Donnie Darko

Viewed – 19 December 2016

Theatrical Cut

For a while there, around the time of this movie’s release the as yet unknown Jake Gyllenhaal was the poster boy for a generation of disaffected teens. Now regarded as a cult movie, this decidedly anti-teen drama still strikes a cord, with it’s dream-like atmosphere and obvious Lynchian stylings. Gyllenhaal plays troubled school kid Donnie who suffers from depression, has a past linked to burning a house down and seemingly can’t relate to the world around him. He also happens to have an imaginary friend called Frank, a guy dressed up in a rabbit costume. Following a freak accident where an aircraft engine falls out of the sky and through the roof of his bedroom, Donnie tries to piece together various clues supposedly leading to the end of the world.

A blend of styles, from sci-fi, Twilight Zone and high school angst to David Lynch-like urban paranoia – makes for a decidedly unique experience topped off with an unhinged central performance from Gyllenhaal. Along for the ride is welcome support from an alluring Drew Barrymore, a very young looking Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal and the late Patrick Swayze. It defies conventions and is pretty bizarre, but is also a movie that really made me think about life and death, the choices we make, paths we go on etc. This is all aided by an effective, ethereal score and great 80s themed music cues, the most memorable being Gary Jules’ eerily brilliant version of Mad World.

It’s probably not a movie for everyone, is slow in places and leaves some moments unexplained. However as an introduction to one of my favourite actors, and as a high school movie that really had a profound impact on me … I give this my highest recommendation.

The Blu-ray is (mostly) impressive stuff. The image quality I’m guessing is purposely soft, to create that dream-aesthetic, so disappoints with flat colours and a smudgy, dull appearance throughout. However, sound fairs much better with crisp dialogue, good use of surrounds and each music moment is particularly effective. However it’s in the extra material where this Arrow Video Limited Edition blew me away. We get two cuts of the movie, including the longer Director’s Cut, which primarily adds greater emphasis to the sci-fi elements with on-screen extracts from the time travel book featured in both versions, extra symbolism and some scenes are extended or slightly altered. Ultimately though this version doesn’t differ all that much from the original but perhaps is a little clearer in some of it’s themes. However the mystery of the theatrical cut is for me what makes it so effective. There’s a wealth of supplementary material included, like interviews and deleted scenes. Stand outs though are two audio commentaries on the theatrical cut from cast and production crew, as well as another on the director’s cut. Add to this a detailed collector’s book and I’d say this is one of the most packed Blu-rays you can currently buy.

Verdict:

(the movie) 5 /5

(the Blu-ray) 4 /5

I feel I’ve been neglecting my readers of late and not posting as much as I should. What can I say, life get’s in the way and yes I have a life. But apart from that I really do like posting on this blog even if only a handful of people ever read it…those handful are important though! Anyway I digress. What I wanted was to give you the heads up about a few things I’ve been doing of late. There’s been an emphasis on gaming and well, I got myself some games I need to get around to finishing before the big slew of releases leading up the Christmas. There are too many good games coming out to actually manage to play them all let alone complete – but I have my beady eyes on a few.

For now though two games are on regular rotation, that being Uncharted 4: A Thieves End on PS4, arguably the best looking PS4 game and a rather polished adventure with that as expected Naughty Dog mastery of detail and game design. I won’t say for such a game it’s grabbed me as much as Rise of the Tomb Raider did, but then that game was more about survival and this game’s more a summer blockbuster. But I’m enjoying it. The other game I took a gamble with and downloaded is the much underrated Recore for XB1, like Uncharted an exclusive but nowhere near as well received, which is understandable – Uncharted is clearly a flagship title for PS4 and Sony whereas Recore was under-marketed and isn’t really meant to be a system seller as much as the forthcoming Gears of War 4 will be. However what it is is a rather classic throwback to platform shooter / exploration games like Metroid and I’m enjoying it a lot. I love exploration, puzzle solving and platforming and this does those three things brilliantly. The surrounding game, it’s story and it’s character design isn’t anything to write home about and it suffers from a few technical issues here and there … but it’s nowhere near as bad as the media will have you believe. I’d say If you like the sound of it, give it a chance.

I also have Mafia 3 pre-ordered on the XB1 and have asked for Watchdogs 2 on PS4 for my birthday (note for your diaries readers, it’s 14 November lol). I also would like to dive into the latest expansion that’s been released for Destiny namely ‘Rise of Iron’. I really like Destiny and it’s world and the upgrading of my character and weapons and exploring etc. keeps pulling me back far more than The Division seems it ever will. But to save money and give me a chance of completing those two games above, I’m holding off on taking the leap as of yet. I can also see even Dishonoured 2, a game I’m particularly excited for being put on the back burner until there are not so many games to play.

TV is taking up some of my time too and I’m trying to finish off current seasons of certain shows that I like, such as having just finished Daredevil season 2 (it was great, sometimes amazing, started a little slow but really delivered half way through. I think I still favour season 1 more though). Also nearing the end of the current season of Orange is The New Black which I feel has failed to really hit it’s stride this season apart from a strong opening and the return of a favourite character…I just wonder where it’s going. I’m also watching House of Cards season 2 … yes I’m waaay behind but love it. Its been pretty strong this season too. Also enjoying British police drama Luthor…I think I’m on series 3…but I lose track. Suitably violent and disturbing and well, Idris Elba is fantastic. I’ve also lined up two more Netflix Marvel shows to get into, Jessica Jones which I keep hearing good things about and the imminent Luke Cage which looks a lot of fun. I may focus on Jones first as the two shows seems to connect with one another by looks of it.

Now back on topic … for movies I have a few in the pipeline you’ll be seeing reviews of. I need to get around to watching Everybody Wants Some! Richard Linklater’s spiritual sequel to one of my all time favourite movies, Dazed & Confused. Also I’m hoping to see The Magnificent Seven with friends from work next week sometime. Did I also mention that I have a special edition of Donnie Darko coming? Look out for an in-depth review of that and how it stacks up on Blu-ray. Also there’s that final Studio Ghibli movie When Marnie Was There that‘s out soon so I can’t wait to get my paws on that.

I’ve not forgotten about my continuing series My Gaming History which will have a new post in the coming days so look out for that. But for now that’s what’s going on with me as far as a few of my hobbies, interests and this blog is concerned.

Craig.