A return to normal programming...

Quinn and I decided to cut our Holiday Hoopla a little shorter than was originally advertised. Stopping at Christmas Day seems most logical, and 31 movies in a month was always a bit of a tall order for me. Pretty soon I'll have some more Doctor Who and Disney reviews up. See you then!

[Holiday Hoopla 25] Arthur Christmas (2011)

 

Arthur Christmas (dir. Sarah Smith) is one of the Sony Animation films from before Spider-Verse, so kind of a blank void for me until tonight. The actual team behind reins is Aardman, well known for their Wallace and Gromit series.

Stylistically, the movie doesn't look quite like their claymation shorts that I was accustomed to, but it does have its own visual identity which generally looks pretty nice. The soundtrack is also pretty good for what it is, and so is the voice cast.

Although I wouldn't call it a classic, it's still a very cute movie with a nice message about Christmas spirit, and the ending put a big smile on my face. It was a nice thing for us to end out our Christmas Day on. All in all, things were quite merry.

7/10

And incidentally, a very merry Christmas to all you at home!

[Holiday Hoopla 24] Elf Bowling the Movie: The Great North Pole Elf Strike (2007)

 

This one was probably a mistake. For most movies, a 1 hour 20 minute running time would be fairly manageable, but in the case of Elf Bowling the Movie it proved an obstacle too great to surmount. Quinn and I ended up skipping the middle third of the movie (and apparently missed its pro-slavery villain song in the process).

Everything about this movie is bafflingly misjudged, from the pirate origin for the main character, to its villain, to just about every side character. The music sucks, the animation is pretty risible at best, and the story moves like sludge.

To say nothing about the racist caricature elf. I'm not even going to get deep into that.

This movie crosses well past the boundary of "so bad it's good" to simply being "so bad it's bad". Humbug.

0/10

[Holiday Hoopla 23] The Family Stone (2005)

 

And here's The Family Stone. Directed by Thomas Bezucha, this movie has a romantic story line that wasn't totally my favorite, but the family aspects of the drama were, in my opinion, outstanding. It does a great job of portraying the chaos and drama inherent in a family holiday, and all of the actors are pretty great.

Sybil's part of the story is a real tearjerker, especially the scene with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", which just so happens to be my favorite holiday song. I recently lost my grandfather whose birthday was December 25th, so this hit a little close to home, but perhaps in a cathartic way.

Overall, a pretty great movie.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 22] Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus (2004)

 

Continuing the trend of making me question my past self's sanity when she was assembling this list, here's Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus, directed by Harvey Frost.

Hallmark holiday movies are a pretty infamous subgenre at this point, but I was completely uninitiated in them until tonight. I can't say that my life has been enriched by the experience, but at least it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.

The worst I can say about this movie is that it's fairly bland and that I was bored a bit before the hour mark passed. The lead actors are pretty good but the story is about as threadbare as you'd expect from the title. Since this movie is 19 years old, I now have a sick curiosity to compare it with a more recent Hallmark Christmas movie and see if they've gotten better or worse. Good lord...

4/10

[Holiday Hoopla 21] Love Actually (2003)

 

I really had no idea what to expect of this movie, since I'd only ever heard its title and never anything substantial about its actual content. Overall I enjoyed Love Actually (dir. Richard Curtis), although I was left rather confused by the overabundance of characters which made it a little difficult to follow at times. There are also, needless to say, plenty of jokes that have aged poorly in the last 20 years. The fatphobic jokes in particular come up far too often for my liking.

That said, some of these love stories are quite touching, even if others don't quite land. Our favorite actor here was Emma Thompson, whose scene listening to the Joni Mitchell CD was the most emotional of the movie.

For enjoyers of romcoms. But others might enjoy it anyway.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 20] Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

Rather by accident, this ended up being the only Hanukkah-related movie on the list for this year. It was a crowded selection process. If I do this again someday I'll hopefully rectify that - and hopefully they'll all be better than this crap.

Eight Crazy Nights (dir. Seth Kearsley) is unforgivably bad. What few redeeming moments it has are constantly and immediately undercut by poorly timed, tasteless jokes. It's a pretty bad sign when a movie that's marketed as a "comedy" fails to make me laugh even once in its entire too-long runtime.

It's a shame that such a talented animation team was wasted on an irredeemable dumpster fire like this. Avoid at all costs.

1/10

[Holiday Hoopla 19] The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (2000)

 

Continuing our tradition of repeats, we return again to L. Frank Baum's forest of Burzee and its strange inhabitants. The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (dir. Glen Hill) differs from the Rankin-Bass version in a number of ways. As it's a fair bit longer, it gets to spend a little more time developing St. Nick's journey into becoming a toymaker. In other ways, it borrows heavily from the imagery of the earlier film.

Although the animation is rather cheap and sometimes a little difficult to look at for prolonged periods, the background paintings are very pretty, and the music is also nice. I enjoy the pagan undertones of this story, which mark a bit of a departure from most Christmas stories.

Not bad at all. I definitely recommend it for someone looking for something a little different for their yearly Christmas films.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 18] How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

 

Watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (dir. Ron Howard) was a bit of an odd experience, since I half-remembered the movie from seeing it in theaters back in 2000, when I was just a little Who myself. I remembered Jim Carrey's strange antics most of all, but also the terrifying baby Grinch puppet.

As far as adaptations of classic Christmas stories go, this is not a bad one at all. It can be a bit headache inducing in parts, especially in the overuse of Dutch angles seen throughout, but once I got used to them I was able to appreciate the set and costume design more. This movie is overflowing with imagination and wonder, and it hits the right emotional beats without feeling like a retread of the original.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 17] Olive the Other Reindeer (1999)

 

As we make our way toward the 21st century, we finally start seeing movies and TV specials I remember from when I was a kid. Olive the Other Reindeer (directed by Steve Moore and produced by Matt Groening) was one I experienced first as a book in elementary school, and then finally as a TV special a little later on.

