A BOOK A DAY-Growing Up With Monsters!!!
 Growing Up With Monsters: My Times at Universal Studios in Rhymes
By Carla Laemmle and Daniel Kinske, LCDR, USN Foreword by Ray Bradbury Illustrated by Jack Davis and Hermann Mejia |
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Tagged: review
Fortier Nails the Latest Mike Hammer Novel with an ALL PULP REVIEW!
ALL PULP REVIEWS
KISS HER GOODBYE
By Mickey Spillane & Max Allan Collins
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
270 pages
Available 25 May 2011
This book, the third Mike Hammer thriller begun by the late Spillane and completed by his protégé Collins, takes place in the mid 1970s. Hammer is in sunny Florida recuperating from several bullet wounds; the results of a shoot-out on the New York City
So begins one of the most convoluted mysteries the tough-as-nails Hammer has ever confronted. Doolan had been diagnosed with cancer and his days were numbered. Everyone, including the coroner, is convinced he shot himself in the heart before the end became too painful to endure. Hammer doesn’t buy it, even though the evidence is stacked against him. It doesn’t feel right. His love of the old war horse tells him Doolan would never have succumbed to what he always referred as “the coward’s” way out.
No sooner does Hammer start poking around, visiting Doolan’s friends and a few of his enemies, then he and Pat stumble on the body of a young waitress stabbed to death only a few blocks from the funeral service for Doolan. Is it random coincident; just another senseless death on the mean streets of the city? If so, then why does the newly appointed, highly ambitious assistant district attorney show up at the crime scene? What is her interest in a supposedly routine slaying? With each passing hour, Hammer uncovers facts that on the surface appear totally unconnected. From a former gangland heir operating the city’s fanciest disco for the rich and famous to a legendary jewel with ties to Nazis war criminals living in South America .
Couple this with Hammer’s own confused emotions about being back in the steel canyons he both loves and hates and the stage is set for a slam-bang adventure unlike any the savvy gumshoe has ever encountered. This book is packed with fast guns and dames and plenty of punches all culminating in a shootout that makes the Gunfight at the OK Corral look like a picnic! In a world that has become soft and compromised with the corruption of “political correctness,” having Mike Hammer back to plow through the BS and uncover the truth, no matter the cost, is a jolt of clear headed sanity we all need lots more of.
ALL PULP NEWSSTAND NIGHTHAWK EDITION 1/16/11
ALL PULP NEWSSTAND
NIGHTHAWK EDITION
1/16/11
ALL PULP WANTS YOU TO REPORT AND REVIEW!
All Pulp still has two of its three newly created open positions available for someone interested in reporting on Pulp News and doing reviews of pulp materials, such as books, comics, etc. One position has been filled and an announcement is forthcoming about that, but two positions are still open. The expansion of staff is due to the fact that original founding members of ALL PULP, the Bespectacled Seven, are extremely busy within the Pulp world and the success of ALL PULP has even taken them by surprise! More quality help is needed to insure that Pulp fans get All the News that is Pulp every day!
If interested in this position, contact Tommy Hancock at allpulp@yahoo.com for details!
PULP AUTHOR/PUBLISHER ON PODCAST!
Ron Fortier, Airship 27 Partner as well as noted comic and pulp author appeared on The Outhouse Pirate Podcasst (http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/podcasts-a-video/122/12443-outhouse-podcast-39-ron-fortier-interview.html). Fortier reported that this podcast clocked in at over three hours. In fact, they were so keyed about the time Fortier spent talking pulps, they want him to come back and do a show solely on the pulps and their connections to comics.
PULP EMPIRE ANNOUNCES NEW RELEASE!
From Pulp Empire-
That time has finally come… the print edition of Pulp Empire Volume Four is now available! It is our biggest collection to date, jam packed with 13 amazing stories, all for only 18 bucks!
Or if you are a digital sort of reader, you can get an even more amazing deal: you can get the entire book for the low, low download price of $3. Pick it up, set it to your favorite e-reader, and enjoy!
There is only one sure fire way to support all of our authors at Pulp Empire and that is to buy our book!
The book is now available at Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/pulp-empire-volume-four/14851751
Thanks,
Thanks,
Nick Ahlhelm
Writer/Editor
http://www.metahumanpress.com
http://www.pulpempire.com
http://www.evolutioncomics.com
HANCOCK TIPS HIS HAT TO TALES OF THE BLACK CENTIPEDE!
