Doctor Who The Day of the Doctor 50th Anniversary Poster

THe Day of the Doctor

Matt Smith is Leaving “Doctor Who”

Christmas special to be his final episode.

(from crunchyroll.com)

Amanda Rush

June 02, 2013 12:35am

It’s been a long road for Matt Smith, but this Christmas that road, which, as he puts it, leads to Trenzalore, is at an end.

 

 

Here’s what the BBC had to say about it:

 

The BBC is today announcing that Matt Smith is to leave Doctor Who after four incredible years on the hit BBC One show. Matt first stepped into the TARDIS in 2010 and will leave the role at the end of this year after starring in the unmissable 50th Anniversary in November and regenerating in the Christmas special. During his time as the Doctor, Matt has reached over 30 million unique UK viewers and his incarnation has seen the show go truly global. He was also the first actor to be nominated for a BAFTA in the role.

 

Matt quickly won over fans to be voted Best Actor by Readers of Doctor Who Magazine for the 2010 season. He also received a nod for his first series at the National Television Awards, before winning the Most Popular Male Drama Performance award in 2012.

 

Matt has played one of the biggest roles in TV with over 77 million fans in the UK, USA and Australia alone!

 

Having starred alongside three different companions, Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill) and most recently Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), Matt’s Doctor has fought Daleks and Cybermen, as well as Weeping Angels in New York. Regularly heard shouting ‘run’ and ‘Geronimo’, through Matt’s Doctor fans have been introduced to a new culinary combination – fish fingers and custard!

 

Matt’s spectacular exit is yet to be revealed and will be kept tightly under wraps. He will return to BBC One screens in the unmissable 50th anniversary episode on Saturday 23rd November 2013 – TUNE IN!

 

 

Matt also had a statement:

 

“Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show. I’m incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realise all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.

 

Having Steven Moffat as show runner write such varied, funny, mind bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career. It’s been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he’s a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.

 

The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other; they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show (and speculate more about the future of the show) in a way that I’ve never seen before, your dedication is truly remarkable. Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation of the Time Lord, number Eleven, who I might add is not done yet, I’m back for the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special!

 

It’s been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with ‘the ginger, the nose and the impossible one’. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls. Thank you guys. Matt.”

 

 

And from Steven Moffat:

 

“Every day, on every episode, in every set of rushes, Matt Smith surprised me: the way he’d turn a line, or spin on his heels, or make something funny, or out of nowhere make me cry, I just never knew what was coming next. The Doctor can be clown and hero, often at the same time, and Matt rose to both challenges magnificently. And even better than that, given the pressures of this extraordinary show, he is one of the nicest and hardest-working people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Whatever we threw at him – sometimes literally – his behaviour was always worthy of the Doctor.

 

But great actors always know when it’s time for the curtain call, so this Christmas prepare for your hearts to break, as we say goodbye to number Eleven. Thank you Matt – bow ties were never cooler.

 

Of course, this isn’t the end of the story, because now the search begins. Somewhere out there right now – all unknowing, just going about their business – is someone who’s about to become the Doctor. A life is going to change, and Doctor Who will be born all over again! After 50 years, that’s still so exciting!”

 

 

Get your speculation ready! Who will be the next Doctor? Will he be a ginger? Will he be a she? What does this mean for Clara? And what is going to happen in Trenzalore?

 

Special Effects Legend Ray Harryhausen Passes Away

FX artist was renowned for his stop-motion work in feature films

Joseph Luster

May 07, 2013

(from crunchyroll.com)

If you enjoy special effects in film, no matter the genre, take a moment out of today to tip your hat to the great Ray Harryhausen. The effects legend—who pioneered the practice and was known for his bold use of stop-motion in films ranging from It Came from Beneath the Sea toJason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, and much more—has passed away at the age of 92.

 

Harryhausen’s passing was announced by his family via Facebook, citing the long-standing influence the artist had over the history of Hollywood, with recent quotes and tributes from many famous filmmakers. He certainly had a spirited and storied run, and it’s one that the film industry would be very different without.

 

Whether you feel like reminiscing, or need an introduction to some of what made Harryhausen special, here’s a look at some of the colossal creatures he brought to life:

Long live Dynamation.

