review

What to watch: ‘Omni Loop,’ ‘Arcane,’ ‘Flow,’ and more

Posted on by earthtoshawna

When I say I love sci-fi, people think I mean Star Wars and Star Trek, and I do love those (and will talk about them in this post), but I also count time-loop stories like “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Run Lola Run,” “Russian Doll,” and even “Groundhog Day.”

I know time travel stuff doesn’t always make sense, but I don’t care. I love the idea of getting time back, for a day or week or whatever, and thinking about the differences each of our actions make. The best science fiction makes us think: about the meaning of life, what it means to be a human being, how we should be spending our time on Earth – all the big questions.

“Omni Loop,” written and directed by Bernardo Britto and starring Mary-Louise Parker and Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”), is an excellent entry in the time-loop genre. Parker’s character, Zoya, is living the same week over and over when she meets Edebiri’s character, a fellow scientist named Paula. The two attempt to solve the mystery of a bottle of pills Zoya found when she was a kid. Taking a pill from the bottle sends Zoya back in time one week.

Unlike some of the other titles I mentioned, it’s not an action movie – more of a slow burn, and, more importantly, emotional and profound.

‘Flow’

Set in a maybe not so distant future, “Flow” is a beautiful but suspenseful fantasy about an adorable black cat who must rely on others to survive a natural disaster. It is the work of Latvian filmmaker Gints Zilbalodis, who made the movie using the open-source software Blender.

I love animals and I love dystopian stories; an added bonus was that I didn’t have to use a captioning device during this trip to the theater as the movie is completely free of dialogue. (I’m hearing impaired.) It was a refreshing change of pace to see animated creatures sounding like animals instead of Chris Rock or Ben Stiller.

I thought about the symbolism in this movie a lot after watching it. This isn’t “Kung Fu Panda”; this one makes you think. (No offense to “Kung Fu Panda.”)

The movie is rated PG, but I don’t feel it was made for kids. There are parts that may be too sad or scary for little kids, or kids who are sensitive. Obviously, every child is different; use your own discretion.

‘Arcane’

Season two of “Arcane” is every bit as visually impressive as season one, and has a lot of twists and turns. My only complaint is that it is confusing as it has been three years since season one. Admittedly, that’s on me; I should have rewatched the first season.

Season two is dark and intense, just like season one. If you liked season one, you’ll like season two. But don’t expect it to cheer you up or anything if you’re already feeling down.

The second season is the series’ last, but showrunner Christian Linke has said there will be more series based on other characters from “League of Legends,” the game on which the series is based. Linke has also suggested that the tone for future series may be less dark and more “whimsical.”

“Arcane” is rated TV-14.

‘Mars Express’

Like “Arcane,” this one is not for kids even though it’s animated (Amazon Prime age rating is 16+). It is also pretty dark. The movie, co-written and directed by Jérémie Périn, is a French, futuristic film noir, about a detective named Aline Ruby, who is tracking a suspect who illegally hacked robots. Ruby’s partner is an android replica of her partner who died five years earlier.

It is an interesting commentary on the relationship humans have with machines, and it’s hard not to wonder if this fictional future is what’s in store for Artificial Intelligence.

Star Wars

Only three episodes of the new series “Star Wars: Skeleton Crew” have aired so far, but it’s interesting, and it’s different from recent series in the franchise in that it is centered on kids. It’s also different in that they live on a planet unlike any we’ve seen before in the Star Wars movies or series. It is reminiscent of the suburban “Counter-Earth” created by the High Revolutionary in “Guardians of the Galaxy 3.”

On this planet, called At Attin, a boy named Wim discovers what he thinks is an old Jedi temple, but his discovery turns out to be even more surprising.

There’s sort of a “Stranger Things” vibe here, with a group of kids who ride hover bikes instead of bicycles.

Spoilers incoming. If you haven’t watched the first three episodes, come back later.

OK, so Jude Law is in this, which is reason enough to watch it. (Obviously we watch every Star Wars title regardless of reasons other than “It’s Star Wars,” but you know what I mean.) The identity of Law’s character is (sort of) a mystery, but he can use the Force, which prompts some amusing repartee:

Oh – the thing the kids found wasn’t a temple; it was a ship and they accidentally end up in outer space. Oops! Adventures ensue.

I like it so far, but it’s not without cringey and yikes moments. My biggest gripe is the scene in which they’re fleeing from the authorities, and the kids are cheerfully shooting at the pursuing X-wings. This isn’t a video game, kiddos, you’re shooting at real people – the “good guys,” no less. I feel like the writers didn’t think that one through.

