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Reviews
Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot (2011)
Yeah it's campy. What do you expect.
Of the two reviews currently up, one acknowledges the inherent child-like fantasy that permeates the Dr. Who Universe. The other complains about this point. really, I think I can see both sides of the coin (or pirate medallion. This episode certainly has plenty of plot, and while it doesn't specifically go for silliness, IT is hard to choose a much more romanticized and cheesy topic than English pirates. The more I think about it, the i realize that yes, i acquiesce (I doubt I spelled that right), it could have been much more of a claustrophobic psychological thriller, a la Blink (I don't care what anyone says, the weeping angels and the 3 episodes they've appeared in are far scarier than the silence). But maybe because of the confines of 45 minutes, they had to keep stuff moving at a fairly brisk pace. The quest to make the characters legitimately deep continues, and I think they are getting better at it. Maybe. Also, two thirds the way through, there was a delicious non sequitar cameo thrown in, one that will probably make more sense in the coming months. All in all, a solid, fairly entertaining episode.
Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966)
Know what, kudos to the film maker.
After hearing/reading about how notoriously bad this film was, and also wanting to introduce myself to Mystery Science Theatre 3000, I decided to watch this movie with the aforementioned show's treatment and kill two birds with one stone. What can I say? The movie itself sucks. Action is minimal, editing is terrible, plot is incomprehensible. And the whole thing is awkward and boring as hell. But you and I knew all that. The thing is, even if this is a crappy film, you have to give credit to it's creator. I mean, the guy was a fertilizer salesman who made a bet that he could make a full fledged movie. That takes some grit. In as much, I give the film an F for lameness, but an A for effort. Worth a single viewing, no more, no less.