Don’t forget to keep up with the show and relive all the nostalgia by following us on Twitter (@duckgraveyard) and Facebook. Send us your memories or show suggestions at graveyardduckpodcast@gmail.com. And be sure to check out all of the great content from this show and other nerdy favorites at geeknerdery.com.
We’re on hiatus from The Challenge, so the crew sits down to discuss the forgotten horror movie, The Scorned starring Challenge alum Trishelle, Tonya and Steven. No drama this time around, or challenges or eliminations, but we do discuss blood and gore and death scenes. That’s similar, right?
Hello and we’re back as we witness the penultimate regular episode of Series 10 for Doctor Who, “World and Enough Time.” I’m trying a bit more of structured format with this review, consider it a genesis, if you will.
The Gist of It
Capaldi’s hair is going borderline Pertwee and the Doctor is giving Missy a test run to prove she can be good because at the end of the day, Missy/The Master was his first friend and longest friend and apparently his man crush. Somewhere the shippers pump their first in the air, Tumblr goes nuts. Thusly, the Doctor is giddy at the chance to reform his friend, who is the closest person left like him. They were going to see all the stars together, but the Master got sidetracked with burning them.
Bill is skeptical because Missy really scares her. Rightfully so. Because taking Missy for a test run to answer the distress call of a massive colony ship is going to have consequences and the return of an old face or two.
The TARDIS appears in a hallway, the Doctor steps out and rushes to a locked door, hoping it’s not too late. He pulls out a sonic screwdriver from his coat pocket, click goes the lock. Door opens to find Hannah looking into a mirror.
Who are you? I’m the Doctor. Doctor who? Just the Doctor. Hannah, I know what you are about to do and I’m here to show you a future with you in it. Hannah agrees to go with the Doctor, as they walk toward the TARDIS she says, is that a police telephone box from like the 1950’s? More 60’s era.
The Doctor opens the TARDIS’ door and told Hannah to step in. She did with the Doctor following behind. So it’s bigger on the inside… Yes, you see… Hannah stops the Doctor in mid sentence. I know how this works. Imagine fitting a big cube into a much smaller cube. The Doctor looked baffled, okay then… So! Your future, seven years down the road where do you see yourself? Why do you have so many fezzes hanging from the ceiling? Because fezzes are… Seven years? I don’t know. Well, let’s find out. Hang on! As the Doctor shifts gears and knobs on his console the TARDIS begins to disappear.
The TARDIS lands outside a long gated neighborhood. Where are we? Like I said, seven years into the future. But before we go out take one of these. What is it? It’s a disguise pill. I can still see you, you can see yourself in a mirror but the great thing is, others will see someone else. It’s like the time Clara and I went to the Church of the Silence to meet Mother Superious and we were both naked. Hum… Okay.
The Doctor and Hannah stepped out of the TARDIS to a bright sunny day in a nice and wealthy looking neighborhood. The Doctor pulls his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket points it into the air. What are you doing? I’m looking for directions. Once the screwdriver started beeping the Doctor gave it a look and said, this way!
They both walk up to a two story home. Nice house, wonder who lives here? Let’s see. The Doctor knocked a couple times. As the door opens Hannah recognizes the face… It was Clay Jensen. Hi, can I help you? Yes, I’m the Doctor and this is, hum, Emma. We were hoping you could help us find Hannah Barker. Well, sir… Hannah committed suicide six years ago… She couldn’t have. I’m afraid she did… Why do you need her? The Doctor still in shock, Emma spoke up, she was a childhood friend before I moved. Sorry I couldn’t help you. The Doctor shakes it off. We must be going, thanks for your help. As they both walk back to the TARDIS, the Doctor is trying to figure out why this is happening. Why didn’t the future change?
