Slow Horses

Image from http://www.impawards.com/tv/slow_horses_xxlg.html

Here is an interesting collaboration between British Actors and The Apple Company. While not sure if Microsoft plans to get into the movie making business, this directional shift seemed in some way really natural. With the input of Steve Jobs in the creative and design process and the skill with which the company delivered their famous Apple Computer ad in the early eighties, you could almost have predicted an entrance into Tinseltown. In the present day, there is quite a lot of emphasis on Ecosystems and this is leading companies to become one stop shops. Devices, Software, Microchips, Data, Entertainment and more. I suppose the great CEO’s brief expulsion from his own company and his subsequent entrance into a digital animation company also probably informed the company’s decision to get into film. 

Garry Oldman, Jack Lowden, Christine Scott Thomas, Rosalind Eleazar, Saskia Reeves and Christopher Chung.

As such there is a good list of very well done films including Slow Horses. 

The film’s first triumph is the use of a well chosen list of conflicting characters. Throw in a little office romance, failures in leadership (and repulsion by previous bosses higher up in the food chain), a smart but visibly troubled boss, an older caring secretary and a geeky slightly perverted techie, and you have the recipe for quite a show. 

The story revolves around this team that is cut off from the HQ of British Intelligence for previous wrongs and that has to handle less desirable cases as a means of being redeemed. This rag tag force though, has a super intelligent leader who is not afraid to bend the rules and whose deceptively old age often leads his adversaries to underestimate him. 

There are some stories in the series that are unique episodes but there is a sense of continuity. I have had some discussions about the use of location and sets to invoke certain feelings and this idea seems to be fully utilized with the sharp contrast between small office occupied by this small intelligence force and the large security-filled complex that hosts the HQ of the intelligence office. 

Dirk Gently’s Holisitic Detective Agency

There is much to appreciate about this series. The character choice is great as is the storyline. Interest was drawn from a post on someone’s timeline on Meta. The scene used was one where an strange looking dishevilled young lady emerges from a car in search of a man who she is out to kill. This an other scenes are used to draw the audience into a complex plot capturing the stories of several unique personalities bound together by fate. You are drawn into their stories and friendship, loyalty, self discovery and more over the next week weeks and they attempt to make sense of their lives. 

There are Sherlock Holmes vibes with the slightly effeminate lead character and his nervous and reluctant side kick played by Elijah Wood. Then there is a group of three ‘special’ young men whose task it is to consume energy. 

There is a group from a government program that is tracking some escapees. 

We have quite a number of theories about programs desinged to create the ultimate warrior…this series is an exploration of this subject taken to an extreme. 

Several historical figures just trying to make their way home. Machines, detectives with troubled pasts, time travellers, scientists and a machine that can swap between humans and animals.

There are mothers, children, faithful husbands, wives, police officers, ancient heroes and a lot more. Viewers might tire at the names used as well as costumes but this in my view is a gem worth watching. 

Hannah Marks reminds me of a slight crush i had on a young lady that was into gothic culture. 

Ballerina

There was a comment on social media about a certain genre of films that seems to be overdone. The tweep (do we still call them that) suggested that the story line of someone who was brought into a situations to sort things out was overdone especially stories woven around guys or gals that somehow had previous military training or that were part of some special ops team in the past. 

That said, i cannot get enough of these types of stories. And in reality these are some of the benefits of having people in a community that have at least served in the military. In times of distress, they can be relied upon to help those who are weak or aged. But the same can be said not necessarily of genres but of scenes. Car chase scenes are popular but no one does these like the Fast and Furious Crew. Shootouts are popular but it has taken the John Wick Trilogy to get us back to the screen for more. We have the team behind Karate Kid to thank for Danielson’s and Miyagi’s ability to turn ordinary activities into potenatial martial arts moves. Jackie Chan and Will Smith’s Son ofcourse in the third part of the same take it to another level. 

Ballerina is similar in that it involves a lady who must help a friend find justice. 

The friend who takes on this task, just happens…you guessed it to have had some previous training or at least history in that kind of thing (wet work as i found out it is called). 

Interestingly, i came across a scene from this piece from a timeline on META. Ordinary looking girl walks into 7/11 and finds a crime in progress. Proceeds to pay for her items, robbers try to take the wad of cash from her hand and the story ends badly for them. 

The rest of the film is really and journey exploring the past and present of these two young ladies from the time they meet in a cake shop to their blossoming relationship to the traggic end. It is also an exploration of the power dynamics between man and women. The most common Eastern Theme in this story is revenge. 

Missing

There are a few…okay there are quite a number of films that could be used as guides to help you navigate the current age in which we live. By this i am talking about a scenario where for example you need to get help finding a lost phone or gadget of some kind or maybe if you hit a dead end with the local police in your village. Granted some of these ideas may work a little better if you are in a country where there is some form of surveillance in place. There are those who oppose such major shifts in the modus operandi that are taking place in many geographies where for example under the guise of security and the fight against terrorism, many nations have found there citizens almost trapped in prison like states where everything and everyone is monitored and observed. Some countries are better equipped at this than others so average people need to get ahead of the game too. The ideas behind censorship and surveillance have been studied and written about by many. Perhaps the best and most adequate prophetic insight into a world gripped and controlled by this type of thinking is George Orwell’s 1984. Okay i may not have read it but i have seen us steadily drift into that sort of reality. While we agree that there may be some situations where some level of surveillance is necessary, how deep this goes remains to be a subject of concern. 

