As the new year approaches, it’s time to start looking at the incredible line-up of films 2018 has to offer, starting with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald.
In its upcoming 2018 preview, Empire Magazine has revealed a new look at Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) and Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) in the next Fantastic Beasts film. In the image, the two heroes are standing side by side, although their attention seems to be firmly fixed on something off camera. Looking at their worried expressions, I would guess that Newt and Tina just stumbled upon something sinister. A new beast, perhaps?
Check out the image below:
Warner Bros. Pictures
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwaldstars Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Johnny Depp, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, and Claudia Kim. The film is scheduled for release on November 16, 2018.
At the end of the first film, the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Depp) was captured by MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), with the help of Newt Scamander (Redmayne). But, making good on his threat, Grindelwald escaped custody and has set about gathering followers, most unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings.
In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore (Law) enlists his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
Like the spandex-clad superheroes often portrayed in comic books, members of the comics industry are swooping in to help those in need with Puerto Rico Strong, a new book aimed at helping the survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. According to a report in the Hollywood Reporter, the book called Puerto Rico Strong will be released in March of 2018, with all profits being donated to disaster relief and recovery programs to support Puerto Rico.
Creators from all over the island, or with connections to Puerto Rico, are pitching in to make Puerto Rico Strong happen. One heavy-hitter putting his work into the book is Fabian Nicieza who co-created Deadpool. Along with Nicieza are:
• Vita Ayala writer for DC comics who’s worked on BatmanBeyond, SuicideSquad and much more.
• Rosa Colon, writer, creator, and founder of Soda Pop Comics.
• Naomi Franquiz, illustrator of MisfitCity and BitchPlanet.
According to one of the book’s co-editors, Desiree Rodriguez,
“What we hope to accomplish here is showcasing the vast diversity of Puerto Rico of our community and our history. There are those of us whose parents immigrated from the island, or who have family on the island still or have never even seen Puerto Rico. We want to explore those stories of struggle and triumph through that lens.”
PUERTO RICO STRONG IS COMING IN MARCH 2018!
On behalf of Monkeys Fighting Robots, I’d like to say to my fellow Latinos working on this project and those in Puerto Rico, “Gracias a todos los que trabajan en este proyecto. Necesitamos estar unidos para conquistar el sufrimiento.”
In a near future, a sprawling megalopolis sees the rise of “Boneheads” parkour-gangs that use neuro-linked helmets to augment their abilities and live for the thrill of physical risk. As a gang war threatens to tear the city apart, a mysterious Bonehead rises, a man with no past that might be the key to saving the city’s future.
Bonehead #1 Written by: Bryan Edward Hill Art by: Rhoald Marcellius Colors by: Sakti Yuwono Letters by: Imam Eko & Jaka Ady Graphics by: Comolo
Writing
The first thing I noticed about Bonehead is the velocity of its pacing. Writer Bryan Edward Hill hits the ground running with his story and it’s pretty much non-stop until the cliffhanger ending. That breakneck storytelling, when sprinkled with a little world-building, creates a book that pulls you into its world. There’s a lot to take in too, as this is a pretty detailed world being created, and I feel we have barely scratched the surface. Granted there is a certain amount of exposition, but it’s done in clever ways by using info-graphics and similar narrative techniques. It’s a very modern approach that is a perfect fit for this future story.
As for our protagonist, ’56’, we don’t know much about him/her other than they seem to be one grade A bad-ass with a bit of a hero streak, as evident by the decision to save another ‘bonehead’ from being attacked by a gang. It’s a nice moment that probably will be more significant as the story unfolds.
Art
What a beautiful, sleek book this is. It’s vibrant, colorful and full of energy. The panels and layouts also give it tons of momentum. Visually it’s the perfect style for the story. Rhoald Marcellius, along with colorist Sakti Yuwono and letterers Imam Eko & Jaka Ady have created something very modern here. Everything is crisp and neat, with think line work that adds weight to the images. Each visual component fits in perfectly with each other; it’s all very complimentary. There are also some great character designs.
