My Haul – DC Comics, Disney and Star Wars

Just yesterday I posted that I would be doing more Haul posts if I bought an interesting selection of stuff. Well today I bought an interesting selection of stuff that includes things from DC Comics, Disney and Star Wars.

First up, The Lego Batman Movie on DVD. I love DC Comics and I love Lego so of course I liked this film and of course I was going to buy it on DVD. In Tesco I found that they are selling it with a free Lego mini set that includes a mini figure of the Joker who I don’t already have a mini figure of.

Next I found this Justice League t-shirt that has both the Flash and Wonder Woman on it! How could I possibly refuse buying a tee that has my two favourite DC characters on it? This is also extra exciting for me as it is usually really hard to find Wonder Woman included on men’s tees.

Another of today’s finds was the Tsum Tsum of Hank from Finding Dory. He was reduced to just £1.99 and I found that grumpy face too funny to resist. Hank is the 3^rd character from Finding Nemo/Dory that I have a Tsum Tsum of. I previously bought Squirt and Bruce.

Finally I bought a Chewbacca Itty Bitty. Itty Bitty’s are still pretty hard to find in the UK, however my collection is increasingly growing. Chewie is the first Star Wars character in my collection. My Itty Bitty collection now includes Star Wars, Disney, Marvel and DC characters.

Back from Uni

So it’s now a week since I came back home from Uni for the Summer Break. Compared to my average week at uni this past week has been rather quiet for me.

One of the most noticeable things that a changed in this past week is the weather. I don’t entirely mind this. Just before I left my uni city it was getting a little bit too hot. I usually think I’m pretty good in the heat however I don’t think anyone is very good when it’s that type of heat that just doesn’t cool down and all the buildings keep holding in the heat. But this sudden spell of bad weather began more or less as soon as I returned home. If this lasts for another couple of weeks I am sure I will be fed up of it but for now it’s a welcome change.

I live in a small town and go to uni in a reasonably large city. There’s quite a contrast between the two of them for me. Generally things are much quieter for me in my small town. I know my summer break is going to be much quieter than my time at uni has been but that’s just what I expect. I grew up in a small town and so this is what I have known for most of my life. When I first went to uni I noticed (and still notice) that there’s a definite contrast between those of us who are from small town backgrounds and those who are from big cities. There’s various things such as how people from small towns tend to be more forgiving when a bus is running a little late because we grew up having to put up with really unreliable bus services!

However I’ve been trying to keep busy over the past week or so. I’m back into sewing again, which is a hobby I tend not to do as much when I’m at uni. I’ve also been having to do a lot of unpacking, I know I’m a collector but I still find it amazing just how much stuff I have! There’s also been general stuff around the house that needs sorting out from how things were when I left them at spring break so that has all been taking up a significant chunk of my past week.

I will keep running this blog throughout summer break. Obviously my weekly Doctor Who reviews will be coming to an end this Saturday however I plan to watch some Classic Doctor Who over the summer and so I might review a few stories. As I live in a small town I won’t be able to keep doing my Saturday shops so My Haul posts will not be up anywhere near as regularly, however I hope to do a few hauls when I go out shopping. I have several new doll rooms planned and it’s likely that I am going to write a post about how I make them when I get around to making them. Also as I mentioned in my post about finishing second year I will be writing about going out to Canada.

Even if it is a quiet summer I know that at the end of it my year of Study Abroad in Canada begins! In some ways it’s good to have a calm and familiar summer before the excitement of what is undoubtedly going to be the biggest adventure of my life so far.

Doctor Who - World Enough and Time Review

I really hope that Bill survives.

This post will have some spoilers, if you wanted to watch this episode completely fresh then read the review after you’ve seen it.

I think Bill Potts has probably been the most universally popular companion since Rose Tyler, surely they can’t kill her off. Pearl Mackie once again shone in this episode and Bill has been an incredibly likeable character. After they’ve done pretty well on showing her sexuality and yet still making Bill feel like a well-rounded character it would be massively frustrating and problematic if Doctor Who fell into the tired trope of killing off the lesbian.

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like Missy. In my review from last week I talked about how I was a bit unconvinced by the Missy redemption arc from this series. She wasn’t as irritating as she has been previously this week and some of her one-liners actually got a little chuckle from me. I’m still not sure if she’s actually going to get her redemption – I possibly suspect that she might sacrifice herself during next week’s epic battle.  

