mXm's Star Trek (2009) Review:
Yeah, I'm feeling sane again, so this'll be a review with (an attempt at a - Ed) representation of that. and Yes I'm late. Finally saw it at the two dollar theater here.
Seats were terribly uncomfortable. So much so, I got up to walk out half way through the movie.
Stood up, hit the aisle, looked left, looked right, looked down, spent the rest of the movie there, laying back on one arm, on the carpet.
At which point it got better. :)
Pros: James T. Kirk, George Kirk, Captain Christopher Pike, Starfleet & Federation reps & cadets (realistic) The FX and Scotty.
Really liked George Kirk. Pity the evolution of that mold was axed (or more properly Klingon d'k tahg knifed - Ed) in Star Trek III: TSfS.
You could see the Darwinian connection between George and Jim Kirk.
Moreso than between Jim and David (Marcus-Kirk) in The Search for Spock. The upshot of letting your son grow up with his mom, no doubt, a bit more of an intellectual and bit more sensitive. Still even if he lacked his ol dad's daring-do and general personality-type-A'osity., as we recall David did die saving lives, just like Jim. and George.
Hmmmmmmmmmm(n) I think what we need is another James. T Kirk loin-cloth offspring, to come stick-shift driving out of history.
Even if it violates canon.
Because I could 'ave sworn that Kirk says he can't drive stick in TOS's "a Piece of the Action" episode, yet he did quite well with one in Trek 2009, as a kiddie.
Yes, different futures, different pasts, ostensibly. Anyway I thought Kirk seniors scene and Kirk jr's birth were nicely epic.
(If somewhat thematically reminiscent of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith - Ed)
Cons: Nero; fight scene camera work.
Nero was too non-descript, too stereotypical, for my liking, reminded me of the villain Shinzon in Star Trek X: Nemesis. Same black outfit, same commando head.
I really think they need to axe this new-Trek-villain-must-wear-black-leather motif.
The aesthetic similarities between Shinzon and Nero might have been deliberate, an order from on high, perhaps as a bit of a way to subcutaneously redeem Star Trek X - by having the characters visually similar, they might ..blur - so that Trek XI may serve to raise Trek X.
You know, subconsciously, in the retina of the mind's murky eye?
(or maybe you're giving them too much credit and they were just lazy and thought: black outfit; bald head, that spells evil - Ed)
'aye off the top of my green head, in recent Trek filmdom, that makes *scribble* *scribble* *erase* carry the 42 ..
General Chang - The Undiscovered Country (Bald, Black Leather); The Borg Queen - First Contact (Bald, Black Leather); Shinzon - Nemesis (Bald, Black Leather) and Nero - Star Trek 2009.(Bald, Black Leather).
Draws: The Enterprise, Spock and the rest of the command cast (with the exception of Scotty, an interpretation of whom, I quite liked, particularly since the animosity Doohan had for Shatner had left a bit of a bad taste on later Trek installments, and it was nice to see a Scotty that by extension didn't seem to hate Kirk)
To me, the rest didn't succeed brilliantly and they didn't fail epically.
The Enterprise was a fairly credible contemporary update, apple store or windows aero glass comparisons put aside, but I never had a problem with that, it's the nacelles that bother my nerd eye. When we first saw (and complained -Ed) about them, they proclaimed it was an angular photographic illusion caused by a refractive lense, and they assured us they looked much better on film.
They lied, they still look like shite. But it's a servicable enough Enterprise.
Not as aesthetically compelling as the original Enterprise (or the Enterprise refit - with the new nacelles in ST:TMP, my personal fave of all Enterprise designs) yet not as cold and soul-less as the Enterprise NX-01.
Seemed to me this was Kirk's movie, and Chris Pine stole the show. Also seemed to me Quinto was lucky, the writers propped him substantially here, with backstory time equal to if not greater than Kirk's and of course Nimoy himself lending his katra. For all that support, Spock only came off a draw to me, he wouldn't be my first pick, I'd rather an unknown, or someone less annoying :) but a draw's a win, in my particular lexicon, considering I was not particularly enamoured with the selection of Quinto to begin with.
