Staged: Season 3

Well that was more different than I expected.

So we're back to 6 episodes again but the strangest part is there's only 2 episodes of the actual show, and the rest of the season is actually all about behind the scenes stuff and gearing up for actually filming the third season. Never have I ever seen a television show that potrays the actual show, the aftermath of the show, and the preproduction of the show. It does feel like a true peek behind the curtain with Georgia playing executive producer/sociopath, Michael and David doing a tiny bit of press and having rehearsals before filming, Simon actually isn't a spineless worm and actually directs will wonders never cease? So it's undoubtedly the black sheep of the entire run and as far as I know they had no intention to go beyond a third season so this is it for all intents and purposes, but it's still interesting to watch! It certainly posed many questions in my mind of how do you produce a television series with a skeleton crew of camera operators, audio engineers, and the director himself? It sounds almost an impossible task but they pull it off and pull it off well! I guess I was just thoroughly thrown off course because the first two episodes are business as usual for the most part and then it's all backstage stuff for the vast majority of the season, so I don't hate it by any stretch but I also certainly don't love it as much as the other two seasons. David and Michael still have moments to shine and show their humor scripted or otherwise, Georgia practically gets the same if not even slightly more screen time than our boys and she really is a ball busting producer...maybe goes a bit off the fucking deep end and crafts a Jigsaw level situation for David and Michael to get over some writing hurdles to be perfectly honest but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do. Handful of cameos present including one of my all time favorite british actors, and while they aren't as prevalent because of the shorter episode count it was still nice to see them. It certainly has appeal seeing the crafting of a show even if it's not super in depth and indeed I can see many normal people who just enjoyed the first two seasons kinda get a introductory look at behind the scenes production material that people like me AKA insane cinephiles are aware of. Admittedly I would just stick to the first two seasons but there's still interesting stuff here, and I can at least recommend it halfway. 3 stars from me, 8/10, and I guess more behind the scenes stuff will come up next week with an animation company and animator legend known globally.

Staged: Season 2

Or Staged squared if you're mathematically inclined.

Okay definitely a shift from last season, picking up roughly a year later when we were oh so slowly crawling out of the pit itself this season more or less deals with the impact of the first season. If you thought it was meta before you ain't seen nothing yet! We bump up to 8 episodes now still at 22 minutes each as we follow David and Michael who are made aware of the show making a leap to the States but...without them starring. So it's this mad scramble for them to learn all the details of a production they have nothing to do with combined with actually a pretty normal thing in actor's lives: atrophy and waiting for the next part. I say this with love and enjoyment in my heart, there is somehow even less going on plot wise this time around. No really, it's mostly Michael and David getting into a bit of a rut while also trying to integrate themselves back into the show, and don't think about that too hard or you will quickly learn that time is a flat circle and that this rabbit hole is a reflection of a reflection. I mean you always hear stories about actors just kinda waiting for the phone to ring and I truthfully feel they did a brilliant job potraying that, David almost turns into a recluse and falls out a bit with Michael because of it. And you cannot tell me otherwise at this point they're basically married, I had every expectation to see a kiss or an embrace before the end! I wouldn't quite say the performances got better they more expanded for lack of a better term, filling out more of the depictions of themselves and giving new angles for us the viewer to see them, which is still great stuff! They have such a school friend energy about them at times and whether this season is improv to hell and back or not you can feel the joy they have being around each other. I also appreciate seeing more of Georgia, Anna, and Lucy kinda have their own brief little storyline as well, that was nice. Good few celebrity cameos as the first go around, don't want to spoil any of them because some were a genuine shock. The humor is still as strong also, David had me losing it a good few times mainly because I've never seen him angry or upset before so those were gold for me but the absolute biggest laugh I got wasn't even a line, but a look from Georgia in the last episode of the series literally made it to where I couldn't breathe. I don't know why, it just killed me. This was way more like what I imagined the show to be like in my head, very few instances of any kind of camera shot beyond webcam stuff and the five layer cake depths of art imitating life imitating art was almost mind boggling. It's such an interesting little show and I think that's why I love it, don't get me wrong it's great to see David and Michael kinda bounce off each other and have fun mucking about, not to get off topic but the scene where they're just doing the newspaper crossword puzzle...if that's scripted I will literally castrate myself, cook it, and eat it because that was just them being them! Not a shred of acting found in that brief moment. But anyway, it's just this oddball show that clearly is not meant for everyone but holy hot damn is it entertaining to me and clearly many more people if it got not one but a two-hoo extra seasons, and whether or not tomorrow's review will be the last for Staged it was great fun while it lasted. I give it 4 stars, 9/10!

Staged: Season 1

I knew I had to get around to this eventually one day.

