Mini-review: Doctor Who - The Pilot

This is the introductory episode Capaldi should have had at the beginning of his tenure. We're introduced to various aspects of his Doctor's character, he gets to lay down his manifesto as does the new companion.

Mackie is real find. The characterisation of Bill is a bit uneven to start with, but lovely, sweet and real by the end. I hope she stays that way. A bit thin plot wise, but a better creepier reboot than Rose. Hopefully, we've done the obligatory Dalek bit now. I rather like Nardole as well. He's obviously the reassuring comic relief for the little 'uns.

What a shame it looks like coming together in Capaldi's last season. A very good for me. You may never like Moffat's work, but you can't fault him for keep trying new ways to make the show better.

Mini review: Prometheus

Scott returns to the Alien well to give his take on how it all began. The result is a darkly monstrous, but a tad muddled, beauty. I can't fault his creative vision which is at least strong and rich as ever, but I can't help thinking it would have been better to start afresh.

Mini-review: GATTACA

The austere beauty and economy of this film never fails to move me deeply. I like writer/director, Niccol's other work - but this remains my favourite. A plausible tale of the near future.

Mini-review: A Street Cat Named Bob

The feline is of course the star but the human cast do a decent job against it's obvious charisma in this real life Whittington like tale of rags to riches in London. Objectively the film and story are only average, but you'd have to be pretty hard hearted not to have it melted at least a little.

Mini review:Kong: Skull Island

Enjoyably daft actioner with considerable directorial flair and invention lifting it above many of the same ilk. Cast are mostly there as monster fodder, but a surprising number manage to make you care about them with often just a few lines. Good period detail adds realism. The post credits sequence is worth waiting for - and is rather naughty and fun. Kong has probably never looked better and the scale from sequence to sequence seemed mostly right for a change too.

Mini review: Casino Royale

I tend to find Bond is bit like drinking a can of Coke - the anticipation is better than the experience. Craig's first outing is a notable exception and in my view one of the best as a result. Hard to put my finger exactly why as all of the essential Bond elements are there, but perhaps just dialled down a little and it given a tad more grittiness, realism and sophistication.  I like his subsequent outings - with the exception of Spectre which felt hollowed out and ultimately anticlimactic.

The map is not the territory, or is it?

As a child, and inspired by the maps of Treasure Island and the Famous Five, I sometimes used to produce my own fictional maps.  Maps were a way of processing the world,  making sense of it and even highlighting areas still to be explored.

But Alford Korzybski's dictum:

The map is not the territory

 reminds us not to get caught up in the idea that maps are reality - but rather a sanitised version of it.

But I've been fascinated by the idea that perhaps there might  be situations when the map might actually be the territory.  The obvious one, of course, is virtual reality.