ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

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Is that an off hand put down of Hot Fuzz? Fighting words.

No, I really enjoyed Hot Fuzz, but The Guard is better (or at least better in a different way). I think you probably have to have seen The Guard to know what I'm talking about.

Edited by ThunderPeel2001

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Geoffrey! Get me my fighting trousers!

I'm going to a private party tomorrow where Professor Elemental is booked to play. Awesome! (A friend of mine directs his youtube videos)

I need to go work on my steampunk costume.

Edited by DanJW

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Apparently that Mr B fellow he's quarrelling with went to the same school as me.

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I watched the latest Torchwood... and was oddly touched. It was a gay love story, and it was very slow, but it really got under my skin and kind of broke my heart. Jane Espenson rocks.

Wait, Jane Espenson writes for Torchwood? As in from Buffy and Battlestar Galactica etc? Blimey!

Does this mean my dream of a Dr Who episode penned by Joss Whedon can be downgraded from totally ridiculous to merely highly unlikely?

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Wait, Jane Espenson writes for Torchwood? As in from Buffy and Battlestar Galactica etc? Blimey!

Does this mean my dream of a Dr Who episode penned by Joss Whedon can be downgraded from totally ridiculous to merely highly unlikely?

I don't think Joss Whedon would be a very good Doctor Who writer - not for this era, anyway.

A while back I sat down with some very nostalgic friends and watched a few episodes of Buffy, and...well, with all my comparisons to Doctor Who, Buffy came out inferior. I could get into it and compare "Hush" with "Blink" to try and illustrate what I mean, but I'd rather not unless you said "Go ahead".

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I don't think Joss Whedon would be a very good Doctor Who writer - not for this era, anyway.

A while back I sat down with some very nostalgic friends and watched a few episodes of Buffy, and...well, with all my comparisons to Doctor Who, Buffy came out inferior. I could get into it and compare "Hush" with "Blink" to try and illustrate what I mean, but I'd rather not unless you said "Go ahead".

Buffy Season 1 is not good, and Season 2 takes a while to get really into gear, but there's no comparison when Buffy gets going, IMO. I haven't seen "Blink", I don't think, so it may well be better than "Hush", but I've seen enough Dr Who episodes to know that an average one is not as good as an average Buffy episode. You can see the potential in what they attempt, definitely, but they tend to miss the mark. Although I think this is partially down to money.

For example, Espenson's Torchwood script was very good (if a little long in places), but the direction really let the whole thing down. You could hear great lines being delivered by the actors, but they didn't hit as well as they should have. The pacing and delivery just felt a little off. In the hands of a better director with more time and money, it probably would have been stunning.

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I will fight you for everything you have just said, TP.

I'm sort of a Whedon half-fan. I adore Firefly, I really like Angel, I despise Buffy (I'm not sure how that happened, but that's how the chips have fallen) and I try very hard to forget Dollhouse exists.

Still prefer Doctor Who.

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Buffy Season 1 is not good, and Season 2 takes a while to get really into gear, but there's no comparison when Buffy gets going, IMO. I haven't seen "Blink", I don't think, so it may well be better than "Hush", but I've seen enough Dr Who episodes to know that an average one is not as good as an average Buffy episode. You can see the potential in what they attempt, definitely, but they tend to miss the mark. Although I think this is partially down to money.

I'd suggest seeing most of Steven Moffat's episodes (his last two excepted), as well as "Dalek" (series one, episode six). Also, the ration of good-to-average Who has significantly improved in the last two years (The Eleventh Doctor's years).

My problem with "Hush" is that it's so shallow. The Gentlemen steal voices, trap them in a convenient box, and use that as their hunting trick. It's a one-way street you can't explore at all.

"Blink" dispenses information to keep you on your seat. You have to figure out what's going on until The Doctor arrives midway to deliver some much-needed exposition, before it hurls you back in the deep end. It finally lets you drown in that "Oh shit" moment before, well - you'll have to see it.

It's quite something, that one. I think it's only topped by three episodes this past series - the "Astronaut" two-parter and the Neil Gaiman episode.

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I don't think Joss Whedon would be a very good Doctor Who writer - not for this era, anyway.