Biggest Complaint: STOP MOVING THE FRAGGING CAMERA DURING FIGHT SCENES IT JUST CREATES AN UNSATISFYING SEQUENCE THE AUDIENCE CANNOT FOLLOW, AND MORE THAN LIKELY WILL JUST TUNE OUT UNTIL IT'S OVER. I know I did. I just fidgeted and tried staring down the femme's shirt in front of me, and when that failed I thought "just get this shite scene over with already".
and that was during what was s'posed to be one of the main scenes in the film: Kirk vs Nero.
Ask moi, TOS had it right aeons ago, during those scenes, you keep the camera mostly still, this way people can _enjoy and/or at least WATCH the fight sequence_ (and Kirk's inevitably torn shirt - Ed).
Biggest Surprise: The movie didn't suck lark's vomit.
Some of the soul of Star Trek was there.
but I imagine it might be a (Romulan Ale -Ed) glass half full or half empty scenario for some of Trek fandom.
If you focus on the elements of _the formula_ (sexy'ing up Star Trek for a younger-fast audience -Ed) and it's *all* you focus on, you might hate it, because it's jutting out in front in this Trek
(like Kirk's Calvin Klein'ed package and Uhura's underwired breasts - Ed)
But If you focus on the soul of Star Trek, I think you'd likewise see it's floating about in there too.
The one character that I most felt the absence of, was Gene Roddenberry himself.
Though not all of him. Parts of him could be felt as I say, in the soul, but Star Trek will never fully feel like a perfect Star Trek, in my view, until Gene Roddenberry is felt throughout _the entire_ film. Because his commanding presence is what makes Star Trek, Star Trek. to moi.
On the plus side, there's nothing here to preclude that happening with this new Trek. You know that JJ Abrams had a mandate to fulfill with this first offering. Foremost after the failure of Nemesis, he had to bring a new audience aboard Star Trek (too) and in order to do that, the safest bet was to keep it moving at a good summer blockbuster pace.
because that's what brings them into the other summer blockbusters.
(I guess that's why it's called a safe bet - Ed)
But to me Star Trek is also about taking risks, as Kirk says in the TOS episode "Return to Tomorrow",
"They used to say if man could fly, he'd have wings. But he did fly. He discovered he had to. Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn't reached the moon, or that we hadn't gone on to Mars, and then to the nearest star? That's like saying that you wished you still operated with scalpels and sewed your patients up with catgut like your great great great great grandfather used to. I'm in command. I could order this. But I'm not because Doctor McCoy is right in pointing out the enormous danger potential in any contact with life and intelligence as fantastically advanced as this. But I must point out that the possibilities, the potential for knowledge and advancement is equally great. Risk... Risk is our business. That's what this starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her."
imo Risk IS Star Trek's business too, it's about the quieter moments too, as much as it's about the action and drama and science and science fiction, it's just as integrally about the trinary system, of Bones and Spock and Kirk's inter-relationship.
It's about Kirk: or Us as we wish to be;
It's about Kirk's infamous non-belief in the no-win-scenario.
Ultimately AISI it's about Roddenberry's view of the future: the possibility of a decent pluralistic humanity, as continually expressed through Kirk's overarching "let's do what's right, not just what's easy, or legal" Philosophy.
I don't think this Star Trek is there yet, but under the right stewardship, with a little faith, I could see it getting there in followup installments. You know, once the studio has relaxed a bit, and feels that its audience isn't going to beam itself elsewhere.
But it looms like a blind Tiberian bat, they could just as readily decide NOT to take any risks, to use the new Star Trek films SOLELY as summer blockbuster action-fluff fare, because unfortunately that's what is guaranteed to sell summer blockbuster tickets.
