By: Kent B. - MSTv contributor

I have seen many a strange thing, throughout my 30+ years watching the British sci-fi juggernaut, Doctor Who.  But, never has it been so "different," yet so delightful!  However before I go on, I'm going to surmise that you know who and what Doctor Who is about.  And if you don't, here's a brief history describer of this 55 year old British/global sci-fi institution.

Doctor Who is a British science fiction show that began in 1963.  Its about a centuries-old alien, from a planet called Gallifrey, who is of a subset class called "timelord." The character travels - most often with others - throughout time and space in a machine called a TARDIS.  He's relatively immortal, but when threatened with dire injury, or death, he can literally "transform" into another form - complete with a new body and personality.  And since 1963, he's done this 13 times.  (If you'd like to know more, click the link above)  Also, this is a perspective article, so I'm assuming you've seen the episode. If you haven't, here's the Wikipedia episode link.

Now, back to our regular scheduled article.

Like millions of others, I tuned in for the global BBC simulcast of the new 13th Doctor's premiere episode, "The woman who fell from the sky."  And like assuredly everyone else, I prepared myself in seeing the newest incarnation of my favourite alien timelord turned "hero to heroine."   Yes, that's right -- the 55 year old hero of the show had changed his sex to become a woman...

No biggie..  Its 2018 and the Doctor is an alien..  So, who cares, right?!

Besides that expected difference, Doctor Who is a show that changes its general tone and feel almost as much as it does its lead character. So initially, the changing from male to female for the Doctor seemed like a needless plot device to likely draw in new viewers; despite it being suggested decades earlier and explored first with the Doctor's arch enemy, The Master.

However, sex change aside, this new "Doctor" appeared just as insane, hyperactive, curious and heroic as her predecessors.  At despite the overall story being typically "Whoish," (IE: bad aliens menacing Earth - or somewhere-  and the Doctor fixing it to make the baddies run away, die or whatever.) I took away only one very intense feeling watching this 1st episode: it had an almost palatable sense of darkness to it.  In a sense, it reminded me of a more cinematic episode of Stranger Things.

From the show beginning, where  future companion,  Ryan Sinclair somberly speaks online about the most wonderful woman he's ever known, to the very last scene of the Doctor and her three companions floating in space, the entire episode drips with senses of despair, dread and dire.  In a sense, I don't think the show has ever been this "alien." 

On first look, the 14th Doctor Jodie Whittaker appears completely unassuming, without menace and almost whimsical. But, as the show progresses it becomes apparent she is just as formidable and dangerous as her pesky Y chromosome past. This Doctor, like several before her was willing to kill the bad guy in order to save the day. But, unlike her previous selves, she did it with a frighteningly calm demeanor and a bravado her previous selves might actually envy - even David Tennant's 10th!

More-so, than in perhaps a long time, this Doctor seems just as alien as Tom Baker's 4th and ruthless as Peter Capaldi's 13th.  Even from the traditional choosing of the Doctor's costume to the almost Cyberpunk creation of her home-brew, industrial "sonic screwdriver" was just so proudly outside and fringe.  So as a fan and watcher of this program for over 30 years, I say with little doubt that the 14th Doctor will most likely be the most "inhuman" of all those gone before.

And Whittaker's choice of costume only served to reinforce this: it appears to be a mishmash look taken from some of her predecessors.  It too looks completely non-conformist and odd, yet it works on an individualistic level. And much like Colin Baker's 6th, this new Doctor's costume proudly proclaims she really is, or will be "different."     

All in all, the new Who works brilliantly, so far.  It's now being shot in anamorphic framing, so visually the show is strikingly beautiful.  Additionally, new series composer Segun Akinola intensifies the feelings of atmosphere within the show with his moody compositions.

Since the show's return in 2005, composer Murry Gold kept the show's flow running musically with his more heroic pieces.  Gold's optimistic and wonderful scores made you never doubt that the Doctor would win the day - mainly because though they were heroic, they were relatively light and made the menaces seem likewise.

With Akinola's compositions, those days are seemingly gone.  The menace and threats painted from the sounds of the new Akinola "Who" universe seem well hidden, of a significant threat and likely highly dangerous.  And this is even from menaces that looked like a giant Hersey's kiss, a moving rubberband ball and a stupid looking humanoid alien with teeth on its face..

