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Showing posts from September, 2019

Ad Astra (2019) - Review

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Taken from the Latin phrase for "to the stars", 'Ad Astra' seeks to journey back into the deep unknown of space in an existential story that ultimately unravels itself to be much more down-to-Earth and human than one might expect. That's not to say that the film avoids its space setting, or the assortment of creative world/Solar System-building that comes with it, but that it avoids venturing too far into the more fantastical elements of science-fiction. 'Ad Astra' seems to be at one point referencing 'Gravity' , and at others '2001: A Space Odyssey' . It's more of a thought-provoking science-fiction film that builds a very believable future into the background of its central human narrative. Set in the near future, 'Ad Astra' follows Roy McBride (Brad Pitt) as he is sent into space to investigate mysterious "surges" emitting from a space station orbiting Neptune. SpaceComm - an organisation interested in ex

Doctor Who: Mindwarp - Review (BFI Screening)

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With Doctor Who: The Collection - Season 23 releasing on Blu-ray on 7th October 2019, a special preview event for the boxset took place at the BFI Southbank on 14th September, including a screening of ' Doctor Who: Mindwarp ', alongside a Q&A and signing. I was very lucky to attend, and was able to watch the extended edits of the four featured episodes, as well as some clips from some of the extras on the boxset, including ' The Doctor Who Cookbook Revisited ', ' Behind the Sofa ', an outtakes reel and two specially-made trailers for the Blu-ray. ' Mindwarp ', for those who don't know, is the sort-of-nickname given to ' The Trial of a Time Lord ' Parts Five through to Eight. ' The Trial of a Time Lord ' itself was the umbrella title given to Doctor Who's twenty-third season, airing after an eighteen month hiatus (during which it was briefly cancelled by Michael Grade), which consisted of fourteen, twenty-five minute e