As they step back in the blue box the Doctor pulls out his screwdriver scans Hannah and plugs it into the console. Doctor, I’m sorry but there is no future for me. There has to be, I gotta find out why. Ding! Ding! It’s ready! As the Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver, he looks at the monitor to see the words he always disliked. Hannah heard him say them under his breath, what did you say? Fixed Point in Time… Hannah, I’m so, so sorry. It’s okay Doctor. You tried to help but with me gone the future will be so much brighter… How is that possible? You’ll see Doctor.
It’s time to take me back. With a flip of a switch the TARDIS is back in the same hallway where it appeared not even a second later. Before Hannah left the TARDIS she gave the Doctor a hug and told him everything will be okay. As Hannah stepped out the TARDIS started to fade away… The Doctor sitting at the console weeping wanting to know why, why will it be okay?
A week later the Doctor shows back up walks into a pharmacy store. Anything I can help you with? The Doctor looks up to see Mr. Baker behind the counter and just behind him a picture of Hannah. Just the news paper. Seventy five cents. Here’s a dollar, keep the change. As the Doctor walks out reading the headline, Bryce Walker, Life in Prison. As the Doctor read his paper at the park. He sees why Hannah had to take her own life. So people like Jessica Davis wouldn’t have to go through what her and Hannah experienced. And for people like Bryce Walker to never hurt anyone again.
After watching 13 Reasons Why I thought about what would the Doctor from Doctor Who do in that kind of storytelling. He would try to help in every way he knew how. So I came up with Doctor, Welcome To Your Tape. It took me a couple days to get the story where I wanted it to go but once I wrote it down I knew I had something. Over a couple weeks I hashed it out with help from Sometime Co-Host Mike, giving me advice and pointers. I wrote a couple different drafts but decided to keep my first draft as the story I want to share. I usually don’t write fan-fic, if you will… But I did. Enjoy.
It’s the Champs Vs. Pros finale, so we discuss vomiting, running, and of course the winners and losers of this mini-season. We also dive into the bizarre Challenge microgame promoting Universal Studios. We also do our first Classic Challenge Moment feature.
Scotland, because there’s more to the UK than London. 2nd Century AD, Aberdeen. Taking a trip in the past to prove each other wrong about an argument about the missing Roman Ninth Legion, the Doctor and Bill find more trouble than just settling a historical debate.
This week we discuss what may have been for a lot of us our introduction to RPGs, Dragon Warrior. Wes and Scott are both big fans of this franchise, and it all began with this classic original.
Don’t forget to keep up with the show and relive all the nostalgia by following us on Twitter (@duckgraveyard) and Facebook. Send us your memories or show suggestions at graveyardduckpodcast@gmail.com. And be sure to check out all of the great content from this show and other nerdy favorites at geeknerdery.com.
NASA, not rogue tweeting. We haven’t hit full dystopia. The Doctor and Bill and Nardole bust in on the Valkyrie launch to probe Martian ice caps. So you know you’re getting the Ice Warriors, because ice caps + Mars= this classic Who villain.
This episode was written by Mark Gatiss, who many Whovians tend to feel can be hit or miss when it comes to writing Who. I liked “The Unquiet Dead”, “The Lazarus Experiment”, “The Crimson Horror” (horrible moment of the Doctor towards Jenny aside), less loved “The Idiot’s Lantern” and some of the others. I don’t think he’s a bad writer, though, and his stories always have an interesting concept even if I might not always like them. What Gatiss does well, I think, is writes very contained episodes that often don’t have much impact to the overall story but often do come with some great moments of tension. They’re like those nights when you just want a box of mac and cheese but add a little gouda or Gruyere for some substance while knowing full when it’s still one-off comfort goo.
We love ourselves some movies around here but we also love us some video games. Below are trailers just released for some new games coming out of E3 2017. Here is what we’re excited for. What are you excited for?
With the morphinominal Power Rangers reboot movie hitting home video in just a couple weeks, I wanted to take the opportunity to reacquaint myself with the original theatrical outing of the multi-colored Teenagers With Attitudes so I popped in my DVD of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie.
