And lets not forget: Con Air Ghost Rider Ghost Rider 2 Face/Off Wicker man Season of the Witch 8mm Gone in 60 Seconds Next Bangkok Dangerous Windtalkers Snake-Eyes National Treasure National Treasure 2 Drive Angry Thats 3 times as many bad one's to your good ones, and I didn't really dip into his 80's and 90's work. I have seen his grave in person, however... Just grabbed season premiere on Amazon, gonna watch it shortly. I'm.... cautiously excited? Something tells me Capaldi might not last long. I just don't think the world can go back to an "Older" Doctor...
What?! Raising Arizona is probably Nic Cage's best flick. It's goofy and ridiculous and Coen brothers gold.
Agree- Raising Arizona does NOT suck. Anyone who says it does needs to put the crack pipe down. Wasn't Cage in Valley Girl and had a bit part in Fast Times At Ridgemont High? LOL I'm not a Doctor Who fan but love Peter Capaldi. Malcom Tucker is one of the best characters ever created.
Phil - Have you really had a look at all of those movies on your list? Most seemed plenty avoidable from afar, but I'll admit that I saw the De Palma one in the theater. Patrick - saying that Raising Arizona sucked was easily the most 'purple' statement that I've ever made here! Sometimes it's important to make fun of Steve, even if it does involve defending the career of Nic Cage. Agreed that the premiere was totally solid. I've been a fan of Capaldi's since my young mind was properly tainted by Lair of the White Worm, and I can't think anything that I haven't loved him in since. He's already proved himself to be a fine fit in the Who universe: he was great in The Fires of Pompeii and was one of the best parts of Children of Earth.
I feel like they finally made Clara more interesting in this episode, putting her in a bewildering situation where she faced hostility and uncertainty on multiple fronts. All around this was just a much better script then we've seen in a long time. Hope they keep up the quality!
Finally watched the premiere and while I was not disappointed, I was not 100% satisfied either. It was entertaining but I feel the story could have been better. I did enjoy the tension and dynamic that got added to Clara and the Doctors relationship. Capaldi is going to make a good Doctor!
Meh! . . . It wasn't worth the hype and 6 month wait! Capaldi's OK but the direction Moffat's taking it makes The Walking Dead look like it has integrity! Lesbian lizards FFS!
^ Yr fulla beans, Andrew! The Capaldi year was very nearly pure gold. Anyone care to dish about the Christmas special? My PM box awaits your kind attention.
I thought the opening was pretty good, and I'm glad to get more Missy. I wish she would get her own spin off show where each week she Pines over the Doctor and tortures kittens. Was Capaldi really playing that guitar? If not, it was a pretty good fake job!
Capaldi was a punkity rocker from way back... ...so I'd be surprised if that wasn't him shredding at us last night. On the fence about the episode. I'll have to take it for a second spin. ooo edit: Some light Googledge later... http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2015-09- ... doctor-who
Full props to Capaldi for laying it down there; and a great Who theme take to boot. I remain a bit timid on this season, but I can't quite lay my finger on what it is. I would certainly not mind it if the Doctor dropped the hoodie inside a blazer look though. The last episode was an interesting one. Wasn't sure about making the two-parter, once it was approaching the end, but some some of that came from just having come directly on the heels of the premiere two-fer which we already waited on. This is actually a great write-up for the highs of the episode and summary, over from the AV Club (props to David for turning me on to this): (spoilers, obviously) Doctor Who tells a real ghost story, then gets crazy And another write-up, if you haven't had enough, for a bit more Who-centric critique/perspective, http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/under-the- ... -76631.htm In hindsight there was a lot to appreciate in Under the Lake, along with a few faults in the episode, so I remain hopeful it lives up to a great story in the coming conclusion.
Okay, so after last week's post - and the build up potential h̶i̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶t̶ foretold by the respective AVC article I mentioned, I have to take some issue with "Before the Flood." Firstly, let be just say SPOILERS abound, so read no further if you haven't watched it yet. Seeing as how this is all text though - and will likely end up being one of my usual walls thereof - I think I can forego use of the tag. So these are some of my thoughts. Now Who seems to be all about the fans arguing with one another and overanalysing, so I expect reactions here to be no different. Moving on then. Immediately opening up the episode, the prologue with the Doctor breaking the fourth wall I found hamfisted and awkward, as forced as any Deadpool quip, and pretty needless and ineffective. I feel like Moffat is treating the readers like simpletons (yes the show is also aimed at children, but that isn't what I mean either, because his 'explanation' of the paradox is really nothing of the sort, and doesn't do justice to what is the 'meat' of the episode), but more on that later. Just the whole 'let me explain the plot to you' thing, and then even barely succeeding in doing that. I wasn't a fan, but reading comments I see that there is a split, with reaction mostly being positive to it. I just don't think it was very 'Doctor-like' at all, a sly nod here and there is fine, but this was out of place (and character), didn't serve the function it should have, and cheapened the show. 4th wall breaking/dear reader motif can be done decently but was rather inappropriate for Who. Clara - where to begin? I am rather ready for her to move on as a companion, as I think they used up what decent story arc they had for her, and set up a great exit as intended with the Christmas special. But now as a companion she is rather a bore, with Moffat bringing up the same tired old tropes playing off her, and making her a contradiction of strength and damsel in distress. I don't hate Clara as much as some; they have given her some strong development, and I don't blame Coleman either for the way it is coming off, it is just so all over the place. But the whole Miss Eternal Victim (I can't take credit for that one by the way) is played out. What was the line, "You owe me" or something to that effect? It is fine if he dies with another companion, just not her? Ech, please, spare me the trite rubbish. This after/before she delivers to the audience the tact about how cold she is, learning from the Doctor to do what needs to be done. As