Black Mirror – Ingenious Writing or Actual Premonitions?

 

If there’s one question that I have after watching Black Mirror: season 4 it’s this, are Charlie Brooker or Annabel Jones time-travellers? If the answer to that is no, which I presume it is, then that makes them something else entirely. The single most remarkable showrunners around at the moment.

I won’t be going into detail into each episode, as that may very well take away from your viewing experience if you haven’t yet seen the show and if you haven’t, why the heck not? If you want to know what the future of our world holds for us, Black Mirror is the closest you’re going to get to a crystal ball. These future realities are neither utopian or dystopian but instead are just reflections of where we socially stand right now and where we go from here.

While each episode is unique in its own right, there’s a long-running undercurrent of similar themes. Technology and self-infliction being two that are heavily utilised. One could try and argue that it’s simply a sci-fi show about the future but in actual fact, it is a whole lot more. If I had to put it simply, I’d describe the show as an anthology of potential close futures, encapsulated in the physical form of satirical dramas, all of which explore techno-paranoia and the collective mindset of turmoil towards the modern day and what it may evolve into. Yes, that’s putting it simply.

But what makes Black Mirror so special is the potentiality of each episodes arising subject and the relatability of the world that it’s set in. Take, for example, the season 3 episode, white Christmas. In which, after an unclean break-up, Joe (Rafe Spall) is blocked by his spouse, Beth (Janet Montgomery). While we, in our existence know blocking as a lack of communication through social media, In the Black Mirror existence,  Joe now sees Beth in person as a greyed out humanoid figure and can only hear muffled unintelligible words whenever she talks. Similarly to our version of “blocking” Beth sees Joe the same way. What this essentially now means is there’s no physical, verbal, or social contact between the two. No way to reconcile. No way to make-up. Beth has all of the power.

Again, I’m not going into detail of what happens due to this, other than Joe ultimately becomes a broken man after finding out Beth was pregnant. Here’s the kicker, “Blocks” are genetically passed on, Joe isn’t only non-existent to Beth but also Beths daughter. Now, to me, this is not that far-fetched. This is what we know as blocking, taken to the extreme due to technology evolving alongside us. The same can be said for any piece of technology explored within the show. The reason I chose white Christmas as an example is that the reality of the rest of the world around the characters is arguably 1:1 to the world we live in now. Sure, there’s some slightly more advanced tech in terms of smart watches and phones but nothing that won’t become reality within the next few years. This just drives the relatability and likeliness of this becoming our reality.

In summary, no matter how extreme Charlie or Annabel take the technology within the show, it remains plausible, all due to the representation of the world around it. The culmination of both achievability and intensity of each potential impending future combines to create something akin to the twilight zone, a contemporary adaptation of sorts. The only difference being that the Black Mirror world is so close to our world that it instils dread and concern for the reality we may wake up to. Season 4 takes this up one more notch in terms of demise and seemingly eternal suffering and brings it one, terrifying step closer to our Apple stores and Amazon baskets.

Goosebumps – My Childhood Revisited

Okay so, as a kid, Goosebumps was my thing. I’ve read every single story including the first ever copy released in 1992, “Welcome to the dead house.” all the way up to “Night of the puppet people” which was released back in september 2015. So naturally, when I heard a Goosebumps movie was to be released, my intital reaction was to jump for complete joy. Although, as a film fan i know first hand how reboots and film adaptations can, to put it lightly, go to complete shit so i refrained from showing excitement until i first saw the film. Notice how I say “first” as i’m now up rewatch number 7. I should add, spoiler alert. Seriously. If you havn’t seen the film or have heard no news then you really should consider coming back to me after watching.

No? Okay then, you’re choice. Here we go.

