Erik Pancakes

The crux of it, though, isn't that he's unlikeable - it's that you don't like him. Which is fine. But you keep arguing as if it's not physically possible for anyone to like him.

Which is clearly not the case, as I - and from what I can tell, the majority of Who fans - do like the Twelfth Doctor quite a bit. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that, as of now, he's my favorite Doctor of the revived series.

That's not to say you have to like him. It's fine that you don't. But to say that he's not a likable character at all seems wildly inaccurate at best when so many people do like him.

And I think the change is perfectly justified - he confronted his mortality for a millennium on Trenzalore as the Eleventh Doctor, fighting an endless war, knowing that he could do nothing to end the war except die. So he accepted that. Then, he was suddenly granted a whole new lease on life - an entire new set of regenerations. How is that not going to mess him up psychologically? He was ready to die, accepted it, and then it turns out, whoops! Nope! You get to live!

So this whole season is about Twelve thinking he didn't deserve a new lease on life. That he should have died on Trenzalore after spending a thousand years doing nothing but killing. Sure, he did it to save the lives of others, but that's the thing - that turned him into an ends-justify-the-means person. That's why he seems to not care about death - he's seen so much death at this point that it's a numbers game to him. Sacrifice one to save fifty. Sacrifice fifty to save a thousand. Sacrifice a thousand to save a million. The needs of the many and all that.

But now he's starting to see Clara change into this (in Flatline), and that, in my opinion, will be the beginning of his "softening."

I say once more - you may not like him this season, but at least give him a chance next season. I'm betting he'll be more "likeable" for you once he's dealt with his inner "did I deserve a new life?" demons.

Hartnell wasn't likable to me until somewhere in the middle of his second season (probably somewhere between him abandoning Susan on a mostly-destroyed planet and Ian and Barbara leaving). To me, he was an old, callous dick who thought he was better than everyone, and who intentionally got his companions into trouble just because he got bored. I honestly think Capaldi is more likable than season 1 Hartnell.

Blocked on copyright grounds already...

Wow. I can honestly say I don't get any of that from the Twelfth Doctor. I see a man who has to make hard choices all the time, and has let himself become hardened because of this. He doesn't like seeing people in pain or dying, but he doesn't allow himself the luxury of agonizing about it because it doesn't help anything. He's a very pragmatic Doctor.

I admit his treatment of soldiers this season is odd, but I attribute that to his distaste for war in general after spending a thousand years trapped fighting a seemingly never-ending war on Trenzalore...and that he sees himself in the soldiers he meets, and he hates that.

And the Doctor "just shows up to watch people die because he thinks it's funny?" What? He absolutely tries to save people, but when he knows they're beyond saving he moves on to the next thing that might be able to help the next person. Like I said, pragmatic.

I think Twelve will soften quite a bit by next season. As I've said before, they seem to be redoing Hartnell's arc - start off with a grumpy, distant, kind of scary old man that you're not sure if you want to be around, and slowly turn him into a lovable grandpa/mentor character. Which makes sense since he's the first Doctor of a new regenerative cycle, and Hartnell was the first First Doctor.

Anyway, I hope you can come to love Capaldi the way I do. He's not callous or cold, he's pragmatic and impatient, but keeps people at arm's length. Sooner rather than later, he'll grow more fond of people once again, and he'll stop being such a dick to everyone. (But I'll be sad when that happens, because I love how much of a dick he is to everyone. I think it's hilarious.)

Well, "Spirit in the Sky" was meant to be in the movie, but the scene it played over was cut. I think Gunn said it'd appear on the DVD/BR in the deleted scenes section.

Seconded that The X Files is required viewing for any ... well, for anybody, really. Personally, I recommend watching seasons 1-5, the first movie, and seasons 6-7 in that order. Even though the season isn't very good and Season 6 wrapped up the mytharc, Requiem is exactly how the show should have ended, and other S7 episodes offer closure for other lingering storylines that Season 6 didn't wrap up.

Season 8 is actually slightly better than Season 7, but it tries to start up a new, not-very-interesting mytharc, and Season 9 is just abysmal, leading to a clip-show series finale that sets up a movie ending we never got (and at this point, we probably won't ever get).

In other, non-X Files news, The Walking Dead is finally living up to its potential! If only Scott Gimple were hired as showrunner when Darabont was first fired, and not after we had to endure two seasons of Glen Mazzarra...

The color correction is a good start.

Is there a good theatrical subtitle formatting/timing reference for TPM? I'd love a theatrical-restoration TPM to have accurate burnt-in subtitles like Harmy's Despecialized releases do.

