For the future of Doctor Who

The following is posted as speculation/theory only. More than likely I am reading way too much into things but I believe I am onto something.

If you are a fan of the new Doctor Who, then you probably know by now that David Tennant only has a few more goes in him this year as the Doctor. Next year we will be given new adventures with the "11th" Doctor.

However, I am not convinced that we will actually be seeing the 11th Doctor at all. My feeling is that we will be seeing the 1st Doctor again and that the BBC is "rebooting" the whole show.

Let's review some facts that have led me to this line of thinking.

FACT 1: "The Doctor's Song is ending" The Ood told him this, as did the psychic woman in "The Planet of the Dead." Now, this can mean many things but it pointing to the Doctor finally dying and not regenerating could easily be considered. And with SPOILER the rumored return of John Simm in the final Tennant episode END SPOILER who else could kill him completely.

FACT 2: The new actor playing the Doctor is the youngest ever. Normally this wouldn't give me pause since the age of the actors from Doctor to Doctor has varied over the last 40+ years. But take a look at the following shot of him from the set:



Wearing what I call a "1950's professor chic" look, Matt Smith gives us an interesting look for this incarnation. It just seems younger and more representative of the time when Doctor Who first aired.

FACT 3: The TARDIS looks shiny and new. Another shot from the set:



Technically, one could easily theorize that the Doctor has repaired the long broken chameleon circuit and makes the box look a bit nicer but still retaining it's classic look. But one could also theorize that this TARDIS was recently stolen from the Time Lords and doesn't have many miles on it.

FACT 4: A certain symbol is back on the TARDIS.

Take a look at this shot of the original first doctor and his TARDIS:



Now, look at this close up of the new TARDIS:



That is the St. Johns Ambulance symbol that was only on the first Doctors TARDIS.

OTHER POINTS OF SPECULATION:

SPECULATION 1: The Sonic Screwdriver looks a bit "retro"



Again, could easily be considered a new Doctor makes a new driver (wouldn't be the first time) but the potential for a younger Doctors tool is there.

SPECULATION 2: It's now the 21st century, everything changes. Captain Jack's famous lines from the opening of Torchwood. And after everything the earth has gone through recently (Cybermen/Dalek, Children of Earth aliens, Daleks moving the earth across the Galaxy) I think it is safe to assume that the earth of Doctor Who is well aware they are no longer alone in the universe. This changes everything in how the story progresses. The Doctor is no longer a secret myth, everyone can know about him. Not much potential for good storytelling there in my opinion. As grand as RTD's stories have been these last few years, they do seem to write themselves into a corner. Moving the show back into "the past" has potential.


SPECULATION 3: If we are to accept the mythos that a Time Lord only has 13 re-gens available that means we only have 3 more Doctors to see. The BBC could very easily be looking ahead at its most popular property and sees a need for a reboot to protect the life of the franchise.


So all in all I have no idea what truly is going to happen. This is all theoretical based off of what I am seeing from set photos only and my own imagination. What ever direction the show goes I am excited to see it and can't wait.


ADDENDUM:

The following additional speculation is based off of the 15/11/09 airing of the episode of Doctor Who "The Waters of Mars" the following is considered spoiler based off of this episode.

SPECULATION 4:

At the end of the episode "The Waters of Mars" the Doctor starts to go a little nutty. He is upset with viewing so many "fixed" points in time and not being able to do anything about it so he decides to take time and fate into his own hands and becoming a walking god. Due to the actions of one "stupid ape" he is then shocked to realize that perhaps he can't change things at all. But I do not see this happening. I feel he is going to continue on this path. With the final episodes being labeled as "The End of Time" and now with confirmed proof of the return of the Master (he who will knock 4 times) I feel we are on course for a major cataclysm in the universe of Doctor Who that can result in a reboot of the franchise. Or something along those lines.

RIP Patrick Swazye

You will be missed Patrick. You taught me how to never put Baby in the corner, guided me to always catch the ultimate wide and passed the greatest knowledge of "its your way...or the highway."

I share with you the best honor ever for any actor. To be honored on the Satellite of Love.

Ponyo. Ponyo. Ponyo.

