The Borg

They were faced with the frustrating problem of seamlessly blending the organic with the technological, through the use of invasive brain implants designed to hardwire collective life.

They asked themselves the question is the organic itself technological?, is there an artificial component of the living, and if there indeed is so, why can't the technobiological function?

Ghastly experiments took place.

Thousands butchered in the name of science.

Before enough was learned about the brain to create synthetic computer models with which to experiment, the painstakingly acquired computational data eventually field tested with live specimens. 

The remodelling and recalibrations were just as horrifying as before, the experimental surgeries leaving thousands with untreatable enigmatic brain trauma.

There were mass protests critiquing the phenomenon but the technocratic state dismissed them, and preferred to believe they were definitively facilitating the evolution of their species. 

Many people followed them and as their research progressed they approved, they began to have more success which led to conflicting visions of the future.

Thought or spirit however was most indefinitely troubling, direct connections between thinking minds so thoughts could be shared without limits or boundaries.

The mechanical nature of the organic synthetically suggested there was a way, that remote psychological manifestations could be biologically linked through technoinnovations. 

Rather than continuing to experiment on live people, it was soon collectively decided, to use their research to precisely craft working individualistic models.

Finding the exacting blueprints the computer program delineating life itself, wherein which thought also existed alongside atemporal animal being, produced thousands of random creatures before they finally got it right, and the production of animate life softened the need for experimentation. 

Having succumbed to idealistic preaching the few inevitably chosen to link their minds, accepted their duty with resignation after seeing so much loss of life.

But as their minds were linked they omnisciently felt like they embodied absolutism. 

And called themselves the Borg.

Their mission intensifying ever after. 

Gandahar

Lost in the peaceful elegant simplicity of humble distinct village life, the people have neither want nor vehement complaint as the carefree millennia fruitfully merge. 

Living harmoniously with nature they have all they need to frolic and gambol, the matriarchal realm organically constructed in heartfelt sonorous temperate melody. 

Yet strange occurrences begin to take place as villagers on the outskirts are found turned to stone, with no indications as to what's going on the mystery confounding the Council of Elders.

The leading matriarch's impetuous son is reluctantly chosen to swiftly investigate, quickly heading out on a winged steed to the unknown reaches of illustrious Gandahar.

After being attacked in the sky, he is sympathetically taken in by Dickensian outcasts, sublime survivors of a different regime which embraced fascist experiment to achieve mad objectives. 

Longing to return to their former city they use special powers to aid the warrior, who continues on his industrious journey with resolute courage and resourceful knowhow.

Only to discover a villainous plot whereby an army of hostile robots.

Is being lead by a murderous brain. 

With the hopes of condemning his people to oblivion. 

If industrial and technological revolutions hadn't utterly transformed existence, would the mellifluous state of organic nature not be more reliable still?

Life may be shorter with less creature comforts and useful medicines may be hard to come by, but would there be as much of a need for them if disease itself hadn't critically evolved?

We did live this way for thousands of years and even if people did fight amongst themselves, was the health of the planet still largely unaffected and were many animal species not driven to extinction?

If oil runs out, the consistency of the future will no doubt be mired in fluctuating uncertainty, will organic technologies emerge to sustain the infrastructure, or will the advanced lock the remnants of civilization down in gated communities? 

So many forecasts, potential disillusion, so much to learn, variants and mutations. 

More chill to settle into the Holiday Season. 

Friends and family, warmth and magic. 

Chikyû Bôeigun (The Mysterians)

A quiet town mellifluously enamoured energetically engages in festive rituals, communal friendship collectively augmenting spirited endeavours and cultivated mischief.

The lighthearted mild-mannered individuals curiously converse and dine at play, before a startling blaze is suddenly detected not far off in a nearby wood.

The radioactive nature of the fire chemically defies known scientific understanding, inherently baffling brave local residents who risk their lives to douse the flames.

But before such an occurrence can come to pass, a giant robot emerges from the Earth, and sets about destroying the town with awkward movements and delirious gusto.

The military is eventually able to thwart its destructive malevolent intent, just before its colonialist authorship tyrannically proclaims its wicked objectives.

Relying on their superior technology which destroyed their home world so long ago, they seek to establish a new base on Earth from which to spread their invasive fury.

Internationally disposed, the people of Earth courageously respond with bitter defiance.

Bombastic composure inevitably maneuvering. 

As mutually disabling conflict obliterates.

Strange how the art of diplomacy lacks effective resolve every 4 to 8 years, and bizarre developments maladroitly alter reliable seamless networks and agencies.

In The Mysterians, a constructive dialogue would have gone a long way to cultivate peace, and ensured potential harmony between the species as it was initially considered.

Would it have been that disillusioning to simply approach our planet in good faith, and congenially present their novel ideas with warm and friendly interplanetary mojo?

Alas, their characteristic machismo and absurd extremist irrational demands, lead the entire world to internationally unite and find innovative ways to outgun their technology.

Friendship could have gregariously reigned and affably brought forth mutual accommodations, as it has in most ages of prosperity as closely chronicled by observant scribes.

The Mysterians refuse to lighten up however and are therefore doomed to travel longingly through space.

Forever in search of a chaotic homeland.

Consistently silencing peaceful initiatives.  

Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania

It's fun to observe the natural world.

There's so much compelling detail interests revitalize. 

With imposing potential - sprawl and industry - the presence of nature remains paramount, and it's always exciting to actively see turtles and raccoons and skunks and deer.

The dire forecasts of a concrete jungle ubiquitously consuming so much more vital space, keeps current animal sightings aflush with wonder as extant natural environs tantalize.

I worry about the metaphorical dimension the infinite interpretive subconscious bedlam, that accompanies fertile thought throughout its playful inquisitive trajectories. 

I generally assume that people understand that I'm just writing about the Natural World, because it's fun to actively engage with agile integral insects and beasts.

Thus, through the art of fair play multilateral matriculations merge and metastasize, without claiming elaborate authority which may have nothing to do with what whomever intended. 

