Star Wars: The Last Jedi- Soumya Duggirala

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Takes Star Wars to New Controversial Directions

The newest installment of Disney’s Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson, was probably the most highly anticipated movie of the year. After the previous movie, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, audiences were left to fester on speculation and theories for two years. Naturally, expectations were high. Which is part of the reason why it is so polarizing to Star Wars fans. It seems like you either left the theater loving the movie, or hating it.

The movie follows three main story lines: one in which Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) stays with old disillusioned Luke Skywalker (played by Mark Hamill) on an isolated island to try to convince him to come out of hiding, another in which the Empire fleet track the rebel ship and hold them into a drawn out siege, and yet another in which former storm trooper Finn (played by John Boyega) and Rose (played by Kelly Marie Tran) go on a mission to get a code breaker that can disable the tracking device that has the rebel ship in such dire straits.

I enjoyed the movie, but I do see where critics are coming from. That latter arc following Finn and Rose is almost completely irrelevant. They go to a whole other planet, have a whole arc there, bring along code breaker called DJ (a cameo for Benicio Del Toro), and even in the end it is only tangentially related to the rebels’ main problem of getting away from the Empire siege. The film uses this detour to provide social commentary on our own world: the rich of that planet enslave people and animals to support their opulent lifestyle and beautiful buildings. The fact that the whole arc seems pointless, though, makes this otherwise deep and meaningful commentary feel like it's shoehorned in.

The arc with Rey and Luke on the island is where the film really shines. Luke is a believably damaged, broken old man, and yet you can still see the Luke Skywalker from the original trilogy in all his mannerisms and quirks. The development of both Rey and Luke on the island was excellent, and I personally liked the controversial direction the movie took to Rey’s past and parentage. In addition to those two physically on the island, Kylo Ren gets a lot of development in the same arc. His force connection to Rey allows for both of them to open up to each other about their past and present problems and feelings. Adam Driver’s performance as Kylo Ren is subtle and masterful, portraying with every movement and expression the barely hidden anger and grief just under the surface. Him and Rey together made up some of the most heartfelt moments of the film.

Most of the others parts of the movie I liked or didn't like involve too many spoilers to go into in depth. Oscar Isaac’s character Poe Dameron, for instance, gets a lot more development in this movie than in the last one. But the parts of his arc that I liked happen at the end full of surprising twists.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi goes in bold directions and subverts so many tropes and expectations. It makes for an exciting and entertaining watch, and it's what I love about the film, but a lot of the developments are bound to disappoint viewers. There are so many questions brought up, and the success of all of it really depends on what the next movie brings. Despite that, the film still offers a lot of depth to the Star Wars franchise, including exploring what heroism really means and how we can learn from past failure.

Be Reel Blog- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning

'Face' the Truth Behind the Beginnings of a Classic Horror Killer

As usual, my friends and I needed a horror movie to watch, and so we decided on Texas Chainsaw. We had seen the original, so we figured we might as well see the beginning of the guy. The movie begins with Dean and Eric, played by Taylor Handley and Matt Bomer respectively, at a motel, ready to join the army as they were drafted. Simultaneously, Tommy, who later becomes Leatherface, is working at a meat processing plant ordered to be shut down. Neither of his bosses could get him to leave, and one of them died trying, so they called the police. This is when Sheriff Hoyt shows up, and he isn't really a sheriff, but a crazy man who killed the actual sheriff and took on the persona. He recruits Tommy to his farm, and Tommy becomes his servant. Sheriff Hoyt later pulls over a car with Dean, Eric and both of their girlfriends over, and since Dean was trying to burn his draft card, he forces them into his car and takes them to his farm. That's where the massacre begins, because none of the four 'invited' guests would eat the human meat dinner prepared by the family. Hoyt calls Tommy from the basement, and he revs up a chainsaw(the nearest weapon, which ends up as his signature) for the first time. Chaos breaks out, and all die(which we saw coming) except Bailey who sneaks out to a car and escapes, until Tommy pops up from the back seat and kills her.

Objectively speaking, this movie was well made. For the first time, we experience the backstory of the famous Leatherface, before he even used a chainsaw. The movie was flooded with a low lighting key and dark sounds, keeping us on edge the entire time, ready to jump out of our skin at any moment. Every scene had Tommy as the dynamic factor of every scene, shrouded by shadows. The diagetic audio of the chainsaw and screaming didn't help our goosebumps at all, thanks to director Jonathan Liebesman. These are traditional horror movie elements that have been used and will be used for many years to come, and this film implemented them perfectly. The killing portion of the movie was a bit compressed, but this made room for a lengthy backstory, which was a good trade-off. My friends and I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, as we not only freaked out but laughed throughout the duration of the movie. We have a few inside jokes that sprouted from the movie, such as naming Tommy "Big Chief" and calling that out to each other without anyone understanding it(I realize now it is no longer an inside joke as I have just announced it). Also, we always check the backseats of our cars to avoid such an incident depicted in the movie. I love horror movies, and this one definitely ranks pretty highly on my list. Overall, it was interesting to see how one of the most famous movie killers originated, and to have it done in such a storyline fashion was entertaining to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yTobqXy7X8

This link is to the trailer of the film.

Be Reel: The Emoji Movie

Product Placement for an Hour and 26 Minutes.

The Emoji Movie is a fairly controversial movie made in 2017, and to put things bluntly, it is a complete waste of time and energy. Not only are all jokes forced puns about emojis, or just bland jokes in general, but every five seconds you’re faced with ads of products that no one cares to see. The saddest thing about this entire waste of resources, is the fact that respected actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, voices a literal poop emoji. With corporations trying to act “relatable” towards the current youth, they end up making complete and utter fools of themselves.
As the “hip and cool” Sony Pictures Animation tries their best to relate, the opening of this mess of a movie starts with degrading the audience. By making children, the intended audience, seemingly incapable of using the english language, as well as depending an entire romantic relationship on a single emoji. Then us, as the viewers, are stuck watching a horrendous world full of living emojis and their questionable daily lives. This movie hits every single cliche on the list; The main character is outcasted because he’s different, princess who wants to be normal, rebellious girl who has a heart, goofy best friend who joins main protagonist because he is also an outcast, evil villain overly cheerful and power oriented, main guys falls in love with rebellious girl, and last but no least, they all lived happily ever after. It would be one thing if these cliches were done well, but instead they were all written and played out like they were made the night before.
Not only is the story so horribly boring and hideous to watch, but it isn’t even the main focus from an objective point of view. Even if we look past the bad script and dry jokes, the forced product placement makes the minimum enjoyment level impossible to reach. With blatant advertisement for Candy Crush all the way to the impenetrable Dropbox and even Just Dance, it’s hard to ignore the different products being shoved into your face. It feels as if you’re trying to watch a movie, but every five seconds there’s a commercial break that breaks the little emotion that was managing to show. I wouldn’t recommend this movie even as a joke, and I honestly believe that this movie isn’t enjoyable in the slightest. A complete waste of time, and not worth anyone’s effort. This is as clear as a warning as I can give, just don’t see this movie.