This seems to have Groening's fingerprints all over it, from the sense of humor to the cadre of familiar voices featured. It's a silly, funny, and delightful experience overall, and Olive the titular dog-slash-reindeer is just adorable.

45 minutes of cute cartoon is just about what Quinn and I needed after the twin Jacks Frost the last two days, since both of those movies were far longer than they had any right to be, and less funny than they thought they were.

8/10

[Holiday Hoopla 16] Jack Frost (1998)

 

And now, here's Jack Frost. No, not that one. The other one.

This is the one directed by Troy Miller and released a year after the other one. Truly an impossible mistake to make. Honestly, with as creepy as the snowman's face in this movie looks, it's hard for the uninitiated to tell at a glance.

 Jack Frost is a pretty boring movie, stretched out too thin over a 1 hour 40 minute runtime and with numerous odd pacing decisions that continually bring us down from whatever fun or comedic moments there might be. Those are fewer than the movie would like anyway, as the writing isn't as clever or funny as it clearly thinks it is.

 We were somewhat impressed by the snowman puppet, but not by the writing or any of the characters in particular. I have a feeling I will have mostly forgotten this movie by the time the year is out, except for the one nice moment it has, the final goodbye.

 4/10

[Holiday Hoopla 15] Jack Frost (1997)

 

And now, here's Jack Frost. No, not that one. The other one.

This is the 1997 slasher/comedy film directed by Michael Cooney. I'm having a hard time deciding if what we've just watched is actually intended as a pastiche of the slasher genre or not. It seems just a little too silly and self-aware for that not to be the case.

That doesn't mean that I'll give it a pass, however. It veers outside of the realm of good taste too many times for that (if indeed it ever intended to stay inside those bounds at all). Not really my thing, but some laughs of disbelief were had.

1/10

[Holiday Hoopla 14] Home Alone 3 (1997)

 

It might be customary for things to come in threes, but in this case I would have made an exception. Home Alone 3 (dir. Raja Gosnell) is the first in the series not to be directed by Chris Columbus or scored by John Williams, and their absence is sorely felt. None of the magic of the first two is really here. It's also debatable whether it's actually a holiday movie, since it's set well into January, but I didn't know that going in.

This movie does apparently have its fans, and there are admittedly a few parts I thought were fun, such as the RC car jousting with the mini-van and some parts of the obligatory booby trap sequences. It just all feels more repetitive and poorly paced than the original, and trying to hit all the same beats as the first two movies just makes it more tiresome.

4/10

[Holiday Hoopla 13] The Santa Clause (1994)

 

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one, so I'll keep it short out of necessity. The Santa Clause (dir. John Pasquin) kind of rides on Tim Allen's celebrity power, but as someone who thinks he's just alright a lot of that doesn't quite land with me. Still, there were some funny and charming moments here. By far the best part of the movie is the creativity of the North Pole workshop and all the Santa tech.

Decent. Watch with family.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 12] The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)

 

And so the unlikeliest trilogy of them all is concluded. The Muppet Christmas Carol (dir. Brian Henson) is the final adaptation of the Dickens story on the list... for this year, at least.

Although it's hard to hold a candle to Scrooge, I still found this version thoroughly enjoyable and had a big smile on my face the whole time. I always enjoy seeing the Muppets in action, since the usual Jim Henson practical effects magic is all over the place here. I was interested to note, though, that this movie seems to be the first on the marathon to have any CGI present.

The lighting and shooting are very nice, the environments have an interesting cartoonish slant to them, and the music is, while inferior to Scrooge's, pretty good. Michael Caine is also a wonderful Ebenezer Scrooge, and it's a credit to him that he treats the part with such seriousness despite acting with silly puppets the whole time.

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone, young or old. God bless us, every one!

8/10

[Holiday Hoopla 11] Home Alone 2 (1992)

 

A movie that surely needs no introduction, Home Alone 2 (dir. Chris Columbus) is the first of several 90s Christmas films... hey wait, haven't we been here before?

Produced about a year after the original, this sequel inherits a lot more than just its cast and production crew from the first, repeating many parts of the first movie's story beat for beat. It just about earns them, as they're played as wink-at-the-camera callbacks to the last movie; it isn't really pretending to do anything original.

The thing about imitating perfection is that you still land on "pretty good". Columbus and John Williams are geniuses at what they do, and the cast remains perfect, this time with the edition of Tim Curry, who is always a delight.

Nothing to complain about here. Gee, I sure hope some other sequels don't drive this IP into the ground one day...

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 10] The Christmas Tree (1991)

 

The Christmas Tree (dir. Flamarion Ferreira) is possibly the most baffling movie I've ever seen, but all of its peculiarities can probably be explained by how desperately cheap the production was. It's obvious that the company who made it barely had a few dollars to rub together, so I can afford to be a little forgiving, in the holiday spirit...

All that being said, please treat yourself to this sometime if you want to have a good laugh. The crap animation, constantly misjudged voices, and bizarre story are enough to make sure I won't be forgetting this anytime soon...

2/10

[Holiday Hoopla 9] Home Alone (1990)

 

A movie that surely needs no introduction, Home Alone (dir. Chris Columbus) is the first of several 90s Christmas films on our list, some of which are even classics...

This is one of those, for the record. It's one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time; it's a family movie, so the humor is all the wholesome sort, which has a considerably longer expiration date than the sort of edgier humor we saw in Christmas Vacation last night.

Compliments are owed to Macaulay Culkin, who must be up there with some of the best, most natural child actors in recent memory, but both of the Wet Bandits are great, too and we liked Catherine O'Hara as Kevin's mom. I'll look forward to rewatching the sequel in a few days.

9/10

[Holiday Hoopla 8] National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)

 

Would you believe I've never seen this? I'm actually more familiar with Chevy Chase from The Three Amigos than from any of the Vacation movies. This is evidently one of my dad's favorites - and probably not coincidentally, one of Quinn's dad's favorites, too. Christmas Vacation is a dad movie from front to back, and the jokes reflect that. I've heard more than once that people of a certain age consider this the funniest movie of all time. It is actually pretty funny, but I suspect that newer generations' absurdist humor have long since outgrown this type of amusement.

