Black Mirror – Season 3: San Junipero

Recensie San Junipero

*This review contains spoilers*
The bodies in which we live are temporary and through the influence of time, they are slowly getting worse. We might be young in spirit, but eventually we’ll succumb to the failure of the cells from which we are made. For centuries, there has been a search for a source of eternal youth, but to no avail. However, a new mindset seems to be getting more momentum, one that also has been depicted in several films, which is leaving our body behind and uploading our personality to a computer. The Matrix showed a simulated world and you could see in the last Terminator movie or Transcendence wat kind of powers such an environment could add. This episode of Black Mirror looks at how our consciousness and computers could work together.

Review San Junipero

San Junipero is initially confusing, because as a viewer you aren’t shown yet how the world works (on purpose). You see how a young woman in the eighties is feeling uncomfortable visiting a club. She starts talking with another girl and after spending the night together with her she disappears. She wants to meet her again, but can’t seem to find her. Someone else tells her that she can find her in the nineties and that’s when you start wondering what is going on. Slowly you discover what’s happening and this is one of the few expisodes of Black Mirror which doesn’t end on a low. It’s all about a possible answer what are lives could look like if we would no longer be contained by our physcial bodies and could live forever. One of the best episodes of season 3, with great roles by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis.

Moana (2016) – Review

Review Moana

As a fan of animation 2016 was a pretty good year when it came to Disney movies. At the beginning of the year the excellent Zootopia was release, which introduced a new world you wanted to spend more time in and at the end of the year they released their second animated movie, Moana. Is it just as good as Zootopia? Continue reading

Spectral (2016) – Review

Review Spectral

The amount of new content Netflix puts out is sometimes hard to keep up with. Some weeks ago they released the Netflix Original movie Spectral. It is a science fiction/action movie with supernatural elements. When the army is fighting a war in Slovenia one of the soldiers is killed in a mysterious way by something which isn’t visible to the naked eye. Dr. Mark Clyne (James Badge Dale), a researcher at DARPA, is asked to analyze the event, which was recorded by a special system, and find a solution. Are the things they are seeing advanced camouflage suits or are they dealing with something completely different? Continue reading

The Red Turtle (2016) – Review

Review The Red Turtle

Silence in a film can be very powerful. It is an important tool in the filmmaker’s toolbox . Moments where not much happens can raise tension, but are also able to express emotion. Just think of Wall E, where the most powerful and emotional part was where there wasn’t any dialog. The same was the case for Up. Both movies were made by Pixar and together with Studio Ghibli (en Disney) belong to the best in animation. They are studios which not only manage to touch the hearts of children, but also have something deeper which appeal to older viewers. Unfortunately the future of Ghibli is uncertain. Both founding members have retired (although one temporarily returns) and there is no way of telling if the studio will release something in the future. So I was happy when I heard they would be releasing The Red Turtle. The fact that this movie wasn’t made in Japan, makes it a very special one. Continue reading

Black Mirror – Season 3: Playtest

Review Black Mirror Playtest seizoen 3

As someone who has been playing games for years and who has experienced this form of entertainment developing from three simple blocks on the screen (Pong) to extremely realistic worlds like those in for example Grand Theft Auto, I sometimes wonder where we’ll eventually end up. At the moment virtual reality and augmented reality are hot, because they are able to offer a new experience where “presence” is the magic word. As a player you must have the feeling that you are really in a different place. The headsets follow the movements of your head and the world you experience matches that perfectly. It is a field that is still young in its current form, but how will it evolve? Playtest tries to give an answer to that question in a typical Black Mirror way, directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) Continue reading

Doctor Strange (2016) – Review

Review Doctor Strange

Although Marvel releases several new superhero movies each year with famous characters who are part of the Avengers, it also takes a risk (to a certain degree, as they follow a formula) by bringing a relatively unknown character and bringing them to the big screen. That previously worked well with Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man. Now it’s Doctor Strange’s turn. Continue reading

Arrival (2016) – Review

Review Arrival

Getting thoughts and ideas across can happen in various ways and as humans we have a constant urge to communicate. Not only about the present, but also for people in the future. This review is an example of that, because as I’m writing this I know others will read it days, weeks or even months later.

Communication appears to be easy, but it comes as no surprise that misinterpretation can happy quickly depending on the way it is communicated and the state of the person receiving that information. It sometimes might be hard to translate a feeling into words, as much as it is impossible to really describe a scent.In Arrival, de latest movie by one of my favorite directors, Denis Villeneuve, it’s all about communication. How can you get messages across to someone who speaks a completely foreign language to yours, in this case aliens?This review contains spoilers Continue reading

ARQ (2016) – Review

review arq

Timecrimes, Groundhog Day, Triangle, the tv show Day Break, +1 and Edge of Tomorrow, they are just a few examples of movies in which the main character gets stuck in a time loop. A piece of time in which the same events keep taking place and where the main character uses his knowledge of them to outwit everyone and hopefully escape. It’s “High concept” which is fun to watch. Netflix has stepped into this genre with ARQ, a relatively low budget film (according to director Tony Elliott shy of two million dollar). Is this a must-see for Netflix subscribers? Continue reading

Now You See Me 2 (2016) – Review

Review Now You See Me 2

The Four Horsemen are back! Well, at least that’s the feeling a lot of people had when the news broke that this sequel was getting made. I wasn’t excited at all. The original movie was slick and managed to entertain, but the twist at the end was so unbelievable that it took the feeling I had about the movie, threw it on the ground, built a stadium around it and had the chariot race from Spartacus run over it. It completely destroyed the movie for me and I really didn’t feel like having to go through that again. Still, the reviews of the sequel weren’t that bad, so I decided to give it a chance. Should I have? Continue reading