Film Review: Black Mirror Series Six (Part 3/3)

This next one might just be my favorite of the entire bunch. It's called Beyond The Sea.

The Premise

Stanfield and Ross are two astronauts who live on a space station. They are able to visit their families by means of a technology that can transport their consciousness to avatars (called "Replicas") on Earth. Tragedy strikes as the family of one astronaut is murdered...

The Characters

Aaron Paul delivers a surprisingly nuanced performance as Cliff Stanfield, a taciturn and emotionally distant husband and father. My only experience with Paul on-screen is as Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad. This is Aaron Paul's second time in Black Mirror, having had a cameo voice-over in the episode USS Callister. Here, he has a dual role, sometimes acting as Cliff, and sometimes acting as David.

Former teen heartthrob Josh Hartnett takes on the role of the charming family man David Ross, Stanfield's colleague. And let me just say that Hartnett is severely underrated as an actor. From his early roles in 40 Days and 40 Nights and Pearl Harbor, I had him pegged as the Pretty Boy. But recently I saw him in Trap. And now this. Hartnett had me liking Ross, feeling sad for Ross, disliking Ross, hating Ross, and finally being utterly fucking terrified of Ross.

Kate Mara as Lana Stanfield, Cliff Stanfield's wife. I've only ever seen Kate Mara in House of Cards and the ill-fated Fantastic Four. At first, the role felt like one anyone could have done, but after Lisa Stanfield reveals the fact that her loyalty to her husband runs far deeper than the audience was led to believe, Kate Mara utterly sold me on her performance. Marvellous stuff.

Auden Thornton as Jessica Ross. This is really a thankless role. Thornton gets groped by Hartnett and then has to look tearful and terrified in another scene, and that's it for her.

Daniel Bell as Cliff's son Henry Stanfield. He's a meek, quiet kid with almost zero personality. The audience is led to believe that Cliff oppressed it out of him, but there are times we do see Cliff doing dad-stuff with his son, so I'm not really sure what they were going for here.

Rory Culkin has a small but memorable role as Kappa. All glowery menace and unhinged dialog.

Marama Corlett, Siân Davis and Ioachim Ciobanu as Theta, Sigma, Epsilon. I'm not sure I can tell them apart, really. They're just there as Kappa's insane sidekicks.

The Mood

It's a serene futuristic setup when in space, but when back on Earth, it's retro-style picket fences. That's because for some reason, this episode takes place in a reimagined past. This episode is long and takes a while to get to the meat of the story from the setup, so for the most part, it's quiet, somewhat sad in places, and interspersed with scenes of horrific violence.

What I liked

The beginning parts where they threw little hints that David and Cliff were... unusual. From the fans at the cinema theater to Cliff saying Grace but not actually eating with his family.

The shot of the spaceship is pretty neat, gotta say.

And also the design of their sleeping quarters.

Whatever it was I was expecting when they cut Ross open... it wasn't this. Honestly, I was expecting a metal skeleton of some kind. Not this... gel?! Mind blown. Points for originality!

That twist at the end... oof. I really thought Ross was going to murder Stanfield or something, but no, I was totally blindsided. In fact, the entire episode subverted my expectations again and again.

The characters and the dialogue are pretty well-done. It wasn't just the work of the actors that made these characters shine; it was the way they were -written-. Cliff and David weren't just good or bad guys, they were relatable, flawed men who loved sincerely and deeply. As they went back-and-forth, my sympathies shifted from David, to Cliff, then to David again. I know none of the characters actually deserved what they eventually got, but at some points they let the worst parts of themselves come through, with tragic results.

Also some of the details were pretty nice. Like when Cliff searches David's quarters and we see all the stuff his kids left for him.

What I didn't

You'd think that with these high stakes, the company would send more than the mimimum headcount out in space. It makes no kind of sense. Two people leaves very little wriggle room for accidents, mishaps and the like. This is an extended trip in space, not a buddy cop patrol beat. What's worse, the two-man thing was actually a major plot point, which drive many of the characters' decisions. Too bad it didn't make sense in the first place.

This episode went on a little long, but it's a minor quibble and one I'm inclined to forgive, all things considered.

