Screenplay by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Art Marcum & Matt Holloway

Directed by John Favreau

“You think you’re the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe…you just don’t know it yet.”

OK…a verdict? A good, solid, fast-paced, slick film that doesn’t outstay its welcome, offers some nice character development of the main character, some lovely unspoken character work on the part of two supporting characters, and nearlyh comes apart with its big-bad (re: laughable) villain.

REASONS TO WATCH & ENJOY…

• Robert Downey Jr - this is HIS movie, from start to finish. He’s clearly having the time of his life, and although I think his performance in Sherlock Holmes is better, his version of Tony Stark is a hilarious, pathetic, wonderful, poignant, complex character…and he does it full justice.

• The supporting chararcters are surprising - their backgrounds are merely sketched in, and the actors are left to fill in the blanks, with surprising skill. Terrence Howard does a good job with James Rhodes…but it’s Gwyneth Paltrow (who I consider one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood) who shocked the hell out of me with her incredible, subtle performance as Pepper Potts.

• The action is clear, exciting, evocative, and amusing…basically, everything that Transformers WASN’T! Even the robots in Stark’s lab have more character than the Autobots & Decepticons…and one of these lab robots is a fire extinguisher, for heaven’s sake!

• The plot: a simple, clear cut & straightforward origin story. The politics that exist don’t become preachy, there are no overwrought moments, and virtually no filler. Just over two lightning-fast hours of enjoyment, with all the fat cut away.

THE REASON KEEPING IT FROM PERFECTION?

• The entire Obadiah Stane plot - it’s far fetched, full of the most clichéd terrorists imaginable…and lead by Jeff Bridges’ eye-rolling, scene-chewing non-performance. It’s not only over-the-top, it soars into orbit and doesn’t look back…and threatens to take the entire movie with it. Thankfully, the script, the direction, and the rest of the cast have other ideas…

It’s no Dark Knight or X-Men 2, but Iron Man puts 90% of the other Marvel movies to shame. I think I’ll be going to see that sequel…

8

Metaphorically speaking, of course.

If I actually hit a wall, I’m sure some people would hear it a kilometre away.

I DID smack into the garage door once…but that’s a humiliating story for another day…

Meanwhile, back to my evil-sinus-congestion-lack of sleep-exhausted-hit-the-wall self. Today, my rather large self gave up the ghost and shut down.

I think I may disappear for a couple of days. I’ve run out of books to read, movies to review, and coherent thoughts to put together. Let me regenerate and I’ll be back…

Nah…there’s too much to enjoy about this film to truly fear it…but COME ON! I’m in a sad state indeed…

(2) I’ve now read 11 books in almost four weeks…can my brain handle any more? Is it possible to have literary core meltdown?

(3) I tuned in to the opening five minutes of the 24 season premier…and I only have one question: just how many EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS can one prime time drama have?!? After watching the opening credits, I’m beginning to wonder if anyone working on that show ISN’T an Executive Producer! I think I lost count after 6…or 60…I can’t be sure…

Maybe we should ask the script girl or the best boy…if they’re not busy with their Executive Producer duties!!!

(4) My little niece Micaela REMAINS the most precious, gorgeous creature in existence! Want proof? Look below… :D

Written by Norman F. Cantor

I’m beginning to become a massive fan of Mr. Cantor’s work. This is the second of his books that I’ve read, and I find it (once again) to be a concise, thorough historical analysis. What more do you want from a scholarly work of history?

The premise of The Last Knight is simple: John of Gaunt is a member of the English Royal Family, and one of the richest & most powerful men in the world of the 14th century. Taking him as the archetype for his time, Cantor constructs a narrative that demonstrates how the decline of the Middle Ages can be reflected through Gaunt’s power, property, manners, beliefs, and lifestyle. Everything occuring in that time period — across national boundaries, religious affiliations & class divides — pivots around Gaunt, as the anchor of his era. As his life slowly fades into the mist, Cantor demonstrates how the Middle Ages went with him…and opened the door for the Renaissance advancements that were eagerly awaiting to take the stage.

It’s a book that reads quickly and simply, but seems packed full of sumptuous detail, along with the acknowledgement of various theories and past works on certain events in relation to Gaunt & the Middle Ages…and where exactly Cantor stands in relation to those previous works. An excellent handbook on an exciting era of transition, it’s almost disappointing that it ends as quickly as it does.

