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Hell, if even what happpened is he passed out dead from slicing his neck open (Which, ironically is what we wanted the protagonist of Million Merits to do so he could escape and thus we could have been all "gently caress you, dood, you didn't deserve escape!") that would have been fine.Pablo Bluth posted:I think on the whole, the Black Mirror strand was a success and I hope it comes back for me. Yeah, I'm happy if Brooker gets to do a few more of these. Two out of three is still perfectly good innings.
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Dec 18, 2011 23:05
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The weakest of the three, but..Irisi posted:This Black Mirror is my personal idea of hell. Because I already have a tendency to over-analyse my past actions, pretty sure an implant allowing infinite and accurate rewinds would drive me to suicide within a day. Yup, it would be a horribly addictive thing to do. It should have explored more about the weirdly different society it would be with this technology. We saw a little bit with the airport scene, the drink driving insurance revoked scene and when the girl has called the police and they hang up on her when she says she can't do a remote view because she doesn't have a Grain. But Jesse Armstrong is a ebb and flow of emotions during people talking kinda writer. It's a good thing they showed that he was a lawyer, which is a very different job in this world - all about spotting minute visual detail and body language because otherwise it would have been too easy to call bullshit on him noticing the tiny details like the picture in Jonasas timeline that he put on the screen.
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Dec 18, 2011 23:06
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DaWolfey posted:The weakest of the three, but.. Yeah, this is the sort of thing that it would have been interesting to explore. But that's not what THIS story was about, this was a short snapshot of one particular aspect of the premise. I think I was able to enjoy it because it had a short story-ish feel to it, and I've grown up on SF short stories, which tend to propose a premise, explore it fairly briefly form a single angle then put it to bed. Novels are all well and good, don't get me wrong, but I don't have a problem with something a bit more limited in scope. It would have made a cool story cycle, like I Robot or Kirinyaga or something, where you can approach the central idea from different places, often looking at it over an extended time to see how things change.
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Dec 18, 2011 23:16
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Pablo Bluth posted:I think on the whole, the Black Mirror strand was a success and I hope it comes back for me. As far as I'm concerned even if the other two episodes were Hollyoaks-level, 15 Million Merits would justify bringing it back for more
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Dec 18, 2011 23:20
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Rarity posted:Which would be fine if the other two shows hadn't set the conceptual bar so high. Erm steady on, the other two were enjoyable to varying degrees but i think you are giving charlie brooker a bit too much credit here One of them was just basically the thick of it with extra beastiality the other was an (albeit futuristic) X-factor parody that ripped off the ending of "network" Not to mention both of those were written in a slightly cringing heavy-handed way, tonight's episode was cringe-worthy for different reasons altogether. edit -(don't get me wrong its better than most Sunday night tv)
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Dec 18, 2011 23:21
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LE0N posted:Erm steady on, the other two were enjoyable to varying degrees but i think you are giving charlie brooker a bit too much credit here All I mean is they were big concept rather than small concept. They took their ideas and looked at them from all angles, whereas this one was focused in on one small detail of the idea. I wasn't talking about any originality or quality they had.
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Dec 18, 2011 23:34
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Rarity posted:All I mean is they were big concept rather than small concept. They took their ideas and looked at them from all angles They really didn't
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Dec 18, 2011 23:39
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This Black Mirror was definitely a different kettle of fish from the first two. Less about the effects technology has on society, social interaction, attitudes, and other broad stroke themes, and more about the individual. It would have worked better if the main character came across as less of a nut job, but then maybe it's right that he's an exaggerated version of that internal paranoia we all share. It probably deserves another watch. There were lots of likeable bits, as mentioned by dawolfey, the bits which explored the social side effects of the technology were sparse but good. My favourite bit was where he got the evidence for her (later) affair from glimpsing his records. Nice use of the idea of permanent visual records, records of records, enough information remaining to leap to the correct conclusion, but the information available had obviously degraded form the original record that he had to confront her to get the details.. Or something. A whole copies of copies thing going on. Not as good as the first two, but still the most interesting thing I've seen on telly this week. e: for clarity. Ben Soosneb fucked around with this message at 01:03 on Dec 19, 2011 |
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Dec 19, 2011 01:01
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I really loving loved this episode. It's rare to get scifi that, rather than describing a possible future dystopia, comes out and says that we're already in a dystopia. We already have companies asking for facebook details, people losing jobs for their status updates. The first two had a veneer of fantasy, but every new development here just seemed so drat inevitable. I don't think the main character came off as a nutjob. Well, he did, but not uniquely so. I think anyone who's looked at somebody's facebook history can see a bit of themselves in Liam, which is what made it so terrifying for me. Also, I read a book about almost this exact same thing when I was 10. Rather than an implant it was a machine that you actually climbed into, and you could make changes to properly redo it. A kid spends ages rewinding and tweaking his life to get everything exactly right, and then climbs out the machine at the age of 90, wizened and crippled. Anyone remember it?