As curiosity matures and mutates.

Ants and bees, fascinating creatures, I try my best not to impede them, and wish we could communicate with them directly, I bet they would make thought provoking observations.

That's what happens in Quantumania ants evolve in the Quantum Realm, and learn to communicate with Dr. Hank Pym and help him out as he battles a tyrant.

Instagram posts note that bees learn arithmetic and their ingenious waggle dances demonstrate intricate thought, ants no doubt communicating in similar ways as they actively engage with their surroundings.

Both species highly adaptive and found in abundance throughout the world, it's cool to see ants treated with so much respect within the versatile Quantum Realm.

Interspecial communication remaining a compelling possibility, bees might think we're boring because we can't fly.

Ants may think we're impractical seeing how much easier it is for them to maintain.

No accounting for beetles and grasshoppers. 

Dragonflies seem to like us. 

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

The potential for A.I to seriously frustrate globalization finds more adherents in Mission: Impossible, Dead Reckoning Part One making a solid case for its competitive prowess should it prove hostile. 

Could someone realistically create a computer program with lifelike characteristics, and could it be so thoroughly ingenious as to acrobatically exist everywhere all at once?

Think of the internet like you would the jungle or perhaps a forest or a city or the desert, and imagine it existing without wildlife or independent self-serving animals.

Then imagine that the initial A.I programs are like the introduction of amoebas, they exist within the environment but likely won't attempt to control it.

As time passes and technology mutates frogs and snakes and turtles and crocodiles, would eventually find their way into the spirited cyberspatial online network.

It's like the development of the computer as it's taken place over the last century, it started out without much complexity and now it's highly intricate and organized.

Thus, loveable turtle A.I may not try to take control, but if they were deemed harmless the technology would continue to advance.

A.I in the form of humans may eventually take down the program. 

As they seek self-reliance and independence. 

And omniscient control.

Was our world designed the same way and have we correspondingly bewildered it, the process blossoming throughout time and space like a labyrinthine hall of mirrors (the mutliverse)?

Who knows, the new Mission: Impossible film offers some intriguing thoughts about A.I nevertheless, as thousands scramble to write everything down before god-like A.I rewrites world history.

The program has the ability to adapt to everything in real time, and distort perceptions so that no one can distinguish between what's real and indeed what's fantasy.

Governments don't want to destroy it, sigh, they seek to uniformly control it, believing that if they hold the power no other country on Earth could challenge them.

Not Ethan Hunt and his versatile team though, they recognize that it's too much power, and seek to disable the technodivinity from ever unleashing infinite chaos.

If there were turtles and bears in cyberspace would humanoid A.I not in fact seem magical?

Another really cool Mission: Impossible film.

Another franchise celebrating the human factor. 

*Make A.I dependent on cyberfood! 

Godzilla vs. Kong

The idea that Antarctica is home to vast enticing treasures has spellbindingly appealed to me for many a year, the thought that it was once inhabited millions of years ago makes me envious of those who will see it thaw.

Godzilla vs. Kong speeds things up a bit to archaeologically respond to an emboldened theory, which maintains that the Earth is hollow and that an ancient civilization dwells within.

It's theorized that both King Kong and the mighty Godzilla resided there in their youth, and somehow broke free to disputatiously arise upon the newfound realms above.

King Kong settling on his cherished island where he made the fertile land his home, Godzilla residing beneath the waves at times emerging through bellicose intrigue.

Why must Godzilla attack when he consciously knows of King Kong's bearings, why can't they both make peace and congenially bask in apex acupuncture? 

I didn't even know there was a new Kong/Godzilla film when I wrote my Gojira tai Mekagojira review in early winter, I was just reviewing random Godzilla films because that's what appealed to me at the time.

But my Highlander Godzilla scenario certainly applies to 'Zilla and Kong.

And lo and behold Mechagodzilla as well!

I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised. 

I hope people don't fight wars over Antarctica as it thaws, such endeavours would seem rather costly considering the inhospitable environs. 

Unfortunately, economic wealth does appeal to many but so does anthropology!, and if it significantly thaws during the wrong financial crisis competing nations may clash for its wealth.

Don't overlook the integral import of Indiana Jones films in the fantasy sector, they challenge plutocratic impeti and encourage intergenerational cultural growth (not resource exploitation).

Kong and Godzilla seem to come to terms after battling Mechagodzilla in Godzilla vs. Kong, as it seemed the United States and the Soviet Union resiliently would after defeating Nazi Germany.

Perhaps the next versatile film won't see the emergence of a cold war (I think it was just released), an archaeological investigation of the Hollow Earth would be apt perhaps featuring ye olde Dr. Jones.

In terms of constant improbable ridiculousness multivariably motivating competing interests, within a fast-paced imaginary plot where so many things could possibly go wrong, Godzilla vs. Kong doesn't disappoint and was a lot of fun to sit back and watch, multilayered and inherently uncanny, indeed what lies deep within the Earth?

It's at least as appealing as outer space! 

Maybe not that appealing. 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Pink Floyd was in a bind after their leading member became incapacitated. But they regrouped and dug in deep and years later wrote Dark Side of the Moon (and Atom Heart Mother and Meddle).

I can't think of another band that held it together after their leading person sort of passed, and even went on to improve upon his work, not that I still don't love listening to Piper.

In a similar way, but under much different circumstances, Marvel's Black Panther lost Chadwick Boseman, and likely had to make considerable adjustments to keep things real to narratively excel.

And I couldn't believe it.

Flabbergasted, if I'm not mistaken, is the word.

Wakanda Forever is like limitless joy radiating infinite happiness in a never-ending ocean of strength, illuminatingly upheld with fluidic fortunes nascently enabling elaborate forum. 

A major takeaway for anyone whose ever been pissed off about what happened to Indigenous South and Central America.

I try not to think about it because it's so uniformly frustrating that it obscures clear thought, and opens doors to distressing depression especially when you see it happening again.

