2020.03~
As usual, Hollywood gets technology wrong. I could almost live with that if it didn't also get people wrong too.
*spoilers for episode 1*
What CEO (or any powerful person) is going to get his hands dirty and be at the location when a killing they have ordered is going on? And why do it on company property? Then, why fake it to look like suicide on company property? Do you want to get caught? Do you want to bring negative attention to your self? The news is filled with incidents of small plane crashes, suicides out of nowhere, etc. And yet this show seems to have an elementary school notion of how business is done.
Still, nice dark atmosphere and visuals. I might watch more.
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Friday, January 31, 2020
Monday, July 15, 2019
Black Spot season 1 (2017)
2019.07.16
Two episodes in and I'm interested but I'm having trouble getting attached to it.
It's hitting a lot of the right notes, bits of X-Files, Twin Peaks, deep back story to learn as you go along, tough but wounded protagonist, oozing with atmosphere, etc.
Definitely enough here to keep going. The subtitles are giving me a bit of a disconnect, but when there's no dialogue you realize you could probably watch this with subtitles off and it would still be interesting.
Another problem is this is the third supernatural mystery tv series I'm watching in a row. I'm mixing up elements of Stranger Things and Dark and now this show. I probably should have watched a documentary or something first. Maybe I'll do that and come back later.
Two episodes in and I'm interested but I'm having trouble getting attached to it.
It's hitting a lot of the right notes, bits of X-Files, Twin Peaks, deep back story to learn as you go along, tough but wounded protagonist, oozing with atmosphere, etc.
Definitely enough here to keep going. The subtitles are giving me a bit of a disconnect, but when there's no dialogue you realize you could probably watch this with subtitles off and it would still be interesting.
Another problem is this is the third supernatural mystery tv series I'm watching in a row. I'm mixing up elements of Stranger Things and Dark and now this show. I probably should have watched a documentary or something first. Maybe I'll do that and come back later.
Monday, July 8, 2019
Stranger Things season 3 (2019)
After struggling to get through the show Dark, Stranger Things is like going back to an earlier time where everything is simple and makes sense. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit to myself that a little mindless entertainment at the end of the day is more practical than something that requires a 4D flowchart to understand.
This show has always been flirting with the line between sci-fi and fantasy, but having a Russian base underneath the town mall is a bit of a declaration. Even more fantastical and immersion breaking is all the present day self-awareness set in the 1980s.
It's a show about 2010s stories and politics, with a thin 1980s coat of paint. Not a 1980s story with some 2010s sensibilities. It was good enough but its wearing thin. I kind of hope with this trajectory they don't make a fourth, but from what I hear the income would make it inevitable.
This show has always been flirting with the line between sci-fi and fantasy, but having a Russian base underneath the town mall is a bit of a declaration. Even more fantastical and immersion breaking is all the present day self-awareness set in the 1980s.
It's a show about 2010s stories and politics, with a thin 1980s coat of paint. Not a 1980s story with some 2010s sensibilities. It was good enough but its wearing thin. I kind of hope with this trajectory they don't make a fourth, but from what I hear the income would make it inevitable.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Good Omens (2019)
2019.06.12
Tried episode one last night, I just can't get into it.
I like the premise a lot (an angel and demon have spent so long on Earth that they have gone native and work together to thwart the end times) and the characters seem OK, and the acting and production is decent. Maybe I need to give it more time.
Tried episode one last night, I just can't get into it.
I like the premise a lot (an angel and demon have spent so long on Earth that they have gone native and work together to thwart the end times) and the characters seem OK, and the acting and production is decent. Maybe I need to give it more time.
Black Mirror season 5 (2019)
2019.06.12
Saw first episode of 5 last night. They are doubling down on the whole thinking they are smarter than you, and you need your baby food mashed extra fine and served with a tiny spoon. A 15 minute story (at best) is stretched out to an hour. And its not even a good story. I remember reading sci-fi in the 80s (which was written well before that) about redefining gender and relationship roles - this is really old (not cutting edge) territory for sci-fi.
