Aliens Review, Part 2
Attacking aliens is like kicking a beehive.There’s a sequence of events that must take place to build a hero. But before that sequence can start, the hero must be weak.
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Gary Varner
Alien Review, Part 1
Is the original movie as impressive as everyone says?Alien is considered a sci-fi classic. It started a franchise that has lasted for many years, but while the first couple of movies are highly respected, the later films are thought to be underwhelming to say the least. But is the original as impressive as everyone says? The movie starts out with a large multi-storied ship moving through space. This spacecraft looks like an entire city, and as neat as it is to see, this raises a few questions right away. Why is the vessel so large, and how can only a seven people run this craft? We do get some answers. The ship is called the Nostromo. It is a mining ship, and a computer named Mother runs most Read More ›
Megan Review, Part 3
If you’re looking for a mind-numbing popcorn flick to pass the time, Megan is worth watching.In the previous review, Megan began her killing spree, but Gemma quickly figured out there was a problem with the robot and took her back to her lab. Cady was distraught about the loss of her favorite toy, but Gemma still brought the girl to the lab and made Cady talk with a social worker. Afterward, she and Cady had a heartfelt discussion about the loss of the child’s parents. Gemma takes Cady home. Meanwhile, the assistants bring Megan down to the lab, but the robot escapes. Megan makes a B-line for Gemma’s house, but along the way, she encounters Gemma’s employer, David. She quickly kills the boss and his assistant before stealing a car. David was a rather unlikable Read More ›
Megan Review, Part 2
Happy Halloween! A killer doll breaks protocol.Last time, we talked about how Gemma gave Cady, her niece, a robotic doll, Megan, to help her raise the child after Cady’s parents were killed. At first, things go smoothly enough, but then Megan is attacked by a dog. The writers seem to have given us two potential theories about what’s happening. The first is that the robot is going through some sort of awakening right at the beginning. Megan has overridden the various safety protocols put in place to keep the robot from hurting people, and it’s only pretending to be protective of Cady. The second option is that during this dog attack, the fail safes malfunction, and this enables the robot to go on its murderous rampage. Read More ›
Megan Review, Part 1
An AI doll that does more than just play.Since it’s nearing Halloween, I figured now would be a good time to review some Sci-Fi movies that dabble in the horror genre. Megan came out in 2022 and has been referred to as Chucky for Zoomers. The premise is the same as the horror movie, Child’s Play, from 1988: a child gets a doll. Doll turns psychotic and kills people. It’s pretty straightforward. However, Megan differs by adding a technological twist, calling back to the creepy Furbies, which came out in 1998. Really, those awful toys should’ve had a horror movie of their own. There are many a tale of the mechanical monsters waking up under the bed in the dead of night six months after the poor child Read More ›
Dune Review, Part 3
Exiled into the desert and taken to the Fremen.The cast is strong, and the visuals are impressive, and I’m excited to see how they wrap everything up in the sequel.
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Dune Review, Part 2
A long-expected betrayalThe movie does a better job than the book in covering several of the intricate details involved.
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Dune Review, Part One
Despite the cynical ways of the Bene Gesserit sect, a deeper providence guides the story in Dune.Despite the cynical ways of the Bene Gesserit sect, a deeper providence guides the story in Dune.
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Arrival Review, Part 3
Investigating the meaning of time and languageArrival is a movie worth watching if you’re willing to not think about it too hard.
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Arrival Review, Part 2
On the strangeness of a language telling the futureWhen she asks why the aliens want to help humanity, the aliens respond by saying they will eventually need humanity’s help.