Conclusion

Possibly the strongest episode so far, despite its flaws. That twist hit like a gut punch. The story played me like a fiddle from start to finish. And that ending was really the fucked-up finish to end all fucked-up finishes.

My Rating

9 / 10

Thoughts on Black Mirror Series Six so far

As with previous seasons, this one has been a mixed bag. Mostly positive, though. Even the one episode, Loch Henry, that I didn't like that much, was pretty good. And I didn't dislike it, just didn't think it belonged in Black Mirror. But honestly, these first three episodes are a huge improvement over Series Five.

So far, Series Six isn't Awful!
T___T

Film Review: Black Mirror Series Six (Part 2/3)

Now for the next episode, Loch Henry!

The Premise

This next episode is Loch Henry. It takes place in a quaint English countryside, always a win in my book. A well-publicized series of murders happened here a long time ago, and a young couple starts to make a documentary about it.

The Characters

Samuel Blenkin as Davis McArdle. I last saw him in The Continental. In here, he was thin, awkward, and just kind of meek. The entire performance was so-so, really. Except at the parts where he interacted with Monica Dolan, where the actor teared up a bit. I thought those were great.

Myha'la Herrold as Pia Koreshi. The role seemed a little bland. Not sure if that was the way it was written, or just the way Herrold played it.

Daniel Portman almost steals the show as Stuart King. Loud, brash, goofy, Stuart King is the buddy we all wish we had, the one we get up to crazy shenanigans with and owns a bar so he can get you free drinks. Also, his sarcasm is a delight to watch.

John Hannah plays Start's drunken dad Richard King. As a teenager, I first watched Hannah in Sliding Doors, and then in The Mummy trilogy. Guy's a hoot, and they hit peak perfection with this casting call. As Richard King, Hannah is equal parts cranky and morose, and anguished. He makes an entire meal out of this, but without detracting from the story too much.

Monica Dolan is mother Janet McCardle. This is Dolan's second role in the Black Mirror series, the first being a rather more forgettable outing as a Chief Inspector in the dreadfully tedious episode Smithereens. She does considerably better this time round playing an anxious and awkward mother who's really an enthusiastic accomplice to several murders.

Gregor Firth as Kenneth McCardle. A jovial lawman who turns out to be a perverted serial murderer. It was a somewhat believable turn, given we hadn't seen all that much of Kenneth McArdle so far.

Ellie White makes a couple appearances playing Kate Cezar, who runs Historik Productions and appears to be the boss of Davis and Pia. There's a little bit of an opportunistic vibe about her, which I guess we all associate with publishing houses.

Tom Crowhurst as Iain Adair. The part called for a mad-looking guy and Crowhurst delivered without being too obvious about it.

The Mood

It's a misty countryside and I could just about feel the cold air on my face and the rustic warmth of the bar. The tension goes up a few notches in the final act, but for the most part, it's a slow-burn kind of vibe. When Davis begins the narration of the case of the missing couple Simon and Dawn Challis, that's where a hint of it begins.

Later on, when a horrified Pia is watching a real sex murder on camera while the scene cuts back to Janet preparing food with a very lethal-looking knife, the accompanying music ratches up the tension like you wouldn't believe!

What I liked

The cast is small and tight - no one's wasted in their roles.

As mentioned before, the environment they shot this in was breathtaking in its natural beauty. Huge plus, if you ask me. And there's just something about Stuart's bar that charmed my socks off.

While I'm not a big fan of the twist itself, how it was implemented I have no complaints with. Pia accidentally overwriting a tape with incriminating evidence, and seeing just a hint of it at the end... great stuff! Makes me nostalgic for the days of old.

That last lingering shot of Janet's suicide note and the photos she left behind. So terrible, and so sad!

What I didn't

The premise is hardly original, and neither is the twist. (See 2003's Gothika for something similar) If someone as clueless as myself saw it coming a mile away...

This is supposed to be a Black Mirror episode but I see nothing about tech or media (unless you count VHS tapes).

Pia's death seemed kind of overkill, narrative-wise. I don't see what it adds to the story.

