Review: Doctor Who: Phantasmagoria

Even if his name hadn't been attached to this second Big Finish Doctor Who release, it's easy to identify this as a Gatiss tale as it has the usual hallmarks.  Namely, it is a decently executed pastiche which combines elements of the supernatural and period detail while folding in an unremarkable central mcguffin.

In many ways, it feels like a sequel to the Visitation, but the more obvious influence is Talons of Weng Chiang.

Davison's capturing of the fifth Doctor is solid, while Turlough's character has had some of the edges knocked off it. It's a welcome evolution, although Strickson takes a little while to settle back into it.

Verdict: Good second album.

Review: The Princess Bride

Metafictional fairy-tale oddity which weaves the "author's" knowing commentary on the book's events into its corpus.   The effect makes for disjointed reading, and as it a result it never quite becomes a page turner. But the characters, including places and the author, are memorable and have considerable tongue-in-cheek charm.

Do not skip the introduction on this one. I did and found myself having to flip back once I appreciated the central conceit.

Overall, I'm not sure it's quite as successful as something like Neverending story, but I did enjoy the author's pointed barbs at Hollywood, other authors and their publisher as well as the fairytale story they encompass.

Verdict: Metafictional fun.

Review: Doctor Who: Sirens of Time

The first release of Big Finish's Doctor Who audiobook range, Sirens of Time is a bit of a 90s wish fulfilment fantasy - a multi-Doctor story with the fifth, sixth and seventh incarnation who never managed to meet each other on-screen.

As is normal for multi-Doctor stories, Gallifrey is under threat from some unknown malevolence - and each Doctor has a mini-adventure on their own before coming together for a face off with the big bad.

Each Doctor sounds and acts distinct from the others providing a good showcase for their characters.

Of the separate adventures though, Davison's Doctor probably comes off best with a first World War historical which unusually isn't set in the trenches.  The final episode is a tad confusing with various reveals that don't quite work.

The sound design is already good, but the dialogue and effects is a bit cliched at times. Lastly, a word of warning: there is a pantomime witch character that feels like she's wandered in from an episode of Rentaghost.

Verdict: Early promise.

Review: War for Planet of the Apes

Part primate road movie, part monkey version of the Great Escape/Spartacus - War for Planet of the Apes is more a few skirmishes than all out war.  But despite not quite living up to the promise of the title, it's still an absorbing if overlong conclusion to the prequel trilogy.

Much of that comes down to the ape performances and accompanying CGI.  In some cases, though notably not the main protagonist, Caesar, the CGI is now so good to be near indistinguishable from the real thing. Maurice, the orang-utan remains particularly impressive and lifelike.  As a result, I think it would be rare person who wasn't rooting for the apes by the end of this movie.  I wasn't a fan of Zahn's Bad Ape though which seemed to be shoehorning in some unnecessary humour.

On the human side, Harrelson's Kurtz like Colonel is unusually and chillingly humourless - and given unexpected depth when his level of personal sacrifice is revealed. Miller's debut is also amazingly good given the restrictions on her character.

A word also to the score, it uses tribal rhythms in a non-cliched manner which occasionally recalls the missus' homeland of Borneo. Some of the key action scenes are otherwise soundless and unusually cut to the music which is as breathtaking as Baby Driver.

My favourite of the trilogy is still the first with its more intimate human-ape relationships and greater distance from the original films.

Verdict: Good Ape End.

Review: An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth

Hadfield - the Bowie covering space educator  and commander of the ISS -  turns much of conventional self-help and superhero "wisdom" on its head to talk about what it really takes to be a successful astronaut:

• Realistic expectations i.e. you might never go into space, and should be OK with that. 
• Continuous learning
• Sweating, and enjoying the small stuff
• Collaboration over competition - and aiming to be an active positive (plus 1) contributor.
• Anticipating problems and preparing for them. 