THE WAYFINDERS - Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

Written by Wade Davis

This is the book I read prior to viewing Avatar…and it was a powerful primer.

As part of the Massey Lecture series, Wade Davis’ speeches have been transcribed into this short but sweet text, which somehow manages to cover a ridiculously large range of societies, civilizations & ethnicities, in such a compact page count (this seems to be the theme for this double book review). The experience of reading it feels like intellectual whiplash…you are hooked into a certain society and lifestyle…only to be ripped away at warp speed to investigate another fascinating society and lifestyle.

The whiplash is worth it. I have never had such a deep or varied taste of ancient, nearly extinct cultures…and I’ve never come away feeling so guilty about being descended from imperialist, domineering, conquering, barbaric European stock. The Wayfinders is a testament to humanity’s legacy…both good and bad…and acts as wisdom and warning to future generations not to make the same mistakes. It’s a message that has been written down & spoken of thousands of times…but as it appears in this book, it’s positively electrifying in presentation and dissemination.

You will walk away from this book stunned, amazed, and disgusted…sometimes simultaneously! Name for me the last book to have THAT kind of affect on its readership… ;-)

THE KRILLITANE STORM

Written by Christopher Cooper

It opens with so much promise: a dark, medieval setting…monsters roaming the claustrophobic streets, frightened townsfolk…even an amusing woodcut-inspired illustration, which I hoped was a good sign of things to come…

…but it wasn’t. In the end, it’s a fast-paced novel, but it’s full of people you can’t (and don’t) care too much about. Most of the good-guy supporting cast is paper thin in terms of characterization, especially the plucky young off-world observer looking for closure from what appears to be a previous (dare I say…unrelated) novel. Things that come out of left field shouldn’t feel as if they’ve been included in a book simply to fill out the page count.

Even the Doctor seems badly served here: too much of David Tennant’s high energy comedy routine, without his darker, more contemplative moments.

If anything, the best characters in the book are the BAD guys: the corporate scum-sucker, trying to farm Krillitanes out for a profit; the amoral & disinterested scientist who could almost pass for the Doctor’s old arch-enemy, the Rani; the Krillitanes themselves, trying to decide to navigate between allies, enemies, and past sins catching up with them in the present. They’re the ones that keep the novel from falling apart…to the point where you actually hope they win!

The Krillitane Storm reminds me of Wishing Well: full of excellent ingredients, but the resulting meal is mundane and disappointing. With everything so paper thin, it’s an especially disappointing waste of a solid historical setting.

6

THE TAKING OF CHELSEA 426

Written by David Llewellyn

The best novel of the final batch, but it could have been SO MUCH better.

Once again, the weakness is with the good guys. Everyone reads like such an annoying cliche, and the author seems content to play with surface gloss, rather than develop the hints of some fascinating background traits that have developed from living in an isolated, socially-retrograde space for years and years.

But this time, the bad guys and the setting raise the bar, with an increased level of epicness. David Llewellyn is clearly having a great time writing for the Sontarans, and he never waste an opportunity to give us multiple looks into their thought processes, hierarchy issues, rivalries, worries, and arrogance. Robert Holmes, the creator of the Sontarans, would have approved…especially as the chief Sontaran makes an excellent adversary for the Doctor, resulting in some well-written confrontations.

The setting is also thoroughly well serviced: a continually gorgeous realization of Saturn’s gaseous, ringed glory, which not only offers nice descriptions, but ends up being a key plot point as well.

The main problem here is that the bad guys and the setting exist at such a superior level to the rest of the cast, both in the hotel and on the cruise ship. It may have been better to simply ditch the dull humans entirely, and concentrate on the epic Sontaran/Rutan war, which makes for an excellent, absorbing 50% of this novel…making the other 50% even more disappointing. A great pity…

7

AUTONOMY

Written by Daniel Blythe

By far the biggest personal disappointment in this final batch of novels.

Daniel Blythe is a successful novelist, who happens to have made his start with two of the Doctor Who 7th Doctor New Adventures back in the 1990s — The Dimension Riders & Infinite Requiem. Both were intricate, substantial epics, with juicy characters and fascinating plots & settings. Naturally, I was looking forward to Mr. Blythe revisiting the Doctor Who universe, based on the quality of those first two novels.

