Currently everyone is talking about the emails recovered by The Washington Post from Meta directly. I’m not saying I believe one side or the other, but it raises several questions that have not been answered, or at least I haven’t seen anything as of yet.
How were the emails recovered? Is there a whistleblower that provided the emails? Could this been even more convoluted where TikTok spoofed emails to appear coming from Meta to bolster their own brand (sometimes bad press brings good business…i.e. Chris Rock Ticket sales).
All tin foil conspiracy theories aside, this all begs the question that Facebook has been under severe scrutiny for quite some time. Why would they use a third party to smear a competitor, unless they were truly hurting. There are plenty of angles in which the situation can be perceived, plenty of closed door conference room huddles where none of us will ever know what truly goes on. As a user of the plethora of social platforms, this is alarming. Business can be cut throat, but to do something like this, and sloppily at that, is amateur. If this does turn out to be absolutely without a doubt true, for shame. But, I’m just one guy with an opinion.
Modern day music has drastically shifted to the pretty polished product. Music videos comprised of consumerism and product placement. Maybe this is an older version of myself speaking out (“Get the hell off my lawn!”), but it still rings true with artistry in musical format. Enter turn of the decade autotune and a panel of writers for the lyrics. Producers galore. Almost as if entertainment is being run by a corporate entity. I’m not in that crowd, but all I know is Olivia Rodrigo’s “drivers license” (stylized in lowercase), is refreshing. To me the true essence of artistry at its core is to invoke emotion. This song has done just this, and I have only just watched the video for the first time today.
Based solely on the lyrics and the way the music flows in such an eerie coalesced composition is remarkable. It invokes such a degree of sadness, yet has a glimmer of hope with every new verse. Coming from her perspective, the lyricism feels like any one of us could experience or have had this experience in the past, or currently experiencing. This song reminds me of how modern lyrics are not earning their honors. Meaning Rodrigo (co-writer Dan Nigro), has attempted to say everything she can to the extreme where she needs to curse to send the message home. To me, cursing is life. But in most instances it is used primarily for proper emphasis. It shouldn’t be the common denominator to the piece.
The video opens up to Rodrigo driving down a long darkened road, feels very Alanis Morrissette “Ironic,” but in a much more dark context. Flashes of her walking down the street, mountains in the background, and on the floor of a house with a keyboard, finding the perfect note. Each passing flashback (and potential forward) contrasting from light to dark, warm to cold, modelling a foundation of timeline.
Rodrigo is then framed in a red lit room, 60/70’s sunburst art on the wall, painted with the songs lyrics “you said forever.”
The next verse kicks up into a hopeful melody with the contrasting “…and all my friends are tired of hearing how much I miss you.” This connects back to the previous flashes cold and warm scenes with a longer hold of Rodrigo singing in the dark street under a single streetlamp. The music and lyrics continue to build to an emotional crescendo, “‘Cause you said forever, now I drive alone past your street.” Everything drops to near silence, the video shows Rodrigo falling and then immediately picked up by the bridge. Just like relationships, the rollercoaster of this song and video continues, earning each moment and inciting the listener/viewer with every step. Toward the end of the bridge is where the earned expletive is inserted, but at this moment, it is truly deserved.
The last chorus/outro is remarkable. Everything drops out of the song except Rodrigo and piano. The video plays in suit with the brooding atmosphere painted, and the walls of the emotional playback come crumbling down. Exposing the delicate nature in which all humans have under their built up exoskeleton. When we shed everything, we can present our vulnerable selves.
Since the first time I heard the song, it attached to my soul. Everything about it reminds me of the youthful thoughts I think we all had with our first loves and losses. Rodrigo is young (19), but this song has such maturity, as well as a playful nature. We as people could see ourselves in this position. Or at least think about what this may feel like. Taking a look in the mirror and knowing we have been here before, or at least relate.
Olivia Rodrigo was in potentially hot water with her inspirations in the last year. Some of her songs drew from other artists, but have been compensated since. I don’t think she took these influences without knowing what was right and wrong. Other mainstream artists came to her defense to publicly demonstrate these things are in a known “gray area” unlike sampling. If an artist is sampling, they are taking cuts from songs to create their song. Rodrigo used similar stylings in her songs, pulled from her inspirations. At least, this is my understanding without listening to the tracks in question as of yet.
I have yet to listen to the remaining tracks of “SOUR” (stylized in all caps), but I will give it a whirl. I know there are a few other of her songs I have heard on the radio and most likely didn’t know it was her. I have high expectations of the rest of the album based on this track and music video.
