Steven Moffat Casts Doubt On Peter Capaldi Being The 12th Doctor With Regeneration Comments

Originally published on PopWrapped.  13 October 2013.

Peter Capaldi might not be the 12th Doctor after all. Whovians have been issued a challenge byshowrunner Steven Moffat who is claiming we have all miscounted the Doctor’s regenerations.

“I think you should go back to your DVDs and count correctly this time,” Moffat said. “There’s something you’ve all missed.”

But in typical Moffat fashion he was mum on any details. It sounds like he’s referring to one of two things: either the Doctor has used more regenerations than we all thought or the Time Lord was granted a new regeneration cycle similar to the Master (read about that here). Either would be important news because Moffat also confirmed that the Doctor “can only regenerate 12 times.”

Really the problem comes with defining the process of “regeneration.” Usually this means the Doctor changes his whole being and we get a new actor stepping into the TARDIS. But if we defined the term more technically, perhaps David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor used up a regeneration in The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End after being shot by a Dalek. That again, would make Capaldi coming in as the Thirteenth Doctor.

This all gets very complicated when we throw in John Hurt’s dark Doctor. Could he be counted as a regeneration? If so, that would make Peter Capaldi’s upcoming Doctor the last at number 13 instead of number 12. Or if John Hurt does indeed fall between the Eighth Doctor and the Ninth Doctor, maybe this was when a new regeneration cycle was granted somehow.

Whatever the case, Fifth Doctor Peter Davidson stated earlier this month that he believes Moffat has a plan in place to avoid the 12-regeneration limit.

“I know people are worried about it, but I think there will be a way around that rule,” Davison said. “I know that Steven has put in the groundwork already in an episode so that there can be more.”

This really results in more questions than answers but it does give us Whovians hope that our favorite mad man in a box will be sticking around for many regenerations to come.

Peter Capaldi Is Searching For His Doctor Look According To Steve Moffat

Originally published on PopWrapped.  13 October 2013.

We have had the bow tie and fez. We have had the Converse and pinstripe suit and before that, the leather jacket. To say the Doctor’s clothes are important is an understatement; they’re iconic. So what will Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor wardrobe look like?

Showrunner Steven Moffat doesn’t know but he trusts the Scottish actor to decide for himself. “He was texting me ‘I’m out with [the wardrobe stylist] at the moment, it’s going quite well’ and some descriptions of clothes I did not understand,” Moffat said. “I’ll just let them get on with it and it’ll be ‘yes’ or ‘no’ at the end.”

Back in August Moffat spoke more about the Doctor’s wardrobe, saying again that he thinks it’s important for the actor to ultimately choose. “We’ve discussed costume in the lightest terms, but with Matt Smith I discovered myself to be inept at costume discussions, so I tend to step away from that. I think it’s really important that the actor chooses what makes him feel like the Doctor, which is what Matt did in the end.”

He’s referring here to Smith deciding on the Doctor’s bow tie, an accessory Moffat had initially nixed.

As the oldest actor to take on the Time Lord role since the series rebooted in 2005, Capaldi may have a few additional clothing options available to him. What Culture put together a list of 10 suggested styles, including a knitted sweater and scarf, a simple suit or period costume. I love them all.

Whatever Capaldi chooses, it will set him apart from his predecessors and give Whovian cosplayers one more option.

Take A Trip “Down The Rabbit Hole” With Once Upon A Time In Wonderland

Originally published on PopWrapped.  10 October 2013.

Greetings my fellows Wonders! (Or whatever Once Upon a Time in Wonderland fans are calling themselves. OUAT fans are Oncers so just a suggestion.) Now that the spinoff has finally premiered it’s time to see if it lived up the hype. Let’s take a trip to Wonderland…

We open on an abandoned tea party. A hole suddenly bursts from the ground and a little girl in blue and white dress climbs out of it. She looks around happily and with a sigh of delight says, “Home.”

