Okay, finally, Doctor Who is back for more than one month this time, so let's talk about it!
Full spoilers for the episode follow
Okay, so, after the events of The Snowmen, the Doctor is hiding out in a monastery in 1207, when the phone on the TARDIS rings. And it's been established that it shouldn't do that. And who's on the other end? The latest incarnation (or something like that) of Clara Oswald, this time in todayland. And she's in danger from this weeks bad guy, but more on that later.
No, more on that now: there's something in the WiFi, something nefarious that consuming human souls and trapping them. And it wants Clara. So, after a bit of coaxing and the invention of the quadracycle, Clara and the Doctor are on the run.
The entire time you really can tell that the Doctor wants to tell Clara everything that's happened to her, but he can't, and it hurts him, and I liked seeing that. Heck, I just liked seeing Clara again, this time without her dying at the end of the episode. As usual, she and Matt Smith had great chemistry, banter, the whole nine yards. The best way that I can describe it is like this: they're like David Tennant and Billie Piper were in terms of how well they worked together and how much fun they were to watch. Don't get me wrong, I thought Eleven and Amy were great together, but Clara is basically the 11th Doctor's Rose. And it's awesome.
As per usual, there were some fantastic moments, between the plane scenes and of course the Doctor riding a motorbike up a skyscraper. Also, and this is unrelated, and I know I said this when I reviewed the Christmas Special, but I love the new intro and TARDIS interior. They just look great. Also, when Clara told the kid, who was reading chapter 10 of a book, that 11 was the best and that he'd cry, I laughed. I mean I actually paused it so I could laugh without missing the episode.
There are going to be a lot of people who complain that the actual monster of the episode felt undercooked. These will be the same people who made that same complaint about the Christmas Special. And I'm gonna say the same thing I did in that review: it doesn't matter, because that wasn't the point of episode. The point of the episode was to further establish and develop Clara's character. How you feel about that is up to you. That's the beauty of the internet: as Felicia Day once said: You're judgement is not my problem. (James, did you just slap your own readers, all ten of them, in the face?! That is cold!) And in the respect that I just described, the episode was a success, and, in my opinion, great.
Lastly, while I will agree that the Shard could've been better with more development, I quite liked the reveal at the end that the Great Intelligence was behind it (again). Granted, I saw it coming, but still liked it. Looks like we've got a new Big Bad on our hands!
Final Rating: 86%
Also, and while this doesn't pertain to the episode, it absolutely pertains to the show, I thought I should mention one thing, for those of you who haven't heard: David Tennant and Billie Piper have officially confirmed that they'll be returning for the 50th anniversary. This makes me very happy. Am I curious as to how they'll do it? Yes, even though we all kind of expected it to be some kind of multi-doctor story. Granted, I do wonder how they'll justify only Tennant and Piper returning (I'm not gonna hold my breath on Eccleston or McGann, and all the others are either too old or no longer with us), but whatever happens, I'm just excited to see the those two return to the Whoniverse.
Oh, and Happy Easter everybody!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Bates Motel: First You Dream, Then You Die Review
Okay, so for those of you who ever wondered what I look like, I look exactly like Freddie Highmore. Seriously. It's kinda scary.
Full Spoilers follow.
Alright Bates Motel is Lost alum Carlton Cuse's modern reinterpretation/prequel to Pyscho. Basically, its the story of Norman Bates when he was a teenager and before he was... well, you get the idea. And it is good.
Also, I'm just gonna establish this right now: yes, I have seen Pyscho. I didn't see it when I first heard about the show, but I did watch it recently because, well, I wanted to watch the show and decided I needed to see the movie first.
All start with the acting: it's awesome. Freddie Highmore plays the young Norman Bates and he kills it; he does this whole fish out of water thing because he's put in positions he's never been in before, he does a good job as a teenage boy who has, at the very least been smothered by his mom, and plays it really well when his character keeps getting traumatized by the all dead bodies his mom seems to result in. His mom is played by Vera Farmiga, and she's messed up. She really is; the first seen is Norman finding his dad's body, and the implication is that Momma Bates killed him. Further enforced when she kills another guy later. And you can tell that she's going out of her way to control her son in every way possible. Part of the idea of the show is that Norman was pretty messed up to begin with and his mom's complete lack of parenting skills just made matters worse, and she really sells it. And she's creepy. And hot. Just saying.