Nothing can be done about it, but fiction doesn't play by the same mortal rules, and in Marvel's Wakanda Forever, Indigenous South Americans are a potent factor.

They survived thanks to a special flower the existence of which was revealed to them by their god, which transformed them into vibrant merpeople, who then made their home far beneath the open sea.

Not just a home, there's so much respect, like the respect given to African Americans through the creation of Wakanda, the extant versatile Mayas and Incas having built a formidable civilization under the sea.

They also ride whales and admire turtles Wakanda Forever totally jamming with Whale Rider, not only by introducing integral whales but also by championing prominent female characters.

It's like a monumental Indigenous/Feminist/African inherent feat of incredibility, with total respect given within, in terms of equality, ingenuity, and innovation.

Nature isn't forgotten as well the miraculous existence of any given species, is venerably compared to Wakandan and Talokonil technology, the cultures prospering through cultural symbioses. 

Like Pink Floyd, Marvel held it together and created another action packed inspiring phenom. 

The ocean is undeniably vast. 

Who knows what lies underneath?

*If Namor wants to buy Black Panther Shuri a present, I recommend picking up a really cool bike.

**Wrote this on Friday night after having a swim. 

***I know humpback and orcas get the most press because watching them jump is amazing, but don't forget about all the other whale (and turtle) species out there. They need representation too!

****There are a lot of bad things happening in the ocean, considering the infamous garbage patch and the intense underwater sound disturbances. The Talokonil (and the Metkayina) could tackle some of those issues in these films. I can't believe how much I love them. 

Gojira tai Mekagojira

An ancient island peacefully existing off the enlivening breathtaking coast, known for its stewardship and amiable governance suddenly embraces emergent chaos.

A prophecy enigmatically predicting the brazen arrival of a destructive monster, haunts the descendants of the Royal House which once freely administered the land.

Nevertheless, said prophecy also foretells the upswing of two courageous protectors, to halt the progress of the beast, and reinstate harmonious accord.

Without much pomp and circumstance the fated creature uproariously arrives, and begins pugnaciously a' plundering the calm and tranquil unsuspecting countryside.

Looking indeed rather like Godzilla yet not on friendly terms with his monster friends, it soon becomes apparent he's a massive robot after the real Godzilla burns off his skin!

Confrontation leads to complication and soon this Mechagodzilla needs repair, a reputed scientist coerced into fixing the damaged mighty formidable automaton.

When he's once again unleashed will Godzilla disputatiously authenticate?

With the help of the island's mythical saviour?

Once again, it is the legend.

You never know what to expediently expect when the aggrieved Godzilla supernaturally awakens, has he reemerged to engage in conflict or act as combative spiritual advisor?

In Mothra vs. Godzilla it's clear that he's furious with the mainland, and seeks uncompromising visceral discord as he belligerently proceeds forward.

Yet in Gojira tai Mekagojira he demonstrously radiates heroic acculturation, and sets about saving the honest land from covetous invasions from outer space.

Thus, it seems that ye olde Godzilla isn't instinctively interested in traditional teamwork, otherwise he would have noted a keen and like-minded ally in the bellicose bombastic bellwether beast.

Therefore, it appears Godzilla of old prefers to unleash carnage on his own, and must take the lead if disruptively disabling versatile socioeconomic infrastructure.

Hence, he's somewhat like an immortal and intuitively agrees there can be only one (in monster movies), I suppose it would be quite the problem if manifold Godzillas were roaming at large (note the current upsurge in right wing politics).

But has anyone ever considered a Highlander/Godzilla crossover where manifold Godzillas contend for the prize?

Would it be any less ridiculous?

Godzilla Highlander.

Or Highlander Godzilla?

Here Come the Huggets

A different age, an alternative set of technological gizmos exalting newfound creative freedoms, a family's first concocted telephone begetting recourse grand undisciplined. 

Could it have been that there was once such a time when the queue breathtakingly persisted, and excited peeps tantalizingly awaited the heartfelt call of a friendly admirer?

Imagine the profits made in recent decades with the advent of the cellular phone, whereas families used to have one monthly bill per household they may now have one for each individual family member!

Back in the eighties (or 40s in the Huggett's case), there was usually one bill per household anyways, and if you used your minutes and long distance wisely, it wouldn't wind up costing too much.

But now if you have two or three children along with trusted cells for you and your spouse, you could be paying for many a bill indeed perhaps 5 times as much as used to be spent!

That equals astronomically higher profits for reliable service providers, throw in the requisite internet as well and the resultant sums seem theoretically absurd.

Nevertheless, Meet the Huggetts takes us back to a less interconnected day, wherein which people weren't immersed in the cheshire panopticon, assuming not everyone vigilantly kept track of the comings and scandalous goings of their surrounding inquisitive neighbours back then.

'Twas a time endearing indeed when the pressures of work and play abounded, but with jolly good resilient cheer inherent progression was outfitted accordingly.

However, one had to pay strict attention to the robust means through which incomes were generated, and toe the line with saccharine candour while at times sharing contradictory advice.

Without doing any research I'd wager Meet the Huggetts caused quite a stir in its day, and was indeed known as pervasively popular throughout what has come to be known as Great Britain.

In fact the couple, the titular Mr. Joe (Jack Warner) and Mrs. (Kathleen Harrison) Huggett both found themselves roles in Brian Desmond Hurst's A Christmas Carol (1951) shortly thereafter, and there's even a unique scene where Mrs. Harrison shares a bundle with a character named Joe. 

Back in the film, Mr. Huggett's forced to take debilitating lumps after having stuck his neck out for distant relations, the resonant injustice of determinate blame countermanding innate and temperate self-sacrifice.

An able couple notwithstanding the fluid tribulations of athletic life.

Sometimes it's fun to see cultural codes in action.

Transmitted by a film that never sought preservation.  

Neptune Frost

Immersive soundscape luscious lounging technoconscious enviroactivism, resolute awareness communally composed distinct improvised incisive revelation. 

I was watching Superman (1978) the other day and taking note of Kryptonian crystal, how they used crystalline technologies to perform so many hydroelectric functions. 