Unfortunately, Autonmy falls somewhere between Mr. Llewellyn’s book and Mr. Cooper’s book. The shopping mall setting is fun, but it turns into a mega-remix of elements from previous stories, such as The Nightmare Fair and Rose. The good guys are all cliches that make up for their lack of depth with a lot of running around, a lot of screaming, a lot of superficial info dumping, and they’re capped off by the inclusion of a positively annoying old buffer that seems to have been rejected from a bad episode of Upstairs Downstairs! The bad guys are much better developed — ironically, the Autons are another Robert Holmes creation. However, even here it falls short of David Llewellyn’s clear joy at playing with the Sontarans and Rutans, despite the inspired attempt to give the Nestene Consciousness a schizophrenic interior monologue.

The only consistently solid element is the Doctor himself: a solid synthesis of David Tennant’s best characteristics & his turn-on-a-dime change of attitude, from carefree bon vivant to hard-edged hero.

I was looking forward to reading Autonmy more than the other two books in this batch…but it’s the book that ended up being the greatest disappointment. It’s certainly not the note on which I wished to conclude the literary adventures of the 10th Doctor.

5

THE DEFENCE OF THE REALM - The Authorized History of MI5

Written by Christopher Andrew

The phrase “does what it says on the tin” comes to mind. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of one of the most famous (and sometimes, infamous) security services in the world, this mammoth work of scholarship was commissioned from Britain’s leading intelligence historian. The term “mammoth” isn’t an exaggeration. Nearly 900 pages of text, and enough citations to do justice to an entire set of encyclopedias.

The Defence of the Realm is exhaustive - no stone is left unturned, no scandal ignored, no triumph untrumpeted. This is a warts-and-all study that reveals fascinating behind-the-scenes information about British history, as well as various global events, such as the World Wars and the Cold War. Let’s call it “backroom history” - events as witnessed in the shadows, in the cabinet rooms, the interrogation cells, the flats & hotels and bars…and about 90% of it is compelling. On rare occasions, there’s a little bit too much minutae (in other words: too much info-dumpting). But these moments are drowned out by the far more fascinating and surprising revelations, which include: (1) the non-existent, sorry state of intelligence before 1909; (2) how both the British AND the Russians completely misjudged the Cambridge Five; (3) how the personalities of the Director-Generals affected the security service in the most peculiar of ways; (4) the paranoia of Prime Minister Harold Wilson. There is much, much more…

The Defence of the Realm should be considered the last word on both MI5 and historical scholarship. Rarely are such mighty tomes both well research and well written, but Christopher Andrew manages to produce a masterful work that will easily stand the test of time, and will no doubt prove to be an invaluable resource in years to come. This one is definitely recommended.

THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - The Evidence for Evolution

Written by Richard Dawkins

Yes, this is brought to you by the (shall we say…combustible :D ) author of The God Delusion, but this time FAR less angry, and a bit less smug. I promise…

How do you sum up this book? As easily as this: Evolution is a FACT. Here, laid out before you, are the FACTS that support this statement. Scientific FACTS. Fossilized FACTS. Molecular FACTS.

If you haven’t noticed, the key word is FACTS. No supposition, no guess work…nothing but clear cut FACTS. Let’s put it another way: The Greatest Show on Earth lays out the evidence creationists claim doesn’t exist. Then, it sighs in resignation and incredulity, as creationists simply ignore the very same evidence they have asked to see!

Nothing - not one item — in this book qualifies as speculation, and while I found some of the science a bit of a slog (I am, after all, a humanities teacher), everything is laid out as a series of simple, matter-of-fact arguments, chapter by chapter. It’s the literary equivalent of watching a series of dominos topple…slowly, assuredly, one-by-one. One might almost call it breathtaking…

The book ends in despair…despair over the current trend to subvert reality, reason, and science. It’s not presented with any animosity…simply weariness. Like fighting against people determined to believe that the “theory” of gravity is something that remains unproven or unsupported. A brick wall of ignorance and deception.

In other words, if you read this and STILL can’t comprehend individuals that would viciously try to fight against the FACT of evolution…then you are in very erudite company.

“Outcast. Betrayer. Alien. I was in the place the eye does not see. I needed their help…and they needed mine. But to ever face them again, I was going to have to take it to a whole new level.”

