"A little girl answers a video phone and begins an extraordinary journey of memory and discovery guided by her own clone 227 years in the future."
- Brief description from Netflix
That brief description tells you everything about this short film, and yet nothing about it. The little girl is Emily, and she is quite young - maybe 4 or 5 years old. Emily hears something from the family's video phone and plays with the button until a woman enters the screen and announces that she is the Emily's clone from the future.
I didn't have many expectation when I first watched "World of Tomorrow". The characters are animated stick figures; the back ground are simple colors with random lines and circles. When my husband suggested we watch this, I agreed more because I wanted to spend time with him than because I wanted to watch the film itself.
But by the time the film ended, I was on the verge of tears. Not because "World of Tomorrow" is inherently sad, but because it mixes sadness and hope in such a way as to make the viewer both question the future and embrace the present.
All in 16 minutes.
If you have a short window of time, I highly recommend watching "World of Tomorrow". Just make sure you have a tissue or two handy.
I like reading book series, but too many times I stop mid-series because either:
- the characters stop developing,
- the main character devolves into a simpler version of himself/herself,
- the author clones the plot from one book to another,
- a book plot jumps the shark, or
- the author seems tired of writing the series and it shows.
None of those conditions apply to the Kate Daniels book series. In fact, Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews went beyond all my expectations. In this story, the authors show Kate struggle with her dark side while providing a new, unexpected story arc that continues from the previous eight books and leaves the reader wanting more story NOW.
The book begins with Kate and Curran asking Roman to officiate at their wedding, a scene where we catch a glimpse at just how powerful the laid-back, funny black volhv truly is. This next scene begins innocently enough, but ends with Kate learning that her father kidnapped Saiman, the demi-god who Kate once counted as a sort-of friend. The action, adventure, introspection, and intrigue burst into life here, as Kate runs around trying to figure a way to save Saiman, learn how to cope with the land she claimed, but most importantly save her family from the utter destruction known as her dad.
If you've never read a Kate Daniels book, you can start here but I guarantee that you'll go back and read the first eight. I suggest you get a copy of "Magic Bites" and go from there.
This book is definitely 5 stars out of 5, maybe even 6 stars out of 5 because the authors made a series continue to be entertaining well after the first three books.
Released in 2015, "The Lobster" billed itself as a love story, which is technically true. This story takes place in a dystopian society, where every adult must be married. At the beginning of the movie, the male protagonist, David (portrayed by Colin Farrell), finds himself single after his wife leaves him. He goes to this creepy hotel where he has 40 days to find a mate or be turned into an animal of his choice. He chooses to be a lobster if he can't find someone.
The movie itself is a bit creepy, as the director, Yorgos Lanthimos, explores humans, relationships, and commonalities. The creepiness starts with the character names, or lack of them. I think the only person in the entire movie with an actual name is David; everyone else is referred to by either their job or some prominent characteristic. For example, one character is a man who limps, so he is called the Limping Man. The lack of names forces you to focus on the people more, making each character more anonymous but more sympathetic. I think it's easier to see yourself or your friends in a person with no name to get in the way.
The set contributes to the movie's atmosphere. Even at noon, there is a pale gloom over every scene. After watching the movie, I learned that the director had no lighting. None. Nada. All the light in this film is from the sun or the moon outside, and regular lights inside. The hotel feels like it belongs in the 1950s or 1960s, even though the movie takes place in the present day, with dated wallpaper, older furniture, and worn carpets.
Finally, the actors bring home the creepiness and raise it to uncomfortable levels. An air of desperation surrounds everyone, regardless of their relationship status. The married people put effort in appearing compatible and happy. The single people slowly crumb away as their time runs out. Well before the end of the movie, I stopped seeing the actors and only saw the characters. Their stilted speech, odd twitches, clumsy movements - all of it melded into a seamless whole of brittle people in a terrible situation.
As for my opinion of the movie, there is no simple way to describe my feelings. On one hand, the acting, directing, and writing is superb; and I found myself viewing the foibles of humanity in a different light after watching "The Lobster". On the other hand, I found the movie viscerally disturbing; I had a few nightmares afterwards. That is not normal for me.
Do I recommend this movie? Yes. No Maybe? It depends on what type of movie you want to watch. "The Lobster" will mess with your world view and cause you discomfort at times. But maybe it's good to get outside of our comfort zones sometimes.
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