Doctor Who Audio Review: Strange Birds, Ghosts, Gigantic Beasts, And One Time Lord

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Big Finish Productions returns to the travels of the Eighth Doctor, starring Paul McCann, with an eclectic and entertaining set of Doctor Who audio dramas entitled Echoes. Nicola Walker and Hattie Morahan are also accompanying this Doctor as Liv Chenka and Helen Sinclair. Ken Bentley directs this trilogy of adventures and continues to prove himself more than capable of continuing in that capacity for future releases. The guest cast includes Derek Griffiths, Jane Asher, Fiona Button, and Dan Starkey.

Tim Foley starts off the set with his story, Birdsong. The TARDIS arrives on a world where there are apparently two women who were scouting it out for an arriving colony. There are peculiar birds in the distance but coming closer. One of the women the TARDIS encounters is strangely ill. Something in the woods appears to be watching.

Foley has become one of Big Finish’s more prolific and reliable scriptwriters, and this story is a pretty good example as to why. It’s a pretty spooky story with an interesting twist toward the end. The main cast is once again in top form with their performances. Fiona Button and Jane Asher are the only two guest actors, and they are more than capable foils for the well-tuned main cast of this particular TARDIS crew.

Lost Hearts is the second story and is written by Lauren Mooney and Stewart Pringle. The Doctor, Liv, and Helen have been investigating strange disturbances emanating from an ancient university. Phantoms have been seen, and something odd seems to have an important message for the Doctor. They are assisted by a nervous undergraduate and a writer of supernatural phenomenon. The student has a profound connection to Helen Sinclair, and the writer has an important destiny on the world’s literary stage.

Timothy Bentinck and Steve Brody are two of the guest actors and, as expected, well chosen. Bentinck goes a little over the top with his performance in the climax, but the whole episode is still quite enjoyable. The revealing of the full identity of the Brody’s character, Montague, is kind of a nice treat. The story takes place in a university containing a lot of shadows and dark corners, which is almost always a great place to begin a Doctor Who episode.

Dan Rebellato is the writer tasked with bringing this set to a close with Slow Beasts. The Doctor and his companions arrive on a planet with an amazing sight to behold. A settlement is watched over a group of enormous alien figures standing in the plains. The Renn gain some benefit from the tourism arriving in their midst to see this strange arrangement. It does not take long for the Doctor, Liv and Helen to discover there is a dark secret behind the majestic view. When the secret comes to life, the Renn find themselves facing a retribution that may be well deserved.

The final story is also quite compelling, although there is not a lot of detail about how the Slow Beasts look other than their immense size. Derek Griffiths, Maya Saroya, and Dan Starkey are part of this guest cast. Rebellato is a pretty new writer to me, but this story is a promising introduction. He is not a new writer overall, but he seems to be a pretty recent addition to the Big Finish stable. The story raises some engaging moral dilemmas and questions. I thought Griffiths take on the settlement leader, Mathryn, was very interesting. Mathryn does have some undoubtedly selfish and immoral motivations, but the audience is left with a sense of possible redemption.

I have to say that Echoes pretty much gets high marks from me all the way down the line. It’s hard to say which episode is my favorite because I was pretty impressed with all three of the stories, which is a rarity as much as I love Big Finish and Doctor Who. There was not reliance of old adversaries. Yes, Big Finish has visited its fair share of shady universities in its long catalogue before, but the second episode is still imaginative enough for me to forgive that trope. McGann remains as compelling as ever as his version of the Doctor. The chemistry and banter between Morahan and Walker remain on point, which is particularly impressive since this group of writers haven’t written much in this range. Although this TARDIS team have been around a good number of years for the Big Finish consumers, this collection of stories seems to have found a way to ensure that audiences want more of this particular TARDIS team.

Book Review: The Eagle Has Picked On The Wrong Girl

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Karin Smirnoff is the latest Swedish author who has taken the baton of continuing the Millenium series started by the late Stieg Larsson, and she may be running off a pier with it if The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons is anything to go by.