I think there's probably a good way to tell, when Star Trek comes out in the fall or winter, we can guess they've relaxed and they are trusting Roddenberry's vision again. If it comes out every summer like clockwork, then they've Alverian dung beetle'd out and gone for the easy money. And odds are that wouldn't be Star Trek that I'd care to watch. Because of the law of summer-sequel diminishing-quality returns.
The summer blockbuster formula is a juggernaut that has decimated 99% of the summer movie franchises that it has collided with. The sad part is that those shite formula movies, to take one sorry example - like Xmen3 - wind up making MORE money than the soul-full entities they were derived from.
So The Formula obviously works yes /And/ the summer shite-film-cycle is re-enforced. ad naseum.
We can't know where Star Trek is going to go, but at this point, I think it's off to a decent start.
From here, I'll just have to take my cue from words spoken by Spock.
"We must have faith, that the (Star Trek - Ed) universe will unfold as it should".
---
Summary: In this viewer's opine, not yet anywhere close to being as solid as the TOS series or the TOS movies or the TNG series, or the DS9 series, all of which have displayed an over-all superior balance between cinematic action and thematic depth, but altogether surprisingly not bad considering I expected it to suck heaping globules of summer-blockbuster lark's vomit.
Show's promise.
Scaled review of Star Trek 2009 / 3 Romulan Ale's out of 5.
Shut up.
mXm
Tags: startrek2009
It occurs to me that I completely neglected to mention WHY you might want to read Twilight in my previous blog entry: Why Twilight is a Worthy Read.
So to make up for that,
(oh no - Ed)
mXm's Top 10 Reasons to Read Twilight.
10. Twilight is a surprisingly fast enjoyable compelling read, even if it doesn't contain any pr0n.
9. If you're a female, reading Twilight is an I.D resonant, satisfying fun shared experience.
8. If you're a male, (being seen) reading Twilight will attract females. Which will potentially get you laid. Which is a really satisfying fun shared experience.
7. If you're in junior highschool, or are a loner, Twilight will help alleviate the boredom with a cast of supporting characters that should keep you entertained and busy until you make some friends.
read: you grow breasts. or testicles.
6. Edward is sexy.
More to the point Edward is _considered_ sexy by femmes. So? I'm not 7 feet tall, I don't have a chizzled alabaster visage, lightening fast reflexes or skin that sparkles? why should I care maelstrom you freakin dumb purple bastard?!
I hear you foolishly retort, and I forgive you.
Because NOW you know you need to stock up on Maybeline foundation #5: classic nosferatu.
(or if they're out of that, Maybeline age-rewind classic ivory #2 should do you nicely. and at 10 greenbacks a bottle it's really quite reasonable)
4. Bella is amiable.
She gets straight A's in everything but Gym. On account of she's a gravitionally-challenged clutz.
REMIND YOU of anyone you know ..Hmmmmmmmmmmmm(n) ?
(oh fellow Geeks'n'Nerds - Ed)
You can stop helping me Ed.
3. The book is written in the first person by a female author, about a female protagonist.
This makes it enjoyable for females and MUST READ for males looking for a glimpse into how femmes think. Which might be useful, since women apparently make up 60% of the population.
2. Women will NEVER tell you what they're REALLY thinking of their own volition. Anyone who tells you differently is trying to sell you something. You can't sleep with ALL of them, and so you may want to have a conversation with one, one day. And it helps to have some understanding of them, or if not, then some things in common. Twilight accomplishes both.
1. Twilight is a book. A book is this bound written word story-telling thing last seen in the 20th century that people used to read before they discovered internet pr0n. or so they tell me.
---
Top 10 Corollary: This book may not be a "great book" up there with the likes of Moby Dick *ziiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip* (no. bad - Ed) uh sorry, relapse.
but what is these days? what it is, in this maniac's view, is a "great-gateway-book" that is a surprisingly enjoyable smooth read in its own right, and who knows, it may just spark (or rekindle - Ed) a lifelong interest in reading books. Period.
And now, back to 4chan tentacle pr0n.
[Pathud -Ed]
mXm
Tags: Top10ReasonsToReadTwilight, tentacle pr0n
^-Raise-Eyebrow.
