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Pencil me in for Johnny Mnemonic. Glad Strange Days is getting more words.
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Sep 2, 2013 23:24
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 11:48 |
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 Neo's first plan for assaulting the building was a complete failure. Johnny Mnemonic (1995) Budget: $26 million Domestic Gross: $19 million A mere four years before The Matrix, this cyberpunk Keanu Reeves vehicle has a pedigree that seems like it should pull more than a 14% rating on RT. William Gibson penned both the short story it's based on and the screenplay, it's directed by Robert Longo(who mostly does painting and sculpture this is his single feature film), and an eclectic cast(the aforementioned Reeves, Ice-T, Udo Kier, Henry Rollins, Dina Meyer, Takeshi Kitano, and Dolph Lundgren) make it a special little financial failure. Reeves plays the titular Johnny, a "mnemonic courier" who has traded his childhood memories for the ability to store and smuggle electronic data in the far off future of 2021. Doing "one last job" in Beijing, he finds his cranial cargo isn't just a world saving MacGuffin that everyone wants, but it has pushed his brain beyond capacity meaning certain death in a matter of days if it's not removed in time. Sounds like a scifi action romp not too dissimilar from Elysium right? Rollins' character is even a well connected hacker named Spider!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TbmcgGsXyU So what went wrong? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJmKLzmPMso Johnny is not the most sympathetic dude. He made his faustian pact years ago and has been trying to convince himself that he's happy with it despite the constant churning misery. With no past and no home he lives moment to moment, paycheck to paycheck. The futuristic cut of his suit makes him look like a boy forever trapped in his father's clothing as a costume. A manchild playing at James Bond when he's closer to a drug mule.    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p0jmewhXeU In 1995* only 1 in 10 American adults were going online. Japan's economic growth had collapsed a few years earlier, so zaibatsus and yakuza weren't as intimidating as they were back in '81 when the short story was published. Oh, and the studio went at the film with a hatchet to turn a scifi comedy with action elements into an action film. The Japanese cut retains some of the cut scenes, but mostly to showcase Takeshi Kitano. It helps the film, but I think it might be outside the scope of this project so I'll leave it be for now.   Electronic AIDS, military hacker dolphins, Lundgren as a post-human messianic hitman, Ice-T as the leader of the Lo-Teks...     ...dang Udo, quit staring like that. It's an overwhelmingly strange film, especially when it's been cut and sold as action. Sony didn't anticipate failure either. There was a remarkably modern marketing campaign behind it with an internet scavenger hunt(which is more or less what an ARG is), website full of merch from in film corporation PharmaKom, even a couple videogames. edit. Might write up another proposal for Freejack. Also I have the feeling I'll be taking a lot more screenshots. Really love how this looks:  *The Net came out the same year funnily enough. Maybe the Speed stars were early adopters? Maarak fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Sep 15, 2013 |
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Sep 15, 2013 22:59
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This is for Mugrim, his internet is too spotty to post it himself: Sunshine As many fans of this movie have probably pointed out time and time again, the basic plot of this film sounds very generic and even hokey. The sun has a 'Q ball' in it that if left unadulterated will launch Earth into a permanent winter as it cools down the overall heat of the star. Of course Boyle and Garland restrain on the boring explanations and let the symbols and concepts play out. "Our sun is dying" This is the beauty of how Boyle and Garland treat this wonderful film. They are straight to the point and lack subtlety. What makes this film amazing is how it deals with a large number of themes in a very adult manner, an aspect missing from the vast majority of sci-fi movies ever created. The Crew of the Icarus 2 is on the way to the sun to reignite it. As you may have guessed by the name, the Icarus 1 was the first attempt to accomplish this goal, but the moment they hit the radio deadzone of the Sun, no one knows what happened to it outside of the fact that the payload to reignite the Sun never hit its target. The Icarus 2 has a crew that is fully competent and mature. While emotions can run strong, crew members quickly realize their irrational actions and then correct them quickly. This alone seems a strong comment on the genre at large in which experts rarely feel like experts, adults rarely feel like adults. What distinguishes Sunshine from much of it's genre is that the action that ultimately propels the first to second act forward is human error. Not some clumsy mistake, or a failed AI gone mad, or the emotional reaction of another, but simply one of the most brilliant humans alive makes a simple mistake while trying to accomplish a nearly impossible task. The film portrays the sun as Godlike repeatedly, and there is an internal tension created by the two creators differing opinions on mysticism and the nature of god that is expressed throughout the film. The Sun treats all things equally. When balanced and used appropriately it gives life and power. The closer one gets to the Sun however the more their mind, will, and body are damaged. Multiple characters throughout the film give themselves over to the Sun and the more they do, the more they lose of their individuality and will. Dying from the Sun obliterates everything you are as you surrender to the collective unconscious of a fiery god and heaven. This is seen most notably through the destruction of human skin. The line between a benevolent life giving god and an almost lovecraftian deity satisfied in it's complete indifference as it radiates power is blurred. The Sun has it's own morality and meaning that is so strong it is a character, not a set piece. The third act intro has a twist that while unfortunate on a literal story telling level, is fantastic on a symbolic one. This third act turned off a lot of people from various perspectives, but does contain the danger of spirituality alluded to on the opposite end of the film. The crews last scene is it's centerpiece and even announces it an extremely analytical way by alluding to the Creation of Adam in the Sistine Chapel. This movie is beautiful in every scene, and in much the same way they describe the sun it will envelope you if you let it.
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Sep 16, 2013 05:37
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