Pundits have dismissed this film as Pocahontas with a mutant-smurf cast. They’ve criticized it as an unsubtle anti-military, pro-environment, unapologetic tree-hugging allegory that everyone has seen before

Well, it IS an unsubtle anti-military, pro-environment, unapologetic tree-hugging allegory that everyone has seen before. The only difference is that few have ever managed to see it realized with such scope, such vision…and with such genuine emotional impact.

People shouldn’t see Avatar for the story. They should see it for the experience. They should see it for the environment, the world-building, and the astonishing spectacle. The 3-D is designed to put you inside the movie…and it succeeds beyond all expectations…particularly my own.

People should see Avatar to witness Jake Sully’s exhilarating rediscovery and rebirth: a broken, cynical survivor…given new life and new hope thanks to a power greater than himself…and Sam Worthington’s star-making, evocative performance.

People should see Avatar to witness Sigourney Weaver’s character of Dr. Augustine transform from jaded, disappointed, and single-minded scientist to guardian and mother…rediscovering her humanity on a world that humanity once recognized as its own.

People should see Avatar to behold the ultimate mirror: humanity at its stoic, heroic, selfless best…and its brutal, ugly, selfish worst. The lessons of history — learned AND ignored, side-by-side.

“See the world we come from: there’s no green there. They’ve killed their mother…and they’re going to do the same thing here!”

People should see Avatar for the most exquisite physical and spiritual realization of an alien world ever committed to film. George Lucas’s prequel universe has NOTHING on the achievement of James Cameron. Is it original? Not a bit…but it transcends mundane expectations by simply synthesizing the aboriginal, spiritual, and ecological traditions of Earth and fashioning an environment so beautiful, so textured, so VITAL…that it will leave you open-mouthed with astonishment.

I wept…twice. I held my breath during the battles — action so glorious, so astounding, so ground-shaking, I found myself shivering. I bit my nails during Jake Sully’s trials and tribulations — sharing his pain & joy with each successful achievement. I was swept away by a film that staggered me in every conceivable way…and even now, I wonder why and how this managed to affect me so deeply.

I can trace it back to a Christmas reading of The Wayfinders: a published series of Massey Lectures by Wade Davis. It’s a book that explores the tragedy of the destruction of Earth’s aboriginal societies: their languages, their traditions, their completely unique world views…all slowly fading into the mist of oblivion.

Avatar is the incarnation of this powerful sense of melancholy & loss…and a drawn line in the sand that states that certain individuals and cultures will not allow such events to happen again. It’s regret and remembrance. It’s the ache of loss…as represented by an unchanging, military-industrial complex so rapacious that it has failed to learn its lessons at home…prepared to inflict the same torture on another world, and another culture. The conflict, the heartache, and the redemption of lessons learned…all of that spoke to me in Avatar in a way I can’t fully articulate. But the churning emotions, the breathtaking believability of Pandora & its people…all of it conspires to create an experience that every movie should aspire to achieve…but very, VERY few have come close.

Gone With the Wind managed it. Ben-Hur managed it. The original Star Wars managed it. Avatar easily & poignantly manages it. That’s four films in 75 years…rarified company indeed. I’m still not sure why Avatar managed to affect me so deeply. Was I simply in the right place at the right time, in the right mood? Were my expectations so modest that the film couldn’t help but exceed them? Whatever confluence of events occured, the end result was me, walking out of the theatre, shaking — literally shaking — with happiness, and filled with incredible & boundless energy. Just how many films are capable of eliciting such a powerful reaction? I wonder…

10+

Screen Story by Lionel Wigram and Michael Robert Johnson

Based on the Characters Created By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Directed by Guy Ritchie

“You’ve never complained about my methods before.”

“I’ve NEVER complained! When have I ever complained about you practicing the violin at three in the morning, or your mess? Your general lack of hygiene, or the fact that you steal my clothes?”

I think I was a little more worried (frightened, even?) about this film than the re-boot of Star Trek. Especially in the last 25 years, with the Jeremy Brett/Granada UK TV series remaining the definitive Holmes of this generation, I was quite terrified we would witness a horrific Lock-Stock-and-Two-Smoking-Barrels version of a classic character…destroyed forever by a director with an unsuitable, over-the-top sensibility.

I shouldn’t have worried. Frankly, my only real complaint with the movie is the actual plot. It veered a little too fantastical and mystical for my liking…even though the logic of the situation was satisfactorily revealed at the conclusion. It just felt as if, in their desire for epic, the writers and the direcdtor were swinging for the fences a little too hard. I’m also not entirely convinced by the expansion of Irene Adler’s character…although Rachel McAdams does manage to evoke a beautifully restrained set of reactions from Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes.

