Religion and Spirituality | the m0vie blog

Doctor Who: The Runaway Bride (Review)

Posted on December 17, 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.

The Runaway Bride originally aired in 2006.

What, there’s like a secret base hidden underneath a major London landmark?

Oh, I know. Unheard of.

– Donna and the Doctor present Doctor Who 101

The Runaway Bride is really more indicative of a Davies-era Christmas Special than The Christmas Invasion was. The Christmas Invasion came with so much narrative baggage to unpack that it even spilt over into the Born Again scene that aired as part of Children in Need. While The Runaway Bride does have to deal with some of the fallout from Billie Piper’s departure in Doomsday, it’s a much more stand-alone piece of Doctor Who.

It’s a very light piece of television, but that’s really the ideal kind of Doctor Who to air as part of the BBC’s Christmas line-up.

He’s fire and ice and rage…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Atkins Diet, bbc, Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, christmas, Christmas Invasion, Davies, doctor, DoctorWho, Donna, Donna Noble, england, Feng Shui, London, Lost or Missing, People, Practitioners, Religion and Spirituality, Runaway Bride, Taoism, tardis | 2 Comments »

Absolute Superman: For Tomorrow (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Man of Steel this month, we’re going Superman mad. Check back daily for Superman-related reviews.

As a Superman story, For Tomorrow leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a disjointed narrative that rapidly shifts through a variety of scenarios, while characters drift in and out (and back in again) in a way that feels convenient at best. There’s hardly the most logical of progressions here, as we move from one story into another. For Tomorrow feels like it has the ingredients for at least three Superman stories that would be quite interesting on their own, instead of being forced to fit together as one plot.

On the other hand, as a meditation on some of the themes and implications and characteristics of Superman as a character, For Tomorrow becomes something far more fascinating. Writer Brian Azzarello would hardly be my first choice to write a Superman story (indeed, he’s almost too cynical to write Batman), but he very clearly has some fascinating ideas about the character and his world. Truth be told, For Tomorrow is often more intriguing than satisfying, which makes it hard to recommend, but is still worth a look for those willing to excuse a somewhat hazy plot to get to some meaty ideas about Superman.

The doves are a nice touch…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: aquaman, Azzarello, batman, brian azzarello, dc comics, dc universe, Disorders, Dissociative, Fortress of Solitude, general zod, Health, jim lee, jor-el, justice league, Lara, lois lane, man of steel, Mental Health, Middle East, Religion and Spirituality, superman, United States, wonder woman | 1 Comment »

Star Trek – The Return of the Archons (Review)

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Darren

To celebrate the release of Star Trek: Into Darkness this month, we’ll be running through the first season of the classic Star Trek all this month. Check back daily to get ready to boldly go. It’s only logical.

It is really hard to believe that this is the first time we’ve really had one of these plots, with the Enterprise visiting an alien civilisation, meddling thoroughly and freeing the population from oppression. Of course, that’s probably because the universe seemed so vast an empty in the first few episodes. The only planets seemed to be either lifeless rocks or human colonies. From this point on, the galaxy is going to seem a whole lot busier.

Return of the Archons is a little bit like an expansion of the archetypal Star Trek plot established in What Are Little Girls Made Of? The Enterprise visits an alien world following up on the disappearance of Federation personnel. When they arrive, they discover sinister plans afoot involving evil artificial intelligences that plan on stomping out free will. Kirk promptly uses his humanity to talk the machines into destroying himself.

However, Return of the Archons deals with a whole civilisation trapped in the midst of this sinister robotic plot. Kirk and his crew aren’t strolling through an alien graveyard. This is a living, breathing society. And this is the first time that Kirk would save an entire civilisation.

