The General

Title: The General
Year: 1926 (Japan), 1927 (US)
Directors: Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton
Writers: Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton, adaptation by Al Boasberg & Charles Henry Smith
Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack
Music: random classical music
Distinctions: currently #126 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 103 minutes
Synopsis: a Southern train engineer during the Civil War
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay)
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for pacing and music) c. 2.9/4 (Good)

Cute movie, but not great. It's probably very important and influential, but I wouldn't know about that sort of thing. The points off for pacing and music are entirely because of the version I saw. The IMDb says there are a number of 75-minute versions with original music. So it's pretty unforgivable that Netflix has a budget video with an arbitrary public domain music track that nearly renders the movie unwatchable (after being unimpressed with the movie, I watched a minute or two of it with the sound off and was amazed at how much better it was).

Doctor Who #112-114: The E-Space Trilogy

Title: Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy (”Full Circle” / “State of Decay” / “Warrior's Gate“)
Year: 1980 / 1980 / 1981
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Directors: Peter Grimwade / Peter Moffatt / Paul Joyce
Writers: Andrew Smith / Terrance Dicks / Stephen Gallagher
Starring: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, Matthew Waterhouse
Music: Ron Grainer (theme); Paddy Kingsland, Peter Howell
Episodes: 12, at 25 minutes; 3 stories at 4 episodes each, from the middle of season 18
Synopsis: The Doctor and Romana are trapped in a parallel universe
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), over the past few weeks
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, cinematography and special effects/design) c. 2.5/4 (Okay).

Well-performed - with the glaring exception of Matthew Waterhouse. And, for 1980's Doctor Who, reasonably well-written - with the exception of "Warrior's Gate," which makes no sense. The first two stories don't really stand out as memorable, but they're good.  The show's last gasp before moving full on into the 80's and crap-as-the-norm.

Doctor Who #84: The Brain of Morbius

Title: Doctor Who: “The Brain of Morbius“
Year: 1976
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Christopher Barry
Writers: Terrance Dicks & Robert Holmes
Starring: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Music: Ron Grainer (theme), Dudley Simpson
Episodes: 4, at 25 minutes; the 5th story (of 6) from season 13
Synopsis: a mad scientist is assembling a body for an evil brain-in-a-jar
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), October 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.6/4 (Good).

This is from the era when Doctor Who was in its prime: Tom Baker's Doctor with Sarah Jane, up against sci-fi versions of classic horror stories. It's not a very good episode - one of the worst from the period - but still good.

Justice League: Season Five

Title: Justice League Unlimited: Season Three
Year: 2005-2006
Network: Cartoon Network
Creator: Bruce W. Timm & Paul Dini
Directors: Joaquim Dos Santos (7 episodes), Dan Riba (6)
Writers: Dwayne McDuffie (6 episodes), Matt Wayne (6), J.M. DeMatteis (2), Paul Dini (1), Geoff Johns (1)
Starring: Kevin Conroy, Maria Canals-Barrera, Susan Eisenberg, Phil LaMarr, Carl Lumbly, George Newbern, Michael Rosenbaum
Music: Lolita Ritmanis, Kristopher Carter, Michael McCuistion
Episodes: 13, at c. 20 minutes
Synopsis: The Justice League vs. The Legion of Doom
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), over the past few days
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

Lots of fun, but not as good as the previous "Unlimited" seasons. The focus is mostly on the villains, which wouldn't be so bad except that Lex Luthor is the only serious villain that's interesting this season. Meanwhile, most of the best heroes, like Batman, have smaller roles than guest characters.

Note: There seems to be some confusion over what makes up a season of this show. The DVD set for what I'm calling JLU season three is labeled "season two," while the set of JLU seasons one and two is labelled "season one." And seasons 1-3 of JLU are simultaneously seasons 3-5 of JL. What?