Just to recap a bit, Steig Larsson wrote the first trilogy featuring the dangerous and unusual Lisbeth Salander beginning with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He passed away not long after publication, so he never really got to enjoy the acclaim that was displayed. David Lagercrantz was commissioned by the estate to produce another trilogy starting with The Girl in the Spider’s Web. His contribution was not as good as the original author’s obviously, but it was pretty good.

Now, we have this Smirnoff woman taking a crack at it, and the first effort is not that encouraging.

Crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist is heading north to see his daughter get married. He is in crisis because his beloved newspaper is getting into the digital age and dumping the print edition. His daughter’s fiancée seems to be in cahoots with some rather dubious power brokers. Meanwhile, Lisbeth Salander has been prospering as a partner in the security firm for which she had worked when introduced. Salander is made aware of a niece who is the daughter of an unsavory sibling who tried to kill her some years ago, and she has been named guardian to this young girl. Svala has some unique gifts of her own and is a little cleverer and more precocious than most thirteen-year-olds. There is no question that she is family. A shocking kidnapping occurs, and Lisbeth and Mikael find themselves working together because both of them have family in danger from some powerful and corrupt people.

I had a hard time being drawn to Smirnoff’s version of Lisbeth. Lisbeth did not seem quite as intriguing as she was presented by Larsson. Even Lagercrantz was able to retain some of the mystique and dark humor that was unique to Lisbeth.

Svala was supposedly just as strange and perceptive as Lisbeth, but she didn’t hold my interest. When the big kidnapping occurs, things pick up a bit, but I found most of the story just sort of dragged up until that point.

Smirnoff isn’t necessarily an awful writer, but she just didn’t replicate the spark provided by the deceased Stieg Larssen. I am curious enough to see if she can redeem herself once the second novel comes out. That has yet to be announced, but it is known that she is contracted to do a trilogy. Anyway, maybe others found more to enjoy than I did, but it seems Salander was in better hands with the two dudes who preceded this current author.

I think it’s time to return to the Starship Enterprise under the command of James T. Kirk with Greg Cox’s latest contribution to the Star Trek range, Lost to Eternity.

Film Review: The Trap Is Set…Enjoy The Show

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Trap is the latest thriller written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and it requires a massive amount of suspension of disbelief to get any measure of enjoyment. Josh Hartness is in the lead as Cooper, a seemingly doting and average father who is taking his daughter to a concert put on by the pop star portrayed by Saleka Night Shyamalan. The cast also includes Ariel Donoghue, Alison Pill, Hayley Mills, and Jonathan Langdon.

Cooper is a loving father and is accompanying his daughter to a major concert and notices an unusual amount of security. An indiscreet booth worker informs Cooper that the whole venue has been turned into a trap for a notorious serial killer who is believed to be attending the concert. It’s not a major spoiler to reveal that Cooper is indeed the target of all of this attention. The problem is that the police and FBI agents really have no information regarding his identity. Cooper begins an effort to engineer his escape without ruining his daughter’s night. He also has to outwit a supposed master profiler played by Mills. This sounds like a pretty intense plot and should be kind of fun to watch.

The problem is that the basic premise is more ridiculous that most of Shyamalan’s ideas. This is the guy who did a movie about invading aliens who attacked a planet this is made mostly of water, which was their kryptonite. Anyway, the whole concept was kind of silly and seemed to be lacking any effort to discover what police would actually do in this situation.

In spite of the distraction of a very weak plot, there was a couple of bright spots. M. Night’s daughter actually is a pretty decent actress. There was quite a bit of her musical talents on display, and the concert scenes were fine. She apparently wrote the songs that were performed, and she is not noticeably terrible as a pop performer. The performances from the cast overall were actually pretty good. I guess they were making the best of a pretty bad story premise. It was cool to see Hartnett in a major film role. The chemistry between him and the daughter played by Donoghue seemed pretty genuine. The casting is something to which I have no real objection.

I guess I can buy Hartnett in the part of a serial killer, who is the master of wearing the mask of normalcy, but the whole concept of the FBI trying to track him in an audience made up of about 20,000 people just seemed so ludicrous. Although there may be some good reasons to question the competence of our federal law enforcement agencies these days, I am doubtful that they would engage in a maneuver like the one depicted in this film.