Some men just want to watch the world burn…

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: action, Alaska, Archon, Book of Enoch, Chemtrail conspiracy theory, David Icke, Earth, games, gene roddenberry, james t. kirk, Kenai Alaska, kirk, Landru, Naked Time, Religion and Spirituality, Return of the Archons, sky, spock, star trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, star trek: enterprise, star trek: the next generation, StarTrek, The Return of the Archons, Tic-tac-toe, Uhura, Way to Eden, Zachary Quinto | 6 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Broken

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Darren

This film was seen as part of the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival 2013. It was the opening gala.

Broken is that rarest of beasts, a suburban ensemble drama that manages to merge charming humanism with gritty reality. Mark O’Rowe’s adaptation of Daniel Clay’s novel is filled to the brim with humour and joy, but isn’t afraid of the darker shades of emotion. It’s unflinching and occasionally brutal, a candid exploration of the intersecting lives of those inhabiting a small close. However, this honesty lends the film credibility in its lighter moments. The smiles, the giggles and the laughter that come from many off the movie’s more human moments feel earned, and there’s a wonderful sense of balance to Broken, as if to concede that life cannot be composed of entirely happy moments, nor entirely sad. That’s the wonder of it all, and Broken skilfully manages to combine those extremes into a single charming and engaging coming of age drama.

A close call…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: arts, book, Christ, Cillian Murphy, Equilibrioception, fiction, film, Harper Lee, mark o'rowe, Movie, non-review review, Rabies, Religion and Spirituality, review, Robert Emms, Rory Kinnear, Rufus Norris, Shopping, Skunk, Skunk Anansie, Specific Titles, tim roth, Wine tasting descriptors | 2 Comments »

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 26 (Review/Retrospective)

Posted on December 26, 2012 by Darren

It’s strange reading The Spirit Archives, Vol. 26. Not just because it’s a collection of absolutely everything (from stories to pin-ups to posters to sketches) rather than a set of comic strips. Also because of the scope of this final hardcover collection in DC’s Spirit Archives programme. While, with the exception of the last volume, each book collected six months of the weekly strip, this final book collects pretty-much everything Will Eisner did with the character from the time that the weekly strip ended through to his death in 2005. I’m a bit surprised that there’s only one book of this material, although it does allow the reader to flick through the decades following the end of the strip as if examining a family photo albums – watching the subtle changes as time marches on.

Despite the fact that he was cancelled, The Spirit never seemed to quite go away. There was a lot of work featuring the character by other writers and artists, but most of that isn’t collected here. Instead, this admittedly disjointed collection reads best as a sort of a documentary charting the on-going relationship between Will Eisner and arguably his most popular creation.

Still making waves…

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: art, Business and Economy, CONTRACT WITH GOD, Dolan, Ebony, Eisner, Ellen, Ellen Dolan, Harvey Comics, james bond, Kitchen Sink Press, Metro Areas, new york, New York City, New York City Metro, Octopus, Religion and Spirituality, Spirit, Spirits, superhero, United States, Will Eisner | 3 Comments »

Quietly at the Peacock Theatre (Review)

Posted on November 24, 2012 by Darren

So, a Catholic and a Protestant walk into a bar. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

Quietly is a fascinating exploration of the Troubles from writer Owen McCafferty and director Jimmy Fay. While it’s often very difficult to translate the real life conflict into art – in many respects, it’s too real and too recent and too raw for us to process fully at this point – Quietly does an excellent job capturing the necessary steps forward for those affected by (and involved in) violence in the North. The result is a truly fascinating piece of theatre, and something well worth seeing during it’s run at the Peacock stage.

Picture by Anthony Woods…

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Filed under: Theatre | Tagged: abbey, catholic, Guthrie Theater, Northern Ireland, Owen McCafferty, peacock, peacock theatre, Peafowl, Protestantism, Religion and Spirituality, Troubles, Ulster Plantation | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Super

Posted on November 19, 2012 by Darren

Super is pretty much one joke, extended over a movie runtime. It’s a funny joke, and it’s told well by a great cast and a witty director, but it feels a little stretched, even at under a hundred minutes. It also suffered a bit from being released in the same year as Kick-Ass, a movie that dealt with similar themes in a much more compelling manner, but Super remains an interesting examination of geek power fantasy, and some of the more sinister undertones of the conventional superhero narrative.

