Skins

some young people yesterday.

I didn’t expect to like Skins. What I saw of the first series left me cold, so I skipped Series 2. That got better notices, but a quick skim through the on-line reviews suggests that this series hasn’t gone down as well - they all say it’s trashy, superficial and exploitative - as if that’s a bad thing!

I thought it was reminiscent of two great British film genres. Well, alright, one great one not so great. The former is my favourite unrecognised genre - The British Youth Movie. Films like Trainspotting. Quadropenia, Hard Day’s Night, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Tom Jones - Cool, irreverent, amoral, bawdy, a bit Rock and roll.

(It’s a peculiarly British genre, I think. The nearest Hollywood equivalent is the gangster movie - which is a telling difference. America’s cinematic rebels want to escape poverty by using violence to get rich. Ours want to escape the class system by having sex and getting wasted.)

Of course, Skins has no such sociological or political content. It’s not great art. The characterisation is as broad as the humour. In this way it resembles the Not-So-Great Genre - The British Sex Comedy. Films like the Confession series (The Carry On films were the PG version,) which Matthew Sweet points out in the best book ever written about British Film, Shepperton Babylon, had the distinction of being neither sexy or funny.

But Skin is genuinely funny and sexy. And that counts for a lot - too much TV is dull and/or worthy. Skins is fun. It may be a slightly guilty pleasure. But it’s a pleasure nevertheless.

TH. 2058

Hello! You’re looking well. Is that a new hat? Proper update blog coming soon, but meanwhile I’ve got a short story up here. Ta to Lianne for the link.

The story's called ‘The Critic,’ and it begins -

I’m downloading these last thoughts direct from the gallows in The VirginJustice Trafalgar Square, so I will endeavour to be brief.

To read more, click here and the magic of the internet will transport to London, 2058. See you there.

Being Human.

Okay, still planning on that proper update blog. But meanwhile, Being Human! Missed the pilot of the supernatual flat share drama (Well, it's a bit of an overdone genre, isn't it?), but absolutely everyone who saw it raved about it.

Well thanks mainly to the online response, it's back (with a new cast) for a full series later this month. Auntie are trailing it here.

Welcome to the Dollhouse

"In Dollhouse, Eliza Dushku plays a young woman named Echo, a member of a group of people known as "Actives" or "Dolls." The Dolls have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas, including memory, muscle memory, skills, and language, for different assignments. They're then hired out for particular jobs, crimes, fantasies, and occasional good deeds."

from the shows wikipedia entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollhouse_(TV_series)

Massive, massive Buffy fan, but for some reason the trailer doesn't blow me away. But Whedon can do little wrong in my eyes, so can't wait.

Dollhouse airs in The States in Feburary. No UK broadcaster has picked up the series at the moment, but it's from Fox and Sky are promoting on thier website, so do the math. http://tv.sky.com/ones-to-watch-in-2009/28

Lesbian Vampire Killers

I really should get round to blogging more. In the meantime, here's a link to the first trailer for Lesbian Vampire Killers - either this years Shaun of The Dead, or this years Alien Autopsy.

Time will tell.