( Screenshot: Map, Israel & Palestinian-areas, via New York Times; Oct. 8, 2023. Selfie of Joseth Moore in the Telegraph District of Lincoln, Nebraska; USA . Pic of Joseth’s vintage Bible (1979) & his post-grad essays & vlog-notes–Oct. 8, 2023)
“1984,” “Blade Runner,” “Minority Report”…and now, in my opinion, “The Creator.” I know all major movies have a novel-version of said-movie, but I’m just sticking to the cinema-version. (If you want to see ALL my BOOK-ratings & what i’ve read, here’s my #Goodreads page -> https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/80908458?sort=rating&view=reviews ) What these movies have in common is: They are Science Fiction films that reflect a global, societal issue for its generation…
1984, obviously, political autocratic & fascist rule; Blade Runner, distant threat of human-androids that pose moral threats to society; and Minority Report held a mirror to how society increasingly utilized communicative technology of biometrics for marketing and, also, the morality of what i call, “anticipatory-crime”–when it has not happened (yet, or if ever!). The point is, crime was at the centerpiece for Minority Report…
With The Creator, it’s that ol’ juggernaut of Artificial Intelligence–Ai!
Like with the three previous classic SciFi movies i referenced at the beginning, Creator uses the current public fears and ignorance of Ai as its centerpiece to its main plot: and it’s manifested in The Creator by way of Ai bombing Los Angeles in the year 2065–and from there on, throughout the movie, is where the protagonist, Joshua (John David Washington) is constantly searching for his wife, Maya (Gemma Chan), after a raid from the American military in what’s called New Asia, as the US is in a literal war against Ai–in a similar way to the so-called War On Terrorism, after the 9-11 attacks in America in 2001.
My focus in my movie reviews are always on the bigger picture–ie, the plot, the delivery of the writing with the characters, etc. So, i’m not so big on the sentimental parts of Joshua warming up to the (cybernetic?) Ai-bio-mix child called Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles) and Joshua’s angst of looking for his wife after the American raid at the beginning…to me, what’s my focus is how The Creator–again, similar to those three classic SciFi’s mentioned previously–illustrates how human beings throughout the world are overreacting to the potential of mis-use of Artificial Intelligence, and it’s reflective in our arts. In this case, a movie! Hence, why in The Creator Ai’s in robot-form are being hunted down in retaliation of bombing L.A…co-writers Gareth Edwards (also the director–*also directed “Rogue One” of Star Wars!) and Chris Weitz did a good job in reflecting this sentiment among a lot of Americans, while in Asia Ai-tech is part of their society. I get the sense in reading and watching the news this is the case in Reality!
Speaking of Asia…it’s not lost on me that the American military itself is a kind of antagonist in the film. The character, Colonel Howell (Allison Janney) comes across as just doing her job to “kill the weapon” (ie, little Alphie), but, to me, it’s clear that this movie reflects the geopolitics of the first 25 years of the 21st century has turned out to be so far: many nations throughout the world are not just anti-American, but anti-Western. We’ve read and seen this played out on the Real geopolitical stage with Russia, China, Iran, more recently within various African nations re-visiting the politics of history in the form of “neo-colonialism” and have kicked out French forces from their respective countries (Niger, Mali, etc). But yet accepted the Russian mercenary Wagner group instead…
What i’m getting at is, fellow Americans, like it or not, this is how a large share of the world view us: as the bad guys in the movie script of real geopolitics! Goes far back as America invading Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11 to more recent geopolitics of votes in the UN against Russia, China, Iran, sanctions, support for Israel and Ukraine, etc… And what’s really bad to me, speaking as an American-Leftist, is they often do not distinguish the Right wing Republicans from the Liberal Democrats! Which, of course, is ridiculous, because of Democracy, we cannot legislate 100% the way we’d like to due to the political opposition also in power that waters down more Progressive laws and international relationships…
This is important. Because average citizens throughout the world watch more movies than they read about intricacies of geopolitics. But that’s also a sign of a good movie: that it deals with the controversies of the generation–like it or not!