EA Signs Exclusive Deal with Disney to Make “Star Wars” Games

Dev teams such as DICE and Visceral to work on new games

Joseph Luster

May 06, 2013

(from crunchyroll.com)

The next major play after Disney’s acquisition of the Star Wars franchise has been revealed. Following the recent closure of Lucasarts, the Walt Disney Company officially signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Electronic Arts to develop and publish games based on Star Wars.

 

A press release was issued to announce the agreement, but not too many details have been divulged at this point. EA Labels President Frank Gibeau followed up with a post over at EA’s site, shedding a little bit of light on the developers we can expect to see handling the franchise.

 

While we don’t have any details to share today on specific titles, our development teams are already brimming with design ideas. The EA Studios that will develop these games are some of the most innovative and popular creative teams in the world, and include DICE and Visceral, in addition to the BioWare team, which is already developing for the Star Wars franchise. These imaginative teams will make games that may borrow from films, but the games will be entirely original with all new stories. Powering it all will be the Frostbite 3 development engine – guaranteeing incredible graphic fidelity, environments and characters.

 

EA’s publishing deal covers all interactive platforms and “most popular game genres.” A dollar amount for the agreement wasn’t publicized, but one would imagine it ranged anywhere between “a whole lot of money” to “seriously, a ton of money.”

Bringing the Game to Life

There are many Role-Playing Games (RPGs) out there that demand our attention. Now, I may not know all the good and new ones, but a few have popped out in the past few years that I found very interesting and addicting.

First, there is Star Wars: The Old Republic. This game was a highly anticipated mass multiplayer RPG that was released in December 2011.  The game was announced free-to-play in November 2012, but with many restrictions. A player can choose to play as either Republic or Empire, and one of four classes in each faction as well as a multitude of species. And to top it all off, you can even choose your alignment (light-side or dark-side) Although there are eight classes in all, each class has an “evil twin”, so to speak. The Republic classes Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, and Trooper, match with the Empire classes Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Imperial Officer, and Bounty Hunter, respectively. The abilities and roles in the game are all similar except in name and action display. The stories for each of the eight classes, however, are different. Each story has three chapters as well as unique companion stories. Of all the stories, I think the most interesting are the Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter, and Jedi Knight. If you want to know why, play for yourself and find out.

The next RPG is not really considered role-playing, but it is very close and has an amazing story. Almost every action you do in this game affects the ending and you never know which action that is until it is too late. This thought-provoking and emotional game is called Heavy Rain. Released in February 2010, this game was made by the French developer Quantic Dream. The player follows four main characters who are all investigating the town for a serial killer called the Origami Killer. Each character has their own reasons for chasing this murderer, but their main goal is to save the next victim of the Killer, a young boy. Of all the individual stories, the most heart-warming is that of Ethan Mars, whom we begin playing as and the father of the victim. As mentioned before, most of the actions done in this game affect the ending. If a certain section of the story is failed or the player does not complete a certain task, the game continues on.

One of the oldest RPG games I remember playing (that was actually good) was Fable, played on the first generation Xbox. I was surprised to see that Fable was frequently voted one of the worst games of the decade, seeing as it was voted one of the best the year it was released (2004). The player starts the game as a simple farm boy. Your first quest of the game is to get a box of chocolates for your sister’s birthday. But your life changes when your village is attacked and burned down by bandits. You are transported to safety at an academy called the Heroes’ Guild and from there, the farm boy learns to become a hero. Because this game was one of the first big RPGs of the decade, the actions you decide in the game do not influence what happens at the end. But you do have to work for your new abilities, armor, and strength. There were two sequels made for this game, but neither of them seemed as good as the first Fable.

What I love about RPGs is that they are always (and must be) accompanied by a story. As you play, it almost seems as if you yourself were in that game because you worked for your abilities and your choices influenced future events. For me, that’s what makes these games so addicting: you are basically living through a game.

2nd Anniversary of “See the Silence” Day

I hope all the Whovians out there celebrated “See the Silence” Day. I sure did.  I walked around with marks all over my arms and a lot of people looked at me like I was crazy.  It was a pretty fun day. 🙂  If you didn’t know or forgot, save this date for next year.

 

Doctor Who The Rings of Akhaten

Doctor Who?

In six days the wait is over.  Saturday March 30th save the date!