Conclusion
Bonehead #1 will interest you enough to join it on it’s run, and it seems like the race will take us somewhere fast. With so many comics taking the slow burn approach to telling a story, it’s nice to see one where running isn’t just the theme and important to the plot, but part of the feel you get from the book as well.
The moment I put down the first issue of this series, I just had to learn issue two’s release date. Doomsday Clock #1 reintroduced the world to Watchmen in spectacular fashion. It had great characters, plot, and art, all packaged into the cover page. The plot involves a new Rorschach recruiting two villains to help him and Ozymandias for a mission. This mission will save a world on the brink of nuclear war. Ozymandias’ plan? Find Dr. Manhattan, who was last seen leaving Earth for another universe. Problem is Manhattan has left the Watchmen Universe for another one… The DC Universe.
**Some Spoilers Below**
Story:
We follow the group of Ozymandias, Rorschach, and the villainous couple Mime and Marionette as they escape their world to the DC Universe. The group needs to find Dr. Manhattan, but first, have to locate some allies on this world. This leads to the two heroes looking up and searching for the two smartest men in the world: Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor. The heroes agree to split up, which leads to the first encounters between these two legendary universes.
If you didn’t like the lack of the DC Universe in the first issue, this second one makes up for that many times over. We get a look into this universe through the eyes of the visitors from the Watchmen world and it gives off the sense we’re learning alongside them. Their first encounters with members of the DC Universe are exactly how I’d imagine it, especially the verbal sparring between Ozymandias and Lex Luthor. The back and forth between the two smartest men from both Earths is actually quite interesting to see.
I think the real fault I have with the story is the political climate of the DC Universe. Not that it isn’t interesting, far from it, but it comes off as confusing. The DC Universe is in the midst of unrest due to The Supermen Theory. The theory states that the U.S. Government is creating the superheroes and villains in America as weapons of mass destruction. This leads to the public denouncing heroes, such as Batman. The problem with this theory is the fact that these living WMDs in question help the entire world almost daily. Most of them work outside the government, including the all-powerful Man of Steel. I understand it’s trying to be parallel to the Watchmen Earth, but unless this is an alternate DCU, one would think that the League has enough presence to dissuade that.
Art:
What can be said about Gary Frank’s art that hasn’t been said before? It’s dark, realistic, and fits the tone of the story. Brad Anderson’s colors compliment the pencil work, allowing the characters to pop off the page and make the world feel more alive. With these two working together, this series will be one of the most beautiful years to come.
Conclusion:
This is a fantastic second issue. The plot progresses as the two universes finally meet, the art is fantastic, and has an ending that will leave you longing for the next issue. All we have now is to countdown the days till the next installment.
The first image from Solo: A Star Wars Story hit Reddit this morning as it appears to have leaked from Russian marketing material for the toy merchandise.
Check out the leaked PDF below.
The look of the Millennium Falcon and Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian are the standouts of this image. It will be interesting to see how much the Falcon gets modified by the end of the film.
What do you think of the image? Comment below.
About the film according to Empire Magazine: It’s part of Solo lore that, as a young gifted pilot, he studied at the Imperial Academy at Carida. Solo is kicked out of the Academy for rescuing Chewbacca from an Imperial Officer, and thus one of cinema’s great friendships was formed. Some variation on this is likely in Solo.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is directed by Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke and Thandie Newton.
Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters May 25, 2018
Netflix’s original film BRIGHT is getting a lot of (justifiably) bad press since its release. The film is scoring horrible reviews, and stirring up conversations on how the film handles racism. Now it turns out the film did more than leave out good taste. BRIGHT left out all the names of the studioADI team, which did Special Make-Up for the film.
StudioADI released a statement on their omission, listing the names of the folks who worked on the film. “On rare occasion unintentional credit omissions are made. When you see those never-ending lists of crew in the credits of a movie like Bright you can be guaranteed that mistakes are going to be made,” said the studio. “That’s what happened to us. Our entire crew was left out of the credits.”
