Kasterborous:   News   Opinion   Forum   Interviews   Reviews   Time Leech   Webguide  

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Torchwood: To The Last Man

Definitely the best of three so far, by miles. Touching performances from the Tosh, Owen and Tommy characters. It felt at times a little like classic Sapphire and Steel... and then Ianto and Jack ruin it all with that big snog. ENOUGH! WE GET IT! Jack'll shag anything with a pulse and Ianto is a love-sick puppy. Can we have at least one story where this element isn't shoved down our throats?

I'd give it 8 out 10.

BTW, I liked the rift key thing. As a plot device, it was just another 'magic wand', but as a lovely piece of Victorian/Edwardian brassware objet d'art... I love it! I want one to go with the fob watch in a display case with a copy of the Doctor's journal :-D

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Torchwood: Sleeper

Hmmmm. Not sure about this one. Ianto was starting to annoy me, sounding like a naughty/petulant schoolboy most of the time. The story itself was a bit bleh - a bit "Terminator", a bit "Battlestar Galactica". Glad to see there were still no F words in the dialogue, though. Good!

Probably not one that I'll choose to rewatch. I'll watch Ep 1 again to see the masterful Marsters in action.

5 out of 10 for this one.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

RIP Heath Ledger

Nothing to do with Doctor Who... but I couldn't let his sad death pass without comment. He was such a talented young actor, with a bright future. So sad that he should leave us so soon and in such a tragic manner. Watching the next Batman film will be so poignant - I hope it's a massive success that showcases his talent. I've only seen a few of his films - Knight's Tale, Sin Eater, Brothers Grimm - but I'd class myself as a fan. Sin Eater was excellent, but not one of his biggest movies. Brokeback Mountain, while not my cup of tea, obviously impressed "the establishment" as it earned him Oscar, Golden Globe and Bafta nominations.

Nice obituary over at the BBC News site.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Article on Kasterborous.com

Head on over to Kasterborous.com and read part one of a series of Round Table articles I've written for this esteemed organ. The knights of this round table are Brian Terranova (associate editor of Kasterborous.com), Christian Cawley (master of the web and chief writer for Kasterborous.com), Nick Brown (a vocal member of the Kasterborous forum and article contributor to Kasterborous.com), Anthony Howard (known to many as "captainjackharkness" from the Torchwood.tv and SJA.tv blogs), Matthew (editor, webmaster, head cook and bottle-washer from the wonderful EyeOfHorus website) and Steve Preston (another forum member, article writer for Kasterborous.com and half of the dynamic duo behind The Black Scrolls ‘zine).

Enjoy!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Torchwood: Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang

Overall, I'd say 8 out of 10. An excellent start to the new series and not an F word in sight. Or hearing. Loved James Marsters as Spike as Capt John. His British accent is getting better, for sure. :-D

[Some very slightly spoiler-tinged info ahead]

Only two things that detracted from the overall experience :-

1. We know Capt Jack is 'omnisexual' but why do they have to underline it and add exclamation marks to this fact by having him indulge in gay kisses? I am not a homophobe, but I do find this whole 'gay agenda' thing a bit overwhelming. I feel as though this is just a vehicle for RTD to write his gay drama under the guise of a gritty sci-fi action drama. Enough with the kissing, already! A short aside into Dr Who speculation... If Donna and the Doctor snog then I'll be sorely tempted to switch off until someone else takes over running the show.

2. More cases of 'deus ex machina'. It really annoys me when they come up with some techno-babble and a magic wand to 'move the plot along'. What was that rubbish Tosh spouted about triangulating on where a mobile phone HAD been used??? And what about that bomb thing that homed in on the DNA of whoever killed that woman??? How does that work? Is it psychic? Can it read DNA halfway across the universe for an event that happened in the past (or future)?

Anyway, those points aside, it was truly a great start to the second series. The old lady at the beginning was funny... "Bloody Torchwood," she mutters and shambles off. So much for them being a top secret organisation, eh!?!? :-)

So, keep up the good work and Go Team Torchwood!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Torchwood

At last! After waiting for at least 28 years since the last series finished a year ago (I think my perceptions have been overfiltered there!) Torchwood returns to UK screens tonight. Woohoo!

I find that I am looking forward to this much more than Dr Who's return this springtime. The Dr Who previews after Voyage of the Damned left me in no doubt that Donna Noble will carry on her relentless shouty barrage. I hope I'm wrong! We must trust that RTD knows what he was doing when he cast Catherine Tate.

Whereas, Torchwood is now into it's second year and has hopefully toned down all that unneccessary swearing - it just distracted from the storylines. Most criminal in that respect was Owen's comments about being a ".... buddy" in that out of time story (whatever it was called). Who actually speaks like that???

Anyway, as long as the swearing is toned down and the characters get proper development beyond the cyphers they already are but not at the expense of the storylines... then we'll have a winner.

Go Team Torchwood!

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Dalek Art

Happy New Year!

Sorry - haven't posted in a while, what with real life crashing in with a new job before christmas and then illness over the christmas period itself. Anyway, now that mind and body are functioning again, I'm back in the saddle and ready to go.

I want to start the year by showcasing some nice Dalek pics created by my talented brother-in-law, known by the mysterious moniker of "Lycanart".

Download! Enjoy! Tell your friends!

And Now For The News...