On Doctor Who at 60 Years, Disney Plus’ Desire to Restart the Numbering System and Beyond

As much as I’d love to see Doctor Who last forever, it’s living on borrowed time.

Doctor Who at 60 YearsAs much as I love BBC’s Doctor Who, to distinguish between their time and what Disney Branded Television announced may well be troubling for anyone maintaining online episode guides. According to Dark Horizons‘ report over last weekend, the season count is being reset! And honestly, after catching David Tennant’s return and departure in the three anniversary specials, that’ll be the end for me.

Although I sense this announcement is more of a method to make the “acquisition of broadcast rights” more distinguished, there may be other reasons for the change. It’s about how their handling can be recognised in the eyes of many. What they’re doing is no less confusing than how LEGO Ninjago‘s seasons are represented. Series One to Ten are known as Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu (also known as the WILFilm years) and eleven on up is simply Ninjago (aka Wildbrain). The latest, which is sixteen, is Ninjago: Dragons Rising (also handled by this new studio). If there’s a rename to the British series because Disney wants to, I’m going to be furious!

When the two broadcasters made a deal to deliver Doctor Who to a worldwide audience rather than stay “in the country,” I’m sure the house of the mouse had some requirements. Although reports say the BBC has creative control, I suspect not every detail in the contract got revealed a year ago. I’m sure many coins from Disney’s golden vaults will get offered to influence how Doctor Who will now look!

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Celebrating 100 Years Of Warner Bros. and Defying the Odds. Broadcast Guide and Filling in the Gaps

There’s a lot of information packed into 100 Years of Warner Bros. documentary, and ultimately, one might want the book to read afterwards.

100 Years Of Warner Bros.Warner Bros. is celebrating a huge milestone, and in the documentary 100 Years of Warner Bros., everything we want to know about their early days is covered! The first episode is the best of the four-part series and the host of this trip through memory lane is Morgan Freeman. After it’s run on HBO Max, it’s now more widely available. In Canada, we can view the series on HOLLYWOOD SUITE as each episode is released each weekend this month!

Not only do we learn about this studio’s humble beginnings through the eyes of many performers and filmmakers, but also discover what brothers Harry, Albert, Sam, and Jack’s goals were. Not all of them had a true love for cinema versus wanting to be the king in a place formerly known as Hollywood Hills. To set up shop there meant knowing what America likes to see at the Nickelodeons and having access to talents who will no doubt put them in the public eye, like Errol Flynn.

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Top Genre Picks at the 2023 Chicago Critics Film Festival!

There’s lots to see at this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival, and we offer our list of what must be seen during this year’s event!

Chicago Critics Film Festival LogoMusic Box Theatre
Chicago, IL
May 5-11, 2023

The Chicago Critics Film Festival offers a selection of well-loved and upcoming works that will no doubt amaze. What’s offered to showcases the best of the best. Not only is this event recognizing the art of cinema and film criticism, but also they celebrate milestones too! For example, The Right Stuff is getting an anniversary screening!

What I present here are my top picks. Reviews will be posted in the coming days of some of these. And for more information, please follow the CFCA and the festival on Twitter at @chicagocritics or Facebook.

A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE movie poster

A DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE

Anyone who has wondered why a certain Star Wars Holiday Special was made way back when it will get some answers in this documentary by Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak. There’s no advance spoilers to mention here, as I’m just as curious as to who is truly responsible. It did set a tradition for the entire canon though, and Life Day is hugely celebrated in this galaxy far, far, away.

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Camosun Comic Arts Festival 2023 Post Event Report

Only 20 seats are available in the one-year certificate program which leads up to graduating and presenting their final project at the Camosun Comic Arts Festival. They’re all talented individuals!

Camosun Comic Arts Festival 2023 PosterThe start of this decade was off to a rocky start for anyone who loves their pop culture and comic book style conventions. That’s because the health scare had some events cancelled or stopped altogether. Thankfully the Camosun Comic Arts Festival persevered. It returned in 2022, and I attended; however, there wasn’t much to report since it’s tough to resume with all engines running after a pandemic and what I have to say would be no different from past coverage.

The 2023 event is this program’s 10th Anniversary! Not only did it change to the Wilna Thomas Center, but also it was put into one room. As a result, it stopped being like a comic book convention. Gone are the massive dealer’s room, a schedule of guest lectures and the “drawing room.” What was offered yesterday is how a Comic Arts Festival should run; it’s about discovering new talents and learning about where they want to take their works to.

Legends Comics shop co-owner and Perogy Cat illustrator, Gareth Gaudin, who is now the head of this program, said he wanted to bring this event back to its roots–to celebrate the sequential art medium–and have people together in one space rather than spread out. That way, attendees can meet all the talents under one roof. This organiser wasn’t given a budget. If he was offered one, Gaudin most likely would have gone all out to recognise 10 glorious years, but that’s another story.

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LEGO Jurassic Park and Where to Find those Dinos

There’s new toy sets coming for this extension to the LEGO Jurassic Park brand.

LEGO Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Sets - All box artAlthough the LEGO Group revealed five new playsets as part of the 30th anniversary of the original Jurassic Park movie a while ago, what’s next in other media fronts remains unknown. Instead of reporting this news right away, I was hoping for additional news about the LEGO Jurassic Park license before saying anything, but alas nothing has been announced.

I’m a huge fan of the animated series which is a follow up of the original trilogy and every month or so, I binge watch the silliness that goes on. This particular licensed IP debuted in 2015 as a video game from TT Fusion, and I just chuckle at the thought of LEGO dinosaurs tearing brick buildings up during their rampage.

In the meantime, I’ll be eying the following playsets that will be available to purchase on June 1, 2023.

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