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White Christmas is definitely torture-porny, but when I see sci-fi like that it makes me grateful that I actually get to die. Sort of a relief, really, compared to what we saw. That woman's dad was a real bastard, though, wasn't he? The sting at the end of National Anthem was just so rough, and was so efficiently presented. The pathetic intellectuals declaring the kidnapping "great art" while the PM's life is just invisibly destroyed for real. Fantastic. The harshness to the end of National Anthem is just on another level because it's fairly sympathetic to the average people, who are pretty much ghouls in 15 Million Merits, White Christmas, Waldo, and White Bear. My power ranking: 1.) 15 million merits (so ambitious and so weird - really, really great stuff. The antiseptic world that's all metal and screens is just so physically repulsive and nauseating thanks to the way the screens were implemented.) 1.) National Anthem 3.) White Christmas 4.) White Bear 5.) Waldo 6.) You eyeglass memory ep 7.) Dead bad at sex dork back to life ep No Wave fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Dec 18, 2014 |
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Dec 18, 2014 20:08
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ufarn posted:Bing is sincere, and his audience views it as such. The problem is that his anger serves to mollify people's feelings instead of stoking them. It's interesting that at the heart of every Black Mirror episode is a romance. It's as if the hyper-rationality that the show's technology delivers exposes the contradictions that make romance possible in the first place (including the ability to forget mistakes and bad temporary states).
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Dec 22, 2014 16:55
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I don't think the cookie-buyer knows what they're getting into - otherwise cookie-self would know what was going on. In this era of wearable technology and big data and behavior monitoring and quantified self an embedded device meant to predict your preferences isn't even a stretch. The cookie inventors wouldn't even have to make public what their technology did, as there isn't any law covering digital clones if you stumbled across the ability to do it. This aligns our first-person view of the cookie extraction with that of the cookie-character - it's really, really shocking and scary, and you have more ripped away from you than ever thought possible. No Wave fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Dec 22, 2014 |
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Dec 22, 2014 22:47
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Doltos posted:I'm of the opinion that National Anthem was literally just a bunch of writers coming up with what would happen if someone forced the Prime Minister to gently caress a pig. The 'point' of it was just to see what might logically happen and I believe this because I agree with the progression of the plot. People would naturally make fun of the PM, the PM would refuse, there would probably be a behind the scenes thing where he's forced to do it by a political cabal, people would watch it, laugh at first, then feel super uncomfortable, they would welcome him as a hero afterwards then everyone would secretly feel like he was 'tainted'. His love life would be ruined and he'd be a shell of a man. All of it makes sense. Classic real-life example of this for me was the whole Justine Sacco thing: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=0 For her, it was the event that ruined her life for a year+; for everyone else, it was Tuesday (or whatever day it actually was).
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Mar 15, 2015 01:59
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4th season was really good. There weren't any stinkers but the best episodes were clearly 1, 4, 6 (I loved the first third of the last episode especially). It was great after three years of waiting finally meeting the first character to recognize the obvious reality that cookies and their offshoots are the most satanic devices ever imagined. Not surprised they had AI consciousness as a feature in 4 of the 6 episodes this season - it's spooky as heck. It's funny too that in the self-referential episode (6) the guy's basically in a super-duper-duper-Xtreme horrific version of white rabbit. I'll admit that eternal consciousness snapshots of being electrocuted is when cookie-horror finally went too over the top for me to be really messed up by it. Best episode ever still is 15 million merits though because it's completely insane and impossible to explain to anyone who hasn't seen it. I still find the judges absolutely hilarious after watching the episode four times. Xealot posted:Yeah, Nosedive is great. I don't understand why some people hate it so much. Overall it was a happier season... only one unfair ending (Metalhead) and in the world of Black Mirror death's not the worst fate by a long shot. No Wave fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Jan 5, 2018 |
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Jan 5, 2018 02:02
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Doltos posted:If that's true then Hang the DJ is actually horrifying. Every time that app's ran a thousand consciousnesses per person in the room live and die. And we're not talking in a flash, we're talking years of living. Xealot posted:I guess I didn't find her situation in Nosedive all that ridiculous, at all. I can absolutely envision a real-life setting where you have a "social credit score" that dictates important life poo poo. I know people whose jobs already depend on social media presence, where they need to be "on" at all times to stay afloat. Maybe I've been living in Los Angeles too long. The only criticism of Nosedive I'd agree with is that BDH is too pretty for the part... but I don't mind. No Wave fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Jan 5, 2018 |
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Jan 5, 2018 02:36
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I actually thought the idea behind Metalhead was to have the most competent protagonist possible against the most impossible opponent possible. It's not super engaging as an episode despite how competently directed/acted it was.... watching a smart person try to beat a deathbot just isn't super interesting for me as it turns out.
