I did the same thing. I had the same issue with CYA books lol. Its like a window into multiverse.Quoting Irish (view post)
I did the same thing. I had the same issue with CYA books lol. Its like a window into multiverse.
The original Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books were ruthless, though! I liked that about them. If you made a wrong choice, you'd die and the story would be over.
It would have been hilarious if they had followed that model here---like 15 minutes in, nope, sorry, show's over and the credits roll.
Yeh I'm not really a fan of it. Watched it, made decisions, made the same decision again, got to the end. Meh.
Unfortunately, now that I have a bit more free time to catch up on stuff, I will have to watch Roma, The Other Side of the Wind, BlacKkKlansman, The Sisters Brothers, A Simple Favor, Bad Times at the El Royale, Revenge, Teen Titans Go to the Movies, Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse, Sorry to Bother You, Leave no Trace, Eighth Grade, Widows, The Favorite, Can You Ever Forgive Me, Cold War, The Hate U Give, The Old Man and the Gun, Shoplifters, They Shall Not Grow Old, The Tale, Blindspotting, Bodied, Disobedience, The Day After etc before I even think about diving into a gimmick that annoys me
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
I was entertained, but maybe not in the ways Brooker intended. (I tried to kill the protagonist more than once).
I think it would have been a contender for cult film of the decade if it didn't take itself so completely seriously, because the material is so over the top and gloriously cheesy. (When the hero looked at the ceiling and called out, "Who's there? Who's' controlling me?" ... I laughed and waved at the screen.)
The theme around free will is seriously overworked and not interesting. Mostly, it plays like dorm room philosophizing, a conversation between a coupla stoned freshman who've just taken their first Phil 101 class.
Characters aware they're in a narrative is such a tired idea I won't go into it.
I thought it interesting that the show baits you with the idea of an optimal outcome for the character---except that outcome is based on (a) being good at your job and (b) producing an exceptional consumer product. Like, really? Could you be more middlebrow, Brooker?
Other nitpicks: There are several times when the choices and the repetitive nature of the loops undermine the show's ideas about parallel universes and one path influencing others. I was disappointed in that lack of depth, even though depth in this context would have been impossible to pull off.
Shout out to Netflix laying on thick brand awareness right in the middle of some options and dialogue.
Finally, I do admire the size of Brooker's balls. In one moment, he has one character ask another, "If you were in a tv show, don't you think it'd be more interesting than this?" Careful, Charlie. Careful!
I felt on a few occasions, if the movie thinks I made the wrong choice, it asks me again "am i sure I want to choose that choice?" and then the movie plays out to avoid my choice....
I generally like Black Mirror more than most critics I follow, but this 'gimmick' indulges the show in its worst tendencies, with any depth, subtext, and enjoyment only at surface level, tied almost exclusively to its interactive nature. So if that aspect does nothing for you, the interminable length can easily make this the worst Black Mirror ever.
Worse, doing this episode apparently delays their usual season further away! Ugh.
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
Season 5 is out now.
U.S. link: https://www.netflix.com/watch/80186674
This feels the least like a Black Mirror season ever. Not a value judgement, just an observation.
1. Striking Vipers - B+
It seems like every three year, director Owen Harris returns to one more Charlie Brooker script so he can add to his "Love in the Time of Black Mirror" entries. This one might not be as good or fully fleshed out as "Be Right Back" or "San Junipero", but it's still gratifyingly character-focused, in no hurry to rush into cynicism, and full of gentle nuances as in his previous works. The degree of difficulty may be even higher, as its complex issues and story threads require a tricky balancing act and really depend on the outcome, where so many things can go wrong in the process. But the full characterization and autonomy granted to all characters here make the conclusion it arrives at all the more beautiful. Genuine, generous curiosity in the fluidity of human experience is already apparent in Harris' first two outings, but it's even more pronounced and profound here, especially regarding sexuality and love. []
2. Smithereens - B
Andrew Scott acts the hell out of it, but his climatic revelation/speech never escape the feeling of something a reactionary Black Mirror parody bot might come up with, and that kinda sours the whole thing (it's as if this is []). A shame, because otherwise this is some tense grim fun, with the escalation of spiraling criminal mishaps and corporate management troubles piling on top of each other in a deliciously Coen-esque way.
3. Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too - B
For having some sinister undertones at the beginning, this ends up being one of the least Black Mirror-esque episodes ever. Its messiness is part of the charm for me though, where it always threatens to go to some place darker, then only to swerve and go with something outrageous(ly fun) instead. Feels like there's some parody of a Disney-esque story that Miley Cyrus (who's quite good and really fun) might do in her early career going on, but on the surface fun alone (the doll unfiltered, the over-the-top villain), I have a good time with this.
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
"Striking Vipers" was bad.
Going to an hour or more killed "Black Mirror's" momentum. Brooker wastes too much time establishing his premise and then wallows in incidentals. Seriously, somebody should halve his budget. It might force him to make better creative choices.
The tech angle is interesting but unexplored (their VR experience is about sex, but not race --- I can't imagine two black men would role play as Asian characters and have nothing to say about it). So the episode is little more than an hour long soap opera about infidelity, and all the scenes around the cheating are the same.
The way the show represents gender and sexuality was dull and lifeless. 20 minutes of Contrapoints is smarter and more entertaining about similar subjects, and much more thought provoking. And my God that's a one-woman show shot out of an apartment.
ETA:
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Last edited by Irish; 06-09-2019 at 02:26 PM.
Yep. The entire episode is botched at a fundamental level because of this. My wife and I watched and were both "Wait, he's still fundamentally boning a woman, so.... what about the other guy?" And the fact that they always keep the same characters is just dumb - it means we can never get a read on whether they are lusting after that representation or each other, and the show has zero interest in examining it. (Also, the episode has a couple of scenes where Mackie's character is checking out other women, which also muddies things, and not in an interesting way.)
Definitely in my bottom 5 BM episodes (from worst to least worst):
1. The Waldo Moment
2. Crocodile
3. Arkangel
4. Striking Vipers
5. Nosedive
Best 5:
1. White Christmas
2. White Bear
3. USS Callister
4. The National Anthem
5. Fifteen Million Merits
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
This episode just completely fell apart for me because of this. The second one is definitively the best although it doesn't explore a lot of new ground and the last one is entertaining but still pretty linear thinking for Black Mirror.
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