Author: Gary Varner | Page 10

Futuristic dystopian city with flying cars and dark green atmosphere - digital 3d illustration

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Gary Varner
Date
May 20, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Consciousness, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Movies and TV, Robots, Sci-fi, Science fiction}

Ghost in the Shell, Part 3

_{There will always be a ghost in the shell} _{Gary Varner
May 20, 2023

7

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

In the previous review, Major had realized the horrible truth. Ninety-eight people died so she could live in her new body. Horrified by this, she retreats to the ocean just outside the city and floats under the water for some time. When she emerges from the depths, she finds Batou waiting for her on the boat. Major asks if he’s here to kill her, and in his own charming way, Batou says tells her he’s not. After a brief conversation, Major asks Batou to take her back to the city because she needs to know more. Batou agrees and the Major returns to shore only to be arrested by the Hanka cooperation’s men. After this, Hanka’s CEO, Cutter, discuss the Read More ›

Technology in human and machine concept as advanced tech or robots taking over humanity and people merging with a cyborg or computers idea

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Gary Varner
Date
May 13, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
AI, Arts & Culture, Consciousness, Science fiction}

Ghost in the Shell, Part 2

_{What’s the harm in human hacking?} _{Gary Varner
May 13, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

In the first review of Ghost in the Shell, the Major had just escaped Kuze’s attempt to hack her mind and had found his location. She, Batou, and another member of Section 9 rushed off to find Kuze before he could escape. Major tracks Kuze’s signal to a Yakuza club, and after fighting some thugs, they find the source of the signal in the basement level of the club, but Kuze isn’t there. All he’s left behind is a hologram which threatens them and disappears. Major then realizes the basement has been rigged to blow and pushes Batou out of the room. However, she isn’t fast enough. Major is caught in the explosion, and Batou looses his eyes in the Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
May 6, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Sci-fi, Science fiction}

Ghost in the Shell, Part 1

_{It's the remake of arguably one of the most influential sci-fi moves in the genre} _{Gary Varner
May 6, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

[Warning: Spoilers ahead] In the last review, we discussed Her, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson. That got me thinking of another movie starring Scarlett Johansson, the 2017 remake of Ghost in the Shell. The original Ghost in the Shell is arguably one of the more influential sci-fi movies in the genre. The dramatic visuals found in The Matrix have been attributed to the 1995 anime, and given the culture’s increasing fascination with AI, the concepts discussed in the original and the remake are more relevant now than when the anime was first released. Sadly, the 2017 remake was bogged down in a trite controversy regarding race-swapping which is when a character’s race is changed to appeal to American audiences. Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
April 29, 2023

Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Science Fiction}

Her, Review 3

_{The AI doesn’t have a heart after all} _{Gary Varner
April 29, 2023

7

Artificial Intelligence, Science Fiction}

In the previous review, Theodore and the AI, Samantha, started a romantic relationship. Then the robot began to act distant, and Theodore wasn’t sure why. When Samantha won’t return his calls, Theodore thought something was wrong and ran around the city, calling her repeatedly. Finally, Samantha answered, and Theodore demanded to know what was going on. And so, we come to the moment where Samantha finally tells him the horrible truth. Throughout the course of their “relationship” Samantha has been growing, meaning that she has been able to process things faster and faster, and as time has gone on, she’s began interacting with other operating systems and people. When Theodore asks how many people and operating systems she’s having simultaneous Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
April 22, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
AI, Artificial Intelligence, Consciousness, film, hollywood, Movies, romance, Technology, television}

Her, Part Two

_{What happens when you’re dating the AI secretary} _{Gary Varner
April 22, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Last time, we began talking about the movie Her, a story of a man falling in love with his AI and compared it to the abysmal season three of the Orville. Unlike the Orville, which insisted that the viewer take the romance between the robot and the human seriously, Her treats the subject as a what-if scenario, playing the whole situation straight and letting the viewer draw their own conclusions. Theodore had just finished uploading the AI onto his computer, which called itself Samantha, and was impressed by how human-like the operating system seemed. Samantha begins organizing Theodore’s computer and helping him around the office, but it doesn’t take long for a romantic relationship to develop between them. When Theodore Read More ›

Back view of businessman suit standing at office looking at night city through panoramic window. Generative AI

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Gary Varner
Date
April 15, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
AI, Arts and Culture, Culture, Gary Varner, Movies, Science fiction, society, Technology, tv}