It feels like this movie takes a little while to ramp up to full intensity, and I found the first two acts pretty hit or miss in general. The third act, though — that's properly hilarious. And that's where the heart of the movie is, too, and it lets up on the holiday pessimism to tell us what it's really all about.

We had fun watching it in spite of any nitpicks, though. Shout out to Beverly D'Angelo, whom I'm tentatively naming the best actor in this movie. Her expressions are phenomenal.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 7] The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (1985)

 

It's late and I'm tired, so here are my quick thoughts on The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus (directed unsurprisingly, again, by Rankin and Bass). I was more familiar with the 2000 animated version of this film (which you might see here in a few days) and didn't really know what to expect. The "animagic" style of stop-motion animation suits the whimsical fairy tale nature of this story, but at a short 45 minutes it feels like it hurries to reach its conclusion.

Worth a watch at least once, especially to take in the weirdness of the story when compared with every other Santa story out there, but not essential.

5/10

[Holiday Hoopla 6] Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983)

I spent almost the entire day working, or outside of the house, so coming home to this short but delightful TV special was a treat. It's technically not a movie, mea culpa, but nobody but God can judge me.

Coming just a couple of days after watching Scrooge, it is fun to compare and contrast with Mickey's Christmas Carol (dir. Burny Mattinson). This is really a cliff notes version of the A Christmas Carol story, but it hits the important parts just fine. The animation is rather nice for television, with some moody coloring and interesting environments that suit a Dickens story just right.

I could have sworn I watched this once as a kid, but since the cartoon I was thinking of had Max Goof in it this is definitely not the right one. But it was fun anyway.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 5] Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (1979)

 

I'm kind of in a hurry tonight, so this one will be even briefer than the others! This is fine, because there's not a whole lot of in-depth analysis one can make of (most) Rankin-Bass Christmas films. Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July (directed by uh... Rankin and Bass) is cute but a little baffling to the unaware. It goes back in time a bit to explain the true origin of Rudolph's powers, not a special inborn talent but the gift of a benevolent goddess at birth. Wizards and magic and guys turning into horrifying trees abound.

It also feels a bit longer than it has to be, but I was rarely bored. It's a little too insane to bore anybody. I'd perhaps recommend it as long as you're willing to truly immerse yourself in the Rudolph Cinematic Universe.

7/10

[Holiday Hoopla 4] Scrooge (1970)

 

I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a perfect Christmas movie, but Scrooge (dir. Ronald Neame) comes quite close. Unsurprisingly, it's an adaptation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, and not the last that we'll see this month either. But although Ebenezer Scrooge is almost as common as Santa Claus in these films, I have to say that I'll be shocked if anyone plays him as well as Albert Finney. He's a marvel in this, and I was stunned to see how young he actually was when he was out of the old man makeup in a different scene. I was honestly convinced that he was actually elderly until that point.

Transforming the story into a musical works surprisingly well; the songs are very catchy, and their reprises in the final minutes of the movie were especially delightful. Compliments are also owed to all the various visual design staff, as the visual style, sets, and costumes are quite appealing.

Scrooge uses its inherited Dickensian wit well, but also nearly brought a tear to my eye on a few occasions as Scrooge drifted through his past. There are even some surprisingly ghoulish parts, particularly the skeletal face of the Spirit of Christmases Yet to Come and the decaying masks of the spirits Marley shows to Scrooge.

It's hard to top this.

10/10

[Holiday Hoopla 3] Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

 

We take a brief detour into pure pulp territory with the hilarious Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, directed by Nicholas Webster as his one and only motion picture. This is another MST3K alumnus apparently; unfortunately I'm a philistine and have never watched it, but Quinn certainly has. They echoed more than a few of the movie's no doubt iconic quotes for me, which I tolerated in the spirit of the season.

Oh, I'm kidding. This was a lot of fun, even though any serious attempts to apply media critique will inevitably fail. It's just a silly kid's movie. The combination of the holiday and science fiction genres is definitely something a bit fun and different. Pop it on sometime and you probably won't be bored.

5/10

[Holiday Hoopla 2] Santa Claus (1959)

The second day of Holiday Hoopla finds us watching Santa Claus (1959, dir. René Cardona), better known by its unofficial sobriquet Santa Claus vs. the Devil. Contrary to my expectations, this was not in fact about a knock-out, drag-out, bare-knuckle brawl between St. Nick and Lucifer himself. In fact, the pseudo-titular Prince of Darkness barely features outside of a momentary vocal appearance, and the antagonist of the movie is a lesser devil named Pitch.

Quinn was giddy about me watching this one, since they had seen the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode featuring this movie and had at least some idea of the insanity that awaited.

The movie kind of plays out like a fever dream, lulling me into a drowsy torpor with ten minutes of awfully dubbed singing before throwing out bonkers concepts without warning. It continued to pull this trick all the way through its runtime; at an hour and a half in total, it feels about twice as long as it probably needs to be for the amount of content the story actually has.

But it's hard to say I was bored at the end of it. The zany, random moments Santa Claus that has, kept my eyes on the screen for most of the duration. The inventiveness of the set design and effects certainly helped, as they're pretty impressive for the time, especially given that this was one of the first effects-heavy movies to ever be produced in its country of origin, Mexico.

Apparently a lot of later Mexican sci-fi and fantasy films owe a bit of their DNA to this production, which seems like a worthy legacy to me. Even if the movie isn't, strictly speaking, "good", you will probably have fun watching it.

4/10

[Holiday Hoopla 1] The Bishop's Wife (1947)

 

Quinn and I are going in chronological order for this watchalong, so we start with the oldest of the thirty-one movies on my list, 1947's The Bishop's Wife, directed by Henry Koster. As a blind first watch for the both of us, it proved especially entertaining, as we had no idea going in exactly where the story was headed.

