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The Thing, a review by Jon

The Thing
5 out of 5



In John Carpenter's update of a 50s b-movie classic, a research team in Antarctica are attacked by a shape-shifting alien that could be any one of them...

This is a gory and powerful update to The Thing From Another World and unlike most remakes, is more than a classic of the genre in its own right. The story bears a lot of comparison with Alien and the subtle mood is similar too, except instead of the team hunting an intruder, they're hunting themselves, because this particular parasite can imitate anyone perfectly.

Well, first it has to eat them and each sequence is a marvellously disgusting exercise in special effects and the modern benchmark for any anti-CGI debates. The invention of these horrible creations is astonishing; "You've got to be f***ing kidding me", says one character and your jaw will drop too. He was referring to a severed head growing spider legs and scuttling away, but there are several scenes like that!

Carpenter's lean and focused screenplay features distinct variations of food for the Thing, effectively brought to life by a first-class cast of character actors, led by Kurt Russell, Donald Moffat and Keith David. As I said before, Alien was a clear inspiration for the approach and they are all similarly weary and memorable, so you feel it as they get picked off. There is a stand-out moment with several of them tied together while Russell tests their blood.

The music by Ennio Morricone (as well as Carpenter's usual synthesiser motifs) is sombre and builds a tense, doom-laden mood from the off, matched by sharp cinematography. Carpenter makes the most of the bleak landscape, but breaks it up with contrasting sets and lighting. The moment the generator fails is brilliantly done. As a side note, I watched the Blu-Ray edition and the bits featuring fire are particularly fine.

This is a milestone in the horror genre. The nature of the story means the parasites forms are limited only by imagination, yet never appear gratuitous and only add to the atmosphere. Above all this a character piece as you see them quickly break down under the paranoia. And it's difficult to work out who has been assimilated and how, so this brilliantly puts you in the same position as the characters.

It makes you bite your nails, jump out of your chair and threatens to make you throw up too! You'll be in a hell of a mess by the end of this film, but that's what the best horrors do. 

(From Jon's Marathon of Horror! 2009 on October 11th, 2009)

Doctor Who: The Movie, a review by Tom

Doctor Who: The Movie (1996/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia 2 entertain Video (United Kingdom) Director: Geoffrey Sax Writing: Matthew Jacobs (Writer) Length: 86 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Music Only: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, Trivia

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Stars:
Paul McGann as The Doctor
Eric Roberts as The Master (Bruce)
Daphne Ashbrook as Dr. Grace Holloway
Sylvester McCoy as The Doctor
Yee Jee Tso as Chang Lee

Plot:
The Doctor is returning home to gallifrey with the remains of his arch-nemesis, the Master. Forced off course, the TARDIS arrives in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1999, where the Doctor is critically wounded in a gangland gun battle. At the local hospital, Dr Grace Holloway fights - and fails - to save his life.

Later, in the morgue, the Doctor wakes up a new man. But he is not the only one - the Master has also found himself a new body. As the clock counts down to the start of the new millennium, can the Doctor stop his oldest enemy destroying all life on Earth?

This story was originally broadcast on BBC1 on 27th May 1996

Awards:
Won:

Saturn (1996)

Best Single Genre Television Presentation

Nominated:

Saturn (1996)

Best Genre Television Actor (Paul McGann)

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Commentary
• Trailers
• Photo Gallery
• Deleted Scenes
• Featurettes
• DVD-ROM Content
• Interviews
• Bonus Trailers

With this TV movie I am now concluding my classic Doctor Who watching. I have now seen all incarnations of the Doctor.
This movie was a pilot for a revival series which was not picked up. I have to say that I am glad about this, because the 2005 revival is much better. Except for a few nice scenes I found the movie rather boring. But it was nice to see that they have given the doctor better production values than in the old series.

The following is how I currently rank the doctors. Though you have to consider that I only saw a few episodes each for the classic doctors.

1) Eleventh (Matt Smith)
2) Ninth (Christopher Eccleston)
3) Tenth (David Tennant)
4) Third (Jon Pertwee)
5) Seventh (Sylvester McCoy)
6) Fourth (Tom Baker)
7) Second (Patrick Troughton)
8 ) Fifth (Peter Davison)
9) Sixth (Colin Baker)
10) First (William Hartnell)
11) Eighths (Paul McGann)

My favorite classic doctor is the third one (Jon Pertwee).

(From Tom's Time-Travel Movie Reviews on December 18th, 2013)

Tom's TV Finales marathon, a review by Tom

The 4400: Season Four (2007/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia CBS DVD, Paramount Home Entertainment (United States) Length: 560 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Spanish: Dolby Digital 1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, Portuguese, Spanish

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Plot:
continues the incredible story of 4400 people who were suddenly abducted and are later mysteriously returned to Earth. Though they have no memory of their otherworldly experiences, some now possess special powers, both good and bad. This 4-disc collectible set of this unique and critically acclaimed series includes exclusive featurettes, audio commentaries with the cast and the filmmakers, deleted scenes and 13 episodes that will blow your mind.


The 4400
Season 4.13 The Great Leap Forward
WriterDirector: Scott Peters
Cast: Joel Gretsch (Tom Baldwin), Jacqueline McKenzie (Diana Skouris), Patrick Flueger (Shawn Farrell), Chad Faust (Kyle Baldwin), Conchita Campbell (Maia Rutledge), Megalyn Echikunwoke (Isabelle Tyler), Jenni Baird (Meghan Doyle), Bill Campbell (Jordan Collier), Jeffrey Combs (Kevin Burkhoff), Penny Johnson (Rebecca Parrish), Kaj-Erik Eriksen (Danny Farrell), Richard Kahan (Marco Pacella), Kavan Smith (Agent Garrity), Chilton Crane (Susan Farrell), Pascale Hutton (Abigail Honeycutt), Graeme Duffy (Brady Wingate), Jennifer Spence (Joanna), Carrie Genzel (Reporter), Paul Duchart (Minister), Ted Cole (Dr. Griffith), Pablo Silveira (Paramedic), David MacInnis (Ambulance Driver), Beulah Wong (Triage Nurse), Nneka Croal (Agent Ashmore)

This series finale was planned as a season finale and ends on a cliffhanger. The series got cancelled after the finale was already shot. But I still works as a series finale
Rating:

(From Tom's TV Finales marathon on November 25th, 2012)