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Reviews
Doctor Who (2005)
Writing this after the Timeless Children reveal in hope for a better future where Doctor Who restores back to its glory. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.
(Was originally a review for the 50th anniversary episode "The Day of The Doctor", but I find it can also speaks for how I feel about Doctor Who in general so here we are.)
There are shows that are able to transform themselves and become anew every time you rewatch them. This is one of those shows. One random day, 7 years after I started watching Doctor Who, I decided to give it another run, just out of boredom. I was shocked and amazed at the fact that not only my love for it has not changed one bit, but was also enhanced a hundred times. I picked up things that I missed, depth and meanings and I was not able to grasp when I was a kid. I rewatched my childhood show and discovered new things. My childhood show, teaching me new lessons, at 20 years old. How is that even possible?
This episode has more memorable lines than most of the new movies and tv shows that I've watched in the past 5 years combined.
"Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."
"What we do today is not out of fear or hatred. It is done because there is no other way. And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save."
"Clara sometimes asks me if I dream. 'Of course I dream', I tell her. 'Everybody dreams'. 'But what do you dream about?' she'll ask. 'The same thing everybody dreams about,' I tell her. 'I dream about where I'm going.' She always laughs at that. 'But you're not going anywhere, you're just wandering about.' That's not true. Not anymore. I have a new destination. My journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. It's taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I'm going. Where I've always been going. Home. The long way around."
Doctor Who is, in my experience, the only show so far that has absolutely everything that you could ask for: lots of humour, adventures, histories, futures, love, friendships, families, kindness, hope, but also a tremendous amount of depth, meanings, great philosophies, tragedies, sacrifice, loss, grief, pain and of course, tears (so much tears). From this show, the greatest, most well-crafted character in history was created: The Doctor. There are two quotes that can pretty much summarise The Doctor:
"This man bore burdens, Archie realised, that he had seldom seen on mortal shoulders. But above all there was guilt. A guilt that had been fought off, bargained with, overcome, perhaps, but a guilt that sprung eternal." (Paul Cornell's Twice Upon a Time novelisation)
"It's hard to talk about the importance of an imaginary hero. But heroes ARE important: Heroes tell us something about ourselves. History tells us who we used to be, documentaries tell us who we are now; but heroes tell us who we WANT to be. And a lot of our heroes depress me. But when they made this particular hero, they didn't give him a gun--they gave him a screwdriver to fix things. They didn't give him a tank or a warship or an x-wing fighter--they gave him a box from which you can call for help. And they didn't give him a superpower or pointy ears or a heat-ray--they gave him an extra heart. They gave him two hearts! And that's an extraordinary thing. There will never come a time when we don't need a hero like the Doctor." (Steven Moffat)
Anyway, after a long paragraph about the whole show, my point is, this anniversary episode, in my opinion, was able to truly capture its essence, everything that I've just mentioned above, and that, to me, is incredible for a 77-minute episode. This is why Doctor Who's still going strong today. And to steal a bit from Steven Moffat himself, I think there will never come a time when we don't need a show like Doctor Who. Its ability to stretch to the edge of creativity, of time and space, and still be able to touch most likely every human being who has ever watched it is truly magical. To its core, it remains a story about humanity, exploring love and loss and hope and kindness like never before. A story told by a strange old alien who comes from a world far far away.
This television masterpiece will stand the testament of time, and I'm the proof. Seven years later, I'm still here, and my love has only increased. Doctor Who might just be a story, and The Doctor might just be imaginary, but has anyone told you that "every stories ever told really happened"?
Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor (2013)
There will never come a time when we don't need a show like Doctor Who
There are shows that are able to transform themselves and become anew every time you rewatch them. This is one of those shows. One random day, 7 years after I started watching Doctor Who, I decided to give it another run, just out of boredom. I was shocked and amazed at the fact that not only my love for it has not changed one bit, but was also enhanced a hundred times. I picked up things that I missed, depth and meanings and I was not able to grasp when I was a kid. I rewatched my childhood show and discovered new things. My childhood show, teaching me new lessons, at 20 years old. How is that even possible?
This episode has more memorable lines than most of the new movies and tv shows that I've watched in the past 5 years combined.
"Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame."
"What we do today is not out of fear or hatred. It is done because there is no other way. And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save."
