Author Topic: Black Mirror  (Read 10464 times)

Bondo

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #30 on: October 28, 2016, 02:33:43 PM »
I feel like it has a flaw in the lead performance akin to Playtest.

oldkid

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #31 on: October 29, 2016, 01:57:38 PM »
San Junipero

I love the way this episode develops.  It's a pretty common Black Mirror trope to begin with the known and build to the unknown, to begin with a small change in technology and then see how that develops.  Although this episode begins with the known, a club in the 80s, the revelation of the unknown was masterfully done, keeping me on my toes.  And then it relates it back to the revelation of the simply human.  If there was any "bad" side to SJ, it's the way technology masks who we really are, forcing us to unmask the "lie" we have presented, which is hard on all parties involved.  Still, this is a remarkably human episode of the series.  4/5

Men Against Fire
Thematically, this is my favorite of the season.  Although it places itself from a soldier's viewpoint, this is the reality we all deal with.  We mask our hatred with an overlay of monstrosity, whether we are talking about Muslims, Tsusi, the homeless or whichever group we apply our racism, classism, or whichever other -ism to.  We not only have to have the core belief that these people are bad, but we need a story about them to make them truly horrifying, a reason to treat them inhumanely.  Soldiers are the most obvious target for this kind of propaganda, and when they discover the truth then they can easily see the government that lied to them as the enemy.  But this happens at the most basic level. 

Just a few days ago, a park ranger took a police officer to one of the homeless camps I serve.  He told the officer to sweep the camp, and the officer refused.  "We can't do that this time of year," the officer replied.  The park ranger said, "Look how dangerous this camp is!"  The officer queried, "Dangerous? How?"  "There are needles all over the place!"  So the officer and park ranger investigated the whole camp, looking for needles because there was a witness that declared that syringes were all over the ground of the camp.  In looking all over the camp, the pair didn't find a single one, either in the camp or in the surrounding area.  The park ranger left in a huff, knowing he was right, but unable to prove it.  As far as he was concerned, the homeless are monsters.  He just couldn't prove it.

I agree with Bondo that the episode wasn't very well done.  It was adequate, but had no real excellence.  But the idea of the mask we place on others so that they might be punished is a significant idea that deserves to be declared.
4/5

Hated in the Nation
An excellent mystery with a technological twist. Another example of how hacking can make a good story premise.

Now I'm going off track and getting personal.  This episode was good, the writing was excellent, but I wouldn't consider this great.  Not worthy of a Filmspot.  Because although the writing was well done, the visual presentation is simple, even starkly bare.  The actors were top notch, especially Kelly MacDonald, who knows perfectly how to play doubtful, fearful, and pretending to be sad (when will she get her own lead for a series?  Wouldn't it be great to see this episode become a pilot for it's own series?).  But is it really much more than an well-done procedural? 

I realize that 1SO's critiques of film, especially our well-loved animated films, is usually in the area of scriptwriting.  That the story should have tied this up, this is a inconsistency, this action doesn't make any sense.  I'm willing to overlook this if the filmmaking distracts me.  A good magic trick distracts away from problems in the film, and the best magic tricks aren't the ones that make sense, but where the text and the visual keeps you focused on the magic.  Sure you know it's not real magic, but it is the presentation of the illusion that is important.

1SO and I see different things in the magic trick of film.  A well-written script with good actors is enough to distract from a plot that isn't more than a well done Law and Order.  But I need more to distract me.  For a film to be great, it must have eye-widening visuals, or at least a set that stuns me.  1SO must have a tied script and the greatest of visuals won't distract him from it. 

Is this how it seems to you, 1SO?

Anyway, I'll give this episode a 4/5 because it's well done, but I don't really consider going anywhere new or particularly interesting.  It's just a pleasure to see these actors be excellent.
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1SO

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #32 on: October 29, 2016, 02:11:49 PM »
San Junipero we agree completely. "remarkably human episode" indeed.

I like the theme of Men Against Fire, but I've never seen the show be this on the nose about its message. I agree with everything you say, but the complete lack of punch had me feeling like the ep was a waste of time, even though the message is one of the most important to our current climate.

