starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-11-04 04:53:42 +0000 UTC]

Hi! Fellow Sherlockian, yay! And Whovian too, I see. I don't even remember mentioning the HP books on here but they are my childhood :3 In fact I was just listening to the Chamber of Secrets audiobook on the bus today (and grinning like an idiot). I had forgotten just how smug and ridiculously full of himself Lockhart is and the way Stephen Fry voices him just highlights that in the best way!
The HP books are one of those series you can keep returning too and always find something new, just like Sherlock.

I just saw the Writes Club tournament and was considering entering, but decided against it; I have lots of work and not enough time to come up with a good idea, although I should definitely write more... I'll be following the contest though, the entries look amazing! I look forward to seeing your next entry!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-11-05 00:46:38 +0000 UTC]

The mention of the books were in your Interests section of your profile.  

Hehe, that must be something, Stephen Fry as Lockhart.  I only know Kenneth Brannagh's Lockhart, which was in itself a very accurate performance.  My favourite books and movies are the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th/8th. No one really understand how mature the franchise actually got through the years; when that name is ushered, every one around me goes: "Oh, that children stuff?", and it saddens me, because it was actually worthy of an adult's attention. Its amazing how Rowling managed it (and more amazingly, how the filmmakers succeeded to keep the movies faithful).

Yep, a Sherlockian and Whovian.  I sincerely prefer tenfold Sherlock over Elementary, and the actors are just so perfect in each roles. I never thought someone would play well Mycroft Holmes, yet Mark Gatiss is dead-on. Watson, its the same time, Martin Freeman is just so perfect against Cumberbatch's Holmes. Its pretty long to wait between each seasons, and there's only 3 episodes per season, but its worth the wait everytime!

As for Doctor Who, I have yet to find a show beat it in its awesomeness. Star Trek: TNG comes very close, but it only aired for 7 years, and Doctor Who has 53.  Have you seen yet Peter Capaldi's 12th Doctor seasons? He's simply amazing. I especially LOVE the episode "Heaven Sent", I think it was his absolutely best up to now. The range of emotions, the suspense, the feeling you're left with when the ending unfolds... wow. 

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-11-05 04:52:16 +0000 UTC]

Oh yeah, I found that and updated it a bit. It was dated by multiple years, particularly my favorite games have changed. Okami is awesome! It's what got me drawing a bit more. Still don't do much gaming but now I can actually name a few (barely enough to make it plural) that I've actually played. I'm pretty inactive in terms of posting on deviantart, and sporadic at best, but I always check and look at other people's (much better) art. I'm more of a lurker I guess

Stephen Fry's voicing of Lockhart reminds me pretty closely of Kenneth Brannagh's although it's been a while sine I watched the movies. They definitely both have the same "peacock full of hot air" thing going on
I've always loved how Harry Potter grows up with you as a reader. The first few are all starry-eyed and innocent, and then it gets really dark. Re-reading them for the umpteenth time at an older age, I realized just how much of a commentary the whole thing is, particularly the Ministry, and Umbridge's twisted abuse of power and the baffling human ability for denial illustrated by Fudge sticking his head in the sand. Someone - Hagrid? - derisively said muggles are great at not noticing magic even when it's right in front of their nose, because they don't want to see it, but Fudge... Fudge wins any day. Wow.

Faithful movies... The lack of epicness of the Goblet of Fire maze will forever annoy me, but I get that magical creatures are a huge time and money sink, especially with the ridiculous and amazing attention to detail they put in.

I've never watched much of Elementary, only about an episode, because I watched Sherlock first and it's so perfect that I didn't even try elementary because I knew it could never live up to Sherlock. Finally, a new season around Xmas! It looks rather Bond-ish from the trailers. Very intriguing... The first two were my favorite, the third was a bit too relationship and social-based for my liking, although I get that it was a natural and necessary direction to take. But I prefer the deductions and sassy/socially awkward Sherlock

I've watched all the new Who, I haven't gone back before Eccleston. It's been a while but I definitely remember liking Heaven sent, the big attraction of the series to me is the character of the Doctor (Ironically, I find him more relatable and interesting than his human companions...), and this episode was the very first time he was solo, and we got to see more of his personality and thought process, which is always something I love in shows - Sherlock's deductions are the best! 

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-11-06 00:37:21 +0000 UTC]

Nothing wrong with that.  There are really amazing artists out there, and its always a pleasure to see their work... 

Indeed! That's why I loved them also. I wholeheartedly agree how there is so much meaning behind the words of HP than just a story about magic, and that's mostly why I loved them too. And it isn't just about a bad guy, its about the heroes doing the right thing too, its about selflessness and willingness to sacrifice oneself for your loved ones. And redemption, for some of the characters.

Yeah, I think we all agree the 4th movie was the least fun.  But I particularly enjoyed the 5th movie. There was so much psychological warfare, and we finally got to see Harry deal with having this growing connection with Voldemort; and his beginning of hopes to finally have a proper family with Sirius... and the ending...

Yeah, I saw the trailer too. I LOVE when they go into psychological warfare mode, and that one seem to be exactly that, and its always a thrill to see Sherlock get out of it.  I actually enjoyed the social moments, because we didn't really saw Sherlock trying to be social, and the season allowed him that, with the wedding, etc.  

Me too. I however LOVED Donna Noble and Amy/Rory, they had this dynamic that was really amazing; but I agree, the Doctor is much more relatable. I think its because he represent the idea that you can be flawed and still try your best to be a good person. And Heaven Sent just showcased how having someone by your side is very important, otherwise, your struggle always seem for nothing. I just loved, at the beginning, his deadly calm threat, because you instantly knew that his calmness was just to hide his boiling anger; so that small scene just said an entire state of emotion by him being unusually calm.  And toward the end, when he despair and ask to just lose... It was the first time we really got to see how much he hurted; but the part that made me say: "That's the Doctor!!" was obviously at how he finally gets to escape... That whole scene was both heartbreaking, because you finally understood what was happening, what was all the mystery around the prison, and what he was going through to win, but also so cool because of his determination! And when he's finally done, and he exclaims, when he finish his story: "Well I think that's one hell of a bird!" and I was: "Yes!! That's the Doctor! He's indeed one hell of a bird!!"  

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-11-06 06:23:23 +0000 UTC]

In fact, I'd go so far as to argue HP isn't really about the bad guy at all. He's so blown out of proportions in his evilness, he's more of a catalyst, an extreme situation for the other characters to react to, and to explore different facets of humanity, from Fudge to Harry

I have to admit, I loved the wedding speech. It just doesn't quite have the rewatch potential the first two do, somehow. The first seasons always have that thrill of the chase, of deduction, "The game is on!", no matter how often you watch, but the third lost that a bit amidst all the social stuff. It's not strictly speaking third season, but "I'm glad you liked my potato" will always make me chuckle!

I watched Heaven Sent again this evening It's amazingly well done, how we see it all from the Doctor's point of view, feel the same fear and panic. That episode was scarier than any daleks or cybermen could every be. A few things bother me though. It seems to be a bit of a bootstrap paradox, except the loop has a start and an end so it isn't really. How did the first iteration go? There must not have been any hints; no "bird" in the dust, no skull, no delay in the stars. No set of clothes. Where did those come from; there's either one more set of clothes than Doctors, or there's a version of the Doctor running around in his underwear at one point in time, which I'd rather not think about too much.
Yeah, the end was really powerful, and really heartbreaking but my inner scientist can't help but point out that technically, even if he know's he's been doing this for millennia, he's should only really remember the iteration he's in so it shouldn't be as bad.
Haha that reminds me of this song lyric that goes "I'm like a bird, I only fly away..." Very Doctor-like indeed!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-11-06 15:32:33 +0000 UTC]

Yes, that's exactly it. Few stories nowadays do as such...

Yes, he was really silly in that wedding context.  I admit, my favourite episodes were the finales of each seasons, and the utmost best was season 2's, Reichenbach Fall.  In every other episode, I could try and see how Sherlock could get out of it. But these three, especially Reichenbach Fall, I had no idea how he would fight against Moriarty's psychological warfare. It was just so good! And I was really shocked at how Sherlock decides to stop Magnusson in season 3 finale; I never realized he was ready to go to such measures to protect Watson and his family. Though, I guess that the "accidental fall from a window... 3 times" treatment he gave to the burglar who harmed Mrs. Hudson was a rather big clue about what he was ready to do.

I know, right?
Hehe, that is indeed an image best left alone.  Though I do remember that Moffat gave an explanation for it... I can't remember what, nor would I find the article that easily to give it you today. If my memory is correct, Moffat explained that in order to keep the Doctor guessing, just like the castle could change location, provide him with food, with the images from his mind, etc, it also provided him clothes, to give him the impression that the prison had previous guests. Of course, the only clothes it could reproduce was those that the Doctor had, since it was from his mind.
The rest was of course a result from his first visit: each time he would find an interesting clue, because the castle kept on changing, he would need to keep track of where he needed to go. They later on turned as clues for his later selves. Or, he drew those after he got "killed" and he was progressing back to the teleportation room.

I remember how shocked I was once I realized whose skull those in the water were.

I'm somewhat surprised you remembered the term bootstrap paradox.

True, but there is several wriggle room to allow him to remember. First, I think that seeing a mishapely carved diamond wall (well, not diamond but that stuff that was like diamond), and then carving it himself must have given him a big clue that he already did that beforehand... and seeing how he progressed, for a long time. But also, I think the only reason he couldn't remember, was because he was inside the loop. s the loop begin and ends, he has only the memories of the loop. But the confession dial retained all the events since the 4.5 billions years he was inside. So my guess is, once he finally stepped out of the loop, the full information contained within the dial returned to him... including all the time he spent.

My only addition to the story would have been that when he wrote all those clues, he should have added one more: "bring the spade, always". So that once he got to the diamond wall, he could have used the spade instead of his hand.  

Its just... across all the lives, the Doctor always found a way to try and follow his principles. To be the better man, no matter what. How he dropped the gun in front of the general that killed Jenna, in "The Doctor's Daughter", and told him: "I never would" and after that, said to the colonist: "When you create this new world, make it one where a man never would"; he could have done like everyone would, hit the general, shot him, etc. But no; despite how much he hurted to know that his one link to the people he missed was her too dead, he still tried his best to be the better man. When Clara threatened him because she was despaired at Pink's death (which, btw, touched me a lot less than the dissapearance of Amy and Rory at the hands of the Angels), he nonetheless helped her, and even said: "Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?". That simple sentence was just so incredible, because it showed that the Doctor tried. He could understand that the people around him couldn't always be good, but for his own conscience, he tried his best to never fail at that. To be there for someone even if that someone betrayed him or could betray him. To let someone have his/her life even if that person didn't respect that.
For me, its an important philosophy in this world that seem, day after day, to care less and less about being good persons. We may perhaps let go of religion, but we should never let go of morality and basic ethics because we drop religion. And Doctor Who has a record of showing how ethics is something to be applied every day, regardless of religious beliefs (or lack of).

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-11-13 07:21:10 +0000 UTC]

I went to see Dr Strange yesterday, have you seen it? I really liked it. And the first after-credits is tantalizing, I'm even more excited about the next Thor film now! I've started rewatching a Study in Pink as a result. I think arrogant genius "the game is on" Sherlock is still my favorite, despite how heartwarming the caring is. If my memory serves, when asked by Lestrade how many times the american fell out of the window, Sherlock answered "it was all a bit of a blur, detective inspector. I lost count." It might be more than three!

I'm okay with explaining away the clothes, but the part that bothers me is "bird" written in the sand. It can't have been there on the first go, because no dying Doctor had written it, and it can't be generated by the castle unless whoever designed this haunted house for the Doctor intended him to fight his way out, and without the hint, what would have led the Doctor to think of punching his way through instead of giving up and accepting death, as he was about to do in the episode? Since it was the first time, there wouldn't have been any indentation in the crystal either. Which makes me wonder, did we ever find out who designed that custom interrogation chamber for the Doctor? Who zapped him to that place in the first place?
Personally, I think that when the Doctor exits the dial he knows how long he spent in it from the stars, but he would only remember the last time through. I guess that's a by-product of the side of the "if you got teleported is it still the same you?" debate I'm on. So he knows how long he was in there, but he wouldn't actually remember the pain of dying billions of times.

Doctor Who is a very good show for that, the idea of always trying to do the right thing. It reminds me of Rose, when she had a fit in that chips shop about how she couldn't go back to not trying to fix things, to not caring. But the Doctor going so far as to "murder" (does it count as murder if it's making a timelord regenerate?) to try and get Clara back does seem to go against that... On one hand, he's lost so many people, I'd understand that he can't take it anymore, but on the other hand he's lost so many people he should know how to handle it and kinda expect it. But I guess he can't take that jaded approach; he tried before he met Clara, when he went and was a grumpy, lonely man in London with Madame Vastra for a while, but he couldn't keep it up. Clara's death was her own choice almost as much as Amy's was, in my view, and he didn't try to rip time apart to get Amy back, even if she was "the first face this face saw".

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-11-19 01:04:17 +0000 UTC]

No, not yet. We can't afford to go to the cinema, so we're waiting until it comes out on TV; it takes usually 6 months.
I'm happy you liked it; I'm just scared that the movie isn't as "strange" as it was in the comics. Dr. Strange was quite literally a mad scientist/magician, because of all that parallel universes travels changing the way he sees the world; and that was why the readers loved him, because he was mad but in the good side. And I'm just scared that Cumberbatch won't be able to convey that madness that well; he plays usually dramatic/uptight characters.
Though I can't wait to see Tilda Swinton; she's on my top 5 favourite actress.  We're actually quite many Whovians to wish that she gets chosen for the role of The Doctor; she'd be the only woman that I would see play the Doctor, because Tilda just got that eccentricity, but also that very alien/androgynous look, and I can honestly picture her 100% going againsts Daleks and Cybermen.  And she doesn't usually wear heavy make-ups, and always look natural, so she would be the perfect woman to play a character that doesn't have the time to apply make-up or make her hair in the morning, because the world is about to end in 3 hours.