How to describe the plot of Staged? Well you see, back a few years in the dark ages when the most boneheaded fucking move in health and safety where no one was supposed to be outside occured, tumulting the entertainment sector into a septic tank both in cinemas and theatrically, we follow one such particular case of Six Characters In Search Of An Author being crafted and rehearsed almost entirely through webcams. Starring Michael/David Tennant/Sheen! For as dirt simple as a premise like watching two great actors just lolligag about and converse on a Zoom call, barely even rehearsing for a play, it's fantastic entertainment! I was almost hacking up my lungs from laughing so damn hard throughout the shockingly short first series, only six episodes at 22 minutes a piece! It's about as experimental a show as I've ever seen in certainly the most unprecedented time I've encountered in my life, to the point where I desperately need to know exactly how much of this was scripted because aside from a few normal camera shots it's beyond candid and effortlessly real. Obviously the comedy is played up with David and Michael acting like the most bickering married couple you've ever seen in all your days, but it all just seems too real. Nary a drop of escapism found here and yet still is fun to watch. I can't say that about...any other show honestly. Though I'll be up front and say when I heard the premise and caught brief glimpses of clips, I thought the whole programme was going to be viewed through a computer screen just seeing the director and the actors on their video conference doing whatever and I'm almost disappointed it wasn't. They have very simple camera set ups where you see everybody, except for now that I think about it Michael, in their kitchen or dining room chitchatting. I don't at all hate it but I thought wow, what a fascinating television production and would almost be fourth wall breaking if you were streaming this on your laptop or home computer. So obviously most production details I cover are almost obsolete for lack of a better term, it's hard to get a Goodfellas type shot with a webcam, so all I can work with are the actors. I wholeheartedly adore Michael and David so I was pretty much sold on this series and it was just as grand as I thought it was going to be, and I love seeing Georgia and Anna in the fray as well, they really have a sweet relationship and I'll admit even I'm slightly jealous of them, even the less than effectual director Simon isn't a total wet blanket on the proceedings though I personally was almost entirely locked in on Lucy Eaton who plays his sister she was absolutely class! There's even some surprise guest stars which I shall not give away, cause where's the fun in that? Go watch it! It's no masterclass of TV but for me it was firmly in my wheelhouse and I loved every second of it. If regular televised productions are getting old for you this is different enough, if you want a good laugh sign up immediately, even if you just wanted almost this time capsule of a severely shit situation that humanity got shoved into without knowledge or consent (no idea why anyone would want that but hey history is history) then yeah sure go for it. 4 stars from me, 9/10, take from that what you will and I'm gonna have to see the further misadventures of this cast of characters.

Doctor Who: 60th Anniversary Specials

Yeah sorry, couldn't let it slip by.