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Arrival Review, Part 1
Nobody behaves like they should for the first ten minutes. They act, dare I say, alien.Arrival is an interesting movie. It’s well-shot, well-acted, and well-written. The trouble is the script makes some strange choices in the beginning and I just wasn’t persuaded by the movie’s twist at the end. The story starts out with a montage where Louise is raising her daughter, but the child tragically dies of some unknown illness, presumably cancer. The viewer is led to conclude that this is a flashback, but if one listens to the monologue Louise delivers, she says plainly that she’s explaining when the child’s story begins, if there are beginning at all, which is something she no longer believes. This basically means that the entire movie is a flashback, but the viewer is not supposed to notice Read More ›
Wrapping Up the Westworld Series
Ultimately, the moral of the story is transhumanismThe first time I watched Westworld, I remember enjoying it, but upon revisiting the series, my opinion of it has dropped a great deal. There are a variety of problems. First, it’s a bait and switch. It teases the idea of showing how robots can come to life, and it plays with your expectations for most of the series. It even goes as far as to discuss theories like The Bicameral Mind, and The Turing Test. Then, in the last episode, it confirms what the viewer has been slowly growing to suspect. The robots had been coming to life the entire time, and Ford had been wiping their memories. The show says that Ford programmed the robots to experience everything Read More ›
Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part Two)
Welcome to the dark end of the journeyLast time, Teddy had just finished saving Dolores from the Man in Black, who turned out to be William all along. He takes her to the coast because that was where he promised to take her when they were performing their pre-programmed loop. However, the coast is apparently not very far because as Dolores dies in his arms, Teddy starts reciting a campy monologue, and then shuts down while the board applauds the speech. Even when they’re trying to escape their loop, the robots still, somehow, find themselves trapped in yet another one of Dr. Ford’s narratives. Dr. Ford appears, addresses the crowd, then orders for Teddy to be cleaned up, and for Dolores to be taken to a nearby Read More ›
Westworld Episode 10 Review (Part One)
The maze isn't the only thing that's hard to navigate in this episode.I’ll start out with the most irrelevant plot first because almost no screen time is devoted to it, and it amounts to nothing in the end anyway. Hale successfully convinces the Board to fire Ford, not that he really cares. But Hale has been convinced this entire time that Ford is going to delete the park’s data out of spite. So, after Theresa is killed, she enlists Sizemore, a jaded writer who works for the park, to smuggle the data out through one of the decommissioned robots. This plan doesn’t work; however, because all the robots wake up by the end of the episode, and the data is lost in the vengeful horde. So, it’s a plot point that goes Read More ›
Westworld Episode 9 Review
Bernard learns the truthEpisode nine is fast paced, but if you’re paying attention, the grand twist is obvious, and I found it a little irritating. In the next review, we’ll discuss the conclusion of Westworld.
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Westworld: Episode 8 Review
Is misery the key to consciousness?Episode 8 is one of the stronger episodes in the series. It starts with Bernard waking up after killing Theresa. Also horrified to realize he is a robot.
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Westworld: Episode 7 Review
In which Theresa makes a terrible discoveryThis episode begins with Bernard having a flashback of his son. It’s a very sad scene that turns out to be a dream sequence. After that, we follow Theresa to Hale’s apartment.
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Westworld: Episode 6 Review
Maeve and the audience get some answersIn short, because the writers aren’t exactly sure how to explain the evolution of robot sentience, the viewers get mixed messages.
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Westworld: Episode 5 Review
Mediocre writing made bearable by talented actorsEpisode Five opens with Ford talking to one of the parks older droid’s, something he has grown fond of doing over the years. He tells a story of an old Grey Hound he and his brother once had, and explains that one time, they let the dog off the leash. The dog was used to chasing a fake rabbit around the track, so when it saw a cat, it immediately went after it. But after the dog had caught the cat and killed it, he didn’t know what to do. This story obviously implies that Dr. Ford knows the droids are becoming conscious, and it seems as if he is the dog chasing the car and has finally caught it. Read More ›
Westworld: Episode 4 Review
If nothing matters, then why are we doing this?Episode three spent a great deal of time simply building the characters and world but had one good scene that explored some interesting ideas about consciousness. Episode Four has a lot more action and much less depth. It does; however, feed us some nihilistic nonsense along the way, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. In the first scene, we return to a glass room where Bernard is once again talking to Dolores. She expresses concern about her world, and this seems to be the first time Bernard has heard her communicating thoughts that are somewhat independent of her programming. So, he gives her a wooden toy he calls The Maze and tells her that if she can find the Read More ›