time travel | the m0vie blog

Geoff Johns’ Run on Booster Gold – 52 Pickup & Blue and Gold

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Darren

I guess when you’re as popular as Geoff Johns you can pretty much pick your own projects. He’s pretty much the driving force at the company, having helmed two of the bigger more recent “event” crossovers (Infinite Crisis and Blackest Night) as well as managing the return of Hal Jordan to the pages of Green Lantern and Barry Allen to The Flash. He has always skilfully walked the line between a hardcore nerd who knows everything there is to know about DC’s incredibly complicated history and the source of some of the company’s most accessible output. His runs on the “big” name characters (such as Superman) are some of the easiest to read comic books currently published, however it’s clear he has a somewhat deeper level of knowledge and understanding of the way that the DC universe works, and is read to dive into the nooks and crannies of obscure characters and half-remembered trivia with the fervour of a pure geek. Booster Gold is perhaps the best example of this sort of work.

That logo is so money...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: 52, 52 pick-up, 52 pickup, barry allen, blackest night, blue and gold, booster gold, booster gold: 52 pick-up, booster gold: blue and gold, Comics, dan jurgens, dc comics, geoff johns, green lantern, hal jordan, hexed, infinite crisis, leggo my ego, no joke, review, rip hunter, Sinestro Corp War, time travel | Leave a comment »

Geoff Johns’ Run on The Flash – The Dastardly Death of the Rogues & The Road to Flashpoint (Review)

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Darren

This January, I’m going to take a look at some of DC’s biggest “events.” I’ll be starting with the most recent one, Flashpoint, following a week full of Flash stories.

It’s hard not to look at Geoff Johns’ return to The Flash and wonder what might have been. After all, his original run solidified Johns as a talent to watch in the superhero field, fed into his iconic Green Lantern run and paved the way to his ascent up the DC food chain. And it’s quite clear that DC were putting a lot of energy into pushing The Flash as the next “breakout franchise”, clearly hoping that Johns could find an angle on the character and mythos that would push the book up the sales charts to match the Batman and Green Lantern franchises. That obviously didn’t happen, but it feels like a shame because it very nearly could have happened, had things gone a little differently.

Flash! A-ha! He saves every one of us!

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: comic books, Comics, dc comics, dcnu, final crisis, flash, Flash (comics), flashpoint, flashpoint (comics), Francis Manapul, geoff johns, grant morrison, green lantern, reverse flash, review, road to flashpoint, rogues, the dastardly death of the rogues, The Flash (comics), the rogues, time travel | Leave a comment »

Doctor Who: The Girl Who Waited (Review)

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Darren

You always said that for Christmas dinner, you wish there were two of you.

– Rory tries to look on the bright side

The Girl Who Waited might just be the most Moffat-esque Doctor Who script that wasn’t written by the man himself. “Timey wimey” hijinks, killer robots, glitchy technology and cultural misunderstandings all tie together one of the best episodes of the show’s sixth season. Writer Tom MacRae even throws in a juicy character dilemma to add flavour. Offering a fairly explicit example of why travelling with the Doctor might not necessarily be a good thing, despite how much fun it might seem, The Girl Who Waited serves as a prelude to The God Complex, while continuing the season’s exploration of just how tough it is to be the companion.

The waiting room…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: amy, Amy's Choice (Doctor Who), Dalek Invasion of Earth, doctor, Doctor (Doctor Who), DoctorWho, Eleventh Hour, Girl Who Waited, Moffat, Philip Hinchcliffe, rory, rory williams, tardis, The Girl Who Waited, time travel, waters of mars, William Hartnell | 11 Comments »

Doctor Who: Let’s Kill Hitler (Review)

Posted on August 27, 2011 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.

Let’s Kill Hitler originally aired in 2011.

You’ve got a time machine, I’ve got a gun. What the hell. Let’s kill Hitler.

– Mels drops a title

Well, Steven Moffat made it quite clear from the outset that he was going to play with the structure of his second season as executive producer. The show was split and broadcast in two blocks, straddling the summer. It opened with a rather epic two-part adventure that seemed to show us the end of the Doctor’s journey. Let’s Kill Hitler is positioned in a very strange way. It is simultaneously the light and quirky opening episode of the season’s second block, and also the hour devoted to resolving a lot of the lingering questions overshadowing the arc-driven sixth season of the revived Doctor Who.

It is, in short, a mess. It’s a confident and occasionally brilliant mess, but a mess nonetheless.

Crashing the Nazi Party…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: a good man goes to war, Adolf Hitler, bbc, BBC America, doctor, DoctorWho, Donna Noble, Eleventh Doctor, Good Man Goes to War, Jon Pertwee, Kill Hitler, let's kill hitler, Moffat, review, River Song, steven moffat, Television, time travel | 7 Comments »

Captain America Lives! Omnibus (Review)

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Darren

In celebration of the 4th of July and the release of Captain America: The First Avenger this month, we’re jumping into Marvel’s comic book alternate history and taking a look at the star-spangled avenger every Wednesday this month.