What makes this error especially egregious is that the film may win an Oscar for its make-up. The Oscars revealed the films in contention for Best Makeup and Hairstyling last week. BRIGHT tops the list of the seven films that could win – it’s an alphabetical list, mind you, but that’s still quite a feat. Not to mention the fact that StudioADI has won Oscars for its previous work. Failing to acknowledge so many individuals, especially those behind your film’s best attribute, is embarrassing.
Copyright Scott Garfield/Netflix
“We’re having the necessary conversations about getting it rectified (it’s streaming, right? seems like a do-able fix) but until we get a resolution, we thought we’d post the complete list of the incredible folks who worked on ADI’s crew,” says the studio.
Netflix has yet to respond to the omissions, potentially because it’s still the holiday season. In the mean time, you can see the list of team members omitted below.
Shop Supervisor
Yuri Everson
Asst. Shop Supervisor
Garth Winkless
Mechanical Supervisor
Dave Penikas
Seaming/ Fabrication Supervisor
Tim Leach
Mold Supervisor
Dave Perteet
Paint Supervisor
Mike Larrabee
Foam Supervisor
Matt Mastrella
Coordinator
Michael Heintzelman
Seaming/ Finishing Dept.
Brian Clawson
Sara Villarreal
Jon K. Miller
Hope DeCanio
Amanda Taggart
Alison Kellerman
Anthony Matijevich
Jon Fedele
Fabrication Dept.
Consuelo Duran
Elizabeth Santos
Lucy Torres
Office
Colin Gillis
Paul Manchento
Design Dept.
Ken Barthelmey
Justin Goby-Fields
Mauricio Ruiz
Justice Joseph
Miles Teves
Bryan Wynia
Andrew Bergholtz
Jordan K. Morris
Sculpture Dept.
Wayne Anderson
Steve Koch
Mikey Rotella
Ayumi Miyashiro
Matt Rose
Michael O’Brien
Timothy Martin
Mold Dept.
Brent Baker
Anthony Stewart
Steve Winsett
Kyle Marzigliano
David Woodruff
Tanner White
Jared Guenther
Brian Rae
Anthony Diaz
Grace Balsamo
Foam Dept.
Keaton Blue
Dustin Washburne
Jacob Roanhaus
Michael B. Jordan talked to Empire about portraying the villainous Erik Killmonger in Black Panther.
“It took me to a dark place. Honestly, I can’t really go through all I went through to get into it because I want to keep that close to me. But it stuck with me afterwards. There’s a lot of physical moments and action sequences throughout this film that cause us to really challenge ourselves, and also fall deeper into character.”
Marvel Studios has a villain problem, and I don’t think anyone can argue against that. The few well excuted bad guys include Red Skull, Loki, and arguably Hela in Thor: Ragnarok. Thanos looks to shake up the scene in Avengers: Infinity War, however, only time will tell if Josh Brolin can deliver the performance fans desire. Jordan’s role as Killmonger has potential to give fans another memorable villain, given how talented the actor is, along with Ryan Coogler’s magnificent direction.
Black Panther releases in theaters on February 16, 2018. Are you looking forward to Marvel Studios’ next movie? Comment below, let us know.
Even Captain Planet and the Planeteers need a little help in improving the environment! Look, superhero-ing is a messy job and someone has to do it, but let’s be honest, our billionaire caped wonders aren’t really that ecological, which is apparent after a recent study performed by Stanford University Geologist Miles Traer.
Traer, a pop-scientist, brought forth his study at the most-recent American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in which he explained that while superheroes are saving the world, they also might be destroying it at the same time.
It’s about carbon footprints and how we can use our combined knowledge, apply it to climate change, in hopes of helping resident superheroes be even better for the planet. The presentation was part of an ongoing series called, “Sci-Fi: Using Real Science to Explore Fictional Words”. They are meant to dive into issues in pop culture and entertainment as a means of opening the conversation about real-world scientific issues.
The study found that a handful of superheroes, namely Batman, Superman, Firebird, Flash, Oracle and Swamp Thing, all of the DCU, and Marvel’s Spider-Man, Iron Man and Jessica Jones, while all good at saving the day, were all superbad at leaving carbon footprints all over the place.