Here is a story from an actress who featured in the captivating and very well written tale about a few high school friends growing up post 2001 (911)-Euphoria. She plays the role of the protagonists sister. Supportive and brave fighting to defend her sister who she clearly looks up to but facing challenges of her own as she comes of age in a world she knows little about. Tossed to and fro from position to position in defence of her sister on one hand and support of her mother on the other. 

In this story she is a daughter who must harness all her resources to find her missing mother. And that is all i am going to say about that. Anything more would have me in the spoiler category. 

Watch this amazing film if you want to know what sort of resources are available to the citizen of most developed countries that can help you find a missing one. From tips about the use of Google Mail, Facebook (now META), to google maps to shopping records (for those who use Credit Cards) and much much more. 

Kimi

Ah i must say thar i am a little drawn to tales about those who have mental health challenges. And this is one such tale. The protagonist is a young lady that has difficulty leaving her house. As is the case with most of those that have mental health challenges, she is also very talented and bright and knows her way around the computer. But not just the computer, see she works for a Hardware Company with an assistive tool not unlike Siri and Cortana. Maybe this is a way that these companies have devised to get us to invest in more of these products. There are very interesting scenes about the capabilities of these prodcucts and the idea that they may be recording and storing some of the conversations that they hear. So there is a discussion about Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Data Collection, Data Processing, Internet Of Things and 5G Technology to name just a few. Then there is a hint towards Privacy, Surveillance, Non Disclosure Agreements and Red Tape. 

But there are also great lessons about situatiinal awareness, the importance of being familair with your surroudings especially in emergency situations and great ideas about the use of technology to help in desperate situations. 

There is a amazing scene that lets you peep into the world of hacking and the possibilirties that exist once you turn on your phone and how this can be used to locate you as well as turn on your phone when you turn it off. This goes for all gadgets as long as they have sim cards. 

The movie features Zoe Kravitz daughter of Singer and Actor Lenny Kravitz. 

Please look through this site to learn a little more about Agoraphobia. 

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/agoraphobia

Behind Her Eyes

You want to watch something that will mess with your head? This is it. While not being overtly scary this show will leave you wondering about the people you see and what their identity really is. 

Probably the most important takeaway from this show is the idea that you should know when to walk away…although this is easier said than done. 

The show covers the life of a divorced single mother who has an encounter in a pub with a stranger. Is it by chance or is it her fate. Then it takes you through a relationship that tests both her and her best friend with questions about loyalty truth, desire and friendship. 

What is it that drives people to cheat on those they love and what kind of emotions are at play when they do? Our character seems to have great intentions but as they say the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions. 

There is an exploration about poerty and dreams and trauma. Questions about the relationship between those who need counseling and those who provide that service. There are questions about medication as well as explorations on the subject of being (both Soul and Spirit). There are hints on the subject of spirit travel and ‘soul exchange’. 

Simona Brown is a delight to watch as she navigates a complex space. Her smile and large eyes make her almost seem childish. Eva Hewson comes accross as pensive and calculating as well as vulnerable. THe most troubling part for me is the endless back and forth between her and her husband where she asks him a question which he never seems to answer. 

I also like the idea behind doors as portals to new worlds. 

Griselda

A limited Series from Netflix

A little warning if you have had struggles before with addiction please be careful about watching this series. 

This was recommended by the BBC team by one of my favorite presenters Nikki Beddi. She hosted Sofia Vergera on her show so i decided to watch it. 

Sofia Vergera needs no introduction. She starts in shows where viewers get to appreciate her accent a little like what Panelope Cruz does or Antonio Banderas. She also likes the idea that some if not all the men that interview her often cannot help but look at her bust. 

But this time around she devotes her skills on tackling an important subject-the Colombian drug trade. There is however a spin on this where the film presents the perspective of a female drug lord nicknamed The God Mother. 

The series starts with a quote in which Pablo Writes that the only man he ever feared was actually a woman called Griselda Blanco. 

So the viewer is taken through a journey that helps you makes sense of her journey in a complex life at the helm of the trade in drugs in Miami, Florida. 

What i find interesting is the idea that most of the motivations that drive people into tough decisions are often centered around past pain points. Secondly, we will resort to the default settings and do that which we are most comfortable with especially when it comes to the desire to survive and protect those we love. 

Third is the fact that when we are trying to survive, and change our settings or plight, what is right and what is wrong are often not very clear. 

There is a link between the message in another popular series Peaky Blinders which seems to place the lives and struggles of Gypsies (they prefer to be referred to as Romani people) on one hand and the perceptions and treatments as well as restrictions they face by others on another. In Griselda’s struggle, we see her as a champion of often under represented people from Cuba who cross by boat into the US in search for greener pastures. In both moving pictures, the protagonists are forced to navigate a world of crime as they make their place in a world that is against them. 

Griselda has a few interesting characters and ideas that play out through the series. There is the challenge of glass ceilings even in the ‘elicit’ trade of drugs as Griselda struggles to gain the confidence of a predominantly male dominated space. There are also some lessons about leadership and the value of lifting others up and the value of gifts. 

It is also notable to see how Griselda engages with the men in her life.