Doctor Who! Also known as oh God Russell what will I do with you? Yeah after my....less than enthused reaction to seeing David back, the 60th anniversary has come and the 14th Doctor is on our screens for a brief jaunt in time and space. The real question is, have I mellowed on it and what do I think? The answer is somewhat, cause I was fuming and dreading just a big nostalgic fanwankery throwback to 2008 Doctor Who and it not progressing the character of the Doctor, but I am greatly happy to announce they did confront it and acknowledge it. So I will now laugh in crazed Time Lord manner at the imbeciles and cretins who thought Jodie was just gonna get retconned and tell them to suck it. Long. And hard. You know, for a whopping grand total of four specials spanning 4 hours only there is quite a bit to unpack here so we may just have to break this down special by special. But there's more than just what is presented on screen as well to discuss, we have had some changing of the guards and I can honestly say I have no major qualms with Disney+ possibly being the home to Doctor Who now in the States but I miss watching this show on the BBC America, the budget and scale has never ever been this big or better before, we get a lot of behind the scenes personel back on the programme besides just Russell including Julie Gardner and Rachel Talalay, and I feel the future of the show is up in the air mainly due to the fact I don't keep up with the making of process and what could potentially come next in terms of distribution, writers, or just overall production. I'll touch base on certain things before jumping into the specials themselves, mainly details we knew beforehand. Love the the new logo, classic but with a modern makeover. New title sequence, it's practically kaleidoscopic and I dig it. Theme tune not sold on yet actually, bit too orchestral and not enough sci-fi if that makes any sense but it could grow on me or change outright. New sonic, quite the amalgamation of every modern screwdriver since 2005, I rather like it. New console room, holy cow is that a set! Complete with mood lighting! Sign me up I'm here for it. Onto the specials! The Star Beast is a solid entrance to the anniversary, with our Doctor literally bumping into Donna not long after his deja vu regeneration as a spaceship crashes, leading to a delicate wire balance of save the Earth but don't trigger any memories from Donna. Although that tidbit gets handwaved, and I do frick fraking mean handwaved away at the end which really just hurts the drama and emotion of not only the end of Series 4 but also The End Of Time. I just do not like it, however seeing David and Catherine back is indeed nice and adds new and old elements that have been present in this universe, never did I get bored or was uninterested in viewing it once. It's a simple story with good character interaction, great effects, and is a stepping stone to the next adventure so I can walk away liking it just fine. Wild Blue Yonder is when we get real friggin' good, probably the first time on television Doctor Who has flirted with the concept of cosmic horror as the Doctor and Donna find themselves on a derelict spaceship on the edge of the universe itself when...well just watch it. It combines stuff from Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, The Thing, and for you Big Finish fans out there I kinda got big Scherzo vibes from this episode and that is a terrifying story, seriously check that shit out if you haven't. It really did get under my skin especially when the Doctor just peers out at the sheer darkness beyond the universe, it was very effective stuff. Great episode! The Giggle oh boy here we go, the world has gone mental and one of the oldest enemies the Doctor has ever had has found his way into the universe where a series of games is played winner take all. Positives, love of my life Kate is back, Mels is back and marvellous as ever, even as a not big fan of Neil Patrick Harris he did pretty damn good and I didn't actually hate the Spice Girls number as well, Russell after a decade gets to prod and poke at societal norms today, and it gives a happy ending for David. Negatives and spoilers about to crash down on your head, the plot is kinda loose and is more a vehicle to get The Celestial Toymaker to confront The Doctor again and to get to the ohhh God...the bi-generation. I'm kinda on the fence about it, because as I have stated before I'm a dude that thinks decades into the future of the ramifications of decisions. Buuuuut at the exact same time I've come to accept the MetaCrisis Doctor, the extension of 13 faces/12 regenerations, The Timeless Child I took that shit in pure stride happily, so am I really gonna call bullshit on the bi-generation?? Welllll yeahhhh but like not really, it's a complicated matter and I can so clearly see in my mind's eye that's when some people quit Doctor Who outright. Okay let me put it this way, I don't like it but I'm accepting of it and who knows they could play about with it in the years to come to where I'm happy they did that. Minor sidebar on this episode as well, there is zero damn doubt in my mind the whole companion puppet show was entirely for the benefit of those people who quit watching when Ten regenerated, there is no way you can tell me otherwise. I am right on that. Now! However! When it comes to the man of the fucking hour Ncuti Gatwa as our new Doctor Who ho-ho-hoooo! I can firmly and safely say, hand over my hearts, for the first time in my life, I am so stoked for the new Doctor. Never ever has my excitement and love for a new incarnation even existed let alone be this high before, and not only that this is the first Doctor Who actor I've ever seen prior to the show. Chris, David, Matt, Peter, Jodie, never seen them in something before Doctor Who (I know David was in Goblet Of Fire but that revelation didn't click until a whiles later and I wasn't watching Doctor Who yet so I don't count that.) so it really feels like all the rules be broke and damned for this iteration. My mans kinda stole my heart and he can damn well keep it, I cannot wait to see more of him! So pure 10/10 for Ncuti, but how do the performances stack up for the rest of the cast? The day David Tennant gives a bad performance Hell will freeze over, pigs will have learned to fly, and I will become a monkey's uncle. Is he pretty much the Tenth Doctor all over again? Yeah, but there are added layers to the performance to make it unique enough. Catherine Tate I liked better when she didn't have her memory back but just the unbreakable bond of friendship she has with David off screen practically oozes from the interactions and dynamic they have on screen, and she has a spectacular standout moment at the end of Wild Blue Yonder just oh my God that woman can still act her ass off. Again Neil Patrick Harris is a surprisingly good casting choice and can hold some menace even though he really only has one episode to spread his wings. The Noble family are class, and I thought Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble was quite nice and her presence was felt even when it was just the Doctor and Donna, and okay we have to talk about Bernard Cribbins. That was a hard day after hearing he passed away and knowing this was his final acting role made it special but also sad, and I'm not saying this out of anger or resentment or "how dare they" but I genuinely expected more footage of him in the specials when in truthful reality it was a cameo. I mean clearly I wanted him to be in it a lot cause I love that man, everybody loves him, so I'm not upset at the production team far from it in fact. It just sucks you know? But on the brighter end of things Ruth Madeley as UNIT scientific advisor Shirley Bingham instantly had my attention, I don't know what it is but I would love to see her in more Doctor Who and she is just so goddamn pretty and lovely, that character is Kino. Production values from the costumes, sets, effects both practical and CG, it still wholeheartedly fits in that Doctor Who style but it unmistakenly has had a major facelift and I was impressed, happy, and even nodded approvingly at the silly bits. It truly is a new era for this show and it's just a tiny taste of what is yet to come. Now I would be remiss to not include the Christmas special, Ncuti's first full fledged adventure, so let's shift gears over to that. It may have the most average and dirt simple story of not just all the Christmas specials beforehand but all previous episodes but The Church On Ruby Road is easily one of the most fun and fancy free, ludicrous, and just plain entertaining installments in this whole series. I don't think I can adequately explain why that is, but if you just roll with it and are here for the ride you get a lot of fun! It's basically the Fifteenth Doctor meeting his companion Ruby Sunday as they try to stop meddling goblins, but the story barely matters because how the dialogue is written and vastly more importantly how the actors handle the material and interact with one another is practically electric. It's sheer emotional storytelling and I was smiling like the biggest dweeb on the face of the Earth but it has sad moments to it as well, but the energy and passion presented pretty much made me think, "Wow this is what it must have been like when Doctor Who premiered in 2005 with Rose." like it was kind of amazing. Ncuti Gatwa, 10/10, could not adore him more if I tried. Millie Gibson, I'm pretty much already cherishing the ground she walks on, oh my days and stars! The chemistry is flawless, it really does seem like they are the greatest of friends more so than even Ten and Donna with almost sibling energy at times, it really is exactly what I wanted for Christmas. Twelve and Bill are my pinnacle of modern Tardis teams, but man if this keeps up they will be usurped like yesterday. The positives almost outrageously outweigh the negatives, which really is just I'm still getting used to Ncuti's sonic screwdriver, it almost is like the sonic lance in terms of different (but I love with a capital L the story behind the Gallifreyan text on it) but that can so easily change with time. The goblin song is kind of a groove man, and while the Doctor bursting out into song is no Gallifreyan Buccaneer I still unashamedly dig it. Also shoutout to Ruby's mum that woman is a saint and I want you to acknowledge her, that's how I would have kids I would most certainly adopt and not subject any woman to the body horror show of pregnancy thank you very much. But anyway, easily my favorite of the 60th specials and I can't stand the thought of having to wait March at the earliest and May at the latest for the next proper series. If I had to give individual ratings for each special The Star Beast gets a solid 7/10, Wild Blue Yonder gets an 8/10, The Giggle gets a 7.5/10, and The Church On Ruby Road gets a 9/10. Not bad at all for the special occasion and the hype has never been more real for this show. 

And now to reveal the plan for next year. I'm sensing a drought is going to occur because of the strikes and to level with you this year's amount of written material tied with my first year ever and while I greatly enjoyed the time off I wish to contribute more than I did this year. So I'm not quite gonna get back up to 3+ reviews every week but I will try to punch up a review or two every week besides just new movies once the anniversary arrives. Year 9 here we come, the long way around.

Ahsoka

Holy shit. Holy shhhhit!

