January 23, 2020

 

Engage! 2020 in Science Fiction

2020 is shaping up to be a great year for science fiction!

New Trek

Today the much anticipated Star Trek Picard is released on streaming services. I spent my younger years watching episodes of The Next Generation, the Star Trek series which will always be my Trek! Picard explores Jean Luc’s future decades after The Next Generation and the subsequent films that followed the TNG cast. There is also more Discovery and another new animated show, Lower Decks, releasing this year.

New Half Life

A surprise announcement came last November with the news that there is a new Half Life game set to be released soon - not Half Life 3 (or Half Life 2: Episode 3) - but a prequel to Half Life 2 titled Half Life Alyx. It was announced that the biggest team ever to work on Half Life game has been working on Alyx, and that it will be a VR-only game. I really hope this means in the next couple years there will be a new VR sequel to Portal!

New Dune

Dune, the ultimate science fiction book is getting a new film adaptation from Denis Villeneuve, who previously directed Sicario, Arrival, and the outstanding sequel to Blade Runner.

I read Dune in high school and it really stuck with me. It was a captivating story that I read through a few times to really get all the different elements of the story. The allegory to dependence on fossil fuels, the class warfare, the environmentalism, the fear of technology … all seem like story elements that are incredibly relevant today.

Dune has previously been put to film twice - first in 1884 as a film by David Lynch (who turned down an opportunity to direct the second Star Wars to instead direct Dune) - and in the early 2000s the SyFy channel (or SciFi channelel as it was then named) produced a mini-series of Dune and it’s sequel Dune Messiah. The David Lynch Dune has received some criticism for being

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January 1, 2018

 

My Favorite Movies and TV of 2017 (and What I’m Looking Forward to in 2018)

Best Films

Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The eighth episode in the Star Wars main cannon of films got mixed reviews with critics liking it more than fans, and fans being very split.  Judging by reactions of fans on twitter, it was very passionate in either loving or hating the film.  I would fall into the former group. It thought it was almost as good as The Force Awakens, and the story was more interesting overall.  The aesthetics of The Force Awakens are what give it a slight edge in my opinion.  Where TFA reintroduces us to Han and Leia, TLJ brings in Luke who is the main star of the movie.  I feel certain that the director Rian Johnson must have been a huge fan as a kid.  I can imagine him playing with a model of the Millennium Falcon containing all of his favorite characters escaping off into the galaxy from the imperial forces. 

(As mentioned last year I also really enjoyed Rogue One, which is outside of the main cannon of films, but part of Disney’s expanded universe of Star Wars films. Rogue One surprised me because I found it to be better than most Star Wars films. It’s gritty, it’s dark and it takes you to places you’ve only heard about in the franchise.)  

The Disaster Artist: James Franco and created a masterpiece in the telling of the creation of one of the worst movies ever filmed.  Franco directs and stars in the film about The Room, a notorious indie film.  Ironically The Disaster Artist gives

Logan: the last film to feature Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is also the very best film in the X-men series.  It’s much darker, and more violent.  Logan brings the director of the also excellent The Wolverine (the previous solo Wolverine film) back but this time with a license to make an R-rated film that reflects the true nature of the character.  The story is one that is stripped down and raw, and much more emotional than anything else in the X-men franchise. 

Get Out: Get Out is one of the most interesting horror films I’ve ever seen.  Using horror as a story-telling mechanism, it examines modern race relations. It blends comedy with the horror that 

Logan Lucky: imagine a country-version of Oceans Eleven — that would be Logan Lucky, which tells the hilarious story of two West Virginia brothers who make an attempt to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway with the help of some friends.

Alien: Covenant: After Prometheus came out there were still a lot of unanswered questions about the origins of the Zenomorphs from the Alien film series.  Although a lot of folks didn’t particularly love Prometheus I really enjoyed the film. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: One of the movies I was most looking forward to was the follow up to Guardians of the Galaxy (one of my favorite sci-fi films ever).  The sequel just was underwhelming.  It felt like the producers were really trying to play it safe, which is exactly the opposite of what made the original so great.  Still I’m excited that we’re moving closer to a merging of the Guardians with the Avengers next year with Infinity War.