The Cybermen are back. In my opinion the Cybermen can be some of the scariest Doctor Who monsters around, however so often they’re not very well written which has led to lots of mediocre Cybermen stories over the years. This episode certainly gave us some very sinister, eerie and tense moments. It also showed just enough but left enough to the imagination which is always a good tactic for making things scary.

Bringing back the original Mondasian Cybermen as they first appeared back in 1966’s The Tenth Planet was an interesting idea however it could have been little more than fan service. I think it remains to be seen with next week’s episode if it was more than just fan service. However I am not really sure if we needed to see another origin story for the Cybermen. 2006’s Age of Steel did a good job at modernising the origin of the Cybermen in what is in my opinion one of the best stories from that series. The Big Finish audio drama Spare Parts already told an emotionally moving origin story for the Mondasian Cybermen. Also that line about the ‘genesis of the Cybermen’ just felt far too self-indulgent.

The Master is also back this week. I am not a fan of John Simm as the Master, in my opinion 2007’s The Sound of Drums and 2009’s The End Of Time are two of the very worse stories from the entire 10^th Doctor era. So as you might imagine I was very disappointed when I found out that the Master was back. Despite most of the promotion for this week making it seem like the Master was going to be a very significant part of this week’s episode he actually wasn’t in it very much. However that reveal at the end of the episode felt exactly like something out of the 3^rd Doctor era.

Overall I feel that this episode was mainly focused on setting up part two next week. There were definitely some moments during the middle which felt like the plot was sagging slightly. I suppose it would have been too much to cram into a single episode however I think this week parts of the story were stretched a little bit too thin.

I both eagerly await next week’s episode to find out what happens next but at the same time I don’t want to see what has overall been a good series of Doctor Who come to an end!

Please don’t kill off Bill!

Doctor Who - The Eaters of Light Review

I’m honestly not really sure what I think of this episode which makes it a bit of a difficult one to review!

The Doctor, Bill and Nardole arrive in Scotland to find what happened to the missing Ninth Legion and of course there’s a monster on the loose which is why the Ninth Legion vanished. This series has given us a couple of historical episodes which is good to see again because historical episodes might not have the spectacle of space episodes but they can be just as interesting. The monster this week was spoken about more than we saw it. I think this was a wise choice as the glimpses we saw of it were not that scary but when it’s just spoken about as something that’s lurking in the shadows it suddenly becomes a much more interesting creature.

Bill was great once again. I think I’ve said this every week but week after week Bill has been one of the strongest parts of each episodes. Her academic curiosity kick-started this week’s adventure, the scene where she figured out how the TARDIS translates other languages was fun, and she showed just how competent she can be when she took charge of the Ninth legion. Once again this week her sexuality was referenced. I like the way it keeps being brought up every few episodes because it reminds us that it is an important part of who she is but at the same time it does not define her.

I like how the Doctor and Bill brought the Romans and the Picts together in order to start to resolve this week’s conflict. Communication is important in resolving issues and getting on with saving the world. I think possibly this episode had some of the strongest supporting characters that we’ve seen this series. The Ninth Legion for example actually felt like they were well rounded characters rather than just stereotypes of roman soldiers, though I struggled to believe that they were meant to be 18 and younger. However whilst I liked the part with the Picts and the Romans coming together I’m really not that impressed with the conclusion to this week’s episode. I understand what they were aiming for but to me it just felt rushed and left the episode on a somewhat unsatisfying note.

Also the part with Missy at the end just felt weird and tacked on at the end unnecessarily. This whole arc about Missy potentially reforming is just a bit weird because even if she does reform are we seriously meant to believe that the Master – one of the most persistent Doctor Who villains – has become good for good?

I think overall The Eaters of Light was a likeable episode with some good moments. However I honestly don’t think it was that strong an episode and I don’t think it was that memorable. I liked it but it could have been just a bit better.

My Haul – Wonder Woman and Star Wars

Second Year of uni has come to an end and I decided to do one last haul post of my Saturday shop to round out this academic year.

I bought this grey polka dot fabric. I like it because it’s got a bit of a retro vibe to it. I’m sure what I’m going to do with it, however I have been stocking up on fabric recently to use for various projects other the course of summer break.

Poundworld currently have these models of Star Wars ships. They’re really well made and absolutely great value for just a pound. This time I bought Rey’s Speeder because I have to buy Rey in each Star Wars things I get! And I also got the Millennium Falcon because of course any collection of Star Wars ships has to have the Millennium Falcon in it!