Shyamalan often has some interesting ideas, but this is one of those films that misfires too noticeably to be forgiven easily.

Film Review: Deadpool and Wolverine: Not Exactly The Best Of Friends

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Deadpool & Wolverine is the latest cinematic offering from Marvel Studios and can be entertaining if one has a high tolerance for gratuitous gore and filthy humor that barely takes a pause. Shawn Levy is the director, and he also co-wrote the script with Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Zeb Wells. The film is kind of complicated, so I can almost understand why it takes five writers to load this up with cheeky, off-color wisecracks.

Ryan Reynolds reprises the role of Wade Williams, aka Deadpool. Hugh Jackman gets jacked up to play Wolverine once again. There are all kinds of amusing Marvel movie cameos throughout, but I won’t spoil that. Other notable cast members are Morena Baccarin, Leslie Uggams, Emma Corrin, and Matthew Macfadyen. It’s a big film with a big cast, but I think I can move on.

Wade Williams has retired his Deadpool alter ego until he is told about the destruction of his home timeline and is offered a place in an alternate reality. Wade wants to save the people he has come to care for, so he escapes the confines of the Time Variance Authority and searches the multiverse for an acceptable version of Wolverine who is still alive. He finds the version of Wolverine that is considered the worst of the lot. After some initial not so mild reluctance to work as a team, the pair are taken to someplace called the Void where they meet a powerful mutant who happens to be the sister of one Charles Xavier. Cassandra Nova has some pretty nifty yet alarming psychic powers. The battle crosses through all kinds of dimensional barriers. Still, Deadpool’s crass humor and vicious fighting skill will see him through these challenges, including an ally that can barely stand the sight of him.

This is a comic book movie, so it’s no surprise the plot is completely ludicrous and nonsensical. Still, the charisma of both leads kind of saves it from real regret for spending the time and money to see it. Many of wisecracks were actually pretty funny.

I did find the villain played by Corrin to be somewhat underwhelming in spite of her sometimes-perverse use of her powers. Of course, it could be that Deadpool’s constant mocking kind of undercut the menace she was supposed to convey. Wolverine is also hard to actually intimidate as well.

The plot was not that easy to follow, and therefore, not that interesting. It was mainly a dirtier, crasser version of what we have already seen in recent Marvel films. As much as I appreciate that the movie sort of makes fun of itself and the franchise of which it is a part, it would have been nice to still have a more coherent main storyline.

The chemistry between Reynolds and Jackman is pretty solid though. It has some really entertaining moments peppered throughout the film, but one needs a high tolerance for the copious amounts of dismemberments and mutilation.

Most fans of the franchise will likely be satisfied, but I am sure would also agree with whatever criticisms others may note as well.

Film Review: One Night With Abigail Can End Your Life

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Abigail is a horror film that has a promising plot and some decent performances, but it could have benefited from a bit of restraint on the gore. So, who do we have to blame here? Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett share the director’s seat. Stephen Shields and Guy Busick are the co-writers.

A young actress named Alisha Weir plays the title role and is actually quite good. The cast includes Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kevin Durand, and Giancarlo Esposito. There is also another actor in the film named Angus Cloud, who apparently has recently died.

A group of criminals who do not know each other are assembled to kidnap a young girl after her ballet practice. She is apparently the daughter of a mysterious and dangerous crime lord. The ne’er-do-wells get an even bigger surprise to discover that pretty little Abigail is actually a vampire who has her own plans to feast. The whole caper turns into a gruesome fight for survival as Abigail shreds her kidnappers one by one.

Obviously, this film is pretty ludicrous on the outset. It’s not entirely a waste of time. There are some notable performances and moments. I did find that Abigail was very well cast. Weir is actually pretty compelling and amusing as the bloodthirsty little creature. She is convincingly frightened at first but delivers a few delicious moments of real menace at times. Other notable performances are presented by Barrera and Stevens. The head games that go on are pretty clever.

My main problem is that the amount of gore gets really distracting and unnecessary. It felt like the directors were going out of their way to break some record when it came to the gratuitous dismemberments and beheadings as well as the foul language. I really don’t have a weak stomach when it comes to either of these facets in some filmmaking, but there are moments that it feels like the writers and directors of this film are seriously too deficient on creativity to show some restraint and shrewd subtlety.