Neither Great nor Horrible: The Last Jedi

Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon originally created by George Lucas. The success of the franchise and its unique universe didn’t stop after the original trilogy or even the prequels. It found success in nearly every medium from books to video games to cartoons. That’s not to say all of it was great or even good. Some of it was downright bad, but the series garnered much love and anything that had a star wars label on it was guaranteed to sell something, and as a result Disney bought the rights to it.

Contrary to popular belief a big company buying something like this doesn’t make it automatically bad. Most of the stuff that Lucasfilms and Lucasarts were churning out was already spiraling into mediocrity, but as a result of all the Star Wars  material that was out there most people thought they had a general idea of how Star Wars should be. Of course, that doesn’t mean Disney should have to be confined to how the fans think they should work, they did make the entirety of the expanded universe non-canon when they bought it after all, they are completely entitled to do whatever they want in the universe and explore whatever themes they want. However even though the extended universe is officially non-canon they are not using an original IP and therefore should abide by what has already been decided. For example Luke took weeks of intensive training which was a expedited process in itself in order to defeat save the galaxy, and it sure is arguable that he was a bit of a Mary Sue in places, but Rey and is a bigger problem.

All that brings us to the most recently released Star Wars movie, Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi with its entirely new to the series director, Rian Johnson. The movie had a mixed reception to say the least with most leaning towards either extremes, but most of the problems that people had with the movie were a non-issue. Johnson was going for a different direction from the movies and there’s no problem with that. The theme of moving on from the past and towards was done interestingly despite the new movies being the exact opposite of that.

Another gripe with the movie that many people had was Luke’s character. Given that he was the main character of the original trilogy fans will have a clear picture of what he should be like, but defying this expectation left a lot of people unsettled including, at a time, Hamill himself. And as it should be a surprise to no one his criticisms were cherry-picked and left everyone who listened to those parts as bitter as they thought Hamill was which is a separate issue that led to Hamill refusing to say anything about Star Wars again. The drastic change in his character wasn’t something that bothered me. It’d be pretty hard to believe that same optimistic Luke went and secluded himself on the island hiding from everyone.

The complaint  that I had the most issue with was the scale of the plot. Many held a strong opinion that Star Wars movies should affect the many planets, but this one (slight spoiler) was just the Resistance fleet being chased, but I it doesn’t automatically make it less tense.

All that being said there were a lot of problems. There were entire scenes that could’ve been cut out of the movie and improved the movie’s overall quality specifically the casino planet and most of Rose’s character.

On top of that the movie throws in too much comic relief in scenes that would otherwise have been more impactful. There were too many moments where the tone was set for something intense only to be quipped away. Some antagonists were reduced to laughing stocks instead of the serious character they could’ve been, and some may be okay with that, but I would’ve preferred the alternative.

Besides the things that could’ve been done without it could’ve improved with the main plot had its own problems. A lot of these problems I felt could’ve been avoided if the moviegoer had not seen any Star Wars media in the past, but most have so it is a problem. This problem isn’t confined to The Last Jedi but could be seen in The Force Awakens as well. Since I’m going to be addressing specific issues some spoilers will be unavoidable so read this paragraph at your own risk. The problem that concerns me the most is the way the force is conveyed as more of a tool than anything else, although The Last Jedi seems to attempt to reconcile it by showing the force as a more omniscient presence it still used more or less the same. In the previous movie Rey uses the force to persuade a guard to release her with absolutely no training or practice, but in this movie she has three days of practice so now she really is a jedi master able to stand up to people who have trained literally their whole lives just to battle people like her and can match the power of Kylo Ren you’ll see more of his backstory.

The story’s timing is either convoluted or sloppily done. The main plot of the story takes place over a course of about 16 hours meanwhile throughout that it cuts to Rey occasionally who is there over a course of 3 days, but leaves at just the right time anyways. To me, that just doesn’t line up right.

Besides the many inconsistencies with itself and the Star Wars universe the story was very visually pleasing. If one were just watching and had “turned their brain off” it would be a great movie. Myself, I enjoyed it while I was watching it only paying attention aside from the casino planet which was wholly unnecessary and had Rose in it.

After watching, however, I thought about it and realized all of the things written above, so it was a very mixed bag with a lot of wasted potential.

Be Reel Blog- Black Mirror, Season 4

Black Mirror, season 4(getable?)


Netflix's Black Mirror has easily become one of the most successful and highly anticipated shows on its native network. Fans all around the world spend countless hours on forums trying to decipher hidden meanings in each episode, find links to other BM universes, and eventually just gush at the intricacies and pure excitement found in each episode. But this is not the purpose of this piece. Having watched season 4, I found that the season was not quite up to par with the rest, but overall still enjoyable. Some episodes left me speechless, and in a good way, while others were somewhat lackluster compared to previous episodes. Overall, I thought this season was great, it met my expectations. It's visually stunning, acted phenomenally, and provides thought-provoking, meaningful, and relevant concepts. In the first episode, USS Callister, I was caught a bit off guard. I could not have expected how imaginative this episode is, and I'm glad they explored the theme of virtual reality universes. However I felt the story had many plot holes and I wish it was taken in a different direction. ArkAngel was my favorite. It's a beautiful and very human episode that does a fantastic job exploring the struggle of parenting and childhood development in the age of technology. Admittedly not the most daring or unpredictable, but that isn't necessary to a fantastic episode. Crocodile was a very powerful and engrossing episode. I love how dark it is; it felt like the writers were brave enough to take risks. My criticism is that the technology central to the episode could have been explored more or played more of a role. Hang the DJ was also one of my favorites. Black Mirror has a tendency towards doom and gloom. And while still reminding us from time to time of that theme, this one gave some hope to the viewers. Charlie Booker, the writer of Black Mirror, stated that this was actually done on purpose, for reasons stated here. Metalhead, despite some negative feedback, I found terrific and terrifying. I agree that a longer run time and more world building would have made this episode better, but that wasn't the intention. I don't mind that there was no sort of philosophical danger. Black Museum was deliciously dark, clever, and explored some very interesting technology. I personally found it hard to follow towards the end and like some of the technology was unrealistic. Overall, I was generally impressed with the season. While not quite as shocking as the first seasons, that was to be expected. Seasoned viewers need to realize that our experience of watching Black Mirror now will never be what it was in the first seasons. The stories are no worse or more predictable than they ever were. We have just come to understand the show and therefore we are harder to surprise and impress. Overall, I would put the season in Good Good, with a very high quality rating and a mid tier enjoyment rating.