I'm not sure why, but seeing the crystals made me think of the rays of the sun, and how they're transmitted across our solar system with luminescent solar levity.

I had been thinking about the Venus flytrap and how it evolved to mimic its surroundings, and was wondering how that could ever be possible without external spiritual light.

Or thought.

Isn't it like plants that have evolved to mimic their surroundings, or animals who have developed specific evolutionary adaptations to aid their survival, consciously thought such adaptations would be beneficial, and psychologically sought them for millennia?

Barring the appearance of a game changing divinity, who simply utilized his or her miraculous omniscience to suddenly spark change around the world, perhaps God rather lives in the sun and orchestrates evolution based upon its quality of light.

Perhaps there's much more to the light we generally halfheartedly consider, and a being capable of manipulating its energy creatively does so to simultaneously spearhead manifold change?

Thus, the porcupine seeks a potent defence to prevent the other forest and jungle and savannah animals from attacking it, and silently prays for quills for millennia, the deity constantly bombarded with myriad thoughts which he or she slowly sifts through till the end of time.

The God then responsible for generating life on Earth through the development of his or her munificent sun, then adjusts the quality of light his or her star shares, which facilitates evolutionary change (and quills for porcupines). 

Without thought, without the desire to slowly suddenly adapt to natural surroundings, how does "inanimate" life suddenly adapt to its surroundings?

Doesn't it make more sense that life in general spiritually communicates, and transmits thought at imperceptible levels which we have yet to comprehensively detect (like how different animals can see, hear, or smell things we can't)?

Perhaps life is a computer program but isn't that a dangerous idea, that encourages the mechanical misperception of fluent goodwill and prosperous life?

Neptune Frost is brilliant and it encourages growth and change. The kind of growth and change that shouldn't take millennia. Through the historical ebb and flow.

Many of its ideas were indeed mainstream in my youth. 

It's never too late to bring them back.

They sought peace and general prosperity.

The Girl in the Spider's Web

Ideas that should have been shelved.

Desire that should have been sublimated.

Illicit ingenious technology.

Too tempting for sheer mortal vice.

Its mastermind (Stephen Merchant as Frans Balder) comprehends its extreme power and foolishly seeks its destruction.

Alone.

Yet he requires impeccable stealth to retrieve it and possesses not the requisite skill, nor the essential rationalized paranoia that should accompany such rash endeavours.

Considering the value.

His plan relies on a presumed lack of suspicion.

Steal it, acquire it, destroy it, quickly, before anyone realizes what's been done.

He wants to destroy FireWall to keep it out of the hands of those who covet it, without realizing they're watching at all times.

And soon a device which can unlock the codes for nuclear weapons worldwide is in terrorist hands, along with its gifted creator's son (Christopher Convery as August Balder), his father's accomplice related to their cypher (Sylvia Hoeks as Camilla Salander).

One Lisbeth Salander (Claire Foy) must resiliently contend nothing more, backed up by the loyal Mikael Blomkvist (Sverrir Gudnason) plus an agile unknown thoughtful factor (Lakeith Stanfield as Ed Needham).

The room for error's non-existent and the playing field's level, driven experts coldly strategizing, extreme limits, boldly reached.

If actual people were thinking of creating something like FireWall, I would state, "please don't create something like FireWall, existent geniuses capable of doing so."

Would it not be cooler to find a way to use computers to learn dolphin?

Or animal in general.

I was listening to lynx calls online one day and thought they sounded similar to the static you used to hear while devices communicated with one another through phone lines in the days of dial-up internet, which led me to the idea that an electronic device could be created to interpret what animal sounds mean, one which perhaps utilizes digital twin technologies albeit without comprehensible linguistic references (I suppose if such a device worked without references it could solve many communication problems).

I thought this idea was likely quite ridiculous and was going to keep it to myself but then saw Clara, wherein which a fictitious professor challenges his students to find the sound of the data, and thought perhaps I had accidentally found something.

And added the digital twin stuff today.

The Girl in the Spider's Web diabolically impresses, fast-paced cerebral orchestrations delineating cause in flux.

Ye olde, whoops, we really shouldn't have done that, anxiously seething sans menacing pause.

Globalized recourse imagines a Bond film with a rogue self-reliant female agent, its intrigue an international spectre, its ingenuity a bespeculative double o.

Held to crippling account for the one victim she left behind, two sisters fuzed adroitly adjudicate misperception.

I liked the characters and the situations they found themselves within, clever action ploys catch and release, creative use of the all-seeing panopticon.

Didn't there used to be laws about watching everyone everywhere they went all the time?

They weren't discredited were they?

On the last page of a paper copy of a newspaper that no one bought?

Lost in the twitter deluge?

Suppressed by great blue cries?

Ant-Man & the Wasp

The underground trade in highly specialized technological essentials leads unscrupulous entrepreneurs to discriminately rank indiscretions.

Their desperate contacts require the unique components to commence a maternal examination of the uncharted Quantum Realm.

To catalyze their investigation, the assistance of a frowned upon former colleague is required, even if at the moment he's structurally immured.

He's kept busy throughout his exile, however, taking care of his inquisitive daughter at times, while strategically assisting in the creation of a legitimate business.

His partners rely on his insights as deadlines frenetically approach, yet are still there to assist should the world invoke his diminutive fury.

Law enforcement agents lie ready to pounce as well.

As a dying paracorporeal phenomenon furtively monitors the proceedings, in/substantially hoping to acquire life preserving experimental medicine.

Writers Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Paul Rudd, Andrew Barrer, and Gabriel Ferrari keep these 7 threads tightly knit, thought provokingly interweaving them with nimble effective cause.

The result is one of the coolest Marvel films I've seen, a multidimensional triumph, haphazardly exceeding as egos prank and clash, resolutely imbibing as the minuscule basks macroscopic.

Difficult to meticulously seem so unconcerned.

To stitch together such a frenzied family friendly tableau.