TIPPIN’ HANCOCK’S HAT-Pulp Reviews by Tommy Hancock
Tales of the Black Centipede
Written by Chuck Miller
Every writer of pulp and heroes I know at one point or another comes up with their very own universe, a place where history is theirs to manipulate and their characters thrive, live, die, succeed, and fail. Sometimes these universes we creative minds come up with actually have histories similar to ours, histories that we allow our creations to influence and change even. So we have these great concepts where our personal ideas mingle and interact with real or other fictional beings and history becomes our playground. We all usually have these ideas and sometimes we explore them in a story or two. Sometimes, though, there is a writer who is so involved, so an integral part of what he creates that this universe of his not only shows up in a place or two, but becomes his body of work, is the focus of all that he does, and represents not only words by the author, but what the author intends to be remembered for.
If you haven’t yet, meet Chuck Miller. And welcome to the world of The Black Centipede.
Describing TALES OF THE BLACK CENTIPEDE in a short paragraph is problematic as it has so much involved. So, instead of stringing together sentences, I’ll do this. If you’re interested in pulp style heroes, true crime, mystical serial killers, super hero ghosts, drunk optimistic former sidekicks, a conspiracy headed up by a shadowy crime figure, Sherlock Holmes, Lizzie Borden, Fredric Wertham, Professor Moriarty, famous historical personages as vampires, lots of drinking, secret lairs, machines that should never exist, homicidal maniacs that stopped aging at nine years old, and sex charged surname obsessed tulpas, then you need to wrap yourself in the disturbing cape of The Black Centipede and hang on.
Now, to get to specifics. Before we get into this review, let me explain how TALES is set up. For the last year or so Chuck has ran his stories on the address noted above as he finishes them. They are of varying lengths, some short-short stories, some novel length. I’m going to review each story individually in no particular order, then offer a review of the concept and site as a whole.
FORTY WHACKS
The Origin of The Black Centipede
Chuck’s titular character finds his beginnings in this story. Written as if by the Centipede himself, it details the story of his move to Fall River, Massachusetts in the early 20th Century and his meeting with one of the town’s more infamous citizens, Lizzie Borden. Although not your typical pulp tale completely, this origin fits the mold of the other stories. The Centipede and Lizzie’s relationship is at the center of the tale, but the introduction of Bloody Mary Jane, a figure who is prominent across the Centiverse as well as the explanation behind how the Centipede took his name and had his becoming are the real jewels here. The writing is very personal and evokes emotions from beginning to end. Miller starts his world off with a subtle bang with this story that uncorks a whole universe of conspiracies, chaos, and cacophony.
FOUR OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP
This is yet another Black Centipede story. It establishes that the Centipede, once again the narrator of the tale, enjoyed popularity when a publishing company began publishing fictionalized Centipede tales in the 1930s. This story, set in the 1950s, has one of the Centipede’s fans send him a letter and ask for help dealing with the fan’s mother. The Centipede goes to help the fan and supernatural and murderous events ensue. The fan’s name…Edward Gein. Possession, killer matriarchal spirits, and more oedipal confusion than you can shake a speare at fill this tale with lots of turns and twists and does quite a bit to give the reader a fairly concrete view of just who the Black Centipede is and establish him as a viable, even likable character to a pulp fan. Miller’s use of such a heinous individual as Gein as a sympathetic dupe in this tale on one hand seems to be pure genius, but on the other hand is almost so disturbing it makes the story hard to stomach. This is somewhat relieved with the way the tale ends, however.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE RETURN OF LITTLE PRECIOUS
This tale involves a couple of different characters from Miller’s mind. Dr. Unknown, Junior, the child and inheritor of her father’s supernatural heroic legacy, and Jack Christian, a former super hero sidekick turned drunkard and once more reluctant hero, star in this tale, a first parter of however many parts to come. This is a quick little one two punch tale that fully fulfills its one purpose…to explain who Little Precious is. This character, like Bloody Mary Jane, is an evil sort that will leave all sorts of bloody prints across the Centiverse, but is extremely original in conception. Miller’s storytelling here performs a similar task to what it did in WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP, putting just a hint of sympathy on a dark shadowy villain that should have no redemptive qualities.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
VIONNA AND THE VAMPIRES
This is a novel length tale starring as narrator Vionna Valis, yet another of Chuck’s varied cast. Vionna is a young lady who in her youth enjoyed adventures alongside super hero types as a sort of ‘street kid hero’, popping up in the middle of derrings-do aplenty. She now, much like Jack Christian, has become a disaffected soul who has little memory of most of her life and finds solace in a bottle. She has, however, found Jack and companionship with the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, five women who hold a special place in history-They were the victims of Jack the Ripper in the 19th Century who, due to a ritual to banish the Ripper’s Ghost, have returned to the modern world in brand new bodies. The WVC is a sort of private detective outfit and this is the capacity in which Vionna and the hardest worker of the five, Mary Kelly, end up involved with the ghost of Sherlock Holmes, Professor Moriarty as a vampire, and a host of other vampiric historic celebrities. Take that and mix it with a creepy old house, a machine of mass destruction hidden somewhere, and intrigue and triple crossing and you end up with what should be a rollicking adventure tale of blood sucking and world threatening evil. And it is, mostly.