Be Real Blog- Wall Street

Lauren Zanetakos

Period 3

12/31/17

                                               Dangers of Wall Street

The plot of this film is the story of a young and broke stockbroker is seduced into an illegal insider trading ring by the man he looks up to the most. The main character rises through the ranks making more money than he ever thought possible only to find out that he has to sell out all of his friends and family. Stanley Weiser (writer) and Oliver Stone (Director) decided to cast Martin Sheen as the protagonist’s (Charlie Sheen) father. Even though the relationship between the two characters is not the center of attention in this movie, it just makes every fight between the two of them more heart felt and relatable. Wall Street is a battle ground for stock exchanges and some maybe led a stray for the rules of the business. The famous quote “Greed is Good” that came from this movie is  a very important topic to keep in the backs of the audiences minds, it implants the idea that wanting more than we are giving in life is a noble reason for taking short cuts.

I rank Wall Street as good, good because although it is on the longer side, it still manages to keep the audience engaged and teaches a valuable lesson on greed and what it takes. Some of the themes found within this is film are as follows; taking short cuts in life my find you some success but will lock you into a life sentence of looking over your shoulder. Higher the reward, the higher the risk (but often enough it’s not worth it)

Although this film is long, it is packed in with life lessons and leaves the audience with the feeling grateful for those in our lives as well as the events that has led up to their position in society.

 

Be Reel Blog - The Wolf of Wall St.

The Wolf of Wall Street - The Rise & Fall of Jordan Belfort

The Wolf of Wall Street, directed by the Academy Awarded Martin Scorsese, depicts the life of a "stock broker" Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his uprising from being a small time stock broker into a wild, crazy, drug-filled penny stock promotor pocketing him millions per year, and his inevitable downfall from the FBI investigating into him for stock fraud and money laundering. 

It begins as a flash-forward into Jordan Belfort's life at the peak of his career - driving a Ferrari, holding thousands of dollars in cash, and throwing midgets at a large dart board (ya know, everyone's typical dream). The beginning hooks the viewers and entices them to watch from the beginning of the film right to the end. As it flashes back to the beginning of Jordan Belfort's career as a stock broker, it takes a journey of uninteresting to an extreme of partying, sex, and drugs, and the eventual arrest and change of Jordan's life. From an objective standpoint, this movie uses a great balance of comedy, excitement, and suspense to keep the watchers entertained. Especially with a wide-array of well known, and acclaimed actors such as Jonah Hill, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Margot Robbie. However, what truly took this film to the next level of intensity, was that this was all based on a true story of Jordan Belfort, and the depictions in the film are fairly accurate to what his life was actually like. It all resulted in the arrest for stock fraud, of course, but even past that point it showed how Jordan Belfort became a motivational speaker and salesman to show people the underlying talent that he had that took him to fame and fortune. 

Subjectively, this is one of my all-time favorite movies. Especially with those who have interest into Wall Street and the stock market, this shows the type of fraud that has been committed in history and the serious offenses that have been committed. Also, the comedy is the perfect taste and preference for myself, especially that of Jonah Hill. Overall, it was a GOOD GOOD film for me, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys any of the actors in this film. 

Be Reel: Rear Window

A 1954 film “Rear Window” is directed by Alfred Hitchcock tells a story of a photographer named Jeff. Confined to his apartment, Jeff looks outside in the courtyard and looks at his neighbors. This is during a heatwave, the neighbors keep their windows open.
One night during a thinderstorm, Jeff is awaken by someone screaming, “DON’T!” and breaking glass. He soon falls back asleep. Later, he wakes up from thunder and watches one of the neighbors, Thorwald from across the courtyard leave his apartment multiple time in the middle of the night with his briefcase. He goes back to sleep but with an eerie feeling. The next morning, he doesn’t see the wife of the neighbor and also sees Thorwald washing a hand saw and a knife. Convinced something foul has happened, he shares this story with his sophisticated, socialite girlfriend, Lisa and his nurse Stella. (I’m not sharing the ending).
This movie is a sophisticated style of storytelling. There are not many lines in this movie which really makes you pay attention to the facial expressions of the main character Jeff. This is a great movie for the suspense seekers and tv drama lovers. Plus, the way it’s filmed was great (lighting, shot angle, and sound).
I recommend this movie to anyone!


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6kCcZCMYw38

The Clash Between Forces

With blockbusters there is always a divide between critics and the audience. But with this blockbuster the difference between the critics and the audience is like the light and dark side. While the critics find the movie outstanding, funny, and fitting, the audience finds the movie to be a disappointment, fluffy, and lackluster.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi starts where it was left off in The Force Awakens. The director of “The Last Jedi,” Rian Johnson, takes on the responsibly of creating and producing this film.

Mr. Johnson seems to fall short when it came to proceeding with the story from The Force Awakens. To wrap around the bases of the story there are two side prevalent in the movie. The heroes, who are trying to save the universe (The Resistance) and the villains, who are trying to control the universe (The First Order). The audience is left with a lot of shrugging and wondering. Snok was briefly introduced to us in The Force Awaken with no clue who he was or how he came to power. People were hoping to find an answer to their questions in The Last Jedi, but they were left clueless. We still do not know anything about Snok. How did he manage to become the leader of the First Order? Where did he come from?

On top of falling short, the audience found this movie to be very fluffy. Mr. Johnson managed to take very serious situations and managed to dissolve the tension with a joke. While critics found this amusing and a smart choice by Johnson, the fans and audience found this distasteful. The Star Wars series has always been seen as a serious series and The Last Jedi manages to break this pattern. This break in pattern may seem pleasing to critics, but fan and audiences saw this as the movies downfall.

