TV/Movies Megathread

[Ideologue]

Saw a theatrical screening of the Doctor Who special which I'm sure has a proper name.  John Hurt is [spoiler]is this a spoiler? the real ninth doctor, and he's the one who fought the Time War.  But I guess metaphorical air war isn't good enough for these bleeding hearts, and Tennant and Smith team up with the denied Doctor, Hurt, to change their own personal histories, which is something you can do now I guess even though there's a whole Eccleston episode about how that DESTROYS REALITY WITH BAD CGI.  I don't understand why the Doomsday Device John Hurt did use/was about to use (timey-wimey, I guess--a good joke is made of this) had to be used to destroy the Time Lords and Daleks and not just the Daleks, whom I reckon everyone more or less agrees should be murdered to the last one.  Anyway, John Hurt is nonetheless excellent.[/spoiler]

Also, Jenna-Louise Coleman is in this, and does practically nothing; however, she is incredibly hot.

I liked it, but I can't help but feel the entire project was misconceived without [spoiler]former[/spoiler] Ninth Doctor Eccleston's involvement, considering he, you know, was the one to deal with the immediate emotional turmoil of the end of the Time War, and not Tennant or Smith, no matter how much more popular (unaccountably) or easier to work with they are.  Oh well, can't have everything!

B+

[Sheilbh]

[spoiler]is this a spoiler? the real ninth doctor, and he's the one who fought the Time War.  But I guess metaphorical air war isn't good enough for these bleeding hearts, and Tennant and Smith team up with the denied Doctor, Hurt, to change their own personal histories, which is something you can do now I guess even though there's a whole Eccleston episode about how that DESTROYS REALITY WITH BAD CGI.  [/spoiler]

[spoiler]I thought it was implied that this was always what happened. John Hurt and Tennant won't remember, Christopher Eccleston's still going to be a bit PTSDy. There's no changing the past, but all the Doctor remembers until Smith is that he got out WMD and ended the war.

I also think that looking at it this way explains why the Daleks keep turning up after they were meant to be destroyed.[/spoiler]

I liked it, but I can't help but feel the entire project was misconceived without [spoiler]former[/spoiler] Ninth Doctor Eccleston's involvement, considering he, you know, was the one to deal with the immediate emotional turmoil of the end of the Time War, and not Tennant or Smith, no matter how much more popular (unaccountably) or easier to work with they are.  Oh well, can't have everything!

I think Eccleston doesn't want anything to do with the show any more. Which is understandable, given that he apparently wanted to avoid being typecast.

[spoiler]I also thought they explained it reasonably well. Hurt needed to see himself having forgot and moved on to make his choice. Eccleston would've just been angry, which would've been great.[/spoiler]

[Queequeg]

Maybe the worst episode of a good TV show that I've ever seen. I don't understand how he ever got laid again after that role.

[Josephus]

not only did he get laid....he became a sex addict.

Yeah, that was a pretty lame episode. There were a few throw away shows each season.

[Ideologue]

Listening to the commentary track on The Apartment; turns out Billy Wilder dropped out of law school.

[Neil]

not only did he get laid....he became a sex addict.

Yeah, that was a pretty lame episode. There were a few throw away shows each season.

Really, that's true of pretty much every drama that runs a 22-episode season.  There's a reason why cable is so much better.

[lustindarkness]

Watched Elysium last night, I enjoyed it, worth the price I paid for it.

[crazy canuck]

Saw a theatrical screening of the Doctor Who special which I'm sure has a proper name.  John Hurt is [spoiler]is this a spoiler? the real ninth doctor, and he's the one who fought the Time War.  But I guess metaphorical air war isn't good enough for these bleeding hearts, and Tennant and Smith team up with the denied Doctor, Hurt, to change their own personal histories, which is something you can do now I guess even though there's a whole Eccleston episode about how that DESTROYS REALITY WITH BAD CGI. [/spoiler]

I dont think they did change their histories in the kind of linear sense you are talking about.

I also dont think Sheilbh's answer to that issue is entirely accurate either.

[spoiler]The tip off was when the current Dr. was reading the book on Quantum Mechanics when we first see him in the show.  All outcomes are possible.  Gallifrey was destroyed and was saved.  The Hurt character had to live with the fact that when he left the presence of the current Dr. he would forget that Gallifrey was saved but he thanked the current Dr. for a chance to be the Dr. again for at least a brief period of time - ie he had some respite from the guilt he would always feel for having destroyed Gallifrey.  The Tennant version of the Dr. would also forget.   The other tip off was the picture transformed from Gallifrey falling to Gallifrey falling no more. [/spoiler]

It was a great show.  Perhaps the best one hour science fiction show ever made.  I have great hopes for the new season.

[The Brain]

Watched Elysium last night, I enjoyed it, worth the price I paid for it.

You were paid to see it?

[The Brain]

A movie is on TV with Denzel and some dude driving a train. Runaway Train this is not.

[Ed Anger]

Olympus has Fallen.

Morgan Freeman is a bad acting President.

Rating: Meh

[11B4V]

Havent seen Dragonslayer (1981) in close to 20 years. Still pretty decent. B- Always loved that Spear.

[Ed Anger]

Expendables 2

Hilarious.

[Barrister]

With all the hoopla around the Doctor Who special, I felt somewhat depressed.  I religiously watched Who in my youth when a cable station (YTV) was showing every episode in order.  I think I caught everything from the mid-70s through to the final episode.  But when the new series started I just wasn't able to catch the first few episodes, then didn't want to just jump in the middle - the parts of a couple of episodes I saw did catch seemed to show a reasonably complicated and ongoing narrative going on.  So I've stayed away.

But then yesterday, out of curiosity, I checked Netflix.  Yup, it was on there.  Why was I not informed of this sooner?

So since giving reviews of tvs and movies years and decades after they have aired is the rage here, I'm going to start reviewing Doctor Who episodes, starting with

Rose, 2005

It's immediately obvious that the production values are far, far above the earlier show.  You don't feel silly by just watching this stuff.  The whole episode is from the point of view of Rose, who pretty obviously is going to be the Doctor's new companion once he shows up.  Her "working class" background is somewhat ham-handed, but is not a bad plot idea (usually Doctor Who characters tended to be rather upper crust types, either on Earth or Gallifrey).

The story itself is basic, but serviceable.  It introduces an old enemy, the Aurons.  To be honest, I didn't remember these guys.  I thought the writers were actually taking a sly joke at the shows history of having whole series of enemies which were obviously actors in funny rubber suits, by making an enemy which was literally funny rubber suits.  Perhaps the writers were still making that joke, but now by nodding at Who lore.  Anyways, with the need to spend a lot of time introducing Rose and the Doctor, the plot is resolved fairly simply.  The final battle where the mannequins attack the shopping mall was good fun though.

Eccleston's Doctor seems interesting.  Obviously a more action-y take on the character, and a whole lot less emphasis on funny clothes.  Interested to see where he goes with the character.

All in all, I give it:



Four police boxes out of five.

[Ed Anger]

Nerd.