Yeah, the first episode was typical, cheesy Doctor Who gold, guys!!  And I loved every second of it!! 

By: Alex Temple - MSTv Staff writer

Consider yourself a fan of the 'Twin Peaks meets X-Files' Netflix phenom, 'Stranger Things?'  Well, it seems that series creators, Matt and Ross Duffer, may not have pulled the idea from their beloved 1980's iconic memories.  The Duffer brothers may be facing a lawsuit for allegedly stealing the idea from a writer the duo collaborated with in 2014.

Charlie Kessler, a screenwriter, is filing suit against the brothers based on an implied breach of contract. Kessler's attorney claims his client pitched the Duffers a concept for a sci-fi story, set near an abandoned military base, at a party for the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. Kessler claims 'Stranger Things' is based on a short film of his and full script called 'Montuak' and 'The Montauk Project.'  Both the film and extended script are based on, "various urban legends, paranormal and conspiracy theories."

Kessler's attorney, Michael Kernan stated:
"After the massive success of Stranger Things, the defendants have made huge sums of money by producing a series based on my client's concepts."

Kessler is seeking a judgement in which the Duffer brothers must cease using his concepts, destroy all materials based on those ideas, restitution, lost profits and punitive damages.

But 'strangely' enough, Kessler's suit opened in wake of the massive salary re-negotiations with the show's cast, overall. Online show source network, Netflix and representatives for the Duffer brothers, both declined to comment on the complaint.

By: Alex Templar - MSTv writer

"Thor: Ragnarok is yet another Marvel film in receipt of wildly positive reviews, with its typical MCU inclusions of action, fun and humor - precisely balanced and delivered to a hungry audience.  Plus, its grossed over 700 million already.  Yes, the Marvel cinema machine has done it again, even with one of the weaker links in their cinematic universe."

However, this obviously isn't a Marvel movie review, especially given the photo emblazoned above.  This a more of a a query, from myself  and others who wonder how a movie (IE: Justice League) made about the virtual "originators" of Marvel comics, (yes, its true) could be such a hackneyed mess? 

Can a decent answer, or fair excuse can be given?  That's another query, but let's give it a shot.

Justice League finally debuted this Thursday past; and for many a viewer it felt like a betrayal; one built after nearly two years of promises of change from within the DC film universe.  Yet as expected, only the trailers painted a beautiful and exciting canvas of what would hopefully - but didn't - come to pass. 

Yeah, trailers tend to do that.

However, a considerable promised change was addressed:  Gone was doom and gloom look and feel of Zach Snyder DC films past. Justice League, in contrast, is a colorful, vibrant and sometimes, humorous delight to watch.  But, it seems that was the rub. While Man of Steel and Batman v Superman both were dark, gloomy and ofttimes depressing films, they both at least had a sense of range and depth, plus some character development. These attributes were all missing in Justice League. 

The film itself only brought the feel of some disjointed super-powered misfits, who kinda banded together to fight a second-rate villain (and his flying monkey bugs) with no apparent motivation other than just to fight them.  Never once did I think that this band of Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Aquaman and the Flash (and a revived Superman, thrown in at the 11th hour) would actually congeal into a "team." 

Batman, as expected, prefers to play solo and seems to be gathering this group only out of guilt. 
Flash is a wide-eyed innocent, prone to tripping and with no clue as to how his powers really work. 
Cyborg is cool as hell, calculating and brilliant. Also as expected, extremely bitter.  
Wonder Woman is bad-ass beauty and glue of the team. In other words, she's hot and the guys all see that. 
Aquaman is a loner, major-attitude-having, alcoholic party-boy who lives for a good time/fight.  In other words: cool...
And Superman??  Er, he's Superman!  He doesn't really need this team and boy, does he shows it!

All in all, this sounds like the makings for a awesome comic movie, depicting the virtual "gods" of the entire superhero genre.  Yet, it falls extremely flat almost from the jump. And with the comic-inspired source story-line this team was forced to play out, its even more amazing that this film didn't work better.

Comic fans will no doubt see  similarities between the film and the 2011 New 52 version launch of  the Justice League comic. As in both film and comic, a villain from Apokolips (Steppenwolf/Darkseid) invades Earth in a takeover attempt.  From this point, the changes are minimally different.