Finally it’s Wonder Woman! This doll is Wonder Woman from the new movie which I really liked, let’s be honest it was just a matter of time before I bought one of the movie Wonder Woman dolls. She’s a well-made and really nicely detailed doll – this particular Wonder Woman is ‘Battle Ready’ according to her box and I think she definitely looks ready to go off and be badass. For some reason my Toys R Us had 20% off everything in store today so that was an unexpected bonus when I took her to the till.

I do already have the DCSuperhero Girls Wonder Woman however this one is noticeably different. Also how fabulous are her boots! 

Second Year is Very Nearly Over

My Second Year of university has nearly come to an end. For my Third Year I’m going to be studying abroad in Canada.

This year has flown by, I know that is something of a cliché but it really is true. University years just go by so quickly. It doesn’t feel like it’s been 9 months since I was writing about starting this blog and writing about how I have friends now. Although at the same time when I think back to things I was doing in the first few weeks of first semester that all feels really long ago now! I’ve managed to do a lot of stuff this year. It’s strange how it can be both feel as if it has passed in an instant and like I’ve been here for ages.

I definitely have more friends than I did in first year and I have managed to do more socialising this year. Comparing first year and second year it really is obvious that I have gotten better at making and keeping friends. I’ve also got better at actually doing stuff with my friends, it’s difficult sometimes to get everyone’s schedules to sync up but it can definitely be worth the effort. I’m still a bit awkward with making friends and keeping in touch but I think I’m getting much better. Though I still can’t figure out if I’m an outgoing introvert or a social awkward extrovert!

I think this year my sense of independence has also really developed. It started to develop during first year but it’s even stronger now. Now if I want to do something then I will just do it, even if I have to do it alone. I don’t have a problem with doing stuff on my own. At the end of the day it’s more important to do something that you want to do than not doing because of someone else.

It always disappoints me how things just sort of fade out into the long break at the end of the academic year. I suppose because everyone finishes at different times and then everyone heads home at different times it’s hard to have a complete finish to the academic year or the individual semesters. However that doesn’t stop the way it so often gradually ends and fades away being disappointing.

This really is the end of an era for me as when summer beak comes to its conclusion I won’t be heading back to my usual university, I will be heading to Canada! Obviously I am very excited about my year abroad. For the most part I think I’m more excited than nervous which I guess is a good thing. I’m going to write a few posts over the summer about what I’m looking forward to and how I’m feeling about studying abroad so I won’t go too in depth with that here. However it is weird knowing that in Autumn 2018 when I return to university in England things will be massively different - most of the cohort that I started university with will have graduated!

Second year has generally been a positive experience for me. There’s been some parts that have been bad, hard or difficult but on the whole I think it’s been a good year for me.

Doctor Who – Empress of Mars Review

Empress of Mars is one of the most Doctor Who-ish episodes of Doctor Who.

That opening sequence with the Doctor, Bill and Nardole wandering around NASA just felt like the perfect Doctor Who opening sequence. Right from the start of this episode I felt like I knew what I was in for and I really enjoyed it. Colonial Victorian soldiers fighting the militaristic Ice Warriors on Mars was a set up that could have fallen flat however I think it worked. The episode had the conversation that Mars is the Ice Warriors planet and the humans were the invaders in that situation. Empress of Mars pulled off an action packed episode that revelled in sci-fi fun and also had moral conversations.

If you read my post anticipating Series 10 you might remember that I was rather excited by the return of the Ice Warriors. They are definitely one of my all-time favourite Doctor Who monsters and I wasn’t disappointed by them. Empress of Mars actually marks the first time on screen that the Ice Warriors have actually been on Mars and it worked really well as a setting for them. This series was a little light on proper monsters for the first few weeks but a big Ice Warrior story with them en masse has certainly satisfied my wanting a proper monster story. However the Ice Warriors in this episode were not just another monster. They had an understandable motive which made them a compelling, interesting and redeemable threat. I liked the Empress of Mars herself, Iraxxa as a character. I thought the adapted design of the traditional Ice Warrior armour worked very well for her. Iraxxa was interesting because in some ways she was just another villain interested in destruction but she was also willing to negotiate and give peace a chance, something that we don’t usually see from the average Doctor Who monster.

This episode had a lot that felt familiar from previous Doctor Who stories, not in a stealing stuff sort of way but more an affection fan pleasing tribute to Doctor Who’s legacy. The Ice Warriors are obviously classic monsters and they’re arguably amongst the most iconic Doctor Who monsters of all time. The clash between humans and reptilian monsters based on ideologies reminded me of previous Silurian stories, particularly 1970’s The Silurians and 2010’s Cold Blood. The Ice Warrior tomb was fairly reminiscent of a certain tomb from 1967’s The Tomb of The Cybermen. At the very end of the episode we saw a glimpse of Alpha Centauri from the Peladon stories during the 3^rd Doctor era. Appropriately enough the Ice Warriors actually appeared in both The Curse of Peladon and The Monster of Peladon. This was definitely an episode crammed full of references to make a fan of classic Doctor Who smile.