That aside, SHERLOCK HOLMES is a sumptuous, gorgeous, astonishing production - the dirty, gritty nature of everyday Victorian life, successfully mixed with the flashes of upper-crust society and their selfish, detached concerns. The 1860s, re-created with considerable skill and a great deal of joy. A sharp-edged universe of greys and blues, muddy streets and gilded palaces.

Into this mix we are presented with — or should that say, hurled into the life of — Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes…and you’d never know he wasn’t British. He’s as twitchy, anti-social, callous, jealous, neurotic and incisively brilliant as Holmes ever was, and it’s clear that a great deal of the Brett-incarnation has influenced his performance. If anything, the additional action and fighting are in keeping with the martial skills Holmes always possessed…and, in this case, serve as a realistic outlet for his repressed emotion and ceaseless energy. Downey Jr. effortlessly steals the movie with each & every scene, and it could be his best-ever performance as an actor.

Jude Law also acquits himself well as the solid, dependable, restrained man-of-action Watson. Law lives up to the ideal of the character with great deftness: the incisive medical man, the skilled ex-solider, and the long-suffering but ever loyal best friend.

I have no problem reconciling this version of Holmes to the Granada TV series. If anything, they compliment each other so thoroughly. Guy Ritchie’s Holmes is set in the 1860s…with a less disciplined, more feral Holmes, teamed with a Dr. Watson who’s main goal is trying to keep his best friend from killing himself accidentally. The Granada TV/Jeremy Brett Holmes is the late 1880s/90s version — 25 years later, with older, more disciplined characters, who have mellowed with experience, and who command a more established role in the life of London society. They work hand-in-hand, they are equally entertaining, and equally evocative of their time period.

So…a bit bonkers in the scale of the plot, but the terrific acting and the superb direction keeps everything in check. Even the twisted, Victorian music hall score is a revelation! It’s a roller-coaster of exciting and absorbing historical fiction…and the first genuine artistic surprise of this decade. I believe the populist streak in Arthur Conan Doyle would have been satisfied…and I will definitely be watching the inevitable sequel. :D

9

On Sunday night, my stomach rebelled.

By Monday night, it was rebelling enough to take my head along for the ride.

By Tuesday night I hadn’t slept in nearly 3 days, and my brain felt like steel bands were squeezing it into a microscopic, zero-point hell!!!

Today, my neck and shoulders feel trapped inside concrete slabs!

I have had a HORRIBLE & PAINFUL week, and I’m going to cocoon with my Tylenol for a while…I’ll be back in a few days.

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Euros Lyn

“I don’t want to go.”

Random (ok…at the time…GOBSMACKED) reactions to the second part of The End of Time…

(1) If this was a summation of the Russell T. Davies era, it did the job firing on all thrusters: spectacular (outrageous) scenarios, mixed in with exquisite character moments, hilarious broad comedy, nail-biting action…and some ironic twists. The Vinvocci Star-Wars-laser-sequence takes audacity to a new level…but the 11 year old in me LOVED IT!

That’s the word: audacity. The RTD era is an era of audacity, beaten into a successful formula that has taken Doctor Who into the stratosphere. Steven Moffat has some big production shoes to fill.

(2) I thought the first part had all the good character moments…and then along comes the finale, and blows the doors off all my expectations. That scene between Wilf and the Doctor, in the Vinvocci engine room, builds on the café scene in part one and takes it to a completely new level of amazingness. Right behind it is the opening scene with the Master, as John Simm cements his presence as the perfect foil for David Tennant’s Doctor (The Master…crying? Bloody hell…). More than any other confrontation, it encapsulates the Doctor’s frustration with his former friend…trying, but always unable to get through to him.

(3) While were looking for appropriate adjectives for RTD-era Doctor Who, I’ll give you another one: FANWANK! People used to accuse 80s Doctor Who of being far too up its own behind, regarding past continuity. But The End of Time shatters any record classic Who might have set in that regard: Time Lords, the last day of the Time War, a ruined Gallifrey, RASSILON (look him up…it’s big news)…and that mysterious woman. There are many theories as to her identity, but to those of you who are fans, the obvious answer is staring you in the face…and it’s positively heartbreaking.

