Film Review & Discussion

[polerberr]

Is anyone here watching Black Mirror?

It's not strictly a movie, but each episode is a self contained story with amazing writing and production value, so I see it in the same light as I see movies.

Each episode is super different, but the general theme is the negative implications of technology in the future. The last episode I watched was called "Playtest" and was about a guy who tests a top secret super realistic VR game where a chip is placed inside the player's neck which manipulates their brain to see and hear things that aren't there. The video game is set in an old house and the chip is programmed to scare the user.

One of my favorite episodes so far has been "White Bear". A woman wakes up in a house, no memories of who she is or anything, total amnesia, but she sees pictures of a little girl around the house which she believes is her daughter. It gets really weird when she goes outside and everyone she comes across is standing still, on their mobile phones, recording her. Not saying a word to her. Just watching her through their phones. It's almost like some sort of zombie apocalypse movie, except the ending is just insane, so I'm not going to say any more about it.

I don't recommend this to any of the younger users here, just a word of warning. Most of the episodes have inappropriate content. It deals with dark topics, and most of the episodes are pretty heavy. It's not really something you binge.

Anyway, it's on Netflix if anyone is interested.

[holmes221B]

I actually never heard of that before.

I"m not really a fan of shows or movies that take place in the future (other than Star Wars and Star Trek) because in my opinion, most of the plot is similar to other plots. Also, futuristic technology has been a thing in many movies, and it's almost as if every movie or show is taking place either in the present of the future. I'm also not a fan of the weirdness that is portrayed in "White Bear", but that is only my opinion.

[Leopardnight]

I haven't seen a lot of Black Mirror, but I did watch White Bear.
It's hard for me to compare it to other episodes only because I've seen so few. But from what I've been able to tell it's probably worthy of a watch.
I'm watching The Pacific miniseries now, but maybe after I'll start Black Mirror.

[polerberr]

I actually never heard of that before.

I"m not really a fan of shows or movies that take place in the future (other than Star Wars and Star Trek) because in my opinion, most of the plot is similar to other plots. Also, futuristic technology has been a thing in many movies, and it's almost as if every movie or show is taking place either in the present of the future. I'm also not a fan of the weirdness that is portrayed in "White Bear", but that is only my opinion.

Black Mirror doesn't suffer from "this plot is pretty much just like every other plot". c:

I've seen a lot of movies. I've seen a lot of sci fi movies too. I have never seen anything like Black Mirror. It's not mindlessly entertaining drama or action sci fi, if that's what you're worried about? It's more of an exploratory look of genuine threats technology poses in our future, presenting these future-scenarios through engaging stories of characters who live in these worlds and the troubles they face as a result. Some of these stories are in a more immediate future. The first episode doesn't have any new technology at all. Some of these stories take place a bit further off, but not so much that there are flying cars or teleportation pads or space travel. At least, not from the episodes I've seen so far.

Some of these episodes display the sort of problems that Elon Musk is warning everyone about. "Playtest" featured a dangerous singularity in what was supposed to be a VR experience. These threats are beginning to bubble up right now in the real world. Facebook's AI developed it's own language that programmers couldn't read, being the main example I can think of. One episode took inspiration from George Orwell's 1982, featuring a world where people aren't in control of their own lives anymore.

I don't want to spoil White Bear for anyone that's interested, but I can understand why the description of the beginning of the epsiode alone can make it seem like it's just a weird TV show. The end of the episode really changes everything, everything is explained in such a way that it makes sense, and you can see how that particular episode fits the theme of a realistic look of possible futures. It's not actually a zombie apocalypse type film, it just sort of seems like one at first.

But yeah, this show isn't for everyone. It's quite serious, a lot of episodes can be upsetting in some way. My SO refuses to watch it because it makes him feel depressed. Personally, I think it's fascinating, but I understand people that don't want to watch it.

I haven't seen a lot of Black Mirror, but I did watch White Bear.
It's hard for me to compare it to other episodes only because I've seen so few. But from what I've been able to tell it's probably worthy of a watch.
I'm watching The Pacific miniseries now, but maybe after I'll start Black Mirror.

Oh, Band of Brothers is on my to watch list. I hear The Pacific is similar. Is it worth adding to the list?

[autumnal.]

How badly would everyone here hate me if I said that I kind of liked Netflix's Death Note movie? ...Theoretically.

[polerberr]

How badly would everyone here hate me if I said that I kind of liked Netflix's Death Note movie? ...Theoretically.

Hahaha. Well knowing the CS community, you might get some heat, but we're pretty chill in this corner of the site.

I never watched the anime so I wouldn't know how it holds up. I've personally decided not to watch the Netflix movie because I find the whitewashing pretty frustrating in this particular case. It feels like American producers don't understand that there is a whole, interesting world outside of the USA.

Movies are made to be enjoyed though, so if you enjoyed it that is by all means perfectly fine.

[autumnal.]

Well here's the thing about the "whitewashing" though—they completely moved the setting from the anime from Japan to America, so it makes sense. I can understand the reason for the location switch as well; most people watching the movie will be in the West, so they'll feel less alienated and that's why most anime and manga take place in Japan. Their primary audience is in Japan and they'll be able to relate better. They casted L as black, so they clearly don't really care about the characters' races in the manga/anime. It doesn't bother me at all since that's the case, and changing the setting even became a plot point, which was pretty clever.

…As an adaption, though? Yeah, it's a terrible adaption. The only thing the movies have in common are the names of the characters and the premise.

[polerberr]

I can understand the reason for the location switch as well; most people watching the movie will be in the West, so they'll feel less alienated and that's why most anime and manga take place in Japan.

IMO this is a part of the problem. Maybe because I'm a "third culture kid" so I don't have a home country. I'm a foreigner in every country, which means I don't have a fine sense of what customs and cultures are normal and relatable.

I don't think that it needs to take place in America for Americans to be able to relate. Again though, I'm pretty biased. I'm very pro-globalisation, so it makes more sense to me for people to embrace the Japanese culture you can see in Death Note.

[autumnal.]

But you're not everybody. I said "majority". It was marketing for the more casual audience, i.e., the majority. Something's going to sell better if it's a culture that they're familiar with and not necessarily be relatable. I agree with you on something being American doesn't automatically make Americans see it as relatable, but there's less of a culture shock so more people are likely to watch it and get the creators more money.

[Leopardnight]

Oh, Band of Brothers is on my to watch list. I hear The Pacific is similar. Is it worth adding to the list?

So far The Pacific has not been anything superb, honestly.
I've watched the first five parts so far, and haven't found much that's interesting.
The characters were really hard to tell apart, and still are, which made the story hard to follow at times because I kept confusing everyone.
However, in episode five the character of Snafu was introduced. He's played by one of my favorite actors, Rami Malek (who was stellar in Mr Robot which is a show I wholly recommend,) and he's making the mini-series a lot more interesting already.
Snafu's been nothing but intreguing so far, so I'm going to stick it out and see if it gets better.