The worst offender, Oracle. Regardless if her servers ran on a combination of clean energy (nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, wind and geothermal), keeping them going would still dispel more than 1.3 billion pounds of carbon dioxide a year.
Her DC Comics counterparts, equally as bad. Flash, to run at the speed of light, would need to consume 59,863,610,416 calories-per-second, or the equivalent of a 12-foot tall hamburger, every week. That comes out to roughly 90 million pounds of carbon dioxide on an annual basis. Meanwhile, Batman, using the Batwing and Batmobile, would burn, in equivalence, the fossil fuel usage of 344 plane rides from New York to San Francisco.
“Plus Batman drives around a car that literally shoots fire out the back,” Traer says. “That has to be terrible for the environment.”
Traer, via his presentation, seeks to motivate people to start thinking about their own carbon footprints. Each of the nine superheroes he analyzed reflects some aspect of humans’ fossil fuel consumption. To further his point, Traer considers how his heroes might lessen their impact on the environment. For example, by opting a vegetarian lifestyle, Flash could reduce his emissions of carbon dioxide to just 3 million. If Bruce Wayne cut back on Batgear, he could instead pay for carbon offsets for large populations.
In a nut shell: If a masked vigilante, with way too much money in the bank, can redeem himself, then you can too!
Check out the complete story from the meeting via the Washington Post, HERE.
It’s Christmas, and it means one thing to Whovians: the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Since 2005 it has been an annual event, and it is usually one of the highest rated shows in the UK on Christmas Day. They have been thirteen specials of various quality, entertainment and bringing in some sort of Christmas element. So we at Monkeys Fighting Robots are ranking them all.
13. Last Christmas
Five words that can ruin a story are ‘it was all a dream.’ That was the case for the 2014 Christmas Special, capping off the worst season of the modern Doctor Who. The episode opens with Clara meeting Father Christmas, (Nick Frost) on top of her roof which leads to an adventure with The Doctor on Arctic base in the future plagued with creatures trap their victims in their dreams.
“Last Christmas” was apparently trying to do a Doctor Who version of Inception as The Doctor, Clara and the scientists in the base get trapped in dreams within dreams and trying to figure out what is real and fake. The episode ends with the reveal that the adventure in The North Pole was all a dream, undercutting any investment audience had with the story.
A funny reference in retrospect was seeing Shona’s (Faye Marsay) Christmas to do list which included a “Thrones” marathon. Marsay later appeared in Game of Thrones as The Waif.
12. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
As the title suggests “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” is a homage to the C.S. Lewis children’s story The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In the episode, The Doctor helps a mother (Claire Skinner) and her children who have lost their husband/father during the War and somehow go through a time portal to a forest planet.
“The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe” is the most forgettable Christmas special. Its key selling point was the casting of Claire Skinner, famous for her role in the sitcom Outnumbered. She was solid enough in the lead role, and the episode had some beautiful scenery and costumes, but it is a mediocre offering.
11. The Runaway Bride
Your enjoyment of “The Runaway Bride” depends on your tolerates of Catherine Tate. The second Christmas adventures sees The Doctor meeting Donna Noble for the first time as a bride who somehow ended up in the TARDIS. It’s up to The Doctor to figure out why Donna ended up in his time machine and find out there is a great threat under the Thames Barrier.
“The Runaway Bride” was made at the height of Tate’s fame on her self-titled sketch show. It was a show that gave birth to the characters of the foul-mouthed Nan and Lauren, the schoolgirl, popularizing the catchphrase “Am I bovvered?” Tate played Donna broad and loud: the worst aspects of her comedy. Tate improved a lot when Donna Noble was reintroduced in the fourth season because the character was written to have more range. But “The Runaway Bride” was a bad introduction.
“The Runaway Bride” was an average Doctor Who story but it suffered from having to shoehorn in the Christmas elements like the robot Santa pilot fish and the villain’s spaceship being the Northern Star.
