Archive for November, 2009
Doctor Who-The Waters of Mars: After 46 Years, the Program Still Has Some Shockingly Dark Places to Take Us.
Just one week before the 46th anniversary of Doctor Who you wouldn’t think there’d be many superlatives left. I’ve been an avid fan of the program for 25 years now and I don’t take the quality of the show lightly.
The Russell T. Davies era has brought us multiple superlatives for better and worse. At least two stories since 2005 rank what I consider among the best in the show’s 45 year run. Unfortunately, the lowest point and worst episode in the show’s history also has come out of the RTD era. The Waters of Mars is neither the best nor the worst in the show’s history, but it is far and away the darkest episode in the the series’ long run.
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2012! Roland Emmerich’s Bold Statement: Better Make it the Small Coke at the Concession Stand.
First, before I even broach the subject of the movie itself, I have to say I have a slight ethical problem with the marketing of the film. It’s a minor nag but I have a serious issue with anything that deliberately feeds on the gullibility of the public at large, and the “2012” baloney that has been floating around pop culture since Erich Von Däniken’s Chariots of the Gods in the late 1960s is just kind of silly. First and foremost, if you’re a Von Däniken follower and are looking to 2012 as Hollywood’s last laugh on what we’re in for, look elsewhere. While the movie refers a couple of times to the alleged Mayan prophecy, it’s all just a tent peg to let Roland Emmerich destroy the world. I can dig that. I’m down with death, destruction and general mayhem. But how long does it take the world to end anyway?
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The Men Who Stare at Goats Offers a Lot of Laughs Before a Perplexingly Bad Finale.
A fleeting interest in the U.S. government’s multi-million dollar folly of the 1970s and 80s called the “Stargate” Project sparked my interest early in seeing The Men Who Stare at Goats. Those that may try to convince themselves that even the government wouldn’t be daft enough to drop that much money into something as foolish as a long term paranormal spy program would be woefully wrong. I can’t really blame the government for putting some initial research money into it. It’s the general lack of oversight and continued year after year tossing of money into this pit that boggles the mind.
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V Returns to Television After a 20 Year Absence–and It May Have Been Worth the Wait.
It’s with mixed emotion and cautious optimism that I had been anticipating the premiere of ABC’s “re-imagining” of the classic 1980s mini-series V. For those younger than me, which is with each passing moment becoming a larger percentage of the world’s population, I can’t describe how huge the original V was for boys of my age at that time. It fell right in the mind-numbing void that was growing exponentially as we began to realize that the Star Wars saga was over and there was really nothing on the horizon to take it’s place.
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Another Take on Paranormal Activity: What Evil Stoops to Pushing Your Keys on to the Floor?
Since I’ve spent the last two weeks contemplating various avenues of suicide from the depressing children’s book adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are, I found myself deciding to hit Paranormal Activity as it went wide release this weekend. After a rather well thought out review from Zabaduba HERE, I hadn’t planned on seeing it, but the choices have been pretty slim and since our occasional co-writer here is really the one that introduced me to modern horror film appreciation 20 years or so ago, I figured I better pay attention at even a moderately good review from him.
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