It occurs to me that Davis and Pia are the sixth (or more?) example of an interracial couple I've seen so far in Black Mirror. When it first appeared in Fifteen Million Merits and White Bear, I was all for it. Several episodes over multiple seasons later, it's gotten a bit gratuitous. Hang The DJ, San Junipero, White Christmas, Black Museum... the list goes on. Even the preceding Joan Is Awful! (Both Joan's relationship with Krish and the random couple whose wedding she interrupts) Normally, I'm pretty oblivious to this, so if even I noticed it... seriously, it feels like somebody is trying just a bit too hard.

I don't think Stuart would have called Davis to crow about the booming business in the bar. I mean, FFS, Davis lost both his girl and his mother in one go, and it turns out his parents were murderous psychopaths. I feel like Stuart can be insensitive, but surely he's not such a dick?

Conclusion

It's not that I didn't like this episode. I just didn't think it belongs in Black Mirror. There are episodes that don't have a tech angle such as Hated In the Nation or Smithereens, but still have a Media angle. This has neither. Running out of ideas?!

My Rating

7.5

Next

Beyond The Sea

Film Review: Black Mirror Series Six (Part 1/3)

Series Six of Black Mirror is here, and what a ride it's going to be. Mind you, not always for the right reasons. You see, there was just something really underwhelming about this iteration of Black Mirror, even considering its predecessor, Black Mirror Series Five.

But you know what, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let's give Black Mirror Series Six a fair shake and go through an episode-by-episode review before I sum up my general thoughts, eh?

Warning - many spoilers ahead...

You know the drill by now. Black Mirror is chock-full of shocking scenes and even more shocking language. And I'm going to spoil the ever-loving heck out of this one, so strap in, son!

We'll start with the first episode, Joan is Awful.

The Premise

Joan notices that a new series has premiered on her streaming service, Streamberry. To her horror, it's a series about her everyday life and mirrors everything up to and including the point where she's watching the series. Soon, everyone around her has a view into her private business now that it's available as public TV...

The Characters

Anne Murphy takes on the roles of Joan Tait and herself. Murphy really dials it up to eleven with the panic attack mid-way through the show.

Salma Hayek, similarly, takes on the roles of Joan Tait and herself. I believe that Salma Hayek needs no introduction, having graced the feverish dreams of teenage boys like myself in her 1996 hit From Dusk Till Dawn. Even having last seen her in a comedic role in The Hitman's Bodyguard, I was blown away by how willing Hayek was to ham it up. She looked like she was really having fun here.

Michael Cera as Beppe, the nerdy tech who explains everything to Joan, and by extension, the audience. He did well, I was so engaged.

Avi Nash as Krish. I've only seen this guy in The Walking Dead and I didn't know he could be this dramatic! Hats off!

Himesh Patek as Krish. Looking way more serious than Nash in that role!

Rob Dalney as Mac. Gave off instant douchebag fuckboy vibes. Dalney was effortlessly smarmy in the role.

Ben Barnes as Mac. I remember him as Jigsaw from Punisher. He makes a very limited appearance here and only really needs to look pretty.

Ayo Edebiri as Sandy. What we mostly see of her is at the scene where she gets canned. I thought she did a pretty good job representing the stages of grief with what little time she had. Denial ("I thought we were friends"), anger("You're a coward, Joan!"), bargaining("Please don't do this. Please. Not now!")...

Lolly Adefope as Joan's lawyer. I really liked the dialog here. Adefope delivers the entire "you're screwed" explanation with such creative flair.

Wunmi Mosaku as lawyer. Didn't I see her in Playtest? Well, the role here is basically regurgitating everything that Adefope already said as the lawyer, so it's not all that interesting.

Jared Goldtein as Eric. Dude delivers is lines. I love that he's gay but not over-the-top with it. Didn't even realize the character was gay until that scene with his boyfriend!

Jaboukie Young-White as Eric. I whooped when I saw this. I watch a lot of The Daily Show, that's why.

Kayla Lorette makes a brief appearance as the actual Joan Tait. Would have been hilarious and deeply ironic if they'd used a really big name for this role, but I guess that would have been a really expensive gag.

Leila Farzad plays Streamberry CEO Mona Javadi. She comes across as a massive asshole, which is great. Because this episode really needs something other than a faceless quantum computer to be the villain.

Danielle Vitalis as Fatima Klaas, the journalist who's interviewing Mona Javadi. She plays this role straight, looking both concerned and alarmed at the implications of what Javadi is showing her. In a sense, she's a conduit for the audience.