I am so sorry this was as late as it was and I'm desperately gonna attempt to keep this coherent, but there is so much to talk about and not tread into spoiling everything so with that let us begin. We knew this show was coming, we knew it would be all about finding Ezra and Grand Admiral Thrawn, and still and STILL it gave us fans so much to be entertained by and love! Son of a krayt dragon, where do I even start? Literally before act one scene one I was a happy boy seeing a red Lucasfilm logo and red text crawl. We are quickly introduced to our principal protagonists and antagonists, Ahsoka and Sabine after a falling out in jedi training reconvene with hopes of finding Ezra Bridger and stopping Thrawn's return after retrieval of an ancient map, while Morgan Elsbeth hires two...I have no damn clue what to call them cause they're not mercenaries and they're not sith and I dare not even call them dark jedi, Lord Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati who are looking to traverse to a galaxy far far away to retrieve the Chimaera and it's captain as heir to the Empire. Now I actually only have one singular qualm with this show and even then it really isn't all that much but I wonder how does Ahsoka know the map she finds leads to the precise location of Thrawn? I know it's a simple Macguffin and there is indeed a time gap between when Din met Ahsoka and now so whatever, just a nitpicky thing. And for a show that's only 8 episodes long with varying runtimes for each episode, what it juggles and how the story progresses ain't half bad. It's quite tentative how each link gets Ahsoka and Sabine closer to Ezra but far from plot breaking, and I can see that some might claim the show to be slow and it is indeed far from action packed but I feel that's necessary for the story that needs to be told. There's a lot of character backstory and baggage that gets sorted, and yeah it's damn near pivotal to see Star Wars Rebels to fully get the picture. You can still watch this show uninitiated but I don't feel like it would have as much of a draw or impact, it's essentially a fifth season of a television show just swapping from animation to live action. I mean they do a competent job getting across what each character is like and their history with one another but it's one thing to infer from it and another to experience it. Now that being said they got some fuggin' GOOD actors to play these roles, and I'll tell you something right now I can't imagine being the casting director for this because not only do you have to pick the best candidate but you also got to get the right looking person to be this animated character come to life. That is unbelievably difficult but they pulled it off in spades for my money's worth. Rosario gets to finally spread her wings and explores the boundaries of this fan loved character and delves into her psyche a bit, you see an arc with Ahsoka as she gets some very much needed closure and acceptance of her past. Natasha couldn't be more of a dead ringer for Sabine Wren if she tried and effortlessy captures the still rebellious sassy attitude that masks some grief and pain, she was an easy sell for me. Mary Elizabeth Winstead did take a hot second for me to get as Hera but once we were there all was well, she takes way more of a mom stance and while she does have her son Jacen around you can tell she wants to get Ezra back after so long too, and she ain't taking no nonsense from certain republic senators, so I say rock on. Okay this is gonna go on for a minute but fuck it, Ray Stevenson...good God. This is a greater tragedy than Darth Plagueis, the fact he never got to see the fans adore his character and even greater the fact we won't see him again continuing the quest of Baylan Skoll, it just hurts man. Del Rey books, Pablo Hidalgo, whoever I need to make a case to, please for the love of all things grand and amazing make a book on Baylan Skoll, either his break off from the Order and how he found Shin or a continuation of where we see him last or friggin' both! Baylan Skoll jumped up to my second favorite Star Wars character of all time in just 8 episodes (sorry Kylo I still love you) and I'm pretty sure I could write an entire character study on him but to keep it brief, he is a strong enigma but the best way I can describe him is he seems to put the emphasis on knight in former jedi knight, we really don't know what his endgame is though we get hints and breadcrumbs but he was perfect from beginning to end. I fell so head over heels for this character I fashioned my Halloween costume after him. Just wow, 12/10, 200/100, goddamn it I miss you Ray. Ivanna Sakhno though we don't get a firm grasp on her character's standing in the larger scale of the story, was an effective villain and my lord the eye acting of this woman was nothing short of phenomenal and pants wettingly terrifying. And I know a good sect of the internet who wants Shin and Sabine to be an item, I hold no grudge against that so I'm rooting for your dreams over there you romantic oddballs. Big time plot twist with Morgan Elsbeth played by Diana Lee Inosanto, turns out she got some Nightsister blood in her even though we had no inkling to believe so beforehand, but they fiddle and change stuff all the time in Star Wars you get used to it. But it's really damn cool to see her have such a prominent role from basically a cameo in The Mandalorian, she even gets to flex her sword fighting skills and I'm just happy to see her back in this role. Now if you go back and read my Mando season 2 reviews there was a little breakdown moment over the mention of a Chiss strategist by the name of mothertrucking Grand Admiral Thrawn so you would think I'd practically launch myself from my chair into the stratosphere upon his arrival but I kept quite a icy cool demeanor like the man himself, mainly because it was just a given. Of course we're gonna see Thrawn, of course we're going to see the star destroyer Chimaera, everything is proceeding as I have forseen, so it wasn't a matter of if we're going to see Thrawn but rather when are we going to see Thrawn. I mean can you believe it took over 30 years for this character to make the jump to live action? Heir To The Empire came out in 1991, we've had Thrawn in games, in comics, in animation, damn near every medium except live action until this year. Of course I'm utterly thrilled they got Lars Mikkelsen to do the performance rather than just dub his voice, and you can indeed see he is having the time of his life playing this role to the max in person and it's everything you both expected and wanted from it. I barely have to talk about him because you know it's great, I know it's great, the New Republic is gonna get wrecked and that's great! I genuinely do hope we get a second season of Ahsoka, I know Dave is gearing up for a film and that's wonderful but there clearly is some things to resolve by the end of this season, so please and thank you Lucasfilm. It's kinda mental how good the production is here, it really does seem like each show just keeps getting better in quality of effects to where you kinda forget it's supposed to be a TV show, the costumes are beautifully realized, the sets go from intricate to sprawling and look grand, the fight choreography feels in touch with each character and has some directorial flourishes which I love, we get a lot of emphasis on ships and space so obviously they excel at that over at ILM, it's just proper good production. Plus there's just a lot of new ground that was broken that I never thought Star Wars would do, I mean they have the balls to push the setting to a galaxy even farther away and yet it still feels appropriately Star Wars. If I had to pick favorite episodes, there's no bad episode for sure, they space each one out to where nothing ever feels like filler, that's a tough decision because there are solid candidates and I'm split on episode five and the finale for two very different reasons but I will go with the finale because they throw a lot of cool stuff at you and you want to see how it all ends and it leaves you with ample questions for next time. Regardless you're in for a treat with this show, I have no friggin' clue what the next Star Wars show will be, my want for The Acolyte is unrivalled so fingers crossed for that! Final scores I give it 4 stars, 8.5/10! And I shall return next week for a historical drama so stay tuned. Long live the Empire.