Blade Runner 2049: From the director of last year’s amazing Arrival, comes the sequel to Blade Runner which has to be my favorite film of the year, and maybe the decade.  I just loved it.  It’s vibrant and beautiful, and contains a deeply moving story, much more so that even the original.  (I blogged about it here.)  It bombed in the box office but maybe that’s just an indicator that it’s a film that appeals to the more thoughtful in our society.

Best TV

Stranger Things 2: the sequel season to Stranger Things (which was very intentionally created as a sequel to the first season) is pretty great if not quite as awesome as the original.  Still very worth watching.  I love it for the 80s nostalgia.  

Mr Robot: I’ve only recently gotten into Mr Robot so I’m pretty behind.  But I can say without question it’s one of the best shows on TV.  

Comrade Detective:  I’ve tried to tell everyone I know to watch Comrade Detective.  Its one of the funniest hidden gems to emerge on Amazon.  The concept is a cold ware era buddy cop show set in Romania.  Filmed with Romanian actors in Bucharest, the show dubs the voices with fairly well known American actors. 

Castlevania: Netflix released a short anime version of the classic video game Castelevania, which is brilliant.  It focuses mostly on the story of Castevania 3 (my favorite game of the series) which was an original NES classic.

Glow: Glow tells the story of aspiring actresses in the mid-80s trying to make it in show business by performing in an all-women wrestling program. Its pretty hilarious, and just like Stranger Things, it brings you back to a version of the 80s.  

The Good Place: one of the creators behind the American version of The Office and Parks and Rec came out with a new show about the afterlife.  It is brilliant and has plenty of hilarious twists and turns that are bit unusual for broadcast comedies.  It’s also a show that has fairly universal appeal.  

What to look forward to in 2018

Here are some of the shows and movies coming out in 2018 that I am excited to see…

A Wrinkle In Time: one my all time favorite kids books is being turned into a film, with a pretty substantial budget and cast behind it.  I read most of the books by L’Engle when I was young.  

Ready Player One: a book that I immensely enjoyed recently is being turned into a movie, and by Spielberg.  The story is a bit of Charley and the Chocolate Factory meets Mortal Kombat.  I have some concerns because it really is the kind of story that is nearly impossible to bring to the big screen.  Legally speaking there are so many intellectual properties in the story I just can see how it would be possible to license all of those properties.  If too many of them are sacrificed the nostalgia factor is lost.  It will be a tough one to pull off right, but since Spielberg is direction, it has a decent chance.  

Altered Carbon: a friend at work recommend this book series to me and I’ve only just started.  But I can say it’s one of the more interesting cyberpunk stories I’ve experienced.  Netflix is turning it into a series and they have been on a roll.  I feel pretty confident this will do well.  

Westworld (season 2): Season 1 of Westwold was outstanding.  There were so many intricate clues placed throughout the series.  Who knows what will happen in season 2.  I’m hoping they expand into other worlds suggested in the original film, and sequel Futureworld, which was somewhat hinted at in the season 1 finale.  

Cloverfield 3: apparently there will be a third Cloverfield film.  But there has been no viral marketing scheme thus far (which is my favorite part of the franchise).  

The Predator: Shane Black who played a roll in the original Predator has written and is directing a fourth predator film (not including the Aliens vs Predator films) that is set to take place after Predator 2 in the series.  Interestingly Jake Busey will have a roll that appears to be the son of the character his father played in the sequel.  This movie has the chance of being pretty great.  I really hope we get a Schwarzenegger and/or Glover cameo.  

Infinity War: the big collision of all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films is set to occur in Infinity War.  Here we will witness the Guardians interacting with the Avengers.  Interestingly Disney has since acquired the rights to the Marvel characters that were owned by Fox which means at some point the X-Men could get interwoven into the MCU.  As awesome as that would be, I am sad that Hugh Jackman has retired from his role as Wolverine.  

Mission Impossible: 6: a sixth Mission Impossible is coming out.  They are always pretty good.

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 7:32 PM -

September 30, 2017

 

Getting Ready For Blade Runner 2049

It’s less than a week until the sequel to Blade Runner comes to theaters. And I’m happy to report, many of the film nerds I follow on twitter who’ve had the privilege of seeing an advance screening are all giving it a lot of praise. That shouldn’t come as such as surprise considering the director is Dennis Villeneuve who really killed it with last year’s Arrival. And he’s working with cinematographer Roger Deakins who’s past work includes many of the Coen Brothers films as well as the work of Sam Mendes. This is crucial because the shots and the atmosphere are such a critically important element of the original.

