his is a bit of a ramble so bear with me :)

So I have been a casual fan of Dr. Who for a while and I have never seen the original series. The wife and I decided to watch the relaunch on Netflix instant watch (m new favorite thing). after 3 seasons I realized that Dr. Who is something I always tell people Sci-fi has the potential to be, but rarely is.

Have you every thought about mercy and grace and peace? I mean really think about them. How can we bring peace to the world? If you were given perfect wit, power, and intellect would you have the power to restrain yourself? If all you wished was to bring peace to all and you had the powers of a god could you do it?

I’m not sure if it is that every season begins at Christmas or the fact that the most powerful things in the universe are words but something in it makes me so dang excited I can’t even begin to express it. not only is The Doctor this crazy detailed image of God but he actually works in the Sci-fi world they writers created. The show is uniquely able to do some amazing things that would seem out of place or inappropriate in other context. The Doctor on the other hand is a character who I believe capable of unmatched and seemingly irrational grace and mercy. He is capable of moving freely thorough time but will not changing time but allowing free will of all humans determine the outcomes of all events. His acts are called upon by all who ask and even occasionally prayers(physic paper). now with all that said about his mercy and grace the flip-side of that is that it is said (by River Song)just his presence in the midst of those who know him can drive back armies of evil. and that at times his justice and mercy are so great that he hides it from those who it will destroy because he has mercy in a way that we don’t understand and cant comprehend.

So go watch Dr Who…I’m waiting…seriously

Once I watch the rest of the old episodes Im planning on a whole treatise on Dr Who so stay tuned for my newest obsession!

What do you get when the Brits (Irish) try and create a culturally, religious, real, and happy film?  Slumdog Millionaire.  I finally saw this film due to the enormous hype built up by my students and friends.  Half of them loved it and see it as the second coming.  The others saw it as a great feel good film. I expected something I didn’t get.

So I don’t like the idea of a Brit oops Irish trying to make a film to show the world India.  I think that that is incredibly insulting.  I was literally appalled at the idea if Boyle being the savior of Bollywood and bringing it credibility.  There are so many things wrong with that politically and culturally I wont go into it here because I am sure if you are reading this you are smart enough to understand what I am talking about.  Along with that though I was awfully surprised that people thought it was just like a Bollywood film.  just because it had dancing in the credits does not make it Bollywood.  There are elements of Bollywood in it but mostly it was inspired loosely by the fantastical nature of traditional Bollywood film.

My primary complaint was that this film tried to be too many things to too many people.  Ultimately I think it failed at all of them.  Between its City of God beginning to the religious undertones, and the happy ending the film bothered me.  Now I am a firm believer that you need to show the depths of hell to show redemption but that is not what this film did.  It showed the violence just to serve the story and it was overkill in order to compete with current films in theaters.  Why would a director lower themselves like that? Danny Boyle is a better director than that.  this film wasn’t about redemption either it was just about fate and getting what you want.

The slum part of the film was interesting to me that they seemed to want to make it look terrible and horrible but instead thy made it look like a playground and a place of hidden beauty and wonders.  That disturbed me.  I was almost expecting to see a video game to come out of the film. (3 playable characters! adventure modes unlock new talents! Control the three musketeers destiny.  Built in trivia game challenge with clues hidden in the game!  bonus games such as: build your own slum, sing for money, and hide from a thousand angry gods!) OK that might be a bit drastic, but it could happen.

Technically it was a nice film although I thought digital was a bad choice because the grain that digital filmmaking produces is ugly compared to film grain.  That was distracting to me.  the editing and color palette was impeccable but nothing new or innovative especially for Boyle. All in all it would say it was a  good film.  It was not however Americas introduction to Bollywood, nor was it a feelgood film.  and it was absolutely NOT an Oscar worthy film.

Oh well…meh