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Black Mirror: Joan Is Awful (2023)
Interesting, but not top tier
This was an interesting one. I disliked it at the start. I wasn't sensing a whole lot of creativity or anything like that here until the episode progressed a bit further. Some Black Mirror episodes, I feel like I'm grabbed right from the start. This one, not so much. While the premise was interesting, it just seemed kind of dull, like I was watching a strange sitcom, with jokes occasionally hitting, but most of them falling flat or just seeming forced.
But as it continued, it felt more 'Black Mirrory' for those of you that have watched some of the episodes. It fit in more with the rest of the episodes. When they destroyed the quamputa (actually funny), and talking about all the different realties of their people, it made me think of technology and social media. Just like how these people didn't even know if they were themselves or just created versions of the real people, I think that happens to us sometimes with social media. People create these views of themselves that aren't realistic, and it becomes hard to even tell who people actually are anymore.
I also liked the very short scene with Fantima, probably my favorite scene from the whole episode. Specifically when she asks "but why is it negative?". And the reply is, because that's what people focus on. People are so hyper fixated on their image and self conscious nowadays, and I think that again ties in with social media and its presence. People see these ideals and views of people that they feel like they have to be, and it creates pressure and anxiety. They relate more with that negative version of themselves, like the show said. I found that to be interesting. I think we could all benefit from not focusing on that so much, and not worrying about those things so often, and stop the cycle of negative thoughts towards oneself.
Overall, while it did have some interesting concepts, I felt like this episode wasn't quite up to par with the most of the other Black Mirror episodes we've seen. It wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't stand out like others did. Just okay.
Mean Girls (2024)
Entertaining and fun!
This movie was better than I was expecting it to be. While remakes are often very poorly done and just straight cash grabs, I didn't feel that way about this one. I went in with low expectations, and was pleasantly surprised.
Now, that's not to say this a masterpiece of a movie, with some really deep meanings or anything like that. But it is a fun movie. Some of the songs were enjoyable and entertaining, albeit a bit silly. But that's part of what makes them fun! I enjoyed the choreographing, and the visual aesthetics created for a couple of the songs were (dare I say it) quite fetch. There were a few jokes here and there that didn't hit, but for the most part I thought that the humor was also well done.
Go into this movie with an open mind, and I think you'll find out it's alright. It's not the original Mean Girls, but it's certainly not a disgrace to the franchise in my opinion. Sit back, relax, and just appreciate the entertainment from a good, solid movie.
Black Mirror: The Entire History of You (2011)
An overthinkers worst nightmare
Imagine a world where every single tiny thing in your life can be re watched. Reviewed. Critiqued. Over analyzed. That is what we get in this episode. Though micro memory chips, everyone can relive, rewatch, and basically re experience everything they've gone through previously. It seems beneficial at first. You can remember your happy moments. Your accomplishments and triumphs. All the good life has to offer.
But what happens when you start to rewatch not just the good, but the bad too? Things you could've done better. What could've gone differently. Or in this case, sneaking suspicions you might have. This episode brilliantly presented this idea, and I think showed a world that many people live in even without this technology existing. This looks to me like the mind of an over thinker or insecure person, whose numbers are growing every year with the all the opportunities social media and the like provide for second guessing every move you make. The only difference is, in this case, the evidence can be directly presented. It doesn't just live in someone's head. It's actual, hard evidence. It can't be denied.
It's a world without second chances. Once you do something, it's set in stone. It won't be forgotten. It won't become a distant memory. It's there, and it's there to stay. A scary world, and hopefully not a reality anytime soon.
Nope (2022)
Could've been so much more
I was originally very excited to watch this movie. Obviously, Jordan Peele has received a lot of rave reviews for his most recent films, and this one was no different. I also enjoyed Get Out, so i figured he would put together something about as good. When it started out, my excitement only built. I found the monkey gone rogue on set scene interesting, and my curiosity was piqued as to how it would tie in to whatever the alien thing was in the clouds. Likewise, all the other stuff going on in the first part of the movie had me excited to see where it was going to go.
Only for it all to go... absolutely nowhere. The monkey scene stood alone at the end of a film as good representation of what much of the film ended up being. Just an odd, unexplained sequence that makes no sense at all. Why was that scene in the movie at all? I was busy trying to figure out what it meant, perhaps the alien could affect the minds of people/animals or something like that. But it had no relation to anything at all. Besides this, there were so so so many things the characters did that simply did not make sense at all. The transitions from one scene to the next became jarring and did not flow at all. We were thrown from one random encounter to the next, with no continuity or idea of what anything meant. Much of the dialogue was also very poor, just random comments that were filler or characters being unfunny.
As for redeeming qualities of the film, it was visually very interesting to watch. The alien itself was very well-done at the end, and I loved the overall style in which the entire film was shot. The characters were interesting, but most of their roles were minimal and did not develop enough to where they could showcase their talents. This was particularly disappointing as I was looking forward to seeing what the 2 top actors and the top actress were going to bring to the table. But with uninspired script writing, it is hard to accurately grade their performances.
Overall, I think this movie could have been very good. There were interesting ideas all over the place with great visuals, but these ideas were thrown together into a jumbled mess, with lack of a good script also hurting it a lot.