The big blockbuster, The Last Jedi had a huge divide between the critics and audiences. While critics found the movie to be tasteful and joyful, fans and audiences found the movie to be lackluster and disappointing. The Last Jedi lacks in story building and progress, while making the movie fluffy. In conclusion, The Last Jedi may be a decent watch, but it certainly doesn't measure up to it's iconic predecessors. 

Be Reel Blog- Mindhunter- A Dive Into The Criminal Mind

Mindhunter, created by Joe Penhall, is a captivating thriller set in the 1970s. It follows two FBI agents who lead an investigation into the minds of criminals who have committed extremely heinous crimes. The first episode follows the main character, Holden, in a confrontation with a suicidal man who was seemingly "normal" before. Even through all of Holden's efforts, the man kills himself. This leads to his interest in minds of mentally ill criminals and our story is born. In the second episode veteran Bill Tench is introduced. He was active in the FBI a long time and now teaches police around the US about criminal psychology and how to expect what serial killers will do. He asks Holden to join him in teaching and Holden jumps at this opportunity. While traveling and teaching Holden starts stopping in prisons to interview serial killers to find out why they did what they did and how they're brain works. At first Bill is extremely against it but he ends up joining Holden and they make an amazing team.

The acting in this film is fantastic from everyone casted, but Jonathan Groff's performance as the awkward intelligent Holden is superb. The awkwardness he creates is so well done and nothing like the typical approach actors and directors takes to make awkward situations. The director (David Fincher director of House of Cards) also creates a certain nostalgia with 1970s era cars, music and views that people have. It certainly adds to the film and draws in an even larger audience that can relate to this era.
My only complaint about this film is definitely a subjective one but does not stop me from watching. I find that it gets a little too disturbing and descriptive sometimes when these criminals are telling the stories of the horrible messed up things. I know that this adds to the plot and the entire energy of this show but personally it just ends up disgusting me. Even the beginning part of each show where the credits are displayed flash between an audio tape and a dead woman's body. The funny thing is that this show is so well done and fantastic that I can't stop watching even though I hate those parts. I think most sane people would be disturbed by the situations these criminals describe and the director must want you to squirm in your seat and most definitely succeeds at that through not only the criminals stories but through the way they tell them and they way they calmly sit or eat while they tell Holden and Bill what they did and why.
I would give this show a Good Good rating with the objective quality being off the charts and the subjective enjoyment being pretty high up there too. The choices the director makes pull you in and won't let you leave the minds of these criminals as if you are one of the people interviewing them. I would certainly recommend the show to anyone who can handle some disturbing stories and even to someone who can't because the show would be amazing even if you mute the TV at those points.

Be Reel: No Mystery Surrounding the Success of Agatha Christie’s 1934 Story, Murder on the Orient Express

20th Century Fox’s 2017 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s novel, Murder on the Orient Express, keeps viewers on the edge of their seat as they watch Detective Hercule Poirot, portrayed by Kenneth Branagh, try and solve a murder while on a train ride across Europe. The remake of the 1974 film, directed by Branagh himself, follows the detective as he investigates characters, including those most notably portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, and Leslie Odom Jr, and solves the mystery before the trip is scheduled to resume.

The modern rendition of the 83 year old story provides viewers with suspense, surprises, and an ending that, having not read the novel before seeing the movie, was contrary to that of what I expected. The movie’s complex storyline is pieced together through a number of scenes, each one seemingly devoted to a specific character, that paint the pictures of each of their lives and their pasts. These scenes, laced with fantastic acting on the actors and actresses parts, tell the story in such a way that rejuvenates the popularity of the almost century-old novel.

Although an old tale, the film asserts the importance of justice-- an idea that is very prevalent in today’s society. Although hidden by the aspect of revenge throughout the story, justice is the ultimate goal of Detective Poirot. By the end of the film, he succeeds in his goal, but not without questioning how what he does is similar to revenge itself and whether the two are different at all. The detective’s internal debate is one that the audience is able to relate to and can apply to modern-day issues such as the question of how to deal with terrorism and those who impose it upon others.

Murder On the Orient Express is not an old tale, but rather presents an old idea that has been important throughout the history of the world. It is an exciting film that proves the importance of good judgement when faced with difficult circumstances and forces the audience to question the negative connotation that revenge typically has. Overall, I would recommend watching the film as it is both entertaining and prevalent to our lives today.

Rating: Good, Good

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI5dSBCymMI

Be Reel : 8 Mile

Recently, I watched the movie 8 Mile. It is a somewhat old film that recently got on Netflix, starring a younger Marshall Mathers, better known as rapper Eminem as the main character, Rabbit. The story follows Rabbit through a series of events including rap battles, romantic affairs, and violence. Through this, Rabbit faces adversity as he develops as a character and rises to the top in the local rap game.
 As far as content of the film goes, there are some valuable pieces that do a nice job of portraying the theme of the film. Rabbit's character development is an example of this. In the beginning of the film, he is not a confident character and he struggles. In his first rap battle, he choked up and walked off the stage humiliated while being ridiculed by the audience. Throughout the film he gains confidence and at the end he raps against the antagonists, who call themselves the Free World. He beats them all, and the same audience begins to cheer for him.
This example does a good job showing one of the themes of the film. This theme is that in times of adversity greatness can still prevail. In my opinion, this theme is a strong and powerful one, although I think the type of story in the film is kind of a cliche. Eminem did a good job of making it unique and delivering the theme as a message.
 

Be Reel: Star Wars The Last Jedi Forces Fans to Pick a Side in the New Era of Star Wars

Star Wars The Last Jedi has been in theaters for 17 days, and it has managed to become not only the highest grossing film domestically of the year, but also one of the most polarizing films of the year. Rian Johnson's take on a galaxy far far away has divided audiences on whether the film is well made, or a flaming pile garbage. Those who stand for it stand strong as it has a 91% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes; however, those who disliked also firmly believe in their views as it has a mere 51% fan approval. At this point the real question is, did Rian Johnson create a film that deserves one of the highest approval ratings for the franchise, or one of the lowest?