There Will Be Blood

Title: There Will Be Blood
Year: 2007
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson, based on a novel by Upton Sinclair
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Dillon Freasier, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor
Music: Jonny Greenwood (and non-original music)
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Actor (Day-Lewis) and Best Cinematography; Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Editing and Best Sound Editing; currently #128 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 158 minutes
Synopsis: a successful oil man is revealed to be a misanthropic sociopath
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for concept, story and pacing) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

I don't really get the point of this. It's very well shot, the acting is great, the music is great. The writing of any given scene is great. But it's very slow, and there's just not much of a story. I expect more than subtle character development when I sit down for a period epic.

Doctor Who #70: The Time Warrior

Title: Doctor Who: “The Time Warrior“
Year: 1973-1974
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Alan Bromly
Writer: Robert Holmes
Starring: Jon Pertwee, Elisabeth Sladen, Nicholas Courtney
Music: Ron Grainer (theme), Dudley Simpson
Episodes: 4, at 25 minutes; the 1st story (of 5) from season 11
Synopsis: a shipwrecked alien kidnaps scientists into medieval England
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), April 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, special effects/design and music) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

One of the better stories, but not a particular favorite of mine. It's the first appearance of the Sontarans, which look completely absurd but are one of the more cleverly thought out creatures in the show.

Rocky III

Title: Rocky III
Year: 1982
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Mr. T
Music: Bill Conti, Survivor
Distinctions: Oscar nomination for Best Song ("Eye of the Tiger")
Length: 99 minutes
Synopsis: after years of shallow success, Rocky gets his ass handed to him
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for concept, cinematography and music) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

What made the first two Rocky movies great was they were basically dramas about Rocky and Adrian, and those two characters just work great together.  The boxing stuff was a secondary part of the story. Rocky III, however, is pure boxing movie. If you hadn't seen the first two movies, you wouldn't even know the characters from watching this one. That said, it's very entertaining for a sports movie. Especially when all sorts of crazy stuff comes out of Mr. T's mouth.

Doctor Who #52, 62 & 131: Beneath the Surface

Title: Doctor Who: Beneath the Surface (”Doctor Who and the Silurians” / “The Sea Devils” / “Warriors of the Deep“)
Year: 1970 / 1972 / 1984
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Directors: Timothy Combe / Michael E. Briant / Pennant Roberts
Writers: Malcolm Hulke / Malcolm Hulke / Johnny Byrne
Starring: Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney / Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning / Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson
Music: Ron Grainer (theme); Carey Blyton / Malcolm Clarke / Jonathan Gibbs
Episodes: 17, at 25 minutes; 1 story of 7 episodes (the 2nd of 4 stories from season 7), 1 story of 6 episodes (the 3rd of 5 stories from season 9), and 1 story of 4 episodes (the 1st of 6 stories from season 21)
Synopsis: creatures who inhabited Earth before humans want their planet back
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), June 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 4/10 (gets points for concept, pacing, acting and subjective rating) c. 2.0/4 (Indifferent).

The 80's story strongly pulls down the average of the three. "The Silurians" isn't a great episode, but it's good. Surprisingly fast-paced for seven episodes. The music is particularly horrible; the DVD includes an entire documentary about how horrible the music is. "The Sea Devils" is nothing special, but it's got some good solid Doctoring. It's basically the same story as "The Silurians," with a subplot around The Master (who has some great cornball lines) added. "Warriors of the Deep" is completely terrible. Possibly the worst special effects of the entire series. And awful writing; I am shocked at the quality of writing the BBC was willing to film and broadcast in the 80's.

Witness for the Prosecution

Title: Witness for the Prosecution
Year: 1957
Director: Billy Wilder
Writers: Larry Marcus, Billy Wilder & Harry Kurnitz, based on the play by Agatha Christie
Starring: Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester
Music: Matty Malneck
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Laughton), Best Supporting Actress (Lanchester), Best Editing and Best Sound Recording; currently #129 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 116 minutes
Synopsis: a man's wife testifies against him at his murder trial
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), yesterday
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and music) c. 3.3/4 (Very good).

