I'm leaving on a big roadtrip and I just wanted to share what I've got on my to-watch list while I'm on vacation, my reading list, and some of my favorite road trip songs.
Share some of your own movies on your to-watch list, books in your to-read list, or some of your favorite road trip songs.
MOVIES
Sorcerer (1977, dir. William Friedkin)
The Bridge at Remagen (1969, dir. John Guillermin)
The 5-Man Army (1969, dir. Don Taylor)
Panic in the Streets (1950, dir. Elia Kazan)
The Secret Invasion (1964, dir. Roger Corman)
(TW: child death)
BOOKS
The Cthulu Casebooks - Sherlock Holmes and the Miskatonic Monstrosities by James Lovegrove
Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed
Marx: A Tale of Neglect story by Onrie Kompan (Author), J.M DeMatteis (Editor), Nick Bell (Illustrator), Vassilis Gogtzilas (Illustrator), Dan Dougherty (Illustrator), Kanila Tripp (Illustrator), Ben Dimagmaliw (Illustrator), Ed Dukeshire (Illustrator)
Yi Soon Shin: Warrior and Defender by Onrie Kompan (Author), David Anthony Kraft (Author, Editor), Mort Castle (Editor), Len Strazewski (Editor), Giovanni Paolo Timpano (Illustrator), Adriana De Los Santos (Illustrator), Joel Saavedra (Illustrator)
The Fuhrer and the Tramp by Sean McArdle and Jon Judy
Illustrated by Dexter Wee
Badass: A Relentless Onslaught of the Toughest Warlords, Vikings, Samurai, Pirates, Gunfighters, and Military Commanders to Ever Live by Ben Thompson
DOCTOR WHO AUDIOS:
The Diary of River Song Series 5
Doctor Who - The War Doctor Begins Vol. 1: Forged in Fire
ROAD TRIP SONGS
Bad Luck - Langhorne Slim and the Law
Bootleg - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Country Love - The Gourds
Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
Not gonna lie, the past year was not exactly the best for me with movie watching. I think just the general dreadfulness of the pandemic made it difficult to be invested in films. Don't take this as me slamming the films though.
But I wanted to give out my annual Oscar predictions. Again, for Best Picture, I'm listing ten films though I, again, won't be surprised if they only do eight or nine nominees.
These choices are made through my own weird talley system.
While I usually do predictions for all the categories (except short subjects films) this year I'm only doing best picture, directing, acting, and writing.
Not too long ago, one of my favorite TikTokers - @jstoobs - did a post about the villains of Star Wars. Mainly how they seem to fall into two camps: straight-up unredeemable bad guy (Palpatine) and those that see the error of their ways (Anakin).
But she pointed out how we've never seen a "Superior Orders" villains. In other words, somebody who was "just following orders."
To me, this would be great for Commander Cody in the upcoming Kenobi series. I've always wondered what happened to him in particular after the Clone Wars.
I could easily imagine him showing remorse after realizing what he'd done. But I could also see him being confronted by Kenobi and he responds with "I was just following orders like a good soldier."
Kenobi realizes that Order 66 was beyond his control. After realizing that his friendship with Cody will never be the same, he offers forgiveness and leaves him.
I could easily see this happening especially since Cody's original actor Temurea Morrison has returned to Star Wars.
This a new series I want to do where I highlight an interesting movie fact I've heard or maybe just list off cool facts about a film.
This was inspired by recent events. Specifically, the recent U.S. Senate special election in Georgia where Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock became the first African-American to be elected Senator from that state.
Senator-elect Raphael Warnock
Otto Preminger directed and produced a political dramas Advise & Consent (1962), based on the novel of the same name by Allen Drury.
The plot summary from IMDB:
"Senate investigation into the President's newly nominated Secretary of State gives light to a secret from the past, which may not only ruin the candidate but the President's character as well."
Henry Fonda as the controversial Secretary of State nominee
This cast for this movie is incredible: Henry Fonda as the President's controversial Secretary of State nominee; Charles Laughton as the "curmudgeon" South Carolina Senator and Presiden Pro Tem; Burgess Meredith as a surprise witness for the committee; and Betty White making her film debut as a Senator from Kansas.
