Its been an interesting week off work for me. I got terribly sunburnt at the beginning and have been suffering in agony ever since. I’ve watched the new s.Darko (Donnie Darko 2) film, and we had Torchwood: Children of Earth all week too on BBC 1. And I went to a Donkey Sanctuary.
So, s.Darko….
It was an interesting film. It did justice to the time travelling elements of Donnie Darko, and stuck to the rules set out in Roberta Sparrow’s Book. However, there were quite a few things that bothered me about it. Most of the scenes were composed of shots of the two girls wearing skimpy dresses and plodding around barefooted in an attempt to allure the, straight, male members of the audience. We didn’t have Jake Gyllenhaal running around topless and sweaty for most of the scenes in the original did we? So that was an unnecessary element, especially to grab an audience. A film like this should be all about plot, character and visuals, not a reason to flaunt sexy people! I also felt the character of Iraq Jack was very poorly developed, his purpose needed to be given more depth and a back story would have been nice. The disease that the nerdy kid got, supposedly from the meteorite, wasn’t explained at all, and the weird lights that fell from the sky, exploded on the ground and left no visible mark were also an unexplained addition and a terrible disappointment.
Overall, a nice attempt at a ‘continuation’ of the Donnie Darko universe, but unfortunately it just didn’t match up to my expectations. In my eyes it was an straight-to-dvd teen film which used time travel, flashy sequences of a disfigured metal rabbit head and the word ‘Darko’ to sell itself in the trailer, but after that, it was just another straight-to-dvd teen angst film with relatively unknown actors taking there first steps to making it big, apart from, of course, the lovely Ed Westwick 
So, Torchwood: Children of Earth….
OH MY GOD. A-MAAAAAAAAZING! Never has British Sci-Fi been so cut-throat, so dark, so realistic and so dramatic in its set up, its delivery and its climax. I was continually on the edge of my seat and counting down the next 23 hours until it was back on after each episode. The fact that we got to know bugger all about who the 456 were or even where they came from, apart from the fact that they were three-headed Extra-Terrestrial Junkies, didn’t even matter because the show was carried more by the journey, the rise and in some cases the demise of the human characters. That’s what I truly enjoy about Torchwood, its the human aspect that really keeps the storylines flowing, the aliens are secondary. Doctor Who is always, Doctor takes on Aliens and Saves the Day, but Torchwood is Humans living under the constant threat of alien invasion and how their lives unfold with this threat hanging over them ad how they deal with it. Don’t get me wrong, I love Doctor Who but Torchwood is on a different level to it now after this five-parter. If you haven’t watched go to iPlayer NOW or Buy it on DVD, you won’t be disappointed!
In other unrelated news, I’ve been spending a lot of time alone at home, and it’s been starting to bother me a lot, I start to unconsciously make verbal noises to keep myself company, and even start wandering around the house aimlessly as if to look for someone to talk to, and I don’t know I’m doing it, though I can see I’m doing it, if that makes sense. I don’t know if this is something I should talk to someone about…surely I should be able to spend a few nights alone in a house without going mad?
Back to work tomorrow, booo!! But going to LFCC ’09 on Saturday
The rest of the week has been pretty uneventful, but I have been listening to FrankMusik‘s debut album all week, it is absolutely brilliant, it moves the heart whilst moving the body in a trance/rave/electronica/pop blend of sounds and beats. ‘Gotta Boyfriend’ and ‘Your Boy’ are two of my absolute favourites. Check him out, NOW!!
Yesterday I saw Bill Bailey on stage!! Absolutely brilliant. Although me and my friend agree that since his first few sets, he has grown considerably more bitter about the world. The fuzzy warm Klingon of Devon has become the political lemon-faced troll, but he does a damn good job with that theremin, and I don’t think anyone else could get away with drawing a swastika on a tenori-on. He’s a brilliant performance artist, I use that term rather than comedian, because although he is a lyrical genius with jokes, he also delivers some amazing musical performances as well a general on-stage banter with hecklers, and can also be quite informative as well with some of his chosen subject matters, such as Barnacles or Iranian instruments. Lets hope he keeps going for many years to come!
