The RaT Project 35

The RaT Project 35
Show Notes
Stardate 091102.2009

Correction from last episode: I misidentified the two Peter Cushing Doctor Who movies. The first Cushing movie (Dr Who and the Daleks) was based on the first Dalek story from televised Who (The Daleks), whereas the second one (Daleks’ Invasion Earth – 2150 A.D.) was based upon the televised story “Daleks Invasion of Earth”. Thanks to @tdrury for pointing that out.

On to the News:

News Dept:
Hulu to charge for video in the coming year?
Nintendo Announces DSi LL
–Significantly larger screens, larger stylus
–There’s no real need for this redesign
–Existing games will suffer aspect ratio when played on DSi LL
—-For example, try playing GB/GBC games on GBA
Ubuntu 9.10 Comments
–Pros
—-Definite improvement over 9.04
—-My audio problems have finally been fixed
—-Slight graphical glitches on dual-monitor display have been fixed
—-Compiz and \Emerald Theme Manager finally works on dual-display
——No “dead area” on right of display area
–Cons
—-Error reporter repeatedly sends out automated emails to Ubuntu users
——Users report getting hundreds of emails about the same bug report
——Can’t easily unsubscribe to these emails
—-CairoDock uninstalled by default, as is Pidgin
–Ubuntu One seems promising, but I’ve not tried it yet

Main features for this episode are reviews of the Nintendo DS games Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver and a spoiler-free review of the new Wheel of Time novel The Gathering Storm.

Subscribe today!

Out of Phase Reviews: Monk 8.04 “Mr. Monk is Someone Else”

Just as I’m a bit late with my review of Eureka‘s latest episode, so am I a bit late with my review of the latest episode of Monk. Without further ado, let’s get to the review.

I actually had to watch the teaser a second and third time to make sure I had seen what I thought I had seen. Apparently, Monk was hit by a bus!

This was explained soon enough. Apparently, it was a hit man who looked almost exactly like Monk. Also soon enough, Monk was recruited to stand in for the hit man, named Frank DePalma, after it was discovered DePalma had come to the area to kill someone. So Monk learns the guy’s file and assumes the role.

One of my favorite episodes of Monk is Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine, where medication has Monk in a completely different persona. This episode reminded me a lot of both that episode and Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized (wherein hypnosis has Monk in his seven-year old persona). It’s always fun to see Shalhoub performing some alternate persona for Monk, and this episode did not disapopint.

Throughout the episode, Monk gets more involved with the DePalma personality, and feels more comfortable with it. Seeing this transition, as well as Captain Stottlemeyer’s reaction, makes for entertaining television.

Notably absent from this episode (at least, far as I can remember) is the “Here’s what happened” bit, and the subsequent black-and-white flashback.

We’re in the beginning of the final season of Monk. While it’s a bit early yet to start reminiscing about the show’s highs and lows, I would already count this episode among the highlights.

Time for the rating.

I give Monk episode 8.04 a solid 5…out of 5.

Out of Phase Reviews: Eureka 3.16 “You Don’t Know Jack”

I know I’m a bit behind in getting this particular review up, but seeing as it hasn’t been a full week since this episode aired, I’m still on time.

Anyway, now for my review of the latest episode of the Syfy original series Eureka, episode 3.16.

First thing I notice with this episode is that it looks like it’s going to be a clip/recap show. Normally, I don’t like this as an episode format. If I want to know what’s happened so far in the series, I’ll go back and watch the episodes I’ve missed. Clip shows generally don’t move the plot ahead all that much, as the primary focus is on reviewing what’s happened so far.

That was mostly how it was with this episode of Eureka (a show that, invariably when I do Google searches for, I come up with search results for an anime series called Eureka Seven (I’ve seen most of that anime, and it’s quite good, actually)). Dr. Fontana has set up a new program to collect brain signatures of Eureka residents so she can store memories in a time capsule. At the same time, Global Dynamics is scheduled for a sonic cleaning, a process that will dissolve any organic matter left in GD’s buildings. What could possibly go wrong here?

Anyway, the main characters soon start losing memories after Fargo hacks into the memory system to see the memories involving him. Everyone who had one of the brain signal devices (which is everyone except the Carters) begin losing their memories.

At the same time, Carter is locked inside GD with Alison, with the sonic cleaning process about to start. And guess what? Alison has a brain signal device, so she starts losing memories.

Well, this was another enjoyable episode of Eureka, and the plot did advance a bit (though mainly just with Alison’s baby being born), but it was a clip show. As such, there was a lot of recap of things I had already seen, not a lot new.

Time for the rating.

I give Eureka 3.16 a 3…out of 5.

Out of Phase Reviews: Robot Chicken 4.16

Another week, another collection of random shorts on Robot Chicken.

As usual, the references run the gamut from easily recognizable to obscure, with stand-alone jokes thrown in for good measure.