She tears off running over the hills and through the woods before arriving at a manor home yelling for her father. He opens the door, looking stunned to say the least. See Alice was gone a very long time and her dear Papa thought she was dead. While she’s more interested in telling him all about where she’s been and what’s she done, he’s more concerned that little Alice has gone to the crazy place. In fact, he starts having a talk with a doctor about her mental health, but Alice, who overhears, is determined to prove she’s not a liar.

Flash forward to present day (ish). We pan in to a familiar clock tower. Hello Storybrooke. A young man (Michael Socha) strides through town and is nearly run over by a Yellow Volkswagen Bug. Then he bumps into Grumpy and Ella who are leaving Granny’s Diner. The man pickpockets the door keys and lets himself in to have a cup of coffee while he waits. The diner vibrates and a hole explodes in the floor (this seems to be a theme on this show). The White Rabbit (voiced by John Lithgow) pops out and helpfully identifies the man as The Knave of Hearts. The Knave isn’t sure what to make of the Rabbit’s appearance or his insistence that  “We’re not late for something. We’re late for someone.” That being Alice, of course. The Knave puts on his unconvinced face for the first, but certainly not last time in this episode.

We jump to a gritty asylum where grown up Alice (Sophie Lowe) is being interrogated by a panel of doctors including the one from when she was a young girl. He’s summarizing Alice’s “miraculous, strange and terrifying adventures” in Wonderland: food and drink that changes your height, smoking caterpillars, talking rabbits and such. Turns out little Alice made multiple journeys to Wonderland, each one making her father more and more concerned. He finally broke down and asked Bald Doctor for help.

First Look: Funnyman Chris O’Dowd Makes His Moves On Natalie Portman In Thor: The Dark World

Originally published on PopWrapped.  9 October 2013.

Every day we get one step closer to seeing Thor: The Dark World on the big screen and every day we seem to learn something new about Marvel’s upcoming film. Case in point: pictures of the IT Crowd’s Chris O’Dowd in his cameo scene.

The British funnyman, who is also known for his work on Girls and in This is 40, plays Richard inThor 2, a man out on a date with Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster in the scenes pictured.

They are apparently interrupted or at least joined by Darcy (Kat Dennings), which is probably a bit awkward. Even more uncomfortable? Based on what I’ve seen in the trailer it looks like this may be about the time that a certain gorgeous demi-god reappears on Earth. Guess we’ll have to wait until November 8^th (or October 30^th if you’re in the UK) to find out.

O’Dowd, who is primarily known for his turns in more comedic films and TV, said back in March to IndieWire that he was not interested in doing action movies because he doesn’t think he can keep a straight face. Marvel is definitely an exception to that as he revealed in that same interview.

“Actually, you know what I’ve done, just for fun because I didn’t think there was any way that I could be in a superhero movie, so I’ve done a scene in the new Thor movie, just for that,” O’Dowd said at the time. “I just do like one scene, which was quite fun.”

Check out a few more pictures below:

Photo courtesy of Marvel via Digital Spy

Photo courtesy of Marvel via Digital Spy

TV RECAP: ‘Once Upon a Time’ – Ep. 302: ‘Lost Girl’

Originally published on The Flickcast.  8 October 2013.

Well Oncers, this was an episode with a lot of things I cannot stand (Snow and Charming’s gushy optimism) but also some things that I absolutely adore (Rumbelle and Hook’s everything). Read on and let me know what you thought.

We start with Rumple building himself a cozy campfire using his magic. Then he makes quick work of hacking off his shadow using his Dark One dagger. Once his shadow is loose, he gives it his dagger to hide from everyone including himself but mostly Pan.

While Rumple continues on his own, the Storybrooke 5 are tromping through the brush. Regina again establishes her place as the most objective and snarkiest of the lot. “You know, I could’ve just poofed us up here in an instant.” So true Evil Queen, but Hook insists it is safer to travel on foot. Safe from the poisoned thorns that Charming really wants to cut through? Guess they can just take the long way ‘round.