"Clara sometimes asks me if I dream. 'Of course I dream', I tell her. 'Everybody dreams'. 'But what do you dream about?' she'll ask. 'The same thing everybody dreams about,' I tell her. 'I dream about where I'm going.' She always laughs at that. 'But you're not going anywhere, you're just wandering about.' That's not true. Not anymore. I have a new destination. My journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. It's taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I'm going. Where I've always been going. Home. The long way around."
Doctor Who is, in my experience, the only show so far that has absolutely everything that you could ask for: lots of humour, adventures, histories, futures, love, friendships, families, kindness, hope, but also a tremendous amount of depth, meanings, great philosophies, tragedies, sacrifice, loss, grief, pain and of course, tears (so much tears). From this show, the greatest, most well-crafted character in history was created: The Doctor. There are two quotes that can pretty much summarise The Doctor:
"This man bore burdens, Archie realised, that he had seldom seen on mortal shoulders. But above all there was guilt. A guilt that had been fought off, bargained with, overcome, perhaps, but a guilt that sprung eternal." (Paul Cornell's Twice Upon a Time novelisation)
"It's hard to talk about the importance of an imaginary hero. But heroes ARE important: Heroes tell us something about ourselves. History tells us who we used to be, documentaries tell us who we are now; but heroes tell us who we WANT to be. And a lot of our heroes depress me. But when they made this particular hero, they didn't give him a gun--they gave him a screwdriver to fix things. They didn't give him a tank or a warship or an x-wing fighter--they gave him a box from which you can call for help. And they didn't give him a superpower or pointy ears or a heat-ray--they gave him an extra heart. They gave him two hearts! And that's an extraordinary thing. There will never come a time when we don't need a hero like the Doctor." (Steven Moffat)
Anyway, after a long paragraph about the whole show, my point is, this anniversary episode, in my opinion, was able to truly capture its essence, everything that I've just mentioned above, and that, to me, is incredible for a 77-minute episode. This is why Doctor Who's still going strong today. And to steal a bit from Steven Moffat himself, I think there will never come a time when we don't need a show like Doctor Who. Its ability to stretch to the edge of creativity, of time and space, and still be able to touch most likely every human being who has ever watched it is truly magical. To its core, it remains a story about humanity, exploring love and loss and hope and kindness like never before. A story told by a strange old alien who comes from a world far far away.
This television masterpiece will stand the testament of time, and I'm the proof. Seven years later, I'm still here, and my love has only increased. Doctor Who might just be a story, and The Doctor might just be imaginary, but has anyone told you that "every stories ever told really happened"?
La La Land (2016)
Forget about all those cliché love stories! Life is not perfect!
Beautiful, charming and pure. This is a true work of art!
The movie introduced us to two amazing artists, one was an aspiring actress and the other was a passionate jazz pianist. They were both broke and trying to look for one chance that can change their life. On that road, they met each other, not once, but three times, coincidentally, like destiny. Of course, each one has their own big dream to pursue, and that passion had taken them to each other. But money was a big problem, so Sebastian had decided to give up his dream, temporarily, to join a band even though he didn't like the music he played. The movie went from a joyful, colorful air to a sad one. After these two had a fight and then Mia failed at her show, she decided to end their relationship and went back to Nevada. But Sebastian pulled her back, thanks to a director, that went to her show and discovered her talent. Five years later, Mia had become a famous actress but stayed friends with Sebastian. She even got married and had kid, and that is where I find it interesting.
The movie didn't go to a predictable happy ending, it made a twist, a right twist to remind the audience that life is not perfect and not every love stories end the way it should.
But, once more, the destiny had led them to each other, when Mia and her husband came to Seb's. Sebastian had finally made it, he had his own jazz club. They saw each other, and Sebastian played that one song that Mia saw him playing for the first time. And this time, he turned it into a masterpiece. The song was like an apology to Mia, saying to her that he should've stopped and talked to her when she gave him a compliment about his talent, that everything could have been different, and they could have been together. That's why the song was also his dream, that we can see when they made a flashback, but in that flashback, everything was bright and happy. It was fun to watch that, but very sad at the same time, because what could've been done is not what has been done. And that is what made the movie beautiful, and pure. It left us with a open ending, to keep us wondering, thinking, and believing. After all, destiny had led them to each other once, who says this time is going to be different? That's why I love open endings, because it gives us a chance to use our imagination, our belief, to continue the story ourselves, and for me, it's a way to keep the movie inside my heart. It becomes my own "La La Land".