I think they would have used less material from the book if they had been sure they would get a second season. It felt like the last episode was made as a possible last episode.

I'm glad, though. I think the season really needed a sense of closure. I don't think a cliffhanger would've served the story that much.

It was filled with mini cliffhangers, but still had the tone of finality. It's a testament to the skill of the show runners that they pulled that off.

Without explicitly spoiling anything here I do wonder how the show will continue. Whether the current storyline can effectively evolve or if another Departure-like conceit will be required. I do hope we get more insight into ATFEC next season, anyway. Also, I've been listening to this repeatedly since.

I don't think we will see another Departure, but I also don't think they will have to struggle too hard to write more stories. There are a lot of unresolved plot lines.

I imagine they've considered all this, anyway, when structuring the first season. Also, I think there's at least one storyline from the book that can be mined for Season 2.

Unrelated I finally saw Soylent Green for the first time expecting a sort of B-movie affair simply famous for its twist.

But I was surprised that there was a rather engaging human element in it. Edward G. Robinson was pretty fantastic in particular and really elevated it from what could have been a rather cheesy dystopian adventure. More impressively because apparently he was almost entirely deaf and needed multiple takes to get into the rhythm of the scenes. Charlton Heston wasn't bad either.

Not a perfect film but certainly better than expected.

I watched a few episodes of Rick and Morty yesterday. I think I was most surprised by the structure of the show. It's much more of a Simpson's/Bob's Burgers/Family Guy animated sitcom structure than your typical Adult Swim original. It's still very fucked up, and weird, like you would expect, just not in the same abstract way that Adult Swim shows have become known for. I really liked it.

I watched the first season of Bojack Horseman, there. Unlike Rick and Morty it doesn't really grab you from the get go but it was surprisingly good once you got through about 5 or 6 episodes. It has the same sort of running continuity you'd find in a sitcom like Arrested Development.

I watched half of the first episode and turned it off.

Was it good??

It was phenomenal!

Aye, it's honestly not that impressive in the beginning but it really does get better.

I might give it another chance.

Newest Doctor Who, in an episode I will forever dub Doctor Who in: The Attack of the Missing Plot.

They need to stop threading episodes together through Clara. At this point it's safe to say that she's actually Worse than Amy Pond.

inb4 that's every episode of DW.

I wouldn't say she's worse than Amy, but I do think it's time for someone new.

I really like her character. But right now it's feeling more and more like the Clara show and it's getting kind of old. Twice now they've introduced an interesting premise only to cut to her talking to the most awkward man alive for 5 minutes and totally killing the pace. It's like they've actually forgotten the basics of writing and pacing stories in their attempts to be deep and meaningful. If you can't have well constructed individual episodes then nobody's going to care about your overarching bullshit.

But I digress. Doctor Who is bad. I've been saying this for years now.

This. It had potential, too. Maybe it gets better, but I've got other shows to eat up my time.

Like South Park! Which is now entirely on YouTube due to some legal loophole (I think? The pitch is shifted down slightly and it's zoomed in). Still a great show, though not nearly as consistent as it was during the "golden era" (first 6 or 7 seasons).

It's a strange thing, but it seems to me like Stephen Moffat is a far better writer than RTD, yet RTD is the better head-writer as he's better at getting good scripts out of other writers.

RTD was happy keeping the show exactly like it was. I love that Moffat is trying to take things in exciting new directions, but it's just not working. The latest episodes go from excruciatingly slow dialogue to skimming over important details. Everything exciting happens in a few short minutes, but there's no climax because he spends the entire build up focusing on Clara. He was a better writer, but this latest series is full of wank.

But yeah, with RTD there were good and bad episodes. Now every episode has the exact same problems.

With RTD there were some fucking amazing episodes and some absolutely abysmal. Under SM both extremes have been shaved off to make everything just about 'okay'. Subjectively, of course.

I've just watched "Mars Attacks!". I have seen it before, like >10 years ago. It's about aliens from Mars, that attack.

I really enjoyed it. Though it was intentionally stupid, it was fun to watch, and I love the alien design.

Wow, there are crazy amounts of these threads lel.

Here are the best movies I've ever seen to date.

Apocalypse now
Train spotting
Hmm Lord of the rings trilogy is pretty swell
Butterfly effect
Pain and gain
Requiem for a dream
shutter island

I think that is all. They are also some of the few films I've watched, I make sure before I watch a film I'm gonna like it so I don;t waste time haha

Also I recommend anybody read these books. The dune books are great, I have only read one so far so not sure how the others play out but look forward to them! And all of Jr.r tolkiens books are amazing, though for some reason watching/reading them makes me feel sick because it makes me feel really sad:P

I actually think that series 8 is one of the best yet. Clara has been a shitty character but she's actually gaining some personality now, and despite the fact that not ever episode has been great this series, none of them have been bad. It's not like series 6 or 7, which were just continuous shit. 8 has been great so far in comparison to the last few.

Peter Capaldi is an actor with such gravitas he manages to keep me from turning off. The writing is abysmal these days, and it doesn't help that it's regarded in the same league as some major American TV series which have budgets far in excess of Doctor Who. Where the relatively inexperienced Matt Smith couldn't, Capaldi props the show up with his acting, but the scripts don't do him justice.

Moffat was one of my favourite individual writers in the RTD era, but he doesn't really have what it takes to take the show in this bold and exciting direction he's craving. Time to step down.

Don't you think he looks tired?

I've seen first Mad Max. It's about Max, who also happens to be mad. I thought it was a good movie. Then I watched Mad Max 2 and loved every second of it. Superb movie.

I couldn't disagree more about the writing. Series 8 has been fantastic in terms of writing compared to the abysmal series 6 and 7, it almost feels like series 2 all over again, but with a bit of Tom Baker and Colin Baker mixed in.
Tonight's episode was a prime example of that. They let the characters breathe and it leaves me in high hopes that Doctor Who is actually getting good again.

In other news I watched WataMote and it's my most favouritest anime evar.

I kept thinking that the DW discussion was only going to be ephemeral, so I didn't say anything before now. Please discuss Doctor Who in its relevant thread and not here.

Is there an English dub yet? I’m too dumb to read subtitles and pay attention to what’s going on at the same time.

WHEEEEEOOOOOOOO-K'PASH

Sorry, that's just Joe's respect for Manco crashing through the floor.

Yes, but it sucks. I urge you to watch the sub because the voice actors are so damn perfect.