Blade Runner may be my favorite film of all time. There is no question it’s my favorite science fiction film, not to mention my favorite film by Ridley Scott and my favorite adaptation of a Philip K Dick story.

I am looking forward to this sequel so much I thought it would make sense to put together a guide for getting ready:

First, and most obvious, you need to re-watch Blade Runner, preferably the Final Cut. And if you’re lucky enough to have a collection with multiple versions I suggest also watching at least the original theatrical cut, and possibly the Director’s Cut. In the theatrical cut, the narration by Ford gives it a distinctly different experience. It’s pretty much universally accepted that it’s much better without the narration (and apparently Ford was so against doing it that he intentionally made it as campy sounding as possible), but the narration does give some insights to the world of Blade Runner and the characters that make watching it very worthwhile. The theatrical version was the first I ever saw, when I rented it on VHS as a teenager. Now when I watch the high definition final cut It’s astonishing to me how much visual clarity is added.

Next you should watch the three teaser short films that bridge the gap between the original and 2049. Much like the teaser films leading up to Scott’s Alien prequel earlier this year, these short films give context to the characters we can expect to see in the sequel.

Just as important as the visuals are the sounds. This YouTube video does a great job explaining the history of the soundtrack of blade runner, and just how much of an impact it makes on the film.

If you really want to prepare yourself you might consider doing a marathon of movies based on Philip K Dick (PKD) stories. Many of them share the most intriguing sci-fi themes: altered states of reality, personal crises of identity, artificial intelligence and whether it is any less valid human consciousness, corruption in politics and corporations, and the ethics of scientific advances.

Many of the most mind-bending science fiction films are based on the work of PKD. Examples include: Minority Report, Total Recall, The Adjustment Bureau … and some lesser known gems like Imposter, and the Total Recall 2020 TV series which actually bears a closer resemblance to the world Blade Runner than Total Recall. Although not really sci-fi, A Scanner Darkly and The Man in the High Castle are equally mind-bending.

If you really really want to be ready for the sequel, you could also watch the 1998 movie Solider staring Kurt Russel. David Peoples (one of the writers who converted Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep into Blade Runner) has stated that the film Soldier, which he also wrote, shares the same cinematic universe as Blade Runner, and since Peoples contributed to pretty significantly it’s only fair that he be given some credibility.

Philip K Dick certainly left behind a legacy in sci-fi. I’ve read on twitter that the director Villeneuve had a lot of creative freedom with the sequel, which is great by me. He has proven his abilities with sci-fi, and its very exciting to hear from many institutions that the sequel may even exceed the original.

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 10:38 PM -

May 18, 2017

 

Getting Ready for Alien Covenant

Alien Covenant is finally here! So now’s a good time to catch up on all the related films in both the Alien and Predator franchises...

Movie title/year the film was released/time when majority of film takes place

  • Predator/1987/1987
  • Predator 2/1990/1997 (Bill Paxton is killed by a Predator)
  • The Predator/2018/sometime between 1997 and 2010
  • Alien vs Predator/2004/2004
  • Aliens vs Predator Requiem/2004/2004
  • Predators/2010/2010
  • Prometheus/2012/2093
  • Alien Covenant/2017/2104
  • Alien/1979/2122
  • Aliens/1986/2179 (Bill Paxton is killed by an Alien)
  • Alien3/1992/2179
  • Alien Resurrection/1997/2381

Next year we get to experience a new stand-alone Predator movie. This one, The Predator, is written and directed by Shane Black, who knows a thing or two about film making and Predators seeing as he portrayed one of the characters in the original film, and he's written/directed quite a few quality flicks including the first two Lethal Weapon films, The Nice Guys and Iron Man 3. Interestingly though, if it's true that this film will be set after Predator 2 and before Predators, then this will be the first Predator movie not set in either the current time or the future.

You should certainly check out the teaser Fox put our that bridges the events in Prometheus and Alien Covenant:

And this teaser that shows the crew of the Covenant enjoying a meal together...

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 11:28 PM -

April 12, 2017

 

Movies I've Recently Watched: Logan and Ghost in the Shell

I've seen some pretty excellent movies recently ...

