Doctor Who Series 5, Episode 13: "The Big Bang"

I am very confused. Usually I can follow confusing time travel storylines, but this finale threw me off at the end! And it totally wasn't what I was expecting. As Matt Smith said in the BBC america event a few months ago, there was a lot of time travel here. And it was played out well, albeit confusing.

So, spoilers from here on out. The episode seemed split into two parts. One was the conclusion of the destruction of all the universes. Although the pandorica itself seemed like a reset button, it was played well, and all the time jumping in this half made sense to me. So, after a bunch of various time stops that brilliantly linked back to the first episode, the pandorica flew into the exploding TARDIS and the universe was restored, sans doctor.

Now, here is where I started to lose things. So, the doctor is slowly getting erased from time, as the cracks start erasing him. In his last moments, he tells Amelia Pond all these things about the TARDIS, and how he actually borrowed it and then kept it, and so on. And then he disappeared from history. River's journal was blank. Amy lived a normal life, with parents and Rory. However, just like Amelia Pond, she had dreams and memories of a doctor that did not exist. Yet, the fact that she was able to remember him brought him back at the end, TARDIS and all. I don't understand how that works out. Wasn't he literally erased. I mean, so was Rory before, but the Rory that came back was an automaton. This doctor is all real, although he was erased.

And on top of that, what happened to all of the doctor's adventures with Amy? We know the crash of the byzantium happened, because it's now in River's journal. But the Amy we knew didn't live that adventure, because that was from the previous universe, right? Yet she remembers doing it all.

And of course, as expected, that odd scene in Flesh and Stone made its appearance here, as it well should have.

And is Rory going to be a major companion next year? Can we expect to see more from River, and does that more mean it's going to be more significant as well this time? This is when everything changes, she says. And she's married, it seems. We got some answers, and a nice tease for next time.

But now to my biggest gripe with this episode. It's less of a flaw than an annoyance. What caused the TARDIS to explode? I have a feeling it has something to do with River Song. The fact that Moffat addressed the issue right at the end, yet didn't answer a single thing, leads me to believe that it'll carry over to the next series, and that makes it carry even more weight. The only thing that carries this much weight so far is River, and I feel like she and this whole exploding TARDIS is linked.

In the end, I don't even know what to make of this episode. It was very enjoyable, but my perplexity at the end leaves me somewhat unable to fully grasp what this episode means. I have to go read some reviews, watch it again, and fully assess it. But Moffat answered the major questions this season, and left the major big bad annoyingly unanswered. Why does it have to end now? Must we wait till next spring?

Next time: everything changes?

Doctor Who Series 5, Episode 12: "The Pandorica Opens"

The pandorica has opened. And deep inside the multiple safeguards and locks, we found the supposedly most feared being in the cosmos. A big bang is causing time and space to crack, and started back when Amy was a little girl. River Song's relationship with the doctor continues, as she promised after the crash of the Byzantium. How it all fits together is still somewhat of a mystery, but one thing is for sure: expect the unexpected. Spoilers follow, so read at your own peril.

Did anyone seriously expect the pandorica to be a prison for the doctor himself? Davros stated, in David Tennant's last full series as the doctor, that the doctor was the destroyer of universes. Everthing this season led us to believe that either the doctor or Amy were the cause of the cracks in time and space. Apparently this was true, since the TARDIS exploding is what seemingly caused everything.

But something doesn't fit. It makes sense that the varied alien races joined together to stop the doctor, since they probably realized the TARDIS caused the inciting event for the cracks. It also makes sense that they created the pandorica, somehow led the doctor to it, and used stonehenge as a signal to let them all know when he arrived. And it makes sense to lock him up, to protect the universe.

However, the essential question now is, why did the TARDIS explode? Is there someone in control of the TARDIS? And if so, who? And how is everything that just happened going to be erased?

Amy being the key to everything makes sense to some degree, since it was her life that served as the ideal illusion to fool the doctor into opening the pandorica. But again, what is up with the TARDIS?

Seeing Rory again was a disappointment for me, personally. I was hoping he was gone for good, because I like it just fine with the doctor, Amy, and the occasional visit from River. I found it weird that Amy suddenly remebered Rory, just before she died. We know River survived the whole pandorica incident, and she was right there when the TARDIS exploded, so it's safe to assume that everyone we care about makes it out relatively unscathed next week.

I don't quite know what to think now. Again, as with any two-parter, it's so hard to judge this episode without the conclusion. I'm not expecting an RTD-style reset button here, so I figure Moffat has something actually smart in mind. Something involving the doctor going to the past, to the Byzantium, to remind Amy about what he told her when she was seven.

The introduction to the episode was stellar. Seeing van Gogh, Churchill, Liz Ten, and River all interacting through time and space over van Gogh's final work was fantastic. I felt the episode got a bit slow when the cyberman started attacking Amy and the doctor. But when River realized that the whole Roman thing was a charade, the episode suddenly picked up.... and then left us somewhat lost.

The universes started dying, and silence seemed to be falling. The TARDIS exploded. Amy died. The doctor is stuck in the pandorica. How is this ever going to be reversed? I can't wait till next week, although there's a tinge of sadness that it's the final episode until December.

