Sci-fi portrayal of a future dominated by AI gone awol.
Fear not, as ever a bunch of heavily armed American troops take on the Asian-inspired AI robots & replicants to save the world.
This film is seriously xenophobic & racist to boot. My other complaint is that like most modern productions almost all the male characters are bearded making individuals almost indistinguishable from each other
The real barking dog is the most convincing actor in the film.
It turns out to be weirdly reverse xenophobic. The American humans are portrayed as heartless militaristic thugs, especially as they slaughter buhdist robbed robot replicants.
It’s still rubbish but the CGI is impressive (possibly enhanced with AI?).
Martin Scorsese Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, 2005
First time I’ve seen this. Very illuminating on how Dylan sucked the essence out of the music he was exposed to and transformed it. Shown originally on Arena BBC. Well worth seeking out if anyone hasn’t seen it.
Paradis City - Prime. Puzzling Swedish portrayal of social breakdown in the immigrant ghettoes. Lots of shooting & disjointed screenplay. Tattoos & beards. 2/10
The Singing Detective - BBC iplayer. I missed this the first time round in 1986. Gambon is brilliant.
Some very funny moments like “Quick think of something boring…
Wage rates in Peru. James Burke. ‘‘Finnegan’s Wake’’. The dog in ‘‘Blue Peter’’. Brian Clough. Australian barmen. The Guardian woman’s page. Reader’s Digest Special Draw. Bible Psalms. A speech by Ted Heath. A long sentence, from Bernard Levin. A Welsh male-voice choir. A quiz by Christopher Booker. Ethiopian aid, Mark Thatcher in the desert. Gardener’s Question Time chaired by Peter Hall. The 5th Beatle, David Owen. Ludovic Kennedy. Geoffrey Howe. A flock of sheep. “
Chaos - Netflix. Disturbing documentary about Charles Manson. The Beach Boys feature in the early part of his descent into madness. The dark side of the 60s in California
Adolescence on Netflix. A must watch. 4 episodes. Using “one take” shooting. Just gripping and such a sad indictment of the impact of social media on teenage boys.
Sisu - Netflix.
Great tongue in cheek action film. Part war film with a spaghetti western feel, very Tarantino-esque. Watched it by chance tonight and loved it.
Just started watching this last night and it is utterly remarkable. Superb acting and really heartbreaking. Loads of 5 star reviews in the press. As you say, a terrible indictment on what life is actually like now for adolescents, particularly boys
Yes. It is one of those landmark dramas that people will talk about for some time to come. The one take filming is so well done it brings its own momentum to the storytelling.
Watched two episodes of Adolescence on Netflix. I saw an advert and quite a few good press reviews, but God I’m not sure I can put up with another 2 episodes of awful acting and directing. It’s like watching Coronation Street on steroids. 50% of the script is good, 50% is very bad. There’s no middle ground. Stephen Graham is brilliant, as usual, and the lad is excellent, but the rest of the cast are terrible. Did I mention that?
The psychologist interviewing the boy in episode 3 is perfect. Each episode stands apart and it isn’t just another 4 episode slog. I think it’s cleverly written and acted. Certainly a significant improvement over the typical Americanised rubbish on Netflix recently.
Snowpiercer series 2 - Netflix. The train of humanity’s salvation from the Big Freeze. British Rail, it is not.
What it is, is 100% rubbish. Unintelligible storyline, unbelievably bad acting, obligatory lesbian love scenes, the last 2 surviving Aussies (?), Ultrasound pregnancy test, illicit cannabis fags, children in formal school uniforms, boxing pastor, a femme fatale, etc. No animals appear to have seats on the train. There is class war, however.
Oh, the soundtrack is dreadful, too.
0/10
- justice in the Wild West. Violent. Strong screenplay & characters. Good.