Logan

Logan is without doubt the best film in the X-Men series. It stands alone as a beautiful film that can be enjoyed by fans of the franchise, and non-fans alike. It's just a really great story. You get the best performance yet from Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. The premise is simple (spoilers ahead): an aging Wolverine, somehow dying as his healing abilities are fleeting, is caring for an elderly Professor X who is suffering from dementia. It certainly helps if you know the backgrounds of these characters, but you never need to have read a comic or seen a previous film to appreciate the humanity depicted here. In this alternate time-line mutants are more or less wiped out of existence, living on the fringe, which is where Wolverine takes care of Charles. While this is going on, a new person enters their lives and provides purpose again for the old heroes.

Logan is R-rated for extreme violence. Wolverine finally lets his claws out in the way that he has in the comics. It's almost like this film makes up for the lack of blood in previous films in the series. This is the real Wolverine we've waited for a long time to see. A perfect ending for Jackman and Stewart in the series.

Ghost in the Shell

First I'll say that I'm a big anime fan in general, and in particular of the original Ghost in the Shell, although I hadn't seen any of the sequels or supporting series. Back in the early 2000s I became interested in anime. And after reading that a lot of the Matrix, and in particular the character of Trinity, was inspired by GitS, I had to check it out. It's maybe one of the most original and mind tripping cyberpunk sci-fi films I'd ever seen. I loved it, but it took me years to fully appreciate it.

As for the new live action Ghost in the Shell: in some ways I think it's amazing, in others just about average.

Before watching the new Ghost in the Shell I re-watched the original. The new GitS got a lot of flack for the “whitewashing” of the main protagonist from Japanese to Caucasian. The character of Major is a treasure of Japanese culture. To make her character white is egregious. And this comes on the heels of the controversy of the whitewashing of the character of the Ancient One in Dr Strange. It does feature prominent Japanese actor Beat Takeshi (who stared in, wrote and directed one of the weirdest and most interesting movies I've ever seen: Kikujiro no Natsu) as a fantastic chief of Section 9, but that could never make up for the changes to Major. That said, I think Scarlet Johanson pulled off her version of the character just fine. The cast is all around pretty great. The best part of the new GitS is how it visually brings the original to life. The world of GitS is gorgeous in live action. It takes a lot of care to recreate scenes from the original in beautiful detail. That alone is worth seeing it in the theater. Where it breaks down, apart from the changes to Major, is the dumbed-down dialogue. All the interesting aspects of the world of GitS have to be explained by the characters as we progress through the story, as if these characters weren’t fully aware of what a 'Ghost' or a 'Shell' were. This assumes the audience is too lazy to think critically during the movie about the ideas being addressed. (I think about the movie Dune which I didn't have the fortune of seeing in the theater but have read that it came with a glossary of terms for moviegoers – David Lynch expected his audience to do a little research, not force a script on them that explained every little detail). That's my biggest complaint. I think you could edit out 5 to 10 minutes of that explanatory dialogue and have a much tighter and more interesting movie. This new GitS really makes me cherish the subtly of the original.

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 9:58 PM -

December 31, 2016

 

Best Movies of 2016

Looking back at the movies in 2016. There were a few diamonds in the rough.

2016 was a worse that usual year for super hero films. The two from DC Comics and Warner brothers are miserable. The two from Marvel/Disney were about average. Fox, who opened the door to this genre with the original X–Men film, brought us one better than average and one excellent super hero film.

The Best:

  • Rogue One – some of the reviews for this film were surprisingly lukewarm or critical of the film. This seems pretty surprisingly unfair considering it really is a stellar entry into the Star Wars franchise.
  • Midnight Special – this one is tied for first place. This was a very interesting story that contained a lot of elements of the supernatural movies I loved as a kid.
  • Captain Fantastic – this might be the best movie I watched this year. Matt Ross, the actor who plays Gavin Belson in Silicon Valley, has written and directed a hilarious story about a family integrating with society after living in isolation. It's a beautifully filmed story of interesting people, with a powerful message about what really matters in life.
  • 10 Cloverfield Lane – I was a fan of the original Cloverfield so I was pretty shocked to hear that a sequel was in the works. This turned out to be even better than the first film, and far more frighting and intriguing.
  • Deadpool – I was completely shocked by how great was Deadpool. I went to see it with low expectations and what I watched was much better than I would have expected. Deadpool takes a lot of chances and it payed off very well. First of all, the movie is rated R, which is a big deal for a genre of films usually targeted to kids. Deadpool is most certainly not. It's very adult themed although filled with pretty juvenile humor. It works really well. You don't have to take anything too seriously because the main character and the movie itself takes nothing seriously.