Very entertaining, especially Laughton's performance.  I think snarky wit is the foundation of the English legal process.  I never would have seen the ending coming even if I'd had reason to expect a twist - but I didn't have reason, because it still would have been a good movie without the twist.

Doctor Who #51: Spearhead from Space

Title: Doctor Who: "Spearhead from Space"
Year: 1970
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Derek Martinus
Writer: Robert Holmes
Starring: Jon Pertwee, Caroline John, Nicholas Courtney
Music: Ron Grainer (theme), Dudley Simpson
Episodes: 4, at 25 minutes; the 1st story (of 4) from season 7
Synopsis: aliens plan to invade earth with the help of a plastics company
How I saw it: on video a couple times (rented from Netflix), most recently a few months ago
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 8/10 (points off for cinematography and special effects/design) c. 3.2/4 (Very good).

If you want to get started watching Doctor Who, I'd say after the new series, this episode is the best place to jump in. There was some major retooling done for the seventh season, and this is like the start of a new show, with a new Doctor introduced gradually from the perspective of the other characters. It's also probably the highest quality of all the classic stories, with writing, acting and production values on par with (low budget) feature films of the time. The plot is almost identical to "The Invasion," but it's a good plot to steal, so I don't mind.

Doctor Who #46: The Invasion

Title: Doctor Who: "The Invasion"
Year: 1968
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Douglas Camfield
Writer: Derrick Sherwin, story by Kit Pedler
Starring: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Nicholas Courtney
Music: Ron Grainer (theme), Don Harper
Episodes: 8, at 25 minutes; the 3rd story (of 7) from season 6
Synopsis: the Cybermen are preparing to invade Earth
How I saw it: on video a couple times (rented from Netflix), most recently a few months ago
Subjective Rating: 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 9/10 (1 point off for special effects/design) c. 3.1/4 (Very good).

Iconic. One of the best classic Doctor Who stories. Great directing, decent writing, excellent use of location filming, and girls climbing ladders in miniskirts. Even though it's 8 episodes long, when 4 episodes of most stories seem like too much, it never stalls or hits any slow points. Two episodes have been lost, with only the soundtracks remaining; they've animated those soundtracks, and the results are quite good. I think it's the first time that this particular alien invasion formula (later to become a staple) was used on the show.

housekeeping post

I felt the need to adjust the top end of my Subjective Ratings scale, because there were a number of movies I'd wished I'd given an 8/10 and didn't - movies that stand out as being particularly excellent but that I didn't love for one reason or other. I had had 7/10 defined as "liked it" and 9/10 defined as "one of my favorites," with 8/10 (as well as the other even numbers) undefined. Now I'm clarifying the scale as follows:

10/10 = favorite of my favorites
9/10 = one of my favorites
8/10 = great
7/10 = good
6/10 = okay
5/10 = indifferent
4/10 = eh
3/10 = bad
2/10 = terrible
1/10 = eew get it away!
0/10 = Mulholland Dr.

That won't change anything in the middle, and I'm not going to worry about how it effects the bottom (how much I dislike a movie doesn't really matter much to me), but it means that a lot of high-rated movies are getting slightly higher ratings.

7/10's promoted to 8/10:
Frankenstein (1931)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Roman Holiday (1953)
Per un pugno di dollari (1964)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Harold and Maude (1971)
The Conversation (1974)
A Christmas Story (1983)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom (2003)
Synecdoche, New York (2008)

8/10's promoted to 9/10:
Brief Encounter (1945)
Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Rocky (1976)
Groundhog Day (1993)
In Bruges (2008)

9/10's promoted to 10/10:
Network (1976)
Up (2009)

Doctor Who #45: The Mind Robber

Title: Doctor Who: “The Mind Robber“
Year: 1968
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: David Maloney
Writer: Derrick Sherwin, Peter Ling
Starring: Patrick Troughton, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury
Music: Ron Grainer (theme)
Episodes: 5, at 25 minutes; the 2nd story (of 7) from season 6
Synopsis: the 2nd Doctor and his companions are trapped in a world of fiction
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), most recently a few months ago
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, cinematography and special effects/design) c. 2.7/4 (Good).