The Last Jedi is the much anticipated sequel to 2015's The Force Awakens. It once again follows Rey (Daisy Ridley), Finn (John Boyega), Poe (Oscar Isaac), and the rest of the rebellion as they battle the First Order which is headed by Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis), General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). This film also brings Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) back to the silver screen for longer than five seconds, and gives audiences the late Carrie Fisher's final performance as General Leia Organa. Mentioning much more about the plot would likely spoil something as a lot of this film's plot was kept under wraps throughout the ad campaign. So at this point, the easiest thing to say is if you want to know what is going to happen, go see the movie. 

Now, the thing that has really made this film so polarizing is its content. Rian Johnson took a lot of creative liberties when writing and directing this film. The first big thing to look at is how he structured the movie. The first hour or-so plays like a puzzle that has yet to be pieced together. Rey is in one place, while Poe is in another, Leia is in another, Finn is in another, and Kylo is in yet another. While it may be a little bit much to follow at first, the structure is in fact forgivable. JJ Abrams, director of The Force Awakens, left his characters scattered, so it makes sense that it would take time for them to be reunited with each other. After they are reunited, the story really picks up and the final act is wildly intense and satisfying to watch unfold. 

The other piece of content that has been heavily questioned is the character choices made by Johnson. He did made some choices for long time characters that seemed strange. The direction he took with Luke is a strange pill to swallow, and even Leia seems different than she did when we saw her just two years ago. While there is no question that the choices were different from what audiences may have been expecting, they were not bad choices to make. The complaints are almost entirely subjective as the choices where not severely detrimental to the story or the characters themselves, they just changed some things that long time fans felt would never be changed. 

After seeing the film, the big question to be asked is "What did I just watch for 155 minutes?" At first, it may seem as though you watched nothing. The film has a strange feeling where a lot seems to happen non-stop, but by the end it feels like you're right where you began. After a little bit of closer inspection though, a lot of things are changed by this film. One very important character does in fact die, one side of an ongoing battle is immensely weakened, and two very important characters become much more powerful by the end of this film. Above all of that though, the film makes a very strong claim about the force within the Star Wars universe. As opposed to what most would be led to believe up until this point, the force is not a black and white idea, and good vs evil cannot always be as simple as one vs two. Sometimes there are grey areas that are much more difficult to comprehend, and Johnson does a very good job establishing that. 

The Last Jedi is not a bad movie, it is simply a change in formula for the Star Wars universe. After JJ Abrams received harsh complaints about The Force Awakens being too similar to Star Wars : A New Hope, it makes sense that Johnson would try to change things. Unfortunately, it seems he went from one extreme to the other and made The Last Jedi too different for hard core fans. On the objective scale, The Last Jedi is not a bad movie, it is just different from what people are used to Star Wars producing. On my personal subjective scale, it is a very good film. I do recognize that it has its flaws, but I cannot imagine why it deserves a mere 51% approval. At this point it seems one can only hope that JJ Abrams learns from the mistakes both he and Johnson have made in the last three years, and strikes a good balance between new and old in episode IX. 

Star Wars The Last Jedi  - Good Good

Daredevil

Over the break, I started watching  a Netflix Original series, Marvel’s Daredevil.  The show is about a blind man, Matt Murdock who is a lawyer during the day and a vigilante by night. He goes around protecting his hometown Hells Kitchen in  New York City with his violent alter ego “Daredevil”.Over his journey as the devil in Hell’s Kitchen, he comes across many, many problems with certain gangs in the city and powerful figures in the crime war. This show has a lot of action almost and has a criminal minds twist on it.  When I first read the description on Netflix, I was curious on how a blind man would be a super crime fighter… and that's what made me want to begin watching it. In my opinion,the show  took a while to get started and sometimes drags out certain situations involving his job as a lawyer.  The Daredevil, played by Charlie Cox, has a lovable way about him but sometimes as a viewer, I disagree with some of the decisions he makes. For instance, when dealing with a major villain, Wilson Fisk, he decides not to choose the best course of action. Overall, I would say the acting on this show is a bit above average and there is always a problem to be solved to keep the show interesting. On the other hand,  it could be a but predictive at times. Such as damsel in distress situations, obviously she is going to be saved and when a bad guy is in a dark alley, something is bound to go wrong. I would give this series a rating of Good Bad due to how well the action keeps you entertained but how the scenes could be redundant at times.

here is a trailer if you are interested in watching...
https://youtu.be/jAy6NJ_D5vU

The Best Paced Show Alive

   The Flash season 4 is no more than half way through but has been able to introduce an entire new villain with one of the most interesting stories behind him. Nine episodes in to the season and every episode leaves the viewer wanting more. Weather it's the personal development in each characters life or trying to realize the goal of the main antagonist each episode has the plot moving a great pace. Especially when considering how many different directors have worked on the show like Glen Winter, Alexandra La Roche, and Tom Cavanagh just to name a few and more to come. Like Kevin Smith who has a large part of his life devoted to comic books and many of there show/movie adaptations. Of course the pacing of the show would not matter if it weren't for the amazing actors.
   Mainly Grant Gustin who plays Barry Allen / The Flash. Ever since season one of The Flash Gustin has managed to portray Barry Allen in a new light. I say this only due to the fact that his portrayal of a comic book character from the 1940's in today's setting would have to be different. The Tone of a character should match their setting which is exactly what The Flash has managed to do. Season 4 has multiple points where you can see this from like when Barry gets married, to simple points like when his friend Cisco Ramon (Carlos Valdes) makes a familiar reference. All times Grant Gustin has expression to match the tone around him.
   While season 4 still has much more to its plot, so far it's been generic but good. An unknown villain who has been hinted at appears while our heroes must find a way to stop said villain. Although the one true catch to this season is that the Villain (The Thinker) has the viewers sympathizing for him. A once simple teacher who just wanted the advancement of humanity cursed by his newfound intelligence with a dying body. As well as a loving wife who has attempted to elongate his life with her mechanical genius although nothing short of the death of the flash seems to be able to help him. Essentially giving new meaning to the generic hero verse villain plot. So this show hasn't done anything revolutionary but it has built a great universe. One in which almost all viewers can understand the plot but also dive deeper into.

