Readers, I promise I am getting around to my "Best of" list, but I still have a few items to review. Here's a little catch-up post with some movies and one excellent British TV series (very) briefly reviewed.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay -- Part 1
Because I saw this movie, with its ridiculously unwieldy title, about a million years ago and don't remember much of it, I'm going to review it using haikus.
Revolution brews
JLaw is the Mockingjay
One film left til' done
Katniss is rescued
Pressed into being symbol
For revolution
They piss off Pres. Snow
He bombs the shit out of them
Still, they keep fighting
Peeta is brainwashed
Poor, poor Katniss Everdeen
Will this girl get laid?
Boom. Seriously, it took me 1/6 the time to write those than to attempt to explain the plot of this film.
B-
***
Guardians of the Galaxy
I'm not typically a fan of sci-fi action films based on comics, but even I couldn't deny the rip-roaring fun of Guardians of the Galaxy. It's got everything! An AWESOME soundtrack, Chris Pratt's abs (though to be honest, I like fat Chris Pratt more), a sarcastic raccoon, and GROOT.
I admit I had a somewhat difficult time following the plot, and the action sequences left my eyes glazed over. I have a lot of trouble with these kinds of films--movies where people have futuristic names like "Ronan the Accuser", and there's one person hunting another person but that person is hunting someone/something else, and there are magical stones that can destroy the universe. Bah. It's all pretty confusing given my brain's limited capacity for geek knowledge. But I had a very enjoyable time watching Guardians if only for the fast-flying wit and, let's be real, Chris Pratt (and his abs).
B
***
The Interview
When you compare it to last summer's pants-poopingly hilarious This is the End, this Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy is pretty weak sauce. But The Interview is destined to be remembered for a long time simply because of the Sony hack and brewhaha that followed. In case you've been living under a rock, some people calling themselves the "Guardians of Peace", aka GOP (an appropriately asshole acronym), hacked into Sony's computer infrastructure and really fucked up some shit. They released personal data, leaked sensitive emails, and wiped out entire servers. They also threatened a 9/11 type event if Sony released The Interview, a film in which Seth Rogen and James Franco assassinate Kim Jong-un. At first Sony decided not to release the film in theatres, and then they turned around and did release it in a few locations. But it doesn't matter because guess how long it took people who wanted to see the movie to find and watch the damn movie? About a millisecond because we live in 2015 and we haz internet. I guess the hackers forgot about that.
The Interview is pretty much what you'd expect from a Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy. It's intermittently clever, with pleasantly weird humor ("You honeydicking me?"; "They hate us cuz they ain' us!") and a generous helping of butt-related jokes. I drank heavily while I watched it and thoroughly enjoyed it. But it's not the kind of movie you threaten a nation over. Jesus! The Interview is worth a "9/11 type event" and yet Human Centipede gets a free pass? That's the real crime, if you ask me.
B-
***
Black Mirror
--> Minor spoilers <--
If you haven't yet watched this very depressing and very, very good show from the United Kingdom, get on dat. It's streaming on Netflix, so you don't have an excuse.
Black Mirror has been described as a modern version of The Twilight Zone, which is actually a fairly apt description. Characters in The Twilight Zone have a tendency to learn lessons too late and have to live (or die) with their stupid mistakes and failings. There are many characters who are "punished" in Black Mirror, but it's us, the audience, who ends up having our noses rubbed in our mistakes.
Black Mirror is centered around all the ways that we--people--have used technology (or *could* use technology, since most of the technological advances shown in the show don't quite exist yet) to destroy ourselves. As an example, the episode "The Entire History of You" takes place in a not-too-distant future in which people can have a "grain" implanted behind their ear that records everything they see and do, so they can relive their memories ad nauseam. It's groundbreaking technology, no doubt. In the episode, a man uses it to obsess over the questionable fidelity of his wife and ultimately destroy his marriage.
"The Entire History of You" and, indeed, all of the episodes of Black Mirror, is not about how technology is evil, but about how humankind can be cruel, apathetic, obsessive, jealous, and take delight in the humiliation of others. The show uses the concept futuristic technology to hold up a (black) mirror to humanity's weakest and basest instincts--who we are today, who we were yesterday, and who we may become. The show's creator, Charlie Brooker, says of the title: "[It] is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone." It's a show for the modern age and it's done so well. I urge you to seek it out.
A-
Most informative haiku ever.
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