The film is not without merit, but I think leaving a little more to the imagination would have been a welcome improvement.

Book Review: Sophie Meets The Spirits Of Northwood Mansion

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

House of Shadows by Darcy Coates is a supernatural thriller that does little to provide thrills.

This is basically a haunted house story that pulls out the standard tropes such as a very unlikely romance with character types that are too familiar and overused.

The reader is introduced to Sophie, the daughter of a wealthy businessman who finds himself bankrupt. It’s not immediately clear as to the era where this novel takes place, but it seems to be somewhere in the nineteenth century. Anyway, Sophie’s family may receive salvation because of a sudden marriage proposal from the mysterious Joseph Argenton. Sophie agrees to the marriage; however, she has some concerns when she learns that she is to be the mistress of a foreboding and isolated estate known as Northwood. She also meets her new husband’s aunt, uncle, and cousin who reside in the house with a handful of servants. Strange sounds and shadowy figures serve to heighten her anxiety until she is attacked by a malevolent force, which confirms she has a serious problem now.

To be fair, the novel gets a little more interesting once the nature of the curse plaguing Northwood is actually explained. I just had a hard time caring about the lead characters because they just seemed so stereotypical and trite. Joseph is the most mysterious and richest guy ever. Sophie is the most sheltered and inexperienced woman in high society. Of course, she seems much younger than her unexpected suitor, which I guess is all relative. The relatives of Argenton are really odd but not in a creative way. It wasn’t a torturous reading experience, but it falls short when it comes to actually being thrilling.

The monster presented in the climax kind of has a cool name, but that’s about all that it has going for it, in my eyes.

Darcy Coates has quite a lengthy bibliography and seems quite popular. I still enjoy a good haunted house yarn, and Coates manages to be a competent enough writer. I also discovered there is a sequel to this novel, and I am just curious enough to see how this supernatural saga comes to an end. I suppose since I am interested enough to eventually get to the second novel, Coates did accomplish something with this particular reader despite some misgivings and criticisms.

Before I return to the supernatural tentacles reaching out from Northwood, I will return to the world of the late Steig Larsson. Mr. Larsson may be long gone, but Lisbeth Salander has managed to live on to become The Girl in the Eagle’s Talons, written by Karin Smirnoff.

Doctor Who Audio Review: The Doctor Goes The Distance

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

All of Time and Space is a pretty compelling trilogy of Doctor Who audio plays that features the Eleventh Doctor. Big Finish Productions has successfully found an actor who can imitate Matt Smith’s distinctive voice and have embarked on a new series of adventures with a new companion. Jacob Dudman continues to portray this version of the Doctor as if Matt Smith was behind the mic. Safiyya Ingar has recently boarded the TARDIS as Valarie Lockwood, a human with some cybernetic enhancements. Nicholas Briggs has returned to the director’s seat.

The first episode of the set is All of Time and Space in which the writer is billed as Ellery Quest. Apparently, Tim Foley is the true author since Ellery Quest is actually featured in the story as a writer pitching a show idea about a mysterious traveler in time and space. However, he finds that the agent he is pitching the idea to has an extraterrestrial history as well. The Doctor and Valarie are trapped in a dimension, and the stories may be their only way to escape.

This is one of those surreal stories that blur the fourth wall a little. It’s confusing and amusing at the same time, but that sort of sums up the whole series.

The Yearn is written by Angus Dunican and has the Doctor meet a group of colonists trapped underground and being hunted by a peculiar entity. People are taken by the Yearn and then reappear. Something appears to be interfering with the Yearn’s efforts to feed, and it may resemble a blue police box.

This second story had a pretty compelling climax. There was a great guest cast. The sudden romance seemed to blossom between Valarie and Mia Tomlinson’s character was a little improbable but handled better than similar moments in the series. Ingar is actually a pretty interesting actor, and Valarie is kind of growing on me.

Finally, James Goss brings this set to a close with Curiosity Shop. Valarie has lost the Doctor and is able to see the TARDIS, which is in the possession of a junkyard proprietor named Mr. Foreman. An alien war is about to break out, and the Doctor has forgotten who he is and what he does.

