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miso5000
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Doctor Who: The Pilot (2017)
Worst new-era episode.
To start with, there is nothing endearing or redeeming about the new companion Bill, played by Pearl Mackie. She says nothing witty, and exudes little emotion aside from perkiness. Her main character trait is mindless yapping with a god-awful muddy accent, backed up by a gaping stare. And her hairstyle isn't even funky ugly, it's just ugly. And the way her sexuality kept being brought up felt very tacked on, not adding anything to the plot whatsoever.
Then we have an appearance by the single most overused setting on the show, a school. The Doctor's reason for being there is just a MacGuffin, and when the villain does appear, its menacing buildup has no payoff. Its motivation and what makes it threatening (aside from screaming) are both poorly explained, and its omnipotent powers are never taken seriously.
The Daleks are wasted, The Doctor talks like the people watching the show have absolutely no idea what it's about, and there's no pacing - people talk, stuff happens, the end.
This episode is dumb, lazily written, and utterly pointless. If Bill doesn't gain some composure and start being helpful, and if actually exciting plots that require actual thinking don't show up soon, I may not finish watching the season. And I've seen nearly all of the show since 2005.
Booky & the Secret Santa (2007)
Glad this was repeated on Christmas Day, 2008!
What a sweet period piece this is. Perfect for Christmas and thoroughly feel-good all around, even though it is chockablock with impossible events. It is almost a fairy tale, but that doesn't matter, it's the feeling we get from it that counts. I hope that people everywhere could see this, not just Canadians, but certainly this film would be of particular interest to people in Toronto.
The character Booky is the sweetest child imaginable, what great casting. Set design seems authentic, for as much as I know about the 1930s. This movie is at least as much about the late, lamented T. Eaton Co. as it is about a girl trying to save her family from poverty, unemployment, and the prospect of no Christmas! I think that Canadians may have a few poignant memories of Eaton's thanks to this movie.