TV Reviews - Doctor Who 0806: The Caretaker

It's Doctor Who night again, and this episode was really something special. Finally, finally, the Doctor meets Clara's boyfriend Danny Pink. I will admit that I wasn't really super excited to see this happen (I wanted to see it, but not, like, really badly or anything), I just wanted one of Moffat's new storylines to progress a little bit. Seeing as that's what I wanted out of this episode, I'd say I got what I wanted, though I'm on the fence as to whether or not that's a good thing.

A Little Something Awesome - BendGate

I hate, hate hate hate, the iPhone. Is it because I don't like to give in to hype? Maybe. Is it because I'm a little counter culture? Almost definitely. Is the iPhone a good product despite my obviously exaggerated detest? I guess. I don't like it or its UI at all, but I can see why some might. Either way I find it absolutely hilarious that one of the two new iPhone 6 models (whichever is the large one) is made of a relatively thin aluminum and bends very easily. Absolutely. Hilarious. I even tweeted about it. Me!

TV Reviews - Gotham

And another fall season comes and brings with it more series premier reviews. however, there are fewer new shows this season that I am interested in. Maybe I'll do some season premiers eventually, but first, there is something that I need to do.

I am a fan of comic books and comic book stories, so you may be surprised that I didn't post this yesterday. After all, this is the show that everyone has been talking about. Batman is a big deal. The old Burton/Schumacher films still have fans today, and the Nolan movies were a wide commercial and critical success. Batman is more popular than he has ever been. I should have been looking forward to this movie that tells the very early origins of Batman by telling the story of the early rise of one of the caped crusader's closest allies, Jim Gordon, in the GCPD, but I wasn't. I was apprehensive. A Batman story without Batman? That's like a Superman story without Superman! However, where the other series that we all know that I am referencing still featured the character in their established role, this show will not feature Bruce Wayne as the hero. As I already said, this is Gordon's story, and what better way is there to tell the story of a cop these days than in the form of a cop drama?

 

TV Reviews - Doctor Who 0805: Time Heist

Another week, and another episode of Doctor Who. Not for the first time this series, this episode has me divided. On one hand, it is again a Moffat episode, but on the other it is co-written by Stephen Thompson...who hasn't really written any Doctor Who episodes that I've actually liked very much. He wrote Curse of the Black Spot, which I'm completely indifferent about, aside from the cool pirates, and Journey to the Center of the TARDIS, which I'm pretty much completely indifferent about with no exceptions, as almost everything in the episode contradicts what the rest of the franchise has established about said vehicle, and felt like it only existed to add another layer to the "Clara is strange" plot that had already started to get old. I have long since felt that neither of these episodes needed to exist. Did I think the same of this episode? Perhaps. Read on to find out.

 

 

Something Awesome #35 - Movie Reviews - The Maze Runner

And already I contradict myself, and the next Something Awesome that I write is, once again, a movie review. Don't worry, I have a couple of non-movie review full length Something Awesomes coming soon. First, though, I gotta talk to you guys about a movie that I saw the local premier of tonight: The Maze Runner, and, spoiler alert, I really liked it.

 

TV Reviews - Doctor Who 0804: Listen

So this is going to be a different kind of Doctor Who review than the last few have been, in that it will probably be more typical of my Doctor Who reviews overall. Where the past few reviews have been very lengthy and in-depth with deep analysis, this one will be simpler and more concise, because really less happens in this episode than in the past couple. Don't, however, take that to mean that this episode is not good, because the quickie review is that I quite enjoyed this episode. It was good right off the bat, with a great payoff that didn't advance the plot of the series, but ended up being a good look at the Doctor's overall character and expanding the overall mythos of the show. Also, before we get going with this thing, be aware that there will be spoilers, not just for this episode, but for the franchise lore.

A Little Something Awesome - Epic Game Music

Recently, while watching a video on another awesome YouTube channel, The Game Theorists, I was directed to this guy, Epic Game Music, who makes absolutely amazing covers of game music and opening themes from TV and web series, and who is criminally under-viewed on YouTube relative to the sheer quality of his work. I thought that I would do my best to remedy this. Check out this sample of his work below, if you like it, consider subscribing, and either way come back later for another Something Awesome.



TV Reviews - Doctor Who 0803: Robots of Sherwood

I mentioned last week that putting a Dalek episode so soon after the very different Series 8 premier was a smart play on Moffat's part, due to the popularity of said monsters, but I never said that is was the right move. The new Doctor this series, as played by Peter Capaldi, is not just new in that he has a new face, he is new in that he seems to be taking his life more seriously than the previous few Doctors have, and that is very new for the common viewer these days. I have mentioned that Moffat seems to be taking Doctor Who back to its roots as serious SciFi drama mixed with historically-based stories, forgoing a lot of the humor that the series has come to be known for in recent years. I don't really think that this is a bad idea, but putting two such heavy stories as Deep Breath and Into the Dalek back to back, I think, was a mistake. If it had been me, I would have put this episode second in the series, and, in fact, I think it actually fits better there anyway.