The early chapters are also particularly evocative. His descriptions of lift-off and the experience of being in space itself are by turns terrifying, vertigo inducing and extraordinarily and wonderfully uplifting.

I also appreciated how humble Hadfield was and how he'd overcome obstacles like a fear of heights.

Meeting Chris Hadfield

Chris was due to give a keynote at IBM conference on disruption earlier in the week, and since it's a topic relevant to my work, I thought I would go.

As the event got nearer,  I wondered if it might actually be possible to meet him? An email to the organisers wasn't exactly encouraging. Chris was expected to leave immediately after his speech and wouldn't have time to sign anything (but they were also really excited to see him speak). Disappointing, but perhaps not unexpected. Still, and taking a leaf out of Chris' own book, I thought why not prepare for the eventuality in case I happened to meet in him in the corridor?

A day later, I had a hard back copy of his book in my hands, and I picked up and tested the Sharpie I got from Poundland.  Unfortunately, on arriving at the conference I was seated at the back without a great view - but managed to get an aisle seat (an unexpected bonus of the broken ankle).

As his inspiring talk came to an end, I got my book and pen ready - unsure which direction he would leave the stage. As it happened he left on the opposite side to me - and I doubt you have ever seen a man walking so quickly with a crutch as I raced to intercept him.

Chris Hadfield and me

I breathlessly caught up with him, and somehow gasped out, "Chris, Chris would you mind autographing my book?" His minder turned, saw the Darth boot and figured I was probably harmless - while Chris simply said, "Sure, come in here" - and I followed him into the green room.

A quick scribble later (he'd got into the habit of putting the cap on the end of Sharpies to avoid losing it, and it made it easier to handle) - and I was done. I thought I wouldn't chance my arm by asking for a photo as well - but as it turned out, I saw him again on the conference floor and after comparing injuries (he was recovering from a broken hand) and he kindly posed for one.

The missus reckons I look like the cat that got the cream in the photo - and perhaps she was right.  I've always wanted to go into space, and meeting an astronaut as quietly inspiring as Chris might be the closest I'll get.

Verdict: Mission accomplished. 

Review: Bladerunner 2049

If you'd asked most fans (including myself) about this movie a year or two ago, the response would likely have been something like this is sequel no-one was expecting or really wanted - especially as the most recent cuts of Blade Runner have only added to the ambiguity about the nature and fate of the principal characters.

But Bladerunner 2049, turns out to be a good pastiche of the original. It even manages to carry the original's flaws and strengths for the most part.  Despite other glowing reviews in this regard, visually it's not as striking as its predecessor. The pace is now bordering on indulgent.  The soundtrack has nice callbacks to Vangelis' - and they remain the standout elements.  The plot is still fairly weak for the running time, although better than the original's.

All of this sounds like I didn't enjoy it very much, but I did.  The deftness of re-exploring and updating the old themes on the nature of what it means to be human, and unboxing/reboxing regarding the nature of individual characters while maintaining the mystery was very welcome.

Thematically, I felt it could have gone further on whether self-determination really exists as Homo Deus debates, or the moral implications of AI as per Superintelligence.

There is a CGI human which is another step forward (from Rogue One's Cushing & Fisher) in terms of climbing out of the uncanny valley - and my view, it is about 95% of the way there. The eye mapping feels slightly off, but this technology is rapidly advancing to the point where you can criticise the acting rather than the CGI.

Overall, it  does a similar job as The Force Awakens in that it revisits/renews/reimagines old themes as well as providing a decent sequel or even a jumping off point for further extending the franchise.

Verdict: Effective updating of classic.

Review: K-Pax

Effective sci-fi comedy drama with Bridges as the doctor and Spacey as the patient who may or may not be an alien called Prot from the planet K-Pax.

The film works best when it becomes a two-hander between Bridges bemused psychiatrist and Spacey's enigmatic alien (or not) as they have great chemistry.

The only wonder is where all of the money ($68m) went as for sure it is not on screen.

Verdict: Decent idea, well-executed.