Power Rangers The Movie was released in theaters in 1995 at the height of the Power Rangers popularity. The movie featured the second team featuring original rangers Tommy (White Ranger), Billy (Blue Ranger) and Kimberly (Pink Ranger) and new comers to the series after the departure of the original Red, Black and Yellow Rangers. Adam (Black Ranger), Aisha (Yellow Ranger) and Rocky (Red Ranger) take over for Zack, Trini and Jason respectively.
The film’s plot, so much as there really is one, centers around Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa’s search for a centuries old Hyperlock Chamber that serves as a prison for the villainous Ivan Ooze who was imprisoned six thousand years ago by Power Rangers Leader and disembodied floating head Zordon.
Zedd wants Ivan Ooze to destroy Zordon and thereby destroying the Power Rangers. The destruction of the Ranger’s Command Center leads them on a quest on a far away planet to find a new power centered on Ninjitsu and the Ninja Zords.
In the absence of the Rangers to stand in his way, Ooze over throws Rita and Zedd, enslaves the parents of Angel Grove using mystical slime and begins the search for his own giant robots that were hidden long ago beneath Angel Grove. Naturally the Rangers find their new powers and Zords, return to earth, destroy Oozes Ecto-Morphicon Titans and then Ooze himself, saving Angel Grove and all of humanity.
Sure, its a pretty basic story all together, but honestly, what did you expect from The Power Rangers, Hamlet-like dramatics? So lets dig into the particulars. First, lets get the bad out of the way.
This is the Power Rangers. Its full of annoying sound effects during the fight scenes. Bonks, Zings and Swooshes are all over the place here. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they had been used lightly to accent a few moments when they kind of belonged, especially when it is just the “Teens” themselves fighting before they morph. Once the team morphs, swish away all you like. It fits in those moments and would give a nice division between teen and ranger.
Also, lets talk about the elephant in the room. The CGI. Dear god, the CGI is bad and it takes up the majority of the last 20 minutes of the movie once the Rangers return to earth to fight Ooze and his robots. I mean, I knew that they wouldn’t go with a guy in a suit, but come on, this is just insulting, especially when Ooze enters into the Wasp Morphicon Titan and it morphs into a giant CGI Ivan Ooze, its just the stuff of nightmares, and not in the good way.
But despite all of that, there is plenty to love about the movie. And the biggest saving grace is Paul Freeman (Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Belloq) as the lead villain Ivan Ooze. I read an interview that Freeman had never even heard of the franchise before taking the role, that he just loved the fact that Ivan Ooze was a classic over the top, scene chewing, ham of a villain and unashamedly so. Whenever Freeman is on screen (and Oozes design is outstanding) it is such a joy to watch him over act in the best of ways. He creates something so memorable and fun to watch out of something that could have been so outstandingly awful.
The movie does maintain the tone of Power Rangers and ups the look and the budget, giving pretty much everything from the TV show a much needed face lift for its first “big” budget outing. The design team should be applauded for taking a bunch of people in latex tights and making them look and feel like warriors. The look especially shines in the villains overhaul. Lord Zedd, still one of my favorite villain costumes of all time, looks terrifying to a kid. Even his exposed brain pulses and moves.
However, weirdly enough, there is one decision that was made that just utterly confuses me. Instead of using Babboo and Squat, 2 henchmen from the show, the team consolidated the two into a single new character that is never seen again. A pig monster named Mordont. He works fine, and the costume is lovely, its just a decision that confuses.
But, I cant end this review without talking about one of the stand out duos to make have a true character arc. Of course, I am talking about Bulk and Skull.
Throughout the original few seasons, Bulk and Skull were the antagonists to the unmorphed team. Always played for laughs, the duo quickly became a fan favorite in the series and made a splash with their move to the big screen. They go from being one note bullies to heroes through the course of the movie all while still keeping what made them so like-able to begin with, being the series answer to the 3 Stooges. Their arc from Bully to Hero does continue through the shows following seasons.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie moves along at a brisk pace, maintains its sense of fun and urgency, has some highly entertaining performances but does suffer from the technology of the time. Does it hold up? Well, yes… Kind of. When it works, it clicks on all cylinders, but when it fails, it fails hard. If you took your kid to see the reboot, why not show them the original movie? They will probably love it and you will get a bit of a nostalgic high. At the end of the day, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie is worth your time.