One major fault of this tale is a trope of Miller’s work. He writes from the perspective of his characters, not simply with them narrating, but as if they have a real awareness that they are writing, so they will at times to refer to why they aren’t writing a certain accent a certain way or when voices change, they make a point to say that they have this person’s narrative on voice recording, so we can get their side. This is a device that is ok and even works well in most of these stories. In this one, however, the technique takes largely away from the flow of the story and distracts the reader with trying to keep up with who is speaking and/or why Vionna feels like she shouldn’t be writing this tale or how others might do it well. The story has strong elements and potential in several areas, but Vionna’s voice, unsure and inconsistent, weighs it down and makes it difficult to read and follow in a flowing manner.
TWO OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE JOURNAL OF BLOODY MARY JANE
This is exactly what it says it is, words from the mouth of one of Miller’s wildly imaginative, over the top villains, truly a vile spirit that haunts the world of the Centipede and his cohorts. This is Bloody Mary Jane’s origin in her own words, an explanation of what she is and what leads her to encounter a strange settlement of people who live rustic lives around a bubbling pool of mud…people name Ponce De Leon and Cotton Mather. This is probably one of the best of Miller’s works. He captures Bloody Mary’s voice as if he is channeling her, God forbid, and the tension builds evenly and steadily to the reveal at the end.
FIVE OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE KIND WE’D RATHER NOT THINK ABOUT
This story is yet again an adventure of The Whitechapel Vigilance Committee and is once more narrated, much more successfully than VIONNA AND THE VAMPIRES, by Vionna Valis. Here, Miller keeps the pace going briskly, Vionna’s voice moves well and not only makes sure the story flows, but adds to the consistency and intensity of the story. This cheating spouse case turned alien abduction conspiracy has so much in it that Miller explored and so much more he could have, it’s a story pregnant with possibilities.
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE LAST VENUSIAN SUPER HERO
This story is not so much a stand alone tale, although it works well by itself, but more or less it’s the glue that sticks some things together. We get Jack, Dana, Mary, Vionna, The Centipede and others in this tale, but its biggest purpose is to peek even further into the mystery of what happened to all the super heroes and to announce the return of yet another great evil…the ghost of….well, that would be telling. For what it is, this one pops right into the mix and serves its purpose well.
THREE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE OPTIMIST, BOOK ONE: YOU DON’T KNOW JACK
This is another novel length escapade and all the favorites end up in the mix. This tale is told by Jack Christian and is the reunion of he and Vionna and tells the story of the return of The Rippers’ five victims, the origin of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, and introduces the Centipede’s paranoid, but likely true concept of there being a ‘Moriarty’ of crime pulling criminal strings in the modern world. This tale is full of magic, ghosts, blood, death, revealing character moments, and scenes that make your skin crawl, all Miller trademarks by this time if you weren’t aware.
This tome, however, suffers from a couple of things, one of them evident in another of Miller’s longer pieces. The use of Jack as the narrator is fine, but Miller continually reminds the reader that Jack is writing this and has Jack comment on that fact. This is almost breaking the fourth wall in a way and it is horribly distracting. There are at least three significant places where this occurs that forced me to go back and start over just to be able to keep up. The use of this as a storytelling device seems to work much better in shorter tales, but ties a weight around longer stories.