And of course, there’s the artistic aspect to The Creator–awesome in CGI representation–environmental artscapes that remind me of many of the futuristic cyberpunk cities one sees on the social media platform Pinterest, but in live-action form! It’s been several years since i’ve watched a good classic Science Fiction movie! Where there are no superheroes nor Fantasy involved. Where Science and Fiction are the foundation of the movie!
Bottom lining it, here, i give The Creator a 10/10…and welcome to the club of SciFi futurism classics!
~ Left: Buddha collection, Joseth Moore. Right: One of the video slot games at the hotel casinos throughout Las Vegas, Nevada–pic by Joseth Moore; Sept. 8, 2023 (Screenshot; Facebook) ~
–> Nun2: Great follow up to first #Nun#movie, indeed, imho, BETTER than 1st one (#SpinOff of #TheConjuringUniverse)! Appreciate that beginning of #film is slow-burn; lots of modern #horror/#paranormal movies are too quick to get to “scary part” to the point where it’s not so scary! Action in last 1/3rd really tense, & really helped the movie… 9/10 #Rating from me!
–> Haunting/Venice: Awesome twist on #agathachristie (i have not read her piece; strictly movie-angle, here)! Like how #screenwriter#MichaelGreen &/or #director#KennethBranagh KEPT the #Poirot “#Feels” (i’ve watched several episodes on US’s public tv!), where the movie didn’t venture TOO far into the Supernatural, YET #genre-shifted enough to make it more intriguing than the typical tv show…my rating? 10/10!
+>> “Third Floor” — Things are not as they seem in a middle-class neighborhood in Chicago when a SWAT team goes in to bust up what is believed to be a major drug operation. Indeed, it would’ve been better for the city to send a priest over…
+>> “Ishtar’s Descendants” — Dr. Evans takes on REx Pharmaceuticals as a client and finds out that their clinical study feels more like a zombie episode than a scientific study!
~ “Omnibus: Paranormal eStories,” by Joseth Moore ~
[] Fall traditions — camping in the outdoors & telling scary, ghost stories! Or, curling up under a blanket & reading some of those paranormal tales! Now you can, for the first time in #PRINT, read SciFi author Joseth Moore’s collection, from the #Djinn of #antiquities to contemporary #ghosthunters!
In one big collection, ALL 18 Paranormal ebooks by Joseth Moore, whom is Scifiguy3553, as of Autumn 2022! – 19th & Emily / The Literary Virus / Custodial Science / The Starets’s Hunt / The Caregiver / Normal-PARA / There’s No Place Like Zone / Vengeance In 3D / Dead Silent / Cousin Josh / The Landlord / The Jamesons / The Dorian Project / Curse Thy Neighbor / Our Master of Zed / Fourth Wall / Domesticated Horror / & The Aleutians Illusion…
#Ahsoka Disney+ show, EPISODE 4 SPECIAL REVIEW — IMHO, THE BEST EPISODE, TO-DATE! (*Spoilers, since it’s been out a while, now):
–>>Love how #Sabine found herself in a #moral dilemma –& FAILED by giving #LordBaylan the map! Which is a classic tale of WRONG choices sometimes being taken in stories!
–>>Loved how #Filoni & crew SPLIT UP the #plots– #AhsokaVersusBaylan, #SabineVersusShin, #Hera & her small cohort targeting the Ring…
–>>Little better with the #lightsaber #duels! Though there was some silent patch with the one with Ahsoka & #Baylan that i’m sure some SW #fans will be uncomfortable with.
–>>Some seen me write about this before, but i LOVE that ol’ #StarWars #FEELS when i seen old school, #Republic #starships (or even #Imperials, too!) gathering for a mission! &, of course, ESPECIALLY after seeing good ol’ #anakinskywalker (#haydenchristensen) grace the screen again!!
*It’s not just me who think’s Ep. 4 is the Best in Ahsoka, so far: YouTuber, #StarWarsTheory ALSO said as much, at the very beginning of THIS entry >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-a_CtVoQWc
i say to ALL the writers, directors, producers, & of course, the actors & crew behind the scenes &/or on the set: KEEP IT UP, you’re ALL doing a very good job in the traditions of Star Wars #storytelling; don’t let ANYONE discourage you!
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