In the comic version, the team are all relatively young and new to their careers.  They just "kinda" come together to repel Darkseid.  But from the start, they do so as a team - disgruntled, but a team, none the less.  As before stated - the film "Leaguers" form a "team-up" of convience - not a team.

The film story is mostly the same.  The only changes are that Batman and Wonder Woman gather the team, the baddie is a Darkseid minion and Superman is initially dead, later revived and pretty much wraps up the final fight by himself.  And besides a few extraneous details, like Olympian Gods, Amazons, Atlanteans, ancient humans, and Green Lanterns first fighting Steppenwolf', centuries earlier,  Superman being revived as a secret weapon  and Russia being the spot of the final showdown, this movie is basically the 1st story arc of "The New 52: Justice League comic."  That comic showed all the raw, wild and unfettered egotistical ambition of youth, working together and proving themselves to a crisis-terrified world; which for the most part, fears them. In contrast, the movie, though action-packed, is ofttimes boring, visually busy for no reason and sometimes lacking focus with the story or too little character development. You often feel like any member, besides Wonder Woman, could or would walk away for the group at any moment.  And in a sense, you might not blame them.

This film League only excels at playing with legendary comic characters, who sorely lack the type enthusiasm which made their counterpart comic characters story so engaging.  The directors got the look generally right.  So how could they have a completely miss out on the characterization and story of such strong source material??

In closing, I tried very hard to like this film and still can't comprehend why It let me down so much.  DC has so many brilliant interpretations of the League, ranging from Super Friends to the perfection of Justice League Unlimited.  
With so many excellent prior versions to reference, a Justice League film of this quality is unexpected, unacceptable and may wound DC film futures in an unrecoverable way.

Yes, the entire Marvel Universe is indirectly the bastard spawn of the Justice League.  But, while the kids remain media darlings, the parent remains slightly out of touch.  Unfortunate..    

By:  Gere Iverson - MSTv contributor

Welcome September! 

With the beginning of the ninth month, a few things start to enter most of our minds: the holidays, football, winter and of course, the new Fall television season!

This year's theme seems to be, "choices, choices and more choices." But, how many of these new shows are good for your viewing pleasure?

Well, we here at MSTv live for the geek and fun shows that are new, returning and those which just won't die..

What do we mean? You can make your own choices from the complete listing below. So, let's get to it!  Plus, tell us your favorite return choices in the comments below.

SPOILERS BELOW. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.
YOU WERE WARNED.
THAT IS ALL.
 
February 8, 2016
By JAVAN H.
 
The Haves and the Have Nots—it’s an age-old descriptor in socioeconomics, and also the name of one of TV’s hottest soaps. Airing on OWN, the thriving Oprah Winfrey Network, #HAHN centers around two legal families, the Cryers and the Harringtons, and the working-class Young family, the matriarch who’s a maid for the Cryers. Set in Savannah, Georgia, the show focuses the misdeeds of patriarch Judge Jim Cryer and resident love-to-hate villain Attorney Veronica Herrington, as they plot and scheme amongst themselves, taking viewers on a ride that puts Shondaland (Shonda Rimes) to shame. You see, #HAHN is part of a rotating block of shows from New Orleans’ own Tyler Perry--#inspiration--along side sitcom Love Thy Neighbor (both of which are based on the play of the same name), trading seasons with sitcom For Better or for Worse and soap If Loving You is Wrong. I’ll provide a write-up on that last monster soon…and I do mean MONSTER.

The Cryers

Jim Cryer (singer John Schneider) is a ruthless-yet-embattled judge vying to become governor of Georgia. With his fiery wife Katheryn (Renée Lawless) remaining at his side, he is fresh off the heels of a years-long affair with Celine (Eva Tomargo), a former maid with whom he has two estranged children. Jim is also at odds with his son Wyatt (Aaron O’Connell), a substance abuser who was involved in a hit-and-run. Tension only grew worse after Jim’s daughter Amanda (Jaclyn Betham) committed suicide, which in their eyes only validated his selfishness and lack of concern for his family.

