15 Movies & Shows I've Watched (Aug to Oct 2020)

Ramblings on films & shows I've seen from 25 Aug 2020 to 25 Oct 2020

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This was essentially Venom + Black Mirror. Shots with a fixed camera moving with his body at the center of the frame was very novel. The fact that it was the computer all along was somewhat predictable but it was still interesting, especially to see it “win” in the end which is an unorthodox ending (antagonist prevailing). Seeing the robotic movements was cool esp with fight scenes. There was social commentary over the unemployment rates with implementation of better tech, & perhaps the over-arching message is to adopt these technologies with great caution? Can we implement tech into our lives for convenience sake, without losing our autonomy?

8/10

When Harry Met Sally

Billy Crystal is funny & sarcastic throughout the movie. It does get a tad bit too much here & there but all in all his character was decent enough. It just feels like Meg Ryan’s character was some what manipulated into being with Billy Crystal’s character. It begs the question: is seduction really just manipulative? Anyway, the movie feels dated with the fashion, references & items such as hairspray & actual telephones. (But the Knicks still have not won an NBA championship 2 decades later. One thing that sticks out is the fact that this movie spans across a 20-25 year timeline & yet the characters look the same throughout. It is a minor thing in the grand scheme of it all, but it nonetheless is something that sticks out. Other questions that can be asked for reflection: “Can men & women really be friends or are guys just too horny?”, “How does one pick himself/herself up from a break up?”, “If you start to have feelings for a friend / find them attractive, what do you do?” “Is it just liking someone vs liking the idea of someone?”, “Can you just marry someone because you want to spend the rest of your life with that person? Can things change?” Relationships in are just complex when you add in the fact that there’s context & history between people. 7/10

Zodiac

This directors cut was 2hrs 42 mins. My god was it long. Nonetheless, the fact that it was never solved, the fact that it spanned decades, the fact that a cartoonist made huge strides to solve the case, what an interesting story. Beyond that, the acting was decent but as with most movies based on true stories, it was not much more than just a series of events dramatised for cinema. Nonetheless, it was a decent watch. 7/10

Chef’s table

Interesting story of a Modena born chef who met an American & became a revolutionary post-modern chef who makes artistic / ironic food. He became the pigeon that shat over past generation Italian chefs.

Dan barber: if you do not have good ingredients you cannot make good food. After events lined up perfectly, his restaurant found its calling: farm to restaurant, cooking with the seasons. Support of better flavours from the symbiotic ecosystem between animals & plants.

The Playbook Doc Rivers: A Coach's Rules for Life

Doc Rivers believed in Ubuntu: Being a person via other people being people. The team used Ubuntu as a way of living. 8/10

The Social Dilemma

27 takeaways from the documentary:

No one is making it less addictive? 50 white dudes controlling 2 billion. If you are not paying for the product, then you are the product. Social media competes for your attention. These services are not ‘free’ as it is paid for by advertisers to show us (users) ads. Hence our attention is the product sold to advertisers? No. The product is the gradual, slight, imperceptible change in your own behaviour and perception: changing what you do, who you are etc. Lots of data allows for great predictions to ensure certainty of successful ads. Markets that trade human futures on huge scale, making trillions. Goals: Engagement, Growth (keep you coming back & getting your friends too), Advertising. Constantly refreshing pages for new content or even just checking your phone for notifications: positive intermittent reinforcement: you do not know when / if you get something operating like slot machines. It is not enough for the service to be used consciously, rather to implant an unconscious habit so that you are being programmed at a deeper level. Ellipsis to show that the other party is typing to keep you engaged. Growth hacking: teams of engineers to hack into people’s psychology for more growth & engagement. Pointing engines of AI back at ourselves to reverse-engineer what elicits responses from unknowing humans (for profit). Exploiting vulnerabilities of human psychology consciously. We have moved from a tool based tech environment to an addiction & manipulation based tech environment. Creators of these platforms are still susceptible to high usage. Basic biological imperative to connect with others which affects release of dopamine in the reward pathway. Hence social media is a drug. We get rewarded with short-term signals: hearts, likes, thumbs-up & conflate that with value & truth when it really is fake, brittle popularity... It leaves you more vacant & empty before, then it forces you into this vicious cycle of, "What's the next thing I need to do now? 'Cause I need it back." Think about that compounded by 2 billion people, & how people react then to the perceptions of others. The uniqueness of the problem is that tech has grown exponentially while humans have the same hardware. AI already runs the world. Disinformation for profit business model as the truth is boring. Facebook was used to spread manipulative narratives with ease in Myanmar with regards to Rohingyan Muslims. The problem beneath other problems: if we can't agree on what's true then we can't navigate out of any of our problems. Tech’s ability to bring out the worst in society makes it an existential threat. Mass chaos, outrage, incivility, lack of trust, loneliness, alienation, polarisation, election hacking, populism, distraction from real issues: society devolves into a kind of chaos. It's confusing because tech creates a simultaneous utopia & dystopia. It is just the business model that has a problem. Pursuit of revenue & usage. There needs proper regulation to keep companies from acting as de facto governments. Current situation exists not for protection of users, but for protection of rights & privileges of gigantic, wealthy companies. We are more profitable to a corporation when staring at a screen, staring at an ad, vs spending that time living our life in a rich way & we are seeing the results of that.