Luke Beattie is Brutus the security guard. This dude sure didn't look like a "Brutus". Sure, it was a bit part, but musclebound meatheads are everywhere, the show producers really could have done better.

Rich Fulcher as Gainsborough, Salma Hawek's lawyer. He's meek and befuddled, but he can't do shit, so I kind of felt for the character there as he got chewed out by Salma Hayek.

The Mood

The atmosphere is bright and the vibes are light even as disaster after disaster occurs. This episode is more of a comedy adventure than a tragedy, and it shows.

What I liked

The concept of Streamberry (looking uncannily close to Black Mirror's current platform Netflix) is deliciously on the nose. And also, the title design for this episode is so apt!

When Joan and Krish are going through Streamberry's shows for the first time, we're seeing references to other Black Mirror episodes. So cheeky!

The twist at the end gave rise to so many questions. Like, if everything that happens in the series is a mirror of what went on in "real life", did the real Joan Tait actually defecate in a Church?! Holy shit. Literally!

Now, I normally don't like a huge cast, but in this case it was absolutely justified. The big names such as Salma Hayek and Cate Blanchett (in the role and non-speaking cameo respectively) just added layers of context. Plus, it just tickled me.

What I didn't

After Joan's lawyer explains how Streamberry knows everything in real-time due to her phone eavesdropping on her, Joan still goes ahead and has sex with Mac (or attempts to) without taking the proper precautions?! Um...

While I loved having Salma Hayek in the cast, it just didn't make sense that this basically meant that the role of Joan Tait was race-swopped. Which in itself wasn't that big a deal, until I noticed that this was the only role where it happened. Consistency, people!

I was not really buying that quamputer design as this mega-processor. I'm supposed to believe that this is the machine behind those huge virtual worlds, the A.I generation and stuff?!

Conclusion

This entire episode is a goofy and sometimes gaudy spectacle. There's never any sense of high stakes - even as horrible things keep happening to our protagonist, they're played more for laughs. And that's not a criticism - it's perfect for this episode. Twists are aplenty. It's a wacky fun time for all, even without the typical Black Mirror tragic ending.

My Rating

8.5 / 10

Next

Loch Henry

A Tech Professional's Takeaways From Coldplaygate

Everyone's probably heard of Coldplaygate by now; certainly it seems like everyone's talking about it. The scandal involves tech company Astronomer, and its then-CEO Andrew Byron and HR Kristin Cabot. While it does qualify as a tech story in the sense that Astronomer is a DataOps tech company, I've put off talking about it up to now.

Why? Because, well, there were just other, more compelling things to talk about. I mean, the scandal essentially revolves around two high-ranking colleagues Byron and Cabot having an extramarital affair. It's basically two people at the workplace getting into trouble because they couldn't keep it in their pants. Nothing terribly new or original about that, is there?

What happened was that on the 16th of July at a Coldplay concert, frontman Chris Martin was shouting out concert-goers that the Kiss Cam picked up. And the Kiss Cam just happened to fall upon Byron and Cabot in the audience.

It would have been less awkward if the two of them had been in a chest-to-chest bro hug. No such luck; they were in full-on Titanic pose. Byron could have claimed he was giving Cabot the Heimlich, except his hands were entirely too high up, doing his best imitation of a Victoria's Secret underwire product, for that to be a feasible excuse.

The two of them scattered like Flat-earthers confronted with facts, and within twenty-four hours, the Internet identified the two of them as colleagues who were married... to other people.

All in all, a shitshow for Astronomer.

My takeaways to this entire thing aren't moral. Everyone seems to already be on that dog-pile, and there's no real value in me joining in. Also, I'd like to keep this about tech, or at least about the professional space.

Decision-making

Sure, obviously, the entire thing is unprofessional AF. And also kind of dumb.

Cheating on your spouses is one thing; doing it in a packed and very public stadium and expecting nothing to go wrong, is both stupid and reckless. Not exactly the kind of decision-making that inspires confidence in a Board of Directors.

Decisions, decisions.

I'd expect the CEO of a company, whose decisions affect the livelihoods of employees of said company, to make better decisions. Then again, I'm just a software dev, what the hell do I know about decision-making, right? Well, for one, I wouldn't make the decision to put myself in a position where I could be caught live on camera using my hands to keep my sidechick's mammary glands warm.