I've been slowly going through the post-ROTJ EU in chronological (story, not release) order lately. My only prior EU experience was the Thrawn trilogy, Darksaber (ew), and Splinter of the Mind's Eye. So far, here's what I like about the EU:

• The Thrawn Trilogy - can't wait until I get to re-read those!
• That Truce at Bakura introduced a new, non-Sith and non-Imperial threat in the Ssi-ruuk (even though the novel was still basically the heroes against the Empire)
• Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor because it was fucking awesome and loads of fun to read
• X-Wing: Rogue Squadron so far (about halfway through it)

HAL retained the chosen one subplot in the V2 releases. It's not much different than the way it was presented theatrically, it's just mentioned much less often.

I'm excited, cautiously optimistic, and I'll be there opening night, but if it sucks I'm done. My relationship with Star Wars after December 2015 depends entirely upon the quality of Episode VII. If it's better than the prequels, then awesome! That's all I ask for. If it's not, then I'll not bother with any new Star Wars content released after. Simple as that.

I need to rewatch Season 4 now that I know what the hell happens in it...there's got to be a chronological fan edit of it floating around somewhere, right?

I love those photos! If only Jo could return for a season...

I've gotta say, this Jamie Mathieson fellow has now penned two of my favorite episodes of Series 8 - Mummy on the Orient Express was great fun, and Flatline was just...awesome. And slightly terrifying. Looking forward to more from him in the future!

The trouble with 2008 Guardians (awesome though that series may be) is how tightly interwoven it is with the other Marvel Cosmic arcs. You can't really read Guardians without first reading Annihilation and its associated tie-ins, Annihilation: Conquest and its associated tie-ins, and then when Guardians actually starts, you have to read it as part of War of Kings, which happens to bring in X-Men stuff on top of the fallout from Annihilation: Conquest...

Here's the best reading order I can give you, using trade paperbacks:

Annihilation

1. Thanos: Redemption
2. Annihilation: Book 1 (includes Drax: Earthfall, Annihilation Prologue, and Annihilation: Nova)
3. Annihilation: Book 2 (includes Annihilation: Ronan, Annihilation: Super-Skrull, and Annihilation: Silver Surfer)
4. Annihilation: Book 3 (includes Annihilation and Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus)

Annihilation: Conquest

1. Annihilation: Conquest - Book 1 (includes Annihilation: Conquest Prologue, Annihilation: Conquest - Star-Lord, and Annihilation: Conquest - Quasar)
2. Nova vol. 1 - Annihilation: Conquest (Nova vol. 4 #1-7; note that#4-7 are also included in Conquest Book 2)
3. Annihilation: Conquest - Book 2 (includes Annihilation: Conquest - Wraith, Nova #4-7, and Annihilation: Conquest)
4. Nova vol. 2 - Knowhere (Nova vol. 4 #8-12 & Nova Annual #1 - NOTE: I recommend reading in this order: Annihilation: Conquest #1 and 2, then Nova #8-10 and Nova Annual, Annihilation: Conquest #3-5, Nova #11-12, and finally Annihilation: Conquest #6, in that order)
5. Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 1: Legacy (Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #1-6)

War of Kings

I'm sorry, but this is when things get confusing, as X-Men and Inhumans stuff rolls into the picture now...and this is also what Guardians is most tied in with. So hold onto your butts, it's gonna get a little bumpy:

1. Nova vol. 3 - Secret Invasion (Nova vol. 4 #13-18)
2. Secret Invasion: Inhumans
3. X-Men: Deadly Genesis
4. Uncanny X-Men: Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire
5. X-Men: Emperor Vulcan
6. Nova vol. 4: Nova Corps (Nova vol. 4 #19-22; but don't read issue #22 just yet!)
7. Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 2: War of Kings, Book 1 (Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #7-12)

Now's where it gets really complicated. Here are the relevant trade paperbacks for the rest of War of Kings:

• War of Kings (#1-6)
• Nova vol. 5: War of Kings (Nova vol. 4 #23-28)
• Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 3: War of Kings, Book 2 (Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #13-19)
• War of Kings: Warriors (includes War of Kings: Darkhawk; Ascension; Savage World of Skaar; and Warriors)

Problem is, these intertwine so much that you need an issue-by-issue breakdown for those four trade paperbacks, otherwise you'll be like me, slowly realizing that you're just re-reading the same big climax from everyone's perspective, and it doesn't build any more from there like you'd expect it to.