The future icon in her first film role.
Also among the senator was 87-year-old Henry F. Ashurst, one of the first two senators to be elected from Arizona. He's in two scenes where he's in a deep sleep and whenever he is awakened from a deep sleep he shouts "oppose, sir! opposed!" Sadly, he passed away a week before the movie premiered.
"Oppose, sir! Opposed!"
But there's another senator cameo that never came about would've been huge. Preminger offered a cameo as a Senator from Georgia to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Yes, that Dr. King.
New York Times article about the almost cameo.
This was despite the fact that there were no African-American senators serving at that time.
HISTORY SIDENOTE: There were African-Americans elected to the Senate prior to 1962. But the next African-American senator (Edward Brooke of Massachusetts) wouldn't take office until 1967.
Apparently, King thought long and hard about taking the part but ultimately declined because he felt it would hurt the civil rights movement.
Oh, also Dr. Warnock is the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. He also plans on continuing his duties even when serving as a senator.
This is the same church that Dr. King performed his pastoral duties with his father.
So, while Dr. King never got to portray a U.S. Senator, a man who continues to lead his church would go on to become an actual U.S. Senator nearly 60 years after the film was released.
Okay, okay, I'm going to try and be a bit more punctual. But we can all agree this was a dumpster fire of a year, right?
I know this is cliched to say but was hoping this year would be "my year." I felt that this would be me going above and beyond what I called my "get confident, stupid" plan.
This year I felt like I was going to step up my game, accomplish items on my bucket list, and just morph myself into a better person. But while I have accomplished a few things, this year was full of anxiety, depression, rage, and so many other negative feelings that I felt dead. I felt like a zombie. Just trudging along with little to no motivation to do anything of the things I love.
This was the first time I never paid attention to the films being released and such, I don't even have predictions for the Oscars this year.
I've watched a few films but whenever I wanted to possibly write something I was like "meh."
There's a bunch of other things that made this year tough but this already getting a bit more personal than what this blog was made for so I'll stop here.
But recently I started feeling a bit more confident. Confident enough that I'm looking forward to future endeavors for 2021.
But first, let's talk about the positives of the year. We know about the negatives. But there are some things that happened this year that I take great pride in.
First I did get to take part in theatrical productions. The first one was in The Importance of Being Earnest by the legendary Oscar Wilde. I got to be in my first musical role where I played Lurch in The Addams Family Musical. The latter was pretty significant because I actually auditioned for this show and got in for my singing abilities! I've never been confident about my singing so this was something special. Especially when you look at the original Broadway Lurch who was a freaking opera singer!
But probably the best thing creatively to happen to me was I got my first screenplay writing credit! It was a virtual variety show called The Gender Bender Revue where I got to adapt the Mad Tea Party in Alice in Wonderland and I got to play Alice!
One of the rare moments where I'll post a pic with me in it.
Also, this year, I started a TikTok account (docdave90) and I've made friends with folks on there. I even had a video get over 500 likes which um... I was not expecting. Especially since it was over something Strong Bad-related!
I started a podcast and we've only had one episode so far. Hopefully, the coming year will see more episodes of it.
There were a bunch of other things too but they're a bit too personal for this blog. But the next year, hell, the next DECADE has to be better!
Here's hoping I get more projects done, more writing on here done, and just more things done in general.
I freaking LOVE Big Finish! These are the Doctor Who stories they've done that I love the most.
Yeah, boring intro but, screw it. Let's get to it.
The only rule is I'm not going to list spin-offs and boxsets. My main rule for this is to only list one single adventure for each entry. I'm not going to list entire boxsets. Also * = available to listen to on Spotify.
With that said I do want to give a shout out to two sets where I enjoyed every story:
The Tenth Doctor Adventures Vol. 3 - a damn good place to start if you're unfamiliar with Classic Who right now. Every single story is brilliant: the chilling haunted house story No Place; the politically charged One Mile Down; and an awesome, award-winning pseudo-historical The Creeping Death. Also, Wilf is in one of them! And who doesn't love Wilf?
