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Docteur Qui

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Everything posted by Docteur Qui

  1. Oh wow, I hoped for Gareth Edwards to helm this but I didn't actually expect it to be the case. Great news - I feel like his Godzilla was an attempt at making Jurassic Park, but it was probably not the best fit (people just want to see the kaiju in kaiju films, Spilebergian suspense was maybe a bad call), though I still really liked it a lot. The more exciting prospect is that Desplat might get a shot at this - assuming there was no fallout from his Rogue One exit. I suspect that really was a scheduling issue caused by executive meddling, considering the film was essentially taken out of Edwards' hands towards the end of production. If not Desplat then Britell please. Just no Giacchino; I can't stomach any more of his saccharine attempts or clumsy handling of Williams' themes.
  2. Silly me, I completely missed this thread when it was announced - I only found out about it upon listening to the latest episode of the Legacy of John Williams podcast which features Tim. I'm stoked that this is happening, congrats to all involved. I can't wait to read it.
  3. You got it! That opening arpeggio has been living rent free in my head for the past few months.
  4. I feel the same way about virtually all of the Wizarding World as portrayed in the films post PoA. Instead of absurdist, magical, interesting architecture we just get... retro real-world buildings. The Ministry of Magic is deliberately modelled after the London and Moscow undergrounds and it shows - on one hand I see how suggesting a time and place can be effective visual storytelling, but it also contradicts the social structure of the magical society as it's portrayed in the books. The buildings are supposed to be weird - most witches and wizards look down on Muggles (whether that's affectionately or sinisterly) so it doesn't make much sense that their aesthetic is virtually the same. It's the same with the clothing/robes - they're supposed to be flamboyant but in the films they're either nonexistent or just lightly tailored suits/variations on Muggle fashion. Don't get me started on the portrayal of actual magic/spells. As @Holko pointed out everything's strangely mechanical and logical when it should be bizarre and absurd. We never see any interesting spells or charms, especially from GoF onwards - it's all just generic jets of light, shields and explosions. Yates is squarely responsible IMO, for going with the "realistic, grounded and gritty" aesthetic that dominates the franchise. I hope the show goes to someone with vision and flair, someone weird - imagine Terry Gilliam (who Rowling originally wanted to direct) producing this show, it would be amazing!
  5. They should stick to the description of Hogwarts in the book I reckon - aesthetically the film castle is beautiful but I always imagined the real Hogwarts as a little more ramshackle. Not quite the Weasley's house, but still not as graceful as the film; kind of like a fortress with towers coming out of it in not-quite-right ways. It should look as if it was made with magic and not from human engineering. The book version of the castle is much smaller as well, as there's only around 850 students; realistically the film version would feel perpetually empty with that number of students spread over its enormous grounds. The biggest challenge is giving the castle an iconic silhouette, which is something the film version did perfectly.
  6. Yes, he's one of the first who came to mind when I wrote that. His 2014 Godzilla gets a bit of flak but I think it's pretty good. It takes itself a little too seriously but Edwards is very good with scale (as he was in Monsters). He'd be a good choice for a Jurassic Park film IMO. I imagine he would've been asked for Jurassic World had Godzilla not happened first.
  7. I doubt that. I imagine Abrams is planning a rebrand after the fiasco that was TROS. That seemed like the end point of his Spielberg/Lucas homage era.
  8. Agreed on all points. What the franchise really needs is a director who understands suspense and scale. Trevorrow was not good at either of those things. And please, please we need to lose the meta jokes in the scripts. It was a cute trend when it became popular in the 2010’s but it’s been done to death. Let the story be earnest and speak for itself, meta writing just undermines things and takes me out of the experience.