I see Jarrod's reading Twilight. (punch link for his take thus far -Ed)
v-Lower 4 foot copy of Twilight (he uses to lure in femmes at the mall - Ed)
*cough*
And then there were *scribble* *scribble* *erase* carry the 42 .. uh three?
..Mania-males.
Welcome to Starlight's Twilight Book-Club Jarrod. You may now commence au jumping up'n'down and screaming for Edward, like Starlight.
Twilight as I mentioned earlier, and as Jarrod has now confirmed was not an isolated case, is a fast read.
I've had some time to thunk about it (as I took Starlight up on his read-reco awhile ago) and I'd put me opine on why, this way: I think net-brain-scatter has a lot to do with why the book is a quick-yet-enjoyable read.
As my experience goes:
Online we wind up reading a googolplex of unsatisfying blurbs (headlines - Ed) followed by lengthier tomb'esque tutorials and/or meatier essay-length expose's 'n'articles.
The upshot is oft forgettable-noise followed by over-compensation leading to the dreaded infobahn hydra: information-overdose.
And even when not strictly so (such as on sites like Mania where the articles are mostly well proportioned -Ed) I think we're spending an increasing amount of time online, with an ensuing purple-pants-unbuckled bloating sensation, often following a globe-trotting online session.
Where you simply cannot eat (read: read - Ed) anoher thing.
Then come Twilight, it's linear; it's first personal; it's enjoyable, and it requires almost no digestion.
What is surprising is how you can get through 100 pages of Twilight without breaking a sweat.
Ask me, that bares close examination.
The "requires no digestion" point is key in my view.
For the established consumate book reading Maniac,
Meyer's success is likely mindnumbing. You might be inclined to point out some of the repetition in Twilight, the lack of extended honed prose, and wonder why this series is or ought be successful, when so many other works are deserving of literary praise?
But then you'd be forgetting that Twilight is a Young Adult novel.
YA novels are meant primarily to get you INTO reading.
(or back into, if you are a lapsed reader - Ed)
And in that, I think it succeeds brilliantly.
I have another interest in reading femme-centric work (which I won't bore you with, because right now I'm feeling startlingly sane, it's touched on in the comments area of Chad's article: Are You There God, It's Me Supergirl here on Mania)
[*run-on-sentence-BREATH-BREAK* - Ed]
Yet beyond its initial YA lit-subgenre purpose; beyond it being a quick enjoyable read
(particularly if you are female. or male, can visit the mind of a femme, and can enjoy the trip without it threatening your masculinity -Ed)
Beyond the surface, I believe that Meyer has stumbled onto a writing style ("no digestion required" - Ed)
..that for all the 20thCenturyLit101-criticism one could lodge against it (see Stephen King attacks Stephenie Meyer - Ed)
..that beyond all that, subcutaneously I think Twilight serves to feed a 21stCentury net-reading-habit-altered need.
(maybe this blog isn't so much about Twilight, as it is, about how the net is changing our reading habits and demands; how Stephenie Meyer may have stumbled onto a writing style that is a remedy for the neuro-net-effect: a style that is fundamentally finally joyously: smooth and uncluttered - Ed)
Maybe Ed. But then we might have to have a debate on the value of Meyer's writing style beyond it being a welcome contrast to net-clutter.
All Genius for example, share in common, a capacity to simplify, while idiots are simple by nature.
You see the problem? I don't really want to classify Meyer as a genius or an idiot, so instead I will leave it there, with it being a surprisingly enjoyable summer read.
(is this the part where we jump up and down and soil our panties screaming for Edward like Starlight and Jarrod? - Ed)
You can do whatever you like with your panties Ed, but for moi, this is the part where I head back to the mall with my 4 foot copy of Twilight, and lay down a series of New Moon buttons., in a trail ..leading directly to my van.
[Again -Ed]
mXm
Tags: twilight altered-reading-habits
Greetings and welcome to Maelstrom's 21st Century Science Fiction Magical Musical ..
um what's another word that begins with "M" Ed?
