Secret Smile and DT squee

[teyla]

So I just watched Secret Smile with David Tennant...


... and I ended up identifying with and feeling sorry for Brendan. WOW THAT BACKFIRED A BIT THERE. It wasn't only my undying love for Tennant, though. The script was bad, too. This should have been at least three parts, and it should have been spread over more than nine months. Also, the edting was bad and the conclusion for Brendan was very dissatisfying. Sociopathic rapists and serial killers don't end up in prison like that. They're too smart.

Thinking about it, though, it's no wonder I identified with him. A) it was Tennant, B) he was a sociopath, and I LOVE sociopaths, C) the script was written in a way that didn't really make you detest Brendan, and D) the main female character was such a whiny boring bitch. I liked her better as Shaun's girlfriend.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, GUESS WHAT I FOUND. Okay, going out from under the cut now, because I'm done talking about Secret Smile - in short, David Tennant was hot and awesome and I loved his sex scenes, and the rest was quite bad.


GUESS WHAT I FOUND. I was rooting around david-tennant.com, which I have to admit I have been neglecting, what with lots of other shiny things demanding my attention during the DW hiatus. Anyway, I found this, and it made my head go asplodey. I'm in such a Simon Pegg fangirl phase atm, and there they go and stick my current two favorite boys together in a photo. HUGGING. They want me to have a heart attack, I'm sure of it.

And what the hell is David wearing again? Okay, so Simon's outfit isn't exactly stunning, either - those glasses just look weird - but David's shirt? Is it me or does it not go at all with the suit? If he wants to be creative about his outfit, he should just wear no shirt at all. That would definitely look better.

This was apparently during the Doctor Who s4 press launch. In all of those pics, David either hangs out in front of the TARDIS, or stands on blue-lit steps like a decorative vase. Sheesh, press launches must be boring.

Right, there's a point to this post. All David Tennant fangirls on my f-list, rec me some Tennant TV/movie stuff plz? I've watched Casanova, Secret Smile, Blackpool, all Doctor Who and Harry Potter. What is the next movie/show on the list you think I should watch? I thought maybe Recovery? That one looked interesting.

ETA: I was rereading this post, and I had to sporfle at the decorative vase bit, because that's exactly how I'm talking about him in this post. Which I am not ashamed of, because he is very decorative, if not vase shaped. (Except maybe one of those really slim vases that you put only one single rose in. And I actually spelled that 'Rose' the first time around. Wong wrong wrong.) ANYWAY. I wanted to say that I thought he did a very good acting job in Secret Smile. Most of the others were 'okay' to 'meh', but David does the sociopath quite well. It wasn't his fault that the show sucked.

Comments

[radiantbaby.livejournal.com]

Secret Smile was...interesting. I think it had a lot of potential, but in the end just came off as comically bad. David did look rather attractive as Brendan though (and I have to admit, I love when he is a baddie), so that was a plus. He apparently wasn't as clever as the script led us to believe though because, as you said, he did end up in prison. Ah well.

Decorative vase? Yeah, that's a pretty apt description. Poor guy. I wonder if he just stands there with a receiving line of photographers, press, other celebs, etc. That has just got to be weird and, as you said, rather boring.

As for Tennant stuff to watch, embarrassingly enough, I have seen just about everything that man has committed to film:

Regarding things that you haven't seen yet, I would recommend seeing Recovery. It is not one that I rewatch often as it really puts you through an emotional ringer (IMHO), but David is really amazing in it, as is Sarah Parish (from Blackpool and the Empress of the Racnoss).

Takin' Over the Asylum is good if you want a several-episode TV serial/mini-series. Duck Patrol is kinda cute for nerdy!Tennant, as is Learners. I recently saw The Last September and really, really loved it, but when I showed it to my friends, they were pretty meh about it, so YMMV.

Some other things I would recommend are:
* Traffic Warden -- just about 10 minutes long and no dialogue, but I am so in love with David's sweet little character in this.
* Love in the 21st Century -- David's character in this has only about 10 minutes of screentime (the episode is about 30 minutes long), but for some reason he is one of my favorite characters of David's. And, if its relevant, it has a hella hawt love scene.
* People Like Us -- The Actor -- this is really, really, really funny. I highly rec this one.
* He Knew He Was Right -- this is a good period piece - if you are into such things - and while David doesn't have a central role, I do think he is quite good in it. Fenella Woolgar shares most of his scenes and I love her -- she will be playing Agatha Christie in an upcoming DW episode in S4.
* Quartermass Experiment -- fun sci-fi cheese with scripts used from the original show (from the 50's, I believe?) and done COMPLETELY LIVE. The show actually ended up running shorter than it should have because the actors ran through their lines pretty quickly because they were all terrified. Great cast as well.
* LA Without A Map -- a pretty cute fish-out-of-water piece that even has a Johnny Depp cameo. David's character Richard is at times endearing and at times annoying (mostly just his extreme jealousy issues ping me the wrong way), but otherwise it's a good story. The script is somewhat weak, but it's fun to see such a young David in his first feature film.

I could go on...