I've read the reviews that there was a Thor scene at the end. I'm equally excited to see the new Thor; Cate Blanchett, another of my top 5 actress, will play Hela (the Norse's Hell)! Apparently, the scene mentioned Thor and Loki working together? That's going to be fun to watch! I admit that by the end of Thor: The Dark World, I got pretty tired to see Loki (he appeared in three in a row, so at the end, his fun was a bit spoiled), despite liking how his character ended (both times); but now several years have passed, I'm back at waiting eagerly to see what Loki has up his sleeves.  Technically, according to the comics "Thor: Ragnarok" and its related stories, Dr. Strange should help Thor and Loki in finding Odin, since he's the only one that can travel easily in-between worlds, and Odin is stuck in a parallel universe. So that would have been already fun. But I'm not certain they'll follow that idea in the movie. Already that I've no idea what Hela is doing in that story... I don't mind though, I'm sure Blanchett will rock as Hell!!

 I've already re-watched it about 3 times since last year.  There is a rumor that Irene Adler might be back in the 4th season. That would be cool. The actress, Lara Pulver, and how she portrayed Adler, is the closest match to my seductive badass female villain Ysadora Dawn; just with blond hair.  There wasn't many actress that could be a classic seductive, you know, someone that can be completely non-obscene in her seductiveness. And Lara just hit it dead-on.  And her eyes are exactly like I described Ysadora's.

Hehe. I'll describe it to you. The people who zapped the Doctor into the "castle" are the Timelords. They have a warning that the Hybrid may be coming with the end of the world, and since the Doctor is the only Timelord that isn't on Gallifrey and goes around meeting people, they feel it necessary to interrogate him. Remember that before meeting Davros, the Doctor gives his confession dial to the Sister of Kahn (can't remember her name). She was most probably in league with the Timelord to adapt the confession dial into a prison; she is just as much worried about the Hybrid than the Timelords, as we learned in Hell Bent.
The only problem, is that the Timelords know that the Doctor will never trust them enough to tell them the whereabouts of a potential weapon. The 10th Doctor did say that war changed the Timelords for the worst; he doesn't trust them enough, especially if he knew that Rassilon would still be in charge. You saw in the 10th Doctor episode The End of Time to what extent Rassilon was ready to go to protect Gallifrey. So, both the Khan Sister and the Timelords know that the Doctor will never willingly tell them about the Hybrid; they must trap him and force the information out.
So when he leaves her in charge of the confession dial, she must have probably tweaked it into a prison with the help of the Timelords, before handing it back to Missy, and then return it to the Doctor. Then, they must have waited for the perfect trap to use it to trap the Doctor. Remember that like everything Gallifreyan, the confession dial isn't just a small object. Before his/her death, a Timelord/lady must enter the confession dial, and relive his/her lives to make peace with his/her mistakes. Traditionally, its power is used for peaceful means, but the Timelords can use it to torture.
So, the Timelords set a trap: they know they can't target the companion, because the Doctor will never ever tell them; but targetting someone that the Doctor cares more or less about has more chance of success. So, they know that the Doctor is keenly suspicious of Ashildr and observes her; and she has something to protect in return. So a deal is struck: Ashildr finds a way to trap the Doctor, her city is safe, and the Doctor is trapped within the confession dial; and the boy who was the bait is released.
Obviously, it doesn't work out as well. From there, the most probable course of action that happened before the Doctor made his first cycle of teleportation is as follow:
- the Doctor has no clues whatsoever to guide him, because, as you said, the cycle has not begin yet; the only thing he gets to notice as he first enter the castle, is the strange device that obviously looks like the teleporter commands (the Timelords didn't need to use it; its just there to give the Doctor the impression that the mastermind is within the castle).
- Given his intelligence, he probably quickly realize that he has 60 minutes before the monster gets him after each confession. Again, the monster is taken from his mind, as it was his childhood nightmare.
- My guess is that he spents days searching all the castle for an escape route. It takes him perhaps more time than later on.

The rest has several options. About halfway, he start to get that he's the only prisoner. He runs out of time and of confessions. He realize there's a teleporter and he could try again if he ever gets killed by the monster. Before his time runs out, he double-track his steps, and start writing down the clues for the next round. He gets killed, use his leftover energy to power the teleporter, and that's where the first skull appear. He doesn't yet write "Bird". The next round comes in, the Doctor spends less time searching for the right path, because of the clues, and after a while of continuing deeper searches, he finally gets to the diamond wall. He scans it, and realize it has something to do with his TARDIS. He's brilliant, so he most probably understand already that its his way out. The story of the bird gets to his head as he tries to find how he can get out. From there, there's two way: he decide to double  track right away his steps to add the necessary clues for his second self to follow, or he starts punching his way out, and the clues are added as he crawl back to the teleporter. As he dies, he writes the final clue, but also the first one that the next Doctors must read to focus their deductions of the puzzle: Bird. And that's how the third round begins, and how the Doctor repeat the cycle over and over.

At the end, the wall of diamond breaks, and it was in fact the doorway that connected the abstract world of his confession dial to the physical world of Gallifrey.
This is related to the Classic Era. In the Classic Era, the Timelords (and the Doctor, two or three times) used what they called The Matrix. Its like a supercomputer, with all the minds of the Timelords backuped when they die. And though that Matrix looks only like a computer of sort, a Timelord can transfer his mind and body inside that Matrix, and depending on the strenght of his mind, create a world to navigate within that computer.

That Rose scene resonated deeply within me. I completely understand this idea, that someone just can't sleep, work, eat chips, work then sleep, over and over again. If we have the chance, even in small degree, we should try to help and fix things...
Kinda. Its a bit more complicated and deep with Clara. The 11th and the 12th are also two completely different personalities. The 11th knew that one day, Amy would die, and he tried multiple times to leave and let her live a normal life with Rory. But both persisted. So it was their own choice that they followed; but the 11th Doctor always tried to keep them away if he felt things would end soon. And when they left, they didn't die as such. The Doctor was heartbroken, of course, but he knew it was Amy's need to be with Rory, and at least, they had a life when they returned to Manhattan. Staying with him would have only brought them stress, as the Angels would have kept chasing them. So he couldn't quite blame this on himself. Instead, he just decided to retire and stop caring.
But Clara... The 12th Doctor felt personally responsible, because unlike the 11th, he didn't tried to make Clara go. He was lonely, and she was the only one who stayed by him, so he never (almost never) made her go away, despite he knew full well that it would bring her into grave danger. He let her keep being reckless, keep putting herself in danger. He turned her into him, and since he doesn't like what he became, it was terrible for him to realize that he allowed that flaw to be in Clara. As he tells her in "Face the Raven", she shouldn't have to ask that he takes care of her; he should have done that by himself. So unlike Amy, who left him to remain with her husband, Clara's death was directly on his conscience. He took advantage that she didn't leave him, to keep her beside him at all time, even in grave danger. He had been selfish, and she died because of that; so he felt it was his duty to bring her back from that mistake.

Not to mention she was more than a friend: she was his conscience (hehe), but also, apparently, saved all his previous lives when he was in grave danger. So it was only fair he saved her just this one.

I'll be happy though to see him as a real Doctor now, and I hope the new companion will allow him just that. Already seeing from the preview of the Christmas special, he seem to be much more cheerful.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-11-29 05:58:20 +0000 UTC]

Wow, you wrote me a proper novel! I've finally got the time to sit down and answer properly.

I hope I won't disappoint you by saying that the movie version of Dr Strange doesn't strike me as mad. If I had to pick a word, at the end of the movie I'd go for noble, although I can't fully explain why. He certainly does live in a different world from normal people, in terms of perspective on the world, though.
The after credits scene revealed that they will indeed follow the comics and have Dr Strange in Ragnarok! I've never read the comics so I didn't know and am very excited about that! I don't really keep up with all the behind-the-scenes filming news for fear of spoilers, but I feel like I should have heard about this before the after-credits scene... In any case, I'm really looking forward to it!

Hmm. Confession dials sound like they shouldn't be able to be tampered with by people - that sounds like a terrible design decision <.<
Speaking of which, I'm surprised the system accepts the same confessions over and over. I guess the "confessing things he's never admitted before" is measured relative to his personal timeline, not an absolute (linear, non timey-wimey timeline. It would be a far nastier - and more effective - torture chamber if that was the case, but he might never figure out confessions were the key at all in later executions of the scenario... Hmm, what-ifs.

So they can also exit the Matrix computer back into the real world wherever they want if they have the strength? Sounds difficult but handy...

Yes, it is exactly like the Doctor to try and take responsibility for everything, but I'm with Clara on this. It was her mistake, her fault. And even then; like Reinette and Sarah Jane said (I think), some things are worth it, and I'm sure Clara herself would choose a short but exciting life rather than a long empty one eating chips (at least after Danny was gone). Just this once? He already saved her plenty of times. In fact you could (and she probably would) argue that being there to allow her to run away from her grief saved her, in a way. Selfish? No more than any other person. Nothing for him to feel especially guilty about. And she's surely not the first companion of his with those circumstance... Clara could have left any time, she didn't want to.

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-12-04 01:37:57 +0000 UTC]

Sorry for the late reply; got too busy and then poofed to answer.

Hehe, sorry about that.

Oh... Ah well, already the idea of jumping through universes as if by magic was alot to take incorporate properly, I can understand why they would leave out the mad scientist part!
It was something I read in comics resumes when trying to know what Ragnarok would be about. I think it will be awesome indeed to see this guy liven things up against the too informal Thor... And maybe Strange will keep Loki on his toes!!

Well, the confession dial is, if I'm guessing correctly the clues, a part of the Matrix, and the Matrix can be entered, and tempered, if the Timelord's mind is strong enough, like Rassilon's or The Master's (that was in the Classic Era). After all, the confession dial helps a dying Timelord to make peace with his sins, and afterward, the essence of the dead Timelord is "saved" inside the Matrix; so I'm guessing there's a huge link between the two, and if the Matrix can be tempered with, so can a weaker portion of it.
I think too that the confessions were only linear to his present timeline. After all, the monster was taken from his mind too; only the castle was an external touch to the confession dial. So everytime there is no Doctor, the nightmare monster also dissapears (this is why the Doctor could take 2 days to reach the teleporter once dying, without getting annoyed by the monster). So the monster and the confessions were most probably relative only to the individual lives of the Doctor.
But you're right, it would have made a much nastier prison otherwise.

Yep, they could. If my memory is right, they've done it about 2 or 3 times in the Classic Era. It just takes lots of mind power. Because basically, its only the "essence" of the Timelord that enters the Matrix, not his whole body; so if the link isn't ruptured (if the Timelord body isn't killed), it can return to the body.

Yeah, I know... I'm just personally with the Doctor. I understand it was Clara's decision, but I also understand equally his desire to save her.  Let's agree to disagree!

Well, I'm officially excited since in less than 20 days, its the Christmas Special!!! And in about 3 weeks, the first Sherlock episode!!!

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-12-05 18:43:34 +0000 UTC]

I would love to see Strange and Loki interact omg and it seems like I'll be getting my wish!
"Too informal Thor".. haha yes, this Dr Strange does seem a little bit uptight, the contrast with Thor is also a promising source of enjoyment

I haven't really wrapped my head around the news episodes coming up. They are so few and far between that I'm just used to Sherlock, and now Dr Who as well, being somewhere in the distant future, and I never notice that future sneaking closer. So I'm not excited yet because I haven't comprehended that it's finally happening. Also, exams

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-12-08 19:49:06 +0000 UTC]

Hehe. Sadly, we'll have to wait until autumn 2017...  The favourite part for me will be Cate Blanchett playing Hell. I can't wait for that; she's one of my favourite actress, beside Tilda Swinton, and I'm sure she'll rock as a baddy!

Oh... Well, hopefully, you'll get some free time to watch them.  I hope Sherlock is as awesome as before. There's a somewhat confirmed rumor that Irene Adler will return. I personally look forward to that, because my own female badass villain Ysadora is alot based on Lara Pulver's Irene Adler; so I'll have more chance to get familiar with the personality and better my own character.  And Tom Hiddleston is also somewhat confirmed rumoured to play the mysterious third Holmes brother that Mycroft referred to. I'm not too sure about that one, I'm not quite certain Hiddleston can play well someone similar to Mycroft and Sherlock; but it will be interesting nonetheless. 

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-12-19 17:58:53 +0000 UTC]

I'm done with exams now so I'll get to watch anything and everything!

I haven't been following all the filming stuff, I prefer to stay away from spoilers, but I didn't know anything about Irene Adler, and I thought that Tom Hiddleston was purely fans' wishful thinking. I feel like knowledge of that would have leaked out somehow if it was the case, filming photos or something. Still, we can hope! It certainly looks thrilling!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-12-24 01:28:15 +0000 UTC]

Great!

Well, we'll anyway see it soon enough.

Merry Christmas, my friend!!

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-12-24 03:16:00 +0000 UTC]

Same to you! Merry Christmas!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2016-12-31 00:58:28 +0000 UTC]

I don't know if you saw it yet, but I personally enjoyed this Doctor Who Christmas special. It was time they made a more light-hearted story; and I especially enjoyed the parodies of the various stuff.  I'm surprised the reviewers loved it too, considering it was a different idea than what they did usually; but for me, it just made me remember so much of the Classic Era (though it was very different as well). 
One thing I absolutely love with Capaldi, is that with his Doctor, we got to see him grow, unlike the 9th, 10th and 11th, whose personality were pretty much set in stone (even if that gave amazing result); but with him, we got to see him gloomy and unsocial, like the very first Doctors, then, in the second season, we saw more childish sides to him, and this season, if we go by the Christmas special, we'll finally get to see him alot more cheerful and fun.

Why can't April come faster??!!! 

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2016-12-31 16:31:21 +0000 UTC]

I did see the Christmas special! It was fun. I hadn't watched Dr Who in so long, I forgot how fun it was!

Hope you're enjoying your holidays! Happy new year!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-01-06 01:22:18 +0000 UTC]

I hope you enjoyed your holidays!! Mine were fun... until we got a whole week of non-stop snow...