I’m going to begin by saying this. Stick with me here, this may get a little bit confusing. Throughout the film I noticed that in and of itself, it’s not scary, at all. No jumpscares, subtext, deaths, anything. So you could watch the entire film without a moment of the fear that it should resonate. Now, add the book series…the books that we read as little children with much more limited minds. I know i don’t just speak for myself when i say Slappy gave me nightmares for months. It seems as if by adding the books another dimension is added to the film watching experience, we know what these creatures are truly capable of and are constantly reminded of the horror we were filled with as children. if you ask me, If Rob Letterman intended this, he’s an absolute genious.

Another example of knowing the books affecting how we see the film is Hannah, Stine’s daughter. And the first person to welcome Zach into his new surroundings. Sure enough, Zach and hannah fall in love but as the story unfolds we find out Hannah is actually one of Stine’s creations, which means, when all creatures are sucked back into where they once resided, Hannah joined them. Any Goosebumps fan would pick up on this when she first peeked her head through a gap in the garden fence. Mainly because of Stine’s 10th book in the series, “The Ghost next door” in which an entire family is unaware that they are already dead.  The girl of this family, Hannah.

The amount of references and easter eggs in this film are insane. Not to count the amount of nods to the book series. To begin with, a swarm of garden Gnomes tie up Jack black and try to send him into an oven which was an obvious nod to gullivers travels. Another is when an angel statue grabs hannah and this statue looks almost identical to the weeping angels from Dr Who. The visual representation of the clown from “clown street” looks very similar to Pennywise from the Stephen King novel.

In terms of Stephen King, one scene stands out to me, after being compared to him several times, Stine has to find a place to write one more novel to trap the creatures and where does he find? The set of a school play, specifically, The shining. This works on two levels, not only is it a clear Stephen King reference that rubs salt in Stines wounds but the Shining focuses on a writer in a hotel. Stine’s clearly aware of this as his face shows at the time. I’ve saved the best reference till last, the real R.L Stine is in the film in the final few minutes playing “The new Drama teacher, Mr Black.” Which is clearly one of the biggest nods to Jack Blacks role in School of Rock in existance. We also need to take a second to appreciate Jack Black. Not only does he pull off Stine impeccably but he also voices the ONLY two speaking creatures in the film, Slappy and The invisible boy.

(Invisible Boy image not available)

To sum up, this film is the epitome of my childhood which is why I adored it.  I’ve cut out so much information that you should wait to see for yourself such as the creatures and character development. SO if you havn’t already, watch Goosebumps. And again, if you havn’t already, READ A GOOSEBUMPS BOOK.

As Above, So Below…it’s expectations

If i havn’t mentioned this before, i’m a huge horror junkie. Found footage films in particular will always have a place in my heart. Which is why the trailer for this film had me jumping for joy. Now imagine my face when i then watched the film itself. To begin with is the lack of skill from the in film documentary maker, Benji (Edwin Hodge). He decides to document Scarlett (Perdita Weeks) on her journey to uncover a secret hidden in the french catacombs. One of the first scenes is the introduction, i know this is a found footage film but shaky cam is not needed for a formal intro, has the guy ever even heard of a tripod? Also…how convenient is it that Scarlett speaks fluent French? Oh and upon the realisation that all the clues are written in Arabic we find that her friend speaks Arabic.
    I’m sorry to take such an informal response towards this but it follows the conventions of a found footage film perfectly.
1. Location – somewhere dark and mysterious.
2. Cast – No more than six multicultural people.
3. Plot – Group gets trapped, finds themselves hunted, try to escape. Most of them (if not all) die.
4. Cinematic Techniques – The dark masks the creature/spirit from clear sight. Characters block the camera from creature/spirit from view in good lighting.

Look, i just described the plot of quarantine, rec 1, 2 and 3, grave encounters, cloverfield, exists, devils pass, afflicted, apollo 18, trollhunter, diary of the dead, and many others.

I’m not saying this film is terrible….just that it may have ruined my favourite horror sub-genre.