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Dec 19, 2011 01:34
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Strom Cuzewon posted:
It's funny you mention that, because it did remind me of the time I went back through the last years worth of a new girlfriend's old facebook statuses. On the whole though, it didn't really explore that side of things much. To me it seemed much more about your own perceptions of your history rather than it's availability to others - apart from a few lost strands of sharing on the screen, but they were all enclosed sharing. It could have been a very different story exploring a "Ben Soosneb was tagged at the pub, click here to watch his entire night through his eyes" facebook idea. I still think it was missing something, I can't just put my finger on it. I think they overplayed him being right, although if you don't do that then you lose some of the scary power of the implants. Make it so he'd got it wrong even though he had a perfect record of events. Re-write the whole thing there was no affair, but still a past relationship. Have him hack her implant out to search it, only to find that they got drunk but she turned him down or something. Everybody can play the rewrite telly game though, it's all easier said than done.
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Dec 19, 2011 01:58
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Ben Soosneb posted:It's funny you mention that, because it did remind me of the time I went back through the last years worth of a new girlfriend's old facebook statuses.
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Dec 19, 2011 02:38
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There was actually an episode of So Wrong It's Right (hosted by Brooker) where someone proposed a special version of facebook which only posts updates about things like "times your ex's new partner has done something a bit dickish, like posted a status with something like 'lmao' or 'roflcopter' in it", or "statuses about how unsuccessful your old schoolfriends are."
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Dec 19, 2011 02:47
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I enjoyed that, although they could have played with the effect something like the grain would have on neurosis a bit more than they did, and like others said, shown the wider societal implications. Nice idea, not really explored enough but it raises some interesting questions.
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Dec 19, 2011 06:28
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Is Buzzcocks still on? I've seen some clips of it and it's absolutely hilarious. The best thing I saw was Mark Lamarr getting sick of Jonathan Ross interrupting him and finally yelling "ROSS, SHUT THE gently caress UP! I IMPLORE YOU, I BEG YOU! SHUT THE gently caress UP!"
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Dec 19, 2011 08:42
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Zeether posted:Is Buzzcocks still on? I've seen some clips of it and it's absolutely hilarious. The best thing I saw was Mark Lamarr getting sick of Jonathan Ross interrupting him and finally yelling "ROSS, SHUT THE gently caress UP! I IMPLORE YOU, I BEG YOU! SHUT THE gently caress UP!" Yes. There's a new episode tonight actually. (With John Barrowman if I recall correctly, so it's going to be fantastically camp).
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Dec 19, 2011 08:43
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Well I really enjoyed the new Black Mirror. But then, I'm not very well read so the concept was new to me.
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Dec 19, 2011 13:53
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So why did he go to the airport again? Was that just so it could set up his wife being caught out?
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Dec 19, 2011 15:51
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In Black Mirror, I thought the woman that was 'gouged' said "at least my sight hung on" or words to that effect - meaning there is a risk of blindness when having the grain removed and at least that didn't happen to her and she can look at things and remember them normally. I thought the way it cut to black at the end suggested Liam's DIY surgery wasn't so successful and had made him go blind. He spent at all that time looking back at the past and now he can't look at anything.
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Dec 19, 2011 16:11
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le chat posted:I enjoyed that, although they could have played with the effect something like the grain would have on neurosis a bit more than they did, and like others said, shown the wider societal implications. Nice idea, not really explored enough but it raises some interesting questions. You have to focus on only a couple of subjects with a short story like this. exploring the wider social implications etc... would have taken a lot more scenes, time and money. And it probably would have weakened to main plot. Anyway, I really liked black mirror, although they don't really cheer you up after watching one I have to say. I think I'll go watch some cartoons now and think happy thoughts.