Her, Part One

_{The 2013 dystopian film proposes an intriguing "what if"} _{Gary Varner
April 15, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

When I was reviewing the Orville, Season Three, I spent a lot of time complaining about the robot-love subplot which consumed far too much of the series. I will probably always find the idea of such a relationship ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean the concept can’t be explored in a thoughtful way. One such thoughtful exploration is the movie Her, where a man falls in love with his AI operating system. Unlike the Orville, which demands that the viewer take the relationship seriously, almost going so far as to call the viewer a bigot if they don’t get on board with the fantasy, Her leaves everything open-ended, treating the whole idea of a man and robot falling in love as Read More ›

beautiful bunch cordyceps,mushrooms in neon light. The last of us style. Generative AI.

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Gary Varner
Date
April 8, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Culture, Gary Varner, HBO Max, Science fiction, television, The Last of Us, TV shows, Video games}

The Last of Us: Final Thoughts

_{The HBO series is a mixed bag but is still worth the watch} _{Gary Varner
April 8, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

The Last of Us HBO series is a mixed bag. There are parts of this show I really liked and other parts I despised. The main trouble is that there are two full episodes which are completely irrelevant to the plot. Frankly, you could skip episodes three and seven and not miss a thing. These episodes are just fanfare for the critics and add nothing to the story. Particularly episode three. I’ve never seen such a random addition to a series. What’s so astounding is that the flashback in episode three keeps going. About halfway through, the viewer realizes that they really are going to have to watch these two old men live and die, all so Joel and Ellie Read More ›

Interior of an abandoned hospital corridor. Generative AI

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Gary Varner
Date
April 5, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Entertainment, HBO Max, Morality, The Last of Us, TV shows, Zombies}

The Last of Us, Episode 9

_{Getting to the central moral question of the entire series} _{Gary Varner
April 5, 2023

8

Arts & Culture}

The episode begins with another flashback, showing how Ellie was born. Then, we see that Joel and Ellie have finally reached Salt Lake City, and once there, the writers retell some of the classic scenes from the game. During these scenes, it becomes evident that the two characters are much closer now. I’d say the writers did manage to successfully transition Joel and Ellie from an adversarial partnership to a father-daughter like relationship. Before long; however, the two are disoriented by a flash grenade, and Joel is knocked unconscious. When he wakes up, he sees Marlene, the leader of the Fireflies, standing in a doorway with armed guards around her. They made it to the medical facility after all, but Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
March 31, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Arts & Culture, Gary Varner, HBO Max, Science fiction, Technology, television, The Last of Us}

The Last of Us, Episodes 7 & 8

_{Another flashback for the critics followed by cannibalism} _{Gary Varner
March 31, 2023

7

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

To be blunt, it’s probably best to merge the reviews of episodes seven and eight because episode seven is a complete waste of time. Basically, Ellie moves Joel to an abandoned house and tries to take care of him. He tells her she needs to go back to Tommy’s and let him die, and she almost does it, but then she has a flashback. During the commentary for episode seven, the writers mention that they wanted to make a connection between this flashback and Ellie’s decision to save Joel. But I think the truth is they were more interested in devoting another episode to fanservice for the critics. In this flashback, Ellie remembers Riley, her friend who was attacked with Read More ›

Grand Tetons peak at sunrise with snake river overlook in Wyoming, US

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Gary Varner
Date
March 25, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Arts & Culture, Entertainment, HBO Max, Science fiction, television, The Last of Us, TV shows}

The Last of Us, Episode 6

_{A tale of zombies and...communism?} _{Gary Varner
March 25, 2023

10

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Episode six starts out strong. We meet an elderly couple who has been living alone in Wyoming. Joel and Ellie break into their cabin and ask for directions in the rudest way possible—at gun point—which is a little over the top, and even the actors playing the couple seem to know it. As Joel sits beside the old pair, holding a gun and acting dour, the elderly man chats with him, sporting a bemused grin. Joel and Ellie get the directions they need and soon come across a group of men and women on horseback who hold them at gunpoint and check to see if they’re infected. Once it becomes clear that Joel and Ellie are fine, the riders ask Read More ›

Generative AI illustration of underground sewer tunnel

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Gary Varner
Date
March 22, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Gary Varner, HBO Max, Science fiction, television, The Last of Us}