I'm not in a defensive mood, so I don't want to counter your argument with a list of great visuals from Hated in the Nation, times when story was cinematically conveyed. It does seem that way to me and part of what hooked me was starting with a Detective story then transforming into horror before finally becoming something else entirely, something beyond the scope of where most movies would go let alone a TV show. The visuals are unique, but not stunning even when compared to other episodes of Black Mirror.

Junior

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #33 on: October 29, 2016, 02:21:45 PM »
I'm with 1SO (as usual). There are a bunch of shots in Hated in the Nation that convey both a sense of isolation as well as an invisible menace that might occupy the rest of the frame. Characters are often very small and not in the center of the frame which leaves a lot of space for our imaginations to fill. I thought of Ida, actually, though it's not quite the same technique. Ida's open spaces on the top half of the frame leave room for God to show up (though he never does) where HitN's open spaces convey a sense of pressure from society. Or, at least that's how I saw it.
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oldkid

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #34 on: October 29, 2016, 02:27:24 PM »
Sorry, 1SO, not trying to make you defensive.  Just trying to understand.  The trigger for this thought was a criticism you make of the introduction of Dawn of the Dead, where the girl popped up where she shouldn't, and I was so pleased by the visuals and time jumps of that scene, that I didn't notice anything was wrong.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

1SO

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #35 on: October 29, 2016, 02:35:39 PM »
Hmm. I should have said something more like 'mounting a defense' than 'feeling defensive.' I wasn't taking it personal, I just think that Hated is using a visual strategy, just one not as stylish as Dawn of the Dead. The girl popping up just looks silly, which takes me out of the experience, but there are a number of images in Snyder's Dawn which I think look silly.

oldkid

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #36 on: October 29, 2016, 02:38:25 PM »
I'll have to look at it again and see the kind of strategy that Junior was talking about.  It just didn't stand out to me.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #37 on: October 29, 2016, 02:43:03 PM »
I know everyone and their mom has made this comparison, but boy does this show remind me of The Twilight Zone. Accidentally started with series 3, but I'm guessing watching order doesn't matter for this series.

Nosedive

Social media taken to the point where every interaction is built around getting a rating. I like this idea because it gets to our unhealthy obsession with our presence on social media. How many likes, favorites, retweets and comments we get. And it creates this horrific artificiality where everyone projects this view of life being amazing and everything being pristine when so much of it isn't.

There have been tons of articles in the past few years talking about Facebook dysphoria and depression and I think that's a real thing. In such a controlled environment, you only see the best of people. It's all a fabrication and you create this false idea of what other people's lives are like which makes you dissatisfied with your own because you'll never be as fit, or as good a parent, or as good a photographer as one of your friends. But you don't see any of the shit. None of the screwups, none of the nights that end in tears, none of the fights, none of the hardships.

Putting Bryce Dallas Howard's character through this hellscape of horrible events envisions a world in which people are valued by the merits of the lie thy project, the social media presence, not the actual person. When she ends up getting rated down into oblivion and picked up by a gruff trucker, it's this rare moment of true humanity that bursts through all the bullshit.

Therefore, it's a shame that the final act is cringe-educing. You can see it coming from a mile away, but it's a hard watch. Here's a character so delusional that she'll so clearly pine for this dream moment that quickly falls apart. It's not necessarily bad, but it's a tough watch and I wonder if they couldn't have made it feel so on the nose at the end.

Playtest

Is it weird that this episode feels a lot more straightforward when it deals with virtual reality? I think for me it works better here because the high concept is a bit more easy to grasp. A roving traveler low on money opts into the next big VR experience with a horror game that adapts to your own worst fears.

It reminded me a bit of eXistenZ in how it's these layers of reality that slowly peel back until things just get downright CINECAST!ed up. It hits some good horror beats, and has a handful of solid twists along the way. The high-concept doesn't provide as much social commentary, but it's still a chilling, entertaining story to watch unfold.

Bondo

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #38 on: October 29, 2016, 03:01:38 PM »
But you don't see any of the shit. None of the screwups, none of the nights that end in tears, none of the fights, none of the hardships.

Apparently I've been doing social media wrong. I put my failings and hardships front and center.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Black Mirror
« Reply #39 on: October 29, 2016, 03:06:10 PM »
I do that sometimes. Mostly when it's amusing.

 

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