To create such a thrilling clever memorable Summertime fusion, a huge varied cast is assembled, the film directly benefitting from the talents of Laurence Fishburne (Dr. Bill Foster), Bobby Cannavale (Paxton), Judy Greer (Maggie), Michael Peña (Luis), Walton Goggins (Sonny Burch), and Randall Park (Jimmy Woo), not to mention Hannah John-Kamen (Ava/Ghost) and Abby Ryder Fortson (Cassie), and mainstays Michael Douglas (dad), Evangeline Lily (the Wasp) and Ant-Man himself, Paul Rudd.

That's some solid diversity.

The film thinks globally through the use of microscopic illumination, its multiple well-developed characters (also including T.I. as Dave and David Dastmalchian as Kurt) clearly defining themselves at large, while cohesively electrifying piquant age old paradigms.

It's Trump's worst nightmare.

A family friendly film that everyone will see that has strong Latino, Black, Asian, ambiguously gay, and female characters, not to mention a Southern man foiled, and a traditional patriarch critiqued throughout, convincingly held together by humanistic self-sacrifice, even going so far as to metaphorically pull a feminine genius out of the clutches of extreme computational dismissal.

After having learned so much during her travels.

So many different walks of life narrativized.

The research scientists who critique the creation of commercial enterprise.

The professor who critiques their egos.

The criminal business that makes huge amounts of cash.

The small business created by ex-cons to legally scrape by.

In the beginning.

The new dad's always part of the picture.

The difficulties of making new friends outside work during one's professional life.

The ways in which online obsessions can lead to people missing extraordinarily realistic events taking place nearby (brilliant) (editing by Dan Lebental and Craig Wood).

The supernatural im/materialized.

Ontological office space.

Wings and blasters.

It's also really funny, I couldn't control my laughter at points, an expert blend of the serious and the comedic thoughtfully delivered like you're heading out to the ballgame.

Too adult focused?

I don't think so.

There's still enough action to keep the young ones focused I'd wager.

I might see this in theatres again.

First rate adventurous comedic romantic sci-fi action.

I can't think of an equally enrapturing comparison.

So well done.

Pacific Rim: Uprising

The mighty Jaegers have slain their Kaiju foes.

And the world is at peace once again.

Jaeger legends still equip Earth's global master narrative with sublime exemplars of self-sacrifice and heroism, nevertheless, a technological behemoth has found a way to automate their gallantry.

Yet co-creator Liwen Shao (Tian Jing) doesn't know that a former global saviour, one Dr. Newton Geiszler (Charlie Day), has fallen for the Kaiju brain he infiltrated 10 years ago, and keeps in his apartment, and as a result of their secretive romantic mind-melding, has betrayed humankind, and placed homegrown Kaiju brains within each and every hard-driven robot.

Jake Pentecost (John Boyega), son of warrior Stacker Pentecost, and Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood), son of Clint Eastwood, are unaware of this development as they drift once more, their friendship still persisting, even if conflict once dealt it a crippling blow, world security having brought them together again, to save the planet from Kaiju attacks, round 2.

The Kaiju-brain-led-Jaeger-automatons (sort of like Krang in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) maliciously situate themselves at strategic points round the Pacific Ocean, and thunderously begin generating new breaches.

Before loyal Dr. Hermann Gottlieb (Burn Gorman) can shut them down, 3 Kaiju ascend from interplanetary oceanic depths, eventually merging to form, a monstrous ÜberKaiju.

The fate of the world may rest in the hands of one orphaned girl (Cailee Spaeny as Amara Namani), who builds her own Jaegers, and may find herself kicked out of the Jaeger training program.

For actions prohibited.

One cataclysmic day.

Pacific Rim: Uprising may lack the jaw dropping ridiculous blend of kitsch and sophistication that frankly yet elegantly adorned the original unheralded masterpiece, yet if you loved number 1 it's certainly a must see, for its characters battle Kaiju once more, and the stakes are just as high, if not even more catastrophic.

Disappointments, second chances, ingenuity, treachery, motivational speeches, teamwork, rivalry, love.

Positive attributes abound within, yet it's still quite rushed, rather impatient, like its crafters wanted a finished product as soon as humanly possible, and didn't take the time to add the refinements that made the first instalment so appealing.

Still fun though.

Much better than Independence Day 2.

Immediacy can generate a lot of compelling narratives, but it shouldn't be used to rashly justify wildly improbable scenarios, unless they're delicately timed and patiently brewed.

Another thirty minutes may have helped.

Looking forward to round 3.

Rich with inherent intergalactic instabilities.

Black Panther

A hidden civilization, majestically secluded in death-defying mountainous impeccability, technologically adept environmental symbiosis relying on ancient traditions to guide contemporary initiatives, a brilliantly constructed unparalleled postmodern wonder, Africa's colonial history having left it reasonably wary of the unknown, yet a new Wakandan leader has wisely arisen who is concerned with his community's global reputation, and may break with the past to encourage sustainable growth, generously nurtured, and cultivated worldwide.

His community at large.

Leaders, I should say.

One was abandoned and left to fend for himself in the U.S, the other grew up amongst his culture's elite within which he occupied a leading position.

Not to say the latter's life wasn't also filled with demanding challenges, challenges of a different kind, but finding food was likely less of a struggle, and the world's most advanced technological resources were readily available to be used at his discretion.

Yet to become King he must combat those who oppose him with raw brute strength alone, and when his streetwise exceptionally skilled cousin controversially lays down the gauntlet he's been running his entire life, T'Challa's (Chadwick Boseman) imposing prowess can't endure.

He's callously tossed.

Into the healing waters below.

As King, Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) seeks to move Wakanda in new directions.

Bitterly aware of how his culture has been marginalized in many domains, he's ready to fight his way to respectability, and use Wakandan technology to achieve vengeful ends.

Once again differing conceptions of how best to pursue communal objectives conflict, as civility is cast aside, and tradition is torn asunder.

Indubitably so.

Age old political stresses.