Sherlock did not disappoint at all! I'm glad we also get to see him evolve with the seasons. His arrogant self is fun like hell, but one mustn't forget that in the books, he also could care when the time required it. And I'm really enjoying the more constant presence of Mycroft; its a nice version of Sherlock, and completely in-tune with Doyle's Mycroft.  
Sherlock: "Are you Wikipedia, or what?"
Mycroft, straight-faced: "Yes". 

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-01-08 17:57:01 +0000 UTC]

I also really liked the new episode! I'm glad his arrogant self was back; yes in the books he does care but it's usually just a glimpse of emotion between all the cleverness, and I feel like s3 had drifted away from the focus on cleverness but it seems to be back for s4, at least more present.

I love the parallel to Wikipedia, because I remember in the books Mycroft is described as having made himself indispensible to the government by just knowing everything, and that's a lovely way to modernise it  

I'm quite surprised Mycroft doesn't have the ability to tell when people are lying, I feel like that would be a useful skill for someone in his position and something he should have acquired. He has observational skills rivalling Sherlock's after all...

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-02-04 12:50:19 +0000 UTC]

Hey! Sorry it took so long to reply; my holiday left me with not a single moment to properly reply.

But, that means we both have seen all the new Sherlock episodes. So, what do you think? I personally LOVED it, though almost no one seems to agree with me when I read the reviews and critics. Personally, I think that psychological warfare was what made Sherlock stand apart from Elementary or the other detective shows... or from the other Sherlock adaptations. I mean, we all know the traditional stories, its been made since 1939, with Basil Rathbone, and since then, there has been 211 movies, and several shows. I mean, we all know the stories, and the detective works, and such, and there is so many detective shows that I honestly think that making Sherlock more psychological warfare was a great move. And Season 4 delivered such psychological warfare.
And frankly, especially in the second episode, Martin Freeman's Watson just stole the show! That's a rare feat, especially when alongside the always equally brilliant Cumberbatch. But Freeman, with how he talked, how he moved, his subtle facial reactions, how he dealt with his grief... wow! He blew my mind. I just loved when his therapist (no spoiler) say that his drinking and misbehaving is normal and okay, and he tactfully replies: "How's that normal and okay? I'm a drunkard who is abandoning his daughter; that's not normal and okay!"  That was just brilliant.
I feel that the finale episode was a bit rushed, but considering how they condensed such a lengthy story in 90 minutes, I can understand. And it didn't stopped me from sitting on the edge of my chair and wondering how the hell the guys were going to get out of it.

So I really hope that despite the bad reviews and lower viewer ratings that they still make a fifth season, to wrap things up a bit better (I seriously need to see Molly slap Sherlock for what he made her say ), and to bring a bit back the light-heartedness, since season 4 was pretty much all-around dark.

Hmm... I don't know. I honestly feel that bringing a bit more humanity to Sherlock fits better the message that Moffat and Gatiss convey in not just Sherlock but Doctor Who as well. That you don't need to be clever and smart to be a good person, and sometime, you need to let emotions and feelings guide you than pure logic. Sherlock and Sheldon (the nerd from Big Bang Theory) are fun to watch for their arrogance and cleverness; but real people out there that are like that are honestly a huge pain in the arse. I know from experience, because someone in my inner circle is not only extremely logical and clever, but is 95% positive high-functioning sociopath... and its really not as fun to be around that person than it is to watch one.
So I think that Moffat and Gatiss did a right thing to bring more humanity into Sherlock, and bring him a bit away from being always smart and logical and composed; it serves to show those that are really like that, that its okay to set that aside once in awhile, and let your heart show. Not every minute of life is a situation that requires constant logic and smartness.

Well, if my memory is right, Mycroft never knew how to decipher people. He has the deductive skills, yes, but not the experience to look beyond the obvious. See, Mycroft and Sherlock have both a weakness and an ability to their deductive skills, and that's why they complement one another, and both leaves to the other the duty to fufill each other's weak points; even in the books. Mycroft's ability is to observe pattern, and to know absolutely everything, from politics to economy, to language. Yes, he is Wikipedia. But even if Wikipedia could tell you everything it knows of someone's life, and, given an AI, try to deduce its most logical actions, it cannot see into someone's soul and understand the deeper motives and emotions. Not only that, but remember that despite being a political man, with the public duties of political position, he nevertheless extremely dislike the company of people. So he never gets to talk with them, or with enough of them, to gain experience on what might subconsciously trigger an action.
Sherlock, its the complete opposite: he deleted every single unuseful information to keep only what relate to, or could relate to, the people that come to see him. And though he dislike people, he's too much into solving problems that he has no choice but to sit down with someone and listen and talk. Doing so, even if he doesn't enjoy it, or understand emotionally what the people tells him, its an information that he accumulates to solve future problems. And through that, he gains the experience necessary to deduce the subconscious.  Mycroft can tell you that because of a pattern in how the villain goes to bank and somewhere else, what is going to happen. But Sherlock requires none of that information to just look and talk for a few minutes, and say the exact same deduction, and more often than not, more.
Also, don't forget that due to Mycroft's political position, he often has to overlook the villain's background (though he knows about it, he still has to overlook it and forge excuses and alibis), to use that villain as pawn in politics, something that even the real MI6 and CIA always did in the past. Do that often, and I'm certain that you would start to overlook subtler things about someone.

So its just how both uses that skills, and to what they concentrate their skills upon. As Sherlock so neatly said, a hardrive can hold only as much of something; you have to delete everything that you don't need. Mycroft doesn't need to know someone's subconscious, for he works isolated in an office, and takes care of politics and such. But Sherlock doesn't need all that, and relies purely on his skills to obtain the same information.



Oh, btw, I finally did got to see Doctor Strange. Honestly, it was.... AWESOME!!  I sat down and started dreading what I was going to see, since it is very hard to tackle the subjects of Doctor Strange and make them believable, but I was comforted by knowing that at least I would see some good acting from Cumberbatch, Swinton, and Ejiorfor (he played a damn good ninja villain in the sci-fi cult movie Serenity). Not 20 minutes in, and I was already laughing.
That was really, extremely, surprisingly great! Yeah, sure, it was the traditional story of a rising hero, with conflict of interest and doubts, etc; but all stories are such, and the point is to make an enjoyable version. And it was really enjoyable!
And I so loved what they did with his cape!!!  I did not see that one coming; and yet, it was a brilliant idea to make a sentient cape!! You wouldn't imagine how hard I laughed when the cape stop Strange from taking the axe!!!  Or when it discreetly wipes his tears he puts his collar up...  
Wow, that was great. Even Swinton's Ancient One. I'm really glad they took her, and they gave her this tongue-in-cheek, cynical personality. It would have completely ruined the movie if it would have been this stereotyped Asian guy, all spiritual and severe, like the masters from Karate Kid and such. I'M not saying this badly, its just that it would have been too cliché, and detrimental to the success and the comedy. But Swinton... Swinton was just brilliant. I just loved when she sends Strange into the trippy journey through the universes, and you hear Ejiofor say "I think his heart rate is elevating", so Swinton pulls him back, look at him, say "No, he looks fine to me!", and then sends him back again in the multiverses!

That was just so much fun, and so funny. Best Marvel movie since awhile (Captain America: Civil War, and X-Men: Apocalypse were a bit disappointing). I'm seriously looking forward to see him in Thor: Ragnarok, and in the next Avengers. That is going to be super-fun!

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-02-05 06:30:43 +0000 UTC]

Wow, such a long message! I'll do my best to not forget something in replying!

People seem to have either loved or hated the new Sherlock season. Personally I loved it. It's true it was a bit more James-Bond-y but that made it riveting. I don't know yet if it has the rewatch value the first 2 seasons had though. I loved how the last episode was set up, it was kind of a mirror image to The Great Game. Even the title calls back to Moriarty - now that I think of it I can't believe that they actually had this planned out when they had Moriarty going on about the final problem, I bet they just made it up afterwards to explain all the taunts XD The Great Game was all about the clever puzzles, the Final Problem all about the moral dilemmas, both under time pressure, with lives at stake and with Moriarty looming in the background. I seriously thought he was alive for a moment there, stepping out of the heli even more confident and flamboyant and playful than ever ;.;

Well, Molly's already slapped Sherlock plenty, so I consider them even on this. I'm sure he explained the circumstances afterwards, and his intentions were the best, so I'd forgive him. I mean, Eurus flew a flippin' bomb on a drone into Sherlock's apartment so I would totally have trusted to have Molly's ready to blow.

On the other hand, they wrapped up this season quite neatly, by their usual standards - no devilish cliffhanger - so I think I'd be content for it to end here. With any series, people hate it more as new instalments come out - Assassin's Creed is a prime example - and it's true that some of this might be because the creators aren't trying as hard because they can just ride the fame of the franchise, but I think it's also because the first ones were so fabulous - they had to be, or else the franchise wouldn't have gained the success it needed to become a franchise, that it's ver hard to top that for one, and people will complain no matter what: do something different in an attempt to grow, and people will complain that it's not what it once was and has lost the stuff that drew them to the original, but keep doing the same thing and people complain you have no creativity and it's all déjà-vu. I feel like this is starting to happen to Sherlock, so maybe it's best if they wrap it up here. So many franchises don't know when to give up and just keep milking it - *coughHarryPotterwhatareyoudoing* - and it would be nice to see a franchise not fall into that trap.
(Don't get me wrong, I loved Fantastic Beasts. But it seems a bit forced, dragging it up after so long, and I'm still too scared to read the Cursed Child.)

Yes, you're absolutely right, the messages are good and it reflects reality better, but I don't watch tv to see a reflection of reality (I'm an escapist to the death, it seems) and watching the characters who are arrogant, sassy, who know who they are and just own it with confidence like Sherlock, Moriarty or TDW Loki, is just so much more fun. I always love the weird ones, the crazy, unapologetic ones. The confidence is beautiful to watch.

That's something that's always puzzled me, how Sherlock knows so much about people and how to manipulate them in s1 and 2 and yet has such disdain for normal people. For someone who understands people so well and who replies on them to keep him entertained, he dislikes and avoids people very strongly. Well, a cynic might say that it's because he knows people so well that he dislikes them

Mycroft might overlook things, as in choose to ignore them, but I very much doubt he would start overlooking as in not noticing things. But it's true he definitely doesn't have the same kind of people knowledge Sherlock does. Shame, imagine what Sherlock's kind of manipulative skills could do on the political scene!

Also wait why do Lestrade and Mycroft know each other personally? I found it a bit odd when Sherlock told Lestrade to take care of Mycroft but it goes back farther, in Hounds of Baskerville Sherlock assumes Mycroft sent Greg to check on him... Also I'm positive I saw Mycroft wearing a wedding ring in Scandal in Belgravia; doesn't that kinda imply that he's "found a goldfish" already? And how does Lady Smallwood fit in with that goldfish? Hmm so according to the internet it's not a wedding ring, just a ring. Oh well.

I'm a sucker for that kind of rising hero / origin story / martial-art-y superhero training it seems; I really liked Batman Begins and it was the same kind of hidden-in-the mountain mystical training place, just without all the magic.
THE CAPE IS ADORABLE I love how it had so much personality <3 <3 Putting the collar up just made me immediately think of John going "You, being all mysterious with your cheekbones, and turning your coat collar up so you look cool..."

Yeah, I liked the sass Swinton had. Like when she just dumped him on that frozen mountain and was like "No don't worry he's fine. (See? He's fine, just like I told you, Only half dead from hypothermia.)" 

Hmm, I really liked X-men Apocalypse. The cinematography is gorgeous, it had some beautiful shots. And I am forever impressed by Michael Fassbender's acting, when he was standing in front of the metalworking factory door and he was backlit and all you could see was his silhouette but he stood like a broken man how do you even stand like a broken man how.


DR STRANGE AND LOKI MEETING I CAN"T WAIT!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-02-05 13:46:29 +0000 UTC]

Oh, I forgot! So, I got really curious after seeing Doctor Strange, that I went back to check his original story in the comics, and it turns out that I was completely mistaken... He wasn't a mad scientist, but on the contrary, exactly like they showed him in the movie: selfish, cynical, tongue-in-cheek, but at the end, noble. I have no idea why I was so sure he was a mad scientist...  But anyway, for once, everything in the movie and in the comics match! The neurosurgeon profession, the car accident robbing him of his hands, the training, etc.  That's really rare in Hollywood.

Okay, back to topic.
Yes, I felt too that it was the mirror of The Great Game, but that's why I liked it so much! And the second episode, where he purposefully drug himself to bring Watson back on his feet kinda reminded me of the very first episode of Sherlock, where he undergo the game of the cabman to see if he's clever enough to solve it. It wasn't obviously exactly the same, because now Sherlock was trying to help Watson, but still... 
Me too I thought he was alive!!  But I remembered the Christmas Special, and how it was created to show that not because someone is dead means that his ideals are; and maybe someone else picked up on them, or he himself made plans in advance to win on Sherlock in the long run. But that Andrew Scott just plays Moriarty so brilliantly and madly...

That's very true. Its unusual for them to end the season without the devilish cliffhangers (I hate waiting 2 bloody years for the answer to a cliffhanger! Though I suspected the rubber ball to have played a part in Sherlock's "death", especially when a doctor fan said that a rubber ball under the armpit would stop the pulse), so it seems too that maybe they are stopping the series. But apparently, Cumberbatch is still signed up for a fifth season. But its highly unusual, so I don't know... Maybe they are waiting to see if there is truly a demand for another series, not to mention what BBC wants to do with the fiction shows, etc. 
I completely agree with you. People are very picky when it comes to stories evolving from the original to new, so no matter what they do, no one is happy. Like with Doctor Who (which I adored every season, especially the last one)... 
I guess we'll see. I'm glad though you liked it as well.