Realm of Kings

Thankfully, this one's much easier:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 4: Realm of Kings (Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2 #20-25)
2. Realm of Kings
3. Nova vol. 6: Realm of Kings (Nova vol. 4 #29-35)

And then they get even easier, because now they're just single event TPBs instead of a bunch of crazy War of Kings shit:

The Thanos Imperative

Annihilators

Annihilators: Earthfall

And then some shit went down between the Avengers and the X-Men, and some other stuff happened, and then Bendis took over the Guardians and I stopped reading. These are part of the whole "Marvel NOW!" thing, and as such they were meant to be a jumping-on point for new readers:

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 1: Cosmic Avengers

Nova vol. 1: Origin

Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2: Angela

Nova vol. 2: Rookie Season

Frankly, I wasn't a fan of Bendis' writing for the Guardians (especially Rocket), so I didn't keep up with those.

--EDIT--

I did just find this pared-down list that focuses on Guardians characters, but I think it'll be somewhat confusing, especially the further into things you get. But if you don't want to read EVERYTHING, you can try this:

1. Annihilation: Book 1 (Drax the Destroyer and Nova)
2. Annihilation: Book 3 (you can skip Heralds of Galactus)
3. Annihilation: Conquest - Book 1
4. Nova vol. 1 - Annihilation: Conquest
5. Annihilation: Conquest - Book 2 (you can skip Wraith and the Nova issues, which are also in Nova vol. 1)
6. Nova vol. 2: Knowhere
7. Guardians of the Galaxy Volumes 1-5 (issues #1-25)
8. The Thanos Imperative
9. Annihilators
10. Annihilators: Earthfall
11. Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel NOW! reboot)

There's no confirmation that they're going the Civil War route. Just that RDJ is in Cap 3. Even in the Variety article, the Civil War stuff is all just speculation.

Having said that, I think Civil War could make an interesting arc for the movies, but it would have to be drastically changed.

It's actually set 5 years before ANH, not 10.

Looks like fun, but it sadly looks like an on-rails shooter rather than an X-Wing or Rogue Squadron style flying game.

Well, I've been thoroughly enjoying season 2 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., far more than I enjoyed the first few episodes of season 1 (and I liked season 1 from the beginning).

I really like what they're doing with Simmons (and how she's gotten progressively better at lying and secret-keeping since the show began), and holy crap did Iain De Caestecker knock it out of the park this week in his scene with Ward.

And did anyone else get the feeling that the first two episodes of season 2 were meant to air as a 2-hour premiere, then ABC changed their minds and split them up? Because it really felt that way to me.

Oh, neat. Didn't know you could keep all the audio tracks and get tsmuxer to mux a working BDMV folder. I guess I never tried, though (and I have no need for the foreign audio tracks myself).

Remuxing the MKV to BD is easily doable (that's how I watch Star Wars v2.5 and Empire v2.0), but you'll need to cut down on the audio tracks, otherwise you won't be able to mux it into a usable BD folder. For me, I kept all the English-language tracks, the isolated score, and all the commentaries, dropping all the foreign audio as I don't have a need for it.

I used mkvmerge to make a new MKV with the audio and subtitle tracks I wanted, then fed the new MKV into tsmuxer to make my BDMV folder, and finally use imgburn to burn my BDMV folder to a BD-R. I don't know if you can bypass the mkvmerge step or not, I didn't try feeding the original MKV directly into tsmuxer.

I'm not 100% sure what show you're talking about, but we're talking about Marvel Studios' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. that began airing in 2013, which takes place in the same universe as the Iron Man/Thor/Captain America/Avengers movies.

The answer is buy the DVD or Blu-Ray. Any other way will lose you too much quality.

Go over to the technical discussion forum for info on ripping and converting, and you might want to join up over at fanedit.org for more technical help. There's a lot of guides between here and there about how to do everything you need to do.

I'd guess 1", and yeah, the telecine machine would probably have done the letterboxing as it wrote to the tape.

Again, my experience is with a telecine machine from ~1996, so I could be wrong and older ones (like what was used on the DC LD's) may have worked differently.

I'm not saying the file needs to be 50GB, or even terribly close to that. Make it as big as it needs to be in order to preserve the best possible quality. If that means making a 30GB file that has to be burned on a BD50, I'd rather have that than lose quality by compressing it further to fit on a BD25.

Yeah, that's how the mid-'90s telecine machine worked at my school. Never got to use the newer HD film scanner, though, so I don't know how that differs.

There was no pan and scan release. The "fullscreen" set had a pan and scan '04 SE, but the exact same letterboxed OUT "bonus" disc.