the m0vie blog

Doctor Who: Frontios (Review)

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the longest-running science-fiction show in the world, I’ll be taking weekly looks at some of my own personal favourite stories and arcs, from the old and new series, with a view to encapsulating the sublime, the clever and the fiendishly odd of the BBC’s Doctor Who.

Frontios originally aired in 1984.

“You know, we can sort this all out in no time at all, if everyone just stays calm.”

– The Doctor sums up the tragedy of Peter Davison’s time as the Timelord

Towards the end of Peter Davison’s time in the title role, Doctor Who was becoming gradually darker. While Colin Baker’s brightly-coloured take on the character would convert this grim fare into a surreal and grotesque pantomime, there was something tragic about Davison’s iteration confronting a quickly darkening universe. Steven Moffat once explained, “this Doctor takes the emphasis off the eccentricities and turns it into a pained heroism of a man who is so much better than the universe he is trying to save but cannot bear to let it stand”, and that’s very much the case here. While the cynicism and pointless darkness would reach their zenith during Resurrection of the Daleks and pay off spectacularly in The Caves of Androzani, Frontios feels like the perfect illustration of these ideas.

The Doctor's surgery...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Caves of Androzani, christopher h. bidmead, Colin Baker, Doctor (Doctor Who), DoctorWho, Frontios, russell t. davies, serial, steven moffat, the doctor, the fifth doctor | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Raven

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Darren

The Raven is one of those concepts that might have been interesting to follow from the pitch phase. It seems almost impossible that anybody thought the movie, in the condition that it was released, was a good idea – so I’m curious at how various people were convinced to sign on and to help shepherd it to the screen. Of course, my inner cynic suggests that money was a prime motivating factor, but it’s very hard to imagine anybody being convinced that “Edgar Allan Poe lives through se7en in 1849 Baltimore” would prove the basis of a massive cash windfall.

There must have been something of interest here, something worthy of attention at some point in the process, rather than just the half-hearted attempt to knock-off one of those nineties serial killer knock-offs with a slight change of scenery.

A shadowy figure…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Anquan Boldin, Baltimore Ravens, Daniel Day-Lewis, Edgar Allan Poe, film, gore, James McTeigue, john cusack, Movie, National Football League, non-review review, Poe, Raven, review, Riddell, stanley kubrick, stephen king, Tell-Tale Heart, United States | 8 Comments »

Doctor Who: The Ark in Space (Review)

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Darren

The Arc in Space originally aired in 1975.

I’ll have to link in my own cerebral cortex. That’s the only thing.

That is highly dangerous.

I know. Two more leads, Rogin.

The power could burn out a living brain!

I agree. An ordinary brain. But mine is exceptional.

– the Doctor demonstrates his tremendous ego to Vira

It really is amazing how quickly Philip Hinchcliffe and Robert Holmes established their mark on Doctor Who. Barry Letts finished up his time as producer working on Tom Baker’s first serial, Robot. The Ark in Space was the second adventure to star the Fourth Doctor, and certainly a lot more indicative of the shape of things to come. While you could argue that Holmes and Hinchcliffe did improved over the following years – for one thing, this first season still has the odd pothole – it is clear that they immediately knew what they were doing.

Hinchcliffe and Holmes would cast a tremendous shadow over Doctor Who, and it’s no coincidence that so much of that influence can be traced back to The Ark in Space, the first indication of their plan for Doctor Who.

The Wirrn really bug the Doctor…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Arc, Ark in Space, arts, bbc, Dalek, doctor, DoctorWho, Fourth Doctor, Harry, Harry Sullivan, Holmes, Homo, Human, Murray Gold, Noah, Philip Hinchcliffe, Robert Holmes, russell t. davies, science fiction, tardis, utopia | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who – The Ark (Review)

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Darren

The Ark originally aired in 1966.

Yes, I bet it’ll take some time to get the whole of the population down here, so the sooner you get started, the better, I should think.

Don’t worry. It may not take as long as you think.

What do you mean? Are you up to something?

…

Em… no.

– Dodo (yes, Dodo) outwits a Monoid

The Ark is an interesting piece of Doctor Who, both in terms of structure and in terms of theme. It’s a very clever concept, with the four-parter effectively split into two halves as the Doctor and his companions join the same story at two different intervals. It’s a wonderful high concept, with the action jumping from across time while keeping a fixed location. However, The Ark is also notable because of its less-than-subtle political under-currents, one of the relatively rare times where Doctor Who has seemed reactionary, conservative and downright colonial in its attitudes.

The end of the world as we know it…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Ark, arts, bbc, Celestial Toymaker, Dalek, doctor, DoctorWho, Dodo, Earth, Evolution of the Dalek, Innes Lloyd, John Wiles, Jon Pertwee, Monoid, russell t. davies, science fiction, Steven, tardis, Verity Lambert | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: The Incredible Burt Wonderstone

Posted on March 16, 2013 by cimooney

I was really looking forward to this movie when I heard about it, Steve Carell and Jim Carey in the same movie? Excellent.

Burt Wonderstone’s (Steve Carell) interest in magic sparked as a young boy when he received a Rance Hollaway (Alan Arkin) magic set and began to share his magical tricks with Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi). The duo, now established and respected as world renowned magicians, have been performing in Bally’s hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip for many of years, gaining money, fame and love. Over the years, their show, like their friendship, has become old and stale, and is threatened by street magician, Steve Gray (Jim Carey). Gray baffles his audiences via self-harm and endurance acts, quickly grabbing the attention of Bally’s owner, Doug Money (James Gandolfini). Money demands for the duo to update their act, and so Wonderstone and Hollaway are forced to rethink their performance, with the help of their assistant Jane (Olivia Wilde), and show they still have what it takes to rule the Las Vegas strip.