Speaking of Doctor Who, I think you heard the news that Capaldi's turn is over after this season? I dread to think who will be next. There is strong petitions to make a female Doctor, which I think will be a disaster (except if they pick Tilda Swinton: 25.media.tumblr.com/cc325fd10c… ; she would be AWESOME). And do you know what BBC said about Capaldi, which just makes me so furious: "Its time that Capaldi leave, because we need to find someone younger and more dashing, for the marketing. Ever since Capaldi's arrival, the marketing sales have enormously dropped, because he is too old to market properly. So the next Doctor should definitively be someone much younger, and more sexy, so we can market them, like with David Tennant and Matt Smith."   Seriously??!! No, let's not talk about how talented Capaldi was, to a point of TWICE making my older brother cry, lets not talk about how he could express every emotion so beautifully and own the show as well as everyone before him... No, let's say that he's not good enough because he's too old and ugly.   
I'm not saying that a young dashing man won't make a good Doctor, Tennant and Smith were amazing, not to mention Paul McGann and Peter Davison (in their own way, and in the old times); but I find that comment about Capaldi to have been extremely insulting.

Anyho... Back to topic

I didn't yet saw Fantastic Beast. And I don't think you should read Cursed Child, most of the versions I saw seem to be written like a bloody play! I agree that Harry Potter should just have been left alone. The last four film of the franchise were AMAZING, so I don't think they can top that; especially not for another 5 movies!!

Hehe, I completely understand your feelings about Sherlock's confidence.   I was just so touched at the end when he goes to visit his sister and plays the violin for her; it was something I think that I would like my sibling to do if I turn evil.

It must be indeed that he knows too much about people to like them; but he starts liking them toward the end, even in the book. He has respect for some. Watson, obviously, Molly and her willingness to help him no matter how badly he treats her, Greg and his willingness to let him brag; in the book, he respected one of his client, a Violet something, because she was so polite and respectful, and willing to take the risks that he was asking her to catch the villain. 

Very good question... I honestly don't know... Maybe Mycroft, in the past, used often Lestrade and Scotland Yard...
I also think that its just a ring; and maybe Gatiss didn't want to take off his own during filming.  But its quite typical, I don't know why, for people with power to have a ring. I think that's why the following saying: "They married power".

Yeah, me too. Sometimes its badly done, but in these two cases (I especially loved Batman: The Dark Knight Rises; The Joker and Two Face were just so bloody awesome!!!), it was done wonderfully.
I know!!! And did you noticed that it had about the same personality than Strange? So it was really awesome. 
I had the exact same thought!!! "There he goes, putting his collar up!" I think that's actually his real style; when you look at some of his pictures for interviews, when he wears coats, the collar is always up. I don't know if he liked it when he did it in Sherlock, or if the guys just picked it up from what he was already doing and pushed it further in Sherlock and Doctor Strange...
But do you know what I loved the most about that scene? Is that the collar wasn't just wiggling around to tease him when he puts it up, it was wiping his tears away before he left, to make sure he stayed cool!  It was so ADORABLE!!! 

That's true; Fassbender is a heck of an actor. I adored his portrayal of Magneto ever since the first movie. You can never think bad of him, because you know what he went through, and you feel his rage and his grief. Sir McKellen did an amazing job in the original, but Fassbender really took it to the next level. Just his acting, and McAvoy's, is worth the watch. I just felt that the story was a bit repetitive, and that there was a bit too much characters to properly keep up.

That is going to be so awesome. I can just imagine his reaction with Asgard, and then Loki's powers, and Hell: "Okay... well, what do you want, just another day at the office." Even in the Avengers, when it will be him with all the other guys, Iron Man, Starlord... Can't wait.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-02-06 01:58:51 +0000 UTC]

Well, it's nice that they were faithful to the comics! 
There were lots of complaints about casting Swinton as the Ancient One being whitewashing, but I like your take on it, that it was actually going against stereotypes. That's a much more positive view. I don't really care either way, as long as the actor lives up to the job, which she most definitely did.

I don't know about the female Doctor. Yes it could be a disaster, but maybe they could pull it off. 
They are so missing the point! Being the Doctor is not about being sexy, it's about the charisma! Okay sure being dashing does help with charisma but Capaldi totally had the presence to rock it. (No pun intended.) Also there seem to be lots of girls with crushes on Capaldi / his Doctor so I don't see what they are complaining about.
Rude   Eat the rude  
But I'm so glad Capaldi got to be the Doctor, it was literally his childhood dream come true and it's so adorable, you see it in his smile that he is just loving every moment of being the Doctor!

I did see Fantastic Beasts and I loved it - Scamander is adorable - but another story about Harry Potter seems wrong. A story about Scamander feels forced, after all this time (always ) but I will go along with it because it's fun to watch, but poor Harry has been through so much, let him have his peace  
Funny, I liked the first 3 films better. The lack of fancy traps in the maze in 4 - VINES, could they not have done something cooler, by Merlin's underpants?   - really put me off, and the random bursting into columns of dust swirling around as a method of fighting in all the subsequent movies also annoys me. And since I saw someone else pointing it out it also bothers me that they turned wands connecting into their second way of illustrating a duel. NOT how it works -.-

That was really cute. And Eurus seems to have the ability to read music very well, so I feel like he's bringing the outside world to her through his music since she's committed too many crimes to ever be let out.

  I didn't like the Joker one bit. I admit he did a great job; he creeped me out so much and that's why I don't like him. Waving knives around people's faces is not cool. I like Suicide Squad's Joker much more, he's the fun kind of insane I love to watch, TDK's Joker was the scary kind of insane and that's not fun.  

I love how much personality the cloak had! It stuck me as very tender and protective, and most probably female ^.^ I feel like it would definitely get jealous if Dr Strange ever got a girlfriend!

Michael Fassbender does Magneto's grief so touchingly T.T

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-02-12 01:36:12 +0000 UTC]

Exactly! As someone else said, the critics are criticizing Swinton's whitewashing for not being the bearded Tibetan occult teacher, and in the Star Wars: Rogue One movie, the critics critizided it for having put a stereotypical Asian martial art teacher. Jesus, make your mind up people!
So that's how I feel too, as long as the actors lives up to the job, who bloody cares what nationality they are; especially if it helps not to stereotype anyone.
And then, again, people have to remember that countries origins don't regulate how someone look. Take Ghost In A Shell, for example. Its a Japanese anime movie a bit like Blade Runner, and Hollywood has decided to make a live-action version. They casted Scarlett Johansson to play the lead role, an android detective. As you can imagine, it got whammed down for whitewashing... But the thing is, when I watched it recently, the character looks exactly like Johansson. And honestly, most of the Japanese actresses don't remotely look like Johansson or like the android character of Ghost in the Shell.
Not to mention that the Japanese themselves always put Caucasian characters in almost every anime.
So what's the bloody problem for everyone? Its just like what you said about the shows, no matter what the directors do, people will always slash out and complain.
I say, put the right actors that will pull this off, and yes, most of the times, it will be a Caucasian! Get over it. Either one is careful around ethnics so as to not offend them and then they get slashed at for not putting enough ethnics, or one finally puts ethnics, and they get slashed out for being stereotypical...

I honestly haven't seen many women have as much charisma and "alien" feel to them to play the Doctor than men. I don't mean it in a sexist way, I just haven't yet met a woman that could pull off it off the way the guys can. And there is so much female lead roles nowadays in most shows, that I think they could overlook Doctor Who and keep the Doctor a male role. I mean he's been male for 53 years and for 12 regenerations... I feel its a bit too late to switch gender now.  
Okay, I have to admit that Michelle Gomez as a female Master was simply amazing and splendid. But that's exactly it. For the Doctor, I think the only way they could pull it off, is to have someone that can be in touch with the more "masculine" side. Look at Gomez's Master (I don't mind "Missy", I'm just writing the full name here to not confuse what I'm talking about ), and at Tilda Swinton: they are feminine yes, but there is alot of a tomboy side to them, a down-to-earth-get-my-hands-dirty personality to them, that allows them to take on masculine role and pull it off. Gomez and Swinton, when you see their pictures, are almost always without make-up and proper hair styling (unless they make interviews or professional pictures), and in non-diva clothing, etc.
So in my opinion, if they do a female Doctor, it has to be someone like them.
Well, maybe there is some hope for Tilda being a future Doctor, as the 8th Doctor himself, Paul McGann, has recently also requested that Tilda be the first female Doctor.  And he and Moffatt/Gatiss seem to be close friends...

It was a very nice pun, though.  It was indeed very rude, I can't help but wonder how he reacted to that comment.
I agree so much. I'm not even sure whether he truly wanted to leave right now, or whether it was a higher-ups decision to kick him out because of the marketing sales flop... But it just showed how much he loved playing finally his dream role, and how he brought that joy with the kids and such.
But then again, maybe he decided to leave to concentrate back on his theatre work, and he wished to leave while he was still in love with the character rather than leave utterly bored of it, like Tom Baker.  
One thing is for sure, I think his regeneration scene will rival the 10th in terms of tears shedding; my brother and I have come to love him so much, and we looked forward to his episodes so much and we never got disappointed of his performance, that I think it will really sadden us to see his farewell scene...  I have faith in the guys choice of actors, I have always had faith since the beginning of the show, for every actor have fulfilled their parts so well; but I admit that I'm slightly dreading who the new Doctor will be. :/

Yeah... I was fine about knowing by the end of the books what happened to Harry and his friends, and their children, and I found it adorable that one of the very last thing that we know is that Harry's son is named Albus Severus, and that it doesn't matter to Harry whether Albus Severus is in Gryffindor or Slytherin, because of how both headmasters ended up being noble and brave in the eyes of Harry. But to do now a story/play on the kids at school getting annoyed because of what their parents did, and the parents being annoyed because of their past... (sigh) Just leave the story be, for once that I liked the ending.
I admit I did not mind the battles in the last three movies, for it was exactly that too in the books, at the end, they fight using their teleporting/flying skills. Why I love so much the last 4 movies, was the psychology behind all the characters, and for that, I love both the movies and the books, because each media deals with it in their own way. The suspense, the atmosphere, the psychology, it was all top-notch in my opinion. When I re-watch them, now that I know the whole story, I can't help but notice all the minuscule clues and hints that the actors incorporated in their acting, and that is what I mostly adore. You know, when at the end of the 6th movie, when Snape kills Dumbledore, now I can notice the utmost subtle reaction that Alan Rickman made, just a very small facial reaction, under the cold-hearted mask that Snape wears for the sake of the Death Eaters, that however showed his true feelings.
The same thing for the 8th movie, when the very first scene is Hogwarts surrounded by fogs, and there is no sound but the soft sad music and the sounds of the students footsteps as they walk in an ordered manner, and then just a shot of Snape overlooking them and the castle, and again, just the minuscule subtle reactions that he let show... These scenes for me, is what I consider great. How entire words and descriptions and emotions is told in a few well designed shots with the right atmosphere and music. So that's why the last 4 are my favourites. The first three were fun (Gary Oldman as a madman is always fun to watch ), and it was showing the innocence of the characters being suddenly put against a dark world; but the last 4 will always tear me up.

I understand your feelings about the Joker. I think its honestly the only, only, creepy not-cool madman that I have ever enjoyed. He was 100% chaos, with no true motives and such, but to allow humanity to show their true nature; he was a villain that you want to see butt-kicked by the hero right when you meet him, but through his actions and how humanity reacts to them, you had a glimpse of what he's trying to show Batman. So I found that very interesting, and that's why he's the only messed-up creepy not-cool villain that I enjoyed. However, I love my villains to have a human side to them (because in real life, all villains have a human side and experiences that turned them evil; no one is evil for the sake of it), and to have a motive. Pure evil character, or villains with no motives, I don't like much of them, because there isn't something in them that you can relate as to why they became villains. It looks as if they are just villains for the sake of being villains. I personally think, writing-wise, that villains has to be equally understood by the reader/viewer than the heroes. Like Magneto and Loki; or 95% of the Japanese anime villains. You can't 100% blame them, because their "evilness" has roots in something very truthful, something that can happen to anyone and turn them equally bad. Magneto's is the murder of his family and the torture of his kind; Loki's is being lied to during his youth, and then seeing his father crown a reckless Thor instead of him (okay, he's as bad, but siblings rivalry is a very human and realist problem that can turn sour quickly).
But there are villains out there that you just can't understand, and that's what I hate.
A very good example is the movie Chappie. The bad guy in it, played by Hugh Jackman, is an engineer who decides to destroy Chappie just because his boss didn't allow him to play with his own toy robot! Seriously? A whole movie whose villain is a guy that didn't got to play with his toys, so he destroys the hero? There's no depth to it, there's no real connection to the villain.

No way, the cloak is male, like an older brother looking out for his younger brother. It understands the need for a man to look cool in all circumstances, something that not many women gets.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-02-13 00:47:46 +0000 UTC]

I think the only way out is to somehow cast someone asian as the martial arts guru but make them act not-stereotypically? (Good luck with that.)

It's true the anime characters sometimes look a bit caucasian. It's a bit hard to tell though because their features are so stylized it's like they're a whole different species sometimes XD

I'm pretty easy to please, so I think I'll enjoy it no matter what. Each Doctor has their own charm, and my favorite Doctor will depend on my mood, though maybe Tennant will get the vote most often. It's really cool how they are all a bit different but still have many things in common, they all have this fire that makes them lovely to watch, it's like each is a different facet of one crystal and that's fabulous, that's exactly what it should be. Yesterday I just suddenly went "You know what I miss Eccleston" and starting watching Rose again, the very first new episode. He's often overlooked but his theme is so beautiful it really highlights the pain he's carrying from the Time War and once you know his story you really see this pain he's carrying and how he's running from it. He's desperate for some company but at the same time doesn't want to be responsible for more deaths and makes sure she really knows what she's getting into. I felt like at the start he's running around just trying to save people with some measure of disregard for his own life; it's not like he wants to die but if his life is the price to save people, so be it; trying to both make up for and escape the guilt of being the one who destroyed Gallifrey.

It's true movies have a magic in their combination of lighting and angle and music that books don't have, and I'm usually the first to appreciate it - there were some beautiful shots in X-men Apocalypse for example, I never tire of them, and Hannibal is beautiful, though gory - but because I grew up with the Harry Potter books those inaccuracies grate at my nerves and prevent me from enjoying the movies fully I suppose. I always loved the first instalments more, with their bright-eyed wonder; the last few have too many awful, sad deaths, I won't start making a list, but I usually don't look of a bucketload of tears in my entertainment. Even in Sherlock, the Reichenbach fall always brings a tear to my eye, even though I know Sherlock is alive, I still cry for John's pain, and I think that tear that drips off Sherlock's chin isn't part of his acting his defeat and suicide, I think he's genuinely hurting for John too and for what he's putting him through.