Neo Yokio: A show in review

Netflix, perhaps due to their overwhelming surplus of cash, has made many attempts to make their own TV series, and some of them are actually quite good, objectively and subjectively. Neo Yokio, an animated Netflix original show consisting of 6 episodes, however, does not fit into this category. Neo Yokio doesn’t qualify as bad, because it’s quite entertaining but it’s certainly not good. Much like the show itself, I can’t seem to place just what this series is. It’s completely neutral.
    The plot can be summarized in the adventures of high society demon hunter Kaz Kaan and his attempts at being the #1 most eligible bachelor in the city of Neo Yokio, a combination city of New York and Tokyo, which is apparently ranked on a bachelor board in Times Square.
    The show features voice acting from sme well known people, including Jaden Smith (who voices the main character, Kaz), Jude Law (who voices Kaz’s robot butler Charles) and Susan Sarandon (who voices the main character’s aunt, Aunt Agatha. All of these are spectacular actors on their own, and this adds to what makes this show so quirky, which I will address later.
    The series was entirely created by Ezra Koenig, a name you may or may not recognize, depending on the kind of music you listen to. He’s the lead singer and guitarist of Vampire Weekend, an indie rock band. This may inspire you to ask “Who the hell decided to give him a Netflix series and why?” I wish I could answer that question for you. I truly do not know who decided that it would be a good idea to have a indie rock singer direct and create a TV series.
    Now is the show entertaining and interesting? Yes and no. Much like just about every part of this show, there is some very interesting and entertaining things in this show and then there are parts that… aren’t. The first two episodes of this series are very well done, if slightly stupid, but are very effective at hooking people into the series and getting them intrigued. It has a great hook, an interesting plot in the episode itself, the characters develop properly like they should, the villains are entertaining enough. Then, all of a sudden, after the first two episodes, the show just takes a complete nosedive and bounces it’s face off the concrete. It’s almost like the first two episodes were written by a completely different person, but they weren’t.
    This leads me to my biggest issue with this show; IT CAN’T SEEM TO DECIDE WHAT IT WANTS TO BE. At times, it sounds and feels like it wants to be a social commentary on how stupid materialism is, and then Kaz, the main character, immediately shuts it down. Other times I wonder if it was some sort of attempt at an animated version of the popular Supernatural series, bu then after the first two episodes the demon slaying part of this series completely vanishes. Then I wonder if it’s supposed to be an intriguing, long and spread out series like Dragon Ball or Naruto, but then you see that it only has 6 episodes. This show doesn’t know what it wants to be, and I can’t tell what it wants to be. It is so many things but it’s also so few things at the same time.
    What worries me about this series is that it COULD be good. It has all the components of a potentially good series. It’s got an incredibly star studded cast, it has a interesting enough overall plot, it has pretty decent quality animation. It has the makeup of a great possible show. Yet, somehow, even with all of these great factors of the series, they just can’t mesh the components together to make it create a good series. It just ends up in this weird limbo of not knowing what it wants to be, and having all the potential to be good, making it unrankable. I can’t say it’s Bad Bad or any of the other possible rankings. It’s just completely neutral in terms of quality. That being said, I appear to be one of the few people that actually enjoyed the series, so maybe it doesn’t have any real subjective entertainment either. It lands right in the middle of the ranking spectrum. It’s not bad or good, it kind of just… exists.

A Strange Arrival: Arrival Movie Review

In the film Arrival (2016) directed by Denis Vileneuve, is based off of what Denis perceives as what humans would do in the event that an alien encounter occurs. The aliens in this film are portrayed as peaceful, which is a little different than the movie stereotype that aliens would be hostile. Vileneuve challenges typically movies, and it can be argued he takes a risk in the making of this film as it is not so fast paced and may not appeal to the majority of movie watchers interests. While it may be slow, the movie proves to be very interesting objectively, while still providing me and others with subjective enjoyment of the film. It achieves both subjective and objective enjoyment through American language professors attempting to understand the language of the aliens, learning to communicate and understand their language and the purpose they have on earth. All throughout this, they race against the clock as other nations grow impatient and wish to attack the aliens. This creates high tension throughout the movie, keeping me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

Overall, I would rate this film 9/10 as I found it to be very interesting, and thought it was a cool idea seeing as the director branched off from traditional movie ideas. Additionally, Vileneuve creates tension throughout both aliens and the people around the world. On top of this, Vileneuve provided insight into the methods used to decrypt the alien language. This makes the movie feel more complete, and allows the audience to make sense of how the Americans were able communicate with the aliens. Overall, I would recommend this film as it takes chances and steps beyond the traditional formula of film making and while not everyone maybe be able to enjoy it as I did, it's a great experience for other film enthusiasts.

Looking in the Black Mirror

Black Mirror, created and written by Charlie Brooker, is a show that was recommended to me many times and was described as a modern Twilight Zone. Since it was so heavily recommended, I took some time to watch the first episode of season four, titled USS Callister, directed by Toby Haynes. In this episode, Nanette Cole (Cristin Milioti) starts working for Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) to help work on his company's game called Infinity, but ends up stuck in Daly's private copy of the game aboard his ship because Daly took the DNA off a coffee lid she drank from and added her to his game. Her and the rest of the office employees are stuck on Daly's ship and they try and figure out a way to escape.

The costumes for all the characters in all the settings are great. The costumes that are worn aboard the USS Callister are especially great with the Star Trek allusion that is presented throughout the whole episode. The way characters act in different settings are amazing, too. At work Daly is a hesitant man who seems to second-guess himself alot and lets the other co-founder James Walton (Jimmi Simpson) step all over him, but on the ship Daly is controlling, assertive, and feared.

Many people see this episode as a way to express what is happening currently in Hollywood, particularly expressing the Harvey Weinstein allegations. On Daly's ship, the crew has to do everything Daly says or they face brutal punishment, expressing how Weinstein would blacklist actresses who wouldn't do what he wanted.

Be Reel Blog

A Bright Future

     Bright directed by David Ayer, was a film like no other. The film stood for something more than just an entertaining film. Star actor, Will Smith, portrayed the role of a police officer in the future. The setting of the movie was well into the future, in a time where "Alien" type people lives with humans. The part that stood for more was how the "Aliens" were supposed to be how blacks were treated years ago. Now that you have a background of the movie lets dive right into this. 

     This metaphor to real life was extremely successful in getting their message across. There are still issues today that are being worked on by some of society, and that is the treatment of black people. When watching this thriller/ sci-fi movie, if you didn't understand what these "aliens" stood for, then there's a great chance you're not enjoying the film to its fullest. Similar to when blacks first became cops, they were hated more than white cops. The black cops represent the first ever "alien" cop in the movie. Throughout the whole movie, there is symbolism all over the place for how blacks are treated. I believe the movie will do even better after time goes on and more people find out about this movie. 