The First Doctor Adventures Vol. 1 - if you're only familiar with David Bradley's portrayal of the First Doctor this is a great one to check out. While the voice acting did throw me off a little bit, the writers do a great job at capturing the feel of the early days of Doctor Who: The science fiction-centered fascist defeating The Destination War (which also includes the Master); and the purely historical The Great White Hurricane.
Now onto the top ten!
10. Special: The Light at the End (Doctors 1-8, various companions) by Nicholas Briggs.
Publisher summary:
November 23rd, 1963 proves to be a significant day in the lives of all eight Doctors...
It's the day that Bob Dovie's life is ripped apart...
It's also a day that sets in motion a catastrophic chain of events which forces the first eight incarnations of the Doctor to fight for their very existence. As a mysterious, insidious chaos unfolds within the TARDIS, the barriers of time break apart...
From suburban England through war-torn alien landscapes and into a deadly, artificial dimension, all these Doctors and their companions must struggle against the power of an unfathomable, alien technology.
From the very beginning, it is clear that the Master is somehow involved.
By the end, for the Doctors, there may only be darkness.
This one holds a special place in my heart because it was the first BF audio I listened to. Also, it's a great tie-in to DW's 50th anniversary.
Without spoiling too much, the evil scheme set up by the Master (played by Geoffrey Beevers who is AMAZING) is brilliant. It relies on a person to express, "it's impossible!" Which is kind of how the show started, it was an impossible idea. Or at least it was impossible to think that this show could have an impact 50 years later.
My only real critique would be I wish the companions had more interactions with each other. But that's a really minor complaint.
9. Main Rang: The Lovecraft Invasion (6, Constance, and Flip) by Robert Valentine.
The Doctor, Constance and Flip join forces with 51st-century bounty hunter, Calypso Jonze, to hunt down the Somnifax: a weaponised mind-parasite capable of turning its host's nightmares into physical reality. Chasing it through the time vortex to Providence, Rhode Island in 1937, they arrive too late to stop it from latching onto a local author of weird fiction... Howard Phillips Lovecraft.
With time running out before Lovecraft's monstrous pantheon breaks free and destroys the world, the Doctor must enter Lovecraft's mind to fight the psychic invader from within.
Can he and Flip overcome the eldritch horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos? And will Constance and Calypso survive babysitting the infamously xenophobic Old Gentleman of Providence himself?
The most recent entry on this list. Pairing Doctor Who and Lovecraftian horror is absolutely brilliant! It's just a really, really, REALLY awesome adventure which plenty of great references to H.P. Lovecraft's work.
Now, as indicated in the summary, they do address Lovecraft's bigotry. Matter of fact when they first meet Lovecraft, the Doctor blatantly says "yes he was an awesome writer.... and a bigot so I don't like him." And just wait until you get to the final rant towards the end.
The main thing keeping this from being higher is that it's too recent. So, who knows how this will hold up down the line when compared to others.
But, as of now, it's still a fun and awesome adventure. Perfect for the Halloween season. Or any season really.
8. Main Range: LIVE 34(7, Ace, and Hex) by James Parson.
Publisher summary:
"You're listening to LIVE 34."
"LIVE 34 — news on the hour, every hour — LIVE 34 — broadcasting to Colony 34 all day, every day — LIVE 34 — constantly updated every minute of every hour — LIVE 34 — sport, weather, business, local news, interplanetary affairs — LIVE 34 — live, independent, accurate, comprehensive — LIVE 34 — all news, all day, every day — LIVE 34."
"Reports are coming in of an explosion..."
"On the line now is the leader of the FDP..."
"The President is about to begin his address..."
"We can see bodies in the wreckage..."
One of the more experimental stories. In this story, the events are told through the framing device of a news network with The Doctor and his companions only appear when they're interviewed.
