Daily Archives: August 11, 2016

Mr. Robot S2E06

TV

Wild ride this week with a perspective tilting opener and fsociety in action!

The opening must have caught every view off guard because the first 20 minutes was set in a 90’s sitcom complete with throwback commercials. Throwback clothes, car, laugh track and cheesy sets complete the illusion and confusion. Things of note: whenever we get a glimpse of their mother, she’s shown in a terrible light. In this opening, she bickers with Darlene almost non-stop, knocks out Darlene twice and burns her with a cigarette. While their relationship with their father was obviously no picnic, mom is someone they both actively avoid as much as possible (there have been dialog hints earlier from Darlene when she visits Elliot). The other note is that this is Mr. Robot’s will to keep Elliot’s mind safe from the beating at the hands of Ray’s goons. Elliot’s first conclusion is much scarier, that Mr. Robot has won the battle and this sitcom world is Mr. Robot’s prison for him. Mr. Robot wants this to be seen as a peace treaty of sorts. Fighting does them both no good, it’s exhausting and a waste of time. Elliot also can’t get rid of Mr. Robot. It’s a demonstration to show Elliot what benefits Mr. Robot can do for him. When “the worst of it is over,” the car ride ends at the intended destination: a hospital. Mr. Robot then lets go for Elliot to wake up in a hospital with Ray at his side. Ray lets him know who the master is in their relationship.

What a mind trip.

The other side of the episode is Darlene and Angela’s fsociety mission to get FBI intel at E Corp while the FBI is still buzzing around the building. This is straight up movie caper stuff and it was a blast to watch. Tech jargon as Angela gets a crash course in hacking from Mobley. Cisco gets the hardware they need along with a brutal reminder of

Cisco gets the hardware they need along with a brutal reminder that he’s a foot soldier, nothing more. When he goes back to fsociety HQ to deliver the hardware (the big question is if it was indeed tampered with) Angela is there and she recognizes him as the guy that gave her dumb ex-boyfriend the CD that sucked her into all of this last season. Despite the clear shock from both of them that everyone in the room witnesses, Angela tells the room that she just thought he looked familiar and leaves with the hardware. Darlene, with much bigger concerns on her mind with hacking the FBI, I assume. just lets it go.

This leads to another brilliantly directed sequence of intrigue and suspense. Darlene and Angela (with Mobley assist) work together on this wild update to steal the data off of the FBI agents while they are all still in E Corp. Darlene sneaks into a hotel room next door to E Corp so she can remotely access the bootleg network that Angela is going to set up. Following the both of them around was straight up Mission Impossible greatness. It doesn’t go all according to plan so Angela is forced to double back and get the wifi connection back up or they are all screwed. While being guided through the process by Darlene, Dom shows up at Angela’s desk. If Dom sees that computer monitor, Darlene is screwed.

What an ending! Plus, Elliot was snatched up once again by Ray’s goons and dropped off in a basement in who the hell knows where. Elliot is for once grateful that Mr. Robot is with them. I’m on pins and needles, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Movie Mangerie 4

Movies

Bridge of Spies– A solid ‘based on true events ‘ Steven Speilberg movie. Tom Hanks plays insurance company lawyer James Donovan in the late 50’s during the Cold War. He’s recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court. The government wants to put on a respectable show to the world that the U.S. following the judicial system while behind the scenes fast tracking the court to a guilty verdict. Donovan stands up for his client as best as he can and due to this, he’s asked to be a negotiator with the Soviets (and Germany sneaks in there) to make a trade for a U.S. U2 spy plane pilot. The man Donovan kept out of the electric chair is the only bargaining chip they have. A testament to Tom Hanks acting chops, the movie rides on his shoulders and it works so well because of him (have to mention Mark Rylance as the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel as well). Visually, I think the lighting design is far and away the most striking element. Not since The Hateful Eight have I admired the careful, sumptuous and subtle storytelling placement of  such a specific and largely underappreciated skill in film production. Also very apparent in this movie is Speilberg’s love of the tracking shot. An enjoyable movie if a little long in runtime.

Paper Towns– Caught this one from a trailer with Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. I like Me more (they’re kinda similar, being about making it through life during high school), but this is a solid movie. Quentin’s life is stirred up by his neighbor Margo and when she skips town and leaves clues behind to find her, Q and his best friends go on a quest to find her. Interesting story with a solid message at the end. I dug the cast too, not a bad way to spend an hour forty.

Kung Fu Panda 3– The Dragon Warrior returns, this time, to fight back an ancient foe that’s found a way out of his spirit realm banishment. I think the KFP movies are a lot of fun and this third sequel checks all the boxes. It’s funny and touching but doesn’t push any story boundaries. You can see the markers of each act and my biggest disappoint is that Po’s brothers (and sisters) in arms are pushed aside almost entirely for this movie. They barely get any dialog let alone screen time. Po’s father, Li takes up much more of that space (thankfully he’s very good). That complaint aside, I found this to be a good movie. DreamWorks Animation has really stepped up their game in recent years, The fight choreography and animation for this franchise has also been great, but the lighting and other special effects like particles, environment destruction/cloth simulation are phenomenal.

Sicario– The drug war has reached a new level on the New Mexico/Mexico border. The violence has pushed farther into the US and a special government task force looks to push back. FBI agents Kate Macer and her partner Reggie Wayne are on the front lines of a drug operation that goes south and reveals some awful new evidence that all the work they’ve been putting in isn’t doing anything. The special task force finds out about these two and brings them in (more Kate than Reggie) to help out. The task force isn’t exactly forthcoming about what they’re doing when they first come calling and oh what a ride it is. Dug this movie a lot. Seems like I don’t see much of Benicio Del Toro these days so it was great to see him strut his stuff in this. Emily Blunt holds it down as Kate and I’m all for watching Josh Brolin act too. This movie gets pretty intense and if you enjoy spec ops/drug war movies, you’re sure to like this.