10. The Return of Doctor Mysterio After a yearlong absence Doctor Who returned in 2016 with a superhero Christmas adventure. In the episode, The Doctor meets a young boy and accidentally gives him superpowers. Years later The Doctor returns to New York and finds the boy has grown up to become the superhero known as The Ghost and together they have to stop a human scientist working with an alien who wants to take over the world: standard Doctor Who/superhero fare.
“The Return of Doctor Mysterio” was met with a mixed critical reception, but I personally enjoyed it as a pastiche of the superhero genre. The Ghost and his alter-ego are like Clark Kent and Superman: one is mild-mannered and unassuming, the other being a highly confidence projection. Besides from the parallels with Superman the episode makes references to other DC and Marvel heroes and as a whole “The Return of Doctor Mysterio” is a fun Doctor Who story.
9. Twice Upon a Time
“Twice Upon a Time” is the most recent Christmas special and Peter Capaldi’s last episode as the Twelve Doctor. “Twice Upon a Time” continues upon two Doctor Who episodes: the season 10 finale “The Doctor Fall” and the First Doctor “The Tenth Planet.”
After defeating the Cybermen in “The Doctor Fall” The Doctor lands on the South Pole and refuses to regenerate where meets his first iteration (David Bradley taking on Peter Harding’s role). It was the only other time The Doctor refuses to regenerate. Together they encounter a race from the distance future known as The Testimony and they make the Doctor an offer: if he returns a World War One officer (Mark Gatiss) to his point of death they would resurrect Bill Potts.
Compared to Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith’s final episodes Peter Capaldi’s was a low-key and thoughtful story. It is more a reflective episode as The Twelve Doctor questioned why The First Doctor did not want to regenerate and both must accept they have to change. While “The Doctor Falls” was a better sent off as The Twelve Doctor went down fighting his monologue about what the Doctor should have the necessary impact especially his final words: ‘be kind.’
The episode suffers from weak comedy between the Doctors, not help by the ‘comedic’ music, and as an episode, it is a middling Doctor Who offering.
8. The Next Doctor
“The Next Doctor” kicked off a collection of episodes known as The Specials, stories that acted as David Tennant’s final season. “The Next Doctor” sees the Tenth Doctor in London in 1851 and meets another man (David Morrisey) claiming to be The Doctor and the two team up to stop the Cyberman who are a threat to the city and the world.
Before “The Next Doctor” was broadcast the British press speculated that Morrisey was set to become the Eleventh Doctor and he would have been a solid choice to play the famous role. He was quirky, quick-witted and serious as a man with a tragedy in his past. It was also a great ‘what if’ scenario. It acts as a reinterpretation of Doctor Who with the Sonic Screwdriver being a regular screwdriver (but it still makes noise, which is sonic) and the TARDIS being a hot air balloon.
The strength of “The Next Doctor” was it acted as a continuation of the Series 2 finale where the Cybermen and Daleks were trapped in the void between universes. The Cybermen steal Dalek technology to escape. It also acted as a swashbuckling adventure with the Doctor arming himself with a cutlass to fight off two Cybermen and uses the blade as a means of escape.
Despite some wintery set dressing and a reference to Christmas Eve “The Next Doctor” was not really a Christmas episode.
7. Voyage of the Damned “Voyage of the Damned” is the first Christmas episode that is set in a surprisingly popular location for Doctor Who Christmas specials: interstellar cruise ships. “Voyage of the Damned” sees The Doctor on a space liner based on the Titanic, and he must stop the ship crashing into London. The episode featured the pint-sized Aussie pop-star Kylie Minogue, and she was a fun presence as a one-off companion – her best moments were standing on a box to kiss The Doctor and her character saving the day by driving a forklift into a cyborg. On the whole “Voyage of the Damned” is a decent Doctor Who story that has a solid amount of action and special effects.
6. The End of Time
“The End of Time” was a two-part special that capped off David Tennant’s run as the Tenth Doctor. In “The End of Time” the Doctor’s greatest nemesis, The Master (John Simm) is resurrected with the Doctor Who sci-fi-fantasy mumbo-jumbo and planned to be used by the billionaire Joshua Naismith (David Harewood). But The Master is someone who cannot be controlled. The specials also sees the return of Time Lords with the leader, Rassilon (Timothy Dalton) attempting to break out of the Time War lock.
