Still Nothing to Fear in Another Dull FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

Well, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD was only mostly a snoozer this week.

I was interested when there was some actual tension — for about 45 seconds — when Madison and Knife Boy were running and pushing the cart because they weren’t sure who was setting off the school metal detectors.

But other than that, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

There are two gigantic problems with FTWD, and the series has demonstrated no interest in remedying them.

1. We know it’s zombies, but the characters don’t — and it’s taking forever for them to figure it out. Nobody in this fantasy universe has ever seen a zombie movie. This makes the characters annoying and seem stupid.
2. This show is playing out exactly — exactly — like the first season of THE STRAIN. So we have literally seen all of this before, and it’s dull. We’ve seen people discover the early sufferers. We’ve seen the people insist that the infected are “Just sick, they just need help.” We’ve seen the disjointed, dysfunctional families; even the heroic Hispanic family has been done already.

Do something new and interesting, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD!

The Hath and the Judoon Hath Returned!

Judoon

Hath

The new season of DOCTOR WHO will see the return of some alien species not seen since Russell T Davies‘ reign on the show: the rhino-like Judoon and the fish/turkey hybrid Hath.

The Judoon debuted in series three’s premiere episode, “Smith and Jones,” which also introduced the 10th Doctor to Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman). The rhino soldiers and their trademark barking, untranslatable language last appeared in the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith) story “A Good Man Goes to War.”

The Hath were introduced in series four’s 10th Doctor story “The Doctor’s Daughter,” and a representative of the species was glimpsed in David Tennant‘s final story, “The End of Time.”

DOCTOR WHO returns Sept. 19 at 9 p.m. on BBC America.

Witness an Honest Trailer for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

Since Mad Max: Fury Road was so shiny and chrome, this Honest Trailer doesn’t have a whole heck of a lot to work with, so this is one of the milder entries in the series.

 

“Tom Hardly in the movie” LOL

DOCTOR WHO Prequel Pics Trigger 8th Doctor Speculation

It’s a truism that every scrap of information about DOCTOR WHO spawns a myriad of questions and even more speculation; nothing is too insignificant to drive fandom into paroxysms of fantasy repercussions. Strap yourself in for these nuggets about the new season!

Consider these two photos from the pending prequel to series nine, “The Doctor’s Meditation,” scheduled to be shown at 3D screenings in movie theaters of the series eight finale “Dark Water”/”Death in Heaven” here in the USA on Sept. 15 and 16.

The first shot features Daniel Hoffmann-Gill as Bors, who reappears in the series nine opener, “The Magician’s Apprentice,” alongside Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor, who is holding a chalice. No biggie.

Or is it?

Tom Hardy Portrays Cray-Cray Kray Twins in ‘Legend’

Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road) portrays the Kray Brothers, real-life identical twins Ronald and Reggie, who ruled the underground of London during the Swinging ’60s with a gang that dabbled in everything from protection rackets and armed robbery to murder.

Apparently Hardy is trying to make up for being the sidekick in Fury Road by playing both leads in this movie, which co-stars Emily Browning, Christopher Eccleston (the Ninth Doctor), Chazz Palminteri and David Thewlis (Remus in the Harry Potter films).

 

The story of the Krays was portrayed onscreen once before, in 1990’s The Krays, starring brothers Gary and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet.

Legend opens Oct. 2 in the USA.

 

DOCTOR WHO To Feature Transgender Actress

DOCTOR WHO have cast the show’s first transgender guest star: Comic Bethany Black will appear in the ninth episode of the upcoming series — but details about her character are being kept under wraps.

While unable to provide details, Bethany did write about her casting on her Facebook page:

“It is genuinely the greatest job I could ever have imagined getting. Everything about it is magical. I’m enjoying every day of filming and cherishing it, because you never know if you’ll ever get to do anything like this again. I only hope that I do the role and the show justice, and that you all enjoy it. For me it’s the gig of a lifetime.”

 

Episode 9 is the “found footage” story, which will be done entirely in ersatz cell phone videos.

Watch the Opening Minutes of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

The spin-off/prequel to THE WALKING DEAD, called FEAR THE WALKING DEAD premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on AMC. The network released a video of the opening three minutes of the pilot, and here it is:

 

 

It’s probably just me, but I am still not sold on this series. This opening doesn’t strike me as mysterious and interesting — even if it does parallel Rick’s awakening in the premiere of the mothership — it just feels forced and dragged out.

You can bet I’ll be watching tonight and I’ll be hoping for the best, but I’ve got a bad feeling about this…

DOCTOR WHO Goes With ‘Found Footage’ Gimmick

The new season of DOCTOR WHO will, unfortunately, be indulging in a trend that I greatly dislike: the “found footage” gimmick. The ninth episode will be told entirely in “old phone and camcorder footage.”

Ugh. I am not looking forward to artificially grainy images and bouncing, shaking camera shots.

Shot in the style of movies like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, the episode will involve “the Time Lord’s followers filming their attempts to fight a monster,” the Daily Star reported.

Executive producer Brian Minchin teased: “We’re considering not even having opening titles and just running the footage.”

DOCTOR WHO Story To Feature the Doctor Totally on His Own

 

The Doctor has traveled alone many times before — but never before has DOCTOR WHO featured a story in which only the Doctor appears.

That will change in the upcoming ninth series: The penultimate episode will feature Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and no one else; no co-stars, no guest cast, nobody for the entire 45 minutes!

Executive producer Brian Minchin said: “Doctor Who has always been about taking risks. It’s never sat down and done a normal episode. It’s always done something extraordinary. Our audience likes to be challenged.”

Written by showrunner Steven Moffat, Episode 11 has been described by director Rachel Talalay as, “One of the most complicated and different episodes that I’ve ever done.”

Moffat called the story “a ludicrous challenge.”

Will Peter Capaldi Be Leaving DOCTOR WHO Soon?

Oh, we were thisclose to making it to the new series of DOCTOR WHO… thisclose, I tell ya, to beginning a new season without the traditional “Is the star leaving after this series?” non-story.

But, alas, we now have our first official “Is Capaldi out?” story.

*sigh*

Britain’s Daily Mirror tabloid asked the reigning Doctor, Peter Capaldi, if he has plans to exit the series. Peter replied:

“I sort of enjoy this position I am in with a kind of deep Scottish melancholy, because I know it has to end one day. I will cross that bridge when we come to it, which may be sooner rather than later.”

It sounds to me like he’s riffing on the reputation of Scots being morose, but of course The Mirror took this to mean Peter does not plan a long tenure. (Still, he won’t be the actor with the shortest tenure, since his two series still beat Christopher Eccleston‘s one.)

And don’t worry, folks, the annual “When will Clara really leave?” sweepstakes is still ongoing…