lightcastle | Entries tagged with review

Is there some kind of rule that episodes taking place in New York must follow the title scheme "X takes Manhattan"?

( It's the mid-season finale, so yes, there are spoilers. )

This season, much like last, hasn't really grabbed me, and I suppose we will have to see if the 2013 half picks up.

At least it wasn't a Charmed crossover.

( A spoiler or three )

A fond nod to the normal life of the Ponds, but I am sufficiently bored of them that I fear they have a lot of work to do to make me care.

The Doctor goes back to the Old West for the first time in almost half a century... it never really does work out for him, does it?

( Only draw if you like spoilers, pilgrim. )
In the end it was a nicely structured story but felt terribly flat. I can't really say much more about it. It passed the time. I even forgot I hadn't reviewed it yet, it was that ephemeral.

And just like that I am reminded why I like this show.

If you do it right, it can be cracking great fun.

( I'll try to keep spoiler free, but no promises. )

If Asylum of the Daleks was just the outlier of trying to hard to be "big" and Dinosaurs on a Spaceship is going to be representative of the new "no story arcs" approach, this may be a fine season after all.

The seventh series of Doctor Who arrives with the return of the Ponds, a Parliament of Daleks, and a quick demonstration that Moffatt has no intention to change the style or tone he has brought to the show for his two years in charge.

Luckily, that kept my expectations low.

( More than a few spoilers within. )

All in all a weak start that doesn't bode well for the rest of the series and implies the slap-dash storytelling Moffat's run has become known for will continue. The "Everyone thinks the Doctor is Dead" bit looks like it will be remembered when convenient, if at all, although I can see some arguing that the closing scene with the Daleks is actually a hint that the whole "First Question" thing will be a story arc this season despite our fervent hopes.

Still, the next episode has dinosaurs on a spaceship, so that might be fun.

A little late, I know, but then I haven't had access to the internet to get me this for quite some time.

( Moffat really does like the 'it's a fairy tale' thing, doesn't he? )

The quick review: Not as intense as the first film, Noomi Rapace is still amazing.

( More inside )

Non-spoiler version, this is a visually delightful film and a great way to while away a couple of hours.

( I could not think of something appropriately geeky for this cut text. )

And so now Moffat kicks the season into high gear.

( Shh... spoilers. )

I suspect that my opinion of part 1 will depend a great deal on how part 2 plays out. (I did find it interesting there was no crack to be seen anywhere, btw.)

So as peaseblossom said, "The Doctor as Peter Pan" isn't all that much better than the tiresome "The Doctor as Vengeful God" thing RTD wouldn't let go of.

Firstly, some non-spoilery thoughts.

1) Eleven is ok. He is, thankfully, not nearly as pretty boy here as I feared from his earlier work and pictures. While the producers may be happily talking about how it is like Harry Potter and Twilight, my fear that they had decided the *sole point* of Doctor Who was teen girl sighing seems overblown. He's far more a Cripin Glover, all weird angles and gawkish limbs, even if they are still playing the "he is an instant sex symbol to his companion" thing. He's still manic, but seems a bit more playful right now, so that's ok. (I'd prefer a composed yet odd Doctor, but it seems I'm not likely to ever see that again.) Basically, he is as meh to me as Tennant was at the beginning, so he might win me over to acceptable after all.

2) Karen Gillan is lovely, but then we knew that from when she was an oracle in season 4. While I generally don't object to excessive shots of delightful legs on a stunning redhead, I really do hope we get more from her than some open-mouth gaping and looking cute. Doctor Who has a less than stellar record on this front, however. Still, she has a season to become as awesome as Donna, although whether or not she can if they are going to go right to the "pining for the Doctor" route is debatable.

( Spoilers below )

Well, it is Tim Burton doing Disney, so it is very pretty and rather tame.

( Curiouser and curiouser as we wander Spoiler land )

However, seeing it in 3D might be worth it for the Tron:Legacy trailer which made my little geek heart race with joy.

I went to the ECM+'s presentation of Microphone Songs (can't remember how to link directly to an internal frame or I'd help you all dodge the music that plays on that site) tonight. It was a joint production between them and a group from Bordeaux called Proxima Centauri.

I find contemporary music challenging. I understand and appreciate they are trying to do new things, but often I find it seems to be cacophony for cacophony's sake.

There were X pieces, and I was quite fond of the first and the last two.

Vaai Irandu by Gabriel Dharmoo was a piece that focused on human voice as an instrument. I am fairly certain there were no actual words in the piece, and it used just about every vocalization I've ever heard in a language. (Including the clicks and pops common to some African languages. I don't know the name of those, but have enough linguistics fiends among my readers I figure someone does.)

De l'intérieur by Gabriel Dufour-Laperrière was a solo violin piece that was interesting as much for the technical difficulty of the piece (and the precision with which it was performed) as anything else.

X by François Rossé was the big finale with both groups playing. It was probably my favourite piece, and I am sure the most conventional of the evening.

The title piece, Microphone Songs by Michel Gonneville was painful. The music was ok, but the vocals were incredibly distracting. I get that there was some attempt to play with vocal effects, but the singer was singing in her second language, emphasizing things in strange ways, and generally "acting" "angry" and "sad" while her voice was randomly distorted. The result was just irritating. It felt like the vocal equivalent of someone going nuts with spinning flaming skulls and the blink tag just because they could.

The show plays tomorrow in Quebec city.

Personally, if you're craving some contemporary music spectacle in this city, I would recommend waiting for their production of LES AVENTURES DE MADAME MERVEILLE in May.

Of course, I might just be biased in favour of Comic Book Opera.

Wow, that was a lot of overacting and self-indulgent crap. "I'm an Artist! I'm misunderstood!" To be fair, I've known teenage Artists like that, so it's not like it is devoid of all verisimilitude. I think it was supposed to be deep, however, and that it certainly is not.

As is the XmasDay tradition, my family and I went and saw a blockbuster at a largely-empty movie theatre at midday. Since it's got all the hype, we went and saw Avatar - in 3D although not in IMAX.

It's very pretty. They really did a fantastic job getting past the uncanny valley in expressions and movement. The flora and fauna of Pandora is lovingly rendered (even if Cameron might be a wee bit too much in love with the phosphorous look).

Story-wise, it is simplistic and very obvious. Which is fine, I can like that sometimes. That it also hits just about every white-guilt "What these People Need is a White Leader" button is pretty irritating after a while, though. (And lets not get into the racial split in the cast.)

I do think Sigourney Weaver looked great as a Na'vi though. :)

As is often the case, I was oblivious to the huge cult following of this film through social media and the like that has resulted in it being released. When Pixie invited me to see it, I shrugged and said sure. Of course, last time I was brought to a film that was a internet-based cult hit, it was the deeply banal Repo: The Genetic Opera.

I liked this far better.

Spoilers will go under the cut, but here's the non-spoiler version. It's a Haunted House tale, done as a terror film, not a horror film. It's kind of a cross between The Blair Witch Project and The Haunting (the good 1960s version).

( Spoilers here like rotten cabbages )

Is it brilliant and groundbreaking? No. It's a well-crafted haunted house movie done with a simple and solid understanding of how to do suspense. I enjoyed it immensely as exactly that sort of old school terror film.