At The Movies with Bryan, the Wannabe Filmmaker

Patrick Troughton is my favorite Doctor, yet even he can’t salvage the mess that is The Two Doctors. It’s extremely depressing to think that this rather ugly serial would be Troughton’s swan song as the Doctor.   To add insult to injury, Troughton’s Doctor is given little do it and is completely useless.   The story gets off to a promising start, with The Second Doctor and Jamie in the TARDIS, getting ready to board a space station to see a scientist, Dastari.   There is even a nice stylistic choice by beginning the episode in black and white, to pay homage to Troughton’s tenure as the Doctor, and then gradually changing over into color.   It’s fun to see Troughton and Frazer Hines interact with each other, and these opening scenes are probably the best moments in the entire story. Sadly, once they board the space station things take a turn for the worst.  The Colin Baker Era (seasons 22 and 23) is widely criticized, justifiably so, for the terrible writing and The Two Do

The rapid advances in technology have made it so that practically anyone can make a movie; editing software is readily available and digital camcorders are fairly cheap.   A young, passionate filmmaker can even bypass a distributor and just upload his movie on YouTube, on the hope that it will get views.   Of course, more often than not the movie in question is extremely horrendous, which brings me to the Devil Seed.      I have my own theory about the movie’s origins:   One night, director/writer, Greg A. Sager had a double feature of The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby. After the viewing was over, Sager had an epiphany, “What would happen if I combined The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby? It would be TWICE the scares!” He then high fived himself for this brilliant idea and began working on the script. When he realized the time and effort it took to write a screenplay, he simply photocopied the script to The Exorcist, and penciled in his own ideas; the heroine went from being

1 )        Percy Potts, The Lost World (1925) Percy Potts is arguably the GREATEST CHARACTER IN MOVIE HISTORY! He is the wimpy stork clerk who successfully melts the icy heart of Gladys (the would be fiancée of the movie’s protagonist, Edward Malone).  It is Gladys that actually sets the plot in motion by telling Edward that she cannot marry until he has looked death in the eye. While Edward and company are risking their lives in South America, Gladys changes her mind and falls head over heels in love with the nebbish Percy.  Edward, rather than being angered by this, is relieved – for he has fallen in love with the angelic Paula White. He wishes the two love birds good luck and is on his way. What the movie could be about: Percy’s courtship of the lovely, but distant Gladys.  Percy will, at first, be extremely timid around Gladys, but eventually he works up the courage and asks her out on a date. Gladys, impressed by this “act of bravery,” agrees and, rather unexpectedly