Consider this speculation until more sources are readily available
The VR Wars (as I am calling them), is very reminiscent of the console wars between Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo. Virtual Reality is the new king-of-the-hill battle royale.
First to market is Meta’s Oculus. It helps the tech was available to Facebook/Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg at $2 billion back in 2014. So they definitely have a leg up. Since purchase, they have released several iterations, most recent, the Oculus Quest 2, with rumors of the Quest 3 (“Project Cambria”) to be released within the next year. Apple is working diligently on their iteration of a VR headset and eagerly projecting a release date of late 2022 to early 2023. Google’s hat to be tossed into the ring Project Iris, is rumored to be in the works and is hoping to hit consumer markets in 2024. “Metaverse” is now looking to be more of a universal term for virtual reality versus Meta having the strong hold on the term as a branding ploy. Frankly, I would like to think the other two competitors would look for a more global term for virtual worlds rather than leaning into Meta’s infant foothold. This would allow for the average consumer to break free from the indoctrination of the term associating all virtual worlds back to Meta. This could very well be a far-fetched dreamscape as most consumers already relate anything VR to Meta/Facebook, but here’s to hoping.
Initial speculations are showing Google’s hesitation jumping into the ring, as previous works in VR/AR has not panned out well, or even performed to the minimum projections they had been hoping for. Think back to Google Glass, the wearable tech (eyeglasses) that would overlay what we now have in Google Lens in mobile devices. In practical application, it made sense, and showed plenty of promise and benefit. Personally, I think it was slightly ahead of its time and the average consumer wasn’t ready for it.
Google Glass shown, not representative of new VR/AR project iris Photo credit : Google
If it would have stayed in development, and released within the past couple of years to present, it would have done much better. Looking at everyone who has wearable tech now, primarily smartwatches. With that said Google does have historical repertoire in the space and have advanced a lot of their AR tech stack in mobile devices. They could easily play to their strengths building off their perceived failures and existing successes. Furthermore, Google already knows so much about all the consumers, it would make sense for them to leverage the harvested first party data. The ongoing joke that Google knows everything about everyone, might as well let them do as they wish and the end user reaps the benefits (along with the dystopian big brother fears).
The speculation around Apple’s development has been wildly varied. From cost, design, release, and specifications. The largest takeaway that is both alarming and undesirable is the rumored price point. Apple products for decades has been perceived to be luxury items. Always inflating their end user pricing, and within the past few years being an advocate of “user privacy.” Without inundating this post with my own personal opinions of the Apple model, there are two things concerning about the pricing of their offering. For one, it is presumed their VR/AR offerings could be in the ballpark of $3k (with a potential subscription service). The second point that is concerning (if this pricing model turns out to be legitimate) is people will pay this. Not for the tech, but because of the status appeal. Don’t get me wrong, they will have some top level tech in their devices, but I can only assume by the time they release their devices, there’s a good chance they have been surpassed by competitors. This has happened numerous times in the mobile phone arena.
Lastly, thinking to the point they are taking user privacy to heart is laughable. Again, attempting to restrain my personal opinions, but the only thing Apple has done is allowed their users to removed the ability for advertisers to personalize ads for their preferences. They have spun their agenda to make them appear to be the hero by removing ads from platforms altogether. They did not use that language explicitly, but Apple lied to their consumers. It seems like it worked, because from what I have seen only advertisers are upset about it. Which begs the question how attune are Apple users in general. But that’s a discussion for another time.
Meta has the upper hand with approximately 10 Million units sold by mid November 2021. In the next year or two when Apple and Google are geared to release their headsets, there’s a good chance Meta has doubled or tripled this number with the added new Quest 3 headset release. No matter which way you slice it, Google and Apple have an uphill battle. Both have their own illustrious brands with consumer perceptions. Apple as the “user friendly” and Google as the “know-it-all.”
Modernized Apple Vs. Google
If this war is to be won, will it boil down to price, tech, or status? There’s still a lot of time, questions, and development before we will see actual competitive answers/analysis. I could see Apple taking the short win using a subscription service, similar to their mobile pay-to-own plans and lumping VR into it. Which would give them ongoing revenue. Let’s not even think about insurance claims and protection plans. Contracts galore.