Although the story feels a bit light on incident at times and doesn't have a whole lot of twists and turns, the central message of not losing sight of what's truly important in life was a poignant one. As I've grown older and have become more busy with both work and various projects, I feel like I've often let life pass me by. It's a pretty important lesson for anyone to learn, holiday season or not.

7.5/10

Holiday Hoopla - 31 Days of Fun?!

I've been locked away in my dark tower scheming these last two autumn months, and I think I'm due for some winter wonder. Every day this December (2023, natch), I'm going to be watching and posting brief reviews for each, which probably won't be much longer than this introductory blurb.

After spending November writing more than 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, I certainly need something light to take a break. I wish you all a blessed holiday season, if you celebrate any holidays this month, and to everyone else a warm and restful December. :)

Snakedance [Doctor Who, Story 124]

Snakedance by Christopher Bailey
18 - 26 January 1983

It's perhaps a credit to Kinda that its antagonist, the Mara, was chosen to return just a year later in what was otherwise supposed to be an anniversary season. Bracketed on either side by Omega and the Brigadier, this distinctly Davison-era monster stands out. But this also means that Snakedance, the sequel we never knew we needed, has a chance to shine on its own merits as a story without pandering to nostalgia. (Not to say that the rest of this season is a bad offender in that regard, but it still bears saying.)

And shine it does! I'm struck by how utterly different this story feels from the others of its era so far (with the obvious exception, perhaps, of Kinda). For one thing, Snakedance seems to have a far different take on the regular characters than the preceding serials; here they seem just a little more vibrant, and with better dialogue to boot. There's none of the bickering that plagued the Season 19 TARDIS team, and more time and care seems to be given to the characters' feelings. Tegan in particular benefits the most from this, as Janet Fielding turns in a wonderful performance here. The Fifth Doctor also feels a little more in his element here, and Peter Davison makes the most of it.

The other major area of divergence is in the tone of the story, which is a somewhat more slow and deliberate affair. It isn't afraid to take its time smelling the roses, lingering on moments of pleasant contentedness, like the puppet show scene, which despite seeming like a non-sequitur at first quickly and cleverly shows itself to reflect the core themes of the serial. Even with this steady pace, the serial never gets mired down; the first episode in particular is absolutely packed, making use of all of its time to introduce us to Manussa and establish this story's high stakes, with Tegan's very soul at risk.

As with Kinda, Snakedance freely mixes Buddhist themes with those of other philosophies and religions. The "still point" that the Doctor needs to arrive at is an easy example of the former, as is the story's preoccupation with "delusion" (the "Six Faces" scene ending up a particular favorite of mine). As for the latter, while this story doesn't take place in a literal Eden as Kinda did, Tegan finding a garden within herself where she drops apples on the serpent's head certainly hearkens back to it. The corrupting presence of the Mara brings an end to innocence as the Edenic serpent did, both for Tegan and for the unsuspecting population of Manussa.

I read Kinda as a send-up of the "base under siege" story, and while Snakedance isn't making any such obvious inversions, the fact that in this story the monster must be defeated by not fighting it does feel like it turns the usual conventions on their head. That final confrontation is fascinating, with the Mara trying to tempt the Doctor into facing it head-on, while he attempts to achieve that still point instead. It all ends with the Mara destroyed forever (pending Big Finish appearances) and Tegan sobbing in the Doctor's arms. A wonderfully ambiguous ending, in my opinion.

This is a decidedly non-conventional serial, and all the more special to me for it. Four excellent episodes, and it's just a shame that they're Christopher Bailey's last writing credit on the series. Nevertheless, I am glad for what we got.

Mawdryn Undead is next.

Snow White and Pinocchio [Disney 100]

 

There was a definite feeling of both anticipation and anxiety when Quinn and I sat down to begin this marathon. Neither of us really knew what to expect from a project like this, long and involved as it will probably prove to be. In my specific case, I knew that these movies were even more popular and beloved than the stuff I've tackled on this blog so far, and that correspondingly the pressure I'd place on myself to write about them with care would be far greater. Would it even be worth doing it when they've all been talked to death already? When challenged to say something original, it's best to speak from the heart, something that I find appropriate to do when considering the importance Disney's animated movies have had in my life.

Despite that, Snow White (1937) and Pinocchio (1940) were a bit of a blank spot for me. Like many movies that will feature later on this marathon, I had at the very least seen Pinocchio as a kid, but never again since. In fact, where Snow White is concerned, I had a much clearer memory of the trailer for the original 2001 DVD release that played before the feature on the home release we had of Dinosaur (2000) than the actual movie itself. That trailer made it seem very dark and mysterious, its ominous music and its shots of the Evil Queen's disguise causing that crone face to feature in a few of my early nightmares.

Of course, the movie didn't live up to my dark and frightening childhood imaginings. Although the movie isn't afraid to play with the grotesque (such as in the aforementioned disguise of the Queen or the scene where Snow White flees through the forest), it is decidedly light in its tone elsewhere, as well as its content. It is clear to see that the art of animated storytelling was still in its infancy, as the story mostly passes from incident to incident until the plot decides to happen in the last ten minutes. It seems that they cared a little more about comic relief with the dwarves than about Snow White as a character. But still, I don't mean to make this sound like too much of an indictment. Although it's nothing special as a story, it is undeniably something special as a work of art. The sophistication of the animation techniques used is doubly impressive considering the age of the movie, and the colors and composition of each shot were a treat.

Pinocchio is in a similar boat in some ways, showing its age in a lot of areas (and not just the culturally insensitive parts), but the progression from Snow White is clear. On a beat-by-beat basis it holds together as a story much better than its predecessor. It all serves to impart a pretty didactic "do the things you're supposed to do and don't be selfish" lesson for kids, but at least it's something. The lush forest setting of Snow White is replaced by an intricately decorated world which, between Geppetto's workshop, the town it inhabits, and the carnival, seems like a pretty full and well-realized setting. The scene where Pinocchio and Geppetto escape from Monstro's maw is also head and shoulders above any animation that Snow White had to offer.