(malarchy? - Ed)
You can stop helping me now Ed.
No 60's space-theramin music to be found 'ere (yet - Ed)
Yes, yet, as I am trawling the net for some 60's space music.
Meanwhile I just noticed these 2 tracks 'ave been on increasing replay on the pod this summer and I thought it'd make a good excuse for a blog.
Ye can guess why (rampant decadence or nudity? - Ed) *cough*: they feed the SF need.
check em out after the warp.
(we think he means "after the jump" but even that doesn't quite make sense, since there isn't one - Ed)
Don't make me get all BugsBunny on your DaffyDuck posterior Ed.
(I believe the appropriate response is: "boiiii." *shrug* - Ed)
Right, so:
Punch ))here(( [real player required] to listen to The Girl and the Robot song (immediately -Ed).
Punch ((here)) to view The Girl and the Robot video over at YouTube (not so immediately Ed).
I apologize for the extra link work you 'ave to do to watch; tube-embedding on this video has been disabled by the RIAAtards.
Yes, that's Robyn guesting on Röyksopp's vocals, and she's doing it again, that woman makes my teeth itch.
(humina humina -Ed)
If you'd like some more Röyksopp, ye can listen to their entire imo excellent Night Out Live EP by hitting here [real player req] all for the astoundingly reasonable price of free.
Wu Bai is apparently Taiwan's answer to David Bowie - if David Bowie were Asian (or from Earth - Ed) and someone unplugged David's linear-progression evolution chip.
This bloke moves from Alternative to ballad to dance to pop and back again, quicker than you can say SuperfantasticHappyFunTime, also he does this all in the same day.
Here with his band Wu Bai and China Blue, I do believe he has found his inner Kraftwerk, and I do believe it is bloody good.
(in that insane retro-futiristic J-pop sort of way - Ed)
SuperFantasticHappyFun BaseballBat EdWhallop.
(*brush styrofoam off shoulders* switched your corked bats out for these styrofoam ones - Ed)
inspired.
boiiii.
if embedding is turned off at Mania, the video won't appear above, in which case, we may have to kidnap ManiaTech's girlfriend in order to get this place fixed up and upgraded for 21st Century blogging.
(and by "kidnap ManiaTech's girlfriend" he means "abscond with ManiaTech's laminated poster of Jean Grey as The Dark Phoenix" which I'm pretty sure Maelstrom would do anyway - Ed)
Punch HERE (ow .. testicles ascending ..ow .. going dark .. - Ed)
my bad Ed, I mean punch ((here)) to view the SuperfantasticHappyFunTime Spacebomb video.
mXm
Tags: SuperFantasticHappyFunTime, 21stCenturySpaceMusic
Hi Bitches,
Recently EW attempted to redefine CULT-TV essentially so that it could be applied to shows like LOST.
The article is well written imo and worth reading but uh, in the words of Samuel L. Jackson, I'm tired of these motherfuckin snakes on this motherfuckin plane!
uh I mean, "allow me to retort":
---
Maaaa CULT definition being misappropriated by Mainstream Media
AGAIN.
Admission: EW has come a long way from the magazine I received for FREE for weeks on end that felt like an eternity in high gloss superficial HELL wot induced projectiling vomiting at its level of asinine vapidity.
(read: that was about 15 years ago, I didn't know better than to accept free excrement, and more to the point they have LATELY apparently wisely spent some of the buckets of cash they have made, hiring some good professional writers)
BUT
Though I really do appreciate the up in quality of the writing, they're a _mainstream _ outlet, and we cannot allow them to attempt to re-define CULT TV so that it applies to HUGELY popular programs and mainstream viewing interest.
Why? They have a conflict of interest.
They are read by the mainstream, who are typically anything _but_ your UNtypical cult show audience. And in attempting to placate their mainstream audience's bizarre (fairly-recent) desire to NOT be seen as mainstream, they appear to be attempting to redefine cult (and no doubt then fringe and alternative -Ed)
read: to re-define the NON-mainstream _as_ mainstream.