This actually was a great close. Valarie is losing pieces of herself literally as she hopes that the Doctor remembers her and returns to put things right. There are some great performances, and Dudman’s vocal talents are put to the test. Goss also finds a way to sort honor the legacy of the series as well.

Overall, this set takes the series in some interesting directions. The banter between the Doctor and Valarie is quite compelling. Dudman’s impersonation of Matt Smith seems to improve.

I think the final story is my favorite, but all of the set comes out quite well. I look forward to this particular TARDIS crew continuing their travels.

Film Review: The Twisters Hit The Ground Spinning

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Twisters is a disaster film that ended up being more entertaining than some would expect. It is billed as a sequel to the 1996, Twister, but it doesn’t really touch on that one, which I think was a smart call from the producers. Mark L: Smith is the screen writer with Lee Isaac Chung serving as directed. The story was apparently conceived by Joseph Kosinski.

The cast includes Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Maura Tierney, Anthony Ramos, and Brandon Perea.

Edgar-Jones plays a former storm chaser who had quit her favorite activity due to the tragic deaths of her team members. Five years later, she is working in New York as a meteorologist for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration when an old friend calls on her to join him on an effort to test a new tornado scanning device. Kate is understandably reluctant but decides to take the trip to Oklahoma. She then encounters a self-proclaimed tornado wrangler named Tyler Owens and his team. At first, they get along like chalk and cheese until they start to bond as the story develops. Kate has to put the past behind her as she revives her own experiments that were designed to tame the tornado, as she puts it.

I am dubious as to how the science behind the story is presented, and there are some typically outlandish escapes. The film works pretty well overall in spite of that. There is an issue with the predictability when it comes to how the relationships evolve. There are not that many surprises when it comes to these relationships. The actors are charismatic enough to pull it off. I ended up liking the ragtag group led by the reckless, arrogant Owens. Powell consistently manages to be likeable in spite of the immature arrogance of his character. Tyler actually reveals a more compassionate side of his nature that actually was portrayed rather believably. I am not that familiar with Daisy Edgar-Jones, but she also proved to be a good casting choice.

Some of the other characters were rather eccentric, but they managed to not be distracting enough for me to want to see them swept away by the tornadoes.

The visual effects and stunt work was well executed for the most part. My attention was pretty well captured through the whole film.

There are elements that are a bit ridiculous, but the film overall is quite entertaining. As far as popcorn entertainment goes, the film is one of the better ones and is a bit of a rare gem compared to much of the recent offerings coming from Hollywood.

Book Review: There Is No Getting Away From Murder For Jessica Niemi

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Ghost island is a pretty decent Nordic Noir thriller written by Max Seeck that takes place in Finland. He has returned to the investigations of Detective Jessica Niemi of the Helsinki Police Department.

Jessica has gotten in some trouble when an altercation with a man goes viral. She has some mental health issues anyway. Although she is a very capable investigator, her boss has some concerns and places her on leave. Jessica takes some time off on a remote island. Three elderly friends have shown up for their annual visit. They were one-time residents of an orphanage on the island during the Second Word War. Jessica also learns of a local legend concerning a haunting by a girl who had disappeared from the orphanage decades ago. Jessica is also drawn into the mystique of the island when one of the visitors is drowned at the beach. Jessica then learns of two previous deaths that had some similar elements. She also sees what appears to be the spirit of the long-missing girl with a blue coat. Her grip on reality is somewhat tenuous, but she does know that a killer has found their way onto the island and has to find the connection between her present danger and what happened many decades before.

The setting of an isolated island with a small group of people who has a killer in their midst is well used, but Seeck is talented enough to make it work. Jessica Neimi, the lead protagonist, is pretty interesting. This is apparently the fourth installment in a series. Neimi was introduced in the Seeck’s novel, The Witch Hunter and apparently is repeatedly traumatized over the course of the series so far.

There isn’t much humor to help lighten the mood here, but I guess that’s the way it goes for these Nordic mysteries. Seeck does provide a bit of a roller coaster on the way to the resolution. He’s not a remarkable writer, but he is competent enough. Jessica is one of many very morose and troubled detectives in crime fiction. There is nothing all that extraordinary about her in spite of her apparent mental illness, but she is not without some interesting features.