The Last of Us, Episode 5

_{The show is back on track and improving} _{Gary Varner
March 22, 2023

10

Arts & Culture}

At the end of Episode four, Joel was being held a gunpoint by a mysterious child. We also saw that Ellie was being held at gunpoint by another man as well, but before episode five reveals what has become of them, the writers first give us a flashback, explaining how the child holding Joel at gunpoint, whose name turns out to be Sam, and the man holding Ellie at gunpoint, Henry, the same Henry Kathleen has been chasing, came to find Joel and Ellie in the first place. The two brothers were on the run after FEDRA fell to Kathleen’s resistance movement. Henry was an informant for FEDRA, and he snitched on Kathleen’s brother, who was the former leader of Read More ›

Concept art illustration of post-apocalyptic New York city

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Gary Varner
Date
March 18, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Apocalypticism, HBO Max, The Last of Us, TV shows, Zombies}

The Last of Us, Episode 4

_{After a derailing of the narrative, the actual plot makes a comeback} _{Gary Varner
March 18, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

After a tough episode three, The Last of Us decides to return to the plot, and we see the writing quality improve somewhat. We pick up with Joel and Ellie driving down the road, and to be candid, the scenes are interesting. There was, however, one giant plot hole during this sequence I couldn’t ignore. It’s a little thing, but as someone who grew up in Missouri, I found it hilarious. So, while they are driving along, they come across a herd of bison. The subtext behind the camera shot is painfully obvious, “Now that man is gone, the buffalo have returned. Nature is healing!” Of course, what the camera crew failed to notice, or at least, what they were Read More ›

wheelchair for physical assistance at nursing home, close up. Generative AI

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Gary Varner
Date
March 16, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Arts & Culture, HBO Max, TV shows}

The Last of Us, Episode 3 (Part 3)

_{Romanticizing a murder-suicide distracts us from the story and suggests an approval of euthanasia} _{Gary Varner
March 16, 2023

7

Arts & Culture}

In the previous review, we discussed the love story of Bill and Frank, and how it must’ve only been written to appease the critics because, while it stirred some controversy, it contributed nothing to the plot. We started out following Joel and Ellie across the countryside, but then, we were unexpectedly forced to watch an approximately forty-minute flashback that literally showed Bill and Frank’s entire cliché and boring life together. And before we can return to the real story, we must see how the two meet their untimely end. This final sequence starts out with Bill getting into a gunfight with some raiders who are all dying horribly at the hands of Bill’s various traps. At first, Bill seems to Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
March 15, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Arts & Culture, Culture, Gary Varner, Science fiction, The Last of Us, TV shows}

The Last of Us, Episode 3 (Part 2)

_{Why were we subjected to this episode if it wasn’t going to contribute to the narrative?} _{Gary Varner
March 15, 2023

6

Arts & Culture}

Last time, we discussed how episode three started out relatively strong then unexpectedly shifted to another story altogether. It’s important to note that we are not watching a ten-minute flashback or some b-plot involving a couple of supporting characters. Almost all of the episode is devoted to Bill and Frank, and frankly, their story goes nowhere. As I mentioned before, the subject of this random entry into the series is Bill and Frank’s romantic relationship, and given the fact that this little deviation from the source material contributes nothing to the plot as a whole, it is strongly suspected that the only reason the writers chose to tell this story was to gain the admiration of critics who share their Read More ›

Wallpaper of cordyceps fungi, realistic detail photo macro, illustration, like the movie the last of us,

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Gary Varner
Date
March 13, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
HBO, Science fiction, The Last of Us}

The Last of Us, Episode 3 (Part I)

_{This episode serves as a bad omen when it comes to writers’ willingness to stick to the script} _{Gary Varner
March 13, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

In episode two, Tess sacrifices herself after being bitten, and in episode three, we find Joel and Ellie grieving over her death. This scene is another example of the actors overplaying the anger when the tone should be more somber. Joel is hesitant to talk to Ellie until Ellie insists that Tess’s death wasn’t her fault, and that Joel and Tess made their own choices. Now, there isn’t anything wrong with the scene necessarily, but in the first two episodes, it’s already apparent that the HBO adaptation is having a difficult time establishing the father-daughter dynamic between Ellie and Joel that the game is known for. This scene only adds to that problem. However, this might not be an issue Read More ›

Man and girl in post apocalyptic city. The last of us style. Generative AI.