(4) FANWANK II - THE SEQUEL! That final coda - the goodbye to everyone - is about as self-indulgent as you can get on Doctor Who. But it doesn’t matter…because this is a last kick-at-the-can…a complete & total goodbye to five years of what amounts to an entire generation of Doctor Who…and it’s a well-deserved pat on the back. It’s a pseudo-happy ending for everyone (bloody hell…when did Martha and Mickey GET MARRIED?!?), and a nod to the massive, glorious legacy left behind by our faithful showrunners, writers, and Mr. Tennant himself. It’s a well-deserved reward to the Doctor…and a reward to the fans. Best moment: Jack being set up with Midshipman Frame (late of Voyage of the Damned) by a note from the Doctor, in a bar that is yet another homage to Star Wars. :D

(5) The climax is brilliant in a way that “brilliant” can’t even adequately describe. Falling to near death through a skylight, a three-way-Doctor/Master/Time Lord confrontation… “Get out of the way!” …the Master saving the universe (bet he hated doing that)…and then…

…the revelation of the “four knocks”, in a way that is summed up by David Tennant’s agonized-yet-amused expression. That moment the audience truly knows that the 10th Doctor is going to die, no turning back…

(6) …and HE knows it too! The ranting, desperate speech his gives about the unfairness of the universe…and his acceptance of what must be done…sent shivvers down my spine. Saving the universe doesn’t compare to offering up a life for an honourable, fantastic, outstanding example of the human race. The 10th Doctor sacrifices his life to save Wilfred Mott: an ordinary man who has proved to be the most extraordinary of giants. That, more than anything else, is the Doctor Who philosophy in a nutshell. David Tennat gives one last, electrifying performance…and we feel every minute of it.

(7) I wasn’t expecting THAT kind of destructive regeneration. As for Matt Smith’s first two minutes as the 11th Doctor…? Well…we shall see in the spring, won’t we…

“I don’t want to go.” Some people have claimed that the 10th Doctor’s final line diminishes him, but it doesn’t. It’s the last, plaintive cry of a mortal man, in love with life, who has given the universe so much…why can’t he give more?

But that’s the beauty of regeneration in Doctor Who. David Tennant became a star — exceeding all expectations, and becoming, to a generation of children, an icon on the level of Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. And yet…at the height of his success…it’s time to leave. He doesn’t outstay his welcome, and he leaves on the perfect high. He leaves…even as fandom and general public wishes for EVEN MORE…but they will have to make due with their memories. Warm, brilliant, wonderful memories. An epoch has come to an end, and what a journey it has been.

Let’s sum it up with a few words from long time fan, author, and UK media pundit Keith Topping:

In 1966, as its aged star William Hartnell decided that he’d had enough and wanted to leave the show somebody at the BBC — possibly Sydney Newman, possibly someone else, sources vary — came up with this quite brilliant idea of ‘regeneration’ as a way of changing Doctor Who’s lead actor but keeping the character of The Doctor alive. Forty three years and nine further Doctors later and it’s still one of television’s most outrageous and stunning conceits.

In a flick of the switch, everything changes and only the TARDIS remains. As Ood Sigma noted, “The song ends, but the story goes on. Forever.” Matt Smith has got an enormous void to fill when his first series kicks off in about three months time. But, yer Keith Telly Topping has total faith in Steven Moffat and his crew at Upper Boat and in Matt himself. Doctor Who. This daft little show about time travel. They tried to bin it, they tried to forget it, but it just keeps coming back.

I’ll only add one last sentiment. Thank you David Tennant, and thank you Russell T. Davies. You made my 21st century!

Rating? Give the episode a 9…and give the RTD era a 10+ (I’ll even forgive him for making Evolution of the Daleks…hehe).

Stephen Harper remains Canada’s chief despot & overlord…

By the end of this day, Matt Smith will be the new Doctor Who…

My niece Micaela continues to become more & more beautiful with each passing day…

I’ve read nearly five books in the last two weeks…

OH…speaking of which…I vow to never read ANYTHING on the bloody abomination known as a Kindle…not while the breath of life flows through my literate, book-loving body…

In 7 months, London & Paris will beckon…hell, they ALREADY beckon…very loudly…

Hmm…2010…should be an interesting year. :D

(1) GOODBYE, CANADIAN DEMOCRACY…WE HARDLY KNEW YOU!