Oh, and by the way, if you happen to be a retro gamer, checkout the SNES games attached to the movie, they are DAMN fun!
Well here is something I did NOT expect to see when I turned on my computer this evening. With E3 right around the corner and every major gaming company, developer and outlet clamoring for your attention, Atari is making waves with something so insanely cryptic it is driving gamers mad.
Yes, when I say Atari, I do mean Atari! The grandfather of home video game consoles whose name is synonymous with gaming legends and legendary failures, has announced a new product called “The Atari Box”, a gaming product that Atari themselves claims to have been years in the making.
Now, I can hear you saying, that this is probably just another plug and play legends console. Well, according to a prominent member on Atari Age forums, the go to source for all things Atari, he was approached by Atari to be a member of a focus group on the Atari Box and confirms that this is something wholly new to the gaming industry.
Really, that is absolutely all we know as of now. Not a whole lot to go on, but you have to admit, having a new system enter the market with the name Atari attached to it is nothing if not exciting for us gamers that were born with a joystick in our hands.
Atari did release a teaser video that really doesn’t show anything except for an animated fly over of a classic 2600 looking console. if you are interested and want to follow along with any announcements you can check out the Ataribox website. Of course we will continue to follow this interesting story and let you know all the latest info as it is released.
We see Lolo decide who to go against in the latest elimination, then see the whole crew play a game of memory and telephone. We say goodbye to some of our favorite Champs and Pros. We also say goodbye to an old cast member who is no longer with us.
In the third and last episode featuring the Silence x Beef Jerky-like Monks, lies and truth are a big theme and this episode makes no bones about being an allegory for our current “post-truth”/alternative facts political landscape. Where we last left off, Bill consented to the Monks to save the Doctor and they now reign over the Earth, using their alien technology to alter everyone’s memories so they think that the Monks were always there. After all, you can’t complain about things that have always been what they were. Anyone who remembers the truth is taken away, and Bill has been struggling for the past six months to hold onto her actual memories, anchored by the memory of her mother and separated from the Doctor. Until Nardole comes calling.
This past week the new Friday the 13th video game was released and from what I’ve seen of it, it looks great. Hopefully with the success of Friday the 13th another horror video game should make a return and I’m talking about A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Until that dream becomes a reality enjoy this AGDQ (2017) speed-run of an NES classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Since the early days of the SNES, when “Retro Gaming” was still in its infancy, retro gaming found a place in peoples consoles in the form re-releases of classic games like Pac-Man, Space Invaders and even up to the updating of Super Mario All Stars.
Now that game developers have had several generations to perfect the process of 3D graphics and game play, and we OG gamers are getting older and have plenty (ish) of disposable income, retro style games have found new life thanks to crowd funding platforms like Indie-GoGo.
The newest game to make waves to come from the crowd source scene is the Banjo-Kazooie clone, Yooka -Laylee, developed by a team of game designers that came from the glory days of N64 Rare. However, the reception was, shall we say, one that failed to live up to the legacy that preceded it.
Now, the team from one of my favorite YouTube channels Stop Skeletons From Fighting (previously the Happy Video Game Nerd) is taking a look at the rise and fall of the hugely popular platforming sub-genre, the Collect-O-Thon. Check out the video below.
This week we discuss a one of the most notoriously difficult games on the NES, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It’s been nearly 30 years that’s Scott’s been trying to beat this game. Did he finally do it? Listen and find out.
Don’t forget to keep up with the show and relive all the nostalgia by following us on Twitter (@duckgraveyard) and Facebook. Send us your memories or show suggestions at graveyardduckpodcast@gmail.com. And be sure to check out all of the great content from this show and other nerdy favorites at geeknerdery.com.