I think this was a strong episode for Peter Capaldi. This episode combined the fun side of the Doctor with the man who has seen war and the hero who saves everyone. That’s the Doctor I want to see, that’s the Doctor I grew up believing in. I have previously said that the 12^th Doctor doesn’t always feel like he wants to be the Doctor or like he enjoys having adventures and saving people, however this was certainly an episode were he felt like the Doctor. There were moments in Capaldi’s performance that felt reminiscent of Matt Smith and Tom Baker.

My main disappointment with this episode was the Bill didn’t get as much to do as she has done in previous episodes. Given how she reacted in Thin Ice I feel that Bill should have had stronger opinions on the colonialist ideas of the Victorian soldiers. This was the first episode that I’ve felt like Bill’s potential was wasted. However as always Pearl Mackie absolutely shined with another excellent performance. Bill was definitely once again a highlight of the episode however she should have had more to do.

And what was up with Missy asking the Doctor if something is wrong at the very end of the episode? Something to do with the finale, I think.

In conclusion, the eagerly awaited return of the Ice Warriors did not disappoint me. Empress of Mars was a Doctor Who episode full of fan pleasing moments, monsters and an enjoyable story. I think it’s one of my favourites this series.

And if you’re wondering, of course the Doctor’s Frozen reference made me laugh!

Doctor Who – The Lie of The Land Review

The Doctor and Bill take on fake news in this week’s episode (sort of).

This week’s episode concluded the recent run of stories regarding the mysterious Monks that were first introduced back in Extremis. The Monks have managed to take over everything after the conclusion of The Pyramid at the End of the World. In The Lie of the Land the Monks haven’t just taken over the world, they’ve always been there.

The Doctor and Bill were obviously going to be fighting back, but I was confused why the episode said that the monks had been there for six months before they fought back. Was there meant to be some significance to that which I missed? I find it a little hard to believe that it would have taken the Doctor so long to finally put his plan of resistance into action without there being some big secret reason. Previously when an enemy has actually succeeded in taking over the world there’s usually been some reason as to why it takes time to fight back, such as when Martha Jones had to inspire a belief in the Doctor in 2007’s The Last of The Timelords.

Aside from my issue with the timing of this story I think this was a solid conclusion to the Monks trilogy. I will be glad to see the return of stand-alone stories next week but this episode felt like a good way to round out this mini-arc. We saw the full realisation of the Monks plan before the Doctor, Bill and Nardole defeated them. There was clearly a bit of sub-text regarding the real world trend of fake news in the way that the Monks had controlled everyone to see the Monks as having always been there. I like Doctor Who stories that echo contemporary issues, it’s something that Doctor Who has a long tradition of doing such as in 1973’s The Green Death. (Side note, if you’ve not seen The Green Death you really should it is one of the very best classic Doctor Who stories).

The Monks have been an interesting opponent. It’s been quite interesting to see what is ultimately just another ‘take over the world’ monster having such an usual strategy which we’ve seen misdirecting us and unfolding over several weeks. I can’t help feeling like there’s still quite a few unanswered questions about them so I wonder if possibly they’re not quite finished and the TARDIS team might have a rematch with them in a future episode.

Once more Bill Potts steals the show. I think I’ve said this every single week but honestly I just can’t praise Pearl Mackie’s performance enough. Bill really is becoming one of the all-time greatest companions, right up there with Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith. I liked the narration from Bill throughout the episode when she was speaking to her mother and it made the final resolution feel very satisfying. The ending with Bill’s mother actually reminded me of when Clara Oswald defeated an evil alien sun 2013’s The Rings of Akhaten, which in my opinion was one of Clara’s finest moments. One thing that is starting to worry me with Bill is that this is two weeks running where she’s been willing to sacrifice herself to save the world, I really hope this is not foreshadowing for the season finale because I don’t want her to just be a one series companion. On a separate but related note, please can they hurry up and release Bill’s action figure already!

In conclusion, The Lie of the Land was a satisfying conclusion to the Monks trilogy and Bill Potts was once again the star of the episode. And next week isss the return of the Ice Warriorssss which I have been eagerly awaiting!

My Haul – Ooooo, new things for my collections!