Google could cripple the market with their previous attempts at AR and including existing successful tech in their headsets. This working in conjunction with all of their owned/earned first party data. They could easily compile the experience to every end user, creating the best possible consumer curated experience. The internet is slowly abandoning the cookie, but Google has been making drastic strides focusing on the user cohort. This could make the bucketing of user data into the VR realm that much more customized and curated for every end user. All of this combined with the rumored price to be available to everyone. It is assumed this will be either at the same price of Oculus devices or less, to ensure market capitalization.
Overall it is a very exciting time. Like the early console wars, VR/AR is the new battlefield, and we will have to wait and see who will claim victory. As a Meta Oculus Quest 2 owner, I am excited to see what these competitors bring to the arena, and what they will do to shape the landscape.
Ion-Neutral Coupling during Active Aurora (Borealis)
What does this mean, and why is it exciting? As some may know, we named our daughter Aurora. No, not because of Sleeping Beauty, but we don’t mind the correlation. When my wife and I were dating we had the cute couple conversation of if we had names picked out when we were ready to have kids. My name I had picked out for a girl was Aurora, after the Aurora Borealis, because it is the most beautiful phenomena in the known universe, until I have my daughter. Boom, case closed, name was selected.
Now, lurking through the interwebs, the James Webb Space Telescope has gotten all the hype. Rightfully so. The most powerful telescope in human history. Pretty amazing feat sending it (beyond reachable human repair, approximately 1M miles from Earth) and having it completely unfold with no known errors. Extremely impressive. Then there’s Artemis. Which has been receiving special praise. NASA built out a method in which people can submit their names and birthdates to be stored onto a flash drive and fly to the moon while the experiments are being performed. As a token of user data submission, you receive your very own “boarding pass.”
Artemis Boarding Pass
Among all these hyped missions, NASA has launched a few new experiments in our own backyard (dare I say, under the radar?). The INCAA, or Ion-Neutral Coupling during active Aurora mission. The defined parameters of the mission is sending two rockets, or “research payloads,” from Poker Flat, Alaska up and through the ongoing Aurora Borealis. The first payload will emit vapor tracers into the Borealis to watch how it moves. Similar to using iodine or dyes to determine how things flow. The second payload will be collecting temperature and density of plasma in and around the Borealis.
Why is this so important or interesting you ask? Let’s first break down some basics about our atmosphere. The lowest layer, the Troposphere (where we live) we have abundant breathable elements (oxygen/nitrogen). Within this area is referred to as the neutral gas atmosphere. Above our heads, into the Stratosphere is where these breathable elements become a much different story. The air is full of unfiltered Ultraviolet rays, electrons are pulled from atoms, and take on a positive charge. The previously neutral gas mutates into an electrically reactive state of matter, called “plasma.”
As a nerd, this is extremely interesting. But at the core, what does this study mean for all of us. Basically, what’s the point? Well, by studying this level of atmosphere and the Auroras, scientists will gain much more valuable information about how the plasma and neutral gas mix between atmosphere levels. In turn, this could help give a more clear understanding of one of the numerous variables in Earth’s climate and weather.
When finding this story and reading more about the experiment, I stumbled across Citizen Science. Think of Bill Nye the Science Guy, but it’s just your neighbor in the backyard with his kids inflatable pool flipped over his telescope to blot out light pollution. Well, that’s a bit of an extreme analogy, but it seems fitting. Given these citizen scientists can have pretty impressive setups. I was able to stumble upon, Aurorasaurus! This site is so cool! Its tagline reads, “reporting Auroras from the ground up.” They have a pretty significant following and have integrated social media to get everyone in on the conversation. Maybe I’m late to the party on this, but it is a fantastic resource!
NASA is working on some truly remarkable science, and I hope they are able to maintain this trajectory. Pun fully intended and non-apologetic. I am excited to see what The James Webb Telescope will be able to tell us about our universe and what they have deemed, “looking into the past.”
When I close my eyes and think back to my earliest memories of “virtual reality,” I think of those full body containers from the 90’s in malls, the movie Hackers, and other wonky movies and tv shows (too many to list), the 90’s was a weird time. We could easily go on for quite sometime about the history of VR/AR, who did what and when, but for our purposes now, we are going to focus on Facebook’s (“Meta” – still not a fan of the new parent name) Oculus Quest 2. The other element we won’t be going into is the numerous variants and other devices. Only reason for this is I wouldn’t be able to speak intelligently on them and it would be pure speculation since I don’t have first hand experience with them. With that being said, let’s take a closer look at this mind bending tech.