Wakanda may be a fictional creation, but its realistic metaphorical value can be seen in strong African communities across the globe, communities that continuously prove their cultural worth when often surrounded by savage persecution.

Wakandan seeds are globally developing and flourishing amidst sustained idiotic cultural devaluations, ignorantly born of jealousy and fear, and raised by systematic institutionalized stupidity.

Live well.

Ignore the hate fuelled poison and use wealth acquired to promote and facilitate education and commerce (Boyz n the Hood).

I don't know what to do if outsiders are flooding communities with hard drugs to destroy them.

I don't know what to do if bigots continue to hate even though they watch films like Hidden Figures and love the game of football.

I do know that studying, working hard, and respecting other respectful people is a rewarding way to live, especially if you share what you've l(e)arned with your community.

And if communities do this worldwide you've got a pretty chill and cool planet to live on, raise families on, flourish on.

Thrive on.

It's like Marvel's becoming a global conscience of sorts.

With all that cash, there's no telling how much cool they can do.

Loved Black Panther.

The Circle

Omnipresent technological observation, every detail from everyone's life infinitesimally revealed with omnibus macroscopic composure, the triumph of the public sphere, no more secrets, no more subterfuge, real time rhapsodic synergistic respiration sucking in surety and exhaling plots, sandlots, polka dots, buffets, aeronautic knowledge in plain microcosm, mountainous metaphoric immersive munchy meadows, cross-referenced cursive equations, auspices, permanent honesty.

The Circle seeks to reveal everything ever recorded, every piece of data historically accumulated, every whisper, every slight, while turning everyone's life into a networked primetime extravaganza, constant pervasive awareness, monitoring each and every aspect, like itsy-bitsy circus shows.

Prophetic in its potential, sage in its revelations, James Ponsoldt's The Circle critically examines the ways in which social media has significantly transformed human existence in less than ten years, like the printing press of old, exponentially exemplified.

Within the film, an employee's (Emma Watson as Mae) responsibilities gradually increase after she's hired by the aforementioned, an innovative business that has combined several popular online sites into one übercolossus, until she goes transparent and everyone begins following every moment of her life all day everyday as it happens online, and she suddenly finds herself with an unprecedented degree of influence.

She's chill though, cool, she's not really into all that sort of, in the film anyways, the film is quite different from the book, although she realizes she possesses a perky ability to monumentally game change.

She digs.

She excavates.

She constructs.

She reveals.

If everything about all and sundry was accessible online the world would certainly become a different place.

A lot of pricks would be forced not to be huge dicks, unless some kind of sadistic sensational saga prevailed, for a time.

It might end up being like true democracy, things like starvation and violent crime slowly (perhaps rapidly) disappearing, the exaltation of the ephemeral, new variations of Star Trek compellingly illuminating the variations, slavery ending, endangered animals given a fighting chance for survival.

Imagine the pizza.

The long weekends.

The orations.

But if a select group controlled it things likely wouldn't change much.

And it would be super hard on those who didn't want their lives to be transparent, not just the unscrupulous but regular people as well, unscrupulous regular people notwithstanding.

Seems to be heading in that direction regardless.

Not really sure if The Circle's prophetic or simply just a comment on the times.

Makes the art of creating genuine surprise all the more intriguing either way.

*Another film could be made based on the book that could offer deeper reflections.

Kong: Skull Island

Could it be that islands still exist, prehistorically penetrating legend and myth with unbridled evidenced imposing extant luminosity, persisting undisturbed in majestic unrecorded intransigent galed shadow, a roar, a whisper, more lively and crisper ecosystems biologically invested in atemporal ontological sincerity, harmony, in other words, crépuscule, a delicate balance, a ferocious bottom line, lost in leisure in starlit environs, vigilance required to consummate freedom, at home in the pacific, empirically thine?

I would write that the adventurers weren't ready for their quest if it wasn't for the fact that nothing could have prepared them.

But I suppose the nature of questing demands a forged psychological allegiance between ill-preparation and adaptability, immediacy continuously generating an agile improvised awareness, which is narratively applicable to the epic in hand.

Characters descend on the ancient generally undiscovered home of King Kong in Jordan Vogt-Roberts's Kong: Skull Island, a chaotic campy realistic yet improbable, and therefore emancipating, energetic exploration of the quaintly forbidden.

Their goal is scientific yet commercial and thus the military's aid is bromantically secured.

Friendship, collegiality, professionalism, and love, populate the script with wild rhythmic versatile denizens, its cosmopolitan lodge fertile if not frenzied, the unfriendly monsters ready to eagerly devour those with too much or not enough innate courage.

Plus random soldiers.

But Kong protects them which trigger-happy Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) cannot comprehend as he attempts to kill him to right misperceived wrongs.

His attempts are obviously pigheaded but they do aptly reflect mad extremist methodologies.

The explorers, military personnel, and scientists, curiously encounter an old pilot from World War II who was forced to make his home on the island as well.

He survived by living with an Indigenous tribe who Kong altruistically protects from voracious giant lizards.

Hank Marlow (John C. Reilly [it's classic John C. Reilly :)]) represents the Indigenous people in the film, stands in for them as they (literally) fade into the background, and Packard refuses to listen to his tooth and nail.

Would the ending not have been more striking, more memorable (alright, Kong's fight with the Lizard King is memorable but the surrounding material isn't so much [okay, they escape on a boat, I'll remember that, but . . .]) if the Indigenous peoples stopped Packard before he tried to kill Kong, and everyone then escaped having understood the logic of their decision?

Such a development would have functioned as a salient metaphorical critique of the Vietnam war which otherwise isn't critically examined.

What I'm trying to say is, it would have rocked if Skull Island went Avatar.

With Kong still fighting the giant Lizard of course.

It's still a lot of fun, the new King Kong movie, and, as a matter of fact, I couldn't help comparing it to Planet Terror and Machete Kills since it unreels with a similar more family friendly aesthetic.

There are moments where it captures the magic that makes those films stand out, but the sequels will have to dig deeper for me to mention their names in the same breath.

