io9 
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San Francisco, 3:38 AM
Mon Dec 21
12 posts in the last 24 hours
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03:07 AM
12/20/09
12/20/09
Maybe it's all subjective, but I just really loved the whole thing.
OK, not the whole thing. I agree the water spurting from the arms could have been done better.
12/20/09
I can agree with the RTD criticism - overblown finales, deus endings, etc. But I don't CARE.
Whether it's one of the specials, or the season finales or the most compelling episodes (for me - Girl in the Fireplace, Midnight, Blink, Turn Left and a couple others), the show makes me FEEL for the characters, particularly the Doctor. I'm not a particularly emotional person but I get worked up when I see what the Doctor goes through and knowing what he's previously been through. I DO feel the heartbreak the Doctor does, as well as the pain and the fear and all the other struggles.
This is a FUN and sometimes silly show, which just makes those dramatic moments more impactful than some program where the hero just faces down the monster of the week.
Compelling characters are RTD's specialty, IMO. He's writing characters - he's not really writing science fiction other than as a backdrop. Which is for better or for worse depending on your perspective.
Personally, I've had a wonderful run with the program and can't wait to experience the final episodes of Tennant's time (*snicker*) as the Doctor.
12/20/09
12/20/09
12/20/09
12/20/09
A friend of mine once described a couple of pieces of literature as similar, Joyce's "The Dubliners" and Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities". They seem to move along in the most (granted WAY above average) regular effectiveness of the authors, almost lulling you into a sense of warm complacency for their skill and narrative effectiveness, the goodness you expect. And each, at the very end, in the last 10% of the story, make such a sharp turn up the y-axis into off-the charts excellence and heartbreak you're left with a feeling of unreality at what you've just experienced. You weren't expecting it at all, you thought it was pretty great the whole while and then you're hit with such successive pulling together you end up agape without even knowing it.
I'm not going to compare RTD to Dickens or Joyce I'm not that much of a fanboy, but story-wise, this one left me feeling the same way. You go from the regular (oh, look, a great call-back to canon, oh, he has to let everyone die, oh monsters, oh he really likes this woman) to the exhilarating (he's back, we're saved!) to really being unsure, ever-so-briefly, if this is going to work (whoops, nuclear countdown), or even if it HAS worked before the last commercial break. And while this is all going on, the chills you're feeling are bizarrely dulled. (Does the Doctor seem a little weird all of a sudden during this come-from-behind victory? "I'm a winner"?) Then OMG, whew, he saved them.... Then things really just start to go off the rails in a way I admit I didn't sense was coming
Now, harking back to the previous thread, I do think that - upon some reflection - that a level of the criticism laid upon this episode was not without merit. There are some "Well why didn't he just do..." to be dealt with, a bit of floating Dalek, the idea of leaving them in the future, and last Tennant does gnaw on the scenery a bit more than usual. Honestly, I just can't help it but I'm forgive all of that. The narrative and story arch wins out here, and even the faults are not holes that big. Maybe I'm too forgiving, but I don't think so.
I, personally, would count this as one of the best episodes of the new run.
12/20/09
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12/20/09
12/19/09
12/20/09
12/19/09
Whatever is the product of 'Art' (I won't even attempt to define that, but there are plenty of possible definitions here [en.wiktionary.org] ), is protected by 'copyright' for 70 years (if it was considered to be sculpture, in this case).
Whatever is the product of 'Craft' (much 'easier' to define [en.wiktionary.org] ), "the skilled practice of a practical occupation", is protected by 'copyright' for 15 years.
What appears to have swung the judgement, is the fact that although Andrew Ainsworth was an 'industrial designer' when he was employed to produce the Stormtrooper helmet back in '76, he was not paid to exercise this 'art'.
Instead he was paid only for producing the product of this 'art', in the form of a rate of £20 a piece, for 50 helmets.
Because they didn't treat him as an 'artist' and pay him for his 'art', what they got wasn't art.
It was the 'product' of a 'craft'.
This is a colossal win for 'artists' of any sort, producing any sort of 'art' for pay.
If they don't treat you right (and pay you right) at the beginning, they don't get treated right (and payed right) at the end.
FTW!
12/19/09
12/19/09
I think the court made assumptions on the manner in which the person was treated. If he is not considered an artist, then certainly they would have felt free to hire janitors to produce these right?
12/19/09
I personally disagree with its decision, but I do appreciate the argument. The court conceded that Ainsworth doesn't own the design, which leads one to believe that the design itself IS a copyrightable thing, but that the design for the physical costume is something "industrial" or distinct seems silly to me. I am not a fan of Lucasfilm's heavy-handed, greedy practices, but I think they have a legitimate claim against Ainsworth. Let's see what the British Supreme Court does, if anything at all...
12/19/09
12/19/09
What about clone trooper armor? Mandalorian? The bounds are endless!
12/19/09
12/19/09
Anyhow, not the first court ruling I've disagreed with, and I'm sure it won't be the last.
12/19/09