It's the sort of story that's very obviously made for kids, and it's not very well executed. But it's also a fun and imaginative idea. Includes devices such as the Tardis falling to pieces, the Doctor needing to reassemble his companion's face (resulting in a change of casting when he messes up), and Gulliver from Gulliver's Travels speaking only in lines from the book. Gets a bonus point for Zoe's bum.

Doctor Who #27: The War Machines

Title: Doctor Who: “The War Machines“
Year: 1966
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Michael Ferguson
Writer: Ian Stuart Black, story by Kit Pedler
Starring: William Hartnell, Jackie Lane, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze
Music: Ron Grainer (theme)
Episodes: 4, at 25 minutes; the last story (of 10) from season 3
Synopsis: a military computer tries to conquer humanity with robots
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), January 2009
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, dialog and special effects/design) c. 2.5/4 (Okay).

One of the worst-written episodes of the entire series (despite having more or less the same story as Terminator), but executed well enough to make up for it.  Directed well, very melodramatic.

Return to the Planet of the Apes

Title: Return to the Planet of the Apes
Year: 1975
Network: NBC
Creator: David H. DePatie & Friz Freleng (developers); Pierre Boulle (characters)
Director: Doug Wildey
Writers: Larry Spiegel (6 episodes), Jack Kaplan (3), John Barrett (3), J.C. Strong (2), Bruce Shelly (2)
Starring: Austin Stoker, Philippa Harris, Henry Corden, Richard Blackburn, Edwin Mills, Claudette Nevins, Tom Williams
Music: Dean Elliott
Episodes: 13, at c. 24 minutes
Synopsis: three astronauts crash on the Planet of the Apes and defend its human population from a mad gorilla general
How I saw it: on video (have on DVD), over the past few days
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 3/10 (gets points for concept, music and subjective rating) c. 1.6/4 (Eh).

Terrible acting. Terrible animation. Terrible writing - although the overall story arc is actually pretty good, enough so that I enjoyed the show. Check out the deceptively fun theme music sequence:



We also recently tried watching the 1974 live action TV series. Couldn't get past the first disc (four episodes), it's just too awful. I have never seen a TV show that's more insulting to its audience. Compared to that, the cartoon seems great.

Doctor Who #17: The Time Meddler

Title: Doctor Who: “The Time Meddler“
Year: 1965
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Douglas Camfield
Writer: Dennis Spooner
Starring: William Hartnell, Maureen O'Brien, Peter Purves
Music: Ron Grainer (theme)
Episodes: 4, at 25 minutes; the last story (of 9) from season 2
Synopsis: another renegade from The Doctor's world (The Meddling Monk) is out to "improve" history in North Umbria, 1066
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), September 2008
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for cinematography, special effects/design and acting) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

Clever story. Not flashy or exciting or anything, but it's fun to get into the ideas. The "history lesson" aspect is integrated into the plot well; the nature of the Monk makes history a matter of strategy and not just the setting.

Doctor Who #10: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Title: Doctor Who: "The Dalek Invasion of Earth"
Year: 1964
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Director: Richard Martin
Writer: Terry Nation
Starring: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
Music: Ron Grainer (theme), Francis Chagrin
Episodes: 6, at 25 minutes; the 2nd story (of 9) from season 2
Synopsis: 22nd-Century Earth has been conquered by Daleks, and the Doctor and his companions join up with the human resistance
How I saw it: on video a couple times (rented from Netflix), most recently a few months ago
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 6/10 (points off for story, pacing, cinematography and special effects/design) c. 2.3/4 (Okay).

Terry Nation's idea of suspense is to have people going somewhere, and one of them has a limp (but, no, how can he go somewhere with a limp!?). I enjoy it well enough, but it's a fairly average story.