Another issue I have with this story is the use of cursing. Now, I’m in no way a prude and other of Miller’s stories use it quite efficiently, but within THE OPTIMIST, cursing is extremely overused and even completely changes what Miller has spent so much time building up regarding one character. The cursing goes with some characters, such as Jack, but by the middle of the story everyone is flashing expletives like gang signs in a high school. It takes away from the story, makes everyone sound the same, and loses any effect the words might have. One character does it as a sort of recurring joke, but even the effect of that humor is lost because everyone else is cursing. And Miller’s allowing of the Black Centipede to be in this cursing chaos surprises me a lot and does not ring true of the Centipede Miller created via the other stories.
TWO OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
GASP, CHOKE, GOOD LORD!
This tale of the Black Centipede is from a period in the character’s history, in the 1950s, when he’s considered a hero in Zenith, his home city, and even has a close working relationship with the police. A call from the Commissioner to a strange crime scene at a ball park starts off this tale that ends up with Fredric Wertham, William Gaines (of EC Comics fame), a cast of three horror hosts, Albert Fish, and enough animated corpse bits to shake your lunch at! This story is really one wild ride that, while its throwing decapitated pitcher’s arms and wronged pedophilic cannibals at you, also does a wonderful job of not only adding layer upon layer to the character of the Centipede, but also paints all the characters, every single one of them in bright pastel colors on wonderfully conceived canvases. This is one of the best tales in the bunch.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
THE PRESENTATION/THE SITE
As a whole TALES OF THE BLACK CENTIPEDE is obviously a labor of love, a project of intense time and research, and overall a slam bang action packed thrill ride that we’ve only really seen a corner of.
This is no more evident anywhere than on Miller’s site. It is chock full of images, pictures, premiums, you name it, Chuck has covered the TALES site with enough eye candy to almost convince any reader that these people really did exist.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
OVERALL RATING FOR TALES OF THE CENTIPEDE
FOUR OUT OF FIVE TIPS OF THE HAT
GUEST REVIEW OF THE WEEK FROM JOSHUA REYNOLDS!
DAY LATE, DOLLAR SHORT REVIEWS by Joshua Reynolds
DEMON’S NIGHT (JASON DARK, GHOST HUNTER VOL. 1)
Guido Henkel
Thunder Peak Publishing, 2009
BOOK BLURB: A series of bizarre deaths leaves the victims unnaturally desiccated and decaying, sending Jason Dark into the dangerous world of the London dockyards in search of a supernatural murderer. But is the paranormal investigator prepared to duel a full-fledged demon on a Hell-bent mission to create chaos and catastrophe throughout the earth, a fiend determined to wreak more death and destruction than his even more ominous Master?
I love a good occult detective story. There’s something about intrepid investigator battling horrors from beyond space and time that really perks my interest as a reader. I dig characters like Doctor Orient, Inspector Legrasse, Thomas Carnacki…and Jason Dark.
Demon’s Night, the first volume in Guido Henkel’s JASON DARK: GHOSTHUNTER series is a thrilling introduction to the eponymous protagonist, the newest name on the roster of occult detectives. Dark, a scholar as well as a man of action, is very much in the tradition of the old-school Victorian ghost-breaker, facing his supernatural opponents with both an esoteric knowledge and a ready fist.
Henkel goes to great lengths to establish Dark’s personality right off the bat, doing his best to give the reader a fully-fleshed out hero in just a few pages. With hints of Sherlock Holmes and a bit of James Bond, Dark is by turns callous and comforting, his mind on the mystery before him even as he belatedly attempts to comfort a victim of the titular demon’s attack.
Said victim, Siu Lin, is an interesting character in her own right-a Kato to Dark’s Green Hornet (in more ways than one…Dark’s a fair pugilist, but Siu Lin goes toe-to-toe with a demon without blinking, and without a weapon! Now that’s a heroine!), and her transformation from victim to demon-hunter is handled believably, if a tad swiftly.
That’s not a complaint, mind-like any good pulp story, Demon’s Night moves at a fast clip, and Henkel is adept at crafting a taut action sequence, delivering carriage chases and back-alley brawls with cinematic fervour. Too, Henkel takes care in crafting his world, tossing off directions and regional nods Lester Dent-fashion in order to deliver a fully-developed world for his protagonist to adventure in.
