series

Sawyer calls Walt "Short Round", the name of Indiana Jones' young side-kick in the Temple of Doom. There are also several homages made to the Indiana Jones movies:

There is the scene when Hurley is standing on a booby trap and jumps out of the way just in time before a swinging pendulum of sharp sticks hits him which reminds us of Indiana Jones always barely getting out of the way of booby traps.

This scene is also reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark when Indy tries to replace the weight of a statue with a sand bag so as not to set off a trap, just as Sayid, Jack and Charlie try to find something to replace Hurley's weight on the trigger of the booby trap.

Also, in the Temple of Doom, Indiana tries to cross a rope bridge which collapses, similar to the scene where Charlie tries to cross the bridge and it falls.

IMDb Listing

Poster courtesy of MovieGoods

Pi

With the numbers popping up everywhere in Hurley's life, there seems to be a strong parallel with the movie Pi, directed by Darren Aronofski.  In the movie, the fibonacci series of numbers appear everywhere.  In both situations, a character is obsessed with the numbers...Hurley and mathematician Max Cohen in the movie.  Also, central to both plots is the repeated use of a board game that uses black and white pieces to illustrate principles of life (Go in the movie, backgammon on the show).  

Also of note is that Aronofsky is a big fan of LOST and was set to direct one of the episodes (?) as confirmed by Damon Lindelof who thought it would be cool for him to direct an episode using just a symbol just as Aronofsky did using the symbol for Pi.  Unfortunately, Aronofsky had to bow out due to scheduling conflicts as his expectant wife was ready to give birth.

IMDb Listing