I love the villains that lean more on the antihero side, like Loki - except in Avengers, he's more of a flat villain there, which is why I'm quite partial to that theory that he was also controlled by the Tesseract, and/or that it was his plan to lose all along to get back to Asgard - when he leaves at the end, with all the restraints, it's really hard to tell because of the metal muzzle covering most of his face but I feel like there's a shadow of a smirk in his eyes. Maybe just my imagination Because I think he's too clever to fail so spectacularly, and head-on war is not his style anyway. In Star Trek Into Darkness, I love Khan's speech in the glass cell. In English class once we had to bring in a video of a good speech and people brought in political figures and I was there with my Star Trek clip - someone had a clip of Bane so it wasn't so awkward - talking about how he's humanizing himself to win over Kirk and co, sure, but really it's mostly directed at the audience, he's not even looking at Kirk most of the time, he's winning over the audience, and that moment is the tipping point, the exact moment he goes from being the villain to being the lesser evil and the antihero, temporarily an ally.

Well, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the characterization of the cloak

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-02-24 01:41:30 +0000 UTC]

Or not put as much martial art gurus in movies... I don't mind martial art, but there is a limit.

Me too! I pretty much loved all episodes and seasons. I even liked that cheesy 90s Doctor Who movie!  Soooo cheesy but sooooo good!
I know what you mean. I always get this pinch each time I see again Ecclecston. My first Doctor was Ecclecston, and even though the others are simply amazing... well he's simply amazing too and especially as you know now what he went through. And his theme song...  

Hehe, I completely understand. Its always more important to us when we grew up with something. I loved the Hobbit book, and I loved the first two movies; but the third just completely ruined it!!
I always think so too... And I just loved in his comeback when he pretends to not know how to defuse the bomb... The two's reactions were priceless!!

Ooh... I loved that Star Trek speech. Just for a moment we actually think he's a good guy.  I remember the behind the scenes, and Chris Pine was saying how he and Karl Urban were just speechless while Benedict was acting and moving in that Shakespearian way, and the two were trying to keep looking cool and not gape in awe.
I would have brought that speech, though:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCYobB…
Best anti-war speech in this last half of century (in the first half, it was Charlie Chaplin's in The Great Dictator).

Hehe. We'll see in the future which it is.

I don't believe I have introduced myself yet. I'm Samantha SkieSwanne, 25, Quebecker, tomboy, naively optimist, and I have an unfortunate affinity with some Victorian values.
Nice to meet you!

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-02-26 02:21:19 +0000 UTC]

I love the first Hobbit movie most; it has this bright adventurous mood and it just so cool. Also it's when Thorin is at his most majestic; the closer he is to being king under the mountain, the less regal he is. And yeah, the third is probably the weakest. The convenient battle goats coming out of nowhere kills me every time XD

Haha I can totally imagine that. I'd say Khan switches from villain to antihero in that moment, and a very sympathetic one at first. That Dr Who clip is fantastic too, but it didn't exist back when I had to do this assignment, so yeah... I think someone brought in Charlie Chaplin's speech too.

I'm Gina, 19, Vancouverite, probably a mixture of old-fashioned and older than my age as well Nice to meet you!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-02-28 20:52:57 +0000 UTC]

Me too. I did find that they lingered a bit less on the sceneries and the architectures than in LOTR, but all things considered, I didn't mind. And Thranduil was just so dead-on; I didn't knew what actor could play Thranduil well, but Lee Pace just hit it on perfectly. I also found Tauriel to be a good reason why the Elves and Dwarves began the peace process... until she became utterly useless in the third movie...
Me its the fact that it was supposed to be FIVE armies. Not 75% Thorin vs Balg, 10% Dwarves vs Elves, 5% Dwarves/Elves vs Goblins, 5% Bard vs Goblins, and 5 seconds of Eagles and Beorn...   

Oh, right... I keep on thinking Doctor Who is recent...

Vancouver? ooh... I imagine back there spring is almost already upon you?
19? You indeed sound older.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-03-01 03:45:02 +0000 UTC]

I'm perfectly okay with lingering less on sceneries, my main complaint about the Tolkien books is that it's so much world-building (which is very impressive, make no mistake) that the characters and even the storytelling suffers a bit, I feel. The characters just don't feel as alive to me. Also I know some people are unhappy about it but I'm really glad they never put Tom Bombadil in the movies because he annoyed the socks off me!

Thranduil was PERFECT. So majestic <3 I'm glad they brought him more into the movies, and it's really interesting how he's carrying this pain and bitterness with him, great acting and so intriguing! I'd love to hear more about his backstory...

Yeah Tauriel could have been handled better :\ Disappointing how she ended up being shoehorned in there for the sole purpose of the awkward love triangle. I love Kili but after reading the Silmarillion the dwarf/elf thing annoys me. She could have been a really good character; I really love her "Are we not part of this world?" moment, how despite being so young she has almost a wisdom Thranduil lacks, but it just goes under in all the romance   

I an understand that they'd focus on the characters the bothered to develop, and not the random footsoldiers of the armies, though. Generally angry and how Thorin gets to be a complete jerk for the whole movie and get a drawn-out dramatic dying speech after giving Balg such a stupid opening, and yet Kili, who is lovely through the whole thing, doesn't get to say a word. Also more angry at Thorin in general, dragon-sickness or not, greedy ungrateful twerp  

Haha no it was actually snowing today. Well okay actually nature can't make up its mind because lots of flowers are blooming too, and the snow didn't stick, luckily. So yes, it's sorta is spring, but it usually doesn't snow at all, especially not when it's basically the start of March.

Nah Doctor Who is recent (that clip is at least), it's just that that specific English class was so long ago that Matt Smith was still the Doctor...

Haha I'll take that as a compliment, people have nothing but complaints about kids / teenagers (and so do I ) and I'd rather not be part of that demographic.

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-03-03 01:41:35 +0000 UTC]

Hehe. I understand.
You won't believe however how long I spent looking and relishing at every details in Rivendell, Minas Tirith, etc...  I just loved all the architectural details, all the thoughts...

There is sadly not much that is known about Thranduil... The only things is that Olorin, his father, was a Sindarin Lord that journeyed from Valinor to Middle-earth and settled to create his own kingdom. The Sindarin were tired of regality and of Valinor, and they were enchanted by the forests and the open skies, and the stars at night, so that's why they settled. When Sauron first launched his first great war, Olorin and Thranduil were there to fight alongside everyone (that's the Great Serpent that Thranduil refers to in the Hobbit). Olorin died alongside 2/3 of his army.
When Isildur got ambushed and killed by the Orcs, Thranduil arrived right after, sadly belatedly, after his death to drive away the Orcs. Its often speculated that it was solely because of Thranduil's attack that the Orcs didn't got their hands on the Ring when it slipped from Isildur; if Thranduil would have been late, the Orcs would have found the Ring and it would have been over.
I'm just sad that they haven't shown Thranduil taking care and protecting Gollum; it was, once again, solely because of Thranduil that the Orcs didn't faster got their hands of Gollum and found out about Baggins and Shire.

I didn't mind as much the romance; I thought that since Legolas loved Tauriel and respected her views of the world and she loved a Dwarf, it brought a necessary understanding between Elves and Dwarves through her. I just dislike so much how she didn't act as badass in the third as in the second... What was that, staying on the ground while screaming while the Orc slowly stabs Kili... The 2nd Hobbit tauriel would have jumped like a fierce cat on the Orc and did her worst to it before it even lifted its dagger...

(sigh) I'm honestly kinda glad that Christopher Tolkien refused to give further rights to Jackson for a movie adaptation of the Silmarillion... I feel that Jackson lost the magic touch of the LOTR, and he would have just ruined it... I can't stand the love story between Luthien and Beren being ruined... 

Cute!! Flowers are blooming?! 
I'm guessing that people feel its global warming, because up here, snow is starting to melt now, while for the last 10 years, it only started late April, mid-May. But my parents can clearly remember the exact same temperature and March snowmelting period when they were young! So we're back to the 70s, 80s temperature, instead of the colder and longer/snowier winters of the last 10 years.  

Yeah, I understand you.  I'm afraid many teenagers are nothing but trouble.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-03-05 02:19:58 +0000 UTC]

To be fair to Tauriel, she's taken quite a beating at that point, including a nasty fall on her back. I alway assumed she was simply incapable of moving fast enough, barely able to get up in fact. The orc wasn't slowly stabbing Kili, (okay he did take a little instant to relish his victory), it was a slo-mo shot which probably represented how the characters experienced it quite accurately. Shock and all.

Actually I think the freak snow storm in February is climate change, the flowers aren't. Vancouver is a very temperate place, technically I think it's a "temperate rainforest". I seem to remember that plants use the wavelength of light to decide when to bloom, not temperature, like that they aren't tricked by a warmer spell. On the flipside that does mean to fall prey to cold snaps and stuff like we just had, but they seemed to have handled it okay.

Tsk tsk, kids nowadays!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-03-09 17:20:08 +0000 UTC]

So did Legolas! And it didn't stopped him from saving her...  
... Movies, nowadays...

Oh no, I was speaking in my province; the "sudden" height in temperature is attributed to climate change, but in fact, its back to what it used to be, 20-30 years ago... I actually remember that Vancouver was pretty temperate... lucky you...

Hehe.

How has your week been? Me, its been great! Everything is finally melting, the birds are singing their cute songs.  And did you hear? Harry Potter Lucius Malfoy's actor Jason Isaacs will be the new Star Trek Captain in that upcoming Star Trek serie!! Woohoo! I love that guy, he owns every scene in every movie he's in, good guy or villain; I just know he'll be perfect as Captain. Sort of a modern Patrick Stewart (which has always been my favourite Captain).

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-03-11 07:32:36 +0000 UTC]

Okay well if you want to go down that route, I'm going to go ahead and hold a rant about Spectre.
I've only seen that movie once, because this one scene makes me so grumpy it more or less ruined the movie for me. I'm talking about the scene where Bond gets holes drilled in his skull. (Which is already a sufficiently offputting idea in itself.)
They've got this perfect setup; a girl who is basically a trained (if reluctant) spy/ assassin as a sympathetic fellow captive, with a fair amount of liberty. But no, James Bond cannot be saved by someone else, especially not a girl, nor can he accept help from said female. So instead, we're forced to go along with the idea that Mister Megalomaniac somehow screwed up twice and did not damage any important part of the brain in the process, against his own claims (and all likelihood, if you ask me, though I'm no brain expert), and then watch Bond single-handedly free himself and fight his way through a small private army, with no help from the trained assassin at his side and two holes in his head. 
Excuse me while I drown in disbelief.

(And I'm usually pretty good with suspension of disbelief but this is too much for me to stomach.)

My week was okay, business as usual. No I hadn't heard of that! I don't actually remember seeing him in anything else, though I do love the Malfoys. Their arrogance in the first half of the movies is so fun! They're kinda pathetic in the last half though. Poor Draco, he's in a tough spot. Lucius I have no pity for though. He is cashing in aallll the bad choices he's made. I don't really know all that much about Star Trek, I've only seen the movies, but I can easily believe he'll rock the captain role if he has something like the confidence of the Malfoys!

So many movies coming out these days! Kong: Skull Island and Beauty and the Beast I'm quite excited about, and Logan is looking interesting as well! Have you seen any of them? I haven't yet, but they're on my list!

This comment thread must be a mile long by now. If anyone else ever reads all the way down here I will be very impressed (and also question their life choices and time management)

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-03-12 01:10:53 +0000 UTC]

Right, I forgot about that part in Spectre... It was indeed disbelieving...
I was mostly annoyed with the presence of Andrew Scott (Sherlock's Moriarty); don't get me wrong, he does well that kind of villain, but I think that it was too much Moriarty, in addition that he does yet another "Moriarty"-like character in the movie "Victor Frankeinstein"... So I was kinda bored and hoping Scott would be given a different role...

Me too I haven't seen him much elsewhere. I remember he was in "Armageddon", as the shy scientist that brief the astronauts on what to expect when dealing with exploding asteroids, but I haven't his other movies. But I have heard nothing but praises for his acting, and I believe it from what we saw in Harry Potter.  So I'm looking forward to Star Trek... I just hope they don't ruin it...

I admit I'm less and less excited about the new movies than I was before. I just feel like they are doing the same storyline over and over again. I just love Japanese anime shows, because no matter what you decide to watch, it always end up being unique and with incredible twists. One good example right now is something called Hellsing. Its probably a bit too violent and gory for some people (it rivals with Quentin Tarantino), but its an outstanding modern version of a vampire story. I have honestly never watched a vampire franchise that actually made me enjoy watching vampires; the only movie I loved was the 1992 Bram Stoker's Dracula, with Gary Oldman. But Hellsing... Wow. It succeeded to do better a vampire story than all the Americans movies such as Twilight, Vampire Diaries, etc. 
But I don't have the same excitment with Hollywood movies nowadays... They are just so boring and predictive... Except Doctor Strange. That one took me by surprise.  
So I admit I'm very lukewarm about seeing these movies you mentioned.

hehe. Do you want to switch to Note, instead?

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-03-13 02:28:48 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I guess Andrew Scott is getting stuck in a mold. He just did his job too well, I was watching a video of an interview he did for Sherlock back before s3 even came out, and all I could see was Moriarty pretending to be Rich Brooks. He just did his job too well, to the point where I automatically assume he's got something nefarious planned even when he's being his normal lovely self.

