Haibane.info

Category: Movies and Television

  • Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth #DoctorWho – bravo for an older Doctor, here’s why

    Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor
    Peter Capaldi is the Twelfth Doctor

    Earlier I had advocated Jason Isaacs for the role of the 12th Doctor, but the news that veteran actor Peter Capaldi will take up the role has me satisfied. The reason is because given all the turmoil of the Doctor’s 10th and 11th incarnations, an older age is more appropriate for the part. As I argued earlier,

    It would also be nice to have a change of pace with an older Doctor for a change, one more weathered and reflecting the age and experiences, especially the multiple universe-saving, true-love losing (twice), companions-lost adventures of the past two youthful incarnations. As the Doctor once said, when he was very young, he acted very old, probably a reference to his first incarnation (William Hartnell as a grouchy grandpa). Isaacs would be a more honest reflection of the Doctor’s maturity, especially since more seems to have happened to him during his past two forms as during all the previous nine. And there’s also the appearance of his mysterious John Hurt incarnation, who may be 8.5. There’s plenty of reason for the Doctor to stop playacting at being a young man and let his wisdom and experience show.

    Even at their most serious, Tennant and Smith could never stop looking at least somewhat like the young goofballs they are. Physical age lends gravitas that acting skill can’t match, only simulate.

    Capaldi doesn’t have the same rugged physicality that Isaacs would have brought to the role, but he definitely will bring a different personality to the table, one more sarcastic and raw, if his other acting roles are any preview. I’m looking forward to the Capaldi era. The Smith era was deficient in plot and made up for it almost entirely on Smith’s manic shoulders. Hopefully the 12th regeneration will have both acting and plot. Given the change in age, I think that Moffat himself will be pushed out of his comfort zone and be forced to give his larger story arcs some more actual heft now. Otherwise, Capaldi will be just wasted in this role.

  • Hello to Jason Isaacs for the Twelfth Doctor?

    Jason Isaacs - the Twelfth Doctor?
    Jason Isaacs – the Twelfth Doctor?

    Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who after the 50th anniversary special this November, and the speculation about who will replace him as the Twelfth Doctor is starting to build, so let me throw my own pick into the ring: Jason Isaacs.

    Isaacs is probably best known for his role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter series, but that wasn’t as much a showcase of his talent as his sadly short-lived series, Awake. That show only lasted one season but it had a very Whovian vibe to it – alternate realities, bending of space and time, and multiple incarnations, all helmed by Isaacs who managed to go from mellow to manic as the plot demanded. The parallels to Doctor Who are obvious!

    It would also be nice to have a change of pace with an older Doctor for a change, one more weathered and reflecting the age and experiences, especially the multiple universe-saving, true-love losing (twice), companions-lost adventures of the past two youthful incarnations. As the Doctor once said, when he was very young, he acted very old, probably a reference to his first incarnation (William Hartnell as a grouchy grandpa). Isaacs would be a more honest reflection of the Doctor’s maturity, especially since more seems to have happened to him during his past two forms as during all the previous nine. And there’s also the appearance of his mysterious John Hurt incarnation, who may be 8.5. There’s plenty of reason for the Doctor to stop playacting at being a young man and let his wisdom and experience show – and with Isaacs we lose none of the physicality that the role requires in the modern day.

    Hello to Number Twelve!

    UPDATE: It’s Peter Capaldi as Number Twelve.

  • best TARDIS cosplay EVER

    This is beautiful, pure artistry:

    The Last type 40 in the universe

    More pics and different angles at the cosplayer’s own tumblr and a friend’s tumblr. The jacket I think is what really sells it (including the panels on the back).

  • Lando Calrissian at the thrift shop

    I saw this meme on my facebook, couldn’t find it again, so recreated it myself.

    Lando wearing solo's clothes, looks incredible

    If you have children, or listen to the radio for any other reason, then you’ll find this a lot funnier.

    actually, this topic is a genuine Thing – Family Guy’s Star Wars episode poked fun at it:

    and the canon explanation is apparently that both Lando and Han are from Corellia, where they always dress like that.

    As far as why Lucas actually chose this, the Internet says it’s because Harrison Ford wasn’t going to return for Jedi:

    There was also a little problem with the cast members at this time. While Mark Hamill & Carrie Fisher had signed to do 3 movies Harrison Ford was only signed to do 2 movies. Ford had made it known to Lucas that he thought the character should die while in Carbon Freeze because thought it would be the perfect ending for the lovable rogue … to go out saving Leia’s life. That might have been why Lucas “dressed” Lando that way … as a transition to him being the “lovable rogue” after Han’s death.

    It took a while but Lucas eventually Lucas convinced Ford to do the third movie making Lando wearing Hans clothes a non issue.