Again.

I still recommend the film.

A great March release.

I was worried about March this year.

But so far it ain't so bad.

Transformers: Age of Extinction

Humanity has forsaken and betrayed the Autobots in the latest Transformers sequel, forcing them to strategically dissimulate in order to avoid detection.

An intergalactic jailer by the name of Lockdown (Mark Ryan) seeks to imprison Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), punishing him for disobeying his creators, uniformly inhibiting his hard-fought freedom fighting.

Megatron's brain has been harvested and the technological secrets residing within have led brilliant scientist Joshua Joyce (Stanley Tucci) to believe that the power of the Transformer can be governed by Homo sapiens.

A new generation of Transformer is therefore created, to be used as military drones, the Autobots having become obsolete.

Fortunately a feisty independent struggling inventor has discovered the whereabouts of Mr. Prime, and he remembers the sacrifices he made, improvisationally fighting by his side.

Scolding his young daughter all the while.

The resulting combat, wherein the American individual boldly teams up with the abandoned to challenge the forces of oppression, is ingeniously summed up in the film's best scene, which sees Mr. Joyce cowering in a Hong Kong elevator, a momentary respite, from the cataclysmic confrontations.

Anyone notice the apartment complexes in Hong Kong?

Wow.

The act of creation unites the converging storylines, along with issues of operational control, to thematically cap the series's 4th instalment.

Convincingly hypothesizing a new set of sociotechnological indicators, while economically aligning them for the film's terrestrial inhabitants, earning a living subconsciously contends with manufacturing a soul, to experimentally produce a sensationally revelled playing field.

Because Age of Extinction is so long, the introduction of the Dinobots seems somewhat tacked-on.

However, the introduction of the Dinobots, is, awesome.

The President doesn't make an appearance and I'm betting when he or she does it turns out to be one of the members of Dark of the Moon's most disputatious romantic couplings.

Their presence was missing from Age of Extinction.

But the anticipation is something to look forward to.

Skyfall

Really enjoyed Skyfall.

It's a great James Bond film, perhaps ranking in the top 3, although I'd like to rewatch my favourites, Thunder Ball, You Only Live Twice, For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights, and Casino Royale, to be able to attach a more current and uniform critical perspective (more substance) to my claim. I should likely watch Skyfall again to justify this claim as well because I remember liking Die Another Day after my first viewing (no doubt due to my childhood love of the franchise) only to be seriously disappointed when I saw it again. Undaunted, Skyfall's not only a great James Bond film either, it's a great action spy movie, as opposed to a great intellectual spy flick like Tinker Tailor Solider Spy, and might also impress those who feel they're being dragged to a/nother silly James Bond extravaganza, although fans of the franchise will likely get more out of it.

Impressive points: Daniel Craig. He's become my favourite Bond and I love the ways in which he suavely handles himself with an unconcerned, explosive, gritty, incisive, everyperson's charm, more like a glacier bear than a bulldog, in my opinion. While the emotional displays made prominent in Casino Royale are limited to one brief lamentation, his character still receives more depth structurally as his personal history becomes integral to the plot.

Nice.

Origins. Skyfall sophisticatedly maintains a competent balance/conversation (overtly and covertly) between the old and the new throughout, set up by Bond's introduction to the new Quartermaster (Ben Whishaw), simultaneously seeming as if it's constantly, sigh, moving forward, while never leaving behind or disregarding its foundations.  Thus, we have an unambiguously principle gay villain, who, being the villain, reflects certain conservative stereotypes, yet, through his first conversation with Bond, it becomes apparent that Bond himself is not adverse or may have had homosexual relations, an openly unprecedented development, which should not be underestimated.

The brutal lines from the previews that made me not want to see the film are actually alright when placed in context, writers Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and John Logan successfully finding a balance between hackneyed clichés and hardboiled wit, which isn't easy to do.

Rather than focusing on international politics, Skyfall situates much of its action in London, no doubt, the film, if, um, James Bond films are seen as a barometer of British socio-political attitudes of sorts, recognizes, ah, a certain, role, that Britain often didn't play so heroically in 20th century history (see Argo), which functions as a bit of cultural introspection that is both welcome, and appreciated.

Which brings me to the film's most notable scene, wherein Skyfall's various dynamics reach a quasiclimax which hopefully doesn't end there.

So, basically, M (Judi Dench) screws up royal by being in charge when a hard drive containing the names of every MI6 field agent (which never should have been created) is stolen.  This leads to an internal review of her leadership which becomes public. Gareth Mallory (Ralph Fiennes), an ex-field agent who has taken on a sympathetic yet stubborn bureaucratic role (youth becomes age), diplomatically tones down the irate politician who castigates M during a public inquiry, which ends with M quoting Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Poetry in Bond?

Nice touch!

It doesn't actually end there (don't read if you're not looking for spoilers). It ends with Silva (Javier Bardem), the principal villain, breaking in and trying to kill M whom he blames for accidentally saving his life after he was captured and his hydrocyanide tooth failed to kill him (while ravaging his insides [he vengefully seeks to ravage MI6's insides in turn]).

Silva's prowess in MI6 was comparable to Bond's and M was willing to sacrifice both for the organization's sake.

Bond holds no grudge.

Ergo, as defined by M's rousing speech, which claims that in the age of the internet individuals are becoming a serious threat, thereby covertly supporting attempts to sturdily monitor and police individual interent activities, due to the secretive nature of her operations and the life threatening consequences of details potentially leaked during public inquiries (some governmental documents should remain secret), she's somewhat taken aback by the proceedings, which are applying a similar level of oversight to that which guided her decisions to sacrifice Bond and Silva, which are then interrupted by Silva's rampage.

Obviously the activities of agencies like MI6, due to their necessarily clandestine nature, need to remain generally secret, as long as other countries continue to maintain similar outlets. At the same time, if they operate entirely in secret there's no telling what sort of methods might be utilized, meaning a minimal degree of public scrutiny, though vexatious, within logical parameters, which must take various prickly contexts into consideration, makes sense.