Star Trek

“Star Trek: Section 31” will be the franchise’s first TV movie, and is a spin-off of “Star Trek: Discovery.” The movie, streaming Jan. 24, follows Philippa Georgiou (played by Michelle Yeoh). An emperor when she was in the Mirror Universe, Georgiou has now joined Section 31, a black ops division of Starfleet.

This was originally supposed to be an ongoing series, but I imagine Yeoh’s schedule got a bit busier after winning an Academy Award. Just a guess. I really loved her character in “Discovery” and I hope this new movie is as good as her storyline in that show. The trailer looks a little cheesy, but we’ll see how it goes. Here it is:

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all my readers! See you in 2025.

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Deep space drama of ‘Passengers’ too shallow

Posted on by earthtoshawna

This review contains spoilers. 

I was intrigued by the premise of this movie: Two people, on a 120 year long journey in space, are awakened from hibernation 90 years before the ship reaches its destination.

I like Jennifer Lawrence and Star-Lord, er, Chris Pratt, and I had heard it was a great story. I also loved director Morten Tyldum’s thriller “Headhunters” (which stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau from “Game of Thrones”).

While “Passengers” was entertaining, it seemed that something was missing. It didn’t delve deep enough, for one thing. I wanted more.  More what, I don’t know.  It just felt superficial to me.

(If you didn‘t see “Passengers,” don’t read the rest of this review. It contains SPOILERS.)

passengers

One thing that seems off is the part of the film that begins when Gus (Laurence Fishburne) wakes up. Besides the wrench it throws into the point of the movie being that they’re the only two people awake for the next 90 years, the subsequent action seems like it belongs in another movie entirely.

But even more annoying to me is Lawrence’s character, Aurora. Maybe it’s just me, but she seems snobby, like she thinks Jim is beneath her. More than once, she mentions that under ordinary circumstances, she would never end up with him, but she doesn’t say why. He’s adorable and romantic and sweet. What’s not to love?

I found it odd that it took her so long to bother getting to know Jim. Was she so upset about the prospect of being alone that she didn’t notice she wasn’t alone?

And while I can understand her anger at discovering Jim was the one who woke her, she ceases to be a sympathetic character once she attacks him while he’s sleeping. I know some reviewers couldn’t get past the moral problem of what he did, dooming her to a lifetime aboard the ship, but I was more disturbed by Aurora’s violence.

Was waking her from hibernation so unforgivable? He was ALL ALONE IN OUTER SPACE. Who knows what anyone would do in similar circumstances?

Clearly she does forgive him in the end, when she realizes she doesn’t want to be alone on that ship either. We are supposed to believe she really does love him after all, but the line between love and need is blurry.

Then he tells her she can get in the Autodoc and go back into hibernation and she says “No”? What! That’s all she cared about, and now she doesn’t want that anymore? I’m not buying it. At this point, they seem like they’ve fucked each other over too much to live happily ever after.

My other gripe is a minor one: It’s too clean and shiny. I like my sci-fi gritty, and everything in “Passengers” is too perfect – the ship, yes, but also Lawrence. Her outfits look like ads from a futuristic fitness magazine. And would you still bother to do your hair and makeup every day if the only person who is going to see you is that guy you hate? Me neither.

Photos: Columbia Pictures

Clones and starship captains: New books for sci fi lovers

Posted on by earthtoshawna

If you had a chance to have a new body, would you take it? To have your memories transferred to a body cloned from your cells and given growth hormones to age the new body from infancy to your current age? A healthy body, free from disease, injury, scars, or wrinkles?

If you’re one of the characters in Jessica Chiarella’s debut novel, “And Again,” you would do it. The four main characters are suffering from injury or disease, and are among the first to undergo the new procedure.

It is a fascinating concept, and inspires questions like, How much of our memories are in our brain, and how much is in our bodies? Is it muscle memory that enables my fingers to type these words?

One of the characters, Hannah, is an artist, and she finds her gift is lost when she receives her new body. She also finds she misses her scars and tattoos. We may not realize how much of our body’s history is a part of our personal identity.

So much of others’ behavior toward us is a response to our physical appearance, which was evident in Connie’s story. As a former actress suffering from AIDS, she was treated like a pariah, but when she gets her beautiful, new body, the attention she receives is a double-edged sword. It is rather telling that her only friend – before and after the procedure – is a blind man.