Out of the box (fairly unique and minimalist packaging), you have your headset, and two controllers and an extremely brief setup guide. There are numerous after-market companies that have developed add-ons and upgrades for comfort, extending battery, or streaming, among other device enhancements. This device at first glance feels right out of the movie Ready Player One (the book is better). It has the futuristic appeal of Back to the Future Part II and has the sleek design to contour easily to your face and hands.
With this being the second iteration of the Oculus, the design and consumer adaptation to the device has advanced light years. A far stretch from my early memories of what VR was at the time. Some movies and tv shows from the 90’s weren’t too far off, but as technology has insurmountably advanced and at such an alarming rate, the Oculus Quest 2 is impressive. That being said, there are constant updates and upgrades happening fairly frequently. The Quest 2 can easily be pigeonholed as just another console gaming system (that you wear on your face), but this isn’t the case. As more companies are embracing the relevance of remote work, with it comes the inclusion of VR meetings, team building exercises, and workflow operations. This is where we start to think about this “Metaverse” you keep hearing about. For now, I think the “metaverse” isn’t the holistic approach or an all-inclusive term of the VR realm. This is just what Marky Mark and the funky bunch (Zuckerberg) are calling it. Think of metaverse as a branding tool to further expose consumers to Meta as a whole. Kind of a brilliant technique because now as Meta is essentially first-to-market with the VR realm and Meta being a part of the metaverse, the average consumer won’t associate VR with anything but Meta devices. At least, until other companies are able to break the spell of indoctrination.
I digress. Without going into too much detail about all that, we can go ahead and remove our tinfoil hats. Back to brass tax. The Quest 2 is a really impressive piece of tech. I mean Zucky did buy Oculus for $2B (yes, that’s a B, for billion). So you get what you pay for and it seems he has some of the best minds on development for Oculus. Not only as I mentioned before this is going to be a great tool for employers/employees but it also has some really great games. Most of which are pay-to-play, but there are demos to get a taste before you commit to purchasing. Outside of games, there are fully immersive apps for meditation, exercise, mental health, and exploring the world, oceans, and galaxies. Some are more breathtaking than others, but so far, I have not had a bad experience with anything I encountered.
It’s not all rainbows and bunnies. There are cons to the device. The stock headstrap that comes with the device is okay at best for the average user. I would recommend the pro strap or going with another brand advanced strap. Depending on how much you end up using, go with something that will increase comfort. Kiwi Design makes a whole line specific to the Oculus Quest 2. Comfort is a huge element, and now that rumors of the Quest 3 are circulating, I truly hope they take weight of the headset into consideration. It’s not very heavy, but after an extended period of time, it hurts the neck and face. The neck from the weight without having a counterweight in place, and the face because you have to tighten the headset a little tight to enjoy the full experience. If too loose, you lose focus, which can be troublesome if you are playing an active game like Beat Saber or FitXR boxing/HIIT especially.
Overall, I would say it is a great device for the average user, and may have tentative implications with how remote business is going. I would like to think if this is going to propel the business world into the future, I could see two way communication and translation services happening in real time. Here’s looking at you Duolingo! That would be a pretty cool element, if not already in the works or already in Beta, and I am behind the curve (wouldn’t be the first time). Dare I say in all reality (har har har), this is not only a gaming console, this could begin the revolution of our species. I know Zucky isn’t everyone’s favorite person, but the vision is promising (if it actually was his or he just slapped his name on it). I’d like to think with new tech and new iterations of this interesting realm, we as people would look first to how it can make things better. I think about what the Xbox Kinect wanted to do with the medical industry, now primarily being used for Ghost Adventures, Ha! The Oculus Quest 2 could easily be the bridge in the gap of virtual education and practical application in so many verticals. Only time will tell, but for right now, I gotta go kill me some zombies.
If you have been following the folklore surrounding the band Twenty One Pilots (Wikipedia, proper), you will not be amiss to see the newest release from the band is nothing short of spectacular.
Without going into the full discography and seeing how deep the rabbit hole goes, it is best to know there was plenty of negative feedback from fans about the latest album release “Scaled and Icy.” The album was a severe left turn from previous releases. Eclectic, energetic, and drastically upbeat in comparison. The band had told fans time and time again to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Trust them. The Outside is exactly the trust they were needing from fans. It picks up where their previous music video for “Saturday” ended. A very upbeat and clubby 70’s funk vibe ending with a submarine crash brought on by “Trash,” a mythological dragon whom takes shape after appearing on the band’s album, and briefly in the band’s livestream experience. There seems to be much more behind the story of Trash and its significance, but has not been revealed as of yet.