Next week: I have no idea.

Ranking Pixar

With Toy Story 3 now out, I figured I'd rank all 11 pixar films. To me, this list represents the best of pixar down to the worst. And by worst, I mean simply not the best, because so far, all of pixar's films have been of a quality that puts many other movies to shame.

1.) WALL-E

I feel WALL-E ranks first because of the amount of emotion and character conveyed through simple body language. It's place as number one is arguably based on personal preference, but it should at least crack the top 3 on most people's lists, I'd think.

2.) Toy Story 3

The one film by pixar that made me truly want to be a child again. It took characters we knew as kids, and put them in situations we can understand better as adults. Part adventure, part drama, it was a rather emotional ride that I'd love to take again for the first time.

3.) Monsters, Inc.

While I'm partial to superheroes, this movie has to rank higher based on sheer creativity. A world where monsters make a living out of scaring people? Fascinating. Billy Crystal as Mike? Fantastic! A sequel scheduled for 2012? Can't wait!

4.) Toy Story

Once again, I enjoyed The Incredibles a whole lot, but Toy Story was the classic that started it all. It remains just as fun to watch today as it did fifteen years ago, and introduced us to a crew of toys I now wish I had when I was growing up. Fifteen years later, and I still remember seeing this movie in theaters. Considering my bad memory, that's saying something.

5.) The Incredibles

I love superheroes, and pixar's take on them did not disappoint. I felt the only weak point here, when compared to pixar's other works, is that the creativity wasn't as prevalent. Which, of course, is expected in a movie dealing completely with humans, albeit ones with special talents. Still, a very enjoyable movie, and if I ever don a costume, I'll have to keep Edna's warning on capes in mind.

6.) Up

This is where the ranking gets hard for me. The rest of these films are all so good, that ranking them seems wrong. Up takes its spot here for me because of its very, very sad opening. I don't think any pixar movie has captured that much sadness in that short amount of time. The rest of the movie was fine, but it's the beginning that really makes it stand out.

7.) Finding Nemo

While not my favorite pixar by any means, I felt like this movie was very creative, and really told a good tale of how life would work under the sea. The story itself was decent, but it's really the creativity that helped it land at number seven.

8.) Toy Story 2

This movie is lower on the list mostly because the other two in the series are a bit more memorable, in my opinion. Perhaps it's because I don't care much for cowboys, or because certain parts of the movie felt similar to the first. However, I enjoyed this movie just as much as the other two, and I hope it holds its classic spot in cinema history for years to come.

9.) A Bug's Life

Another movie that I'd rank lower on my favorites list, but is ranked a bit higher because of the creative perspective pixar took at the life of bugs. I love how pixar takes a world that exists in our everyday lives, and completely organizes the life and times of that world around that. It did that with Finding Nemo, with toys, and again here.

10.) Ratatouille

Who knew rats can cook? This was a wonderfully entertaining movie. So well done, and so hard for me to rank as ten. My favorite scene is at the end, when the strict critic finally tastes the ratatouille, and later sees who really was under the chef's hat. Good stuff.

11.) Cars

Something about talking cars seems very inhuman and unrelatable to me. Unlike talking rats, bugs, and toys, cars just feel like they should remain more machine than man. That being said, the way they organized the entire world run by cars was fun to watch, and I'd take this over a lot of other animated movies any day.

A Toy's Final Story

They say the third film in a franchise often blows. Based on the evidence over the last few years, that seems true. Pixar, however, proved today that all you need to make a successful sequel is good writing, care for your characters, and a healthy dose of heart.

The line for Toy Story 3 went outside the theater, and most of the people in it were my peers. This was a sign that Toy Story 3 wasn't to be the typical pixar movie, but one that attracted people who grew up with Woody, Buzz, and the gang since their own childhood. I saw the first Toy Story in theaters when it came out back in 1995. It must not have made enough of a lasting impression, since I didn't see the sequel in theaters. However, I rewatched both movies before seeing this one, and I honestly think this one is not only my favorite, but arguably the best one as well.

Almost every pixar movie makes me feel like a kid again. But I think this is the first that actually makes me want to be a kid again. I miss those days where the simplest pleasure was playing around with your toys. When the biggest stress was which disasterly scenario your toys found themselves in next. The opening to Toy Story 3 captured this aspect of a child's imagination wonderfully.

Pixar's films are considered by some to be children's movies, but this one in particular had themes only adults could understand fully. Growing up, moving on with life, and not being as important as you once were are things that are beyond a child's understand. However, I felt I really could relate, and people older than me may relate even more. It's nice how people who were so young when the first two came out are now somewhere around Andy's age, and able to relate to these new issues. It's sort of like how the readers of Harry Potter matured as the books grew darker.

The plot here was the strongest of the three, and also the most creative, I think. I won't go into details, but it did introduce us to a slew of memorable characters: Mr. Prickepants, Lotso Huggin Bear, the clapping monkey, Ken, and more. My favorite was Mr. Pricklepants, voiced by James Bland himself, Timothy Dalton. The only problem with these new characters is that we only had one movie to enjoy them in. The plot was at times exciting, at times humorous, and at times emotional. Pixar managed to mix all these together into yet another instant classic.

