Ah, the good Doctor. It may be impossible to describe the intense pleasure of Doctor Who to anyone who hasn’t fallen head over heels for the series since its reboot in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the titular role of the alien Time Lord and his companion Rose Tyler, played charmingly by Billie Piper up through its current iteration played by Matt Smith with the equally charming companion Clara (Jenna Coleman).  The seven seasons (and assorted specials) that make up Doctor Who‘s current run have managed to keep the same goofy sensibility and cheesy effects as the beloved earlier outings while building up a devoted following with characters and story lines that play across the spectrum of human emotion.

2013 marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and perhaps the biggest celebration of that milestone has been this long-anticipated 50th Anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor.   Season 7 ended with its own teaser/cliffhanger, a glimpse into what would be the central focus of the 50th Anniversary episode, and the final swan song (minus one) for Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor.  Mary and I watched the final season seven episode, The Name of the Doctor, last night in anticipation for a trip to one of our local theaters to watch The Day of the Doctor on the big screen.  Though the show aired Saturday on BBC and I purchased it on Amazon Prime on Sunday, we decided to experience for the first time this way.  Let me tell you, it was worth the wait.

I can no longer count how many times the writers and cast have wrung emotion from me over the last several seasons…but I can tell you when it happened most recently.  Any guesses?

Continue reading The Day of the Doctor →

This weekend saw the opening of Catching Fire, the second film (of four) adapting author Suzanne Collins’ bestselling Hunger Games trilogy.   The novels became a topic of conversation between my wife and daughter over the last year as they both enjoyed reading them and partook of that special pleasure that all readers have of interacting over a beloved book.  I have not read them and knew little about the plot beyond that which had been revealed in the media promotion for the first novel adaptation, The Hunger Games.  My wife and daughter had seen the film and enjoyed it, expressing understanding of the nature of adapting a book to film: changes will be made.

Something about the trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire sparked (pun intended) an interest in the series I hadn’t previously felt and earlier this week I sat down and watched the first film.  I thought it was good.  Not great.  It felt like an opening film with a lot of necessary setup.  I thought the actor/actresses choices were good and although it contained some of the issues common to most science fiction films I would be the last to complain about those.  Catching Fire, on the other hand, was a rush.  I felt engaged from the opening scene and repeatedly throughout the film the focus of my internal dialogue was the way in which the story did not suffer from second-film-itis as many in a (sort of) trilogy can.  While The Hunger Games left me interested in seeing this film, Catching Fire has left me with anticipation for the films that will encompass the final book in the trilogy, Mockingjay.

My rating: 8.5/10  See it!

Continue reading Catching Fire: A non-spoiler film review →