Fright Night (2011)

Thank God this didn't suck.

Yeah, the original Fright Night fell woefully short for me so I was holding high hopes for the remake to be superior. A rare case indeed in such a line of work as this. And I must say I did enjoy this one much more, in yet another rare case this is actually a remake that isn't superflous. It doesn't tread the same waters beat for beat but actually does something original of it's own while still telling the story, which is how a remake should be done! Keep the basic story of in this case, a teenage boy who suspects and soon discovers his next door neighbor is a vampire and takes matters into his own hands with the help of a now this time occultist magician instead of a TV show host to keep his friends and family safe. I think the cast this time around is great with Anton Yelchin being our main lead, and it was very bittersweet to see him again but he does well and feels like a real person. In fact everyone does, the modern quality of the writing and acting makes every character feel like they're someone in your neighborhood. There's no cliche character types or situations, it just tells the story in an entertaining way. I must admit at first I didn't buy Colin Farrell as a bloodsucker, a dark wizard perhaps but no nosferatu but he won me over as the film went on. I really like both the mom and the girlfriend, they're fun and witty and actually do stuff in the story rather than just be someone to save at the end. But my absolute favorite is David Tennant as this Criss Angel looking performer who actually looks way better and knows much of the supernatural to the point he has an entire armory to fight various beasts and monsters, I mean...it's David Tennant it's incredibly hard not to enjoy him, it's like this mix of Time Lord and ginger haired demon in his performance and it's wonderful. The effects aren't half bad either, only using CG when necessary and does some pretty neat tricks with the whole no reflection or image in cameras. It's a pretty good movie and one I actually don't mind recommending, a remake done well with some good laughs and horror elements, and yeah the characters do some dumb stuff but it doesn't hurt the movie much. It's just a fun decently made movie perfect for a movie night with some friends that's actually a huge improvement over the original. 3 stars, 7/10, a good movie for the season!

Doctor Who: 50th Anniversary Specials

I'm throwing in the Christmas special with this one.

Normally I don't talk about the Christmas specials unless something happened story wise but since The Time Of The Doctor was Matt's final episode I feel obligated to see him off of course. But in good time. I was very fortunate to actually see the 50th anniversary special in a theater surrounded by mega fans of the entire series, it was great fun and an occasion worthy of memory. Needless to say we were all very impressed, I mean they played their cards just about as perfectly as you can get, a multi-Doctor story based around the one thing we've heard about for nearly a decade, The Time War. Just to see it on the screen at last was a big moment, but it goes deeper than that. To see a war torn Doctor played wonderfully by Sir John Hurt accompanied by our beloved 10th and 11th incarnations was amazing! They work together so well and we've never seen this War Doctor before but they flesh his character out very well in an hour long special, and to see them treat such a massive thing like The Last Great Time War with such weight and importance feels genuine. It took up a position to tell the most epic story in Doctor Who history and make the celebration of 50 golden years truly spectacular. Which is exactly what they did, while throwing in Kate and a new character Osgood who shrieks fangirl like nobody's buisness and I will forever love her, a return of the Zygon's who haven't been seen in 40 odd years, and it all feels just right. It has it's comedy, it's drama, some major surprises and is still a love letter to the series. The fact that it opens with the 1963 titles immediately lets you know what you're in for. It was a huge deal back then 6 years ago and it still holds up even now and will continue to do so. And last but certainly not least we have the 11th Doctor's final adventure, and it does it so well. It juggles being a regeneration story, an actual plot important story, and a Christmas story damn near perfectly. It has a few very sweet and loving moments that make you feel that Christmas warmth even if you don't watch it around December. The story focuses on a mysterious message from a planet that draws every adversary from The Doctor's history to it, forcing the Time Lord to protect the town from an imminent war while slowly dying of old age because he has no more regenerations to use. It's a very good story and one last great hurrah from Matt Smith, my Doctor. His regeneration still brings a tear to my eye, and his last words ring true for any individual. It's a heartbreaking end but I'll always remember when The Doctor was Matt. I really felt he was going to go the distance, topple Tom Baker's incredible 7 year run since he was the youngest actor to play The Doctor and he had that energy and acting talent to do so, but sadly it only lasted 3 years. But I loved those 3 years, I used to watch his series with my mom, she knows Matt's stories best and he really was the reason I went from being a fan to huge fan. My love for Doctor Who has waned slightly since those years but I really was invigorated again despite my nagging, and I cannot wait to see Peter Capaldi rock on in series 8.