The 3D here was well done. Despite all the hype for the 3D in Avatar, I felt it was much better used here. It complemented the story well, and I really felt like it advanced the story, not simply used as a gimmick. Avatar also used its 3D in this manner, but something just felt more realistic overall here.

And you know how Pixar has a short before every feature length film? This short, called Day and Night, was a touching blend of classic and modern animation, and was thoroughly enjoyable. Add another one to Pixar's already classic list of shorts.

The ending was poignant and a fitting ending to this trilogy. It was sort of like the end of The Lord of the Rings, but we pretty much knew that good times lay ahead. I don't know how else to describe how I felt about this film, except that I truly just wanted to go back to being a kid. I can't wait to watch this movie again. Pixar's 11 for 11 now!

I want to see another Toy Story movie. It's just so much fun, and so creative. But, as this movie teachees us, all good things must come to an end. It's been a fun ride, Woody and Buzz and you all. I hope these movies go on to entertain generations to come.

From Spiderman to the Wizard

Today, Sam Raimi was signed on to direct the "Wizard of Oz" prequel, according to Deadline Hollywood. From what I remember, in the original novel, and in Wicked, the wizard was a man from some place like Kansas, who got him his balloon caught in a tornado. The circus performer landed himself in Oz, where he somehow gained a stronghold and became the wizard, benevolent to some, dictatorial to others.

I wonder how the movie will address the wizard once he gets to Oz. Will he be the benevolent leader seen in the movie? Or the evil, manipulative despot of Wicked? Will Robert Downey Jr. star? I can't wait!

Doctor Who Series 5, Episode 11: "The Lodger"

Finally, we have arrived at the antepenultimate episode of this series of Doctor Who. In the past few series, the antepenultimate episode has linked to the two-part series. In David Tennant's second series, the antepenultimate episode Utopia introduced the newly regenerated master. In Turn Left, right at the episode's end, we got a look at the return of bad wolf. This time around, we had a very light-hearted, character-centered, doctor-centered episode. Only at the end did we get a sneak peek of things to come.

The two interesting parts of this episode were the doctor acting human, and his head butt memory transfer thing. I must say, Spock's memory transfer looked a lot less painful in Star Trek XI. And the doctor acting human was interesting to watch, as was Smith's acting. Here more than before I felt like we got a clear view of how this doctor acts. I mean, someone watching the entire series knows how he acts. But if I wanted to show someone, in one episode, who this doctor is, this is the one. All the quirkiness, scatterbraininess, and zaniness of the doctor is prevlant throughout this episode.

The plot of this episode was somewhat lacking. Again, it ranks lower in this series's episode list. I find this season to be interesting. Unlike past series, where each episode felt like it could be either bad, alright, or good, this season seemed more to be Moffat's show. There was hype for the first episode, which was Moffat's. Then there was hype for the return of the weeping angels and River Song, also Moffat's episodes. And finally, the tease of the pandorica made every episode between Flesh and Stone and The Pandorica Opens a waiting game, at least to me. It's not that this series was unbalanced, because every episode was quality in its own way, to me. But because of Moffat's reputation, I feel like his episodes carried the most weight so far.

Thus, this episode was enjoyable, but it also felt like a way to kill time before the pandorica opens. The end left things very interesting. Will we see Craig and Sophie again? I don't quite care.... but I do care about the darned crack.

At the BBC event I went to in the city, Matt Smith hyped up the way Moffat plays with time travel in the finale. What is the pandorica? It looks like a big box that is opening, and with its opening comes the onslaught of the doctor's major villains, including daleks, cybermen, and sontarans. But how is this related to the crack? And Amy seems to be more and more the source, especially when her looking at her engagement ring opened the crack even more. And anyone catch that van Gogh reference today, when Craig was looking at his and Sophie's picture on the fridge early in the episode? That was probably more of a fun reference than something serious, but you never know.

The next two weeks will make or break Moffat's debut series, I feel. The success of the season lies in the crack....

Next week: The pandorica opens! Daleks! Cybermen! River Song! Geronimo!

Doctor Who Series 5, Episode 10: "Vincent and the Doctor

After the crazy events of last week's episode, the doctor has been nice to Amy, taking her to a bunch of nice places, and finally taking her to a museum, to see the works of Vincent van Gogh. And here's where we begin another historical episode of the series, as the duo travel to the past to meet the famous painter.

I don't know a lot about van Gogh, aside from starry night. On a side note, I really liked how they showed starry night in this episode. I also liked how van Gogh was portrayed, and how the episode itself was mostly centered around him. We didn't need a plot-heavy episode after the last two-parter, and this was a nice breather. It also showed that no mater how much we do, the future cannot be changed, even for a time traveling Gallifreyan.

The plot itself this time was relatively weak. This probably won't go down as one of the most memorable episodes of the series, but I actually learned a bit about van Gogh. And I can now probably recognize a whole bunch of his paintings! It's less than two weeks till the pandorica opens....

Next week: The doctor becomes a lodger?