  9. If there's one thing Machine Games is good at it's making killing Nazis a lot of fun. From the glimpses of combat they seem to have captured the very stylised violence of Spielberg's films; those punches have real heft to them. Remains to be seen how the game will go though. It's obvious they wanted to steer clear of Uncharted territory, specifically the climbing mechanics of that series. It makes sense, seeing as those games were direct homages to Indy and pretty much wrote the book on how you'd make a modern Indy game, but I'm not entirely convinced a FPS approach will work for Indy. For one, FPS games are not known for their intricate puzzle design, and I'd be extremely disappointed if that aspect of the game is lacking. But who knows, perhaps that's why there's 4(!) studios attached to the game - one of them are bound to make a good puzzle or two. Here's an extended look at the game, and it's chock-full of what I assume is the new score. It's Gordy Haab doing what he does best; classic 80's Williams. I look forward to hearing it in full:
  10. Oh wow, the “Duel” performance is really something special. I adore the idea of turning it into an actual duel between violin and cello. The way the performers interact with one another and with Williams… it really highlights the reimagining of these pieces as something to watch being performed as opposed to merely listening. It distills the purpose of what he’s achieved with these late collaborations with Mutter. It’s a true privilege to be able to experience Williams’ music in this context; elevated. It’s as though all those decades of “serious” critics and institutions deriding JW’s music (and film music in general) as a lesser form of art have completely washed away. That they can all see him now, and the ways in which his music has transcended the films they were written for… Not that those views have ever really mattered much to those of us who’ve always loved his music, but there’s a certain satisfaction in knowing that he is now universally considered to be an artist of the highest calibre and integrity by those same institutions. It’s sublime.
  11. Good to know, thanks! Out of curiosity, where do you see the estimated time of delivery? I can't see it anywhere on LLL or the USPS tracking page.
  12. Has anyone from Australia received theirs yet? I ordered within hours of it being available from the LLL website; it’s been shipped and the USPS tracking site says it arrived at an origin transfer airport on December 9th but hasn’t moved since, still “in transit”. I’m getting a little antsy as last year when I ordered TND it never arrived at all, I checked the status in early Jan and it said “delivered” but never got it. I was eventually sent a replacement but that took another month.
  13. The Christmas specials have always aired on Boxing Day in Australia. I'm fine with it, it was a big part of my family tradition to sit down and watch on Boxing Day night and I'm thrilled that it's finally returning. As for the storm in a teacup that is Davros... Others have articulated my thoughts already; RTD made a decision that was entirely appropriate given the context of the short. In case people haven't noticed he has a strong working relationship with Ruth Madely (who is appearing in these specials); he's already putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to platforming differently abled actors. Not too long ago mainstream films, television, and books frequently coded villains as gay or sexually "deviant" in some way, and that would likely still be the case if it wasn't for storytellers like RTD being vocal about it and -crucially - actually doing something about it by presenting queer stories and platforming queer actors. It's not virtue signalling if there's tangible action to go along with the awareness. I'm old enough to remember how much people complained about the queerness in RTD's first run, this is pretty much the same "controversy".
  14. Patents aren't ever a guarantee of what to expect, but I do love the idea of a detachable dual screen. The back catalogue of DS and 3DS games is far too good for them not to allow us to play them on the next system!
