The Obligatory Reviews

So, another Christmas, another Doctor Who Christmas Special.

Can I just say that I'm really not going to miss Russell T. Davis as a writer? Sure, he'll probably have written some of 2009's specials, including the Christmas show, but at least he won't be writing a good chunk of a series.

The last series was welcome change from the constant hymn of just how wonderful the Doctor is but this Christmas Special endeavored to remind us by presenting not just one Doctor, but two... and not in the grand tradition of those episodes on 'Classic' Doctor Who, where several Doctors were in the same story due to some clever trickery and sleight of plot.

Oh no. Not for Russell T. the tried and tested formula of a mystery so deep and an enemy so powerful, it needed more than one Doctor to defeat it... This was a whole different kettle of fish.

But I shan't offer spoilers.

Except to say that the giant Cyberman "Dreadnought" at the end reminded me far too much of the animated Iron Giant movie with, perhaps, the slightest nod to live-action TransFormers. It was reasonably cool... but utterly wasted in a bland denouement, utterly without thrills or truly apparent consequences. Villains who self destruct when they're show their true nature don't even work that well in Fairy Tales.

Oops. That was a spoiler. Sorry.

I had high hopes for the story - Cybermen controlled by a mere human woman? The promised "awakening of the CyberKing"? A whole new slant on the Industrial Revolution? Sadly, the show delivered very little of its promise and, while it was better than last year's effort (which I for one can barely remember, it was so poor), it wasn't a patch on some of the episodes of the last series. Some of the dialogue - particularly the Doctor's claim that his companions eventually 'broke his heart' - was clumsy and didn't ring true (remember the episode where Tennant's Doctor met up with Sarah Jane? Who broke whose heart there?)

And particularly amusing was Russell T.'s assertion in the Confidential show afterward that the 'comedy' scene of the Doctors being pulled through a warehouse by a cyberised monkey (they said dog, or something, but it looked like a monkey to me...) was somehow funny, and served to forge a friendship between the Doctors far better than any dialogue would have.

Or perhaps I'm being unfair... because I was also pretty disappointed by this year's Wallace & Grommit - A Matter of Loaf and Death. All the usual ingredients were there - brilliant animation, clever movie references, silly puns and visual gags - but it seemed... dare I say... Half baked?

There was something not quite right, not quite dazzling, in the plot of a serial killer going after bakers and making hapless Wallace the next target. I only really laughed during the last few minutes, where references to the old Adam West Batman movie and Aliens genuinely tickled me.

In between, Shreck the Halls, another Christmas Special, failed to light my candle until Puss in Boots (voiced as ever by Antonio Banderas - perfect casting for the feline rogue) arrived on the scene, and delivered a perfectly judged Christmas story right up until he got distracted by a dangly thing and 'shamed himself'.

Blimey... Christmas really has lost its magic, hasn't it?

My Grandmother has returned to her flat - earlier than I'd expected, but this can only be a good thing. As per last year, the place was very silent until my sister and her husband arrived. There's very little you can bring yourself to talk about if you know you're just going to be asked the same questions all over again in a couple of minutes.

And, hey, at least this year she won't be wandering into my bedroom in the middle of the night...

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Yule Blog #1

A friend recently asked me if I was still blogging, and I replied (I seem to recall) with a perfunctory "on and off".

I has seemed, over the last few months, that it has been far more off than on, but I really haven't had a lot that I wanted to say.

Even this, at the moment, is more for the sake of writing something than having something to write about. But better to write about nothing than write nothing.

Christmas really has lost its magic for me. It starts earlier and earlier each year (even - or perhaps particularly - in times of economic stress), but no matter how many streets get lit up with gaudy Christmas lights, the whole thing is a very empty experience. I don't feel part of it the way I used to. I don't feel any excitement building toward Christmas Day, and that's not just because I already know what I'm getting (having bought most of it myself).

People will harp on about the commercialisation of Christmas (except not so much this year, because we all need to make money), but it's not just that. And it's not just the looming threat of recession that dulls the celebrations.

No idea what it is... Mostly, for me, I'm concerned about my flat (when am I moving in, for crying out loud?), my folks (particularly now the cat's dead, the house is going to be very quiet once I'm gone, and I'll be worrying about them), my sister (announcing the pregnancy so early, I dread what might happen between now and August 2009... and, despite my fondest dream of having five kids, I doubt the wisdom of bringing another new life into this tumultuous world).

So when Christmas Day rolls round, and I'd rather turn over, pull the duvet over my head and go back to sleep, I know that's not an option I can choose... The family will be gathering, as usual.