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Jan 5, 2018 02:45
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Xenaul posted:That not ridiculous at all though. Irrational, sure. illogical, of course. But every once in awhile people over commit to something be it relationship, or a job, or a hobby and push way past of what rational. She was also drunk on red thermos alcohol.
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Jan 5, 2018 03:16
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There's not that much to discuss with Callister. I guess you can talk about how the structure of the plan ends up exactly mirroring star trek plot points (sacrificing someome in the engine room like in WoK and Abrams trek 2, unironically navigating an asteroid belt, trippy deletion visual effects, probably more but I am not very familiar with Trek) and how pretty coder lady actually gets to live the fantasy the CTO wanted throughout the episode and afterwards. But there isn't really any part that's out of place or demands explanation.
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Jan 5, 2018 17:37
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Everything the dog does reads as totally automated. I would be stunned if this episode was directed with an operator in mind (writing doesn't matter).
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Jan 5, 2018 18:42
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I didn't really get what the bears were going for. (I don't know what human in an inhuman world means.) You'd think that the bears would normally be used to show how mistaken the characters were about how dangerous the dogs were but survival lady seemed to be well aware. Without context on whether the dogs were security or around for some other reason we can't really see it as an indication of the dogs' disproportionate response either. We already knew that what they were going for was at best morphine. Maybe it was supposed to be a reveal that the sick person was a child? Did we know that pre-bear? I forgot.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:01
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I feel like you could end every BM episode with Playtest's ending and it would be roughly as meaningful.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:07
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No I think it would be more BM to end with a color flashback to the near present and the attractive early-30s multiracial couple who thoughtlessly designed the dogs + their gorgeous modern apartment.
No Wave fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Jan 5, 2018 |
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Jan 5, 2018 19:12
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She might not have known about its solar charger.
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Jan 5, 2018 19:32
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Same character, obviously.
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Jan 5, 2018 23:46
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Otherkinsey Scale posted:In the case of Metalhead, I don't think they "rebelled". I think, in keeping with Black Mirror's themes, the dog bots are working exactly as intended.
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Jan 6, 2018 03:00
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I felt like the idea of Arkangel is that you thought the tech would make the daughter messed up in the head but it actually made the mom messed up in the head. Almost all of the tech in the show is an obvious bad idea but Arkangel was probably the most over-the-top example of it, just an insane idea totally embraced from the beginning of the episode. Props to that episode for having the high schoolers actually look/dress/act like high schoolers though, they usually look way too fashionable/coordinated on TV. No Wave fucked around with this message at 19:55 on Jan 6, 2018 |
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Jan 6, 2018 19:51
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For the purpose of the black museum monkey story I guess it was a transfer. For the purpose of the white christmas story it was a copy. Monkey one does seem different from the others, but I guess it was the prototype of what followed.
No Wave fucked around with this message at 17:30 on Jan 9, 2018 |
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Jan 9, 2018 17:22
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It's also just factually wrong, Bing's life gets so much better that it ends up pacifying him.
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Jan 11, 2018 03:48
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Isn't psycho child incredibly played out at this point?
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Jan 11, 2018 19:10
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On striking vipers I couldn't tell did the main character actually like kissing his friend and he was just brushing it off in response? Or did he actually not feel anything, which is why he could have "consequence-free" sex with chun li one day a month and still feel emotionally connected to his wife?
No Wave fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Jun 6, 2019 |
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Jun 6, 2019 00:53
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The tech guy was Topher Grace??? Jeez I did not see that. EDIT: Lol nice to get a silly fun season. No idea how they came up with this stuff but it was way more enjoyable than bandersnatch. Glad they went off brand a bit for this one, havent really been too into BM since like... nosedive. No Wave fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Jun 6, 2019 |
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Jun 6, 2019 01:59
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I remember there's that shot early on in striking vipers where danny stares for too long at that woman's buttcrack. And the opening part of the ep where they're playing pretend pick-up. Its like the problem is more the distance in Danny's relationship with his wife than anything, and the video game offering incredibly convenient chun li sex to the person he's closest with is what made the problem really come to a head in an ok but not great marriage. That said... the rain part. I saw it as Danny for sure feeling something and Karl not feeling anything. It's like danny enjoyed having virtual sex with someone he was close to because he felt emotionally close to them, and karl enjoyed having virtual sex with someone he was close to because it made the sex better. Idk it was a really fun resolution either way. Buuuut the shots of depressed karl and karl buying a cat and committing to being single probably just means they were both lying and were just gay for each other. No Wave fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Jun 6, 2019 |
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Jun 6, 2019 14:59
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I prefer the version of the episode where neither of them enjoyed kissing each other irl, danny's acting is the only reason I havent totally embraced it. Maybe I will anyways it's more fun that way.
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Jun 6, 2019 15:32
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Cojawfee posted:In Striking Vipers, what if it still showed what was going on on the TV? Like someone walks in and a dude is zonked out on the couch and you just see two fighting game characters boning on the TV.