     Overall, this movie was a great movie and gets my rating of an 8.5/10. The only reason it didn't get a 10/10 was that some scenes were a little predictable and cheesy. Besides that, it was spot on for the rest of the movie. I highly recommend this to moviegoers that enjoy sci-fi or even thriller movies.

Be Reel Blog : Step Brothers (Possible Spoiler)

Step Brothers: The War of Step Siblings 

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly  are back at it again after their smash hit Talladega Nights. Both star in another hysterically comedy, directed by Adam McKay called Stepbrother’s. Both actors share the same role which is playing a 40 year old man that still lives at home with their single parents and to make it even better they both have the mentality of an eight year old. The story begins with an introduction to our two characters and then it shifts to showing both Mr. Doback (Dale Doback’s dad) and Mrs. Huff (Brennan Huff’s Mom) meeting for the first time at a presentation and instantly they hit it off with each other. The movie fast forwards to them getting married and moving in with each other. This is where the rivalry begins. Immediately Dale and Brennan hate each other and won’t accept the fact that they are brothers. As the movie continues they soon realize that they have similar interest and then become best friends and do everything together. It is at this point where Mr. Doback and Mrs. Huff realize that they are going to get a divorce. Dale and Brennan try everything in their power to stop it from happening but all attempt fail. It is at this point that Brennan and Dale realize that they need to get their lives together and get an actual job. Each year there is the Catalina Wine Mixer which is a big event where they sell helicopters. This is the company that Brennan Works for and he planned it for this year. He hired Dale’s company to cater for the event. Things start to turn upside down so Dale and Brennan start to sing to save the event and it worked. Mrs. Huff and Mr. Doback crossed paths and started to talk again and reminisced about the past.

This story excelled in Subjective quality. This is one of my all time favorite movies mainly because of the comedy in it. It had me laughing in every single scene. The objective quality also excellent because the jokes in the movie fit the characters so well. I don’t think there is a single movie that I will ever like more than this one. The theme of the movie would definitely be that you shouldn’t judge a person too quickly because once you get to know them they could be your best friend.

Trailer -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cxuuBkeO3c&t=73s

Be Reel Blog - Broadchurch - Ben Schultz

Broadchurch was originally recommended to me a long time ago, but I was neglecting to watch it because I figured it was just another crime drama. The only other crime shows that I had some experience with were different CSI and Law and Order shows, all of which felt very one note, and all seem to use a very similar formula from episode to episode. I found out that actors like David Tennant and David Bradley had roles in it, and I had seen them in other excellent shows and movies, so I gave it a shot. What I found, was a surprising show that blew every other crime show that I have seen out of the water.

Broadchurch is a crime/mystery drama about a team of police trying to find a child-killer that soars high above its competition. Broadchurch stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman as police detectives Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller respectively, trying to solve the murder of eleven-year-old Danny Latimer in a small town called Broadchurch. Each episode unravels new leads and reveals new secrets, and the writing does a perfect job of keeping you on your feet, and never quite points the suspicion in any one direction. The show's writer and creator, Chris Chibnall, writes the show intensely realistically, never making people seem stupid, or opting out of showing someone's reaction to discovering a death or a secret. Not only is the writing amazing, but the acting is also stellar, as not one of the performances feels underwhelming.

Be Reel- Samantha Russo

Elf; Finding yourself with spirit of Christmas

Jon Favreau's 2003 movie Elf is a romantic fantasy that the whole family can enjoy, with bits of comedy sprinkled throughout. Buddy (Will Ferrell) grew up in the North Pole and is curious as to why he is different than all the other elves. He eventually learns that he isn’t from the North Pole, and his real dad lives in New York City. We follow Buddy on his exciting journey to find his father and spread the spirit of Christmas throughout the city, with the help of Buddy’s love interest Jovie (Zooey Deschanel).

Favreau manages to capture what it is like to be different from everyone else while trying to fit in, by showing what makes each character different and making it something that kids, or people in general, can relate to and maybe even learn from. The movie takes off when Buddy finds out that he is different compared to the other elves, resulting in him feeling like he doesn’t belong. At the North Pole what makes him different is the fact that he is bigger than everyone else and works significantly slower than the elves. Similarly, when Buddy finds himself in New York City, he is different in terms that he looks different and acts differently, and again feeling like he doesn’t belong. These kinds of issues are what many kids go through today, and putting it into a plot that kids will like to watch and understand, is a better way to send the message that it is ok to be different.

I personally love this movie and I watch it every year, just because it is something that my whole family enjoys, no matter the age. Though this movie may seem to have a message that seems to be a little gloomy for a Christmas movie, the subtle and light comedy makes it the perfect family movie and a personal favorite.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a54yC1etmVc

Be Reel Blog: Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Tori Flynn

Over the weekend I went to AMC and I saw the movie action comedy movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. I had remember seeing the original Jumanji movie with Robin Williams so I was intrigued to see this new one.  I saw Kevin Hart was in it as well that got me intrigued too. I love Kevin Hart he really cracks me up so seeing him side by side with Jack Black and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson made this movie very comical and enjoyable. The storyline is there are four high school kids who all get stuck in detention together. They find an old video game and decide to play. All of a sudden they are sucked into the games green glowing jewel and they are portrayed as the avatars they chose. When they get there and finally realize they are in the game they run into Nigel who is the games guide. He gives them  instructions  that they must find the missing piece and then return the Jaguar's Eye, the green jewel, to the Jaguar Statue in order to win the game and return back home. Nigel also warns them to be careful of  Van Pelt who is an explorer seeking to gain control of the “eye” because he wants to use it to control all of the animals in the jungle, Throughout their journey they are given 3 lives. Once all of their lives are gone it is game over and they are stuck in the game forever. I liked the movie but it was very different from the original. The original made the jungle seem like an awful and scary place. Robin Williams played Alan Parrish who was trapped in the game for 26 years. He says things like  "I've seen things you've only seen in your nightmares". However in this 2017 version the jungle doesn’t seem too awful because Alex Vreeke who has been  stuck in the game for 20 years is making margaritas and has scented candles on display. That difference definitely makes you realize this is more of a comical remake. A clever, modern twist they added was to make Jumanji into a video game versus a board game. If Jumanji would've stayed a board game the high schoolers most likely would not have been intrigued by it and wouldn’t have played it. Since Jumanji is now a video game it affects how things  happen. In this movie they all get trapped inside the game itself whereas in the older movie the board game comes to life.This is definitely not a true remake on the 1995 Jumanji but just a different take on the game itself so  I would recommend this movie to someone who is in need of a good laugh and has the time to go see it.