Being a two-parter “The End of Time” was an epic end to David Tennant tenure as The Doctor, giving fans hope of a more permeant return of the Time Lords. He has an emotional send with his long goodbye, visiting all his previous companions and allies, even meeting Rose before she met him as The Ninth Doctor. It was a powerful moment when the Doctor says “I don’t want to go” before regenerating into Matt Smith, destructing the TARDIS in the process.
5. The Snowmen
Programme Name: Doctor Who – TX: n/a – Episode: n/a (No. n/a) – Embargoed for publication until: 27/11/2012 – Picture Shows: **STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 00:00:01 27th DECEMBER 2012** Clara (JENNA-LOUISE COLEMAN), The Doctor (MATT SMITH) – (C) BBC – Photographer: Adrian Rogers
“The Snowmen” is a unique Christmas special because it broadcast during a mid-series break. Following the events of “The Angels Take Manhattan” the Doctor has fallen into a deep depression after Amy and Rory get stuck in fixed time. However, he is forced back into action when he meets Clara, a Victorian governess who moonlights as a Cockney barmaid and the pair have to face a global threat in the form of intelligent snow.
“The Snowmen” marked Jenna Coleman’s second appearance as Clara, The Impossible Girl and this version of the character had plenty of spunk as she searched for the Doctor and showed she was an incredibly bright individual. The episode also provided the first appearance of the Paternoster Gang, featuring the Silurian Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), her wife Jenny Flint (Catrin Stewart) and Sontaran butler Strax (Dan Starkey).
“The Snowmen” also saw Ian McKellen voice The Great Intelligence and Richard E. Grant as his human vassal who uses the intelligence snow as an army. It was a suitable villain for a story set at Christmas. “The Snowmen” was a surprisingly somber Christmas special and in retrospect shows why Clara was special.
4. The Christmas Invasion
“The Christmas Invasion” was the first Christmas special of the modern era and David Tennant’s first appearance as The Doctor. “The Christmas Invasion” does exactly what it says on the tin, showing an alien race invading Earth on Christmas Day and holds a third of the world hostage. However, the Doctor is incapacitated by his recent regeneration, so it’s up to the Doctor’s allies to try and stop the save the world.
“The Christmas Invasion” is a simple and entertaining Doctor Who story and shows how the Doctor’s allies and companions use all their experience in the Doctor’s absence: it gives them a chance to shine. When The Tenth Doctor was finally in action, he was quite a badass, getting into a saw fight with a warrior alien and showed he had a ruthless streak.
The episode also had some solid special effect, particularly model work when the Sycorax’s ship hovers over London and scatters the grass on many buildings, including the Gherkin.
3. A Christmas Carol
Set on a planet similar to Victorian England “A Christmas Carol” sees a space liner is stuck in an electrical storm. The Doctor is unable to land on the ship so goes to the source of the storm and discovers the only way to save the passengers and crew is to change the past of a bitter old man, Kazran Sardick (Michael Gambon).
“A Christmas Carol” is inspired by the Charles Dickens novella of the same name and has The Doctor acting as The Ghost of Christmas Past, Amy Pond was Ghost of Christmas Present and the older version of Sardick being his own Ghost of Christmas Future. It was a solid reimagining of a classic Christmas tale, mixing the Christmas setting and the time traveling storytelling that Doctor Who is known for. This episode was special because was actually a Doctor Who Christmas story and not just a Doctor Who story set at Christmas.
It was considered a big coup for Doctor Who to cast Michael Gambon in the Ebenezer Scrooge role, and it gave classical singer Katherine Jenkins her first major acting role. Obviously, Gambon was intense in his role, and Jenkins was okay: her casting was really an excuse for her to sing.
“The Husbands of River Song” was the only Doctor Who episode that saw The Twelve Doctor and River Song together and beautifully ties up the relationship between The Doctor and his wife. In the episode, River does not recognize the Twelve Doctor as her time-traveling husband and is married to King Hydroflax (Greg Davies). The Doctor tags along as River plans a heist and knowing trouble follows wherever she goes.