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Jun 6, 2019 23:14
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the real question: when the round ends are both characters reset and ready to go at it again?
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Jun 6, 2019 23:18
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There's a lot I don't like about that episode. It's framed like it's a road to dystopia when people don't choose wisely enough between the giant douche over the turd sandwich, as if that's the real problem here and as if state power wouldnt grow regardless. And then the main character being randomly homeless at the end. I don't ever want to knock BM episodes too hard because even the ones I dont like are so high effort and I really appreciate the show. But that one was looking at the wrong pieces of the puzzle. (It's been a very long time since I watched it) No Wave fucked around with this message at 15:03 on Jun 7, 2019 |
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Jun 7, 2019 15:00
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The only part of Arkangel that I actively dont like is when the software that was supposed to protect the kid makes her ultraviolent because she cant see how badly she's beating on her mom. The whole episode was already about the software being dangerous! It's that trademark Black Mirror moment that was getting a little stale by S4 so I'm glad they abandoned it a bit in S5.
No Wave fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Jun 7, 2019 |
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Jun 7, 2019 16:57
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Saucy_Rodent posted:There’s a better version of Arkangel somewhere in there. I think, “there’s a problem that kid doesn’t know how to solve because her entire world has been censored” would have been a better ending. The real conceptual problem with the software was obvious, it assumed that scary things can't actually hurt you when in reality an angry german shepherd is scary precisely because it can hurt you. You just kind of have to go along with the show's narrative they want to present though which is fine the episode wasnt about the pros and cons of exactly that exact software. No Wave fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Jun 7, 2019 |
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Jun 7, 2019 17:13
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Black Mirror is a good show, but 15 Million Merits is insane genius. No show could ever regularly pump something like that out and I'm happy I got it once.
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Jun 7, 2019 17:28
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Thats bad rear end, I didnt know any of that. I'm not a smart person so I didnt put together bing = brooker but it makes so much sense. Their parody x factor was so beautifully done, slightly off (how weirdly gross looking the hosts are, ghost's leaden quips) in ways that make it really offensive... having real life experience explains how they did it so well. Doing something they felt so strongly about and keeping it funny must have been so difficult, but they totally nailed it.
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Jun 7, 2019 17:59
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Episode 1: no real questions Episode 2: the narrative doesnt really change depending on who lives and dies. I'll just assume moriarty died. Episode 3: Aunty went to jail and ashley is making different music now, and ashley 2 will... uh... who knows. What did you think wasnt resolved?
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Jun 7, 2019 18:28
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Rupert Buttermilk posted:White Christmas is the best BM episode
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Jun 7, 2019 19:46
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Teriyaki Hairpiece posted:I think Hated in the Nation is the worst one. No Wave fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Jun 7, 2019 |
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Jun 7, 2019 20:13
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Oh I love nosedive, probably my number 3. Beautifully realized visually and the end wedding scene is the kind of funny not at all funny I like. It's great because it's not just social media bad, it's more about the preservation and accessibility of all your life history (to employers and otherwise). And Jessica Chastain's attempt to climb socially is something that isnt just technology's doing.
No Wave fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Jun 7, 2019 |
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Jun 7, 2019 21:07
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Gaunab posted:The most ridiculous thing in Striking Vipers was the date in the beginning being 28 and not knowing who Dennis Rodman is.
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Jun 9, 2019 07:07
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That would be a completely different story. And I dont think "does it count as cheating if" is a very interesting question given that the answer is always yes. That it's so easy and fun to have sex in-game is sort of the whole thing motivating the plot. No Wave fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Jun 10, 2019 |
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Jun 10, 2019 17:35
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If he wasnt told about it he'd get mad probably. It's not my favorite episode but I dont think anyone was portrayed unfairly. The hostage taker tries the whole time to take people off script and have a "real" conversation with Billy but even Billy's noncommittal aw shucks contrition "gee it's such a bummer my company is like this" is just routine and meaningless. It's like he's willing to kill himself to say "can you make your app slightly less addictive, I still think it's sweet tho tbh". Or he was planning on killing himself anyways and he thought this would be an ok thing to do. There are these peripherally bad things related to privacy stuff like listening in on phone conversations, using them while driving, accessing user data with god mode, but no real articulated critique of actual social media in the episode (which might be the point? Not that social media is good, but that nobody has a problem with the grieving mom's belief that the truth behind her daughter is somewhere in her smithereen account). Again I'm still not sure about the ep in general it's certainly an odd one. No Wave fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Jun 11, 2019 |
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Jun 11, 2019 18:56
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Oh brooker mentioned in an interview that he understood the striking vipers ending as a once a year meetup not a once a month one. That's way sadder for poor Karl.
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Jun 11, 2019 19:20
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Fortunately i think BM has avoided that particular cliche.
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Jun 11, 2019 20:16
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