Which is imo definitionally impossible, despite the valiant attempt(s).
CULT = alternative interest, SMALL slavish audience.
MAINSTREAM = common interest, HUGE audience.
Never the twain shall meet.
CULT = fringe, offbeat
CULT = NON-mainstream.
---
LOST is not Cult.
LOST has some cult sensibility but does the mainstream like it for the same reason that alternative culture does?
Tthe EW writer briefly touched on this key point with regards to The X-Files re: the Mulder-Scully 'Shipper and Mystery mainstream audience but then conveniently skipped over its absolute central-point relevance to the issue.
The difference: The Mainstream see the show(s) differently, like it for different reasons, and even when the reasons do correlate, it's _never_ at the same time.
In short the mainstream see it through mainstream eyes: relationshippers and mystery fans on The X-files (vs the interest-in-ephemera Cult Xphiles -Ed) and as a mystery with Judeo-Christian religious undertones with LOST.
All of that is of interest to the mainstream now.
The mainstream of today has not seen The Prisoner it doesn't see 99% of LOST's references to previous cult work.
Bottom Line AISI: LOST has a HUGE audience that by definition renders it NON-Cult.
Yes, I am submiting for your consideration that that means that If the mainstream becomes enamoured with something that was previously considered CULT it is by definition, NO LONGER CULT. It still once-to-used-to-was CULT, but it is no longer Cult.
CULT will always be one step ahead, behind, or to the side, but _never_ in sync with the masses.
I realize this will probably piss off people (read: EW reg readers -Ed) that were hoping that liking LOST gave their mainstream existence some edge, but look 'mates, you have good solid lives playing in the safe middle, you're NOT extreme, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Be happy with that, this desire to redefine cult is no different than suburban Vanilla Ice white rap, it might be fun, but it's not the real thing - anymore than current top40 black rap is the real thing - the real Cult thing ISN'T where everyone is currently at.
LOST is good, but it is NOT Cult TV.
I put it to you that CULT at its purest is always where the mainstream is NOT.
That you cannot have a huge audience and be considered CULT.
Nice try though EW. Now go back to your football game so I can visit your soccer mom.
(and commence au hate-mail - Ed)
[Pathud]
mXm
Tags: cult-tv
I hesitated, my hand on the door handle, trying to prolong the moment.
"Bella?" he asked in a different tone — serious, but hesitant.
"Yes?" I turned back to him too eagerly.
"Will you promise me something?"
"Yes," I said, and instantly regretted my unconditional agreement. What if he asked me to stay away from him? I couldn't keep that promise.
"Don't go into the woods."
I stared at him in blank confusion. "Why?"
He frowned, and his eyes were tight as he stared past me.
"when I go into the woods something naughty comes over me. Let's leave it at that."
With that he headed off into the woods and I followed him in.
I caught up with him five minutes later to find him standing there without his pants.
I stood in awe, surprising Edward by appearing next to him suddenly - almost as quickly as he'd done to me when he had saved my life - I stared down at his flaccid alabaster penis, not sure what else to do.
"Is this sex?" I asked.
"how should I know! that Stephenie Meyer is a real piece of work; Maelstrom's read 2/3rds of the book and Starlight's read Twilight AND New Moon and they say there is a remarkable lack of penis on vagina action in this story."
"Dont say that Edward, Stephenie is wonderful!"
"OK, OK, try playing with it, Bella" he said looking down at me with those hypnotic golden eyes. or so I would imagine, because frankly, MY eyes never met his, they were glued to his penis. I tried playing with it.
Nothing.
"try blowing it"
Nothing. Still flaccid. I was pretty sure that wasn't right.
"hmmmm, I know, take your pants off Bella"
Nothing.
"wait, bend over, yes like that! and lift up your shirt!"
"yes, yes Bella! ..something ..something is happening!"