Doctor Who: The Specials

Not the Christmas specials, the special specials.

You get a Christmas special every series it's like the Queen's speech. So yeah the last 3 specials from David's tenure are still really damn good. Planet Of The Dead is very basic but the companion in this case Christina is a bit too good, she's right on The Doctor's level for adventure and excitement and I wouldn't feel bad at all seeing her again I mean she is an absolute joy to watch, it's just a bit of fun, a nice Easter special with quite an ominous warning for things to come. Next, quite possibly the most depressing Christmas special I've ever seen, The Waters Of Mars is stellar and it's not to do with the setting, the monsters, or the action. It all comes down to the characters, we've heard The Doctor speak of fixed points in time, unchangeable history and to see this quite honestly startling view of him at the end is worth it. I take that back the whole ending is worth it, they nailed that emotional crux of the episode and they ran with it to the bank, it still makes me tear up a bit. Just further proof for David's great acting talent, he is absurdly superb in this. I mean, wow they brought their A-game to this episode. Planet Of The Dead was just fun, this is....Jesus, I dare say powerful. Which leads us to the most ambitious finale I think we'll see for quite some time with The End Of Time. They really put their all into making this a grand finale for David Tennant, they make it one of the most emotional regeneration stories I've seen, with tons of stuff going on concerning the Time Lords. But really I think the story could have been anything and all the emotion would still be there. Now I've heard quite a backlash to this one, hearing that oh the regeneration went on for too long, it was too overdone, it was just trying to squeeze every drop of emotion it could out of people, but in my special case it took me years to finally see this finale. I finished series 4 very quickly and never knew how he regenerated, something about radiation or another but not knowing the full story literal years after I finished David's run. I wasn't even gonna watch Matt Smith's first series until I knew. But it payed off, it's a last goodbye for the most celebrated and loved Doctor quite possibly ever, and to see him do just a few more good things for his past companions is very sweet. Though the last goodbyes with Sarah Jane and Wilf just shred my heart to pieces. Really any scene with just Wilf and The Doctor makes me weep, just those quiet moments where they just sit and talk speaks volumes and knows exactly how to tug on our heartstrings. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful Donna's grandpa is, he's the best and I love him now and forever and I will fight you in the streets if you say one bad thing about him. God dang it, no tears. I can't do this now, I'm sorry.

Ugh, curse these emotions. But for the last three hurrah's for Mr. Tennant, it was done incredibly well. Adieu adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow. But next time, we meet my Doctor.

Doctor Who: Series 4

Yeah this is the best season.

I think they really did plan this all out. I mean from The Christmas Invasion to Journey's End scale of planning, Marvel planning here folks! Why? Because this finale not only puts every other finale to shame we've seen so far, but the size, scale, amount of characters, and plot threads that get tied up, it does kinda make you wonder! But beyond the awesome finale, how's the rest of the series? Well I personally think it's the best of the Tennant era. Partners In Crime is a much welcome return for Donna Noble, and the comedic and dramatic chemistry between them is excellent. The Fires Of Pompeii is a great episode and has a certain significance that we learn much later down the road. The Sontarans make a nice return and I swear I haven't seen them since the 70s, so that was cool. A murder mystery with Agatha Christie is as fun as you think, with interesting twists and turns. But beyond the finale there is something very, very important shown here, the introduction of River Song. This aspect alone made series 4 special, a time traveller who knows The Doctor in every way and her story comes to a close and yet has only just begun. Incredible. It's pretty much the first series with no real episodes worth skipping though I do take slight issue with some. Midnight may work as a horror-esque episode but the constant screaming and nagging drives me up the wall to be honest, it gives me a headache. And then there's Turn Left. Now I understand the concept and intention, simple decisions can affect the world, alternate realities can become morphed with ours. But the idea that The Doctor what, drowned, because he was so intent on watching the Racnoss queen die? Bullshit and demons! Don't buy it for a minute, alternate reality or not, you are just wrong. So that episode has nothing for me but if there's anything Doctor Who does, it's foreshadow and pay off. First series was Bad Wolf, then it was Torchwood, then it was Mr. Saxon, and now it's planets disappearing and something unseen on Donna's back. Always repeated, hinted at, until the reveal at the end of the series. Thankfully the planets disappearing payed off better, pretty much wrapping up everything from every series before except for the time war. I had a lot of fun and grew very attached to Donna, and their adventures are still ranked upon the greatest. This was a well crafted and expertly executed series, top notch, great all around, and worth watching!

But everything has it's end, so I will be covering David's last few specials before we hit series 5 tomorrow!

Doctor Who: Series 3

Now we're reaching the prime time for Doctor Who.