The other clones, a woman paralyzed in a car accident, and a corrupt Congressman, also struggle. David seems to think he can wipe the slate clean with his new body, and be a better man, but old habits die hard. Linda, on the other hand, may as well be a complete stranger, as far as her children are concerned. She had lain in a hospital bed for eight years, while her husband and children have gone on with their lives without her.

The patients meet regularly in a support group to discuss their experiences, as no one else understands what they are going through, but when two of the clones have an affair, and David’s shady dealings threaten the future of the SUBlife program, all hell breaks loose. I won’t say any more than that; you will have to read it yourself.

‘Born with Teeth’

EPSON scanner image

For me – a lover of juicy memoirs AND Star Trek – Kate Mulgrew’s book, “Born with Teeth,” was a special treat.

I have only seen Mulgrew as the indomitable Capt. Janeway of “Star Trek: Voyager,” so I didn’t know much about her life or her career before that, but I was hooked from the first page, when Mulgrew was, literally, born with teeth. Her mother decides Shakespeare would have a field day with that, and thus is planted the seed of Kate’s career.

Mulgrew, from a big, free-spirited Irish Catholic family in Iowa, participated in a poetry contest in fifth grade. Her mother, invited to hear Kate recite her poetry at the contest, instructed her daughter to also read “The White Cliffs,” by Alice Duer Miller. Her own poetry elicits only polite applause, but when Kate finishes her dramatic reading of “The White Cliffs,” the audience is moved to tears.

On the way home after the contest, her mother tells her, “You know, Kitten, I watched you today, and it dawned on me that you can either be a mediocre poet or a great actress. Now, which do you think you’d rather be?”

Kate throws herself into acting, and through the many hardships life throws at her, she clings to her work, and not only survives, but thrives, through determination and grit. It’s no wonder she won the part of the fearless leader of the “Voyager” crew.

Mulgrew has led an amazing life, but I won’t give it all away and ruin it for you. Suffice it to say, I knew she was a wonderful actress, but I was pleasantly surprised to find she is also a great writer, and as I read her exciting, and sometimes heartbreaking, life story, I discovered that Kate is not only talented, but courageous and passionate as well.

 

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“And Again”
By Jessica Chiarella
Touchstone; January 2016

 

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“Born with Teeth”
By Kate Mulgrew
Trade paper
Back Bay Books; Reprint edition; January 2016

 

‘The Martian’ celebrates teamwork, optimism

Posted on by earthtoshawna

You might think that if you were stranded on Mars, you would feel hopeless and depressed. Well, you wouldn’t if you were Mark Watney, the protagonist of Ridley Scott’s adaptation of Andy Weir’s bestseller “The Martian.”

And who else could pull off a smiling, cheery astronaut, even as he is dying on Mars, but Matt Damon? Watney rarely allows himself to let his situation get him down. He’s much too busy calculating mathematical equations to figure out how he’s going to survive until NASA figures out that he’s alive and sends someone to rescue him.

If this sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Damon recently played another astronaut stranded on a planet, in last year’s epic space adventure “Interstellar.” (Jessica Chastain was also in both movies.)

I keep hearing this movie described as “a love letter to NASA,” and it absolutely celebrates the camaraderie, teamwork, and sense of adventure for which the space agency is known. But more than that, it is a testimony to the ingenuity and determination of one man who refuses to give up.

Throughout the movie, I couldn’t help thinking, “I would never have thought of that” and “Well, that would be the last straw for me.” I clearly don’t have the knowledge base or mental stability required to be a space explorer. I kept waiting for him to crack, but I guess they weed out all the sissies from the space program with psychological testing.

I also kept waiting for some flashback scenes of Watney with his loved ones back on Earth. They never mention a girlfriend, only his parents, and even though there are brief scenes with the other astronauts’ families, we never see Watney’s parents, even though he mentions them a couple times.

Perhaps this was to show us that Watney wants to live for the sake of living, because he has a zest for life, not because he wants to see his children grow up or because he’s made a promise to a girlfriend that he would come back, which is how this is usually done.

Or maybe, this just isn’t a movie about family. Not the blood-related kind, anyway. It’s more about the faith and trust and the love of science that bond all these people together – the stranded astronaut who says “I love what I do,” the Ares 3’s other five astronauts who have become his friends, and the entire ground crew at NASA, who are faced with making tough decisions without much time to consider the odds.

And most of all, it’s about optimism in the face of adversity – a quality we should all aspire to.