  15. That's a good example of how words will always have more of an effect than even the most well-executed and directed forms of visual storytelling. The way that River's words make us feel about a version of the Doctor that we haven't seen is visceral and exciting. And I suppose, in a way, is very much the whole point of that episode, and much of Moffat's tenure. It's not so much what we see of Doctor that makes him so wonderful to his allies or so terrible to his enemies, but rather the way that stories about him are told in the universe of the show. The Pandorica alliance, the Church of the Silence, the Daleks in the Time War... they're all largely motivated by and act on the stories of the Doctor's victories that are passed down to them, or delivered by a sole witness to the events. Similarly, the version of the Doctor that River talks about doesn't actually exist; it's just how she sees him, and although we see many of the things she describes about him come to pass (like entire armies running away) nothing will ever compare to the reverent way with which she tells that story. Anyway, I mainly wanted to talk about how wonderfully poetic this show used to be, and will be again soon. Words and phrases like "I saw you fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child", or "the Could've Been King and his army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres"; they stimulate the imagination so brilliantly and paint the picture of a universe so vivid and interesting that no amount of money (Disney-levels or otherwise) could effectively depict. It's why in this age of dreary, flat and unimaginative CGI Marvel/DC/StarWars slop-fests that I think the old saying "show don't tell" should actually be "tell well rather than show poorly"
  16. Nah Gen Z is the most pop-culture literate generation yet. Most of them would have some awareness of Doctor Who, and almost certainly David Tennant, even if they haven't actually watched it. It worked the same for us millennials - we were all well aware of the show (and particularly Tom Baker) even though it was off the air for the first half of our lives. But Gen Z were also raised in a Marvel world; being pop culture-savvy in this generation means familiarising yourself with a back-catalogue of stories and mythos over half a century old. They'll catch on straight away, and probably quicker than any of us did.
  17. There definitely is a Christmas special this year, and it'll be Ncuti's first episode.
  18. No-one else has any thoughts about the new themes for Ruby and Fifteen? I'm dying to talk about them both, they're wonderful! https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001r92n 1:32:28 is "The Life of Sunday", Ruby's theme. Romantic, lush and gorgeous, heavy on the piano and very Chopin-esque, which makes me wonder if Ruby has a background in or connection to classical music. Or perhaps it's just a beautiful nocturne that Gold thought fit her character. 1:41:14 is "Fifteen". I'm in love with this theme. I've been playing it on repeat for the past week. It's bonkers, over-the-top, heroic, a little bit silly, a little bit rockstar, and a lot of fun. Also the motif that dominates the second half is extremely memorable, and will give "I Am the Doctor" a run for its money in terms of recognisability - and actually it's rhythmically very similar to that theme but the melodic contour is reversed. Also worth listening to Gold and RTD speak in the above link - very insightful and witty, though they're very coy about what to expect from the new episodes. Love RTD's line after the huge bombast of "Fifteen" - "as you can hear... we're coming back subtler than ever".
  19. I hate when that happens. From what I could hear in the recording of the new concert there was zero audience noise throughout any of the performances (except for applause after each piece finished of course). I wonder if that means they didn't do the usual rolling out of monsters on stage, or didn't show any footage while the music played. If so that's great - the orchestra is the main event after all!
  20. Is there any word on when the 60th concert will be available to watch? I can't find anything other than just it'll be "at a later date", but I'd love to watch the orchestra in action. Gosh this has ramped up my anticipation. I haven't felt this excited about new Who since the lead-up to Moffat/Smith's first season.
  21. I listened through the whole concert, it was wonderful. I love the new material - Fifteen’s theme is something special IMO. Very influenced by “I Am The Doctor” - relentlessly pulsing, energetic and fun - but with a dangerous edge to it. It’s fresh and it’s very very interesting, shades of a mad marching band about it. Can’t wait to hear it in action.
  22. I was not at all interested in Wonka, but when I saw the writer/director of Paddington made it, plus that stacked cast with Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant.... it might be a hungover-afternoon stream for me at least. Still not sold on Chalamet, I like his work but this seems ill-fitting... It's hard to fill Gene Wilder's shoes. I'm also intrigued to hear the new songs, and just how much of the '71 film's score they'll mine.
  23. You make some great points, like the fact they're reaching a more reflective age, but I will disagree that the real figures are too unknowable for dramatic storytelling. The whole show is as much speculative fiction as it is historical, and they've invented so many character traits and plots that I don't think it's a stretch to expect some interesting drama from Liz and Phil. Colman as Liz got some tremendous scenes: from her rapport with Thatcher to her arguments with the young and hot-headed Charles; as did Foy and Smith. All of those encounters likely happened very differently in reality (or not at all) but the show presented them very compellingly. Those kinds of scenes now seem to sit solely with Charles and Diana, and the show is weaker for it.
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