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Dec 19, 2011 16:27
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Decent White Van Man on repeat on the iPlayer by the way guys.
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Dec 19, 2011 16:28
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Chilly posted:In Black Mirror, I thought the woman that was 'gouged' said "at least my sight hung on" or words to that effect - meaning there is a risk of blindness when having the grain removed and at least that didn't happen to her and she can look at things and remember them normally. Yeah I'm pretty sure she did say that.
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Dec 19, 2011 16:29
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I thought it was decent although I too would've liked to see more societal implications outside of a party and relationship, and that bit in the airport. I really enjoyed the "boring sex" punchline and the idea of hackers gouging out implants to sell memories to other people.
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Dec 19, 2011 17:01
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Metrication posted:Yeah I'm pretty sure she did say that. Yeah, I wondered about this, and I assume the string thing that came out too was meant to connect into his brain. (Incidentally, it's amazing how gruesome and realistic they can make these gore scenes look now.) Interesting interpretation re the blindness, anyway.
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Dec 19, 2011 17:06
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Jonnty posted:Yeah, I wondered about this, and I assume the string thing that came out too was meant to connect into his brain. Optic nerve more likely, and if you yank it out too hard you can end up severing it. I liked the ad near the start for a total sensory grain. not just rewatching memories, but re LIVING them.
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Dec 19, 2011 17:13
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Fatkraken posted:Optic nerve more likely, and if you yank it out too hard you can end up severing it. Oh that's what it was. I thought it was just Willow Scented. Like...an air freshener for your memories. Don't just rewatch the past, rewatch the past with a nice alpine freshness.
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Dec 19, 2011 17:50
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BeeZee142 posted:Yes. There's a new episode tonight actually. (With John Barrowman if I recall correctly, so it's going to be fantastically camp). Thanks for the heads-up on this, a Barrowman episode of Buzzcocks should be entertaining.
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Dec 19, 2011 22:06
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Just watched Brian Cox's programme on the iPlayer. I'm one of the people who moans a lot about the BBC's general disinterest and disdain of science so I can't believe they've had the balls to just show a proper lecture, with blackboard, equations and everything. It was interesting, in-depth and not dumbed-down - exactly the kind of thing the BBC need to be doing to prove that they can offer what other channels can't and won't. The nice thing was I didn't even know it was on until a friend of mine who isn't a huge science nerd pointed it out and said how good it was, so that's a promising sign. Is it too much to hope there might be more one day? http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b018nn7l/
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Dec 19, 2011 22:48
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That Dickins parody on at 8.30 on BBC 2 tonight was like a mediocre Mitchell and Webb sketch spread out to 1 hour.
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Dec 19, 2011 23:14
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Brown Moses posted:That Dickins parody on at 8.30 on BBC 2 tonight was like a mediocre Mitchell and Webb sketch spread out to 1 hour. After watching a lot of their shows, I've come to the conclusion that Mitchell and Webb are brilliant comic actors, but weak writers (I'd like to be charitable and say hit-or-miss, but there just so many misses...). The day I learned that someone else wrote Peep Show was a deeply disillusioning day. Also it's nice to hear Dappy jokes on NMTB again.
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Dec 19, 2011 23:18
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JammyB posted:Just watched Brian Cox's programme on the iPlayer. I'm one of the people who moans a lot about the BBC's general disinterest and disdain of science so I can't believe they've had the balls to just show a proper lecture, with blackboard, equations and everything. It was interesting, in-depth and not dumbed-down - exactly the kind of thing the BBC need to be doing to prove that they can offer what other channels can't and won't. It was really good, and I generally agree with that assessment, though the bit with the arithmetic and Jonathan Ross was kinda annoyed me, since Brian Cox did the unit conversion in a silly opaque way, and it probably scared off a whole bunch of kids who can't do their times tables despite Physics (and Maths for that matter) being nothing to do with arithmetic whatsoever. Otherwise, basically perfect.