“The Husbands of River Song” works as a conclusion to River Song storyline and how it links into her first appearance in “Silence in the Library.” It also had an emotional speech from River Song about how she loves The Doctor, but The Doctor doesn’t love her back with The Doctor revealing himself with the words ‘Hello sweetie.’
“The Husbands of River Song” combines the best aspects of Doctor Who, humor and emotion and it stands as one of Peter Capaldi’s best episodes. It is however a case of a Doctor Who story being set at Christmas rather than being a Christmas Doctor Who story.
1. The Time of the Doctor
Topping this list is “The Time of the Doctor”, Matt Smith’s final appearance as The Doctor and it would have acted a great end to Steven Moffat’s run if he had chosen to step down as showrunner at that point.
A message from Trenzalore has drawn all the Doctor’s enemies: The Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and the Silence. With the planet under threat from all these foes and held under siege by the Papal Mainframe (Church of Silence) the Doctor spends 300 hundred years protecting the town of Christmas. In the town is the last reminding crack from the TARDIS explosion in Season 5 and the Time Lords are trying to re-emerge into the universe but by doing so would restart the Time War.
“The Time of the Doctor” is a beautiful wrap of The Eleventh Doctor’s arc as he shows his devotion to protecting a town into old age and tied up all his storylines. It was also an action-packed episode as the Doctor fights off Daleks, Weeping Angels and Cybermen attempt to penetrate the Doctor’s defenses. There was an emotional ending because the Doctor sees Amy Pond before he peacefully regenerates in Peter Capaldi.
The Toys That Made Us is a four-part documentary series on Netflix that looks at four of the most famous toy lines in the world, delving into the drama and creativity behind it all. The documentary tackles Star Wars, Barbie, He-Man and GI Joe in a series that reveals the things that made these toys possible and the decisions throughout the decades that both harmed and helped the brand become more popular.
The Toys That Made Us sets up viewers with an intro that could not be more perfect. A cheerful, Saturday morning cartoon theme song plays over an animated intro sequence. The entire moment could put a smile on the dead with its joyful depiction of the things it is about to talk about. Toys bring joy, to kids anyway, parents maybe not-so-much, and this documentary loves the toys and everything about them.
Episode One: Star Wars
The series begins with one of the biggest toy franchises in the history of toy franchises. It puts a sobering point on just how important StarWars toys are with one simple face. StarWars movies have collectively earned roughly seven billion dollars while the toys have surpassed 14 billion. The StarWars toy empire began before the first movie even finished shooting and the process to get to today is truly riveting for fans who want to know about the many figures created for a galaxy far, far away.
Episode Two: Barbie
The unchallenged queen of the toy business. Barbie is almost 60 years old, but you’d never know it. This toy line, above all others, does such an amazing job of evolving along with the times and the new boys and girls who will use the slender plastic figures bring their imagination to life. The story behind Barbie is even more interesting. It’s littered with powerful egos, fraud, failure and cutthroat moves to stay on top.
Episode Three: He-Man
“I have the power!” To 80s kids, He-Man was a powerhouse of both toys and cartoons. And the story behind it all is even more interesting than you can imagine. Nearly everything about the existence of He-Man is debatable or happened through bluffs and gambits. As the documentary series claims, He-Man may not be as time-tested as the other toys examined, but for five years He-Man was an unstoppable, money-making force. He-Man also set the stage for toy lines used to push cartoons instead of the other way around.
Episode Four: GI Joe
The makers of this documentary series saved one of the most fascinating stories for last. GI Joe is decades old, much like Barbie, and has evolved time and time again to stay relevant. GI Joe peaked in the 80s, but the road to get there involved many players. One such involved party includes Marvel Comics and use of one medium to push another. GI Joe is the story of many minds coming together and each one adding something to the whole that made it work. There’s also a sobering moment with Larry Hama, the comic book writer who helped shape the real American heroes.
