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Atlas

 This film is good because it does not follow the trends of a lot of current sci-fi. There is no planet threatening disaster (at least not in the beginning of the film) and how that disaster unfolds makes perfect sense in the movie. Also, in many current films the main character clearly acts as a sort of messiah figure, you know, the one appointed by the universe to save it. In this, the reason why the main character plays the role that she does grows out of her character and her place in the story. The save the world plot is.supplementary to the story of a woman learning to trust again, and finally finding a real friend in an unexpected place.  There are some things that don't make a lot of sense, for example, they travel to another galaxy and don't explain how....(it would take millions of years to travel across ours) but this are minor points. Jennifer Lopez is also great in this playing her character with a festering rage.  If you like Sci-Fi, you'll probably like thi...

The Lego Movie Part 2

 This movie is a fun take on the first, the animation is good, and the bigger story of the film, that not everything can be awesome is an important one. The plot of the film itself is a bit of a mess and doesn't really hold up if you think about it for too long. The colours are shiny. It reminds me of this exchange from DS9:Quark: I want you to try something for me. Take a sip of this. Garak: What is it? Quark: A human drink; it's called root beer. Garak: I dunno... Quark: Come on. Aren't you just a little bit curious? Garak takes a sip, wincing as he tastes it. Quark: What do you think? Garak: It's vile! Quark: I know. It's so bubbly, cloying...and happy. Garak: Just like the Federation. Quark: And you know what's really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it. Garak: It's insidious. Quark: Just like the Federation. But of course, instead of the Federation, substitute this movie.

Angel

I have just finished watching this, and I have a lot of thoughts about it. My first thought is why has there never been a film franchise based on the Buffyverse? This universe really helped internet fan culture to grow, and now the people who grew up watching it are middle-aged with money to spend.  And it combines the campiness of classic Star Trek, with its exploration of morality.  Angel, is so far, Buffy's only spinoff in television or film. It is clearly a second thought, which is a shame, because it had potential. The story of Buffy was the story of a person growing up, she has more and more responsibility thrust on her, and loses her dreams, loses her parents, becomes a parent and ultimately sacrifices herself for the world.  (Then she gets resurrected, because the show was too popular to kill at that moment). Angel starts out as a sort of mirror of that, from a parent's perspective. It's the story of the sacrifices you have to make as a parent....or it least that ...

Spaceman

 Adam Sandler does a great job portraying the loneliness of someone stuck in space for a long time, his interactions with the spider creature are also for the most part full of heart, I also liked the Post-Soviet touches that the film imagines a Czech space program would have, which are aesthetically pleasing, but make no sense as Czechia hasn't been part of the Soviet Bloc for 34 years.  I thought the relationship with Lenka, and the conclusion of the movie were trite. Why would a space spider from deep space care at all about the human nature of love? One must either accept that the movie is telling the truth, or that its main character went space-mad. I would recommend this film, but it is a frustrating watch.

What Jennifer Did

 As others have said, this topic was much better covered by a Youtuber called JCS Psychology, and I think that the reason for this is the nature of how the police solved the case. They did so largely on their interrogations of Jennifer and others in the case, so it makes sense to analysis those and explore how they were done. This wasn't a forensic heavy case so making a documentary about it seems a bit like a waste of time. As to her motivations in the crime itself, it seems like she was about to be caught in a lie, and she didn't want to face the consequences, and she couldn't imagine being independent-of course none of that would ever be a sufficient justification of what she did.

The Anti-Social Network

 But it managed to be educational and present its thesis quite well.  The thesis is that the infamous 4chan led to such social movements as OccupyWallstreet, Anonymous, Gamergate, and the rise of Donald Trump and finally, to January 6th. It showed how these groups morphed together and separated.  It shows very clearly how the alt-right latched onto meme culture and tried to hijack the political discourse. I was never on 4chan, but remember seeing their productions out in the wild. It's a cautionary tale about two things, the first about how just because you create something, that does not mean you can control it as the creator of 4chan discovered, and the second is never to underestimate the stupidity of the masses.  They will beieve anything as long as its in a visual form with some white text. 

West of Memphis

 This is a good documentary because it shows the mockery of justice the original trial was. The cops coerced a developmentally delayed individual to confess, and then manipulated the confession until he said what they wanted him to say. Forensic evidence was misinterpreted and lied about, all to frame this killing as the result of a satanic cult.  Why people would believe that is a fascinating story by itself, (look up Satanic Panic) , but out of the scope of this review. Two boys were sent to prison for the rest of their lives, and a third to death row. For some reason, the case attracted the attention of famous people like Peter Jackson and Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam.  Eventually they did enough investigation to establish very credibly that the boys were innocent.  In, the end, the boys were innocent and left out of prison, but the true killer is still out there.  Maybe it would be a good idea if criminal cases were periodically reviewed to see if the prosecu...