The story itself is a straight up Gothic mystery, with creepy graveyards and opium dens galore. The characters bounce from one horrific discovery to the next as they try and pierce the veil of secrecy that surrounds the demonic predations, with Dark spitting facts about the Court Infernal the entire time, even as he and Siu Lin begin to create a working dynamic they will keep to in future instalments in the series. Over it all, however, is the mystery itself-What is the demon after? What-or who-is it hunting? And what does it intend to do when it’s found them?
The answer will leave you breathless for the sequel. Luckily, that sequel (as well as the next seven stories in the series!) is now available via www.jasondarkseries.com. You can read them free online, or purchase them in electronic or print format. The print version retails for $2.99 USD.
‘Spider-Man’ Producer: Turn Off Your Mouth
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
As I’ve stated before, I have serious issues with what I’ve heard about Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark as well as what people I know and trust have said about it. My previous article was based primarily on news reports as well as a Wikipedia entry for the musical. Some have taken me to task for what they assumed was my perspective—which they assumed was based on the staggering cost of this musical and hearsay—and while I said otherwise in the comments, the issue still stands as one of note in recent reviews. I will say this again: I genuinely don’t care how much it costs. If it can be done well for any amount, it’s money well spent.
However, recent comments that Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark producer Michael Cohl allegedly made in an interview with Entertainment Weeklylead me to question Mr. Cohl’s understanding of what has happened, both under his watch as a producer and as a witness to the torrential waves of negative press. Is it bad form to review and judge a work before it is finished? Yes. Anything I have ever read about this has been under the explicit understanding that it is still in previews. Issues have been raised about just how unfinished it is, given when it’s supposed to open. Issues have been raised about how many people have been seriously injured, as well as in-performance delays that occurred due to technical difficulties. Yet these were all prefaced by the fact that it is still in previews and not judged as a final product.
Review: ‘Down Terrace’
You have to admire filmmakers who scrape together the money to produce a feature film with a unique point of view. The films go largely unnoticed, play on the festival circuit and if lucky, land a cable or home video deal, widening the exposure. As a result, some interesting gems surface but it’s always hit or miss.
That phrase also applies to Ben Wheatley’s [[[Down Terrace]]], a film shot over eight days in 2009 and recently released on DVD by Magnolia Home Entertainment. Wheatley is a Brit who cut his teeth on second unit, advertising and webisodes, all of which was a good training ground. When he finally managed his first feature, he received good notices, even winning the Next Wave prize at Fantastic Fest in Austin and Best UK Feature at London’s Raindance.
This is a claustrophobic crime drama that has been described as a low budget version of [[[The Sopranos]]] but this is smaller, darker, and grimmer. Starring Wheatley’s frequent collaborators, Robert and Robin Hill as a father and son, they are small-time criminals who just were acquitted of a crime. Both want revenge against the rat who sold them out and that forms the story’s spine, but it’s a thin spine since we’re distracted by other familial complications.
This is a working class crime family drama told in chapters named after the days of the week. The dialogue is sparse and feels largely improvised as bickering betrays character while the film’s low budget leads to consistent audio issues. You’d think it would have worked better considering the majority of this mostly engaging film is set in the cramped Brighton house. The characters come and go, and largely feel real while at the same time also feel not fully thought out.
William and Karl, father and son, seek the snitch while mom Maggie (Julia Deakin) seems to while away the day, smoking and staring. She’s the least interesting one in the mix but also the one who might have the most interesting things to say. Instead, she’s mute while William rages and summons Pringle (Michael Smiley) to take out the suspected squealer. Once the violence begins, it gets pretty relentless, and beyond the realism the rest of the film nicely captures. More true to the sorry state of their lives is Karl’s partner, Valda (Kerry Peacock), who turns up, announcing she’s pregnant, adding to the tension.
Overall, there’s more to like than not in this production and its entertainment is not in the violence but in the emotions these misfits wear on their sleeves. Wheatley is someone to watch as he grows in confidence as a director.
The movie looks fine on DVD and it comes sans extras.