I vastly enjoyed series 3 more than both series 1 and 2, I'm not sure if this series is better than the last but it all comes down to people's opinions in the end. Yet even I was enjoying myself much more, probably because it felt like an established season, yes we still get a new companion but this was really when both the showrunners and David started making it their own. Of course that's not to say the last two series were bad or a product of poor craftsmanship, they did a great job reintroducing the show with Chris and then built more on it with David's first series, but this is when it really hit it's stride for me! There's only one episode you could skip, the rest are all great and some of which still have an impact on the show to this day so clearly they were doing their best to make this series the greatest yet and it shows. After the shocking ending to the finale we pick up with The Runaway Bride which is a lot of fun for a Christmas episode before we head into the series proper with Smith & Jones. Now before, I gave Martha not a lot of credit but all because of one thing, she gets all doe eyed at the Doctor and crushes on him hard, I remember days where companions were just travelling friends and had great respect for The Doctor but didn't exactly want a relationship. I know it's a product of these times but it feels so....CW. That's not a good thing (but I still love you Supernatural) but beyond that I dig her as a companion, especially how she pretty much singlehandedly made the good guys win in the series finale but she's fun, intelligent, and a wonderful emotional and morale compass for the series. I have to admit though it really took them over 40 years to have a companion who wasn't white as snow? And no I don't count Mickey as a companion, he had two onscreen adventures before going off. We had flippin' robots as companions before we got other races onboard the Tardis, and no I haven't gotten my hands on any Big Finish audio dramas so don't bring those up, but yeah that's a bit weird but change is always welcome, especially in this show. After that it's just about hit after hit of episodes! Shakespeare Code is awesome, I genuinely love Gridlock, the Daleks In Manhattan is a bit hokey but okay. It was great seeing Mark Gatiss get a part in an episode, and an interesting one at that. The Family Of Blood is an even more fascinating episode with tons to love and appreciate, least of all David's acting skills. Blink is a modern horror master stroke that could be a movie on it's own today and still genuinely and completely unnerves me. I mean Jesus, don't watch it at night, especially before bed. I learned that the hard way. And the so far unrivaled 3 part finale is pretty spectacular in terms of scale, story, and character. I won't say much more but man is it more awesome if you've seen older Doctor Who episodes from the 70s and 80s! The only one you can wholeheartedly skip is 42, it's not bad but it does seem very filler but beyond that, great series! It's a shame we only really have one more series with David though, it's a funny buisness time....you're gone for ages, you've already gone, you're still here, you've just arrived, I haven't even met you yet. It really does put it into perspective sometimes at how much time you get to see a person before they leave. But if memory does serve correctly, his last one went out with a bang.

Time to move on. To see familiar faces, enemies new and old, history in the making, and an unfamiliar face soon to be known.

Doctor Who: Series 2

It's good to see David again.

Oh boy I'm probably going to get such hate mail over this but here we go. Series 2 of Doctor Who is definitely an improvement over the first, true there's still some hit and major miss stories but overall I enjoyed it more than the first. It really does feel like the writers found their groove and stuck with it until really Matt Smith came on board but there is a reason for that. So where were we? Oh that's right, Mr. Tennant. The beginning of many a fangirl's obsession in this show's history, seriously I'm hardpressed to find someone who doesn't like David Tennant as The Doctor. Now I'm not saying he's overrated, he is really incredible, practically born to play this role, his charm and personality are synonymous with Doctor Who nowadays. And he really won hearts over the course of four whole series, even being able to challenge Tom Baker as the best which is tough to do for anybody. Lord knows how Peter Davison felt. But anywho, we still have Rose on board and I still like her (kinda), I'm not quite sure who I like her better with though, the 9th or 10th Doctor, but regardless she has great chemistry with David, and Billie is still great friends with him all this time later. However I have things to say...about the finale. Um, could you lower the pitchforks please? I'll come back to it later. The style remains much of the same but more noticeably refined, and the effects all around have gotten better. The stories though are mixed. I hate New Earth, so much it drives me insane, it reads like a 15 year old wrote fanfiction with all that nonsense innuendo and subpar setting but it still works if you can look past it's faults for the most part. School Reunion was my personal favorite, I mean come on it's hard to go wrong with bringing back the best companion of the lot and the dynamic it provides is both fun and incredibly endearing. The Girl In The Fireplace practically is worshipped by fans though I found it to just be nice and with some legitimate good moments with a gorgeous score. The Cybermen story was cool but after that boy does it spiral down. Love & Monsters, need I say more? Just don't watch it, listen to me for at least once please do not do this to yourself. It is bad and Fear Her ain't much better. Anything else I want to bring up before I'm eviscerated? Uh, Murray Gold is an outstanding composer, there's more nonsense about dangerous adventures, the last bit before the end of the series is still really funny to me, oh and Torchwood is a massive raging prick and I swear every episode was throwing that name out like a 90s show trying to make a catchphrase stick, Elisabeth Sladen is still royalty and forever shall be, we get some absolutely stand out acting from the headmaster in the same episode with her I mean it is a crime we haven't seen more of him in this show. But um....okay, this is spoilers kinda but it gets brought up again and again for many series to come so it is necessary. I have nothing against the Doomsday finale, it brings Daleks and Cybermen together for the first time and it's great, returning the just recently established parallel worlds was nice, but I don't like the ending. Not in a, this has emotionally devastated me and I do not like it, I mean it did nothing for me. First off, the whole relationship thing, just....ick, incredibly wrong, dumb as a rock I would say. Sorry but the companions are not girlfriend material and I completely disagree with it, it's a crush she has and nothing more but they keep trying to hammer it in and it honestly makes Rose unlikable. Fast. People kinda lost their minds when the 8th Doctor kissed his companion back in 1996, you'd think they learn. Rose's "death" had no emotional impact for me, now when I first saw it and I watched her hands lose grip I freaked the hell out! Like whoa, are they really gonna kill a companion? Little did I know they have done it before and will continue to do so. But then oop, she gets saved and it honestly should have just ended with him walking away from the wall. The whole "dream" made me roll my eyes in contempt, which PS. You can never argue that it was a good idea, but the whole teary eyed beach scene just killed the emotion for me. All you need is them on opposite sides of the wall with that fantastic score playing, and The Doctor walks down the hall and we see him in his Tardis crying. Perfect, good emotional impact, didn't overstay it's welcome, a shocking end to the series. It would have blown people's minds. But noooo! Here's some scene ripped out of The Notebook and the two of them (mostly) confessing their love. Great job guys. Ugh! So yeah, ending was a mess, had it's fair share of awfulness, but regardless series 2 is very good and was only the beginning for future travels of many people's favorite Doctor. So if series 1 got your attention and you wish to see more, well knock yourself out! Just skip the last two before the finale, trust me on this.