Zombies + Beavers = Zombeavers

Okay, i know what you’re thinking, combining zombies with beavers can either be the work of a madman or an artistic genious. Well in my opinion, the two are not far apart. Jordan Rubin is that genious madman. The plot is that of the generic standard high school horror, three sorority sisters visit a “cabin in the woods” yes, thats right, a cabin…in the woods…how many cabins can there possibly be in woodlands? Anyway, one of the sisters (Lexi Atkins) breaks up with her boyfriend, Sam (Hutch Dano) after a picture goes viral of him kissing another girl. Sam arrivies at the cabin along with two buddies. Leaving 6 teens alone in, again, a “cabin in the woods” sound familiar? It should, it’s the plot of 50% of horror films.

   If this was the be all and end all then this film would get a terrible review but zombie beavers…badly animated zombie beavers (which quickly spread to mutant zombie people) it sounds awful but surprisingly not, this film is amazing purely due to the fact that it’s so bad that it’s good. There’s not much else i can say without major spoilers. I’d recommend this film to any B-Movie horror comedy fans.

Bulletproof

Adam sandler with a gun. Thats something i never thought i’d see but Bulletproof (directed by Ernest R. Dickinson) portrays both Sandler and Damon Wayans in new lights.

Wayans plays Jack Carter, an undercover cop who befriends drug dealer/car thief Archie Moses (Sandler) in an attempt to catch drug lord Frank Colton (James Caan) under the alter ego of Rock Keats. All seems well until Moses accidentaly reveals Carters cover, then shoots him in the head (you know, honest mistake, we’ve all shot a friend in the head by accident) although if this wasn’t far fetched enough, Carter survives a bullet to the head and is back on  his feet within a few weeks. Then a plane crash, then being lost in the desert….then well over 1000 bullets….Partnering up (again) with Moses.

Look, i’m not going to spend an hour criticizing this films reality expectancy or even how much Adam Sandler looks like Jason Biggs mixed with Jack from Lost:

Instead I’m simply going to say that and move on,  on the plus side, both actors portray their characters well. More to the point still manage to retain the serious aspect of the film, Carter and Moses’ friendship falling apart due to unfortunate situations. I’d recommend this film purely to Wayan fans or Sandler fans although if you’re bored and have watched every other comedy police film in existence then feel free to try this movie.

 

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Undoubtedly one of the most renowned coming of age films to date, this movie features Ferris (Matthew Broderick), a highly intelligent senior partaking in one of the oldest teenage traditions there is, playing sick. We’ve all done it at some point, or at least thought about it…whether it’s planned weeks in advance or a split decision upon waking. Although i highly doubt any of us had an adventure as wild as this.

Ferris brings along best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck), who, riddled with self confidence issues, seems an unlikely partner for the overly confident Ferris but quickly reveals his true self and not the molded shell of a teen his Father presumably created. The entire time followed by teacher Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones) out for justice. Along with his girlfriend Sloane (Mia Sara) Ferris leads the trio on a true day out, (but not before convincing Cameron to allow the use of his Fathers prized possession, his red limited edition Ferrari, but we’ll continue with that point later on.) They visit Chicago, in particular all major tourist destinations: Sears Tower, the Art Institution, the Board of Trade, Dearborn Street Parade, a Gold Coast Lunch and a baseball game at Wrigley field. What i personally find interesting is the vague message behind the film, Ferris’ final line is direct to the spectator breaking the fourth wall not for the first time.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

We viewed their entire day in only 103 minutes, yet what i find spectacular is how much of this day seems to be shown within the time restraints, it doesn’t feel like we miss much, unlike the conventional road trip movie, in which we skip entire days at a time. We don’t want to look too deep into the underlying meanings though, as it takes away the fact that this film is simply a great feel good film, Ferris doesn’t get caught out (despite the close shaves), Cameron gains some much needed self respected (although probably lost it after his Father found the car totaled 50 feet below the garage window) and Rooney gets a horrible dose of Karma.

All in all i feel this film represents every teen’s wish, made into a pleasant reality. I’d suggest this film to no end due to the balance between slapstick comedy and serious implications.