Doctor Who & The Man Who Fell to Earth

April 13th, 2009 6:48pm by rusty-halo | 6 Comments »

I’m so out of it today. I was up until 3am last night watching The Man Who Fell to Earth, and before that I was at my friend Eva’s birthday party at V-Spot, where they had unlimited mimosas for $10. Me and my friend Anne’s boyfriend Nemo were competing who could get their per-mimosa cost lowest; I got to $2.50 (four drinks), he got to $1.66 (six drinks), but he cheated because he was sneakily sharing his with Anne. Then we went back to Anne and Nemo’s place to hang out in the back yard and eat cake and drink more mimosas. Basically there was a lot of drinking. And cake!

SuperVegan got linked from the NY Times City Blog. It’s always cool when that happens.

On Saturday I cooked enough to last (hopefully) the whole week: rice and beans, maple-cinnamon cream of wheat, scrambled tofu, vegetable uppama (an Indian dish from that weird Vegan Cooking for One book). I was going to make this really good Asian noodle dish with coconut milk, but I forgot to buy fresh ginger.

We had a long Writercon phone meeting on Saturday night, and then around 11pm I remembered that there was a new Doctor Who episode. Oh yeah, that.

So I watched it and it was fine, a perfectly entertaining piece of fluff, basically. I guess I’m a little sad because there was nothing new in it; it’s like they just took ingredients from pre-existing episodes and remixed them. It’s probably a good thing that RTD is ending his involvement soon; I think he’s right that it’s time to go, based on the fact that he’s repeating himself and doesn’t seem to have much new to say.

David Tennant was wonderful as usual. I’m always happy to see him as the Tenth Doctor. I liked his “You totally shouldn’t steal, but, well, I did steal my TARDIS…” One of my favorite aspects of the Doctor is that he’s a hero in terms of doing what he can to help people, but he’s not rigidly moralistic in the traditional superhero way.

I’m still weirded out/annoyed by Ten’s “I travel alone” thing. I predict that this will be resolved before he regenerates by some kind of encounter with one or more of his previous companions in which he’s reminded that, oh yeah, overall they’re good for him and he’s good for them. Or he could just watch seasons one through four again, as it’s pretty much the recurring theme….

I really wanted to like the companion. I like that she was different from RTD’s previous companions, that she was morally ambiguous and ultra-confident. I did quite like that she took charge of the group and that the Doctor went along with her as leader. But she’s such a stock archetype with nothing new added–I really didn’t feel that she was a person at all, just a Lara Croft clone. And the acting was competent but not brilliant. I’d blame the fact that she only had a single episode, but Catherine Tate broke my heart and made me adore Donna in one episode, so it’s not that. The character just wasn’t developed enough, and the actress couldn’t make up for it. On the plus side, the actress is beautiful. I would love to watch her in a more complex role.

I’m going to guess that the four knocks means the Master? Please mean the Master… (*crosses fingers*)

My mom has started Checkmate. I’m skimming along so that I can answer her questions as she goes. I’m really glad I got her the book of translations–I think Checkmate is the hardest to understand without them. I’m really excited that she’s nearing the end and that we’ll be able to discuss the entire series soon. I like Checkmate a lot better in retrospect, based on how excited I am to get to talk about all the passages that she’s reading. Really the only book in the series that doesn’t inspire joy is The Ringed Castle–it’s definitely my least favorite overall. Although even it is growing on me over time, as they all seem to.

Oh yeah, and I watched The Man Who Fell to Earth last night. I liked it! Which is weird because I didn’t expect to like it at all. It’s strange and surreal and definitely has a lot of annoying aspects (the awful female characters for one) but it’s also eerie and atmospheric and very interesting. And, okay, David Bowie is just so pretty to look at throughout. So, so, so pretty.

I’m at the height of a total Bowie obsession right now, which is fun for however long it’ll last. I’ve been listening to the same section of the Ziggy Stardust soundtrack over and over, the part that goes:

• Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud/All the Young Dudes/Oh! You Pretty Things
• Moonage Daydream
• Space Oddity
• My Death

It’s just basically perfect. Bowie’s vocals throughout, Ronson’s guitar solo in “Moonage Daydream,” my favorite version of “Space Oddity” ever (it’s really eerie and gothic), and the completely riveting and beautiful “My Death.”

Apparently “Changes” is supposed to be in there between “Moonage Daydream” and “Space Oddity,” but in the recording I have, it comes later. I’m kind of glad, because I don’t like it as much–it’s unfortunately such a well-known song that it’s lost its impact for me, and I tend to zone out whenever I hear it. (I think this segment is a good example of why–it’s become background music.) I do want to get the more accurate, remastered version of this concert though–the mix is supposed to be a lot better.

Anyway, so I’ll probably keep The Man Who Fell to Earth a few more days and watch it again, since I was half-drunk and half-asleep when I watched it yesterday. (Which is probably a good state to watch a movie like that in anyway, since it’s so meandering and impressionistic and weird.) A couple of things I really like: David Bowie’s hair is fantastically awesome in both cut and color. And when he smiles… well, see what Google image search pulled up! Also he’s naked. A lot. And there’s bondage and hurt/comfort and sex play with guns and, by the way, it turns out his character is some kind of amphibious alien thing… no wonder this is a cult classic.

But, Bowie. Just the whole look he has going on here is amazing. He’s so stylized and beautiful and strange. I can’t think of any human being better suited to play an alien.

I thought his acting was fine. Good, even. He came across as very alien, disconnected, and lost, and there was never any moment where I thought he was trying too hard (which is one of those bad acting things that always kills my immersion in a film). Actually, I think what probably makes this a cult classic, more even than all the weird sex (there are several extended Rip Torn sex scenes, btw; THE FAST FORWARD BUTTON IS YOUR FRIEND) is how well it captures the feeling of social isolation. Bowie was really great at this–the way his character would have trouble looking people in the eye when speaking to them, the way he didn’t understand that he was supposed to shake hands, the way he would try to reach out and communicate with his girlfriend in kind of strange, sideways ways that usually wouldn’t work out. Just… if you’re one of those people who feels like an outsider in the world, watching his character in this movie is like, yes, that’s how it feels! The overall sense of the film was one of loneliness and isolation and ended up being very sad and, to my surprise, moving.

Oh, and actually, the (inadvertently) weirdest part of the whole thing: the characters age, but it stays the 1970s. I realize the filmmakers couldn’t actually travel forward in time, but in retrospect, it feels like a period piece, trapped in this eternal 1970s time bubble. It’s fascinating.

I’m not actually saying it’s a good movie, erm, just to be clear. But it’s very interesting to watch despite its flaws. I need to watch it again and think about it some more.

Current Mood: weird