Charlie Brooker's BLACK MIRROR

Metalhead would have been greatly diminished by a backstory or explanation. You already know what a guard dog is.

Feel like they're running out of ideas a little bit though - it's like every episode is about consciousness or being inside someone's head [...] there's a lot more they could do outside of that.
[...]
I just figured the real reason for this episode (and the White Christmas one) is that they had a bunch of ideas they couldn't stretch out to episode length

― Vinnie, Thursday, January 11, 2018 2:30 AM (three days ago)

the vast TVGH writing staff

Any idea why Crocodile was filmed in Iceland (by the looks of it) but everyone had an English accent?

racist

had to pause and restart

i'm not buying mia's "crocodile tears" following her murders

lol this children's recital with the 1920s mobsters

Crocodile is phenomenal.

All but the first and last are super imho.

The first one was the weakest so far for sure. Going to watch metalhead tonight.

They really go hard on this “virtual selves” idea, and the moral chaos that would emerge from it. I find it interesting, but it’s also really outlandish and might take away from the show’s ability to respond to our actual relationship to technology and media, which it clearly intends to do.

watching Hang the Dj, it's reminding me of The Lobster

and another current tv show

uss callister ended up being my least favourite of the lot, by a long way. black museum was nicely done for what it was. ‘er indoors hated metalheads and she is wrong.

re aldo’s “what if phones but too much”: i mean yes i agree, but nearly the whole world is basically “phones” now, so it’s an ideal speculative launching pad for “but too much”. “what if consciousness but simulated by some code which is being tortured” is where it lost me.

"what if phones but too much" was Mallory Ortberg

and CB liked it so much he snuck it into last season

I only tried USS Callister but I had to bail on it, so bored of the one-dimensionally toxic dude characters

"what if phones but too much" was Mallory Ortberg

― Haribo Hancock (sic), Wednesday, 17 January 2018 07:09 (eight minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

well bugger me

one-dimensionally toxic dude characters

Hrm; I thought the show was fiction

but you want more than one dimension in order to care about what happens to them/other people. that’s one of the reasons the whole negan thing got so stupid.

When I was watching the first episode I was impressed at how committed Matt Damon was to the role and going full schlub -- then I saw that he was played by Landry and I was :(.

The craziest thing that happened in this season of Black Mirror is that Britishers considered Bugsy Malone well liked enough to be a school play

https://www.mtishows.com/bugsy-malone

a popular license for use with small children, apparently

Bugsy Malone is only available to license in the United States and Canada.

cannot forgive this inaccuracy in the show

whoops, wrong licenser

http://www.thebritishblacklist.com/tbbs-nora-denis-reviews-bugsy-malone-lyric-theatre-hammersmith/

apparently it was a popular stage attraction in 2015 in Britain?!?

I figured they just put in something with an uplifting end tune that they were able to easily license, but no, this musical actually had a run in recent years

my school did a production of Bugsy Malone in the 90s

I think Bugsy Malone was quite popular here. At least it seemed to be on TV a lot when I was a kid

It seems like it’s on at least three times over every Christmas period.

yah Britishers love Scot Baio.

We've watched up to Hang The DJ and so far, HTDJ has been the episode that's stuck with me the most. Season 4 seems better overall too than S3

Thought "Metalhead" was thrilling and one of the better things this show has done, but I have soft spot for Terminator-esque scenarios.

Final shot with the box reveal was a little dopey.

have you watched all the episodes?

it's either more or less dopey if you connect it to a teddy bear reference in the last episode

Ahh, haven’t gotten there yet.

The box reveal was super hokey.

I thought the stuffed animal in the last episode was a monkey?

yeah, there’s a vagueness, just kind of “here’s another stuffed animal”

I really, really hope the next season of Black Mirror is them taking old episodes and re-editing/reshooting scenes to make them vastly better. Maybe then I would be wowed.

I want an off-brand Black Mirror ripoff with stories like this: https://www.techspot.com/news/72899-smartphone-battery-explodes-after-man-bites.html

browned glass

'Black Mirror' also a reference to an Aztec scrying stone John Dee ended up in possession of iirc

I liked most of these but accepted the 'do you see' factor as inevitable

what do you think of 'the social network' in terms of being a fincher-directed black mirror episode?

Half way season 3 and this is all just fine

Maybe a couple really good episodes

The shut up and dance episode was the dumbest thing I’ve seen in a while but it was good for the lolz

Also yeah weird fetishization of american stereotypes by the british in this show is hilarious bc they’re about half right or something is always off/odd about it

where are people talking about "electric dreams"? 'kill all others' feels like the best black mirror episode in a while

Haven’t watched it

HOOS recommending it?

its hit or miss overall, some great performances mixed in with boring or uncompelling plots, or inventive ideas paired with wooden acting. half very good and half meh. it's generally distinct enough in tone and approach from black mirror but 'kill all others' felt like it could have been a black mirror episode.

a whole episode starring steve buscemi ffs and i could not have been less interested in the outcome

I thought 'The Commuter' was great.

yeah, haunting!

so this choose your own adventure thing then...

Just started the first run-through.

First niggle: when he gets on the bus The Now cassette starts mid-song but the tape is on the run-in because you can see the pink tape.

insufferable