And that did it. Edward's alabaster penis stood glorious and erect shimmering in the midsummer twilight.
"Ooo it sparkles!"
Unfortunately for Bella (and the legions of screaming moist-pantied readers -Ed) this is what Edward saw.
Punch here to see what Edward saw (WARNING! Not Safe For Mormons -Ed)
and he spent the next few hours trying to back into it.
But y'all knew that anyway.
(--- point left. jog right --)
[Pathud]
mXm
Tags: twilightsex
For the astoundingly reasonable price of free, you can jetisson yourself, your family, or your nemesis ..into space!
(he means, NASA is once again offering to send *Your Name* to Mars - Ed)
In addition you will receive a spiffy printable certificate to commemorate the trip.
One that looks remarkably like this:
Punch ))here(( to send /Your Input/ To Mars.
mXm
Tags: nasa
Dear Brian Yuzna,
Re-Animator IV: VaginaWars
starring Megan Fox's disembodied velvet glove.
"It put's the lotion on its skin or else it get's the hose again. "
after BrandoPenis in Beyond Re-Animator, you owe us, mang.
mXm
Tags: vagina
Either I just woke up or Mania writing has just upped 1000%
I just read 3 excellent articles in a row here at Mania.
Normally I read good articles here, and take them for granted of course, but these are standouts, really high quality well thought out professionally writ top of the line articles.
I'm referring to,
Nadia Oxford's Does The End of EGM Spell Doom for Game Magazines?
Chris Beveridge's Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence blu-ray review
and
Tim Janson's Top 15 Greatest Science Fiction Writers of all time.
(who - despite my rant against his list's dissing of William Gibson - is consistently one of my fav writers here)
It would appear that this new darker eviler design-layout seems to be heralding a return to excellent writing here at Mania.
That or my sanity is returning and I'm starting to notice these things.
Also I haven't even hit all the recent articles as yet.
Anyway, color me impressed with the new Mania.
As "Pattern Recognition" goes, mine is detecting that this smells very much like the beginning of another golden period in Mania history.
Mania Management, TechTeam, Writers, Contributors and Members pat yourselves on the back.
I'd do it but I'm currently in restraints.
Michael X. Maelstrom.
Tags: quality
Doctor Who News roundup.
/BEGIN Doctor Who News/
David Tennant's swan song: There are reportedly 4 Doctor Who episodes sub-nomened "specials" starring David Tennant left to go before we have to say au revoire to him.
(*sniff* - Ed junior)
On the right hand side of the number line, they will be filmed and will air throughout 2009 starting with the currently filming "Planet of the Dead".
(to be broadcast on BBC One, Easter 2009 - Ed)
Although effectively a shortened season, this means David Tennant will play the Doctor throughout 2009.
(Yay! - Ed & Ed Jr)
I wasn't able to find anything concrete on the other 3 upcoming Tennant special episodes, but did find some interesting conjecture.
Episode 15 aka The Easter Special: Planet of the Dead (title confirmed, currently shooting -Ed)
mXm's Spoiler-Free Plot Summary: The Doctor loses the Tardis. and is forced to take the double-dutch bus. Someone better tell him to stay away from the bloke at the back. That isn't the engine causing the seat to vibrate.
/BEGIN WARNING: v-LINK CONTAINS SPOILERS-v/
Punch here to be taken to Planet Gallifrey for a sneak-peak slash breakdown of everything known about episode 15 thus far.
/END WARNING: ^-LINK CONTAINED SPOILERS-^/
Episode 16: World War II.
Episode 17: Lost in Time.
Episode 18: Degeneration.
*note: Titles and plot lines for episode 16 through 18 are speculative and put forward over at the intriguing Sylvester Mccoy New Doctor Who website's 2009/2010 Episode Guide.
which as you have no doubt sussed if you're any good at telling what year it is, also contains a look at possible titles and plots for the future Doctor Who series starring Matt Smith.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm(n) perhaps Tennant didn't lose the Tardis so much as McCoy jacked it to see what was going to happen in future Doctor Who?
