*This review contains spoilers*
Recently the fifth season of Charlie Brooker’s series Black Mirror came out. A series that I always watch with great pleasure and after the interesting Bandersnatch a couple of months ago, I was waiting patiently for a whole new season. With only three episodes, that may not be much, but if you include the three mini episodes that will still appear on YouTube, there is something else you can sink your teeth in into as a Black Mirror fan. The first episode is Striking Vipers. And unfortunately it is a disappointing start. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Black Mirror
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) – Review
When Netflix released the first interactive show on Netflix last year, Puss in Book: Trapped in Epic Tale, I was very curious about the concept. But when I played this short film, I did not get any interactive options. I did not investigate it any further, but the concept (which incidentally has also been used for some movies in the cinema) of leaving making choices about what happens to the viewer, is fascinating. Is it still a movie? Or is it more a game? Last Friday, Netflix released the first Black Mirror film, Bandersnatch, which also uses this concept. Again I did not get it working. Since Black Mirror is one of my favorite series and I had to see it, I decided to find out how you can watch it. My phone did not work (probably because it does not have a standard Android version), a Samsung tablet did not offer the option either. Apple TV, Chromecast and a Samsung smart TV were all the same story and the Netflix site does not offer an extensive list of supported devices. Eventually it worked on another smart TV from Samsung and after a lot of frustration I finally managed to enter the world of real interactive TV. Continue reading
Black Mirror – Season 4 review: Black Museum
By creating the world of Black Mirror, writer Charlie Brooker shows in each episode how technology can influence our lives. It shows how it can solve problems, but at the same time also how it can make people suffer by it, even if this wasn’t the purpose of that technology. That’s also the case with the final episode of season 4, which just like the episode White Christmas, consists of short stories set against a bigger backdrop. Continue reading
Black Mirror – Season 4 review: Metalhead
If you keep up with the technology news, you’ve probably heard of Boston Dynamics and their robot creations. It started with Big Dog that has been developed into Spot and the Spot Mini . But also creations like Handle , Atlas to the almost frightening Wildcat. Where these developments will possibly end is the subject of this episode of Black Mirror. Continue reading
Black Mirror – Season 4 review: Hang the DJ
Meeting other people who are looking for love has become a lot easier during the last few years thanks to dating sites and apps like Tinder. You fill in your profiles, send out messages, go out on a dat and find out if there is a sprak. The system which is used in Hang the DJ is based on that, but works completely different. Continue reading
Black Mirror – Season 4 Review : Crocodile
Episodes of Black Mirror are generally dark and often leave you feeling uneasy after seeing them. This feeling arises because the subject matter is recognizable and very close to reality. Crocodile is perhaps one of the darkest episodes so far, but doesn’t succeed as well in making you think as a viewer. Continue reading
Black Mirror – Season 4 Review: Arkangel
As parents, you must start letting go from the moment your child is born. You ensure that your children get the right skills, but they only learn by gaining experiences and making mistakes. However, that is not always easy because at the same time you want to protect them against everything. So it’s a balancing act in which you also learn and gain experience yourself. In Arkangel, Black Mirror looks at the upbringing of a child in combination with technology and, of course, how this sometimes doesn’t go as intended. Continue reading
Black Mirror – Season 4 review: USS Callister
One of my favorite series ever is Black Mirror and I was happy to see that Netflix released a new season recently. Because of its dark tone it might not be something you want to binge, I did look forward to work my way through the episodes. The Star Trek-like image which were released made me very curious about the first episode. Continue reading
Black Mirror – Season 3: San Junipero
*This review contains spoilers*
The bodies in which we live are temporary and through the influence of time, they are slowly getting worse. We might be young in spirit, but eventually we’ll succumb to the failure of the cells from which we are made. For centuries, there has been a search for a source of eternal youth, but to no avail. However, a new mindset seems to be getting more momentum, one that also has been depicted in several films, which is leaving our body behind and uploading our personality to a computer. The Matrix showed a simulated world and you could see in the last Terminator movie or Transcendence wat kind of powers such an environment could add. This episode of Black Mirror looks at how our consciousness and computers could work together.
San Junipero is initially confusing, because as a viewer you aren’t shown yet how the world works (on purpose). You see how a young woman in the eighties is feeling uncomfortable visiting a club. She starts talking with another girl and after spending the night together with her she disappears. She wants to meet her again, but can’t seem to find her. Someone else tells her that she can find her in the nineties and that’s when you start wondering what is going on. Slowly you discover what’s happening and this is one of the few expisodes of Black Mirror which doesn’t end on a low. It’s all about a possible answer what are lives could look like if we would no longer be contained by our physcial bodies and could live forever. One of the best episodes of season 3, with great roles by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis.
Black Mirror – Season 3: Playtest
As someone who has been playing games for years and who has experienced this form of entertainment developing from three simple blocks on the screen (Pong) to extremely realistic worlds like those in for example Grand Theft Auto, I sometimes wonder where we’ll eventually end up. At the moment virtual reality and augmented reality are hot, because they are able to offer a new experience where “presence” is the magic word. As a player you must have the feeling that you are really in a different place. The headsets follow the movements of your head and the world you experience matches that perfectly. It is a field that is still young in its current form, but how will it evolve? Playtest tries to give an answer to that question in a typical Black Mirror way, directed by Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) Continue reading