The novel is pretty good with a unique setting in that it takes place in Finland. Seeck does throw pretty good curveballs at his heroine. Murder on an isolated island is something that always piques my interest even if it is a somewhat well-worn trope. I would still recommend any fellow mystery fan to give this one a try. I ended up liking the novel even if it wasn’t quite a homerun.

The literary journey continues as I decide to accept the invitation from Darcy Coates to visit the House of Shadows.

Doctor Who Audio Review: A Raven, Kippers, And Old Friends

~ Peter Kanelis ~ Leave a comment

Michael Troughton returns to the mic at Big Finish Productions to honor his late father’s Doctor Who legacy in Doctor Who: The Second Doctor Adventures: Conspiracy of Raven. He is joined by Wendy Padbury and Frazer Hines, reprising their roles of Zoe and Jamie, respectively. Nicholas Briggs and Mark Wright have collaborated on the three interlinked episodes with Briggs also serving as director.

This series continues on from the saga started in the set entitled Beyond the War Games. Just before his forced regeneration and exile to Earth, the Second Doctor was reunited with Jamie McCrimmon and sent on a series of missions throughout time and space at the direction of a mysterious Time Lady known as Raven. Jamie has been whisked away out of the TARDIS in this chapter, and Zoe Herriot appears to provide valuable assistance to help locate him. Raven has become an unlikely and untrustworthy ally, but she is not in control as much as she initially appeared.

Nicholas Briggs introduces this particular conspiracy with his story Kippers. Emma Noakes returns as the enigmatic Raven. The Doctor and Raven find themselves aboard an abandoned space station, and Jame has disappeared. An alien menace known as Kippers has killed the crew, and the two Time Lords are in their sights. The Doctor finds that Raven may not be working for who she believes. He has to keep them alive and start a search through time and space for his lost friend.

The inclusion of Emma Noakes is actually a pretty good move. Troughton does a decent job of emulating his late father, Patrick Troughton. I still think Hines’ impression was a lot closer, but it seems fitting to have Michael Troughton give his take. He does sound close enough like his dad to not be distracting. Anyway, Briggs provides another intriguing script. The sound effects come off quite well. Overall, a great launch for this particular collection.

Catastrophe Theory is written by Mark Wright. Padbury’s Zoe Herriot has appeared in the TARDIS. Raven has been left behind on the space station, but she is not out of the picture just yet. The Doctor and Zoe trace Jamie a space cruiser on the course to disaster. A savage alien attack is about to commence, and the Doctor is surrounded by catastrophe with time running out on more than one front.

This also is a solid continuation of the journey. There is nothing remarkable about this one, but it’s not bad and serves the purpose of pushing the Doctor and his friends forward into the machinations of a mysterious presence. A few more answers are revealed, and the mystery of who is making alterations to established history and manipulating the Doctor into more dangers continues to build.

Wright and Briggs share writing credit for the concluding episode entitled The Vanishing Point. The Vanishing Point is a mythical place that resides somewhere between science and magic. The Doctor and his friends have arrived to see if questions can be answered and to hopefully confront the threat to all of time and space.

It’s a pretty good set overall. I am a little dubious about this business of shoehorning these series of episodes set between the final television Second Doctor serial and the introduction of the third incarnation. Raven has now become a pretty intriguing addition to the cast. Noakes seems to be pretty inspired casting. The banter between her and the Doctor is quite amusing and compelling. Another notable guest cast member is Jacqueline King, who is best known as Sylvia Noble in the rebooted television series. She plays a different character and does a great job.

Tom Baker is my favorite Doctor, but Patrick Troughton’s performance ranks high up there in my estimation. Michael Troughton speaks about adding some bits of himself in his efforts to honor his father, and he does seem to be getting better as he does more of these episodes. I just like new Second Doctor stories, and I get the emotional significance of adding having Michael to the casting sheet. Even if I think Frazer Hines nails the Patrick Troughton vibe somewhat better, Michael Troughton is still more than capable of satisfying the fans of his father’s era on the program.