The faked apology

Soon after the incident, there was an apology posted by a troll account, pictured below. It appeared to be a post from Andy Byron addressing the events of Coldplaygate.

This fooled many people.

This was debunked fairly quickly, but apparently a lot of people were convinced it was real, and it spread like wildfire. Andy Byron was being roundly mocked for being both tone-deaf and an idiot. Unfairly, in this case.

But here's the question: why did it seem so real?

The reason, dear readers, is disheartening. Too many people in positions of authority, when called out for behaving badly, post insincere-sounding apologies like this one. Usually along the lines of "this is not who I want to be" and "I am a work in progress", and even the shade thrown at Coldplay at the end did not appear out of character simply because it happens so often. That level of entitlement is all too real, even if the post wasn't.

The simulation was, if anything, too on-the-nose. There was no A.I and deepfake involved in this deception; the troll account wasn't even trying that hard. This is deeply concerning.

LinkedIn Profiles

On Kirstin Cabot's now-inactive LinkedIn account, she described herself as "a passionate people leader known for building award-winning cultures from the ground up for fast-growing startups and multinational corporations. An influential leader and fearless change-agent, I lead by example and win trust with employees of all levels, from CEOs to managers to assistants."

Just reading that made me throw up a little in my mouth. If you want your LinkedIn profile to sound as cringe as possible, you could do worse than take notes from this one.

Word salad.

Can someone say "word salad"? What is the term "fearless change-agent" even supposed to mean to anyone? What's even more disturbing is, this is supposed to be a HR professional. Is this the kind of garbage that impresses HR? Or is it just some kind of SEO for A.I-powered recruitment? Either way, if this is the new normal for both job-seekers and hirers, we are so screwed.

Much of the sniggering has been about how someone with such a self-aggrandizing LinkedIn profile could turn out this way, but honestly, I've never held such profiles in high regard. If you're someone that would be impressed by fancy words on a LinkedIn profile that a thesaurus could vomit out, that's on you.

Conclusion

I wouldn't be too hard on Andy Byron. Not everyone can handle being in a position of power. Tends to go to ones head, you know? Both of them, in some cases. Heh heh.

Also, Kristin Cabot. Sure, call her a skank, homewrecker, whatever. But her being HR aside, what's she really done that's so different from every other woman who ever cosied up to the Boss?

Looks like they got (cold)played,
T___T

The Curious Case of the Oddly Fragile Software Engineer

Earlier in the week, I happened to come across this article on Substack. It was titled The Manager I hated and the lesson he taught me by one Stephane Moreau. I was immediately intrigued because I am a software developer and I've worked for people I hate.

Well, actually, hate is a strong word. It's hyperbolic. Do I like them as people? Not at all. Do I wish physical harm or financial ruin on them? Not really either, no. In all fairness, if they were on fire, I might hesitate only a full five seconds before rushing over to help them like a decent human being by stamping on them as hard as humanly possible - to put the fire out, you understand.

When someone's on
fire, stamp on them.

Most of all, I'm a proponent of the idea that you can learn things even from people you don't like. Sometimes especially from people you don't like. Like, how many of such people have I learned from, how not to be a jackass? Countless!

But I digress...

The intention today was to discuss Stephane Moreau's thoughts on the manager he hated. His larger point I have no issue with - what I found really interesting was his description of what caused him to hate that Manager.

From what I saw, it started with a code review in which the Manager had this to say.

Over-engineered. Too many moving parts. Refactor.

This seemed pretty straightforward to me. A statement, an explanation, and an instruction, all in three short sentences. Moreau, however, didn't think so. This is what he had to say...

That was it. No "nice work". No "good attempt". Just a hard stop.

I sat there, fuming. I thought, "Does this guy enjoy tearing people down?"

Getting shot down.

Gee, I dunno. This seemed a bit much. I thought the Manager's comments were clear enough. What had Moreau been expecting, an essay? I didn't understand the part about "tearing people down" either. In fact, I feel like if the Manager had prefaced it with "nice work" or "good attempt", it would have felt patronizing. Which is perhaps worse than being curt. I don't need to be treated like I'm special. I do need to be treated like a professional, and that cannot happen if the Manager is feeling the need to (metaphorically) pat me on the head and throw me a bone.