It’s time for another haul post. This week there’s a Disney plushie, doll stuff and an action figure. A fairly common selection of stuff for me!

I went in Disney Store and was like ‘Oooo’! They had the plushies of the aliens from Toy Story reduced to just £5! I bought a larger one of these back in 2012 when I went to Disneyland Paris for the very first time, he’s been cuddled a lot over the years and is now looking a little worse for wear so I decided to take advantage of the offer and buy a new one!

I got a few things to go with my doll collection today. In Tiger I bought a pineapple print deck chair which Supergirl is sat in! I bought another Barbie fashion pack, I actually got this one in a previous haul but I wanted the blue shoes for Ariel. She’s also ended up taking the bag, the bangle and the necklace!

I'd been looking for that particular variant for a while and he’s started to become increasingly rare. Of course I then found him reduced in Sainsbury’s, I have really good luck in the toy aisle at Sainsbury’s! He’s now my fourth Marvel character in this collection so it looks like my Avengers are assembling! I also like that these figures are roughly in scale with the DC Superhero Girls dolls for Marvel and DC crossovers.

So that’s my haul for the week.Not the biggest selection of stuff but I thought it was an interesting assortment.

Wonder Woman Review

You’ve probably gathered by now that I think Wonder Woman is awesome. One of the very first posts on this blog was about the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman TV Series! So it’s probably not a surprise that I went into seeing Wonder Woman with high excitement but also with quite a lot of apprehension.

Wonder Woman is the origin story movie for Wonder Woman. Given this is the first ever Wonder Woman movie it makes sense that they chose to tell the story of Steve Trevor crashing on Themyscira and Diana Prince leaving with him to go out into the outside world and become Wonder Woman.

In my opinion this movie got Diana’s character spot on. She’s one of the toughest most badass superheroes around but also one of her greatest strengths is her compassion. The final battle perfectly showed both sides of the character. Definitely during her fight scenes Diana is the strong and brave warrior princess. But many times throughout the movie we see the desire to save people from Diana that becomes a big part of why she becomes a superhero. Her compassion and love is one of her strengths in the comics and it’s also one of her strengths in the movie. One thing that’s always potentially risky when doing the Wonder Woman origin story is how far to go with showing her discovering new things after leaving Themyscira. On the one hand it’s only natural that she should be surprised by the social and technological changes in the outside world but on the other hand if it gets pushed too far then Diana can seem infantilised and unintelligent. I think this movie got just the right balance. She is surprised by things but that never gets in the way of her competence.

Diana wasn’t the only strong character in this movie, part of how Wonder Woman works so well as a movie is the strong cast of supporting characters. Steve Trevor was actually pretty competent in this movie which is a significant change from the 70s TV Series, I don’t mind this as he’s played by Chris Pine who I had a massive crush on back in 2013. Etta Candy was a fun character to watch who had some very enjoyable scenes with Diana. The Amazonians and the soldiers that Diana befriends whilst fighting in the war were also well developed believable characters. This is undoubtably Wonder Woman’s movie but I think it was a stronger movie because of the supporting characters.

This movie chose to set this story during World War One which is not a time period that we usually see Wonder Woman in but it definitely proved to be an effective setting. The setting of World War One was partially so effective because of the way that the movie portrayed war. It certainly did not glorify war and in some emotional scenes showed the human cost of war. I’ve noticed that increasingly it’s becoming a trend for superhero movies and TV shows to place the emotional story on par with the action. I’m all for this sort of emotional storytelling becoming a part of superhero narratives.

This is a more or less completely standalone movie. I know that superhero movies are often criticised for being overly reliant on other films and shared universes, Wonder Woman breaks that as a movie that can definitely stand on its own. Whilst you’ll probably get more out of this movie if you’re already familiar with the character there’s no prior knowledge required. Literally the only reference to any other movies in the DC Cinematic Universe is a little scene at the end where Diana is emailing Bruce Wayne.

Whilst DC is often criticised for being humourless (clearly people who say that didn’t go and see The Lego Batman Movie!) Wonder Woman has some great one liners in it which actually genuinely made me laugh out loud in the cinema. I am a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see the Invisible Jet but it probably would have felt out of place in the movie. Hopefully in a future DC movie we can get to see Diana flying to the rescue in the Invisible Jet.

In conclusion I loved Wonder Woman. This was exactly the movie that the character needed and deserved. I mentioned in my review of the Lois Lane Novels that DC is good at portraying their female characters. Wonder Woman just further proves that DC are good at giving us female heroes. I loved this movie and I’m looking forward to seeing the Batgirl movie that is currently in development.