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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses under
the ‘About Me’ section).
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Black Mirror: Season Five
Here we are at season five of this anthology series
(available on Netflix) involving various forms of technology usually, if not
always, having a negative impact. This
season only contains three episodes, all a little over an hour. The first two seasons only had 3 episodes as
well though, and there was a standalone, choose-your-outcome film (Bandersnatch) released 6 months ago (you
can read my reviews for that film plus the entire series thus far in the archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com). Since there were only three episodes, each
with different ratings, I reviewed them separately:
“Rachel, Jack and Ashley Too” (OK)
This one stars Miley Cyrus as a famous pop singer, not
herself mind you, but as Ashley performing an un-catchy dance-pop cover of Nine
Inch Nails’ “Head Like a Hole” and a slightly more rock version later on that I
thought was even worse. The Ashley Too
of the title is a miniature robot version of her that apparently contains parts
of her brain. This episode wasn’t as bad
as it could’ve been, but it’s ultimately about young artists having no say in
their creative output and wasn’t distinctively Black Mirror material.
“Smithereens” (EH)
Here’s another segment that didn’t necessarily have to be a Black Mirror episode as it’s a bland
hostage story involving a man angry at an app company despite being no one’s
fault but his own for how his life turned out.
Props though for the gunman not assuming his hostage is straight at one
time (Down with heteronormativity!
Nothing against straight people, mind you, they’re just not the only
ones in the world). Oh, and Topher Grace
does not look good with a man bun; that was never a good look to begin with
(sorry man bun friends/acquaintances).
“Striking Vipers” (G)
This one starring Anthony Mackie was the only one this
season that actually felt like a Black
Mirror episode. It involves the
titular video game in which two grown men simultaneously play as opposite-sex
avatars and “bond” in a way they never have in reality before. It isn’t exactly “San Junipero” of season
three, but it reminded me of it. Being John Malkovich slightly came to
mind as well, but it wasn’t like that at all.
This is a potent episode, with an ending that was just right, confirming
that some people still have trouble being their true selves.
In conclusion, this wasn’t the best season as a whole, last
season was better, but like most anthology shows/movies, segments are going to
be hit and miss, sometimes equally, sometimes one over the other. I will tune in for season six and beyond;
let’s just hope next season is better overall.
6/6/2019
Bonus review:
Black Spot: Season One OK
French series available on Netflix consisting of 8 episodes,
all 50-something minutes. Unfortunately,
they all felt like it too, most of them feeling even longer. The set-up and location are great though;
it’s an isolated small town surrounded by woods---perfect for a
mystery/thriller. Being that it’s a
small town, isolated at that, everyone knows everyone and most of them have
secrets. Yup, this small town (on
screen) is no different. There’s an air of
Twin Peaks about it all, complete
with a sawmill in town (go ahead and deny the influence, creators, but you
should’ve been more subtle than that).
There’s even a mystery surrounding a missing girl in town from the
get-go who may or may not be dead (you do find out). Laura Palmer may have been dead from the
onset of Twin Peaks but the
comparisons are hard to deny. After
finding out where the missing girl is here, alive or dead, the revelation is a
‘whatever’ reaction. There were a couple
episodes where it seemed a different case was brought up before the culprit was
revealed, almost making it a sort of CSI-type
show (or Scooby-Doo more accurately). Oh, and this ain’t no “ordinary” town either;
there seems to be a bipedal creature with antlers dwelling in the woods that we
only see sporadic glimpses of until the very end. I wish the series would’ve spent more time on
that mythological aspect; it almost gave it a Wayward Pines kind of vibe.
Overall, I don’t think this show is entirely worth watching; despite
looking great as I’ve mentioned, the episodes drag as I’ve mentioned and the
characters aren’t as compelling as that aforementioned David Lynch-created
series. That being said, this is an
exercise in style over substance (I’m very hesitant in continuing with season
two that’s soon to be released). I
suggest you watch Twin Peaks instead
(again or for the first time), or even Wayward
Pines. 6/8/2019
Other
movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
Ahockalypse >>>EH/OK
(closer
to OK)
Bedevilled >>>G
Dragged Across
Concrete >>>OK
---Sean O.
6/9/2019
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