It's funny because I did almost exactly the same thing but in a different medium. I grew up reading books, in fact devouring them would be more accurate, and movies were really not my thing. They usually frightened or saddened me (I still get way too involved in movies but now I actually watch them. I think the first live-action movie, or at least the first action movie I actually asked to go see was Skyfall. Since then I've caught up on lots of things I missed, like Pirates of the Caribbean. But I disgress.) Eventually, all the "teenager finds out they have special powers and save the world, probably with a dash of romance on the way" got so predictable and boring, and I sort of ran out of books that interested me. And just a bit before that, I discovered manga! And I never looked back, the stories and characters are so much more quirky and entertaining. On that topic, do you know the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney games? I'm listening to the soundtrack right now and it's reminding me how much I love them; they are like interactive detective novels and there can't possibly be any quirkier characters anywhere. You question a parrot at one point. 'Nuff said. I agree, the Japanese storytelling just feels so much more original and alive. It's not quite my usual kind of story but I absolutely love Skip Beat, for some reason the characters feel so alive to me, it's almost as if I know them and have been personally watching their story unfold.

In terms of movies though, I'm not very critical. I'm quite easy to please. I usually care about the characters more than the story, and good acting will make the characters come alive very easily. For example Suicide Squad; it felt like the story was hurriedly thrown together as a place for all these great characters to exists, but I didn't really mind since the characters were so fun to watch. Regardless of the complaints of the comic book fans, I really like Joker and Harley's dynamic in the movie. That's why I'm looking forward to Skull Island; I'm part of the Hiddleston fandom and the hype has infected me, his character looks really interesting and I want to see more!

No, I like it this way. I love how this conversation just grew out of a simple little comment, and I'd hate to break that ^.^

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-03-17 00:07:17 +0000 UTC]

Hehe. I know what you mean; I just wish they would allow him, for once, to be his lovely self.  

Ooh, really? I have many suggestions for movies if you haven't seen them yet.  I'm just not sure what kind of genres you like and dislike, so I'll wait before listing a few of my favourites (okay, a lot of my favourites ).
No, I don't have much occasions to play online games; not enough Internet limit and not enough time for it...  But I completely agree, I just can't get enough of Japanese stories; today, I even started reading the Hellsing manga after I fell in love with the anime, and I discover all sort of new jewels in the story that makes me love the characters even more. Next stop will be Soul Eater.  Since I began watching anime (at the strong insistance of two of my friends), about 6 months ago, I have seen 12 shows, and I love every one of them, whether they're sweet and funny, or much more mature (I can give you the list if you're interested; I would recommend every one of them). The thing is, Japanese are both interesting character-wise and story-wise... so I'm completely hooked.

I would normally agree, but since a few years, I'm afraid that even good acting can't really save a movie's poor plot, for me. The only exception to that are most of the Marvel movies (just loved Deadpool) and the Doctor Whos, even in their cheesiness.  I, for example, recently watched Assasin's Creed, with Michael Fassbender... I still can't believe up until now how incredibly cheesy, clichÈ, and incredibly boring/predictable it was!! A simple 1:45h movie felt like a 2:30h movie, with each scenes more predictable than the precedent... Filmakers nowadays rely too much on the newfound digital prowess of filmaking, and expect it to compensate for the lack of cohesive and original plot... That's why, like you, ever since I went Japanese, I haven't regretted it ever since, and Hollywoodian movies are less and less appealing to me.
I honestly don't see Hiddleston as the action hero type of personality. There was a talk show doing some promo on Skull Island, and showing promotional posters for the characters, including a shot of Hiddleston trying to look tough... and it just wasn't believing for me, I found. I can't really blame him, he's trying new stuff and taking on the roles that are for once offered to him; but I miss the kind and sweet himself of his early British movies and shows. I feel like he's trying too much to be the tough-guy hero/rebellious hero stereotype to get away from his fame as Loki, and I feel like he's losing why we loved him as Loki in the first place: the modern yet old-fashioned British guy, that's neither tough nor weak, cynical but with a soft side. What I love about Benedict Cumberbatch, is that he hasn't lost what made him stand out, whether he plays a tough guy like Khan, or a flawed hero like Strange, or a high-functional sociopath like Sherlock, or a shy genius like in Imitation Game; or the Victorian uptight and virtuous hero of Parade's End. In every of his characters, he keeps the charms and the flaws that made him stand out, and doesn't try to be too much this or that.
But, I'll reserve my judgements until I actually see Skull Island.

Fine by me.  I find it sweet too how it all grew from one thanks!

Speaking of books and boring/cheesy stories, and fan of Japanese storytelling, I was wandering if you would like to be a beta reader for my novel. I would like a fan of good stories like myself to have an unbiased view on my story, to tell me whether its just another boring predictable story, or if it has the potential to stand out.  No need to say yes, I was just asking.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-03-18 06:20:11 +0000 UTC]

Ace Attorney aren't online games, they're DS games (yes I'm really late to the party - the first half of the series is for the old DS). But I totally understand, I also stay away from video games mostly because they can be such a huge time sink. Only when I get really enthusiastic recommendations that are easy for me to try out do I give it a shot. Like Okami, which I played on Wii when a friend lent it to me; it's based on Japanese mythology and has absolutely beautiful art and music and is the reason I started painting.

I got into manga years ago now, and I've collected a fair list, though not as much as some of my friends, mostly due to the fact that I tend to find series I really like and then obsessively read or watch them multiple times instead of trying new things. I must have read the Harry Potter books on average 7 times each in my life so far. At least. At the moment I'm watching Hanasaku Iroka, it's cute

I guess since I only started watching movies relatively recently I'm not jaded yet I watched Assassin's Creed too, and the ending was so confusing I'm still not over it, but I enjoyed Michael Fassbender's acting so much I still walked out of the movie quite happy. I can't act to save my life so maybe that's why I'm so enchanted by good acting ^.^

Ahahah, but if you want Hiddleston to stay in the same kind of roles as he used to, wouldn't he become the same kind of one-trick pony as you were complaining Andrew Scott is being turned into? I really like him, he's super sweet in interviews and I have yet to see him deliver poor acting. His characters always have depth, whether Victorian gentlemen or Norse gods or country musicians, and that's what matters to me. Same for Benedict Cumberbatch; regardless of what the character is trying to be they always make the human behind the facade shine through. James Conrad looks intriguing to me; I hear he has PTSD and I'm sure there is an interesting story behind all this. The though guy has been a pattern in the roles he's gotten lately, in the Night Manager and Skull Island, but not in movies like I saw the Light or Crimson Peak so I'm not too worried about him being stuck in one role, and it's not like he's trying to carry it into his own personal image from what I can see. Isn't trying to be someone else what acting is all about?

Ahhh I would like to but I've got so much on my plate I really can't make any promises. You can always give it a shot and I'll see if I can squeeze it into my schedule...

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-03-30 23:58:45 +0000 UTC]

So sorry for the late reply; I spent the last two weeks, at every free evenings I had, to prepare a little gift for my Onee chan.

Ooh! Well, I'll check it out in the public archive of DoS games that I found. Me too I prefer computer games. You can play anytime you need without always connecting to the Internet, or eating away all the Internet limit...  I don't mind the time it takes to play, I'm more concerned with how much it eats away my Internet limit!

I truly got into anime shows about a year ago (despite two of my friends desperately recommending me to try it for 2 years) because of the awesome anime Last Exile. Before that, I had seen two animated Japanese movies (Princess Mononoke and Patema Inverted; but Last Exile showed me how a story could be so well conveyed, even with just a simple animation. I've got hooked ever since. So far, I've watched both Last Exile (epicaly awesome), both Clannad (cute!!!), Death Note (super awesome, like a Sherlock vs Moriarty story, but tenfold better and on steroids), Code Geass: Lelouch of the Revolution (cool!!), Soul Eater (cool and funny!!!), Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (epicaly cool!!), Chuunibyo demo ka gai (sweet...), Attack on Titan (epic), Hellsing and Hellsing: Ultimate (best post-90s vampire story I've ever seen beside Gary Oldman's Dracula), Darker than Black (super cool... hope they do a third season), Kekkai Sensen (cool and light-hearted, hope they do a second season) and the latest, Dimension W (more anime-styled, but I have a feeling it will be a great story if they do a second season).
And in the last two weeks (that was my gift for my onee-chan), I finally decided to try mangas (they are hard to get over the Internet), and started out reading the Hellsing and the Soul Eater manga! Which did not dissapoint at all...
So I'm loving the Japanese so far!!


Its not the same thing. I would understand that Andrew Scott would act the same way as Moriarty, as it is his trademark; but he could act approximately the same way, and still play a variety of characters, including good ones. It would give his characters the dubious edge of knowing if its a good guy or not this time... rather like Anthony Hopkins in many of his movies, where you are never sure whether he plays a good guy or not because of his unique acting style. But Scott never gets the chance: all three characters all became evil guys like Moriarty. I don't mind he acts the way he acts, like a tamed Moriarty, but it would be fun to see a good-sided twist to that Moriarty trademark. I would enjoy very much seeing a good-natured Moriarty!
The same with Benedict Cumberbatch. Its undeniable that he will always have that Sherlock-type and a Shakespearian trademark in all his characters (Khan was an exception, but you still saw the Shakespearian side of Benedict in him), but he also carries that unique style in all his characters, which is why we always enjoy whoever he plays; because we recognize what we loved about him, and not only that, but we see the person behind the character, which is always a bonus.
Tom Hiddleston... well... The only way I can properly explain, is by how you disliked a bit more Sherlock when he stopped being arrogant and logical, and became more emotional in season 3. You didn't got to experience the trademark style that you were used to, in all their variables, from the first two seasons, and you were glad when you got to see it again in season 4. Hiddleston feels like that to me, nowadays, I just can't put my finger on why exactly. I just intuitively feel that he lost, or set aside, the trademark style that set him apart from the other young actors. I felt alienated by his tough guy roles from Night Manager or High Rise... I miss the good and bad Loki, the old-fashioned gentleman, or even the normal guy, with good and bad days, from his independant English movies. They all bore his style, his trademark, himself.

Ah well, maybe its just me. AND... its true that it doesn't get transferred to his real personality. He's indeed super sweet and mannered, even if the fans aren't always the same toward him in return (I speak more about manners there... ). At least, out of both of us, you still like his roles.  Maybe soon I'll see a new movie where he's back to the style I'm used to.
One thing's for sure... I can't wait for Thor 3!!!! Why can't it come faster?! At least give us a trailer!!

Yes and no. It depends on the actor/actress. You can have actors that are really good in one style and its variables, and they and you will never tire of them. Leslie Nielsen, Robert Downey Jr., Alan Rickman, Milla Jovovich, they are all good examples of having kept the style they were most in-tune with, and it worked every time. And then yes, you can have actors and actress that are better at personifying different personalities: Tilda Swinton, Gary Oldman, etc. I think it depends on the actor and actress; if I would be one, I could never (nor would I want to) act someone else than what I feel comfortable. Acting is not just about pushing one's limit, its mainly to tell a story the best way you can, and with your heart. I don't like violent or bullying stories, so I would never be able to portray such a character, no matter how hard I try.  I love and hold dear more optimistic stories, so it would be my pleasure to help portray such a story to the best of my abilities.

But again, that is just my view. I'm actually glad you enjoy all sorts of characters, you're open to so much more movies and style than I'll ever be.

And... It seems BBC has set their eyes on making the next Doctor a woman... NOOOOOOO!!!!! Why??!! WHY??!!

Well... I can already suggest to you a few movies that comes to mind:

- The Prophecy 1-3 (See only the first three movies, with Christopher Walken, as the 4th and 5th was complete c**p; I haven't watched any other movie that came close to the incredible atmosphere of this trilogy.)
- Children of Dune (The SyFy science-fiction mini-series that is a sequel to the SyFy's Dune [many recommend that one too]; it is simply beautiful and heartbreaking. I can relate so much to the twin siblings heroes, because that's how close I am too to my own onee-chan, and their story is just so amazing... But not just that, the cinematography, the shots, the music.... Its one of these movies where you won't be disappointed in any directions. An absolute must.)
- Resident Evil 1-5 (Even if its only once, you need to watch those. The one and only cheesy action-packed zombie's ass-kicking female badass zombie franchise that you should ever watch. Perfect for just sitting back, not using your brain, and imagining whoever's annoying you being the zombie boss that Milla Jovovich is utterly devastating. Speaking of Milla Jovovich...)
- The Fifth Element (a cult sci-fi movie from the 90s, its a simple cheesy goodie. )
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) (if there is only one post-90s Dracula adaptation you should see, its this cult movie, with Gary Oldman in the lead role... even if its just for one time and then you throw it away.  Its pretty much the "modern" quintessential adaptation. I must warn you that its 18+ for violence, gore, sexuality, and mature subject. )
- Red 1 & 2 (One thing you gotta give Bruce Willis is to play a good comedic role in an action movie; but it gets better when you add John Malkovich to the mix. Both are really good light-hearted movies about retired CIA agents (Willis is the sane one, and Malkovich is the paranoid one ) making their way through the world. ).
- Hitchiker's Guide To the Galaxy (I know you'll just love this movie, with Martin Freeman in the title, and Sam Rockwell as the really silly King/President of the Galaxy)
- Anything with Leslie Nielsen (my personal favourites are the three Naked Gun, Wrongfully Accused, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It; but there's plenty more.)
- Anything by/with Mel Brooks (my personal top favourites are Young Frankeinstein, Spaceballs, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, and History of the World).
- All 70s movies of Gene Wilder (that includes Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, probably the sweetest children movie I have seen, although many said it was terrifying?? His The Little Prince is also very sweet and one of the best adaptations I've seen so far.)
- All post-2000s Pixar/Disney and Dreamworks animated movies are all charming in their own way (my personal favourites are the Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon franchise; but I'm sure you'll love all the others)
- The Fountain (Watch out. You'll cry at the end. A lot.)
- Casshern (a live-action Japanese movie based on the anime of the same name, it was the first movie that made us consider Japanese movies/shows. It is simply an amazing story; I love every Japanese shows I have watched, but none of them so far bested the feel that is left after I watch Casshern... and I watched it 6 times. )
- Moulin Rouge! (probably the only musical love story I have ever loved.)
- Van Helsing (I gotta admit, it is cheesy; but man is it cool! Its a modern take and mashup on all the classic horror characters such as Dracula, Frankeinstein, Wolfman, and Van Helsing. And no one can beat Hugh Jackman as the badass Van Helsing. )
- Pushing Daisies (a beautiful light-hearted 2-season show, I really recommend it. Its just too lovely!)
- Galaxy Quest (a spoof of Star Trek, or rather the cast behind Star Trek, it was considered as "remarkably accurate" by the Star Trek cast themselves; its just simply funny, as it depicts the cast of a Star Trek-like show being kidnapped by aliens who think that the show is real, and the cast can save the aliens from a big baddy. )


Well, can't really remember the rest of the movies that I like, but I think you have already quite a long list anyway... Sorry.