This is why I can't relate

There was another line which Moreau took exception to, and at times described as "brutal".

This is fragile. What happens under load? What's the rollback plan?

And this.

You're thinking like a coder, not an engineer. Build things that survive failure.

I have received feedback like this before from my then-CTO. I was told that I approached things like a coder, and he expected more. I had no problem with this feedback, and would not have described it as "brutal". 

What baffles me is that the only way the Manager could be seen as "tearing people down" was if Moreau had seen himself as being above that kind of criticism. And in contrast, I've never seen myself as anything but mediocre. Frankly, from reading Moreau's stuff, my perception of him is that he's a humble and chill kind of guy, so perhaps he was merely relating a story from when he was young and dumb.

Like a kid with crayons.

Know what's brutal? Having your work torn to shreds and being told you write code like a toddler who just got crayons. Outright questioning what you contribute to the company. That's what I got from the above-mentioned CTO. Honestly, if Moreau had received that kind of feedback, I wonder how he would have wilted. The entire article just made Moreau look fragile, like some kind of snowflake.

Perhaps the culture in the Southeast Asia is just a lot different from the UK. Perhaps the general problem is that we're just not such a warm, nurturing environment. Here in sunny Singapore, I have the memory of being conscripted into the Singapore Armed Forces at the tender age of 19, and being yelled at by platoon sergeants on my first day... and my first thought was: Bitch please. You're think you're scary? I have a Cantonese mom.

In summary

Moreau made a whole slew of valid points in his article. I don't actually disagree with any of it. What I do take issue with, is the examples he used. As far as I'm concerned, those weren't put-downs from his then-Manager. If he wants put-downs, I've got some really savage ones.

Nice work, TeochewThunder. Good attempt!
T___T

Artificial Intelligence Experts join Meta... but it's not about the money? Really?

It was with some amusement that I spotted this article in recent times. In it, Meta head honcho Mark Zuckerberg is reported to have debunked the suggestion that A.I experts aren't joining Meta for money.

For context, Zuckerberg has been luring top A.I experts from Apple, Google and OpenAI. Interesting news, though not exactly noteworthy now, is it? Big Tech firms poaching from other Big Tech firms; nothing to see here, move along.

Meta catching those flies.

What was noteworthy was Zuckerberg's reaction to the suggestion that these new hires are joining for more than just the monstrous paycheck. He said these people were joining Meta for the opportunity to build superintelligent A.I systems without all the red tape and shit. Obviously, I'm just paraphrasing here, but you get the gist!

Wow, Zuck. Just wow. 

Just to be fair, while that statement elicited incredulous laughter, there have been reports that some companies in the A.I race have been less than enthused about A.I research for the sake of A.I research, seeing it as more of an avenue for profit. The thinking of business people, basically. 

And of course, being able to play with fancy new toys with almost unlimited resources is always nice. I imagine the "no red tape" thing was icing on top of a substantial cake.

But to say it's not about the money? That's a load of Facebook-shaped cap and we know it.

Facebook-shaped cap.

While I will concede that money probably isn't the only motivation, the fact remains that it's a pretty sizeable one.

Everyone, in some shape or form, is doing it for the money. Anyone who isn't, is either already unimaginably rich or just nuts. Meta's recent acquisition of Apple's top A.I engineer is costing them USD 200 million a year. That's not chump change, chum. (Say that three times fast, I dare you!) Apple declined to meet that price. Yes, Apple! 

What about the claim of building a superintelligence? Well, that requires context. For intelligence, what are we comparing against? The idiots currently raging on Social Media about Sydney Sweeney's jeans? The ones busy politicizing the death of Hulk Hogan? That's not a terribly high bar, really.

Final thoughts

All this is not to say that these AI experts shouldn't take the money. Au contraire, they absolutely should. A.I could be the thing of the future, that much is true. But it's hard to tell because that's what they all once said about NFTs and the Metaverse. Meta was even named after the latter!

Therefore, these A.I experts should make hay while people are still willing to pay them that amount of money, on the off-chance that this doesn't last. As history has proven, tech can be a fickle mistress.

"It's not about the money, money, money"... really?!
T___T