And you thought it wouldn’t happen here? Shame on you…

Feckless Leader proroges Parliament yet again…this time killing off all sorts of legislation (including his precious tough-on-crime gobshite), all hearings into possible violations of the Geneva Convention by the Afghans we’re supposedly protecting…in general, killing off any effective governance of this nation whatsoever.

For more information (very eloquently put) about the issue of Stephen Harper’s slow ascension to the role of Caesar, I direct you to this post by my friend James…but the best (well, most succinct) way to sum up the current situation is via this letter-to-the-editor in today’s edition of the Globe & Mail:

“I had thought that the absolute power of the monarch to proroge Parliament died with the beheading of Charles I of England. It appears I was wrong.”

History repeats, history rhymes…take your pick.

(2) GOODBYE TO CANADIANS WHO GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE ABOVE

Listening to CBC Radio 1 this morning, the most common reaction to this subversion of our democracy amounts to “I don’t follow politics, so I don’t care.”

There’s nothing like home-grown apathy to ring in the new year…

(3) GOODBYE TO ULTRA-STRICT AIRLINE SECURITY…

OOPS! There was never any security to begin with! Does the U.S. issue ANYONE a visa? Did the lessons of 9/11 disappear into the ether? How do intelligence services not pick up on the obvious…especially when a possible terrorists’ FATHER personally informs U.S. security that his own son might be attempting an act of violence???

So…the only thing we really need to say “goodbye” to is the ability to go to the bathroom during the last hour of any flight on a U.S. bound jet. Time to trade in those in-flight entertainment screens for seats with urine bags…

(4) GOODBYE TO H1N1 PANIC

I’m sure my 6 hour wait in line was worth it…wasn’t it?

(5) GOODBYE NETWORK TELEVISION DRAMA

Reality shows have won! It’s 24 hours a day of Balloon Boy, Jon & Kate + Divorce Laywer, an endless array of Survivors and Bachelors, American non-idols and mobs of people who think they can dance.

Hear that sound? It’s the sound of civilization pouring down the plughole…

Can’t wait to see what 2010 brings…

Written by Russell T. Davies

Directed by Euros Lyn

“And so it came to pass, on Christmas Day, that the human race did cease to exist. But even then, the Master had no concept of his role in greater events. For this was far more than humanity’s end. This was the day upon which the whole of creation would change forever.”

Random reactions to part one of David Tennant’s finale as the 10th Doctor:

(1) SHEER AND UTTER MADNESS!!!

BONKERS! As insane as a sack full of insane people, tossed out of an insane truck, driving insanely fast on the insane highway to hell! The blond, hoodie-wearing Master with super-powers and cannibal tendencies?!? A Virginia Woolf-inspired prison as the setting for a resurrection straight out of a really really BAD 1970s horror film?!? A father/daughter with a creepy, heading-down-the-Caligula-path relationship, fooling around with technology they know nothing about, even as cactus people conspire in the basement?!? And that conclusion…that bloody ridiculously, mad-as-toast freakshow of EVERYONE ON EARTH becoming the Master?!?

And this is just PART ONE?!? After seeing the Master in a series of dresses, I think I need to lie down…

(2) PASS ME A TISSUE

The cafe scene goes down in Doctor Who history as one of those moments people will always bring up in the folk memory. Two old men, seeking out each other’s company, because no one else understands their pain…a meditation on regeneration as death…the pain of Donna’s situation…David Tennant acting his socks off…

File under the dictionary definition of “poignant“…and speaking of definitions…

(3) ACTING

The scene between the Master and the Doctor in the wasteland: could that possibly spark any less?!? Utterly compelling, utterly astonishing, and once again…completely BONKERS!!! John Simm putting a new spin on agony and ecstasy…and David Tennant giving new meaning to anguish and confusion…all directed to within an inch of its life by Euros Lyn, with his sharp, icy blue camera palate.

(4) THE BLOODY FRAKKING TIME LORDS ARE BACK!

And they brought their own version of George Lucas’ Galactic Senate chamber with them! Must I say more about this?!?

Do I dare rate this? This completely loopy, outrageous episode that pushes Russell Davies-era Doctor Who off cliffs most of us can’t even fathom? It make Last of the Time Lords look sedate by comparison! And yet…bloody hell, I enjoyed it. But don’t ask me what Part Two is going to bring. How on earth do you conclude something like this?!?

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By the way…those Christmas prison-stripe pj’s are even more hilarious in real life!