Following my previous Doctor Who post, I spent a significant amount of time discussing opposing views on the season. It was a great conversation, and it answered for me a significant question: Why do we write so passionately about our favorite media? Why do we pick apart the stories, the acting, the writing, and the production values?
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Posted in Thoughts
Tagged Avengers, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Films, Marvel, Philosophy, Star Trek, Star Wars, Television
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A Long Time Ago: “Spark of Rebellion”
Star Wars is back! Star Wars is back!
Of course, the big news from a galaxy far, far away right now is production of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars Episode VII: Revenge of the Lens Flares. I’m excited for it, to be sure. Cautiously so, but I trust J.J. and his crew to treat Star Wars with the same respect as they did Star Trek. Probably more respect, given how much they tried to copy Star Wars with their two Trek films. So, I’ll definitely be in the theatre next December when it comes.
For now, however, my Star Wars love is reserved unabashedly for the new Star Wars Rebels animated series. My reservations about Disney taking control of the Star Wars intellectual property have largely been laid to rest by the pilot episode of the new show, “Spark of Rebellion.”
Posted in Star Wars Rebels
Tagged Animation, Disney, Entertainment, Episode VII, George Lucas, Jedi, Lightsaber, Rebels, Star Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Television
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Who Review: “Time Heist,” “The Caretaker,” and Series 8 Thus Far
I started this blog because I wanted to write about something in pop culture about which I was passionate. Doctor Who has been that for many, many years. But it’s really hard to get worked up about it this season. Capaldi – like Matt Smith – clearly loves being the Doctor even if the writing is not all that great, and – like Smith – he does the best he can with it. I see him as a mix of the First, Third, and Fourth Doctors, and the writers don’t seem to be capitalizing on that potential. Capaldi is, to be sure, but not the writers.
So, as I’ve said from the beginning, I have loved Doctor Who for a long time. My earliest recollections are of Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor as I watched repeats from the 70’s on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons on PBS when I was about six years old. I really don’t know that I understood everything that was happening at the time, but I remember being fascinated by the Doctor, Sarah, Harry, Lela, Romana, Tegan, Nyssa, even Adric and K-9. They were strange and mysterious to me, but they were so interesting in their basic humanity.
Who Review: “Listen”
“Fear makes companions of us all.”
But does it truly make this episode faster, cleverer, and stronger than the rest?
Apologies for the lateness of this review. Life has a way of raising its ugly head from time to time. I’ll try to get the review for “Time Heist” up soon, too, so bear with me. Part of the delay has been the switch to WordPress, which is more robust than Blogger but also more complex in its set-up. Anyway…
Boy, was this a wild episode! We explored the past, present, and future of the Doctor, Clara, and Danny Pink this week. Many are calling it the best episode of Doctor Who since the show came back in 2005, and I’ll admit that it has its brilliant moments. The superb acting and characterizations of the three leads carry an episode that is very light on plot. So is the episode as good as everyone says? Well, let’s take a look. And listen!
Posted in Doctor Who Series 8
Tagged Doctor Who, Entertainment, Jenna Coleman, Peter Capaldi, Samuel Anderson, Steven Moffat, Television
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Who Review: “Robot of Sherwood”
“I’m just as real as you are.”
The Doctor and Clara meet the famous outlaw of legend, but is he the real thing?
When the Doctor takes Clara to 1198 Sherwood Forest, they discover the truth of Robin Hood, the mad Sheriff of Nottingham, and climate change. With nods to previous Doctors (“Hiya!”) and an affectionate look at the importance of legends, stories, and impossible men, “Robot of Sherwood” delivers an entertaining ride with the season’s strongest showing yet as the Prince of Thieves meets the Last of the Time Lords.
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Posted in Doctor Who Series 8
Tagged Doctor Who, Entertainment, Jenna Coleman, Mark Gatiss, Peter Capaldi, Robin Hood, Steven Moffat, Television
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Who Review: “Into the Dalek”
“I see beauty!”
The Doctor’s greatest enemy returns to challenge everyone’s expectations.
This week’s episode of Doctor Who deals with some interesting moral issues and a lot of very good character development for the Doctor. Clara continues to emerge from the shadow of her (thus-far) superior predecessors as we see her as more than just a live-in nanny who sometimes travels with the Doctor. I’ve been avoiding most news about this current season of the show, so I was not sure what to expect from the episode. I was almost as surprised by the episode as the Doctor was when he went “Into the Dalek.” Continue reading
Posted in Doctor Who Series 8
Tagged Daleks, Doctor Who, Entertainment, Jenna Coleman, Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat, Television
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Who Review: “Deep Breath”
The Doctor is Back!
But is he a good man? And was the premiere of season 8 actually any good?
With that in mind, then, I have to confess that “Deep Breath,” the debut episode of Peter Capaldi, the 13th actor to play the Doctor on-screen (although he’s still called the 12th Doctor because John Hurt’s incarnation was a secret – come on, keep up!) was mostly lackluster. However, it did have some great bits that showcased Capaldi, Jenna Coleman as his assistant Clara, and the new tone for the series.All right, let’s get one thing straight. I love Doctor Who. I’ve been watching the show in one form or another since I was six years old, it’s always enthralled me. Even at its worst, Doctor Who is still my favorite bit of science fiction on television. No other show tells stories quite like the stories you get when you travel around with a centuries-old Time Lord who picks up stray humans (and the occasional human-looking alien or tin dog) and drags them through all of space and time in a rickety old time machine. The reruns of the old show on PBS in the 80s introduced me to concepts that blew my pre-teen mind. The new show, since 2005, has done the same for my adult brain.
Posted in Doctor Who Series 8
Tagged Doctor Who, Entertainment, Jenna Coleman, Paternoster Gang, Peter Capaldi, Steven Moffat, Television
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All of Time and Space 