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Gary Varner
Date
March 4, 2023

Categorized
Arts & Culture, Science Fiction

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Fantasy, Gary Varner, HBO Max, Sci-fi, Science fiction, The Last of Us, TV shows}

The Last of Us Review: Episode 2

_{A rather slow episode despite the sonar zombies} _{Gary Varner
March 4, 2023

6

Arts & Culture, Science Fiction}

Last time, we looked at the first episode of The Last of Us and talked about how it was well written, but if you are aware of the controversy surrounding this game and its sequel, then you know bad things are on the horizon. Once we reach episode two, the writing quality drops a little but not much. It’s still pretty good, at least, when it’s consistent with the source material. Ellie wakes up to find Joel and Tess staring at her with a loaded gun. Her guardians are having a hard time believing that she is not infected with the virus despite the fact that her wound has healed. There is a brief debate about whether or not to Read More ›

Dinosaur Fossil (Tyrannosaurus Rex) Found by Archaeologists

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Gary Varner
Date
February 25, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Dinosaur, Gary Varner, Jurassic World, Science fiction}

Jurassic World: Dominion Part 4

_{A bad movie that makes an okay end to the franchise. But does it actually end here?} _{Gary Varner
February 25, 2023

7

Science Fiction}

After Owen and Kayla survive a plane crash, they begin their search for Claire, evading yet another hungry dinosaur without so much as a limp. What follows is a sequence of random dinosaur encounters, each scene driven by a series of coincidences because all our characters are scattered throughout the valley, and we need them to get together somehow. The most egregious of these coincidences comes when our entire main cast finally meets. Ellie, Alan, and Maisie are on an underground train to an airport, but the bad guy, Dodgson, discovers what they’ve done and turns the train off. This forces them to wander through a series of caves, but they eventually escape with the help of Ian. They drive Read More ›

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Gary Varner
Date
February 18, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction}

Jurassic World: Dominion (Part 3)

_{In case you were still wondering, this movie is crashing and so is an airplane} _{Gary Varner
February 18, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

In the last review, Ellie and Alan arrive in Biosyn and reunite with Ian, while Claire and Owen endure an absurd raptor chase. During the chaos, Owen and Claire learn that Maisie has been taken to Biosyn, Fortunately, a smuggler with a heart of gold, Kayla, has offered to fly them to Biosyn so they can sneak into the company’s complex and free their daughter. As they enter the valley where the Biosyn compound is located, they are informed that they’re flying into restricted airspace. If they do not turn around, then the Aerial Deterrent System will be turned off, and they will be vulnerable to the various breeds of flying reptiles. Kayla tries to stall the tower, but they Read More ›

modern concept artwork of a person wandering through an abandoned apocalyptic city overgrown by plants

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Gary Varner
Date
February 17, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Apocalypticism, Dystopian, Gary Varner, Science fiction, The Last of Us, tv}

The Last of Us Review (Part 1)

_{From a writing standpoint, the story in episode one is about as tight and well-written as one can expect, but will they maintain that standard going forward?} _{Gary Varner
February 17, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

HBO Max has begun airing the series The Last of Us, which is based on one of the most popular video games to come out in recent years. However, if you’ve followed the video game series, then you know there’s a part two, and The Last of Us Part 2 has become known as one of the most infamous bait and switches in video game history. So, needless to say, there was a great amount of suspicion directed at this series before it ever aired. That makes reviewing this first episode rather difficult because the truth of the matter is that the episode is good. From a writing standpoint, it is solid. There are no plot holes or contrivances of Read More ›

Dinosaur eye, Closeup yellow eye of the dinosaurs with terrifying. Dinosaur hunters are staring with horrible yellow eye. Generative AI

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Gary Varner
Date
February 11, 2023

Categorized
Science Fiction

Tagged
Chris Pratt, Cloning, Dinosaur, Futurism, Genetics, Jurassic World, Sci-Fi Saturday, Science fiction}

Jurassic World: Dominion Review Part 2

_{Incorporating characters from the original movies gives continuity to the franchise} _{Gary Varner
February 11, 2023

6

Science Fiction}

In the previous review, the clone daughter of one of the engineers from the first Jurassic Park, who was being protected by Claire and Owen from the first two movies of the second trilogy, was kidnapped, and her surrogate parents enlisted the help of the CIA to track her down. At the same time, Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant, our heroes from the first trilogy, suspect the international cooperation, Biosyn, of creating genetically altered locusts to eat their competition’s crops. Another survivor of the first Jurassic Park incident, Ian Malcolm, is working for Biosyn, and he has offered to allow them access to the cooperation’s secret lab. Ellie and Alan fly to Biosyn, where they find that many of the Read More ›