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Oh man, I *LOVE* Christopher Eccleston, he is the reason why I now have all the seasons of Dr. Who on my Netflix list. After seeing him in 28 Days Later I was smitten, and I've been more than pleased to see him get more notoriety in the US recently.

Shrykester:

Nico.... (sigh).... what am I going to do with you?

[Shrug] Cover me with Cheez Whiz and feed me to a bear? Tie me to a chair covered with honey, place me on top of a hill of red ants and make me watch Two and A Half Men? Read me Vogon poetry? Adopt me out to Britney Spears? Hell, I don't know.

Forgive me for being so uncategorically anal, but when you are the offspring of Ivy Leaguers, it kind of come naturally.

The man has a point.

Tom Baker, was, in fact, the FOURTH incarnation of the Doctor...

[Slapping hand to forehead] Oh, that's right. Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, Baker. Davison. Sheesh. You'd think I'd left my kid strapped into the back seat of my car, or forgotten to pay my taxes, or defended Batman & Robin, or something.

...[A]lso the most famous, if you ask me. He was the one with the curly hair, the piercing pale blue eyes, and the nine-meter-long scarf o' many colors. He played the Doctor for seven seasons (a record), and is simply one of the greatest single characterizations ever brought to the small screen. He was so much fun to watch, to listen to, to absorb, to wrap around you like a comfy blanket, that you forgot all about the horrible effects and Hefty-bag monsters and cheesy music. I would put mid-to-late-70s Doctor Who against any sci-fi series EVER.

That's nice. Would you like a jellybean?

I LOVED Riddick, in both movies, but especially in Chronicles Of. There have been many classic good/bad/good guys in sci/fi, but few have had the coolness that Vin brought to that character. He'd have whupped Conor MacLeod in under ten minutes, Judge Dredd in under five and would have had Paul Usul Muad'Dib Atreides crying for his mommy before the bell even rung.

We-eeeelllllllll... I don't know about all that -- after all, who could possibly defy the thousand-generation kwisatz haderach of the Bene Gesserit? -- but, okay, fine. (I like Judge Dredd, too, btw -- the last of the era of brainless action films!)

Part of me would love to see a continuation of the series, but in my heart I know it would be better if there weren't. And please, no goddamn TV version of it. (You hear me, Sci-Fi channel? Don't even think about it. Hey! Put that word processor down!)

SFC wouldn't be the place, I agree. However, Showtime... or FX...

Yeah, for certain you're anal, but, on the whole, your points were "Very, very, very good, master!" No, I'm not actually calling you "Master."

Six of 99:

Tell me this about Doctor Who: why was it that every alien planet he visited looked suspiciously like south English countryside?

Because the Doctor's TARDIS had a handicapped-parking sticker that was compatible only on Wales-resembling planets. He'd been informed that the paperwork to upgrade his permit had been available at the local DPPS (Department of Planetary Public Safety) office, conveniently located at Alpha Centauri, for the last fifty Earth years, but he was always too sodding busy building robot dogs out of old Intellivisions and keeping sentient rubber from overtaking the planet and all that mess, to apply for the bloody thing. Kneebiter.

I liked the 7th on as well, he was goofy but it was all a front.

Sylvester McCoy, you mean? Oh, heavens. He was like the British Tony Randall, or Roger Moore (wait, Moore WAS British, wasn't he?)... I always get them mixed up, anyway. "Off. Easy Off." To me the last "real" Doctor was Peter Davison (Five, not Six, and thanks again, Shryke, you feckless foister-upon-er of frivolous feats of feigned infallibility... [grin])... and Colin Baker, darn him all to Heck for having the temerity to appropriate his last name from the all-time, universally recognized, ultimate Doctor, made me want to stuff my cat in a paper shredder. [RoooowwwwwwRRRRRRRRR!!! Grindgrindgrindgrind]

Christopher Ecelston's Doctor just looks like he'll tear you apart.

Yeah, 'bout time The Doctor was "dangerous" again, and not in a Michael Jackson-sort-of-way. But the new series still blows, it's too... American, as if it were produced by Brannon Braga and Robert Bielak.

I remain, as always...

Nico.

Sorry bout the K-9 deal. I guess the movie ya'll are refering to is before my time. Anyways. I noticed you had sunshine on your best sci fi movies list. I thought I was the only one that went to see it. I drove over an hour and a half to the enemys theater chain just so I could see that movie. Just curious. If you did see it. What'd ya think of it. Cause nobody else has really had any opinions on it. No one I know anyways.
p.s. Judge Dredd is one of my all time stallone flicks. Next to demolition man of course. I grew up on Stallone so they're classics to me. Never forget em.

Briefly... Sunshine was nearly everything I could reasonably hope for in a modern sf film. Though there was nothing terribly innovative about it (the film channeled, variously, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien and even, weirdly enough, Silent Running), EVERYTHING was exceptionally well-done and (unlike so very many genre offerings) Sunshine never aspired to mediocrity in so much as a single element of its production; nor did it for one moment underestimate the intelligence of its audience. Taut, tense and terrifying, it captured both the limitless wonder and the choking claustrophobia of space travel; it both shocked and awed. The performances were on the whole very good, particularly Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans and Cliff Curtis; though I felt some of the more ancillary characters could have used more development. In fact, that's ultimately my ONLY criticism of the film -- it left me wanting more of EVERYTHING. More dialogue, more effects, more insight into these characters who chose to dive into a fire both refining and obliterating. This was a crew I wanted to get to know much, much better. But, then, the very best films always leave me frustrated and begging for more, like a puppy who's been allowed to sniff a package of beef jerky, but not to actually tear it open and gnosh down its beefy, salty perfection.

In a perfect world, Sunshine would be up for all sorts of awards, mostly technical of course, but also Best Cinematography and, perhaps, Best Editing. We'll see. I'll tell you this: I can't think of a film with superior special effects or sound editing.

Danny Boyle ought to do more sci-fi. I can't say that of very many directors, espcially those who've actually DONE genre work, so, I guess I'll leave it there... If that 'Wall of the Universe' film (NOT to be confused with Wall-E) ever gets made, this is one of a dozen or so titles I'd make sure the cast and crew screened for inspiration...

I remain, as always...

Nico.

Nicodemus wrote:

In a perfect world, Sunshine would be up for all sorts of awards, mostly technical of course, but also Best Cinematography and, perhaps, Best Editing. We'll see. I'll tell you this: I can't think of a film with superior special effects or sound editing.

Yeah, the shots of the sun and fire were simply amazing, I never had the chance to see it in theatres on the BIG screen, so I can't imagine how awesome that would've been, and that music, man was that swell or what? The scene where Scarecrow is the only one left and he's ejected himself from the Icarus and going onto the payload. The music PERFECTLY captured the moment. Swell!

I loved everything about it. Especially the ending. SPOILERS. Maybe? The religious turn at the end definatley I did not see coming. Thought it was great though. Being a chris evans fan of course he was probably my favorite thing about the film. acting all around was great. But I really liked his character above the rest. Mainly cause he was the only one focused on the treasure at the end of the road. and not the bumps along the way. Whatever he had to do to complete the mission. Brilliant.

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