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Dec 19, 2011 23:42
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Brown Moses posted:That Dickins parody on at 8.30 on BBC 2 tonight was like a mediocre Mitchell and Webb sketch spread out to 1 hour. Apparently it's the same bloke who did Bleak Expectations. I suppose it's just another thing that died on its way from Radio 4 to TV.
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Dec 20, 2011 00:24
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JammyB posted:Just watched Brian Cox's programme on the iPlayer. I'm one of the people who moans a lot about the BBC's general disinterest and disdain of science so I can't believe they've had the balls to just show a proper lecture, with blackboard, equations and everything. It was interesting, in-depth and not dumbed-down - exactly the kind of thing the BBC need to be doing to prove that they can offer what other channels can't and won't. Thanks for the link with the title which enabled me to find a copy of this... I love Brian Cox, and I've been watching Richard Feynman and Neil deGrasse Tyson lectures recently... I'm excited to see Brian Cox's lecture style! Also, any Brian Cox fans who haven't checked out the podcast that he co-hosts, "The Infinite Monkey Cage", should do so, it's pretty good. (Neil deGrasse Tyson's podcast, "StarTalk" is great, too. ...but he's not British, so I guess that's slightly off-topic.) thexerox123 fucked around with this message at 00:48 on Dec 20, 2011 |
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Dec 20, 2011 00:28
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JammyB posted:Just watched Brian Cox's programme on the iPlayer. I'm one of the people who moans a lot about the BBC's general disinterest and disdain of science so I can't believe they've had the balls to just show a proper lecture, with blackboard, equations and everything. It was interesting, in-depth and not dumbed-down - exactly the kind of thing the BBC need to be doing to prove that they can offer what other channels can't and won't. It was like a good old royal institution Christmas lecture, but with grownups (who for the most part probably knew less than the kids at the regular ones)
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Dec 20, 2011 00:58
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I thought it was really great too, most stuff he talked about I already knew about, except Pauli's Exclusion Principle. I knew electrons existed in different energy states, but I thought it only mattered with individual atoms. It kind of blew my mind that every single one in the entire universe has a different one and when one changes, they all change simultaneously. It kind of explains my thought process when on mushrooms.  Brian Cox has a really good way of explaining things, although I think a lot of people at the lecture still didn't really understand how deep and essential and generally loving awesome physics is. But I would love to see more programs like that.
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Dec 20, 2011 13:06
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heads up for any animation lovers, two of the greatest examples of the medium, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the Nightmare before Christmas are currently on iplayer. If you've never seen NBC don't be put off, the hot topic chic and annoying fandom came later, the film itself is very strong and well put together.
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Dec 20, 2011 13:07
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NaDy posted:I thought it was really great too, most stuff he talked about I already knew about, except Pauli's Exclusion Principle. I knew electrons existed in different energy states, but I thought it only mattered with individual atoms. It kind of blew my mind that every single one in the entire universe has a different one and when one changes, they all change simultaneously. It kind of explains my thought process when on mushrooms. I don't really want to get into a massive thing about it, but the energy levels throughout the universe thing was either said like that to impress people or he just got it wrong.. If you do a quick Google for 'Brian Cox electron energy levels' you can see a few forums discussing it
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Dec 20, 2011 13:34
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drat, that's a shame. He really shouldn't be going around saying stuff like that if it isn't true!
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Dec 20, 2011 13:46
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Standard relativistic quantum field theory says that interactions cannot propagate faster than light speed. Spooky action at a distance is not allowed. This would directly contradict his statement. He might believe in something like the Bohm interpretation though. So far as I understand it, and its been a few years since I've had to do any quantum mechnics, that allows for it to happen by effectively demanding a fully deterministic universe. The rest of the electrons shift because they already "know" that there is a need to. Personally I like the idea of Feynman's single electron universe. Then you could just have a single electron travelling through time and space to take the position of every measured electron, with constantly increasing energy in its own timeline. Electrons would never have the same energy because the single electron is never equal to itself. But that's just entertaining thought experiment madness.
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Dec 20, 2011 14:11
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Good last proper episode of Mongrels, ignoring the season highlight clip show because I can't really stand clip shows.
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Dec 21, 2011 00:07
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"Westerners can't tell Afgans apart" and the helicopter really made me laugh. I hope there is a third series.
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Dec 21, 2011 01:56
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