Far worse, and there should be a name for this error, Black Mirror is mostly guilty of the sin of assuming A, then B, so let's jump right to W! as far as how technology works. If you assume something vaguely like the present, you can't start dropping in tech from decades from now (if ever) and still hold the present constant. If you allow for the episode's premise, that we have shared SimStim online and in real time, you're living in a different world than shown in the show. It would take years to develop that tech, and it would have long since permeated into the culture, instead of just showing up all of a sudden.
Black Mirror is written by people who don't understand technology and have no place trying to tell us Aesop's about it.
Saw first episode of 5 last night. They are doubling down on the whole thinking they are smarter than you, and you need your baby food mashed extra fine and served with a tiny spoon. A 15 minute story (at best) is stretched out to an hour. And its not even a good story. I remember reading sci-fi in the 80s (which was written well before that) about redefining gender and relationship roles - this is really old (not cutting edge) territory for sci-fi.
Far worse, and there should be a name for this error, Black Mirror is mostly guilty of the sin of assuming A, then B, so let's jump right to W! as far as how technology works. If you assume something vaguely like the present, you can't start dropping in tech from decades from now (if ever) and still hold the present constant. If you allow for the episode's premise, that we have shared SimStim online and in real time, you're living in a different world than shown in the show. It would take years to develop that tech, and it would have long since permeated into the culture, instead of just showing up all of a sudden.
Black Mirror is written by people who don't understand technology and have no place trying to tell us Aesop's about it.
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Rim of the World (2019)
I read an article that the mainstream movie market is focusing on blockbusters mostly and not really making low budget light fun movies anymore, and that Netflix has identified this niche and is trying to cater to it. One of the examples was this movie, so I tried it.
It was exactly what was written on the tin: coming of age, fantasy, light comedy and romance, monsters, personal challenges, etc. It wasn't trying to be great, just good, and that's respectable. I made it all the way through without even reaching for the remote (on first offense I reach for the remote, on second offense I'll start pressing buttons).
If movie theater tickets and concessions weren't so over-priced, this would be a great summer movie, so it makes a fine at-home movie. It's quite forgettable, but its got enough personality to carry you through some couch time.
My only take-away was questioning if this was set in an alternate timeline, which was evinced from two data points: cell phone technology was from the late 90s/early 00s, and a character mentions the event 7-11 (instead of 9-11). Maybe the movie time was supposed to be set at the turn of the millennium, but why bother doing so, it never plays into the story. And the different 9-11 date might have been just a joke at a silly character's expense, not an actual world difference. That and they go to great lengths to show one of the characters is a (Girl) Scout but it doesn't become part of the story in any way (unless there's merit badge for driving stick).
I really enjoyed the ending montage (getting knighted, in concert, etc); nice way to say we're all in on the joke together.
It was exactly what was written on the tin: coming of age, fantasy, light comedy and romance, monsters, personal challenges, etc. It wasn't trying to be great, just good, and that's respectable. I made it all the way through without even reaching for the remote (on first offense I reach for the remote, on second offense I'll start pressing buttons).
If movie theater tickets and concessions weren't so over-priced, this would be a great summer movie, so it makes a fine at-home movie. It's quite forgettable, but its got enough personality to carry you through some couch time.
My only take-away was questioning if this was set in an alternate timeline, which was evinced from two data points: cell phone technology was from the late 90s/early 00s, and a character mentions the event 7-11 (instead of 9-11). Maybe the movie time was supposed to be set at the turn of the millennium, but why bother doing so, it never plays into the story. And the different 9-11 date might have been just a joke at a silly character's expense, not an actual world difference. That and they go to great lengths to show one of the characters is a (Girl) Scout but it doesn't become part of the story in any way (unless there's merit badge for driving stick).
I really enjoyed the ending montage (getting knighted, in concert, etc); nice way to say we're all in on the joke together.
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