Miyazaki once again hits one out of the park.




While I tend to love his older films more than his newer ones, Hayao Miyazaki always manages to pull off an amazing feat of an animated film. His latest offering, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" gives us an interesting take on the whole "little mermaid" story infused with his grand style and amazing visuals. Story wise it is a fairly simple one (especially compared to other deeper films he has done) but it makes up for that in a unique and captivating visual style. I managed to catch the original Japanese version so I can't speak for the english dub that is in theaters right now but for a visual treat alone I highly recommend this film. Just remember, when you see the water in this movie remember that Miyzaki likes to hand draw every key frame. Every one.

Check out this nice little animated gif (courtesy of the FourFour blog) from the film

a grave injustice has occurred....we must correct it.

Came across this last night in Wil Wheaton's blog. Spooky indeed:

(after recanting the strangeness he felt as a 12 year old promoting Stand By Me)

"I've always said that Stand By Me was so successful because Rob cast four young actors who were so much like their characters, but I think it's spooky how the four of us ended up being so much like our characters: River died too young, Corey struggled like crazy to get his personal demons under control, Jerry found success and happiness, and I'm a writer."

Wow.

And then of course I realized that I have never seen all of Stand By Me.

A child of the 80s and I have not reveled in its greatness properly. I am fairly certain I have seen every bit of the film, just never all at once in a proper showing. That will be rectified soon in a future Akbar Cinema showing.

How I got over my fear or I how I learned to stop worrying and embrace the freakin undead

The horror genre has never been one I have really enjoyed. Some of it I can respect but one in general just has never done a thing for me. And I really wouldn't call it a fear of them either. I just never really found any interest in them at all.

I speak of course of the Zombie.

Two films recently have allowed me to actually enjoy a Zombie flick and possibly see what other see and love in the Mortuus Vivens * genre.

Film #1:

Fido (2006)



Check out the opening "educational film" from the movie that sets up the world. After seeing this I knew I was in for a treat.

Fido-Edit-Uncompressed_agk
Uploaded by akbar56. -

From there the movie is your standard "boy and his dog" story about a boy and his pet Zombie (who he of course names Fido.) But when Fido eats the next-door neighbor the boy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family.
This black comedy allowed me to experience Zombies on an acceptable level and have a good laugh.

Film #2:
Shaun of the Dead (2004)



After being a huge fan of this groups other outings (Spaced and Hot Fuzz) I still had not ventured into their Zombie parody/homage. Luckily Fido had opened my eyes and I decided it was finally time to see it.

Wow.

Their homage/parody style was well defined for me by Hot Fuzz so I was ready for that. So many details are layered in this film you can just see they put forth maximum effort. For example, early on in the film while the main character is riding the bus a kid sits in front of him listening to techno on his walkman. The song? Zombie Nation by kernkraft 400. Cute.

For those who haven't seen it, here's the basic plot:

A man decides to turn his moribund life around by winning back his ex-girlfriend, reconciling his relationship with his mother, and dealing with an entire community that has returned from the dead to eat the living.

While I had been enjoying the film all along the way, there was one point later on that fully sold me on it's awesomeness. I will let you enjoy the scene in it's entirety. Spoiler I guess for those who haven't seen it, the main cast does have to fight against zombies. There, I ruined it for you ;)

(Unfortunately, Youtube and Dailymotion both seem to not want to show my nice HQ verison of this scene so all I can offer you is this low res/bad audio version. It will still suffice.)



After that moment I was sold.

Unfortunately, shortly after this scene the beyond believable gore started. It was then I discovered what I don't like about zombies (and most horror) is. I wouldn't really call myself squeamish, but there is just something about horror gore that turns me away from it. However, I was able to look past it and enjoy the rest of the film quite well.


Spoiler for end of the film: Now, for those who have seen Shaun of the Dead you may be looking at the opening intro to Fido and thinking that looks very familiar. Yes, SotD does end very similarly. It would be silly to think Fido wasn't influenced by that but I would like to think they took the general concept in a great direction on their own. Coupling it with a 1950s idyllic life and the "red/zombie" scare was genius.








