Doctor Who: “The Tsuranga Conundrum”

I’m at a loss to understand why Chibnall felt this story was worth telling. The setting, while featuring lovely set design of almost Tron-level sterility, was just a ship; the individual stories (a decorated pilot with a career-limiting ailment, a pregnant man from a race…

Doctor Who, “Arachnids in the UK”

I’ve been a Doctor Who fan since I was 8, but I’ve been a spiders-and-snakes fan since I can remember. Ranger Rick taught me that these scary-looking animals were, if not harmless, certainly less likely to harm than their reputation would suggest. I was fascinated,…

Doctor Who, “Rosa”

Last week I implied that this would be Doctor Who doing Quantum Leap, and that is exactly what it’s done. What I didn’t add was that Quantum Leap was a really excellent show. I remember a few episodes vividly, not the specifics so much as…

Doctor Who: “The Ghost Monument”

Since I’m no longer writing these for publication to a general audience, the torch having been passed to a new runner, we can let our hair down a little and just talk. I’ve been listening to the Trial of a Time Lord Podcast a lot…

Doctor Who: “The Woman Who Fell to Earth”

It’s the beginning, and the moment has been prepared for. We’ve seen so much of Jodie Whittaker over the past six months especially, not just in trailers but promoting the show at conventions and on the talk show circuit, that to see her finally appear…

The Twelve Doctors

Commentary on the twelve Doctors we’ve seen so far — now with less pointless ranking!

Doctor Who: “Twice Upon a Time”

I did, in fact, watch this twice. The second time I was sitting in the theater with my girlfriend, a non-fan / casual fan at the most. She laughed at the jokes and we both cried at the end, during the Christmas armistice scene and…

Doctor Who seasons, ranked

“If you’re thinking of using this as a guide of some kind, which would of course be the highest praise, keep in mind that my tastes, though not especially idiosyncratic (I love the 70s), are mine and you might not share them.”

Blade Runner 2049

The one thing a Blade Runner sequel absolutely had to be was visually beautiful: architecture, wardrobe, cinematography, atmosphere. That mission is handily accomplished by 2049. It’s a gorgeous film. Despite the odds of living in squalor or in a dangerously polluted or radioactive part of…

Dreams, fantasies, and middle fingers

I am home. I’m REALLY glad to be home. I watched four movies on my four flights. One was Don’t Think Twice (not to be confused with Don’t Look Now). It’s the movie where Keegan-Michael Key and Gillian Jacobs are in an improv troupe in…