All in all, it was an informative watch but it was somewhat ruined by scripted scenes with questionable acting and writing. 7.5/10

Cobra Kai 

Having not watched the original Karate Kid movie from the 80s, this was still a very interesting watch as things get flipped on its head when we start rooting for the antagonist of the previous movie. While the show did get cringey and predictable with the high-school drama side of things, it was nonetheless a great watch and I can't wait for season 3 after the cliff-hanger ending of season 2. Also that last episode with an all out brawl in the school was a feast for the eyes. 8/10

The Godfather

Hailed as one of if not the best film of all time, I had high hopes going into the movie. I’m quite surprised at myself for not having watched this movie until now. The movie is 48 years old as of now, and it is honestly flawless. I love movies with a setting in the past with spot on set design, costume design etc. You get transported to a whole new world and its great for escapism. But beyond just the visuals of the set design, costume design and cinematography that incorporates dim lighting in many of the mafia scenes, throughout the film, the attribute that stuck out the most for me was the fact that every thing was purposefully done in the movie. Subtle things that my brother and my father picked up on the second viewing of the movie. Watching it with them on my first time, I was exposed to said things but there is a true value to films that litter these titbits enabling multiple viewings to be different from each other. That is the kind of movie that stands the test of time. Anyway, this movie inspired all the mafia movies that came after it but I’m sure that none will top this. Never before have I watched a 3 hour movie and feel so engaged throughout. It felt less than 3 hours. When it ended I wanted more. It was like a TV drama with episodes worth of tension building and the scene where Michael SPOILERS takes out the rest of the mafia families to become ‘The Godfather’ juxtaposed with him baptised as the Godfather of his nephew in a church was the best scene I’ve ever seen. The movie ends with a door closing on Kay after Michael lies to her about Carlos’ death indicating that Michael has become fully entrenched in ‘the family’.. I always thought that Marlon Brando’s Vito Corleone was the main character of the movie. We see Michael as a Marine who is the most distant from the Mafia side of things and throughout the movie we see how he is pushed into choosing the path of being involved in the family business which was very intriguing. I came to respect and admire his character but throughout the series I started to see the monster that he had become. That’s a character arc right there. Anyway, this movie was definitely the best of the 3 and possibly the best I’ve ever seen. Acting was top notch as well. 10/10

The Godfather: Part II

The Godfather part II while not as breathtaking as the first, was still very entertaining as we see the parallels and differences between Vito and Michael as they try to gain power. Most interestingly we see the transformation of Michael into a full blown maniac as his obsession for power consumes him. Once again, the cinematography, set design and costumes are top notch in making you feel immersed in the world they have recreated. The acting is great and all in all, a fantastic movie, but one that did not excite me as much as the first one did. 8.5/10

The Godfather: Part III

Coming out 16 years after part II, this was by far the weakest of the films. It almost felt like the Star Wars Prequels. Cringeworthy acting (mostly from Sofia Coppola and Andy Garcia), borderline incest, poorly written dialogue, it was just disappointing. When Michael took the position of The Godfather, it made sense. There was more context and urgency for him to take the helm as his character had transformed. In the case of Vincent, the only thing that changes about him is his resistance to not shag his first cousin. His opportunity to become Godfather practically falls on his lap and he was a very shallowly written character. 5.5/10

Notorious

A biography pic on B.I.G., this was a movie that felt very long, probably because of Godfather setting the bar too high. 5.5/10

Moneyball

It’s more than just Baseball. It’s about the superiority of stats and numbers. It’s about revolution. More than that it is about sticking to an idea, having faith in the cause. just because everyone was doing the same thing didn’t mean that it was the right thing. 8/10

The Shawshank Redemption

Just re-watched this movie and remembered bits and pieces. Nonetheless, this was such a great watch. Throughout the movie you root for the prisoners and I was fully invested in the happenings of the movie. The characters are not very layered but their predicament alone makes you sympathetic for them. This was honestly one of the best antagonists ever because you really feel that the protagonists are completely helpless against the cruel warden. Beyond the characters, there were truly gut-wrenching moments and messages about the poor justice system & troubles of ex-convicts reintegrating into society. Ultimately, the main message of the movie is that hope is a powerful and wonderful thing. There is a feel good ending and if not for the fact that I knew the ending, I would have definitely cried a bunch. 9/10

T2 Trainspotting

It was surprising this movie had a sequel years after the original release. It feels like the characters were forced into getting in each other's way miraculously just for the movie to happen. Though it was still a decent enough watch, it just felt inconsequential and for the characters to be brought back to square one is either saying something about endowment and inequality or it's just wasting everyone's time. 6.5/10

The Thing

I did not have high hopes for this 1982 horror movie from John Carpenter. I expected a half decent movie at best with bad effects. However, Dad, Zec and I were all pleasantly surprised by the movie. It was engaging from start to finish. As we are presented with ‘The Thing’ the characters become distrusting of one another as anyone could be the shapeshifting ‘Thing’. Even as a viewer, I started feeling suspicious of all characters including the main character portrayed by Kurt Russell. It also became very obvious to me that the movie was basically ‘Among Us: the movie’. How apt to have watched this horror classic whilst Among Us has become a gaming phenomenon. Anyway, the practical effects were not too shabby and ultimately this was a great watch. Oh and also there are a lot of fade to black transitions. What’s up with that. 8.5/10