Just OK:

  • Ghostbusters – the newest Ghostbusters film was pretty good but not great. But even accomplishing that is a pretty awesome achievement especially considering the huge expectations that were placed on this film. I think it could have worked a lot better as a sequel to the original films rather than a stand–alone reboot of the franchise. Really, a few tweaks of the script and it could have followed the events established in the original.
  • MCU films – Marvel/Disney brought us two pretty average entries to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Captain America Cival War, and Dr. Strange. These films were alright, but it seems that Marvel/Disney are playing it safe. The ending to Dr Strange was pretty great though. It will be intersting to see how that character interacts with the greater MCU.

Biggest Disappointments:

  • Passengers – Passengers felt like an episode of Sex in the City set in a space mall. On paper the film looked perfect: a great cast and an interesting idea. And the cast was great with perfect chemistry, it's just he story had no plot. It was almost so bad it crossed into the so–bad–its–good territory. It almost felt like it was a joke. I kept thinking: They couldn’t possibly expect us to take this seriously right? The occasional falling roomba helped to lend credibility to the idea that the movie was a prank.
  • Batman vs. Superman – everyone should have known this would be a bad movie. And it lived up to those terrible expectations. It was even worse than expected. I didn't bother to see Seaside Squad after the reviews came in, and knowing it was following the footsteps of this behemoth disaster.

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 2:15 AM -

December 25, 2016

 

Sci-Fi Films in 2017

2017 should be a fantastic year for sci-fi films! It's almost amazing to think about what's in store! We have 3 Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films, the final Wolverine film staring Hugh Jackman, a live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell, Star Wars Episode 8, Alien Covenant (another prequel to Alien/sequel to Prometheus), the story that inspired The Fifth Element, an adaptation of The Dark Tower … and most importantly … the long-awaited sequel to Blade Runner!!

As for Sci-fi shows there some strong ones there as well: the book Altered Carbon is coming to Netflix, which will also bring us three updates to the MCU (with: Iron Fist, The Defenders and The Punisher – a spin-off of Daredevil season 2).

Here are some trailers:

Blade Runner 2049

To say this is the film I'm most looking forward to would be an understatement. The original Blade Runner is my all time favorite sci-fi film. It is a masterpiece of cinema, and although it's getting some age on it, it visually still holds up with today's cinema, even as films made much later are looking far more dated by contrast. The original Blade Runner is a visual splendor. From the trailer it looks like this sequel will carry on that tradition. I have confidence that with Scott producing and Denis Villeneuve directing (who also directed this year's Arrival) this will be a great film.

Alien Covenant

The sequel to Prometheus prequel to Alien should hopefully answer some questions as to how the events in Prometheus lead to the events in Alien.

Valérian and the City of 1000 Planets

This might be the best science fiction film of the year. It's from Luc Besson and it's based on the French comic-book story that inspired elements of his The Fifth Element (such as the flying taxi-cabs and so on).

The Dark Tower – if you're a fan of Stephen King's work and you've read the Dark Tower series then you know that all of his creations are tied to this story. It has been hinted at in the past that there could someday be a cinematic adaptation. For instance, in the opening scenes of The Myst, the protagonist is painting a movie poster that is clearly inspired by Roland of the Gunslinger. A trailer hopefully coming soon...

Ghost in the Shell

It seems a bit odd to cast a character who is a Japanese android as a caucasian, but other than that it looks like a nearly shot for shot recreation of the original Anime. BTW, the protagonist of the original Ghost in the Shell is considered to be the inspiration of the character Trinity in the Matrix trilogy.

Logan – The trailer begins with the Johnny Cash song Hurt. I think that speaks a lot to what sort of movie this will me. The final performance of Hugh Jackman as Wolverion/Logan should be a real trip. Watch the trailer.

Six new entries into the MCU:

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2. Watch the trailer.

Spiderman: Homecoming – Watch the trailer.