*Yes Mom, the latin for Zombies is technically wrong.

damn you copyright infringement

Well there would have been a big update today but youtube decided that one of my clips was too copyrighted so they pulled it. Hopefully I can find somewhere else that will allow me to host the video and not take it down and I can continue the post.

Quick review time:

Young Guns- Decent, but no where near as good as I remembered it from when I was 13. A viewing of Young Guns II will have to take place.

Pump up the Volume- I had never seen it before (I still don't know how that happened) and for the most part I found it enjoyable when viewed as a film from the early 90s. But today it's message seems still vital but our technological jumps in the last 17 years really date the film.

Legend of 1900- Got a chance to watch the full directors cut. Still a great film and the directors cut fleshes out so much more. Got to share it with a good friend and it was a fun treat to watch her totally get sucked into the narrative. If you have only seen the 2 hour US cut of the film, you are missing about 40 minutes of film. I highly recommend seeing it if you have a chance.

Men With Brooms- Yes, I have watched this film a thousand times but I still stand by it's awesomeness. Curling is truly the greatest sport. I offer this quote from the main character:

"It's forty-two pounds of polished granite, beveled under belly and a handle a human being can hold. And it may have no practical purpose in itself...but it is a repository of human possibility...and if it's handled just right, it will exact a kind of poetry..."

A moment of silence please

A great auteur has left us.

-You let me see Molly Ringwalds panties.
-You gave me the confidence that even dorky geeks can get girls (via a computer created lifeform of course)
-You gave me the great life advice that when sharing a bed with a stranger, your hand is probably NEVER between two pillows.

You will be missed John Hughes

"Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

no relief in sight

For the first time ever, watching "Mystery, Alaska" failed to psychosomatically make me cooler in this August heat.

Perhaps I have grown immune to its magical cooling power. Still a great underdog sports movie.

The last four days have been a wonderful blur. A one night visit by one of my most awesomest friends (the Unstoppable force known as Hudson) turned into a four day visit. This extra visit allowed me to share some awesome entertainment.

1. Green Lantern: First Flight



DC comics lately has been doing some direct to video, PG13ish rated comic book animated movies. This new outing has continued the excellence. If you are familiar at all with the tale of the Green Lantern (and espcially Hal Jordan) then nothing here will be new, but it will be very well presented and is a great ride. I will let the trailer speak for the rest of this.



Green Lantern has always been to me the ultimate blend of Comic Book hero and Sci Fi world. Green Lantern: First Flight is a great tale and I hope that DC actually continues with more stories in this world.

2. Time Crimes (Los Cronocrímenes)



We here at Just Another Movie Geek headquarters are huge fans of time travel. As much as Quantum Mechanics sometimes gives me a headache, I thoroughly enjoy the discussions Dr. Mrs J.A.M.G. and I have afterwards. So it seemed appropriate that I choose a time travel movie to open up Akbar Cinemas.

This is one of those time travel movies that really just has to be experienced. In fact, I don't even recommend checking out the trailers (since they give way too much away) and just check it out. I would put it on par with 12 Monkeys but with a European slant to it's story. Warning: Some of the crowd last night thought it was a slight bit too suspense/thriller so keep that in mind.

Cross one more off of the "why have I never seen this?" list

Didn't watch many new movies this last week. Most of this week was spent elsewhere, or enjoying high def versions of older films (Highlander has NEVER looked this good, Speed Racer continues to be awesome.) Dr Mrs. Just Another Movie Geek and I did happen to watch one new to us film, and it is one that I am ashamed to admit I had never seen.*

The Adventures of Baron Münchhausen



Terry Gilliams final film in his loosely connected "state of imagination" trilogy (Time Bandits and Brazil being the others) we are given one more grand adventure where the lines between what is real and what is fantasy are constantly crossed and blurred. A fun film but at the same time it took a serious look at what it means to become old and still wish one was useful. As usual Gilliam creates a fantastic world that is a joy to experience. Excellent cast and great cameos from Robin Williams, Oliver Reed and even a very young Uma Thurman.


*I am not quite sure why I never saw this one. The only thing I can figure is it came out at that awkward time in my teenage years (I was 13) when I thought I had to put away childish things and be an adult. Glad that idea didn't stick.