Its not just them either, pretty much all the characters have their own qualities and are interesting on their own, like Norman's hot blond (of course she's blond) potential love interest whose name I can't remember (you can tell she's not just their as a love interest either... which is good, given what would probably wind up happening to any love interest for Norman Bates). They all have something going for them, is what I mean. And based on the trailers for the show, the whole town's pretty messed up. It's a messed world. And they had a few good very good twists and cliffhangers in there, (translation, Norman's brother and and bit at the end with injections) and I'm very interested to see they proceed.
The show does a really good job of homaging the movie, too; the motel and house look pretty much exactly like they did, and they replicated just the right number of shots. It's not shot for shot, it's not the Pyscho remake with Vince Vaughn (yeah, that actually happened), but they through in enough of them as nods that I was pretty happy. That being said, they also did a good job of updating things for the modern times, and not making anything too anachronistic (whoa James, big words, calm yourself).
Two complaints, and one's a total nitpick: first, and this is the nitpick, I was hoping the show would be in black-and-white. I know, that's asking for way too much, and doesn't take away anything from the actual show, but when I first heard about this, I remember thinking "I hope it's in black-and-white". Second, and this is the actual complaint, I hope they don't make disposing of bodies a regular part of the show. Look, I know that this is a dark, disturbing, and heavy story line they're working with, but if the Bates' have to dump a body in the lake every episode its just gonna get ridiculous.
All in all, I really enjoyed the episode, I'll be sticking around for the next episode for sure, and I'm glad the show is here.
Final Rating: 86%
Full Spoilers follow.
Alright Bates Motel is Lost alum Carlton Cuse's modern reinterpretation/prequel to Pyscho. Basically, its the story of Norman Bates when he was a teenager and before he was... well, you get the idea. And it is good.
Also, I'm just gonna establish this right now: yes, I have seen Pyscho. I didn't see it when I first heard about the show, but I did watch it recently because, well, I wanted to watch the show and decided I needed to see the movie first.
All start with the acting: it's awesome. Freddie Highmore plays the young Norman Bates and he kills it; he does this whole fish out of water thing because he's put in positions he's never been in before, he does a good job as a teenage boy who has, at the very least been smothered by his mom, and plays it really well when his character keeps getting traumatized by the all dead bodies his mom seems to result in. His mom is played by Vera Farmiga, and she's messed up. She really is; the first seen is Norman finding his dad's body, and the implication is that Momma Bates killed him. Further enforced when she kills another guy later. And you can tell that she's going out of her way to control her son in every way possible. Part of the idea of the show is that Norman was pretty messed up to begin with and his mom's complete lack of parenting skills just made matters worse, and she really sells it. And she's creepy. And hot. Just saying.
Its not just them either, pretty much all the characters have their own qualities and are interesting on their own, like Norman's hot blond (of course she's blond) potential love interest whose name I can't remember (you can tell she's not just their as a love interest either... which is good, given what would probably wind up happening to any love interest for Norman Bates). They all have something going for them, is what I mean. And based on the trailers for the show, the whole town's pretty messed up. It's a messed world. And they had a few good very good twists and cliffhangers in there, (translation, Norman's brother and and bit at the end with injections) and I'm very interested to see they proceed.
The show does a really good job of homaging the movie, too; the motel and house look pretty much exactly like they did, and they replicated just the right number of shots. It's not shot for shot, it's not the Pyscho remake with Vince Vaughn (yeah, that actually happened), but they through in enough of them as nods that I was pretty happy. That being said, they also did a good job of updating things for the modern times, and not making anything too anachronistic (whoa James, big words, calm yourself).
Two complaints, and one's a total nitpick: first, and this is the nitpick, I was hoping the show would be in black-and-white. I know, that's asking for way too much, and doesn't take away anything from the actual show, but when I first heard about this, I remember thinking "I hope it's in black-and-white". Second, and this is the actual complaint, I hope they don't make disposing of bodies a regular part of the show. Look, I know that this is a dark, disturbing, and heavy story line they're working with, but if the Bates' have to dump a body in the lake every episode its just gonna get ridiculous.
All in all, I really enjoyed the episode, I'll be sticking around for the next episode for sure, and I'm glad the show is here.