Not so super, hero…

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: alan moore, bible, christianity, crime, Electronic cigarette, Ellen Page, film, god, James Gunn, kick-ass, Michael Rooker, Movie, New Super Mario Bros., Nintendo, non-review review, Rainn Wilson, Religion and Spirituality, review, Sarah, Shopping, sin city, Sports, United States, Wii U | 2 Comments »

The Sopranos: Denial, Anger, Acceptance (Review)

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Darren

Denial, Anger, Acceptance marks the first episode of The Sopranos not written by creator David Chase. In the United Kingdom, it’s traditional for a particular writer (or writers) to write every episode of a given series, to the point where you are quite likely to find a television show credited “by” a particular person. In the United States, due to longer seasons and various other concerns, such an approach isn’t feasible. (There are exceptions, such as Aaron Sorkin’s tenure on The West Wing, where he contributed eight-one scripts in the show’s first four seasons.) However, The Sopranos remains associated with its creator, David Chase, so it’s interesting to look at Denial, Anger, Acceptance as the first episode written by a writer other than Chase, in this case Mark Saraceni.

Sticking his neck out...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Acceptance, AmericanDream, Anger, Christopher, David Chase, Denial, Denial Anger Acceptance, history, holocaust, Judaism, Junior, Livia Soprano, Meadow, Melfi, Poland, Religion and Spirituality, Soprano, the sopranos, Tony, Tony Soprano, United States | 2 Comments »

To Play the King (Review)

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Darren

The wonderful folks at the BBC have given me access to their BBC Global iPlayer for a month to give the service a go and trawl through the archives. Read my thoughts on the service here, but I thought I’d also take the opportunity to enjoy some of the fantastic content.

You’ve got the King against the Prime Minister, the Lords against the Commons. The bishops are in now, you’ve got “don’t blame the royals”, and – in particular – you’ve got Urquhart’s plan to bring down the monarchy for good and all. And they’ve all played the personal morality card. Every one of them. Which means, in my book, that everybody’s private life is now up for grabs. And I mean everybody’s!

– Sir Bruce Bullerby sums it up

The second part of the House of Cards trilogy has some fairly interesting subject matter. While Francis Urquharts Machiavellian rise to power was enough to ground the first four-part serial, it does occasionally feel like To Play The King has just a bit too much going on. Of course, Andrew Davies’ tight scripting ensures that all the necessary subplots are tidied up before we reach the end credits of the final episode, but things do occasionally feel just a little bit too packed. Still, it’s hard to blame a television show for having too much substance, and there’s a compelling issue at the heart of To Play The King, as novelist Michael Dodds takes the opportunity to explore Britain’s constitutional monarchy, and the possibility of friction that a proactive King might present.

A crowning accomplishment for the BBC?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: bbc, Charles Prince of Wales, Chief Whip, christianity, David, Denis Thatcher, Francis Urquhart, god, Great Britain, Great Is the Lord, Holy Is the Lord, House of Cards, Ian Richardson, Iron Lady, king, King Jesus, margaret thatcher, meryl streep, Phyllida Lloyd, Praise and Worship, Religion and Spirituality, Scotland, Social work, stephen frears, To Play The King, Urquhart, Wales, Wisdom | 2 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Tree of Life

Posted on September 18, 2011 by Darren

Terence Malick’s Tree of Life stems from the beginning of the universe to “the end of time.”It’s hard to imagine any film with a similar scope, let alone one focused on the troublesome relationship between a nuclear family in the mid-to-late-twentieth century. The easiest way to summarise Malick’s epic yet intimate drama is describe it as a profound meditation on the history of the cosmos, reflected through a child’s coming-of-age tale. Confused? I don’t blame you. I’m slightly confused and I just watched the damn thing.