Here is the trailer if you are interested. 

Sending It Home

For this long break I went to AMC to watch the movie Daddy’s Home 2. This high comedic movie brought laughter to the theater. From sick humor to actual cracks of jokes for any age of viewer. Both Ferrell and Wahlberg’s father’s come to spend Christmas with them and they contain two different personalities. Ferrell’s father is more of the loving type while Wahlberg’s father is a stone cold bad ass. Mark and Will’s biggest challenge is to have both families enjoy Christmas without their dads or each other ruining it. Neither families are alike in anyway. The subjective and objective qualities in this movie can differ on the viewers.

In my personal opinion Will Ferrell is a funny actor. Will is known for his comic relief like in Step Brothers and Kicking and Screaming. Ferrell is funny without even trying. On the other hand I don’t believe that Mark is much of the comedian, some of his sarcastic comments are funny but not much of a jokester. Don’t get me wrong Mark is a fantastic actor but I see him more as an action actor like in the movie Shooter or even Transformers. But my opinion seems to be the same as the experts. According to IMDb they rated it 6.2 out of 10. This rating seems to be very low and Rotten Tomatoes rated it 19%. Both of these major rating movie sites seem to not like the movie as much. But this movie was only released a couple days ago so I have hope the ratings will go up.

For my last words, this movie could have been improved. It was really funny to watch and made for all viewers but the actors don’t seem to fit the story. I have to rate this movie as GOOD BAD. Good for the humor and plot but bad for the acting.

Be Real Blog - Liam Cooke

Liam Cooke - Be Real Blog

Going into the movie The Founder I was expecting it to be the usual story about how McDonalds is terrible for people and is the reason why the world today is exponentially fatter than it was fifty years ago. What I got was an engaging story with intriguing characters and made me rout for the sestrants success. Probably the biggest contributing factor to my enjoyment of the movie was Michael Keaton playing the main character Ray kroc. He adds a go get em attitude to the movie with persistence being his attitude towards life. The founder is based on a true story of how McDonalds was founded and expanded to over 100 countries because of a sails man. Along with the troubles of starting what would be the most successful food business in the world. The directors took up a difficult subject and turned it into a movie that never made me feel that I had enough. Throughout the entire movie there were obstacles that seemed to be increasingly elaborate and never repetitive in which the main character had to overcome and pursue his desire to push the food industry to a new level.

The Founder walks the viewer through the difficulty of creating a franchise of a restaurant with owners who are hesitant to worrying about the image of the McDonald brothers name as our main character learns and adapts to the business. Our main character is progressed perfectly portraying a businessman with a goal that you can rout for because he is a businessman things that would be considered immoral he sees as necessary to progress his company. For these reasons Im giving The Founder a good good rating, I would re watch the movie anytime and would encourage other people to give it a watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AX2uz2XYkbo

Be Reel: Black Mirror - San Junipero

The Twilight Zone on Steroids

Black Mirror has stepped up Netflix’s TV show game by a landslide, becoming the talk of the town recently. With its modern twist on what resembles the Twilight Zone, Black Mirror has allowed creative directors to display their work, which has been catching people by surprise. I recently watched the episode San Junipero, written by Charlie Brooker and directed by Owen Harris, and my mind was constantly trying to break down the plot from start to finish.

Starring a shy young lady named Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and an outgoing party girl named Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) , the two create a strong bond in the seaside town of San Junipero. They start out as strangers, and soon create a young, intimate connection in this small bar full of people trying to have fun. The curious personality of Yorkie is soon brought out by Kelly as they meet every week in San Junipero, living a free lifestyle. As the plot progresses at first, everything seems normal. San Junipero seems like a normal town with normal people, but soon things start to come together. Without spoiling anything, the two girls somehow end up playing with time and decide whether or not they want to continue their life, or die off like everyone else.

By keeping the complex plot of the story limited throughout the beginning of the episode, the viewer thinks the story is straightforward, however there is a major twist that comes to throw off the anticipated plot. The director does a really good job of adding hints of the twist that the first time viewers don’t think much of, which resulted in me watching it a second time because it was that interesting and I picked up many of the hints after rewatching it. The show uses two very different characters that bond very quickly to almost distract from the main components of the episode, and the characters act normally to also add onto the well hidden twist. The nostalgic setting, intertwining different themed decades into each week the characters spend at San Junipero provides another interesting aspect of the episode that the viewer does not see coming. It also shows the viewer how important a time period molds each of the characters. By seeing the characters start out as strangers, establish a relationship, deal with a conflict, etc; it is easy to see their personalities change over the course of the episode.

There are multiple themes that go along with this episode as well, and they are packed into such a short amount of time. It is hard to explain how these themes come into play without spoiling anything, however they do play an important role with how the episode progresses. One theme comes with the idea of living life to the fullest, and accepting your fate rather than never being satisfied. This is a subtle theme, however it is present toward the end of the episode, and the characters do a good job of explaining how it is important. Another theme comes with the idea of stepping out of your comfort zone, and that goes perfectly with the way Yorkie changes from a shy girl to an outgoing one who loves San Junipero and the fun it brings. This episode also touches upon letting loose and going with your gut. There are many moments where the characters hesitate on something, however they end up choosing the thing that they believe is right. The episode is also filled with other smaller themes however those were the main ones I noticed.

Overall this episode provides an analogy on what life represents and how some choose to go about living it. It starts with a nostalgic feel and shifts into a futuristic setting that basically represents society in a new way that has not been seen before. Now, the overall plot was pretty confusing to follow, however it keeps the viewer engaged and the director did an amazing job of leading up to the main shift in the plot. The plot also makes the audience think of what they would want to do at the point of death in their lives. There is so much depth within the episode it might as well be its own TV series. I ended up watching it a second time to capture the true craft of how Brooker wrote the story and how Owen Harris strategically directed it. I would definitely recommend watching it and I would rate this a GOOD GOOD television episode.