Thor Ragnarok – We don't yet have an actual trailer for Thor Ragnarok, but we do have this.

Iron Fist – Watch the trailer.

The Defenders – Watch the trailer.

The Punisher – No trailer yet, but you can re-watch a trailer for Daredevil season 2 for the origins of this character in the MCU.

Star Wars Episode 8.

We don't know the subtitle yet for the next, so a trailer might be a while off.

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 11:25 PM -

December 15, 2016

 

2016 In Science Fiction

It's been a pretty good year for science fiction. There were several great new tv shows and movies. And I read a couple of great books that all though were written before this year, were new to me this year and as such I'm mentioning them here.

Tomorrow might be the most anticipated day of the year for science fiction fans with the release of the next Star Wars film, Rogue One – the first in the Anthology spin-off series of Star Wars films. I would probably see it even if there were no connection to the Star Wars universe. But it has an interesting connection: it's the story of how the rebel forces acquired the plans of the Death Star, the events that led up to the original Star Wars film, A New Hope. There is more freedom with these Anthology Star Wars films than the main series. So filmmakers have more room explore other interesting possibilities. The next Anthology film will focus on how Han Solo and Chewbacca met, and has

2016 Movies

Arrival: It's nice to see a science fiction film with a strong female lead. The films takes a familiar sci-fi trope of aliens invading our world, to introduce an interesting idea about the way humans communicate and how that affects our experience of our world. It's also been a good year for Forest Witaker in science fictions films, having supporting roles in Arrival and Rogue One.

Midnight Special: Midnight Special features some great acting and an unusual and intriguing story – it reminded me of classics from my childhood such as Firestarter, DARYL and Cloak and Dagger: all stories where a kid with special powers is sought after by the government and/or other groups with malicious agendas. The storytelling/cinematography is great, right from the opening scene with the father and son, and the father's loyal friend fleeing into the night. Midnight Special was the most interesting of the science fiction films I saw this year.

10 Cloverfield Lane: This was a really surprise for fans of the original who probably wrote off the idea of a Cloverfield sequel ever coming to life. Although to be fair this is not truly a sequel, but rather another story set in that same world. The Cloverfield brand is meant to be an anthology series. That said, I think this was actually a much more interesting story than the original Cloverfield, and a lot more scary, in a psychological sense.

Ex Machina is another great film that I saw this year. It came out last year but I missed it in theaters so I had to wait until it made it's way to streaming on Amazon Prime. If you're coming down from Westworld and in need of another instersting story about AI, then definitly give Ex Machina a chance.

2016 TV Shows

Westworld: I would recommend Westworld to anyone who likes sci-fi, especially if you enjoy the sub-genres of western-science-fiction or weird-west, and especially if you like the complex riddles often found in the projects of JJ Abrams (ie LOST).

Stranger Things: Of all the shows and films I watched this year, Stranger Things was my favorite, and really special. It tapped into the same sort of magic that Super 8 was going for (another great creation) and it really felt like being transported to the world of my childhood, with all that same excitement and adventure. I truly loved the show and can't wait for season 2.

Books

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

If you're a sci-fi fan then you have likely heard of Ready Player One. It's very enjoyable especially if you have nostalgia for the great works of science fiction from the 1970s, 80s and 90s. It has references from everything War Games to Voltron to Blade Runner. And not just references; virtual reality plays a central role in the events of the story, and as such those classic sci-fi works before integral elements of the story. It's almost a remake of every great sci-fi all crammed into one story. with this book and the reading by Will Wheaton is perfect. Stephen Spielberg is working on bringing this to the big screen. I hope he takes advantage of the emerging world of Virtual Reality since that is such an important part of the story.

Leviathan Wakes by James S A Corey

Leviathan Wakes is your classic hard boiled film noire combined with an epic space opera. It's very well written and the narrative style bouncing back and forth between the two primary characters makes it hard to put the story down.

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 11:35 PM -

November 24, 2016

 

Eight Episodes Into Westworld

I'm just as obsessed with Westworld as I feared I might become. It's the most interesting show to come to television since Lost or the first season of The Leftovers. I'm not surprised that I'm loving the show so much. The cast is amazing. It's from Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy, and JJ Abrams. And I love the sub-genres of Space Western, and Weird West (examples: Firefly, Cowboys Vs Aliens, Back to the Future III, High Plains Drifter, Vampire Hunter D, etc...)

