Review: DOCTOR WHO S8E06, THE CARETAKER (Or, The Doctor Goes Undercover)

Posted: 27 Sep 2014 07:00 PM PDT

Now this is much more like it. "The Caretaker" is a considered and nuanced episode of Doctor Who that still manages to be great fun. It handles the complex relationships and emotions that are driving the show rather deftly, and it's delightfully light on its feet as it dances between the more playful and more serious tones that are being put forward in Series 8.The plot finds the Doctor going undercover, as the titular caretaker, at Clara's school after we see a montage of their recent adventures and how they've interfered with her blossoming new romance (some of these adventures sound fun, but they're probably the sort of thing that wouldn't sustain an episode). The scenario is rather perfect for comedic shenanigans because Clara's trying...

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Fantastic Fest 2014 Review: WASTE LAND, For This Detective, To Brood Is To Live

Posted: 27 Sep 2014 08:01 AM PDT

Diffusion is the name of the game in Waste Land, a brooding police procedural from Belgium that depends more on its pervasive ambience than plot twists. Actually, it's probably a disserve to describe the newest film by writer/director Pieter Van Hees (Left Bank) as a procedural, because that implies a set order of events -- a murder, an investigation, a neat resolution -- and, too often, little more. Certainly, Waste Land includes those expected elements, but it's far less interested in the game than the players, primarily homicide detective Leo Woeste (Jeremy Renier). Judging by outward appearances, Leo has it all: a respected position in the police force, as well as a supportive marriage mate in Katrien (Natali Broods) and a bright and healthy young...

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