Final Rating: 86%
Friday, March 8, 2013
Much Ado About Nothing Trailer Review
Okay, right now I could be talking about the Justice League movie rumors, or the new episode of Supernatural, or a million and five other movie and TV related things, but I don't care, I'm talking about this.
Alright, the first trailer for the Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing has hit the web. For those of you who don't know, it's a zero budget adaptation of the Shakespearean play of the same name that he made at his house over the course of twelve days while on vacation using only his favorite actors and the hand held cameras in black and white. And yes, I know its already been screened at every film festival in existence, alas, none of those are near where I live. It gets released theatrically in June, and I'm excited.
I will admit this is not my usual kind of movie, were it not made by Joss Whedon, I wouldn't have heard of it, I wouldn't care about it, and I wouldn't see it. But, if you've been reading this website long enough, you know that I'm a HUGE Whedon fan. And yes, I liked his work before he was mainstream, i.e., before the Avengers came out. And, since, Mr. Whedon is the director and screenwriter, I'm intrigued.
The trailer has this sweet music in it that really plays up the nefarious nature of the movie, and all the imagery really helps, and it just feels really out there and unique. When this comes out, it'll probably be my first real indie film experience. I saw Seven Psychopaths, but this will be the first real one.
Part of the fun for me was ID'ing all the regular Whedonverse actors in the trailer. I spotted Alexis Dennisoff and Amy Acker, obviously, but also Reed Diamond, Fran Kanz, Tom Lenk, Clark Gregg, Sean Maher, Emma Bates, and of course, Nathan Fillion. This will be the most Whedonverse-regular heavy work ever, even more so then Dollhouse or seasons 4-5 of Angel. Cue nerdgasm.
I should probably confess right now that I've never read/seen the actual play, probably should, we'll see how that turns out. Best case scenario this is Shakespeare mixed with Whedon's unique style of wit, flare, and irony, becoming one of the most hilarious film experiences of 2013. But there is that part of my brain telling me that this could just be a wicked self-indulgent uber-art house flick that'll bore the hell out of me. Fortunately, all the positive critical reception speaks against that, as does this excellent trailer. Can't wait till June.
So, Much Ado About Nothing, have you seen the trailer, what'd you think of it, and are you excited for it? Comment below, let me know!
Alright, the first trailer for the Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing has hit the web. For those of you who don't know, it's a zero budget adaptation of the Shakespearean play of the same name that he made at his house over the course of twelve days while on vacation using only his favorite actors and the hand held cameras in black and white. And yes, I know its already been screened at every film festival in existence, alas, none of those are near where I live. It gets released theatrically in June, and I'm excited.
I will admit this is not my usual kind of movie, were it not made by Joss Whedon, I wouldn't have heard of it, I wouldn't care about it, and I wouldn't see it. But, if you've been reading this website long enough, you know that I'm a HUGE Whedon fan. And yes, I liked his work before he was mainstream, i.e., before the Avengers came out. And, since, Mr. Whedon is the director and screenwriter, I'm intrigued.
The trailer has this sweet music in it that really plays up the nefarious nature of the movie, and all the imagery really helps, and it just feels really out there and unique. When this comes out, it'll probably be my first real indie film experience. I saw Seven Psychopaths, but this will be the first real one.
Part of the fun for me was ID'ing all the regular Whedonverse actors in the trailer. I spotted Alexis Dennisoff and Amy Acker, obviously, but also Reed Diamond, Fran Kanz, Tom Lenk, Clark Gregg, Sean Maher, Emma Bates, and of course, Nathan Fillion. This will be the most Whedonverse-regular heavy work ever, even more so then Dollhouse or seasons 4-5 of Angel. Cue nerdgasm.
I should probably confess right now that I've never read/seen the actual play, probably should, we'll see how that turns out. Best case scenario this is Shakespeare mixed with Whedon's unique style of wit, flare, and irony, becoming one of the most hilarious film experiences of 2013. But there is that part of my brain telling me that this could just be a wicked self-indulgent uber-art house flick that'll bore the hell out of me. Fortunately, all the positive critical reception speaks against that, as does this excellent trailer. Can't wait till June.
So, Much Ado About Nothing, have you seen the trailer, what'd you think of it, and are you excited for it? Comment below, let me know!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)