We could go round and round about conjecture and semantics surrounding the lore of Twenty One Pilots, but it’s best to focus one breadcrumb at a time. The video washes up frontman Tyler Joseph who is quickly met by bandmate Josh Dunn on a beach while wielding a torch. They begin to explore their surroundings, then met with a mysterious creature we haven’t seen since the music video “Chlorine.” It is Ned (Again, more folklore to explore)! We then come to the realization there is a lot of Neds. After Tyler meets with the group of Neds and drinks from a (what appears to be) ceremonial cup (after singing the lyrics, “Take a hit…”), he follows through a cave to another beach. Seeing Josh in the distance on his drum set, geared up and ready. The Ned on the beach has removed his adult horns and gifted them to Tyler. In this moment, he brandishes them as his own, enabling a tribal-like dance. This allows him to harness the energy to take shape in a fallen “Bishop.” Whom we see is murdered in the beginning of the video. Solely based on the eyes, it seemed that fallen bishop had previously been either controlled or harnessing the energy of Trash (the dragon). Like I had stated previously, this lore goes deep.
After Tyler finishes his dance and the flashing between bodies subsides, Tyler’s bishop shape grasps one of the illuminated posts and shatters it to the ground making the other eight bishops flee. The closing of the video we see Tyler and Josh, torches in hand, reach a cliffside, raising their torches into the night sky. They are met with numerous other torches from across the visible area, yet still in the distance. The camera pans up and then back down to another twosome showing their faces almost with a knowing glance. The last few seconds of the video flashes what appears to be their younger selves. This image can be seen in the “Nico and the Niners” music video. This is a direct correlation (in my humble opinion), showing escape is possible from “Dema.” The Dystopian society controlled by the Bishops. But we can go further into the lore another time. For now, enjoy the music video, with or without the lore, it is still very entertaining.
As an avid fan of The Office and Parks and Recreation, among a slew of other entertaining shows, I have been a fan of Greg Daniels. His format for storytelling (especially within the comedic realm), is alluring. His knack for carrying the embodiment of the human condition, regardless of trial or tribulation of character, we can all relate. Sure, we may not be selling propane or propane accessories in a small town in Texas, but the writing invites us in to emulate those characters and identify with their needs and wants.
Upload is no different. The theme of the afterlife has always been part of the human condition, always wondering what happens when we die. Or what could happen now with the advancements of technology and IoT (Internet of Things). There are plenty of TV shows, books, movies about this very subject, but Upload approaches the human consciousness in a different manner. It’s a little bit more advanced than having Tupac make a holographic appearance. The companies portrayed in Upload quite literally upload your consciousness into a World of Warcraft (not literally) digital environment with microtransactions galore!
The main character Nathan Brown (portrayed by Robbie Amell), makes a choice in season one, episode one to have his consciousness uploaded after a freak accident in a self driving car. As the story unfolds there seems to be some nefarious means in which his untimely death occurred. His account is controlled by his girlfriend Ingrid Kannerman (portrayed by Allegra Edwards). We begin to understand the projects Nathan had been working on directly competed with some large corporate businesses. Which may have lead to his departure. I don’t want to give too much away, but rest assured, this is a must watch.
There is a fantastic blend of comedy, drama, and suspense. I would like to think the writing staff (Daniels included) were happy to finally be able to drop some F-bombs. Some situations and subject matter is a new step in risqué storytelling for Mr. Daniels. At least, it seemed like he was painting with a new breath of whimsical nature. It felt as if he was no longer restricted by broadcast censorship, and was able to run free. The dialogue and chemistry onscreen is extremely prevalent and the characters aren’t cussing simply because the censorship has been lifted. The scenes are believable, and feels readily accepted as something anyone could endure.
Season two just launched March 10. It is truncated, at only seven episodes, very binge-able, and leaves on a cliffhanger. I have been reading speculation about when the next season (or installment of season two) is supposed to air. It seems like we may have to wait until either later this year or early next year. It’s a bummer because the show is really good. At least, not just from me, a fanboy. I found it to be one of the better shows I have watched recently, and I highly recommend it.