Series 3 tomorrow, definitely need to see that one again. So what will happen next after this crushing and unexpected ending for The Doctor? Time will tell, it always does.

Good Omens

Yep, the newest Amazon show based on a book by two great writers Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.

I greatly enjoy their work and I had to read the book to fully be able to compare notes and judge if you can watch the series by itself and not lose any enjoyment, and thankfully you really don't. You get a lot more out of it if you read the book and it is a very good book, but you can spend an afternoon watching the show and get invested. Hell I only had two major flaws with the series, it was too short totaling in 6 episodes each an hour long, which is funny cause it took me about six hours to read the book but gah I wish it was longer! But is that really a bad thing if you want more? Not really. And the other flaw is a stigma because of it's short length, don't get me wrong this is a great adaptation nearly putting everything in, but it does lose some stuff. Not major story breaking stuff, it follows the major points of the book from beginning to end with some added content which I love, but more detail stuff that help immerse you in the world better. But what is this world exactly? Well a very long time ago, in the beginning some might say, in a lush garden an angel by the name of Aziraphale and a demon by the name of Crowley meet and after millenia they slowly become good friends and when the big day approaches of the end of the world, they have some differing opinions and formulate a plan to avert the apocalypse so they can keep enjoying Earth. It's an interesting story and the performances is what grabs you and makes you stick around! Michael Sheen is amazing, I think he was perfectly cast as a very prim and proper angel, and is a complete joy to watch. David Tennant gets to play a ginger demon who still has that style and charisma that made him beloved in Doctor Who, and if I'm being embarassingly honest I fully ship them. They are perfection, it was subtext in the book but it might as well be text in the show and I for one love it. And it ends just right, it put me in such a good mood! I loved it! In fact if you look at the cast for the series, and if you watch a lot of british television, you will recognize many of these names and they really don't skip out on the star power. I'll give you a buck if you can guess who voices Satan without looking it up. All the major players get plenty of screen time for the most part, the kids get sort of sidelined but it's not too bad. I'll also say the woman who plays our friendly witch Anathema who has certain knowledge of the end of days, is absurdly gorgeous yet her romance life feels a bit rushed but that's what it was like in the book too and it's no big deal when you get down to it. But the show knows where it's major priorities are and want to make a good adaptation, and the new stuff they throw in is great. I would fully endorse a Aziraphale and Crowley spin-off show detailing their various misadventures through centuries of friendship, because they do it so well in one of the episodes you want to see more! I also don't mind some superficial changes, I like how the Four Horsemen are split with two men (sort of) and two women, and I love the idea of the personification of war to be a woman. Usually people just rain down hate if something diversifies people from it's source material, but trust me it could be worse. J.K. Rowling could be pissing on Terry Pratchett's grave but it's done well. And yes, I would say though Good Omens is the brain child of both Neil and Terry, it's Terry's writing style that forms the book. If you've ever read one of his Discworld books, his sense of humor and writing prose becomes abundantly clear and the series tries to do justice to it but some of it falls flat if you haven't read the book, and to further prove my point I only know one person who speaks LIKE THIS in his writings. But what's missing out on a joke if the story and characters are still clearly defined and engaging? This is a really good series, criminally short, but entertaining and fun. Great production, excellent casting, a faithful script, and a witty and enjoyable however brief series. A definite recommendation from me, and perfect for people wanting more imaginative and original storytelling. And someone please write a series called Aziraphael And Crowley, while in the meantime I'm gonna listen to some Queen and have a nice meal.

The Pirates: Band Of Misfits

Yet another Aardman movie I never saw, and I bring good news!

The Pirates is a fun movie and I very much enjoyed it. Hell I can even say it was better than Pirates 3, 4, and 5 by a long shot! The story follows the marvellous misadventures of (not Flapjack) a group of pirates headed by Hugh Grant as their Pirate Captain. Yes, his name is Pirate Captain. In fact his whole crew has no names, merely descriptive names like, Albino Pirate, Surprisingly Curvacious Pirate, and The Pirate With A Scarf. Genius. Their adventure let's them cross paths with Queen Victoria, and even Charles Darwin, all while our dear Pirate Captain tries to win the most prized thing on the seven seas, the Pirate Of The Year award! This is the movie I needed to see, a fun, charming, and very well done movie that was well worth 90 minutes of my life. Christ I almost kinda wish Pirates Of The Carribean did something like this. Animation is so smooth and well done, and since it's claymation once again it just proves how they got this down under lock and key. The characters are fun, but with special regards to Pirate Captain cause you really do want him to win. He's a great captain, loved by his crew, very loyal and dedicated to the pirate's life, he's my favorite character. His crew is funny and different, along with Charles Darwin throwing his hat into working alongside them is a sight to behold. So hang on a minute. This is a movie where a crew of pirates teams up with Charles Darwin, in order to stop a scheme conducted by Queen Victoria. Huh. Cool! I mean with a premise like that, you know you are going to have a blast with this movie, and I really did. It's a very entertaining movie, that is different from most of your usual pirate shenanigans, with the same dry and humorous wit found in most british movies, it was nice to cleanse the pallete and see something familiar but fresh. And honestly how can any movie be bad that has Brian Blessed being as flippin' awesome and glorious as always? This I can fully recommend if you got a day in to yourself, you're looking for something different, and the pirate's life is for you.

So how about one more since we're on a roll? One I have watched since I was very young and was actually my introduction to Aardman's library of works. Will I remember it as fondly as I once did? Well it's too late to chicken out now...