    So, yeah, those really ARE Solo’s clothes. And he does look incredible 🙂

  • CONFIRMED: Han Solo will return in Episode VII

    It’s official.

    and there is speculation that there will also be a “young Han Solo” standalone film. Is it just me or is there some kind of Han Solo-Indiana Jones convergence going on?

  • WTF: Disney bought Lucasfilm? New Star Wars movie in 2014?

    It’s November, not April – so this isn’t a hoax, I guess:

    Disney acquired Lucasfilm for 4.05 billion dollars, and in that deal has acquired all right to Lucas’ effects house ILM and the Star Wars brand. As a result, Disney has announced the intention to release a Star Wars film in 2014. Lucas has this to say about giving Star Wars over:

    “For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next. It’s now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers. I’ve always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime. I’m confident that with Lucasfilm under the leadership of Kathleen Kennedy, and having a new home within the Disney organization, Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come. Disney’s reach and experience give Lucasfilm the opportunity to blaze new trails in film, television, interactive media, theme parks, live entertainment, and consumer products.”

    I honestly am at a loss for words.

    UPDATE: interview with Lucas on the future of the Star Wars franchise:

    UPDATE 2: a positive take from RealLifeComics:

  • two-tone art: the teal and orange invasion

    I admit that I hadn’t consciously noticed the trend of how every Hollywood movie seems to be going for a two-tone palette nowadays, but this eye-opening piece lays it out in irrefutable detail:

    You see, flesh tones exist mostly in the orange range and when you look to the opposite end of the color wheel from that, where does one land? Why looky here, we have our old friend Mr. Teal. And anyone who has ever taken color theory 101 knows that if you take two complementary colors and put them next to each other, they will “pop”, and sometimes even vibrate. So, since people (flesh-tones) exist in almost every frame of every movie ever made, what could be better than applying complementary color theory to make people seem to “pop” from the background. I mean, people are really important, aren’t they?
    […]
    From this seemingly innocuous supposition was unleashed a monstrosity that would eventually lead to one of the worst films ever, and one of the worst examples of unchecked teal and orange stupidity

    The screenshots are hilarious, but at the end he takes teh same principle and applies it to classic works of art, and the result is utter genius:

    I’d LOVE to see someone do this for more pieces of art.

    It occurs to me that our politics is similarly two-tone, carefully calibrated for maximum opposition and “pop”.

  • Phineas and Ferb OP in Japanese

    This is absolutely perfect:

    (via Ogiue)

  • Just Another Day #goodbyeEureka – thank you, @SyFy

    Eureka, the scifi show on Syfy about a crazy town full of geniuses, has ended. They gave us 5 great seasons and I am grateful to Syfy for allowing them to produce the “series finale” episode as a send-off to all the characters, something that Stargate: Universe never did get.

    The best thing about Eureka wasn’t the science fiction or the high concept. It was teh characters – they had more heart and were more authentic than most scifi shows. Firefly was full of wisecrackin’ badasses, but the only person who really was genuine was Kaylee; Eureka had an entire cast full of Kaylees. Stargate Universe was character driven but was more about the high-concept of true exploration of the Unknown, and it did that brilliantly, but the appeal was different. You can’t compare Eureka to SGU in that way. In fact, if anything, the template for Eureka was The Cosby Show, which served to inform mainstream America that here was an upper-class African American family, with the same dreams and problems as everyone else. Eureka took that template and applied it to Science and scientists, normalizing them the same way. The only way you do that is with a cast of genuinely interesting people, with an authenticity to the chemistry and camraderie that clearly isn’t limited to the screen.

    Regardless of why it was great, it’s over, and though of course I have my usual issues about the broken model of television and cable and the perverse incentives that seem to bury the shows I want to watch while rewarding the ones I don’t, I can accept it. Eureka and Farscape and SGU still exist, I did watch them, and I loved them. And I can recommend them to others here on my blog in the hope that others will be enriched by them as I was.

  • forget Obamacare and SCOTUS: it’s Tau day! it’s Back to the Future Day!

    So, apparently there was this big hoo-hah today about some political thing or the other. But the real significance of today is this:

    Back to the Future.. but the Future is NOW!

    That’s right – today is the day that Doc set as the Future in the first Back to the Future movie!

    UPDATE: No, it wasn’t. Three years too early. Sigh.

    What’s more, today is also June 28, or “6/28” – which means it is Tau Day! What is tau, you ask? It’s the true circle constant (6.28), unlike that upstart Pi. For more details on the primacy of Tau and the centuries-old conspiracy that is Pi, see the Tau Manifesto, though really I think this image says it all:

    Tau is one turn

    and here’s a snappy little music video too:

    so, enjoy today, a most historic and important day! And don’t worry/gloat too much about that other thing. It’s really not as important as this.