This is one of those audio dramas where even though it was released 15 years ago, it still holds a lot of relevance. Mainly with how news outlets can be abused and what it can mean to stifle the truth through them. And by stifling the truth I don't mean "person got taken off the air for saying something bigoted." I mean, "the government took us off the air because we did something that made them look bad - i.e. the truth." I don't want to spoil the ending but the way the Doctor takes down the villain - Premier Jaeger (William Hoyland) - is brilliant.
7. Main Range: Spare Parts* (5 and Nyssa) by Marc Platt
Publisher summary:
On a dark frozen planet where no planet should be, in a doomed city with a sky of stone, the last denizens of Earth's long-lost twin will pay any price to survive, even if the laser scalpels cost them their love and hate and humanity.
And in the Mat-infested streets, roundabout tea-time, the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa unearth a black market in secondhand body parts and run the gauntlet of augmented police and their augmented horses.
And just between the tram stop and the picture house, the Doctor's worst suspicions are finally confirmed: the Cybermen have only just begun, and the Doctor will be, just as he always has been, their saviour...
This one would be adapted into the Tenth Doctor two-parter Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel. But this is better in my opinion. Basically, think of this as Genesis of the Cybermen. It’s creepy and chilling.
There's a real sense of dread and foreboding. The chilling atmosphere and vibe conveyed in this story fits perfectly given that this society is slowly turning into the equally cold and heartless Cybermen.
6. Main Range: Jubilee* (6, Evelyn) by Robert Shearman
Publisher Summary:
Hurrah! The deadly Daleks are back! Yes, those lovable tinpot tyrants have another plan to invade our world. Maybe this time because they want to drill to the Earth's core. Or maybe because they just feel like it.
And when those pesky pepperpots are in town, there is one thing you can be sure of. There will be non-stop high octane mayhem in store. And plenty of exterminations!
But never fear. The Doctor is on hand to sort them out. Defender of the Earth, saviour of us all. With his beautiful assistant, Evelyn Smythe, by his side, he will fight once again to uphold the beliefs of the English Empire. All hail the glorious English Empire!
Now that sounds like a jubilee worth celebrating, does it not?
This would be adapted into the Ninth Doctor episode Dalek. While I love the TV episode in its own right, I do believe this is superior, if not for going into a bit more political commentary that still feels very timely. Also, it being a multi-parter helps develop things a bit more.
I feel like Shearman saw parallels to how society was treating the Daleks like a joke and how the same thing kind of happened to the main inspiration to the pepperpots - the Nazis. There's nothing wrong with making jokes about them, but they sort of reached a point where people kind of forgot how terrifying and monsterous they could be.
With the Daleks in particular, it was kind of like what happened with Godzilla. They went from being scary to almost a kid-friendly mascot. This story shows that while yes, you can be empathetic towards how the Dalek is treated but they can still acknowledge the terrible things they've done.
You should also check this out because it features the Sixth Doctor's amazing companion - Dr. Evelyn Smith, portrayed by the late Maggie Stables. She's probably one of the best companions introduced in the audios.
5. Main Range: Master* (7) by Joseph Lidster
Publisher summary:
Many years ago, on a dark and stormy night, the disfigured and enigmatic Doctor John Smith invited his closest friends, Inspector Victor Schaeffer and his wife, to a dinner to celebrate his birthday. A mere few hours later all the occupants in that house had been changed — some were dead, others mentally scarred forever by the events of that night.
So, what happened to the distinguished dinner guests on that evening? Perhaps we'll never know. But two clues have led to much speculation — found outside the study window, a charred umbrella with a curved red handle and found inside the house, a blood-stained copy of Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
For one person, this night represented an ending: an ending to one thousand years of darkness and an ending to ten years of light.
But for everyone else, is there no ending of this one night of Hell?
This is part of a trilogy where each story highlights a classic villain. The first one was Omega which was... not that great in my opinion. Then there was Davros which was much better. But then there's this one which is creepy and amazing.