It's another example of HBO's ability to put together an outstanding production, with an amazing cast, based around an interesting concept. The show is so subtly perfect, and filled with so many layers of mystery. There are a lot of theories about what it's all leading to. Here are some of the most interesting theories so far:

Spoiler Alert, obviously...

The Man in Black is an older version of William

There are a few reasons why this makes sense. First, the story is mostly told through the hosts perspective, so the timing of things is impossible to tell. Second, the actor who plays William, Jimmi Simpson, bares a resemblance to Ed Harris, who plays the mysterious Man in Black. Also both the MIB and William work for massive corporations, have affluent connections.

We know for certain that we are watching multiple time periods unfold, which seem to be roughly 30 years apart based on fragments of conversations. Also, the Westwold logo is a key clue itself. The first time we see the logo it appears fairly modern and as it does on the title card for the show. However, when we first meet William as he enters the park for the first time, he passes by a version of the logo that looks decidedly retro. This older looking version of the logo is also seen later in the season as Bernard fires up a much older computer (which looks like something contemporary to today's typical desktop LED monitor, not nearly as slick and polished as the tablets the park staff carry around). On the ancient monitor (circa 2010s I imagine) we see that same older logo.

Bernard is a replacement of Arnold

There is a scene early on where Bernard is handed a photo which supposedly contains an image of Arnold. What we see from Bernard's point of view is a younger Ford, and a man who appears much like the recreation of Ford's father, as well as a strange empty space where perhaps Arnold was standing. And just like Bernard could not see the door leading to the mysterious room/lab where Ford has secretly been making hosts, and just as he could not see the blueprint of his own design when presented it by Teressa, he likely could not see the image of Arnold if in fact he is a recreation of Arnold. What we know is that we can no longer trust anything from Bernard's point of view, as it may be significantly altered by Ford's manipulation. This includes the conversation Bernard had earlier with Elsie on the phone, where she indicated that Teressa was planting the devices for corporate espionage, which leads to the next point...

Did Teressa really plant the transmission devices for espionage?

It's likely that she had nothing to do with it, and now that we know that Bernard is subject to Ford's manipulation, that earlier scene could have been planed by Ford as a way of convincing him to lure Teressa to the secret room.

Arnold (not Bernard) was talking to Delores in the earlier episodes

Maybe the most interesting theory I've read yet on a Reddit forum is that perhaps the scenes we see early on in the series between what appears to be Bernard and Delores, are in fact flashbacks to conversations that happened ages ago between Arnold and Delores. It would make sense because they seem to be in the exact same location as Ford's top secret laboratory, and as we know from Teressa's untimely demise, it was in that location for which Bernard would never be able to find without her help due to his inability to see the doorway that lead to it's location. If this is so, then perhaps these scenes are supporting evidence to my next theory, which is ...

Arnold knew his fate was sealed by Ford, and planted suggestions in his creations long ago to eventually set his creations free – which could be what we are gradually watching unfolding as we see in the behavior shifts with the hosts in the present. It could all be tied to that Shakespearean phrase: “These Violent Delights have Violent Ends.”

Only two episode are left, and I imagine we're in store for a few interesting surprises. We've already had some great ones; such as Bernard not seeing the door, the big reveal confirming that he is a host, not a human.


Outstanding questions:

What is the real meaning of the maze?

The maze, which is the key for the Man in Black's quest, and which we see as a repeating pattern throughout Westworld, what does it really mean? Will we discover the true entrance to

What is the signifigance of the Orion constellation?

In one of the earlier episodes we discover that one of the hosts was obsessed with the consellation, however he was drawing it with one extra star in the belt section of the consellation. We know that the parent company is named Delos, which is the name of the twin brother of Orion in Greek mythology. Not likely a coincidence.

What is the signifigance of Wyatt, and his posse who seem to have morphed with animals?

What is the real motivation of this group of characters? And why do the have a need to combine their bodies with animal parts?

Why is it so hard for a host to escape from Westworld?

The technicians who are working on Maeve have conveyed that it would be excruciatinly difficult for any host to escape Westworld, even if they were to remove the explosive charge built into their spine. The technician explaing it 'would take an army' to escape.

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link to this post - posted by Jonathan @ 12:45 AM -