Spiritual Twist Productions Christian Youth Theater's Presentation of "Jesus!"

This was a really powerfully written script. The best part about it was that it wasn't your conventional church drama about the life of Jesus Christ. It was admirable that lesser known scenes were included in the story such as when the crowed wanted to throw Jesus off of the mountain. The opening scene, Repent, was really powerful. It was overall a really good play, but the group vocals could have been better refined and controlled.

Hugo

This movie was visually stunning! The opening scene was amazing the way they faded the clock gears into a shot of Paris. The music was also fantastic and emotional. It fit the mood of the story so well, and really enhanced the experience of watching the movie. What was really brilliant in this film was the amount of story which was able to be told without the use of dialogue. The two child actors were amazing. It is hard to find child talent as good as that which was in this movie. Overall it was really good and really well made.

2001: A Space Odyssey

This movie left me with two side effects: confusion and a headache. The allegorical nature of this movie made it very hard to follow especially since it was designed to be so ambiguous and open to interpretation. Pretty much the only connection I understood while watching the movie was the connection between the computer Hal and the Cyclopes in Homer's The Odyssey. As for the movie in its technical aspects it was visually stunning. All the ships in space looked incredible. For the time it was made, the visual effects were top notch. Also the lighting was really good for the time as well as the very interesting camera angles they used. Other than that and the allegory there wasn't really much that was good about this movie. ALL the movement was too slow and drawn out. There was too long of gaps between human dialogue and explanation, including about the first half hour of the movie not having any dialogue whatsoever. The foley art was terrible, specifically all the scenes with breathing. The breathing sound was always mixed in too loudly and it became distracting and irritating. The music had great moments, but it really didn't seem to fit with the movie's feel. Also all the scenes with the black slab, the music in them was so chaotic that it made audiences dread to see it on the screen. It was a brilliant psychological devise used by the director, but an uncomfortable one for those audience members that already have a headache from listening to all the chimps screaming at each other and the other various sounds which drove one crazy watching the film. It was interesting, I'll give it that, and it certainly did make me think, but the headache I received from watching the film overrules any pleasure that I received in watching it.

New Earth

The concept of New Earth is very good. David Tennant's expressions during the disinfectant scene are fantastic.  The body switching process was a brilliant plot twist. The episode brings up interesting debates on morals behind what is too far in finding cures for illnesses. Rose and David Tennant, and all the other actors did a really good job portraying when Cassandra was in them. The solution of this episode is good and strong. Overall it is a really good episode.

Tooth and Claw

The whole idea of the monks in this episode is very ridiculous and rather weak.  A lot of the dialogue is weak in this episode as well. David Tennant's Scottish accent in this episode is great! The bet between the Doctor and Rose is rather ridiculous as well, this episode was really weak. The best part of this episode is the introduction of the torch wood estate. The story line was not very supported and suspenseful like many other Doctor Who episodes. Granted, I suppose David Tennent is still getting used to the role of the Doctor at this point in his career. The special effects in this episode are really cheesy. The episode tried to have the feel of a period piece but with modern aspects and the way they did it did not mix these two aspects very well making the episode un-relatable and distant from the audience. Overall this was one of the weakest episodes David Tennant is in.

The Angels Take Manhattan

The weeping angels are one of the most brilliant Doctor who villains ever. It is hard to make a bad episode with such a scary monster! The fact that the action of the villains can only happen off screen is a very frightening concept. The narration for this episode is really good, but they should have more variety, after all this is the third episode in a row that is narrated. The awesome thing about Doctor who is that each episode can be very different, it is disappointing the lack of variety in storytelling this season. Using the statue of liberty as an angel was a brilliant move. The statue is a landmark so turning it against humanity is brilliantly scary. The use of the book by Melody Melone to  narrate and keep the story flowing was a very unique idea. Arthur Darville's performance was Rory was great in this episode. he really did a great job portraying the emotion of the scene. The rooftop scene between Amy and Rory was great. This was a great episode, and there was a lot of emotion behind the farewell to the ponds that made the episode really good!

The Power of Three

The opening montage of this episode was really good. Using Amy as a narrator was not a particularly good choice particularly since the last episode had a narrator was well. The montage with all the news clips about the cubes was also really good. Brian, once again, was a brilliant character. The concept of having the Doctor stay in the life of his companions instead of the other way around like usual. There was were a lot of montages in this episode, but I think that the montage really helped to set the feel of this episode. There is more foreshadowing in this episode for what will happen when the future of am and Rory's companionship with the Doctor. The montage with the Doctor trying to entertain himself at the pond's house while they wait for the cubes to do something was really funny. The new UNIT is good, and Kate Stewart was a great character connecting the new series to the classic episodes of Doctor Who. The scene between Amy and the Doctor when he asks her if she is going to stop traveling with him was a great scene. Using the classic countdown technique was a great way to build suspense in this episode. The conclusion was really rushed and seemed too easy for the difficulty of the problem presented; it was a very unsatisfactory ending. Overall this was a really good episode and all the ideas behind it were really great, but the ending was too quick and not thorough enough.