The Jekyll & Hyde reference comes into play with the theme of man's duality. Everyone has their own Hyde, even the Doctor. I really recommend listening to this to truly get the vibe and feel of this.
4. Fifth Doctor Boxset: Iterations of I (5, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan) by John Dorney
Publisher Summary:
The house on Fleming's Island had been left to rot. Ever since a strange and unexplained death soon after it was built, and plagued with troubling rumours about what lurked there, it remained empty and ignored for decades until the Cult moved in. As twenty people filled its many rooms, the eerie building seemed to be getting a new lease of life.
But now it is empty again. The cult found something in its corridors... and then vanished.
Trapped on the island one dark night, the Doctor, Tegan, Nyssa and Adric look into the building's mysteries, its stories of madness and death. Their only chance is to understand what terrible thing has been disturbed here... before it consumes them utterly.
If you told me that one of my favorite stories to come from Big Finish was a haunted house story centered around math problems, I would've called you crazy.
But, yeah, this is amazing. Give it a listen!
3. Companion Chronicles: The Rocket Men (1, Barbara, Ian, Vicki) by John Dorney
Publisher Summary:
The TARDIS has landed on Platform Five, a floating city in the sky of the planet Jobis, and for a time the Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Vicki get the chance to enjoy this idyllic place.
Then the Rocket Men arrive, led by the sadistic Ashman.
When the only other option to certain death is suicide, Ian Chesterton takes the gamble of his life...
I am simply amazed at how great this is. I love every element of this.
It's a great character piece for Ian (William Russell is superb in this) and this will give you all "da feels" in regards to Ian and Barbara's relationship. You can tell writer John Dorney love these two characters
Also, THE ROCKET MEN! They are so simple - they're basically space gangsters - but they work so damn well! Every story I've listened to them in has been great! They're probably the best original villains Big Finish has ever created!
Please give this a listen!
2. Main Range: The Fearmonger* (7 and Ace) by Jonathan Blum
Publisher Summary:
One would-be assassin is in a mental ward. Another's on the run. Their intended victim is stirring up the mobs. Terrorists are planning a strike of their own. A talk-radio host is loving every minute of it. A Whitehall insider whispers about a mysterious UN operative, with a hidden agenda. Everyone's got someone they want to be afraid of. It'll only take a little push for the situation to erupt — and something is doing the pushing. But you can trust the Doctor to put things right. Can't you?
This is yet another story that (despite it being released 20 years ago) still feels incredibly relevant.
While it does take swings at the ugliness that is nationalism and political violence, it points out that the thing that warps our minds and makes us think this thing is fear.
It also points out that the fear that makes us behave or demonstrate that abhorrent behavior doesn't just come from politicians and certain media personalities. Those people certainly exacerbate things, but the truth is, that fear was inside ourselves. And the scary thing is, that fear may have been in us all along and we denied having it.
This is story is amazing. Please give this a listen.
SPECIAL CAST NOTE: This is the first Big Finish Doctor Who audio to feature the late Jacqueline Pearce (as Sherilyn Harper). She would go on to start in several other BF productions including her(arguably) most iconic role as Cardinal Ollistra in the Time War-related audios. She also appeared in the Classic Who episode Revelation of the Daleks.
1. Main Range: The Chimes of Midnight* (8 and Charley) by Robert Shearman
Publisher Summary:
'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house not a creature was stirring...
But something must be stirring. Something hidden in the shadows. Something which kills the servants of an old Edwardian mansion in the most brutal and macabre manner possible. Exactly on the chiming of the hour, every hour, as the grandfather clock ticks on towards midnight.
Trapped and afraid, the Doctor and Charley are forced to play detective to murders with no motive, where the victims don't stay dead. Time is running out.
And time itself might well be the killer...
This story is PURE PERFECTION! My words can not do it justice! This is a case of you need to listen to this to truly understand how great it is.
The one heads up I'll give is that part of the plot involves an ongoing arc with the companion Charley. But you'll be able to follow regardless.
Please, please, PLEASE, give this a listen! Or else they'll be no plum pudding for you, my poppet.
