Did Egyptians really get a lot of their calories from fatty foods? I thought they ate mostly grains.
Thank you for this view into how bitter MFA students view the world.
It's been a looong time since I read Judge Dredd comics, but my impression of Mega-City 1 was of a completely crazy riot of colors. Weird businesses and garish advertisements for absurd products abounded. I'd like to see that reproduced in a movie.
I agree with every negative comment made about the character River Song, but there's something else that I don't think has been said: Alex Kingston has about as much charisma as a cinder block. Putting her in that role would be like casting Daniel Stern as James Bond.
@thelotmb: Buffy was also good at subverting that hoary old trope that "death has meaning."
@Darklighter: Agree. She made more of an impression of me in that episode than Donna or Martha did in their entire seasons.
One especially reedickalus aspect of Tim Burton that the video neglected to address is the fact that he is now middle-aged, overweight and balding, yet still desperately trying to look like Robert Smith of The Cure.
We have to wait until April? How friggin long have they had to make this series? Start it in March!
You know what I like about this? The background looks like a 3-D rendering of the Tom Baker title sequence.
@mekki: 6: The Tardis is boring, so when writing scenes with it, pretend as though you are writing about the Millennium Falcon. (Tried to get rid of the whole vworp-vworp, fade away thing and have the Doctor strap rockets to the side of the Tardis but got some real friction from Moffet on that.)
The Russel T Davies Guide to Writer's Block.
1. Have your DVD player loaded up with sci-fi movies, and set to play random scenes. Whatever scene plays, put that in.
2. Has Earth been invaded in the last 5 minutes?
3. Hear that voice nagging you to make your plots make sense? Ignore it.
4. A good character will be even better if you give him/her superpowers!
5...
@Alessar: Yeah, I think you're right. Her head would explode if she remembered the Doctor, and there was never any sign that she remembered him. She just saw a bunch of monsters in her head and got confused.
Does anybody understand what the Weeping Angels were doing there? Not that I need to know, I thought their presence was cool without any explanation, but I wonder if I missed something.
One homage that I don't think anyone else has mentioned: The Doctor hurtling the spaceship back toward Earth was reminiscent of the cliffhanger ending to episode 3 of Caves of Androzani.
@lovelight: "So every element of every episode must be something we have heard of before?"
No, and that's not what Evil Tortie's Mom said. (What you did was create a "Straw Man" argument. There's another phrase that you can go ahead and not understand.) Let's say the Master has a botched resurrection and his body is unstable. If HE had enacted some series of events to cure his problem that would have made more sense, because he would want to save his life. But for a special machine to miraculously appear from out of nowhere that can cure his relatively rare condition, that is the definition of Deus Ex Machina.
Would it help if I cut and paste a *third* definition from a reputable source? No? Well, I'm going to anyway. This is from a "Guide to Literary Terms" on the Rutgers website (it comes up quite high on a Google search if you're interested in finding it):
Few modern works feature deities suspended by wires from the ceiling, but the term deus ex machina is still used for cases where an author uses some improbable (and often clumsy) plot device to work his or her way out of a difficult situation. When the cavalry comes charging over the hill or when the impoverished hero is relieved by an unexpected inheritance, it's often called a deus ex machina.
What is it exactly that you think we don't understand about the phrase?
You don't have to defend the episode to me, I liked it a lot, despite my problems with it. But someone as literal-minded as you, with an incredibly shallow understanding of language, should not criticize others' analyses. Stick with "erm," you seem to have a pretty strong handle on that.
@lovelight: From dictionary.com: deus ex machina: A person or event that provides a sudden and unexpected solution to a difficulty.
Is that definition wrong too? I guess everyone is wrong except lovelight.
@SigersonLTD: I don't think that a reset button is absolutely required in this situation. There could be a solution that changes everybody back without erasing the events that have already happened, couldn't there?
If there is a reset button, it will have to be pretty damn ingenious one to not completely disgust me. I'm not saying it would be impossible, RTD has surprised me on many occasions, but as a rule I hate that kind of crap.
@lovelight: I know what deus ex machina literally means, but the phrase has come to signify more than just Greek gods being lowered into sets by hoists. Honestly, Wikipedia and I are not trying to fool you. The definition I cut and paste into my reply is legitimate. A deus ex machina plot device does not require a literal god and a literal machine. An Immortality Gate that appears from out of the blue just as a character desperately needs an Immortality Gate neatly fits the description. (If you want to argue that the appearance of the Gate is simply a case of realistic, organic plotting, that's fine, you're entitled to your opinion. But don't presume to correct people's use of language when they're not wrong.)
@lovelight: From wikipedia: deus ex machina: a plot device in which a person, group, or thing appears suddenly, and at the exactly appropriate moment, in order to conveniently and unexpectedly help a character overcome a previously believed insolvable difficulty.
Are we agreed that that is an appropriate definition for "deus ex machina"? Okay, lets continue.
The Master had a problem which involved his physical body being unstable. He needed to eat huge amounts of food to stay alive. You could occasionally see his skull through his skin, presumably because his body breaking down. That was a terribly convenient time for characters who have never been on Doctor Who before to show up with a device that will not only cure the Master, but allow him to take over the world.
Would you care to educate me further about what the phrase "actually" means? Please do, I eagerly await your reply.