Donnie Darko

Title: Donnie Darko
Year: 2001
Director: Richard Kelly
Writer: Richard Kelly
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone
Music: Michael Andrews (and non-original music)
Distinctions: currently #131 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 113 minutes
Synopsis: an unreasonably intense teenager is visited by (or hallucinates) a timetraveller in a creepy bunny costume
How I saw it: on video a number of times (used to have on DVD), most recently (rented from Netflix) yesterday
Subjective Rating: 4/10 (Eh).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, cinematography and subjective rating) c. 2.9/4 (Good).

It presents itself as a sort of jigsaw puzzle for the audience to solve. For years I thought it was a good movie that I just hadn't figured out yet. Then I found out (from a commentary or some other DVD bonus feature) that the writer/director did not in fact know what was going on. So, it doesn't actually make any sense. Re-watching it yesterday I tried to ignore the puzzle aspects and just enjoy the movie for what it was, but found it impossible. Even knowing there's no solution, I couldn't help trying to figure it out. It's just the nature of the plot; it challenges you to solve a puzzle with no solution. Extremely frustrating.

Doctor Who #1-3: The Beginning

Title: Doctor Who: The Beginning ("An Unearthly Child" / "The Daleks" / "The Edge of Destruction")
Year: 1963 / 1963-1964 / 1964
Network: BBC
Creators: Sydney Newman, C.E. Webber, Donald Wilson
Directors: Waris Hussein (Unearthly), Christopher Barry (Daleks, 4 episodes), Richard Martin (Daleks, 3 episodes; Edge, 1 episode), Frank Cox (Edge, 1 episode)
Writers: Anthony Coburn, C.E. Webber, Terry Nation, David Whitaker
Starring: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
Music: Ron Grainer (theme), Norman Kay, Tristram Cary
Episodes: 13, at 25 minutes (1 story of 4 episodes, 1 of 7, and 1 of 2); the first 3 (of 8) stories from season 1
Synopsis: an elderly alien kidnaps two English schoolteachers when they follow a student to his timetravelling spaceship
How I saw it: on video a couple times (rented from Netflix), most recently a few months ago
Subjective Rating: 7/10 (Good).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for story, pacing and cinematography) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

The first episode, where we meet The Doctor and his Tardis, is very interesting for a fan to see what the Doctor was like when he first started hanging out with humans.  But, ironically, the start of the show would be a bad place to start watching Doctor Who. The character hasn't quite solidified at this point - Hartnell's portrayal is right on from the start, but he's written as self-centered, unwilling to help strangers, and even dishonest. And little details, like bits of the Tardis breaking down for the first time, fill me with a dorky glee that wouldn't be there if I hadn't seen later episodes first. As for the actual adventure in "An Unearthly Child," they get caught up in uncharacteristically well-written prehistoric politics, which makes for one of the better early episodes.

In "The Daleks," The Doctor meets the Daleks for the first time, and they are more clumsy and less threatening than ever - about 10 people invade the Dalek city and win with almost no difficulty. The writing is tedious, halting the story for repetitive side stories for complete episodes at a time.

"The Edge of Destruction" is filler - only two episodes, with no sets other than the Tardis and no guest stars. Mostly it felt like they were just making stuff up as they went along (which they probably were), but the ending is cute enough that I've grown to like this story despite its faults.

Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death... and Insects

Title: Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death... and Insects
Year: 2007
Network: Sundance Channel
Director: John Edginton
Starring: Robyn Hitchcock
Music: Robyn Hitchcock
Length: 53 minutes
Synopsis: interviews and performances of Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 (aka most of R.E.M.)
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), April 2008
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay).
Objective Rating: 5/10 (gets points for concept, dialog, pacing, music and subjective rating) c. 2.0/4 (Indifferent).

Nothing amazing but I'm glad I saw it. It is definitely a documentary, not a concert video; the filmmaker did not go out of his way to show the performances in their best light. If you're not already a fan of Robyn Hitchcock, don't watch this (although I don't know why you would watch it if you weren't).