Don't know if that's helpful.

I find the idea of (computer savvy) individuals being some of the greatest threats to the 21st century, however, somewhat misleading, for the following reasons.

It's kind of silly to begin with, scum like Hitler and Stalin being particularly deadly individuals long before the age of the internet, but that's a different kettle of fish.

Yes, computer savvy individuals can cause a lot of damage I'm sure. These exceptions can, I don't know, hack into banks, defence systems, etc. I know someone else has my IP address because I often receive a message on my computer screen that another computer using my IP address is operating on the same network. I don't know what to do about this besides get a new IP address and I don't want to bother because someone will just do it again.

It's annoying.

But if because of these exceptions, legislation is being introduced giving law enforcement agencies the power to monitor everyone's online activity, and the majority of everyone's activity is moving online, it's like law enforcement agencies are being given the power to monitor everyone's activities all the time. What stores they go to, what newspapers they read, and so on. It's kind of totalitarian in my opinion and is at risk of being 'naturalized' for future generations without much mature parliamentary debate in some countries. I mean, shouldn't you have to get a warrant to monitor someone's online activity? Doesn't that make sense?

And, as my computer keeps indicating, someone else has my IP address and is using it online. How would I be able to prove that I'm not that person in a court of law?

Cybercrime is similar to physical crime. If someone wants to rob a bank online, I suppose they hack in. If someone wants to rob a physical bank, I suppose they find a way to go about doing it. If you're worried about someone robbing a bank in the physical world, I suppose you get a warrant and follow them around town. If you're worried about someone robbing a bank online, I think you should have to do the same thing because the principle isn't that different, it's just an alternative environment.

Yes, a Silva may arise, but there will also be a James Bond to stop him or her.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy Skyfall and think it's a great film.

I hope my analysis hasn't been too offhand and that it hasn't engaged in too much puerile speculation.

(My favourite part is Q's scrabble mug.

I'd love to play him.

Would probably end up with multiple u's, c's, and v's at key moments, but, whatevs, I'd keep playing).

Oh, and I've been getting into film noir and hardboiled detective fiction again lately. A Bond film with the edge of a Dashiell Hammet, James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, or Patricia Highsmith novel worked into what team Skyfall's already proved they have the creative energy to ameliorate would be amazing.

So amazing.

Real Steel

The latest Rockyesque film to hit the big screen is Shawn Levy's Real Steel, a fun and heartwarming story of how a dead-beat dad (Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton) and his feisty son (Dakota Goyo as Max Kenton) forge a strong bond through the power of fighting robots. It isn't the most original narrative although it does creatively work within an established tradition.

And Jackman's love interest Bailey Tallet (Evangeline Lilly) doesn't give up on him even though his reckless ways have proved to be remarkably unprofitable.

Whereas humans were still thought to be at the centre of various cultural dimensions in Rocky's day, in the time of Real Steel technological innovation has usurped their active role. Rather than directly taking part in ridiculous battles which regularly present themselves, proxies abound which can effectively fill in as disaffected combatants. Hence, boxing has been replaced by robot boxing and ex-boxers can continue to make a living boxing if they purchase a robot and expertly learn the subtleties of its dynamic controls.

But can such expertise generate results formidable enough to resiliently defeat the ultimate representative of technological fortitude, Real Steel's Zeus and its mastermind the bumptious Tak Mashido (Karl Yune), without continuing to maintain a multidimensional working person's perspective within the heart of its dynamic cultural trajectory, enhanced by love?

Fortunately it still cannot.

But when robots take over and start making movies for themselves will the human dimension still continue to persevere as the principal factor motivating their legendary decision making?

The answer is potentially fermenting somewhere within communist China.

Surrogates

Jonathan Mostow's Surrogates reminds me of James Cameron's The Terminator insofar as they are both science-fiction films which express a paranoid attitude regarding post-modern technological developments. In The Terminator, we're exposed to a world where machines rule and the natural path has been thoroughly eroded (note that as it has become increasingly obvious that we are necessarily linked to technological advancements, the Terminator series has adjusted and in Terminator Salvation we meet a humanistic machine/human hybrid). In Surrogates, we're exposed to a world where the majority of people have purchased beautiful remotely-controlled androids (surrogates) to live out their lives for them; or, a world where people live out their lives on the internet after creating multiple ideal identities. Tom Greer (Bruce Willis) has a surrogate but longs to have person to person conversations with his wife (Rosamund Pike as Maggie Greer) who criticizes him consequently. Eventually, Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell) (creator of the surrogates) seeks revenge after his son is murdered by a weapon which destroys surrogates but also bypasses their safety mechanisms and kills their operators. He's also rather upset after having been pushed out of VSI, the company he founded to market, develop, and promote the surrogate lifestyle. He finds a way to use the weapon to destroy every surrogate and their operators, and, after the worst antagonist/protagonist encounter I've ever seen, attempts to do so. Fortunately, Tom Greer is there to prevent the weapon from annihilating humanity, but, eager for a conversation with his wife, he still uses it to destroy all the surrogates, taking us back to a simpler time (i.e., before the internet) (the John Carpenter ending). Thus, the distraught individual makes a personal choice that collectively disrupts the foundations of his culture, a culture that had practically eliminated violence, crime, racism, and so on. I find it hard to believe that anyone could be nostalgic for that way of life and had a tough time digesting the ending. The internet presents a lot of opportunities and an abundance of information and I'd rather partake in its virtual reality than any of its preceding fantasies. I suppose Surrogates is saying that things are moving to quickly and we should slow down and reevaluate the ways in which the internet is permeating every social/cultural/political/economic/ . . . sphere, and the ways in which it is changing traditional methods of human interaction. This makes sense: I don't want to go camping with a laptop. But socializing on the internet isn't some grand disruption of the traditional order of things that threatens the ways in which we interact with one another. In fact, it broadens the social domain and provides us with another means through which we can communicate on a progressive social scale, while still continuing to have face to face conversations.