Oh, don't worry, it won't be for now. The book is still not done; and after my only beta reader just got to me a few days ago after reading the first couple chapters, there's already lots of tweekings to do, and additional in-between chapters to be added, so I'm afraid the book is far from finished. I was just curious if you would be interested once it got finished.

Well, gotta go! See you later, alligator! (the alligator is not you, its just an expression. )

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-04-01 18:53:41 +0000 UTC]

Oohh, what did you make her?

Well, I'm not sure it's old enough to be in a DOS archive... The first one came out in 2001. But still, old enough to probably be quite affordable, especially if you happen to have a first generation Nintendo DS in a corner somewhere. Me, I played them on an emulator.

I've read Death Note, seen Code Geass, and didn't manage to get into Attack on Titan. Personally, I prefer manga; my all-time favorites are probably Black Butler and Skip Beat, but there are lots of others I love; I've probably read Detective Conan too often, especially considering how ridiculously long it is, Ranma 1/2 is always fun too. There are lots more, if you're looking for a specific genre I can try to recommend something ^.^ Did you join in on the excitement around Yuri on Ice when it came out recently?

Have you seen Crimson Peak or I Saw the Light? His role in Crimson Peak is more or less the old-fashioned gentleman you're looking for, only with a dash more murder involved It's a fairly dark story, but judging from your recommendations of movies and animes I doubt that'll bother you!
I am a bit worried about the neon-colored costumes in the photos released so far, it seems to comical, and I've never read the comics but what does Hulk have to do with all this, but I will reserve judgement until I see the movie. I'm also super excited for the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean; the first trailer left me feeling pretty lukewarm about it but the newer one makes me hope it will at least partly be a Jack Sparrow origin story which is what I've always wanted!

I'm reserving judgement on a female Doctor too. You were in favor of Tilda Swinton, partially because she's more androgynous, if I remember correctly, but I watched Agent Carter recently and loved it, and I think a character like Peggy could also rock it. In the end, it's about the confidence and just going for it, barging on through adventure after adventure.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! We seemed to watch it every year in primary school, it was the go-to "We need to keep the kids busy let's put on a movie" thing. I quite liked it, especially the blue girl backflipping down the stairs, that always stayed with me I watched it again recently and when the puppets bust into flames at the start I was very surprised and quite creeped out; I didn't remember that and had never noticed the movie had such ominous elements at the time!

Wow, I don't remember that last time I heard that expression! 

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-04-06 23:57:30 +0000 UTC]

Its actually a him.  What, onee chan means older sister? I always thought it just meant general older sibling...
Well, since he's always so busy, and can't really go to Internet to relax and have some fun and such, I went through the trouble of getting him an offline version of the Hellsing and Soul Eater mangas, as they are his favourite anime shows. You have no idea how hard it was for me to keep quiet about the surprise, because I had no choice to read quickly the mangas to make sure they were in order, and damn were they hilarious (Soul Eater) and cool (Hellsing), and I couldn't wait that he reads them.  I was very happy when the day came to give them to him, and see how excited he was.

Yeah, I checked, and I indeed could not find it. I can't buy it either (short on money), but I'll remember it for the future.

Hehe, its the inverse with me. Mainly because anime are more accessible than manga to me.  Between the manga and the anime version, I'll always look at the anime first, because I just adore everything they can do with their much smaller budgets than Western movies. Not to mention the action sequences are always more cool. Soul Eater had possibly the best animate action sequences of all the animes I had watched; and Last Exile's battleship warfare sequences were breathtaking.  The only time I'll then read the manga, is because I want clarifications to a story (Hellsing), or because I've read that the manga version has more adventures with the characters that I love (Soul Eater; Death the Kid and Black Star are just so hilarious... ).
Thanks for the offer! But that's allright, for the moment, I'm pretty backed up in recommendations.  I'm right now starting Cowboy Bebop, and despite its terrible title (I hate westerns genre movies), I actually adore the story! It reminds me of a really unique show that was called Firefly, with Nathan Fillion; and although the main character of Cowboy Bebop has the looks of Keanu Reeves, he has the whole personality and comedic side of Nathan Fillion and Brendan Fraser, so its just a joy to watch!
There's also Hell Girl that has a very interesting idea, but I'm just waiting to see when the story becomes more complex, as the episodes so far are pretty much the same than the last.
Hmm, no, I'm not aware of the Yuri on Ice. What was it?

No, I hadn't seen both yet. They seemed indeed more of his usual style; but I'm just going to wait after Thor, when I'll be more excited about watching his stuff.  I'm afraid High-Rise and Night Manager had put me off for the moment...

I indeed don't mind gritty, dark, and violent stories; but that's exactly it. They have to have a place within the story; and I'm very picky on the fine line between acceptable violence/gore and untasteful violence/gore. I can watch something as gory and violent as Hellsing, and won't be bothered, because it goes with the story: Alucard isn't a goody-goody guy that bothers with doing things cleanly, even if for a virtuous reason; there's a reason why he's being tamed and controlled by Hellsing in the first place. However, I have a strong dislike of Quentin Tarantino's movies, because they have no strong motive for so much violence and goriness. Its just done for the pure sake of the viewers' enjoyment of seeing violence and gore.
You may rest assured that within the suggestions I gave you, the violence, grittiness, and goriness is always at an acceptable level, and done for the story's purpose, not for thoughtless enjoyment.

I think I do remember about Hulk having an important role within the Thor universe, when I was browsing through the whole universe's story.
What, they posted pictures?! This I've got to see...

Ooh, they released a second trailer? I only saw the one where a Davy Jones-esque looking Javier Bardem walks to a terrified sailor and request something to be said to Sparrow...
As far as its still concerned, it should still be a sequel to the fourth movie, not an origin story; after all, Orlando Bloom returns as the Flying Dutchman Captain. On the contrary, if I remember the rumors right, they wanted to make it Sparrow's last movie, and start a new franchise with a new character, since Depp is relatively controversial nowadays.

Maybe... I just think that if they want to switch the gender, they must make it smooth; Michelle Gomez's Missy is a great example. Though not as androgynous as Tilda, because she is more tomboy and un-feminine in her acting, her takeover on the Master went smoothly and perfect; because she has a more raw, masculine personality, like the male Masters before her. I feel the first female Doctor should be the same; perhaps the second will be able to be like Shield's Perry, but it will be a bad move for the very first one. I still stand that the first female Doctor needs to be someone that doesn't need makeup or stylish hairstyle (when will she have the time to do this when the TARDIS is always in trouble? ), and who has that more masculine side, as the transition will be smoother after 53 years to male Doctors.
But, as you said, who knows... Perhaps I'm wrong and as long as she'll be a good actress, she'll do just fine... I'm just feeling like when I witnessed the death of Christopher Ecclecston's amazing Doctor, and saw this weird looking, long-haired, too childish, guy named David Tennant.  I adored David Tennant afterwards, but the first dozen episodes really threw me off after the really amazing and dark Doctor, which suited to me better the idea of a Doctor ashamed of his past. So its just the same thing. I know it will be, for once after so many years, the same thing than the very first time I witnessed regeneration: a little dread to see the amazing Capaldi being replaced by someone unusual.
But speaking of Doctor Who... did you see the new trailer!!! There will be the very old versions of the Cybermen, from the days of the 2nd and 3rd Doctor; there will be even, if I saw the aliens right, Ice Warriors!!! They were recurrent villains in the Classic Era, but we saw them only once, with Matt Smith, in the new era (the episode where he and Clara are stuck in a Russian submarine who just excavated an alien stuck in ice). And, which I'm most excited about, Missy is back!! And she looks as cool, even cooler, than before!!! And there seems to be some really cool scenes and adventures going on... Yay!! I can't wait for the next 9 days!!!

I just loved Gene Wilder's performance in it, too. Eccentric, but sweet. Apparently his scream in the tunnel was completely unscripted, and it freaked out the other actors, leading to their very realist reaction in the scene!!

Hehe; it's my parents that always say that.  But you were supposed to answer "In awhile, crocodile!"... (pout)

Okay, I've gotta go! See ya!

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-04-08 06:51:18 +0000 UTC]

I'm definitely no expert, but as far as I'm aware "onee-chan" (with the "ee" being like the canadian "eh" not like in "knee") is older sister and "onii-chan" is older brother.
That's a really nice gift!

I like the self-paced nature of manga, and though I'm picky about art styles for both, in anime I'm also picky about voicing - I can't stand watching Detective Conan, they way they voice the children is so annoying! Black Butler is interesting; the stories diverge between the manga and the anime. If you ever give it a shot, they both have their strengths. I absolutely adore the voice acting, and they have some interesting original characters in the anime, but the story and characters are a fair bit more solid in the manga. The second season of the anime has such a forced plot.
Yuri on Ice was a very cute series about Ice Skating that came out in the fall and got really popular, I started seeing it all over the internet and got curious and starting watching it too.

From what I can see of your tastes I'm thinking Crimson Peak could be your style. Give it a shot when you get a chance. It was labeled as horror but del Torro and the crew will adamantly protest it's actually gothic romance. Speaking of Thor, here are the photos I was mentioning. View at your own risk  ew.com/movies/thor-ragnarok-ex…
As a judicious tumblr user pointed out, looks like Loki finally got that drink he asked for at the end of Avengers
I'm really not convinced; the logo and now the costumes give me a retro, cheesy old movie feel. But I will give it a shot nonetheless, they've got a lot of follow-up to do on Loki after that ending!

I agree, it's all in how it's done. I can't exactly use violence as an excuse for not watching something now after watching Hannibal. It's an interesting story. I kept seeing so much Hannibal fanart here (mostly a steady stream from Arkarti, and to a lesser extent Tenshi-no-hikari) probably for over a year, and I got curious and started looking it up. I found a couple trailers for the show and watched them and pushed my chair back going "OMG so much blood I will never watch this." But I found out it was based on books, so I read the books. And I found this Hannibal character very interesting, and found out the show had a different story from the books, and I wanted to see more of this interesting character so I decided to give it a shot. In the end I absolutely love it; yes it's gory but it's also beautifully filmed; the lighting and just all the aesthetics are just so perfect! the violence is used tastefully and very well done. And the story and particularly character dynamics are captivating, far better than the books imo. In the books I liked Hannibal, and I still do but in the tv show I liked Will much better. He's quite ineffectual in the books, but watching him gain agency in the show is so interesting. It kinda reminds me of Sherlock; when you know the books you can see all the little nods to the source material in the reinterpretation and it's really cool. The books start with this mysterious history between Will and Hannibal which is never explained and the tv show saw the opportunity and took it, masterfully, telling that story their own way. I could go on for ages about this show <3

It is a sequel, there's Will and Elizabeth's son in there apparently, the young guy, but there was also a young Jack Sparrow so there will be some flashbacks or something covering at least some of his backstory. Javier Bardem seems to be driven by some very old grudge and story (as usual - both like previous Pirates of the Caribbean movies and like his role in Skyfall, now that I think of it). 
Hm. I don't keep up with the news much, but I don't care all that much - I think liking someone as an actor doesn't have much to do with liking who they are as a person, they can be separate things. I know zip about Depp as a person so I reserve judgement on that but that doesn't prevent me from liking him as an actor, he always does such fun characters.

I meant like Peggy in terms of personality, not emulating her always-perfect lipstick It's true I don't know how she manages to always look so perfect, but then she also seems to be the last one to get to the office in the mornings ;D It kinda bothers me that masculinity is being considered as a central trait to the character of the Doctor though. I'd be totally fine with him continuing to be male, I just don't feel like it's a defining part of his identity though. It's more about the drive to experience things, to help, the pain he carries and what keeps him running, both to and from things. ^.^

Long-haired and too childish... I thought you meant Matt Smith!

I did not see the trailer! Will go check that out!

I don't' think I had ever heard the reply!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-04-14 01:01:47 +0000 UTC]

I need to reply to this offline, but before anything, here's the Thor trailer!!:

ca.ign.com/videos/2017/04/10/t…

As you can see, the costumes are not at all as brightly-coloured as in the pictures; usually, the costumes have to be brighter coloured so their colours go through the dark filter they add afterwards for the movie's feel. If the costumes would be darker-coloured, the end result would be a mix of grey shadings.  

Other than that, the movie (and Hell/Hela!!!) look really cool!!! I think Loki will have a role as the defender of Asgard's people.  That will be awesome, especially with his dagger skills and magic.

Other, I'll answer the rest tomorrow.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-04-15 02:27:15 +0000 UTC]

YES! I've seen it - and seen it deconstructed speedily and thoroughly by tumblr ^.^ The depth of analysis of the tiniest details a fandom can produce is impressive.

I'm skeptical about Loki being a defender of Asgard though - according to my knowledge of the mythology, he's the only one who could stop the end of the world but chooses not to out of resentment towards Asgard and how he was never accepted, preferring to go down in flames with the world rather than help them. Though the MCU Loki does still seem to yearn for acceptance, from that deleted scene with the furs, so maybe he could be tempted by the idea of being a hero...

I was thinking, do you use an ad blocker? Maybe that could help lower your internet traffic...

Happy Easter!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-04-15 20:22:26 +0000 UTC]

I replied to the full message, so you'll read my reasons for thinking Loki is actually helping.

Deleted scenes with furs?! Where is it?

Nah, its just that I only get 30 minutes of Internet time, over 3 days each...  Complicated situation and reasons for that.

Happy Easter to you too!!!

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-04-16 05:04:55 +0000 UTC]

Looking forward to it!