someone else put it, "she has repeatedly shown herself up in previous episodes to be self-righteous while also being utterly useless at everything she does." It just doesn't mesh. Oh, and did we mention that the Doctor is dead. Ooooooooohhhh, the trepidation. What will come out next? how can he possibly solve this incredibly conundrum? is this the end of 12? Tune in next week. Seriously, enough with that. You can't treat the audience like morons and keep playing the Doctor Death Card whenever it suits you to build false - and ineffective - suspense into the episode. It is lazy writing and no one is buying it. There are a few occasions when it has been used effectively, but especially pulling it out now and using it so cheaply weakens all of the other appearances as well. Just move on, we know there is always going to be some conflict/struggle he needs to overcome. Just like the 'deaths' of Clara and Missy in the opening episodes, no one is feeling anything, other than wanting to move on to the part where they are back already. The finale of the episode of course, after all this build up - was that suspense? - is yet another typical Doctor/deus ex moment, that is barely explained, glossed over rapidly, and everyone moves on happily (not to mention throwing in the forced love angles). Oh, nevermind those people that died, because holograms. And sonic glasses. Yes, that is the new thing now. I give Who a lot of pull, and yeah, this is exactly what it does all the time, but in this case, it was especially bad, for one, being the conclusion to a 2-part episode that wasn't, and two, for building up this giant anticipation of a massive paradox, but then waving it away like it was really nothing, and duh, new adventure. Throw in a reference to Beethoven as an incredibly jarring wink to the audience, and the episode is done. Sigh. Look, I know I am coming off across as tearing this apart, and my expectation weren't that high going in, but I think the weakness of the episode just tells us less that Moffat had something important to tell us and more that lazy writing and overstretched 2-episode plots are not working. They need to do some re-tooling or have some more critical analysis of their stories before they get to filming. It is not that it was a terrible episode, it was an okay 45mins, if it didn't live up to the atmosphere and story of the first half. It just didn't need to be drawn out at all the way they did. It was a straightforward Doctor Who story. And the second half, which I take it is what SM thinks he was so utterly clever in coming up with, and which was why this whole 2-parter was conceived, utterly fails to deliver on the promise of a deep conflict the Doctor has to solve and cheaply explains time travel paradoxes which should actually be an integral part of the show. It is just tiresome to see some potential squandered. They tried to build up too much, when there was never any evident risk, and thus the payoff at the end is a weak conclusion at best. Anyways, I could go on even more, but I guess those are some of my initial impressions. Happy to hear what others thought of it and discuss away. Some parting thoughts: - the Fisher King was a great new baddie, and loved the design, but having him out in the light - and especially his 'saunter' towards his ship - really lessened the impact and showed the limitations of the costume; I am a strong believer in show less, imply more - while it was interesting to see, as we were given all of the pieces up front, how they would come together during the episodes, it didn't effectively highlight this - again too much deus ex/quick wrap-up (did anyone really believe anyone other than the Doctor would step out of the space coffin?) - I like 12, but I wish they would lean a little back to the more serious, elder/knowledgeable (and snippy/grumpy) Doctor; pushing the new 'hip' look and appealing to the youth is fine ("Google it") but there are limits; we are seeing less and less of the Doctor's history in his appearances [Capaldi's axe playing aside] - ultimately the episode, and the show recently, has become just too safe. Was there ever any doubt the Doctor would end up saving both himself AND Clara? And what about all the fixed points in time, not meeting yourself in the past, not changing history, etc., etc., and all that stuff we have been warned about through decades of Who? Where was that in this timestream? - the thing I mentioned earlier, about what I saw as the dumbing down and of the simplicity of the show, could be a good thing I guess (see the corresponding AVC post for this episode), but for anyone not being a new viewer and who comes into it with some foreknowledge of the setup of the show, I don't feel it was all that great an example of Who done right - I hope this season's arc goes somewhere interesting, as four episodes in we are still waiting for the development; undoubtedly the War Minister is coming in
Just reread the above brick - thanks for taking the time and effort to share such in-depth thoughts, pH - but as tempted as I am to address it point-by-point - I agree with many of the issues you are having with the program, but yes, want to nitpick just as many of your nitpicks, heh - I'm presently in a headspace where less is more... which is why I've been happily cruising through the nearly 400 installments of the Two-Minute Time Lord podcast! Here's what my man Chip had to say about the twofer in question: http://twominutetimelord.com/wp/2mtl-39 ... -reviewed/ http://twominutetimelord.com/wp/2mtl-39 ... -reviewed/ Off the catch up on the opinionspews over at AVC.
I haven't fully caught up yet, and won't subject anyone to another tidal wave of rant, but this season is really all over the place for me. And not in a necessarily good Whovian way.
So those who think Sanrio is all about that kawaii little kitteh, you must not have grown up with one of their other incredible (if now also somewhat ubiquitously marketed) licenses. Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men and Little Miss series hold a special place for me. But even if not, I think this collaboration, while a fully acknowledging it for the obvious cash grab it is, is still something pretty neat. from the soon-to-be-coming Dr./Mr. books from Penguin. I am quite interested particularly to see how some of the Doctor's foils are handled in these illustrated pages. While I don't particularly begrudge 11's fez association, if I had to raise a complaint, it is that they seem insistent on linking 12 with those idiotic sonic sunglasses, when there are so many other interesting things one could link to Peter Capaldi's pretty great interpretation.
Not entirely my cuppa, but... Swear Who is a thing now. Also, anybody else happen to notice that series 10 is finally on the air?
