Change Your Image
davidroyintokyo
Reviews
3 Body Problem (2024)
Way more than 3 problems
Saw this mysterious series starting on Netflix and decided to give it a try. I had never heard of the books, so I had no idea what this was about, but very quickly realized, okay, it's an alien invasion story. Let's see where this goes.
The initial setup was intriguing with the visions, the VR headset, and some kind of secret investigation into all of it. And then it all fell apart for me in one scene - the scene where the alien cult leader on the ship is telling his alien overlords the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and they just don't get it. The alien voice says it's a lie and becomes shocked and horrified that humans lie! Then the aliens cut off all communication based on this revelation.
Really? An alien species that has access to every aspect of human civilization doesn't know this?
The aliens communicate using an elaborate VR game that represents their world's survival problem, and they don't get metaphor? It IS a metaphor.
The aliens display themselves as a Ninja lady because their real form would be too disturbing for the humans, and they don't recognize this as deception... i.e., lying?
Then when the leader of the intelligence agency along with other smart characters all put on their VR headsets to view the aliens' presentation on sophons, none of them call the aliens out on their obvious BS. They've all heard the recording of the conversation. Why don't any of these smart people say, "Hey, aliens, you're lying to us right now by not revealing your true form! And you're so smart yet you don't get that the wolf story was a metaphor about not trusting people... exactly the lesson you learned, and we should have learned, because that's how we teach children."
Nope, no character ever realizes this, which means none of the writers realize it either. In fact, it's like the writers have never seen an alien invasion movie in their life. They play with these tropes like they just discovered them for the first time ever. While we the viewers have seen these things used in countless media.
Thematically, there's an exchange that sums up this entire series. The intel director asks the Chinese investigator,"You're going to be watching this kid for the rest of your life, are you okay with that?"
The investigator replies, "Do I have a choice?"
The director says, "No."
The investigator answers, "Then I'm okay with it."
From the beginning when the young Chinese girl is taken to work at the observatory to this point, no one seems to have any choice. Even the guy who refuses to be a "Wall Watcher" (or whatever it is) ultimately has no choice. The nanofiber girl wants out, but they still use her work for the ill fated frozen head project... which is so dumb... such an incredibly dumb idea, and yet no one can speak up and say that. It almost makes you forgive the lady who called the aliens in the first place. Because thematically, we're just replacing one authoritarian system for another and hoping the next one is more benevolent and effective.
They clearly need to call up a Bruce Willis or Will Smith to deal with these aliens, because the current team is not up to the task...
Fair Play (2023)
Who acts like this...?
As I was watching this, I kept thinking, who acts like this? Really, who acts like this?
When the boyfriend character started freaking out, I thought, ok, this is turning into a typical stalker movie. Then, at another point, I was wondering if this was going to be a riff on the American Psycho scenario.
But the only thing that could answer my initial question was my recollection of people I've known who were sociopaths or who were having a mental breakdown.
I felt the film went far enough with the thing that happened at the firm. Then it went even further with the thing that happened at the party. Did we really need those things to happen though?
I'm a Virgo (2023)
a modern day American folk tale
The industrial strength superhero is a well established part of modern day media while the folk heroes that preceded them are mostly forgotten.
This show is the black Paul Bunyan, man.of the community vs the industrial superhero, enforcer of the corporate state. Of course the show's Paul Bunyan is not equipped for this showdown even with his supporting team of Oakland, CA neighborhood X-Kids who are more concerned with using their powers to do their jobs, score, and help others impoverished by the system.
While the Paul Bunyan folk tale is a celebration of the boundless opportunity and natural resources of the earlier American experience (at least for some people), this version exists in a decaying landscape of fast food, desperation, and death.
It's weird, surreal and sometimes preachy, but definitely worth a watch.
The Sandman: The Sound of Her Wings (2022)
So unexpectedly great
I'm usually not into fantasy shows or movies. But for some reason I started watching this series and it gets better and better. This episode especially.
Without revealing any aspect of the story, I'll just say it reminded me a bit of Interview with the Vampire and Midnight in Paris...