It's interesting that you say that. My feeling is that since Moffat took over he's taken a lot of inspiration from Buffy in the kind of show he's aiming for.

I haven't actually watched Buffy in a number of years (Since I was at school I think :blink:) but I know I loved it at the time. I'll have to give it a whirl again and compare it to how I remember it.

I haven't seen "Blink"

If you have so much as a passing interest in Dr Who you must watch this episode - I rewatched it only a couple of days ago and it is sooo good :tup::tup::tup:

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Okay, I'll watch Dr. Who. Can someone please make a guide similar to TP's excellent BSG guide, or maybe there is one already?

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Once every few years I am caught by the acute need to see The Life Aquatic and it never fails to enthrall. Holy shit this movie is so much fun. It's the perfect package with the great cast, Bowie and Devo soundtrack, wonderful details and touches and Henry Sellick animation. I always tear up during the submarine scene at the end.

,,Son of a bitch, I'm sick of these dolphins."

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Okay, I'll watch Dr. Who. Can someone please make a guide similar to TP's excellent BSG guide, or maybe there is one already?

You could always start with series one of the new series, which started in 2005 - but that has a lot of really shitty episodes. Here's a list of "recommended" episodes from the reboot that I made last February for a friend, which are of various degrees of good (I've updated the last to keep it up to date to the last episode I've seen):

Doctor Who: must-watch episodes

===============================

Anything with // means it's a merely OK episode.

Rose // <-- actually pretty bad, but introduces Doctor Who well

The End of the World //

The Unquiet Dead

Dalek

Father's Day //

The Empty Child

The Doctor Dances

Bad Wolf //

The Parting of the Ways //

New Earth //

The Girl in the Fireplace

The Impossible Planet

The Satan Pit

Army of Ghosts //

Doomsday //

Gridlock

The Lazarus Experiment //

Human Nature

The Family of Blood

Blink

Midnight

Silence in the Library

Forest of the Dead

Turn Left //

The Waters of Mars

The End of Time (quite awful, but worth seeing just for the Tenth regeneration)

The Eleventh Hour

The Beast Below

Victory of the Daleks (pretty awful, but still worth seeing)

The Time of Angels

Flesh and Stone

Vampires of Venice //

Amy's Choice

The Hungry Earth //

Cold Blood // (last two also awful, but important to series story arc)

Vincent and the Doctor

The Lodger

The Pandorica Opens

The Big Bang

A Christmas Carol

The Impossible Astronaut

Day of the Moon

The Doctor's Wife

The Rebel Flesh

The Almost People

A Good Man Goes to War //

Let's Kill Hitler //

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Don't I have to watch to watch everything? Isn't there a whole big arc? Can I just start watching from the "Ninth Doctor"?

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Don't I have to watch to watch everything? Isn't there a whole big arc? Can I just start watching from the "Ninth Doctor"?

There's a lot of stand-alone episodes, from what I've seen.

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Don't I have to watch to watch everything? Isn't there a whole big arc? Can I just start watching from the "Ninth Doctor"?

Sure you can. And as much as I adore the show, I'll admit there are many places where it falls flat, but because of my insanity, I ignore them. It's really the reason I watch movies at this point; to watch them. Quality typically doesn't matter, because I watch for actors more than anything.

That list is pretty good though, as a starting point.

And Thunder, see Blink anyway.

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Cowboys and Aliens is the worst film I've seen in ages. Someone in front of me started using their phone, and instead of being annoyed, like I would normally, I found myself watching their screen instead if the film. I couldn't have cared less about what was happening on screen.

Pretty though, with some good performances. Well directed, too.

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Don't I have to watch to watch everything? Isn't there a whole big arc? Can I just start watching from the "Ninth Doctor"?

There is an arc for each series, but they're all really shit. You're much better off watching the best standalone episodes.

My list would be as follows:

Series 1:

The Empty Child

The Doctor Dances

Series 2:

The Girl in the Fireplace

Series 3:

Human Nature

The Family of Blood

Blink

Series 4:

Midnight

Silence in the Library

Forest of the Dead

Series 5:

Amy's Choice

Series 6:

Day of the Moon

The Impossible Astronaut

The Doctor's Wife

The Rebel Flesh

The Almost People

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