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Flash Movie Review: The Perfect Weapon
I WAS TIPPED OFF ABOUT THE animatronic bank teller; so, you can imagine how amused I was when I stepped out from the other tourists to ask the robot teller for a deposit slip. The robot turned its head towards me and asked what kind of deposit I wanted to make. The tourists around me, who had been watching and listening, burst into howls of laughter as they were totally taken by surprise. I replied to the bank teller, saying I wanted to make a deposit that would earn me interest. The robotic teller told me I would first have to earn his interest in me; the growing crowd around me hooted and hollered as they egged me on to continue talking to the animatronic teller. My exchanges with the teller became one of the highlights of my amusement park visit. I thought it was a brilliant idea to have an interactive mechanical puppet set up in a storefront imaginary bank that had a real ATM machine in it. Granted if I had not said anything, the tourists who were inside with me would not have experienced my exchange and simply walk through the faux lobby before exiting back onto the main thoroughfare of the park. From my day spent at the amusement park I saw how technology can enhance the experiences of the visiting tourists. WHEN TECHNOLOGY IS IN THE HANDS of those who seek to make life/living a better experience, it is a wonderful thing. However, I have learned there tends to always be a negative aspect attached to a positive. Just last week the news was reporting on those video doorbell systems. According to the newscast, it appears these devices can be easily hacked to let someone not only watch you while you are in your home but talk to you. That is beyond creepy! If you are not convinced that some technological advances can turn bad, just look at my movie review from a couple of days ago, where I talked about my identity being stolen. The idea that there could be a person out there who is trying to use my stolen social security number for illegal gains is horrifying to me. A couple of years ago I had an incident on one of my social media platforms, where it no longer recognized me as the authentic user of my account. It took weeks for me to prove to them that I was the person who set up the account. It is frightening to me that the more we make advances in technology, the more we find out there is a sinister side to them that is growing. All you need to do is watch this documentary to see what I am talking about. IT WAS A FUNCTION THAT WAS to remain a secret, but once it was discovered it would set off a race around the world to create a new form or warfare. Based on the book, this film was directed by John Maggio (Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis, The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee) starred Dmitri Alperovitch, a cybersecurity expert. As I watched this movie, a sense of dread and fear crawled up me. Listening to Dmitri and seeing how countries are using cyber conflict as a weapon was eye-opening. Add in the ability to use technology to plant the seeds of disinformation and I honestly do not know how one can protect themselves from such an onslaught. I thought the way the story was laid out in this documentary was perfectly done to show the growth of such activities. Not that I needed any further proof about the rise of cyber conflicts but sitting and watching this movie was certainly an astounding encounter.
3 stars
Flash Movie Review: Assassination Nation
IF YOU ARE LIKE ME AS I believe many of you are in this respect, you don’t like spending your money on something that winds up not giving you satisfaction. I cannot tell you how many times I have read a glowing restaurant review, gone to the place and wound up disliking what I ordered. In this type of scenario, I am more disappointed than upset and willing to give them another try if everything else about the place was a positive experience. What annoys me to no end is buying some product that does not perform as advertised. Several years ago, I bought a bookcase I saw in a catalog. I knew I would have to assemble it, but I was willing to do it since it was exactly the style I wanted to get. When the box came I was surprised that it was not as heavy as I had expected it to be. Taking out the pieces to put together, I discovered the wood used was extremely light in weight, either some type of pressed board or plywood. As I was tightening one of the screws, it made a split in the wood I had to glue back together. To say I was upset would be an understatement. WHAT I FIND MORE TROUBLING IS the number of items being made today that are of a poorer quality. It is as if everyone is making disposable products that are not built to last. A friend of mine bought air filters; when he unpacked and tried to install them into his humidifier they did not fit. Somehow the dimensions were off rendering them useless. Another friend of mine bought a coffee table from a furniture store. The first time they delivered the table it had a crack in it. The 2ndtable they delivered had a stain on the marble and get this, customer service told her that it was just the natural colorization of the marble. They were not going to take the coffee table back until she threatened to get the Better Business Bureau involved, can you believe it?!?! With everything going up in price, it goes without saying, each of us expects to get something for our money. Even at the grocery store, I use the store’s app that is supposed to automatically discount certain items when they get scanned at the checkout counter. More times than not it doesn’t discount the item; I then must go to customer service to have them refund me the difference. I should have done the same thing and asked for a refund at the movie theater, when I saw this action, crime comedy film. WHEN PERSONAL EMAIL ACCOUNTS ARE GETTING hacked and exposed for all to see, the townsfolk band together to look for the culprit. They wanted to administer their own version of justice. This film festival nominated movie starred Odessa Young (Looking for Grace, The Daughter) as Lily, Hari Nef (Mapplethorpe, Transparent-TV) as Bex, Suki Waterhouse (Insurgent, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as Sarah, Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls, For Colored Girls) as Nance and newcomer Abra as Em. On some level I believe I understood what the writers were trying to do with this story. I could see where they were making a statement about mob mentality, obsessions, electronic dependence and a generation’s culture; but, the presentation in this film was excruciating to watch. Maybe this was a dark, comedic satire but because I lost interest as the story unfolded I did not care. There was blood and violence that turned me off further. I saw some advertisements that mentioned this film is in the same vein as Heathers and The Purge; I wish I could purge my memory of this picture and get my money back.
1 ½ stars
moviejoltz 