My mother popped out to collect her mother around midday. I was sort-of-napping, and found my Grandmother in the lounge when I went downstairs for a drink. I think I heard her arrive, but wasn't entirely conscious at the time, so it didn't really register.

My sister and her husband arrived at about 2.30, which gave them ample time to settle before the Queen's Speech.

Presents were exchanged shortly thereafter. My 2008 haul is as follows:

Watchmen - Graphic novel, on my want list for years, but I never bothered picking it up whenever I saw it, until this year, because of the upcoming movie. I passed it on to my mother for a present.

Belkin Laptop Cooling Stand - on my want list for a few months, and particularly timely because my laptop recently shut itself down when I left it on to write a DVD.

Kitchen Stuff - specifically hooks and rails for hanging towels and things from my parents, and starter sets of cutlery, plates, pots, pans, etc from my grandmother.

A chocolate bell - from my sister, along with the cryptic remark that it was a substitute present because the real one hadn't arrived.

A Chinese tea set - from my boss, because she'd threatened new mugs every year now that I have a flat.

A Clockwork Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still (the original) - also from my boss, an as a substitute for the light tent which hadn't arrived in time.

That's all for now... Dinner is being served...

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The Day The Plot Stood Still

Remakes.

Generally a bad idea... most of the time, all that's added are spiffy special effects, the likes of which were not available the first time round.

And then there's the remake of Sci-Fi classic The Day The Earth Stood Still... which even fails to add spiffy special effects, and detracts from the tight, simple story of the original by introducing a dysfunctional fractured family unit.

Naturally, they couldn't have the young boy showing the alien around New York City, as he did in the original, because today's squeamish audiences would be seeing hints of potential paedophilia (ah, for the innocent times portrayed in the original, when all we had to fear was Communism!).

Also, the anti-militaristic slant of the original has shifted to a more 'global eco-rescue' angle for the remake... where Klaatu (they kept than name, but never had him adopt the name 'Carpenter') is here "To save the Earth... From us..."

Gort remains, but he's now massive, and made out of nanobots (oops, sorry, SPOILER!.. although I believe that's given away in the trailer), and the name is an acronym applied by the US military scientists studying him. I was reminded of the Cylons in the new Battlestar Galactica TV series, but G.O.R.T. is even more bland.

It was all rather unimaginative... and Klaatu, as played by Keanu Reeves, might as well have been sleepwalking, or a zombie.

On the subject of the Undead, I was loaned a DVD box set of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, RE: Extinction and - bizarrely - Doom this weekend. Watched the two RE films on Friday night, and was roundly disappointed. I'd seen the second one in the cinema and not been too impressed. It's even worse the second time around. The third one I didn't bother with, since it looked daft in the trailers - Zombies in a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic desert landscape? - and the full story flies headlong into the ridiculous. These films were supposed to be based on the videogames? Why give Alice anime-style 'Psionic Powers'? And why, of you're going to introduce the Tyrant from the first game into the third film, make him the easiest 'End of Level Boss' in the franchise?

And they're making a fourth film? With an army of Clone-Alices going up against the global Umbrella Corporation? OK, even more Milla Jovovich on screen is nothing to complain about... but couldn't the films have run a closer parallel to the games?

The less said about Doom, the better. It was terrible the first time I saw it, and even worse the second. Not even the amusing idea of Dexter Fletcher becoming a mutated pig-beast makes it worth watching.

So... Other stuff.

The fact that I'm still not in the flat just goes to show how slow I'm being in sorting things out. The kitchen is done, except inasmuch as the hob still isn't working (in theory, having spent three weeks now trying to get it fixed, the manufacturers will give me a replacement). The flooring is mostly done, and everything else is livable for the time being. I'd like to report that I'll be in there before New Year... but I suspect I won't be.

Our cat died recently... At home, lying underneath the dining room table. He just seemed to have 'shut down' - his eyes were open, so he wasn't even asleep when it happened. There are no signs of pain, so hopefully it was peaceful. If not, at least he was with his adopted family (it's never an adoptive family with cats, after all), rather than at the vet.

Big news - due to get bigger over the next few months - is that my sister is pregnant. Serious shellshock all round (though our mother is ecstatic at the idea of being a Grandmother).

Work is fairly chaotic. The Christmas do, about a week ago, was typical of everything I hate about the company and its staff. People are leaving or threatening to leave left, right and centre, and there's a hiring freeze. There's a proposed new structure already, but that's potentially going to cause the company legal problems.

Personally, I'm unmotivated and demoralised, and - as can be seen by the lack of posting to this here blog - not doing a whole lot of writing. Well, I've done some, but not in the catagory I'd prefer to be working in, and it's been going rather to waste for the time being.

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