In the trailer for Thor TDW there's a a brief glimpse of Loki wearing a fur collar, but we never actually see him with those in the movie. It's from this scene, but it was cut out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_iOTg…
They do seem to cut out all the scenes that make Loki more likeable. Like in the first movie where his mother actually gives him the throne; instead he looks like he sneakily named himself king while no-one was looking. -_-
There's also some cut out in Avengers when he's planning with Barton but that part doesn't make him more likeable. I just like seeing more Loki

Aww, that sucks! I'm glad you choose to spend some of your precious internet time talking to me!

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-04-21 00:20:17 +0000 UTC]

Did you read it yet?  

That was kinda cool.  I do understand though why they cut it out. It didn't brought much to his likeability; what I would have adored to see would have been Freya teaching him her magic. It does get hinted when Thor and Loki are in the flying boat, and Thor say: "You had her tricks but I had her love". It would have been cool!

I do agree with you actually on the first movie. I'm so sad they didn't kept that crowning scene indeed...  And the very first one, where he and Thor enjoys a few moment together before Thor is about to have his crowning ceremony...

That's no biggie for me. Friends count more.

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-04-22 01:11:22 +0000 UTC]

Read it? Read what? I'm really confused....

True, but it does bring a lot of insight into his character, and it's really poignant how he hides inside these dreams. With Loki being the trickster god and all that it's always a bit hard to tell what's for show and what he actually thinks, and this clip - even in his fantasies of acceptance and adoration, he still isn't accepted for himself; he's just standing in Thor's cape, holding Thor's weapon. Even in his fantasies it's not him the people want, it's Thor, and he just is Thor. T.T

"You had her tricks but I had her trust" - don't diss the alliteration! Also I don't think Thor would ever be nasty enough to tell Loki Frigga didn't love him - she was the person who loved him even when everyone else had given up, in fact. It would have great to see more of their relationship. So many good scenes cut out T.T

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clara-01 In reply to starfall-glow [2017-04-22 12:43:22 +0000 UTC]

My super-long reply, right after I sent you the Thor link?... Eh, never mind, I'll repost it below in this message.

Oh, that's true. 
I loved it so much when Thor goes: "She wouldn't want us to fight!" and Loki raise his eyebrows: "Well, she wouldn't be shocked either."

Okay, now to the super-long reply in reply to your super-reply of last time:

Oh, I see. That makes sense; I do recall seeing these two variants. I was at first confused, because generally Japanese don't have much gender titles. Everything pretty much applies to either male or female, like "-san" or "-sama", or "hakushaku" (Count, Countess). 

I'll put Black Butler down in my to-check list.   
I honestly don't mind that much the voice-acting, I got so used to them and their sometime flaws; I still prefer them over english dub (except Clannad; the english dub was excellent, and actually fitted the whole atmosphere. You could hear the emotions in the actors' voice). And I just adore the Japanese language. Its less nagging than Chinese, but its got cute words. Like "demo..." for "but", "ano..." for "hmmm", "lie/ie" for "no", and my ultimate favourite: ...."Baka!" for "Idiot!" 
Ah, no, I definitively did not know about Yuri on Ice. Sounds cute indeed. 

So, about Thor, as you could see, the costume colours are not as bad as in the pictures; and honestly about the same style as those in X-Men Apocalypse. Also, though I'm not a 100% expert in filmaking, but from my small experience in video editing, sometimes, especially in movies like Marvel where they use a fairly dark filter, a brighter-coloured uniform (in real life) is necessary so the colours can go through the dark filter, and not look like a bunch of shaded greys.   So the pictures always look worst than the actual result. 
In the trailer, the dark-haired girl that stops Thor's hammer is Cate Blanchett's Hell/Hela; she looks so damn cool (its the same character than the one with the elaborate horns)!!! I don't know how they'll link her to Loki, or even if they do really link her to Loki, but at one point, she has the same black and green type  of uniform than Loki. I'm really curious, because in the Norse mythology, Hela is Loki's daughter; not sure Marvel decided to do that as well, as in the comics, she's just a villain unrelated to Loki.

At least, the movie seem equally as good as the last. 
Definitively need to know how Thor takes Loki's usurpation of Odin and the throne.
Thor: "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE??!!"
Loki: "Hey! This time, I actually ASKED whether you wanted the throne or not, remember? And YOU specifically said that you did NOT want the throne! So don't complain if I take it instead; for the law clearly states that if one son says no, the other son can get it instead!"
Thor: ".... Right... "

And as I've said, I'm sure it will be loads of fun, because it seems like Loki gets to fight Hela and defend Asgard... possibly in an attempt to earn his rights to the throne. Maybe Hela is even a part of his plans to do so. Fight "heroically" and be deemed worthy after all by Odin. Would be so his style. 

 

Hehe, don't get me started on Hellsing, I will go equally as long about it than you would about Hannibal.   Its probably the bloodiest anime I've watched so far; but the story and the characters are so well done and captivating, that I just didn't notice how it was actually quite violent and bloody. The main vampire character, Alucard, is actually what an actual vampire is supposed to be, not the soft gooey "romantic" goody-goody Hollywood versions Hollywood gave us since the last 20 years; and though at times you wince about his methods when battling villains, you just can't help but cheer for him and find him damn awesome.   He's a vampire version of Hannibal.  And don't get me started on Hellsing's old but awesome butler, "Shinigami" Walter C. Dorneaz. Best secondary character ever, and even better, best awesome butler ever!!
But that's really a very few exception, amongts not even a half a dozen others such exceptions. I firmly believe a story can be amazing and great without needing to rely on violence and sexuality; Last Exile and Clannad were exemplary examples.   And a story will definitively throw me off if there's unnecessary violence and sexuality, even if the story's idea was interesting; like in the case of Games of Thrones and Westworld.

Cool. I was afraid they changed the plot. A backstory would be definitively interesting for Sparrow, but I was equally looking forward to seeing how Captain Will is doing after all these years. And Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa (or any other Geoffrey Rush character) is always an awesome bonus. 

I myself don't read gossips, and most of what I hear about actors comes from front pages titles (so that isn't enough to convince me), or from interviews of actors/actresses that I admire. So I myself don't know why Depp is so controversial, nor do I really care; a person's private life is none of our business, for ourselves wouldn't want to have our own private life gossiped for all to see. 
Sadly, with past proof, it seems that filmakers aren't as tolerant when it comes to casting; they're afraid their reputation will be tarnished. It was like that with Robert Downey Jr., in the late 90s, when he had his drugs issues. Though everyone loved his role in Ally McBeal, filmakers became worried about his issues, so until he rehabilitated, no other filmakers wanted to hire him. And even after he finally got cleaned up, no one would still hire him; it took Mel Gibson to give him a chance and give him a lead role in a successful movie to wake everyone up and say: "Okay, stop it with RDJ's past issues; they're exactly it, past issues." 
So I wouldn't be surprised that the same thing is happening with Depp... for whatever he did.   I still like his characters too; he's good at wacky people, so why be mad when he likes playing them?   The only thing I was a bit dissapointed, is that I really did not see him as Grindelwald, in Fantastical Beasts; and he's coming back for the future installements. Colin Farrell did a great job, and I was expecting someone like him to go up against Dumbledore. But I'm lukewarm about a Depp Grindelwald.   Its nowhere near the kind of person I would image Dumbledore being seduced by (I mean in terms of philosophy and charm; not the sexual one... though Rowling did hint that Dumbledore was also seduced that way...  ). But I'm definitively looking forward to POTC; not to mention the awesome music by awesome composer Hans Zimmer!!  

Well... For me, its because I've seen 53 years worth of the Doctor being male. And each time it was awesome male actors that brought so much depth to the Doctors. Not many actress I know could have played Sylvester McCoy's manipulative and subtle danger, or Jon Pertwee's smooth gentleman, James Bond-type, or Patrick Throughton's nervous and terrified, yet kind and brave. And after all them, I think it just stick to our mind that the next one will be another great interpretation by a male. 
It just seems that after 53 years, maybe its not such a big deal that they leave the character as it is, as we all loved him to be. With all the new shows and movies with lead female roles, can't we leave existing characters alone in their gender? 
Beside, in the books, they say that the Doctor is not a full-fledge Timelord, as he didn't finish the Academy; and its why he can't control or change at will his regenerations like the other Timelords such as Master or Rassilon; he always need to be close to dying to regenerate, whereas the Master, Rani, and Romana (all full-fledge Timelords/Timelady) could regenerate and choose a form at any time. So technically, he's stuck with the general template of what he's always regenerated as, according to the Doctor Who cannon.
I know I'm probably being old-fashioned to hold that belief; but I don't see why that since its the only lasting show that's left since the 60s, they can't just leave the character as its always been. Don't change a recipe when it works and holds through time that well.   And I loved each Doctors, with all their qualities and flaws. For many, some characters are especially special to them just the way they are; too big a change, and you lose the connection you had with that character. 

Finally, look at Agent Carter. They didn't took the main agent from Agent of Shields (forgot his name  ) and turned him into a woman; they created a new show with a new female character. There's a recent spin-off of Doctor Who called Class, and the characters are all gays, ethnics and with a high majority of females lead roles; and it worked enough that a second season is soon starting. So why change the Doctor himself?
I know, I'm probably silly. I just don't see why its necessary to change a working recipe... 

But why worry that fast? The regeneration comes only at Christmas! And for now, I'll just enjoy the awesome super cool upcoming season that starts TOMORROW!!!!! Well, I'll only get to see it Sunday.   Still, only 2 DAYS left!!! Finally!! After 2 years of waiting!!! And I know its just going to be an awesome super cool season!!!     And what makes it even more of a special moment, is that my poor onii-chan has been working his behind off for the last 3 days, today, and the next two days, at working double-shifts, because its Easter and there's so much clients at where he works...   So for him to finally sit down, eat a pizza, drink a beer, and together watching the very first episode of not only Doctor Who, but the new 7th season of MLP:FiM (which starts exactly at the same day than Doctor Who  )... he's going to be so happy!!!    And in addition, he won't even need to do the dishes (we have a communial kitchen at the farm, so since father is the brilliant cook, we take upon ourselves to do the dishes in return), as I'll already have done them while he worked.    Its always my little pride to make sure he has nothing to do when he finally get back from work at the end of the week; I already feel so bad that he's the one working his behind off while I just sit around and study... I feel that at least even if its a simple thing like making the dishes in his stead, it compensate a little for all his hard work.  
Do you have an onii-chan/onee-chan?  

Hehe, nope. Look at the difference between the 9th and 10th: 

s13.photobucket.com/user/toolb…
images2.fanpop.com/image/photo…

That was way too disturbing a change at first.   

Nah, I was actually expecting Matt Smith's appearance. Before I saw the show, there was previews of Matt Smith's era in talk shows, especially his before-last season (I saw beforehand previews for "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" and "A Town Called Mercy"), and I remembered thinking, not knowing who it was or what the show was about: "Ooh, that guy looks cool with his red-haired friend and the other guy; he doesn't at all look like a macho hero with guns. I wonder what that show is...".   So when came his time, I was super excited.   Took a bit the edge off from Tennant's amazing farewell scene.

Hehe. My parents always said that in the past.   

So, how are your days, over there in Vancouver? I never asked what you did for a living, or rather what are you studying/dreaming of doing (if you don't mind me asking). 

P.S.: Another movie (well, two movies, since its got two in the franchise, and both are good) to add to your list is Hellboy and Hellboy the Golden Army. Its another Marvel (or DC; can't remember which one) superhero, but its really fun, and cheeky, and funny. And I think you'll love the second movie's villain and his dynamic with his sister. 

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starfall-glow In reply to clara-01 [2017-04-22 17:10:06 +0000 UTC]

Whaaat? Never got that! Thanks for reposting!

Yeah, i love the sound of japanese too. It's so melodious. 

I think Loki is over the "fight heroically and be deemed worthy by Odin" The first time it landed him in the dodgiest corners of outer space - to be fair that was kind of stupid of him, I know to hi Thor was always the thing to aim Thor but Thor tried to wipe out the frost giants and got himself banished for his trouble, so I don't see how Loki could think that wiping out the frost giants would get him any favor but anyway - and the second time he tells Thor he didn't do it for Odin. So I think Loki is over wanting Odin's approval at this point. I guess he would still want approval from the population of Asgard though... And probably Thor, especially considering how he bothered to save Jane.

Best awesome butler? I haven't seen Hellsing, but you haven't seen Black Butler yet!

Hmm well the way I see it, the Grindelwald we see in Fantastic Beasts is to the one Dumbledore fell for as Voldemort is to Tom Riddle. It seems to be that excessive dark magic mars appearance, probably due to the popular fiction principle that the outside reflects the inside. Tom Riddle was very charming, good-looking and manipulative when he was young, school-age, but as he got older and gathered the power he needed he dropped the charm, replacing it instead with more extreme ideas and brutality. I see Grindelwald as being the same. What could pass as youthful idealism wanting to change the world grew into something more extreme and dangerous with time.

I've only seen about 10 years of a male Doctor He does seem to have some degree of control though, when Tennant didn't want to change. IDK. We'll see. 

There was been some good example of genderswaps though. In Hannibal, Alan Bloom became Alana Bloom, Freddie Lounds became female, M in James Bond. It's just different with the Doctor because he cam actually change, while in these cases the characters start off differently than in the source material. Change is always scary. I just trust the show writers to make something fun, regardless of what it is.

Yeah! I've watched the first one already. PENGUIN. I had to pause it and wait until I was done laughing. I was doubtful about Bill but she and Nardole - just all of the sass!

Fair, that is quite a difference. I saw this really nice thing and I do rather believe in the theory that each of the Doctor's regenerations is sort of directed by the environment of his regeneration.
24.media.tumblr.com/55d87cfdd9…
9 is quite dark because he's coming right from the Time War, but then 10 is much more bright and cheerful because he's not alone anymore, he has Rose, but then when he regenerates into 11 he's lost companion after companion, which is where 11's dislike of endings is from, and then Vastra explicitly says 12 has an older face because he felt safe with Clara and could show he really is a grumpy old man on the inside XD But maybe it's also a return to his roots, his first  persona was quite old I think, and maybe he's starting the cycle over or something.

Nope, only child. I'm studying computer science; I don't really have career plans or anything but I think it's cool. How about you, what do you study?

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