^Raise-Eyebrow.
Anyway, back in the present, David Tennant has put up a video diary of his current shoot on Planet of the Dead.
Punch here to view Tennant's Video Diary
*note if you pause the screen while Tennant is holding the script, you can make out some of the details of a scene in the upcoming PotD Easter special.
If you don't know how to do that imagine you're watching pr0n, and lookin to blow up a scene.
Apply the same level of dedicated concentration and focus on figuring out how to zoom naughty bits, (as Maelstrom would - Ed) to this video diary and you should be good to go.
Back to the Future, to do some learnin about the upcoming 11th Doctor, The Telegraph answers the question "so, who is this youngest Doctor ever (26 year old -Ed) upstart whipper snapper" with a mini-bio.
and Matt Smith answers the question that must be on everyone's mind: So ..besides having the complexion of a nosferatu, wot am I otherwise like?
in this BBC One extended Matt Smith interview.
Finally as a temporally-tardy Christmas present for peoples here in The West that didn't see The Doctor Who 2008 Christmas Special titled "The Next Doctor" (because most networks didn't air it -Ed) some good people (read: pirates -Ed) have started uploadin it to Youtube.
Not sure why The 2 Doctor Who's were intent on immitating cats with colon rashes during one scene, but it sure looks like an enjoyably crazy episode.
Punch here to judge for yourself.
Thus far only the first 5 minutes are available, with the rest to come shortly. Presumably.
Assuming that is what is indicated by the first 5 minute video having been titled "part 1"
/END Doctor Who News/
---
/BEGIN Torchwood Season 2 Finale Comment (mine)/
(no really? - Ed)
Piss off Ed.
If pressed, I prefer Doctor Who, but Torchwood grew on me throughout this season; it seemed like one moment it was a passive curio-interest, the next it suddenly became one of my fav series.
Sometimes this show feels very much like Davies' new Doctor Who, other times like Buckaroo Bonzai.
with a touch of Buffy sprinkled on.
James Marsters crisp dialogue and sardonic repartee is becoming increasingly present in Torchwood. It is also becoming apparent that Marsters personality was a great part of the source of (Buffy's) Spike persona, you know, in the same way that Jack Nicholson is often the source of his character's persona.
(except in a slightly less overtly bi-sexual manner - Ed)
Anyway, during the Torchwood season finale last week, they came up with an ingenius and disturbing manner of dealing with the issue of Captain Jack's ability to resurrect slash his immortality.
Though they down-played the _horror_ of the implications (during this episode - Ed) I suspect the psychological ramifications will return to disturb Jack and possibly turn him towards a darker path in the future.
The vicious idea Gray (Jack's brother -Ed) comes up with to make Jack pay for letting go of his hand and losing him (and the suffering Gray went through as a consequence -Ed) although basic in construct, is worthy of the likes of Josef Mengele or the Marquis de Sade (or maelstrom - Ed) and I suspect something like it could be applied to The Doctor.
To force a series of disgusting regenerations.
^Raise-Eyebrow.
I don't see how anyone could go through that without having serious psychologic problems as a result. Jack's always resilient, it's part of his charm, but I don't see him simply shrugging that off.
/END Torchwood Season Finale Comment (still his -Ed)/
Anyway, with Davies' scoring a 2 for 2 at least on my quality-TV-scale, I'm tempted to check out the other Doctor Who Spin-off "The Sarah Jane Adventures".
Though I hear tell it's for kiddies.
I presume that means no girl on girl action.
Pity.
[Pathud]
Look, if I have to become acclimated to bi-sexual males occasionally snogging on Torchwood, I feel it only juste that it ought be balanced out by bi-sexual females exploring the wonderful world of Lingerie, Love and other words beginning with L on the Doctor Who sister spin-off series.
IS THAT SO WRONG?
(^raise-finger-to-comment - Ed)
It's rhetorical Ed.
Michael X. Maelstrom.
Tags: doctor who, torchwood
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