The Harringtons
 
Judge David Harrington (Peter Parros, Knight Rider) shares the ticket with Jim as lieutenant governor. Sort of a Judge Judy type, tame in everyday life but a fiend in the courtroom, David is known for his loyalty…
 
…even if it’s to all the wrong people…
 
Enter Veronica Harrington (Angela Robinson), his wife and a criminal defense attorney referred to as “the ice queen” by fans. The resident love-to-hate character, Veronica is known for her constant need to control. After all, control freaks are usually those who lack control in their own lives; she’s insecure, an alcoholic and a drug addict, and it only makes sense that she feels the need to do everything in her power, which she has no shortage of, to control everything from her marriage, to her son’s sexual orientation.

Jeffery (Gavin Houston) bears much if the brunt of Veronica’s ire, as he was tricked into knocking a girl up, and was also beaten to a pulp by one of the most dangerous people in Savannah. I should also note that he’s coping with unrequited love from Wyatt, who is straight somewhat antagonistic, but takes advantage of the affection. As for Veronica, there’s always a method to her madness, whether it’s burning down her house to destroy evidence of the above-mentioned hit-and-run, engaging in an affair to retrieve more damning evidence or releasing said “dangerous person” to attack her own son.
 
By the way, his name is Quincy—father of Quincy’s, Jr., Candace’s son.

The Youngs
 
The Youngs are a working-class family headed by Hanna (Crystal Fox, In the Heat of the Night), a long-time maid for the Cryers. All she wants is for her children, Benny and Candace, tell her the truth. But in reality, that’s asking for too much. Candace (Tika Sumpter, Gossip Girl) is a former escort and a known opportunist, now enduring the fallout of extorting Jim Cryer for millions of dollars. After being kidnapped by Quincy, Benny (Tyler Lepley) managed to return Quincy, Jr. home, which ultimately led to a custody dispute between Hanna and Candace. Quincy (Medina Islam) drove his car through Hanna’s uninsured home, burning it down as an act of revenge.
 
Always aiming to do the right thing, the God-fearing Hanna refuses to live in the home that Candace bought her for and Benny with the extortion money. Take note: no one knows now Candace got the money. They only know that it was probably stolen in some way. Hanna is now left scraping up anything and everything she possibly can to take care of her sick grandson, and avoid him being taken away by CPS.

After a previous season of plots to retrieve the extorted money, Quincy seeking payback, meddling district attorneys and Wyatt becoming an informant, “The Haves and the Have Nots” is now taking us on the journey of what happened afterwards.

Wyatt was able to avoid jail time by ratting out his parents and the Harringtons. Last season, Jim had him sent to jail as a means of threatening him to keep quiet about the hit-and-run, as it would damage the campaign. But Veronica took things a step further and had a serial rapist moved into his cell. Armed with a vendetta, district attorney Jennifer Sallison (Shari Headley, Coming to America) later had the judges and their wives arrested and put into adjacent cells to obtain information. But in true Tyler Perry fashion, things took an interesting turn this season when Jeffery was placed in a cell between them. Think “Goldilocks and the Three Bears;” now with Veronica’s affair semi-exposed, the Harrington family fought amongst each other with Jim instigating.
 
Unbeknownst to them, Jeffery stabbed the fatal wounds into Quincy’s back as he attacked Candace earlier that evening. To ease his paranoia about the accident, Candace made him down a bottle of vodka, but everything when straight to Hell once the nosey neighbor called her son, a homophobic cop, to have Quincy’s car removed from in front of her yard. Mind you, Quincy’s dying body was in Candace’s living room and out of the officer’s view. The cop then followed Jeffery and locked him up for DWI.

As it stands, Jeffery has turned his back on Candace, stating that she’s responsible for many of the problems in his life, Hanna has a sick grandson with no money to live off of and Benny is about to find out just who nearly killed him during that hit-and-run. Will Candace retaliate against her former best friend? Will Benny unleash his wrath on yet another huge target? Will Veronica finally get her comeuppance? We’ll just have to find out on Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots, every Temptation Tuesday at 8pm Central on OWN.

He’s Javan H.—check out my other musings in the #MSTv universe both on-air and online, as well as at JAVANH.com, YouTube.com/JJLucasH, Twitter.com/JJLucasH and on IMDb.
 
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