All that being said, I find that I do slightly prefer Snow White, simply for its daring. Although it wasn't the first animated film per se, it certainly laid the foundation for all others to follow. Disney gambled with Snow White and it paid off in a big way; for that achievement, I salute it.

At the end of the day, Quinn and I agreed that both of these movies are solid and worth watching at least once. However, we're both much more excited for the next movie on the playlist, which went somewhere else entirely.

Inauguration - Disney 100 Marathon

 

An anniversary with a big, fat zero at the end is the sort of occasion that just demands you do something special. My favored object of study, Doctor Who, is having one this year too, and I'll have plenty to say about it when it comes back this fall. In the meantime, I've partnered up with my partner, Quinn, and we're going to be trawling our way through the entire corpus of Disney theatrical animated films. There are about sixty of them, so this will probably take us well into 2024, but that's all by the by.

Disney's movies have always captivated me and formed a great part of my childhood landscape. But when reflecting on the company's legacy, and its modern trajectory in the animation business, I was embarrassed to recognize that there are many of its movies that I've never seen, and many more that I haven't watched since I was a kid more than twenty years ago.

Misery is better with company, so Quinn, themself a big Disney fan, consented to join in on this exercise, and I'll include a little of their input as I review each movie, starting with Snow White and ending with whatever the most recent one happens to be when we're done. I hope that those stumbling upon this blog will enjoy going through these movies with us. Expect to hear more soon!

Arc of Infinity [Doctor Who, Story 123]

Arc of Infinity by Johnny Byrne
3 - 12 January 1983​

We've arrived in Doctor Who's landmark 20th anniversary season. Last time we marked such an occasion, Season 10 delivered a series of stories that I considered some of the strongest the program had seen so far. The same might or might not prove to be the case for Season 20, but I'm determined to keep an open mind.

You can tell it's an anniversary because we have a deep cut throwback villain this week, who last appeared in The Three Doctors back in 1973. But oddly enough, I was more focused on future omens than past callbacks, as I was caught pointing and going "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" at my screen every time Colin Baker appeared as Maxil. It's always a bit funny seeing a Doctor before they're a Doctor. Hard to believe that I'm already just a short time away from his own tenure.

But as for the actual villain of the piece, I thought Omega was fine, albeit diminished from his original stature. In part because of the costume, which in my opinion doesn't have a patch on his last one. He still works as an ultimately tragic and self-destructive figure whose downfall is of his own devising, which always suits this show well. I enjoy it when the Doctor tries to help to save a villain, whether it works or not. His turn with Peter Davison's face was also quite interesting. The subtle emotion that Davison puts into those non-verbal moments of Omega exploring the city were quite affecting.

Following in the steps of The Deadly Assassin and The Invasion of Time, the Doctor's worst enemy is once again the blundering of his own people, who seem only too eager to set him up for the crime despite his past services. I confess that I find it a bit ungratifying that the Doctor does not tell them "I told you so" at the end of the story, but perhaps he just found it beneath him.

Also of note is Tegan's return, which comes fast enough to make us wonder why she was left behind in the first place. She does get to approach the TARDIS with a new attitude now, though, no longer the hijacked stewardess and now along for the trip more or less by choice. It is a refreshing change, but we shall see how it plays out.

It was also fun to be outside of Britain for once. I don't know that I'd ever have known what Amsterdam looked like in the Eighties otherwise. It certainly made for a nice break from the by now familiar brightly-lit space sets.

All in all, a decent but unremarkable story. Having liked Kinda so much, I'm eager to get on to Snakedance next. See you then.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 18 August 2023.)

Spare Parts [Doctor Who, Diversion 31]

Spare Parts by Marc Platt
31 July 2002

 ​

There's a certain group among the early Big Finish stories that everyone has mutually agreed are absolute masterpieces. There was a vital energy in these days which seems to have gone out of Big Finish now, but this hasn't changed the fact that some of these audios stand among the very best Doctor Who stories of any medium.

Spare Parts is a magnificent idea, and slots into a very vital spot in the Fifth Doctor's life, between Seasons 19 and 20. When listened to fresh off the heels of Earthshock, its aura of grief and misery is amplified greatly. That atmosphere of cold darkness and inevitability hangs over the whole story like a pall, leaving the informed listener with no doubt about where the story is ending.

Until it ends somewhere you don't quite expect, with the Mondasians seemingly set to undo the worst of the Cyberman work and infuse some humanity into the project... only for that rug pull to come in at the last moment, like a kick in the balls. It's expertly done.

The Doctor and Nyssa both get some pretty meaty stuff in this story, and understandably the topic of Adric features prominently. Their conversation about him in the TARDIS is poignant, and feels like an after the fact sort of apology for the show brushing past the event so quickly. The guilt weighing on both of the characters for that incident is palpable, and makes their efforts to stop the Cybermen carry more gravitas.

Without Adric or Tegan around, Nyssa gets a lot more opportunities to do the companion thing, and has a lot of great character moments as a result. This is slowly cementing my opinion that she is my favorite out of this companion crop, but I will have to see more of her in the show to solidify that opinion.

Peter Davison makes the most of this weighty material too, and his version of the Doctor shines through, especially in the moments where he is being forced to aid in the creation of the Cybermen - a dramatic irony that really adds onto the desperate air of the whole story.

I'm gratified to get a story that once again plays on the post-modern Prometheus origins of the Cybermen, as you're probably already aware from my moaning over the fact that they did them better in the Sixties the last couple times the silver giants popped up. There are some great moments to that effect in this story, including the girl coming home from Christmas and the mental image of the Cyberman patrolling atop his Cyberhorse.

Fantastic stuff, and rewarding on a repeat listen, as this one was for me. Back to television again, finally, with Arc of Infinity next.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 18 August 2023.)

