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S. Darko : A Donnie Darko Tale, a review by KinkyCyborg

S. Darko : A Donnie Darko Tale



Title:S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale
Year: 2009
Director: Chris Fisher
Rating: PG-13
Length: 103 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Daveigh Chase
Briana Evigan
James Lafferty
Ed Westwick
Walter Platz

Plot:
Daveigh Chase (Donnie Darko, The Ring) stars in the riveting follow-up to the smash cult hit Donnie Darko! Co-starring Ed Westwick (TV's Gossip Girl) and Briana Evigan (Step Up 2: The Streets), this edgy and intriguing psychological thriller takes you through the wormhole into a world where time means nothing and the end is near!

Seven years after her brother's death, Samantha Darko (Chase) is on the run...from her shattered home, from her bizarre past, and even from herself past. But when she and her friend Corey (Evigan) are stranded in a desert town, they witness a meteorite crash that fractures time...and begins a countdown to the end of the world. Now Sam must rely on the frightening visions that plague her dreams to overcome her own dark destiny and set time back on course before everything she knows is destroyed!

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned


I was not a huge fan of the original Donnie Darko despite its near cult status. In fact my favorite part of the movie is the haunting song that plays during the final moments leading into the credits, Mad World by Gary Jules. It's also featured during the trailer for The Crazies (remake).

So needless to say I was correct in assuming that I wouldn't care much for this follow up film with a no-name cast. Just way too bizarre for me. It's like a cross between Groundhog Day and Deep Impact with a bit of The Abyss thrown in for good measure only S. Darko has none of the redeeming qualities of any of those films. Don't get me wrong, I'll give a movie kudos for being different and off the beaten track but it has to at least make some sense which this one doesn't. This tries to cash in on the success of the original Darko film by employing some strategic name dropping. 'My brother Donnie' was mentioned as was Roberta Sparrow, the woman who wrote the time travel book. Even the grisly rabbit head makes an appearance but it's all so contrived and meaningless in terms of the story.

Three major things bothered me about this movie. First all the town folk are so casually indifferent to a nasty string of tragic events unfolding among them. Never once did I spot an expression of concern. Second, a menace who was abducting people and killing them, including a small boy, has their identity strongly hinted at, but it's never confirmed before the film ends. Duh...  Lastly the meteor storm that is supposed to be the end of all things is pathetically lame as each meteor strikes the earth with a massive explosion and then POOF, up and vanishes like a fart in the wind... no massive hole in the ground, not a blade of grass disturbed. BOOO! HISSS! 

Fingers crossed that this is the last entry to this strange story.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on July 9th, 2011)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, a review by Jimmy

Title: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)

Genre: Horror
Director: Tobe Hooper
Rating: NR
Length: 1h41
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1:78.1
Audio: English
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish

Stars:
Dennis Hopper
Caroline Williams
Jim Siedow
Bill Moseley
Bill Johnson

Plot:God I hate that film, worst thing to appear in that franchise (I bet even the remake in 3D released this year is better than that). Bad acting even Dennis Hopper is crappy in that... but it was made at the time of his drinking problem so at least he had a reason to suck that much. Over acting after over acting. Tobe Hooper should be ashamed to have turn his great movie as a joke. Awfull waste of time, but considering it was produce by Golam-Globus this isn't really a surprise (common they are the guys who had destroyed Superman and Death Wish).

Avoid like the plague unless you are a completist like me.

Rating :

(From Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon on October 15th, 2013)

The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon, a review by DJ Doena

What's the show about?
It's the third show in the Whoniverse (after Doctor Who and Torchwood). In the UK Doctor Who itself is aimed at (older) children ("The story and the monsters for the kids, the Doctor for the mums and the companion for the dads" as the saying goes) but The Sarah Jane Adventures is aimed at young children (and those who stayed young ). Sarah Jane used to be a companion to the Third and Fourth Doctor in the 70s and she had a few adventures with the Tenth Doctor. Now she has adventures of her own with her adopted son and his friends and the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor visited her on her own show.

"Invasion of the Bane"
The kids of the neighbourhood start to notice that something weird is going on in Miss Smith's backyard because she's visited by what looks like fairies. Sarah Jane - she is a newspaper reporter by day - on the other hand investigates a factory that gives away free soft drinks to all the children that visit the factory. When she discovers that there's a young boy who appears to have been created in that factory, she knows that something otherworldly is going on.

My Opinion
I enjoyed the show. It took existing aliens from the Whoniverse and adapted them for the show (e.g. where the Doctor has to deal with adult Slitheen, Sarah Jane gets to deal with their offspring). But it also invented their own races and told stories about them.


Sadly the show came to an end when Elisabeth Sladen died from cancer a few years ago.



(From The One Where It All Began: The Pilot Marathon on April 4th, 2013)