A BOOK A DAY LOOKS AT CINEMATIC LEGEND
 Magic in a Pair of Horn-Rimmed Glasses
Voted “Best Book of 2009” by Classic Images magazine! |
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GUEST REVIEW OF THE WEEK-CONSTANTINE ON FERGUSON
Diamondback: It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time
2 02 2011
Ever since I read Derrick’s first book, Dillon and the Voice of Odin, I’ve been sold on his work. Derrick has a knack for intriguing characters, snappy dialogue, and some of the best action I’ve had the privilege of reading.
Whereas Derrick’s Dillon series (as of this writing composed of Dillon and the Voice of Odin and the follow-up Dillon and the Legend of the Golden Bell) is a love letter to Doc Savage and the classic adventure story, Diamondback is a true spaghetti western. But like with Dillon, Derrick mixes his love of the classics with a modern sensibility. Derrick has frequently referred to this story as an urban western and that’s the most apt description I can think of.
Although this story could have been set in the Old West out on the frontier, it fits perfectly in the fictional city of Denbrook, which could easily give Gotham a run for its money.
When one of Denbrook’s biggest crime lords is planning to bring in a shipment of hi-tech weapons, it just so happens to coincide with the arrival of gun-for-hire Diamondback Vogel. And this is one mercenary who is the best there is at what he does and what he does is fill his enemies with lead and leave a trail of destruction in his wake. Crime lords, crooked cops, and secret societies are all involved and all interested in Diamondback’s role in this tale. However, Diamondback supposedly died in a shootout in another town, so one of the ongoing questions is just who is this guy? It’s a question that plays no small role in this story and I’m not going to say anything more about that, because you’re better off reading it for yourself.
What I will tell you is this is a great read that won’t suck up a lot of your time. Not only because it’s a short book, but also because Derrick wastes no words. He knows you’re here for the action and he gives it to you in abundance. The action sequences are crafted with both bloody intensity and a flawless grace that would make even John Woo envious. And by the time you reach the last page, you’ll want to track this Ferguson guy down and find out when the sequel is coming, because he leaves you with a cliffhanger ending that will put you on the edge of your seat.
Review: ‘[[[Doctor Who A Christmas Carol]]]’
If a television series lasts long enough, it will eventually get around to taking their turn at retelling Charles Dickens’ [[[A Christmas Carol]]] and after fifty years, it was finally the Doctor’s turn. For its annual Christmas special, Doctor Who offered up a strong hour’s entertainment despite the overly familiar premise. Unlike most other versions, this time the Doctor freely admits his inspiration and has great fun with it.
Scrooge in this case is Kazran Sardick (Michael Gambon), an elderly man on a world where his family has controlled the electrically-charged clouds that perpetually envelope the world. Using machinery that only responds to his touch, Sardick follows in his father’s footsteps, controlling the clouds and inhibiting the lives of the people he considers beneath him. In a typically odd Doctor touch, the electricity coursing through the air also allows the planet’s fish to fly through the air.
All of this becomes apparent when the spaceliner carrying newlywed Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) gets caught up in an electric discharge and need to be rescued by the Doctor (Matthew Smith) before the vessel crashes into the planet killed all 4003 passengers and crew.
When Sardick refuses to help, the Doctor visits the man’s past to explore how he grew so sour and in the process alters reality. A giant Shark has become their nemesis and can only be calmed by the singing of Abigail, who resides in frozen storage because her family owes Sardick money. She is promised that for every Christmas Eve Sardick and the Doctor will visit, which happens every year, slowly turning the curmudgeon into a softie. Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins makes her acting debut as Abigail and while her singing is heavenly, the lyrics leave something to be desired.
Steven Moffat has written a touching story mixed with the usual glib commentary from the Doctor so you laugh and your feel the tears well up every now and then. Gambon treads a fine line as Sardick and does a nice job while Amy and Rory are sadly left with far too little to do. Overall, though, the story is very entertaining and is a strong holiday entry. Fans seem to have been taken with Smith as the new Doctor as the 2010 special’s ratings rose over David Tennant’s final special.
The nice thing about the home video release, out this week, is that it is the complete and uncut BBC version as opposed to the BBC American retransmission. As has become custom, we also get the behind-the scenes [[[Doctor Who Confidential]]] and the annual concert,[[[ Doctor Who at the Proms]]]. I’ve come to greatly enjoy the Proms broadcasts because they are artfully presented and we get to focus on the strong music the series normally receives.
And we will have to make do with this before the first half of Smith’s second season arrives in the spring.