So, about the blog...

To the passing reader who's discovered this place from a link in my Gallifrey Base signature, or my Discord profile, or gods forbid Google, it might seem like this entire blog has nothing but Doctor Who reviews... and they'd be correct.

Since I inaugurated the blog in 2017, my only media review and discussion output here has been my (still somehow ongoing) Doctor Who marathon. Still, it can't have escaped one's notice that the linked post references more to come, an ambition which still hasn't quite gone away.

To this end, I'd like to announce that more is, indeed, on the way, including both a continuation of the Doctor Who marathon as well as new posts about TV shows, movies, and music. As well as an in-progress marathon of the Power Rangers series (and eventually Super Sentai), I've just started a project almost as forbidding: watching all the theatrical animated Disney movies with my partner on the occasion of the company's 100th anniversary.

These and other stray reviews will come as time permits. I'm looking forward to writing more on these subjects and expressing my many, many thoughts and opinions about my favorite media. See you then!

"Multitasking is a beautiful thing - and like most beautiful things, dangerous, too." - 2017 Val

Doctor Who, Season Nineteen

The shape of Eighties Who has quickly become apparent over the course of this series. Following the blueprint left by Season 18, Season 19 has tried a lot of new things, although its success has been mixed. The overall quality of the episodes is good enough, but the standoffishness of this TARDIS crew has kept me from warming to them as I would have liked. With Adric now out of the picture, I wonder how the remaining leads are going to develop.

With that short dissection out of the way, here's the score breakdown:

Castrovalva - 7.50
Part One - 7.00
Part Two - 7.00
Part Three - 8.00
Part Four - 8.00

Four to Doomsday - 7.25
Part One - 8.00
Part Two - 7.00
Part Three - 7.00
Part Four - 7.00

Kinda - 10.00
Part One - 10.00
Part Two - 10.00
Part Three - 10.00
Part Four - 10.00

The Visitation - 8.50
Part One - 9.00
Part Two - 8.00
Part Three - 9.00
Part Four - 8.00

Black Orchid - 7.00
Part One - 8.00
Part Two - 6.00

Earthshock - 9.50
Part One - 10.00
Part Two - 9.00
Part Three - 9.00
Part Four - 10.00

Time-Flight - 4.50
Part One - 6.00
Part Two - 4.00
Part Three - 4.00
Part Four - 4.00

Best episode: Kinda, Part Four - 10.00
Runner-up: Earthshock, Part One - 10.00
Worst episode: Time-Flight, Part Three - 4.00

Season Nineteen average: 7.81

Best guest appearance: Simon Rouse as Hindle (Kinda)
Best special effect: The Doctor's spacewalk (Four to Doomsday)
Best musical score: Castrovalva (Paddy Kingsland)

Season 20 soon, but first, Spare Parts is next. 

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 13 October 2022.)

Time-Flight [Doctor Who, Story 122]

Time-Flight by Peter Grimwade
22 - 30 March 1982​

Oh dear.

From a production standpoint, I am totally understanding of the fact that Earthshock could not have been the finale of Season 19. But even in light of that, the decision to follow it up with this is so profoundly misjudged that it loops back around to hilarity again.

The show is still a bit uneasy with this "pathos" thing, so the second scene of this serial, with the remaining heroes in the TARDIS, rings a bit hollow.

DOCTOR: Now listen to me, both of you. There are some rules that cannot be broken even with the Tardis. Don't ever ask me to do anything like that again. You must accept that Adric is dead. His life wasn't wasted. He died trying to save others, just like his brother, Varsh. You know, Adric had a choice. This is the way he wanted it.

For my own part, I sort of think he would have wanted not to be blown to smithereens, but what would I know? The TARDIS crew certainly doesn't dwell, as they greet this with a stiff upper lip and immediately begin to consider a get-away to cheer themselves up.

The Heathrow setting is fun, although I think it's a mistake to not portray the Doctor as being at sea in this mundane environment. He introduces himself as a UNIT advisor and gets all the cooperation he could possibly want, which robs the story of a lot of tension to start out with. You would think this would also introduce a nice bit of tension where one wonders about Tegan's reaction - will she leave or won't she? - but the story ends with the decision being taken from her in a way that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I shouldn't have allowed myself to get excited by the word "Jurassic", since there are no prehistoric beasts to be seen, only a curiously barren heath once the characters are sent back in time. The Doctor's remark about the Pleistocene being close at hand made me bare my teeth like a frightened chimp, wishing Peter Grimwade had opened an encyclopedia.

The central plot itself has a lot of untapped promise - especially the appearance of Adric's "ghost", which is far too brief and underplayed. This is to say nothing of the unfathomable choice to have the Master made up in yellowface (or brownface, or both, somehow) long before he'd even have any need to be disguised. I thought we were past this crap already.

There are fun parts, like seeing the airplane pilots trying to make sense of the TARDIS console, or Tegan (finally!) getting to act as an air-stewardess - in the Jurassic period! This story is inept in a way that's almost cute. Except for the racism, for which there's no real excuse.

What a trip to end the season on. The Season 19 roundup will be coming next.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 11 October 2022.)

Earthshock [Doctor Who, Story 121]

Earthshock by Eric Saward
8 - 16 March 1982​

Now, this is much more like what I expected from Saward. Gritty military men, high stakes, and a whole lot of death. This serial manages to avoid feeling gauche, at least, as it's mostly reined in and used to ratchet up the dramatic tension very nicely.

Starting with a creepy and tense opening scene, we immediately get the sense of imminent upheaval as Adric threatens to leave the TARDIS, a sense of impending doom that never quite leaves until the story is over. The cliffhanger at the end of Part One revealing the presence of the Cybermen is quite masterfully done, although I remain skeptical of post-Sixties Cybermen stories in general since they rarely mine the body horror potential that they embody. There is a little bone thrown to this, however - the Doctor's wonderful "small, beautiful events" speech late in the story.