Before going any further, I just want to say that I like the stop-motion animation style used in Robot Chicken. It works well with the fast-paced action that RC has.

So what’d we have on this episode? There was another G.I. Joe gag, another Jetsons gag, Dark Crystal rap gag, and a Batman gag, among others. I quite liked the Batman and Two Face bit. Great joke on the whole idea of Two Face as a character.

The rest of the show was somewhat enjoyable. Not the best overall episode of RC, but still enjoyable. As always, the bits on RC are only funny if you know the source material and, as such, get the joke.

Anyway, the rating:

I give Robot Chicken ep. 4.16 a 3…out of 5.

Out of Phase Reviews Double Feature! South Park’s Beginnings!

Years before South Park launched on Comedy Central, Parker and Stone put together a couple animations, both of which shared the trademark visual style that South Park would be known for.

The reviews are after the jump!

Out of Phase Reviews! South Park Intro

To give this blog more material, I’ve decided to write up reviews of stuff I watch. I’m going to start with my series of South Park reviews. I’ll be watching South Park in its entirety, beginning with the shorts that began it all: Jesus vs. Frosty and Jesus vs. Santa (I guess the lesson is, don’t get Jesus angry!).

Following on from that, I’ll review the rest of the series in order, beginning with “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe”.

Now, where to start here? This will be as much an adventure for me as it will be for this blog. You see, I never got to watch South Park up until my University years, so I missed South Park during its prime. It wasn’t until around season eleven that I was able to watch episodes as they were new.

I was familiar with the style of South Park, or at least, the idea of South Park. I knew it to be a crude show that went to extremes constantly. It wasn’t until I actually started watching it that I figured the show out. Yes, it is crude, and does go to extremes for humor’s sake, but that’s the whole point. Recent seasons have seen the show become a satire of other topics more often than not, and a lot of what they do is for shock value.

Anyway, without further ado, the first review is in the works! While awaiting that, I’ve got a poll for those of you reading this: What is your favorite season of South Park?

Torchwood: Children of Earth “Day One” Quick Review

Series three of Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood has begun on BBC 1, and I’ve managed to catch the first episode. Was the episode worth the wait? Has this mini-series started off on the right foot or has it had a bad start? Find out in my review of the episode, after the jump.

Terror of the Zygons Review

I’m quickly catching up with the Great 2009 Doctor Who Nap Year Marathon, and now it’s time for my review of “Terror of the Zygons”.

Revenge of the Cybermen Review

Continuing on with the Great 2009 Doctor Who Marathon, I’ve finished watching Revenge of the Cybermen. Time for my review.

Continuing along at my pace in the marathon, I watched Revenge of the Cybermen this morning. As this was Tom Baker’s only story with the Cybermen, I was looking forward to a good story. What I saw was….well, find out in my review.

The Sontaran Experiment Review

Just finished rewatching this last night. It’s been a while since I last watched it. Anyway, time for a quick review.

This is a rarity in classic Who, in the sense that the entire story is basically the same length as a single story from the current incarnation of the show. As such, this is a story from classic Who that can easily be shown to people unfamiliar with Doctor Who, in terms of time constraints. But is it an effective “first story” for people who have never seen the show before? I’ll take that into consideration in my review.

This story continues the story arc for Tom Baker’s first season, with the trio beaming down to Earth via transmat beam. The idea of a continuing story arc for this season worked quite well, actually, with only Genesis of the Dalek feeling out of place (the Time Lords interrupted the trio when they were beaming back to the station).

So here we have the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry back on Earth, and apparently the whole planet has been abandoned, except for four humans and a Sontaran. As always, the Doctor and friends are suspected of being enemies, and initially treated as such. You know, it’s for that reason that I’m glad we have the slightly psychic paper now, so this isn’t a recurring thing in New Who.

This is a rather fast-paced story, which I enjoy. It isn’t long before we meet the Sontaran, Styre, and figure out what he’s up to. Styre is an effective villain, far as I’m concerned, and if you think about it, he’s quite insane, what with all of his experiments.

This story is not without its problems. For instance, that robot that Styre is using in order to pursue and capture the humans is rather frail and not at all menacing. As I was watching, I just kept thinking, “Push it over!” Also, there’s a lot of falling down pits. Another problem I have is the somewhat rushed conclusion, with Styre being defeated and the Doctor’s gambit. Seemed a bit rushed, to me.

The Sontarans are explained well enough in this story, inasfar as they’re yet another force trying to destroy humanity. As far as the war between the Sontarans and the Rutans is concerned, it gets a brief mention in this story, but nothing more.

Now, as for using this as an introductory episode, it works well enough. It has all the basic elements of a good Doctor Who story, and it moves along at a good pace. The only thing missing from this story is the TARDIS, but that bit is easily explained.

Anyway, this is an enjoyable story. Time for my rating.

I give The Sontaran Experiment a 4 out of 5.