He’s in a glass case of emotion…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan arkin, Bruce Almighty, film, Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Jim Carey, Las Vegas Strip, Movie, non-review review, Olivia Wilde, review, steve buscemi, Steve Carell | Leave a comment »

Boy, Is My Face Yellow: The Cloud Atlas Yellow-Face Non-Issue

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Darren

Damn you, international release schedule! I really wanted to to weigh in on the whole Cloud Atlas “yellow face” controversy that was raging at the end of 2012, but thought it best to wait until I had actually seen the film to offer comment. That just seems like common sense, even if Spike Lee clearly doesn’t agree. Of course, by the time that Cloud Atlas was released in the UK and Ireland, the storm in a teacup had passed, but I still think it’s worth commenting upon.

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Bae Doona, Ben Whishaw, Chung Ling Soo, Cloud Atlas, David Gyasi, Doona Bae, Halle Berry, hollywood, Hugh Grant, hugo weaving, Ireland, Jim Sturgess, tom hanks, Tom Tykwer, United States, Wachowski | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: Destiny of the Daleks (Review)

Posted on March 15, 2013 by Darren

The Last of the Time Lords originally aired in 1979.

Oh, look! Rocks!

– the Doctor

Destiny of the Daleks is a bit crap. I know that there’s a whole bunch of “a bit crap” Dalek episodes, but Destiny of the Daleks doesn’t suffer because it doesn’t make sense, or it hangs on plot contrivance. Instead, it’s just a little bit dull. At least Resurrection of the Daleks bangs along making no sense in a reasonably exciting manner. In contrast, Destiny of the Daleks just sort of… is. In a way, it serves as the perfect opener to Graham Williams’ final year as producer, perfectly capturing the gap between the production staff the cast and the writers that so often led to bit of a mismatch in this part of the show’s history.

While I have a fondness for Terry Nation, I think it’s perfectly reasonable to argue that his style was hardly progressive or dynamic when he first wrote for the show in 1963. Indeed, my fondness for his work in the early years of the show is mostly down to how it harks backwards to pulpy classic science-fiction. If Nation wasn’t the most forward-looking of writers in 1963, then perhaps he really wasn’t best suited to open a season for Graham Williams and Douglas Adams in 1979.

Romana II goes through one of the oldest companion rites of passage…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alan Stevens, arts, bbc, Dalek, Dalek Invasion of Earth, Davros, Deadly Assassin, doctor, DoctorWho, Douglas Adams, Dudley Simpson, Graham Williams, Romana, russell t. davies, science fiction, Skaro, Sylvester McCoy, tardis, Terry Nation, Thals, Time Lord, Unearthly Child | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: Evolution of the Daleks (Review)

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Darren

Evolution of the Daleks originally aired in 2007.

Caan, let me help you. What do you say?

Emergency temporal shift!

– sadly the Doctor doesn’t follow this with a dramatic “CAAAAAAAN!!!”

Well, that went off the rails rather quickly. Okay, to be fair, the problems here were all hinted at in the first part, with those potential obstacles only turning into gaping flaws as this two-part adventure galloped toward the finish line. And, again, Evolution of the Daleks fails because it has too much ambition, rather than a complete lack of it. Still, the episode is a mess, full of mismatched ideas and crazy concepts that really don’t work especially well within the context of a Dalek episode. It’s not too hard to imagine a lot of these elements being recycled into a working story for the show, but the main problem seems to be that none of those elements work especially well with the Daleks.

I can see it in its eye-stalk…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: arts, bbc, Cult of Skaro, Dalek, doctor, DoctorWho, End of Time, Evolution of the Dalek, Hugh Quarshie, Long Game, Parting of the Ways, Philip Hinchcliffe, science fiction, simpsons, Solomon, tardis, Unearthly Child | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Identity Thief

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Darren

It must be very difficult to balance the demands of a road-trip comedy. You need two solid leads with a definite sense fo chemistry, but with enough conflict between them to keep things interesting. You need a compelling objective for at least one of the characters to strive towards. You need a tightly-constructed scenario which rules out any easy use of mass-transit. You need a cast of quirky supporting characters to give the movie a distinct flavour, and to occasionally do a bit of heavy-lifting if you decide to develop your leads.

Identity Thief seems to realise this, but it fumbles a bit in the execution. Too many plot points and characters feel too convenient, inserted to either pad out the movie’s runtime or to construct a reasonably believable set of statistics to force the plot into motion. Identity Thief almost seems to try too hard to justify itself and to meet those requirements of a road movie. It’s best when it focuses on the two lead characters, even if it does overplay its hand slightly. It’s not a bad little comedy, but it’s not an especially strong one either. There are a few light chuckles, bu the film mostly runs on the charm of its two leading characters.

Not quite a breakout hit…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Amanda Peet, Bateman, Horrible Bosses, identity theft, Identity Thief, jason bateman, jon favreau, Melissa McCarthy, Patterson, Recreation, Robert Patrick, Sandy, Seth Gordon, United States | 2 Comments »

Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks (Review)

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Darren

Remembrance of the Daleks originally aired in 1988.

You can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies.

– the Doctor explains why the Daleks needed to be badass again

I think Sylvester McCoy’s tenure in the lead role has been vindicated by history. While he may have been the title character as the show slid quietly into cancellation, there’s no denying the massive impact that the show has had on the hugely popular revival. It’s quite something that the McCoy era managed not only inspire both Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat, but in two radically different ways. Although it kicks off his second year in the role, you could make the argument that all of that really kicks off with Remembrance of the Daleks, which was also a hell of a way to celebrate the show’s twenty-fifth birthday.