There is a clever subversion in Part Two - the Doctor and his friends get themselves locked up so often, and yet the Doctor's and Adric's captors can barely be bothered to notice and imprison them even when they're trying to get caught! Later on, we're given the surreal image of Tegan (whose lilac outfit is by this point seared into my mind) with a gun and battle fatigues instead, giving us the impression that things are all topsy-turvy.

And of course there is the matter of Adric's demise. It lands (hah!), although I can't shake the sense that it was kind of pointless, diegetically speaking. The dramatic tension of this moment is, despite that, quite stunning.

All in all, a fairly brilliant story. I only wish the next one lived up to its promise... Time-Flight is next.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 11 October 2022.)

Black Orchid [Doctor Who, Story 120]

Black Orchid by Terence Dudley
1 - 2 March 1982​

Such an odd duck... Another historical, quick on the heels of the last, and this time without any alien threat at all. It's quick and breezy, and also without a great deal of tension. Still, there's nothing that put me off it, per se, and the fact that it was so different from anything in Tom's era was an interesting change. Sarah Sutton gets to play two different characters in this one, and I drank up the opportunity to see her show more of her acting chops, since the opportunities have been pretty bare so far. There is a curious decision made to let all and sundry into the TARDIS, which robs it of some of its mystique in my opinion, but it's over so fast that one is not permitted to think too much of it.

All in all, there is not a great deal more to say about this story - enjoyable, but not exceptional. Earthshock is next.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 11 October 2022.)

The Visitation [Doctor Who, Story 119]

The Visitation by Eric Saward
15 - 23 February 1982

(A/N: Another short one - and then another after. Please do pardon me, it's been a weird old time.)

I'm interested to note, first of all, that this is incoming script editor Eric Saward's first contribution to the Doctor Who canon. The Visitation feels rather different from what I know of the rest of his output - largely in part, I think, because of its historical setting. I'm interested to see how his style develops, but as far as first outings go this one is quite strong.

The Restoration era is a fresh one for the show and rife with potential. Once again, like in The Romans, we see the Doctor becoming embroiled in the cause of a major historical disaster, though this time it is not quite played for laughs. While the attempts to offer us some drama from the interactions among the main cast are quite awkward, the new characters are fun, particularly Mace and his interplay with the Doctor.

I didn't make too much of the Terileptils as villains, but they're fine; the strongest impression they made on me was the horrifying image of them crackling and popping in the fire at the end. The central plot was nevertheless very enjoyable and I feel I'll be returning to this story often in the future.

Black Orchid is next.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 11 October 2022.)

Kinda [Doctor Who, Story 118]

Kinda by Christopher Bailey
1 - 9 February 1982

​

The struggle to complete write-ups after a too-long break, nevertheless, continued. Having been so busy in real life lately, it's been difficult for me to find time to catch up with this, which is a real pity. Once again I find myself unable to write quite as much about an episode as I'd like. Unlike Four to Doomsday, however, in this instance there's almost too much to talk about.

I thought Kinda was brilliant, which seems to be a pretty common opinion in these parts. What can I say? Its virtues are self-evident, in both the writing and the production design. The themes are pretty heavy; I don't know enough about Buddhism to remark on that aspect of the allegory, though there was plenty of pseudo-Christian imagery too. Deva Loka is a pretty straightforward Eden, for example.

I was interested to note that the first few steps of this serial called to mind certain stories of yesteryear. There's a shrinking group of human soldiers stationed out on the last frontier, living in fear of an evil from outside that will come in to destroy them all. This convention is quickly turned on its head, however. I wonder if this was a conscious deconstruction of the "base under siege" or just something incidental? The shoe certainly fits, and at this point in the history of Doctor Who, its awkward teen years, it seems fitting for it to start to question the things it took for granted in its childhood.

HINDLE: Don't you see? Well, then we'll be safe. For ever and ever. Outside'll never get in. Don't you see?

Tellingly, the most hysterical expression of this "keep them out" mentality in the story, quoted above, involves a quite literal urge for self-destruction. The equation of colonization with civilization is taken down quite scornfully, and as far as I'm concerned it's welcomed.

The Mara is the manifestation of all of this hate and selfishness. We're told by the Kinda that it "turns the wheel" of life and death, perpetuating itself on the suffering of others. This literal cycle of violence is paralleled in Hindle's blithe comment remarking on his abuse as a child, a suffering that he's now mindlessly perpetuating on others. The only way to escape it is to break the cycle; to find a "still point".

The story is philosophically rich, and I found a lot to enjoy in its performances too. Janet Fielding gets a nice opportunity to act her heart out; I was very impressed with the switch she flicks when the Mara is in control, the differences in her voice and mannerisms and all. Nyssa is sadly out of commission, taking what the wiki terms a "restorative TARDIS nap". Adric is about as tolerable as he ever is. "The Adric special" is performed again, and it's probably the best instance of it so far, though that hasn't been a very high bar.

The Doctor seems to be in his element. Davison's Doctor is a bit more at home in this type of story than he is in something like Earthshock, and the ease shows. I'm still warming to Five at this point, but maybe a few more Kindas will fix me.

That's all I had for this one. I will return soon for a writeup on The Visitation. See you then.

(Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 9 September 2022.)

Four to Doomsday [Doctor Who, Story 117]

Four to Doomsday by Terence Dudley
18 - 26 January 1982

​It's difficult, really, to summon up enough strong feelings about Four to Doomsday a few months post-viewing to actually write up a particularly meaty review of it. It is noteworthy for being the first outing of this particular TARDIS team post-Castrovalva, and thus should stand as a nice, clear look at what this particular period in the show will look like. What we get is an episode with a slightly confused plot, some overcrowding, and clumsy stabs at interpersonal drama. So... a nice, clear look then?

I was, however, a bit surprised to not dislike this serial as much as I was expecting to going in. While the plot is nothing special, and some of the earthlings who are being held on the Urbankan ship seem a bit caricatured for lack of a better term, there was nothing I really found outright execrable and it was fun enough in the moment.