*embarrassed*

[teyla]

It did have a lot of potential - sociopaths always do, especially when you have a good actor playing a convincing sociopath. (My favorite is still Anthony Hopkins in Red Dragon. Whoa.) Also, there was the idea of a, uh, how should I call it - male black widow; i.e. a guy who marries a girl, drains her dry, takes all her money and then makes off to marry the next girl. Or, you know, makes her commit suicide. The idea was quite original, but the script was just bad. It was like reading a fanfic with a great plotline but written by a person with no writing skills at all - I hate it when that happens.

I've seen a couple of caps from Recovery, and it did look very interesting. I think I'll be acquiring that next, then. And thanks for the list! I'm definitely planning to watch everything with David Tennant in it, so don't be embarrassed. I'm just being ridiculously slow about it, what with the non-existent attention span and all. Besides, I'm very busy watching everything Simon Pegg ever filmed atm. I totally bought that terrible sitcom about the hippies on amazon because I couldn't find a torrent.

Ohh, and Johnny Depp cameo. Are they actually in the same scene together? I can't watch that. I would DIE from the pretty.

[radiantbaby.livejournal.com]

Okay, third edit. I shouldn't post things when I am sleepy...

Ohh, and Johnny Depp cameo. Are they actually in the same scene together? I can't watch that. I would DIE from the pretty.

Johnny Depp mostly stars as an animate poster in Richard's (DT's character) room, but they do actually have a pretty cool scene together (where it is actually Johnny Depp playing himself) in a cemetary that is LUFF. :)

P.S. Oh, I meant to mention. I can't remember if you are an Ashes to Ashes fan (or if it would even matter), but David's character's love interest/co-star in The Last September is the lovely Keeley Hawes.

[beandelphiki.livejournal.com]

I gotta say, my mom's watched LA Without A Map, and she says the bit where DT and Depp are onscreen together is kinda...confusingly bad. Like, they're both good actors, so why are they both so BAD in that scene? ...Was her question.

That's just her opinion, of course! Juuust warning you in case you have a similar reaction.

(I can't give an opinion, not having seen it, so.)

[wihluta.livejournal.com]

FINALLY!
Yeah, the story wasn't that good and I really disagreed with the way they ended it all, they actually weren't much better than Brendan in my eyes at the end. But DT was brilliant as ever. He really managed to creep me out from time to time.

That shirt is... Actually I'd love to see him in JUST the shirt, you know, without the jacket. That would look very nice, me thinks. It's a nice shirt. Just doesn't fit with the suit. How awesome would it be if Simon Pegg had a minor role on an episode to come?? Probably not gonna happen, but still, I like the idea. :-)

As to other shows:
You gotta watch Learners. Nerdy DT par exellence. You can even find it bit by bit on utube, it's just titled differently, never mind that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymi7fZ5imaM&feature=related

And I've heard good things about Takin' over the Asylum, just haven't found it yet. As well as LA without a Map.

[teyla]

YES, just the shirt would definitely be pretty. I love the yellowish lining. But it looks just weird with the suit.

Simon Pegg was in Doctor Who series 1! He played the Editor in, what was it called. The episode in which they meet that giant massive blob with the sharp teeth that's living in the attic of Satellite 5.

... God, describing Doctor Who plotlines is worse than describing Stephen King books. 'You know, the one with the homicidal car!' - 'You know, the one with the giant blob with the sharp teeth!'

It'd be awesome to see him in an episode with Tennant, though, that's true. Until that happens, I'll just keep looking at that pic xD.

Uh, I hate watching stuff on youTube, especially shows. I'll have to download it. I will, when I'm done with Big Train and Recovery :).

[wihluta.livejournal.com]

basically simply:

Yeah.

to all this stuff. Sorry, brain just collapsed.

[wheatear.livejournal.com]

Secret Smile! I remember that. I watched it when it first aired on ITV - I think it was actually before David Tennant played the Doctor.

I really liked it, actually. Tennant completely creeped me out. And I liked the twist at the end, because it made you think - Brendan was a total bastard who deserved what he got, but at the same time he was imprisoned for something which he didn't do, so it wasn't really just at all. It made the characters a little more ambiguous, which I liked.

(Also, sorry for kind of spamming you with comments. When I friend someone, I tend to browse through their journal and comment randomly on any entry that strikes my interest. XD)

[teyla]

Tennant played his part well, but I thought the script was really, really weak. The twist at the end was supposed to make the characters more ambiguous, yeah, but what it actually did was shove them all onto the same level and leave the audience with no resolution whatsoever. I mean, it would have been just as bad if Brendan had gotten caught for actually killing the woman (I forgot her name, sorry, I'm no good with names ;)), but it would have been less angering. This way, they tried to do something witty and just did something stupid.

I think the movie simply failed to properly display a sociopath. His actions and his relationship to others simply weren't what you'd expect from a sociopath - they tried to be, but they were too "normal". His motivations were too much like that of a normal person, and the mistakes he made were too much caused by emotions. It was as if he were a normal guy trying to be a sociopath, and that just squicked me.

I should maybe add that I have an unhealthy obsessions with sociopaths and serial killers, and tend to be very discerning when they show up in movies or shows.

[wheatear.livejournal.com]

I think the movie simply failed to properly display a sociopath.

Sociopaths aren't exactly my area of expertise, so I wouldn't know. XD To me, it felt believable. I didn't think of the character as a sociopath, I thought of him as an evil creepy bastard.