If you watched the Superbowl, or are a fan of watching “just for the commercials,” you may recall seeing an ad for FTX starring Larry David. I don’t think I should need to inform you of who Larry David is, but to be brief Seinfeld would not have existed without him, among other great works of entertainment. Now the larger question at hand, what the heck is FTX? The whole boom of cryptocurrency is still hot in the pan, with dime-a-dozen coins, digital wallets, brokers, traders, miners…etc. FTX was developed by “traders for traders.” A Bahamian company with Sam Bankman-Fried at the helm, who wanted to cut through the white noise and lend a platform to the everyday trader. Think Robinhood, but based solely on crypto. In case you missed the ad, you can see it below, courtesy of Youtube.
Here’s where things seemingly get interesting. The flash in the pan notoriety was a slow ramp up and then explosive boom. FTX was promoting during the big game, they would be giving away free BTC (Bitcoin). That should draw a crowd. The only way to enter was to retweet their pinned tweet after the ad aired. Some people (including myself) were privy to this as the slow ramp up occurred a week or so prior to the game. It was interesting to see their twitter account grow to half a million followers within a few hours. Now the game has come and gone, the ad has aired, and the pinned tweet has garnered (at the time of this writing) 186K RT’s. It’s been four days, and there was never (that I saw, or maybe anyone else) a timeframe for when the winners would be announced. FTX simply mentioned “watch your DM’s.” Countless people are tweeting at FTX hoping for answers or clarity, but it has been nothing but radio silence with the countless exceptions of self promotion.
I’m not really sure what the takeaway here is. On one hand this could have been a mere smoke and mirrors act to cut through the hordes of white noise to get their brand ahead of all the competition. If this is the case, it seemingly worked, albeit all the pissed people screaming for answers. Need not discount customer support, given not all of these people can be considered customers. In the hype of all of this, I did download the app, so it could be speculated not only did they bolster their social following, they also increased their active downloads, as well as increased their DAU/MAU (daily/monthly active users) to impress stakeholders. Which in turn will help line the pockets of the FTX brand as long as they keep the momentum.
On the other side, there’s a chance they will make good on their commitment to the giveaway. I’m not sure how they will determine winners, if they just throw the total number of RT’s into google randomize and pull a few numbers that way, or they are going to scrutinize the selected winners based on their Twitter accounts. Because let’s be honest, not EVERY account on Twitter is real, or on any social platform for that matter.
We will see in the days to come if FTX makes good on their “contest.” It could be that I am antsy to hear the results, or if they don’t make good because they are based in the Bahamas and aren’t technically required to abide by United States contest/promotion bylaws. Only time will tell, and the massing amounts of angry tweets.
This is not a proper review of the show, but I am watching again with my wife. It is her first time through, and it has been long enough it feels mostly new for me as well. This is in preparation for the fourth season as part one has recently been released. If you haven’t had a chance to watch, this show is a must. Drama, comedy, and suspense, this show truly has it all. One of Jason Bateman’s perfect projects, in my humble opinion.
Next on the roster after we get all caught up with Ozark will potentially be Archive 81.
Set in the distant future (year unknown, or it was disclosed and I missed it, more on that later), Earth has been brought to near extinction. The remaining population of inhabitants that had fled Earth are now burdened with returning in hopes of procreation. Their home planet of Kepler has riddled the women incapable of carrying full term.
More and more it seems as though concepts and ideas are being forced together in the name of entertainment. With that said, this film was enjoyable, when it wasn’t focusing on long, drawn out shots laying waste to inciting dramatic action. The performances from all roles was well executed and was able to suspend disbelief, pulling me into their worlds. I kept getting a Waterworld vibe, to the point when I finished watching and began writing this review, I looked up both films cast/crews on IMDB to see if there was any crossover.
The film was well thought out (even if thematically we have seen variations of this time and time again), visuals and sound were on point, but I feel it was too heavily relied upon. There were many elements, primarily in the story that were glazed over and as a viewer I found myself asking questions when the credits rolled (referencing back to the synopsis with year unknown). There were plenty of times the film could have used jump scares as the visual and sound elements built it up almost expecting them, and I give them credit for not invoking that trope. Conversely there was so much the film took for granted but didn’t earn. All the way to the last scene, they rush to get a last gotcha moment in. It felt as if the creators needed something to elevate the climax, but it wasn’t earned, and fell flat.
Overall the film was an easy watch, entertaining, but could have used plenty more substance. I would recommend this film as a fun sci-fi flick to pass the time. There is nothing new with the story. However, the performances, when able to play, have solid chemistry. Visuals and sound, very encapsulating. I just wish there was more substance.