I don't think the Doctor got many chances to prove himself in this one, although, as usual, I am keeping a weather eye on the companions. I don't recall much of what Nyssa did, except randomly fainting at the end, but Tegan got to show off her many talents by revealing her impressive illustrating skills and somehow being fluent in an Australian Aboriginal language. Our boy genius got to practice what I'm now terming "the Adric special" by pretending(?) to side with the bad guys. This time it really seemed like he was serious, however. But perhaps something on the performance side just got lost in translation. (Wouldn't shock me...)

There are some interesting effects in this one, including the android reveal at the end of Part Three, and the Doctor's spacewalk later on. The Urbankans themselves don't look great; two of them have the fortune of wearing human faces for most of the story, but their leader isn't so lucky. Definitely not one of the memorable monster designs.

All in all, an okay story, though one I was happy to leave behind so that I could explore what else Season 19 had to offer. You know what they say: sometimes one must let Bigons be Bigons.

Kinda is next.

 (Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 22 June 2022.)

Castrovalva [Doctor Who, Story 116]

Castrovalva by Christopher H. Bidmead
4 - 12 January 1982

 

​

You must forgive the cobwebs. Despite appearances, I have been semi-regularly watching Season 19 for most of this year [2022], but for some reason I managed to convince myself to watch the whole season before composing my reviews.

This probably kept things moving slightly faster than they would have otherwise, but it also means that as I reach back into the Before Time and sweatily thumb through my threadbare notes for Castrovalva, I find myself a little mystified by the lack of detail. Nevertheless, I'll do my best to sound at least halfway coherent.

When last we left Doctor Who, the goliath seven-year tenure of Tom Baker had come to an end. Although I think most people will associate his reign with the Seventies era of the show, his one season in 1980-1981 with new producer John Nathan-Turner also sticks in the mind. While Season 18 was the coda of the Fourth Doctor era, it was also a prologue of sorts for the new decade to come.

In short, with Castrovalva we finally get to see this new era of the show come into its fluorescence, now free of all (or most) remnants of the past. So what exactly does the new regime have to offer?

For starters, I think it's interesting that Castrovalva starts with a recap of the last moments of Logopolis. It's understandable after an 11-month break (longer than any other season break to date, unless I'm missing something) that they might want to refresh viewers' memories. They had, however, just reran Logopolis just a month earlier as a part of the Five Faces of Doctor Who repeat run, which a lot of people evidently saw, so I don't think that's the whole story.

I detect just a hint of insecurity in this decision, though a more charitable diagnosis of "easing us in gently" is also possible. Some extra gentle touches like these might have been necessary when struggling to come out from under Tom's shadow in particular. Still, it's bewildering to imagine a new Doctor's story in the modern era starting with a recap of the last one's regeneration scene. Castrovalva's close New Series counterpart The Eleventh Hour, by contrast, seems a bit more self-assured in its new leading man.

Both of these stories do, interestingly, feature bits of their illustrious predecessors' costumes slowly being unraveled or stripped away, which is a fun parallel. This is a somewhat literal but still pleasing bit of Castrovalva's unmaking and remaking, death and rebirth themes. Tegan and Nyssa even act as the Doctor's pallbearers for a while in the early parts of this story when they carry his cabinet around.

Talking of Tegan and Nyssa, this is really their first chance to be the Doctor's companions after their chaotic debut in Logopolis. Like the last serial, Castrovalva also feels like it's got a lot going on, what with having to establish a new Doctor and all, but it is a little less hectic overall. This is helped a bit by putting Adric in the fridge early and only letting him out in the later parts of the story. The air stewardess and the Trakenite princess get a little more time to themselves as a result.

At this point, Tegan has yet to prove herself. Like many companions, she doesn't really want to be here to start with, but unlike most, she stays that way. This is... an interesting choice. Obviously this is where we started off back in 1963, but when the other two companions are quite happy to be the Doctor's assistants, it just ends up feeling silly on Tegan's part. She could grow on me from here, but hopefully this would be through getting some more chances to shine.

Nyssa seems to be adapting quickly by contrast. I liked the moment where she admits that her strict scientific principles aren't good for everything and talks about "turning that 'if' into a fact". It's a nice bit of characterization, though I can't help but wonder if it would have been better served by coming up when we had gotten to know her better than we do now.

As for the rest of the supporting cast, notably, the Master is also here. I admit, I groaned a bit and went "what, again?" For someone who had waited 11 months for this serial, the effect would probably be less pronounced, but after three stories in a row featuring him I was already a bit fatigued. I like Anthony Ainley, but in this story and the previous, he's just never as menacing as his predecessor, seeming to indulge in a greater degree of mustache-twirling that threatens to veer into flanderization should current trends continue.

The one-off characters for this story didn't make a lot of impact on me, but I liked the Castrovalva setting. The idea of a world that's a living M. C. Escher painting is a pretty interesting one, although I have to say I didn't care much to follow the thread Christopher H. Bidmead was trying to draw between the story and real-world mathematics, as I was more preoccupied with the metaphysical themes behind the Doctor's rebirth. Attempts to inject "hard science" into the show are laudable ones for sure, but I sense that this script editor's intentions are not going to pan out.

Oh yeah, I haven't mentioned the new guy a whole lot yet, have I? First impressions tell me that Peter Davison is an exceptional actor. I feel I'm still getting used to his interpretation of the Doctor at this point (as is he, unless I'm mistaken) which is a feeling that will persist for me throughout much of this first season. There is a lot to appreciate in this more understated version of the Doctor, though; it is a nice contrast to 4's bombast.

I've run out of things to say, so I'll leave this one off by saying that Castrovalva feels like it's pulling in a few different directions at once, but still generally succeeds as a solid intro story for the Fifth Doctor. We'll see how the changes it's signaling evolve over the rest of the season. Four to Doomsday is next.

 (Modified from the original posted at Gallifrey Base on 29 June 2022.)