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Doctor Who: Every Story 1963-2013

This video really is Doctor Who: Every Story 1963-2013, as compiled by the good folks at BabelColour. 13 Doctors in 13 minutes! And they don’t (he doesn’t would be more accurate, for even if his videos are group efforts, there is only one mind driving these productions) just cover the primary TV series; they also include the spinoffs, the specials, the webisodes, the games, and so much more. There is logic in the things he does not include as well; enjoy.

UPDATE: As some folks were kind enough to point out to me (see the comments), this is not a group effort, but the work of one person, named Stuart. That definitely makes this even more impressive than I thought it was when I believed there was an entire production team behind this video. The flip side of that is, I could have sworn the credits at the end of the video acknowledged other people who contributed to the production, several doing voice over work, one creating the music mix, and so forth. I suspect this may be a difference in degree, not kind, since the director always has the vision of what the final product will be, and assembles and edits the various parts of the production team’s work into that final result, after assigning them each their tasks and explaining what he/she needs from them.

Something to Do: Movies, 7Mar14

The one I will be in the theaters for this week is Mr. Peabody & Sherman, because I always appreciated that Rocky and Bullwinkle sense of humor. Like so many other franchises, they have been absorbed by one of the Disney studios now (Dreamworks, in this instance), most of whom have benefited from the funding and attention to detail. We also get 300: Rise of an Empire for those looking for something noticeably more serious. For those lucky enough to live in the right towns, you may also have a chance to see Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, a film about a monk who has to fight 3 demons while falling in love with the beautiful demon hunter who helps him repeatedly. Before it is all over, he also has a transformative meeting with the Monkey King. This is another quality story by combat comedian Stephen Chow, and if you don’t live in a town where it will be on the big screen, it will also be available on that date through Video On Demand and iTunes.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 4Mar14

In movies, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire brings the second story in the series home, but not on Tuesday as is normal; this one hits the shelves on Friday. Also this week, The Grandmaster is another retelling of the life of Ip Man, who numbered among his students Bruce Lee. This one covers from 1930 to his death, with Tony Leung Chiu-Wai as Ip Man this time, and it was nominated for two Academy Awards this year. The Last Days on Mars is a sci-fi thriller where the discovery of life on the Red Planet might mean the death of us all. While it tanked with the critics, the cast and special effects are both quite good.

In TV, Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor is the latest Christmas special, and the end of Matt Smith in the roll, as the Doctor regenerates into Peter Capaldi. And while it is not genre, Mr. & Mrs. Murder: Series 1 is a very quirky Australian murder mystery series bubbling over with dark humor and twisted plot lines that I thoroughly enjoy.

In Anime, Aria The Natural: Second Collection continues the girls trials on their way to becoming the top gondoliers on the canals of Mars, renamed Aqua since it’s terraforming. One Piece: Season 5 Part 6 likewise continues the adventures of the Straw Hat Gang as they battle the other pirates in an effort to gain control of the high seas.

Something to Watch: DVDs, 25Feb14

We actually have a decent assortment of programs this week, for the first time in a while. In movies, Thor: The Dark World leads us off with yet another excellent entry into the Avengers Universe franchise. The previous film promised, and this one delivered. Gravity is no slouch itself, up for a boatload of awards, an adventure set against the most amazing background of all. Ice Soldiers is about human genetic engineering by governments gone wild, a Canadian creation that owes a lot to the Cold War mentality some people are still hanging onto. Finally, Mr. Nobody might be the most powerful story of the collection for this week, and is certainly worth exploring. If you never make a choice, anything is possible.

In TV, there really is only one choice this time around: Search was a sci-fi spy cult classic back in 1972, and even though lots of aspects of it are dated now, a ton of its revelations became the future we are still in today.

In Anime, Appleseed XIII: Tartaros & Ouranos pits anti-clone terrorists bent on bombing their post-apocalyptic paradise into oblivion against the cyborgs and biodroids defending civilization. In this series from Sci-Fi mastermind Masamune Shirow, creator of Ghost In The Shell, we once again get an opportunity to explore the range of possible options humanity faces as it grows into everything it might become, and still be called human. Dallos is a tale of the lunar rebellion, when the Helium 3 miners had finally had enough of their economic enslavement and fought for their freedom. This one is a 4 episode OVA, not a full season of a series, and is from Osii Mamoru, another well known science fiction author and creator. A lot of folks credit this as the very first OVA ever made back in 1983, which gives it its own unique place in Anime history. It is also debated whether 1995’s Mighty Space Miners 2 OVA story is a direct descendent of the original series, but it is also being re=released this week.

Blast of Tempest: Complete 2nd Season sees Hakaze jump back in time to find the truth behind Aika’s death, only to hear something unexpected from Aika himself. Is the present meant to turn out this way after all, or is there something more behind events? Meanwhile, in Di Gi Charat: Winter Garden, the most powerful Earth magic hits the alien Princess hard, as she discovers her future is not as set in stone as she thought it was. Finally, in K: Complete Collection, Shiro will have to evade the clans of seven powerful kings and desperately try to prove his innocence before they all manage to kill him.

Even though it isn’t genre, I also have to mention Love, Election & Chocolate as some serious silliness!

Ylvis: Fox

I couldn’t help it, this song was too much fun. I Kveld Med YLVIS isn’t a band, it is a Norwegian talk/variety show with an attitude, and they originally did this track as another comedy skit on their show. It went somewhat viral, pulling in 359,757,676 views (as of the last time I checked), the equivalent of every man, woman, and child in the US watching it. They brought it to the BBC Children In Need Special produced every year to aid kids who might otherwise not get a chance to grow up, and were joined by a bunch of singers you should recognize; how many of them can you name? And then someone mashed it up with 2013’s other runaway silly song, Gangnam Style from Psy. Just goes to show, sometimes when you get silly the world notices and sings along.

Happy Sci-Fi Valentine’s Day

When I posted about new movies for this weekend, how the hell did I not mention A Winter’s Tale, this year’s perfect Valentine’s Fantasy? It opened today, do not miss it! Tonight I thought I would mention a short list of 5 of the best Science Fiction romantic comedies for Valentines Day from years gone by. I’m starting with a personal favorite, Earth Girls Are Easy, about a fuzzy alien (Jeff Goldblum) and a human girl (Geena Davis). The fact that they were wildly in love with each other at the time gives this film a chemistry that you almost never find on screen. Besides the Out Of This World romance, it is a wonderful musical comedy, featuring the songs of Julie Brown and the antics of the whole cast, who include some very funny people. Hopefully they will get the live stage version going sometime soon. Also in that vein, Blast From the Past has a boy raised in a fallout shelter going to the surface world for the first time, where a nuclear war never happened after all. The Princess Bride is a classic Fantasy that never gets old, and Warm Bodies is the best Zombie romance/comedy I think I have ever seen. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World rounds out the group with an Apocalypse setting for its story. If you have missed any of these, stream or rent a copy and watch it with your special someone; I am betting you will be glad you did.