I've Been Watching #7

Warning - this post is mainly going to be me, fangirling about Orphan Black. Keeping it good and spoiler free though, nothing you wouldn't know from seeing posters or trailers for the first season.

This week has been a mixed bag. I've fallen behind a little bit with The 100, so I'll need to catch up with that when I have time, and I've watched a couple more episodes of New Girl Season 3. I hate hate hate admitting this, but I'm just not as in love with New Girl as I used to be. The first and second seasons are amazing, and The Landlord (S1E12) is one of my favourite episodes of anything ever. I was so excited about season 3 after the way season 2 ended, but for me, it's just gone a bit too OTT. Having said that, the sixth episode (Keaton) felt like the old New Girl!

Connected

I was in a documentary sort of mood last week, so I searched through every last one on Netflix and developed a sort of shortlist. In the end, I went for Connected - the tag line of which reads 'An autoblogography about love, death and technology'. This is a film from Tiffany Shlain exploring the interconnectedness of just about everything and everyone on the planet - something that genuinely interests me. Honestly, I thoroughly enjoyed this film, so I was a bit surprised when I read a lot of negative reviews of it after I watched it. A lot of people felt the film ended up being about nothing, but I disagree. It doesn't solve any of the questions it sets out to ask, but I don't think that was the point. If you go into it with the knowledge that the autobiographical aspect of it is a huge part of the overall documentary, and watch it with an open mind, it's a really touching look at a woman's relationship with her father, and the fact he always encouraged her to be curious, think big, and study and investigate the world around her. Technology is all around us, and it has made the world we live in virtually unrecognisable to the world people lived in even just a few years ago, Tiffany's wish that we could harness that connectivity and use it to fix some of the huge problems the world is facing really resonated with me - I feel like the overwhelming response to Robin Williams's death on twitter really highlighted that to me last week. If you're looking for something that sticks to the technology aspect then you'll be disappointed, because the family side of it wins out in the end, but that suited me just fine. I am now desperate to read a couple of books by Tiffany's father, Leonard Shlain - The Alphabet versus The Goddess sounds fascinating.

Orphan Black - Season 1

*Deep breath...*

Okay. Last week I finally sat down to watch the first episode of Orphan Black. I had heard people raving about it on twitter, but not to an OITNB or Breaking Bad degree, so I actually didn't know a huge amount about it when I put on that pilot episode. A few days later and I have binge watched the first season (in fairness, that's only ten episodes!), and I CANNOT WAIT to find out what happens next.

The premise is something that's either going to hook you, or it isn't. Our main character Sarah, who hasn't had the easiest time of it, is standing on the platform of a train station, and looks on in horror as a woman she doesn't know, but who looks exactly like her (we're talking the most identical of identical twins similar) throws herself in front of a train. This was enough to get me intrigued. Sarah is played by Tatiana Maslany, an actress I recognised from one of my all-time favourite shows, Being Erica. It was only after I'd watched two or three episodes that I noticed that the executive producers of Orphan Black are the EPs of Being Erica - no wonder I'm loving it. I don't want to give too much away here because I hate reading spoilers myself, but it would be ludicrous of me to not praise Maslynav to the max for what she's doing here - she is playing several characters in this show, and she is doing an absolutely incredible job. During the first episode I was a tiny bit put off by her British accent - to her credit, it isn't the generic super-posh English that most people attempt, but it bugged me a little bit during that first episode. By now though, I'm completely used to it, and I just can't get over what an amazing opportunity this must have been for her. This is not a show, or a role, that comes up every day, and from the get go she had me forgetting that it was her playing every character. They all have such distinct mannerisms and body language and voices that it never once occurs to me that it is her every time. The characters are all really interesting and complex, and she deserves so much credit for this.

Moving on from the acting, the storyline is gripping. It's described as sci-fi but to be honest I think that's purely to give it a label, I don't feel like I'm watching a sci-fi show when I'm watching it. It's intense, and definitely a thriller, but mostly it's grounded in just exploring people and how they react to their world being turned upside down. It's totally my cup of tea and I really would urge you to go ahead and watch it, because it's just about the best new thing I've watched in a while.

*...and exhale*

That's it for today! Thanks so much for reading guys, and be sure to let me know if you've watched either of the above - I'd love to know what you thought!