I have to say, I am genuinely quite pleased with how they’ve been chunking up Ed Brubaker’s well-loved run on Captain America for these oversized omnibus editions. Each of the three omnibus editions – Captain America, The Death of Captain America and, now, Captain America Lives! – represent an act in his over-arching story, with the status quo continually changing and shifting. The first set of issues closed with the assassination of Steve Rogers, while the second set saw Bucky Barnes assuming the mantle in Steve’s absence and defeating the Red Skull. So the third collection returns Steve Rogers to the Marvel Universe. Does it make me a bad person if I kinda don’t want the original character back so soon?

Stars and stripes...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Bryan Hitch, Bucky, bucky barnes, captain america, captain america #600, captain america: reborn, comic books, ed brubaker, Ed McGuinness, gene colan, marvel comics, marvel universe, old friends and enemies, reborn, Red Skull, stan lee, Steve Epting, steve mcniven, steve rogers, the winter soldier, time travel, time's arrow | Leave a comment »

Non-Review Review: Source Code

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Darren

A special thanks to the guys over at movies.ie for sneaking us into an advanced preview screening.

Duncan Jones really grabbed our attention with Moon, one of the most boldly original films of the last decade. However, it’s often the second film of a promising young director that is the most fascinating to watch, as the weight of expectation is measured against a (typically) larger budget and profile. Too many young talents fizzle out or stumble at the second hurdle. I’m glad to report that Jones manages to make it safely across. While Source Code might lack the power of his debut, it’s still a fascinating little science-fiction thriller, one I’m still thinking of hours after I left the screening. And that is certainly a mark of quality.

Has Colter gone off the rails?

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Beleaguered Castle, duncan jones, films, Groundhog Day, Jake Gyllenhaal, moon, Movies, non-review review, philosophy, reality, review, sci-fi, science fiction, source code, source code (film), the source code, time travel, war on terror | 6 Comments »

A Matter of Time – Doctor Who: Season 5

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Darren

Sorry… Sorry! Dropped it!

Hello, Stonehenge! Who takes the Pandorica, takes the universe. But bad news everyone… cause guess who! Listenw you lot, cause you’re all whizzing about – it’s really could distracting. Could you all just stay still for a minute? Because I. am. talking!

Now, question of the hour: who’s got the Pandorica? Answer: I do. Next question: who’s coming to take it from me?

C’mon!

Look at me: no plan, no backup, no weapons worth a damn – oh, and something else I don’t have? Anything to lose! So if you’re sitting up there in all your silly little spaceships with your silly little guns and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way; remember every black day I ever stopped you; and then – and then! – do the smart thing: let somebody else try first.

– The Doctor, The Pandorica Opens

Well, the first season of Stephen Moffat’s run of Doctor Who is over. And what a ride it was. On one hand, you had budget cuts at the BBC, putting an even great financial strain on the show’s transition to high definition, the first wholsecale chance of the entire cast between seasons since the show’s transition to colour in 1970 (and, fittingly, this was the show’s transition to high definition), and you had the World Cup skewing ratings towards the backend of the season. On the other hand, you had the writer of some of the show’s best episodes directing the entire run behind the scenes, the exploration of the time travelling nature of the central protagonist, and a blatant admission that the show is more a fairytale than a science fiction epic. And along the way, there was barely enough time to catch your breath.

No time to lose...

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: amy, amy pond, amy's choice, arthur darvill, autons, bbc, cold blood, daleks, doctor, doctor who, drama, family, flesh and stone, foreshadowing, matt smith, paradox, rory, rory williams, script, stephen moffat, tardis, Television, the beast below, the big bang, the doctor, the eleventh hour, the hungry earth, the lodger, the pandorica opens, the vampires of venice, the weeping angels, time, time of angels, time travel, victory of the daleks, vincent and the doctor | 9 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Darren

I remember being assured by somebody that pop culture will eat itself. I’m not sure who and I’m not sure when (maybe this person had a time a machine – because it seems to be happening). I never understood if that was a promise or a threat, and I still don’t. However, if you wanted to get a look at the below of the beast, I imagine it might look a little like Hot Tub Time Machine.

Rubba dub dub, four men in tub...

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 1986, back to the future, clark duke, comedy, craig robinson, film, hot tub, hot tub time machine, john cusack, Movie, non-review review, pop culture, review, rob corddry, time travel | Leave a comment »

This is no time to argue about time, we don’t have the time…

Posted on May 20, 2009 by Darren

The early reviews for Terminator: Salvation seem to be in – and they are not as bad as I thought they would be. Apparently if you leave your brain at reception, you might enjoy it. Still, it’s got me thinking. The original Terminator was one of the few Hollywood movies to deal with time travel relatively well. How come Hollywood seems to have such difficulty wrestling with such a common science fiction trope?