trailer break: ‘The Nutcracker in 3D’
It used to be a ballet. Now it’s an action movie. Hooray!
Year: 2010
question of the day: Why are we fascinated by movies (and TV shows) about our own destruction?
AMC’s new zombie drama, The Walking Dead, enjoyed the highest-rated premiere on cable this year: more than eight million people tuned in to see the world end… again. Why?
watch it: “The T-Mobile Welcome Back”
I know this is just a commercial, and I know it’s silly, but this made me cry.
‘Doctor Who’ thing of the day: homemade Dalek
What is it about Daleks that so inspires fannish imagination? I mean, for the longest time, for most of the 25-year span of the original iteration of the show, you could escape a Dalek merely by running up or down a flight of stairs. So why were they so riveting, even then?
watch it: “Forbidden Images”
‘Sex is still all about women’s bodies and people either want them covered up and hidden or freely available for public consumption.’
trailer break: ‘Another Year’
Oh dear. Mike Leigh’s new film looks like a multi-hankie weepie. Can’t wait.
question of the day: What are the most frightening episodes of ‘Doctor Who’?
I found a lot of the gothic Tom Baker stories pretty frightening: “The Seeds of Doom” was pretty creepy, with its body-conscious horror (the villain gets transformed into an alien plant). I still find something really unsettling about the immortals in the Peter Davison story “Enlightenment”: though they look entirely human, they have an eerie kind of calm about them that makes them feel way more alien than most of the guys in rubber suits have ever been.
a few thoughts on ‘The Walking Dead’: “Days Gone Bye”
So, I’m not really seeing so much that’s new in this The Walking Dead thing yet. Except that it’s pretty gory not only for TV but also for some zombie movies I’ve see. Seems to be lots of lingering on head shots and blood spurting out in slow motion. Monty Python’s Sam Peckinpah would be proud.
cinematic roots of: ‘Jackass 3D’
In Jackass 3D, morons with death wishes led by Johnny Knoxville engage in highly dangerous stunts for your amusement. This flick sprang from (among other films)…
cinematic roots of: ‘Paranormal Activity 2’
In Paranormal Activity 2, more regular folks in an ordinary suburban house are haunted by supernatural visitors while some cheap camcorders spy on it all for your entertainment. This flick sprang from (among other films)…