Emma and Snow have an awkward talk about the fact that Emma still calls her mom “Mary Margaret.” Snow suggests “Mom,” Once audiences suggest “Snow,” but Emma thinks the former should be saved for life or death situations and the former for never. So Mary Margaret it is then?

We again hear about Peter Pan’s wickedness from Hook, who says he’s the most treacherous villain. The company comes to a cliff (maybe the same one as Henry from last episode) and stare at the Dark Forest below. Time to make camp and head for the forest tomorrow.

Now we get our first Fairytale flashback in season three. Charming has just kissed Snow awake from her poisoned slumber and the Queen is peeved. Snow tries to drum up an army among villagers with little success, especially after Regina comes along to threaten everyone. She also offers a deal: Snow gives up the throne and the land and she can go with Charming (and the Dwarves) back to the faux prince’s farm. “You may have been a princess but you will never be a Queen,” Regina says.

Future’s Honestly Teaming Up With Miley Cyrus And Nicki Minaj

Originally published on PopWrapped.  6 October 2013.

There is no escaping Miley Cyrus. On top of her performances at the VMA’s and on Saturday Night Live, she is now teaming with rapper Future for his upcoming album, Honest.

Future and Cyrus joined together with Mr. Hudson for the track “Real and True.” Cyrus and Hudson sing to each other on the hook before Future closes with some harmonizing. Future and the female pop star also teamed up for the song “My Darlin’” on Cyrus’ Bangerz album. Both “Real and True” and “We Can’t Stop” from Bangerz are produced by Mike WiLL Made It.

“I worked with Miley Cyrus when we were working on her project, for her album,” Future said. “I was doing some records in Vegas and Mr. Hudson sent a hook back he did on a Mike WiLL track. He played it for Miley and she wanted to be a part of it, so I’m putting the record on my album also.”

The rapper also pairs with Nicki Minaj, this time for “Rock Star Life.” This is the latest in a string of collaborations between the two. Speaking about the Young Money rapper, Future said simply, “Nicki Minaj is dope.”

Honest, which was scheduled for release on November 26th, has been delayed until December.

Accio Clothes! Daniel Radcliffe Talks About His Numerous Nudes Scenes

Originally published on PopWrapped.  5 October 2013.

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is all grown up and he has the R-rated scenes to prove it. Audiences have gotten to see a bit more of Radcliffe both on stage and in his latest three films than anyone would have anticipated from the former headliner of a children’s film series.

In a recent appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show, Ellen teased Radcliffe, “You do take your clothes off a lot. In a lot of things.”

The 24-year-old actor clarified that he strips down for his roles, not just randomly in public. However Ellen is right. Appearing next in Kill Your Darlings as poet Allen Ginsberg, Radcliffe has yet another nude scene. He is also sans clothes in the upcoming Horns and The F Word. Back in 2008, while he was still filming in the Potter series, he had caused quite a stir when he took the lead role in the stage production Equus, which included full frontal nudity.

Radcliffe did jokingly express concern that people will start thinking he’s an exhibitionist but also is grateful for the quality of the projects he has gotten to work on. “People have given me the opportunity to work on really interesting things and get better. Getting to work on this material was hugely freeing,” he said in The Independent last month.

Moving forward though it sounds like it might be Accio Clothes! for Radcliffe. He talked about his nude scenes when discussing another film, A Young Doctor’s Notebook (which premiered on Sky Atlantic in the UK earlier this year), saying, “I think there was a discussion about possible nudity for one scene and I think my comment was, ‘I got naked in three films last year, please can I not?’”

He does however share a bathtub with Jon Hamm in the movie but said, “We don’t (get naked) in this series, much to everyone’s disappointment.”

Watch Ellen teasing Daniel on his Katy Perry crush below: