Drew Kosonen

Truly uninspired heist movie, just feels like it was thrown together on a whim. Can't remember the last time I felt such a visceral desire to punch a main character in his smarmy, cherubic face. I also want to punch the sound designer in the face for including the obligatory club dancing scene where the volume suddenly jacks up to 400% with terrible pop music. Basically every movie has volume shenanigans like this, which makes me want to punch every sound designer in the face, but this was particularly egregious. Like it knows it can't hold your attention, so it's trying to steal it back right at the moment you open another tab. It makes almost no attempt to surprise the viewer or subvert expectations or solve problems creatively like a good heist movie should. It's very by-the-numbers, like it was written by filling out a series of blanks, and whoever filled out the form just went with whatever popped into their head first. That said, it's not completely devoid of redeeming qualities. Sir Davos makes it feel watchable when he's on screen. And there are a couple of moments where the script kind of winks at the viewer, as if it's "in on the joke" and knows how ludicrous it is. But these moments are too few and far between, and overall the movie takes itself far too seriously. Like, sure... on top of everything else, the result of the heist is somehow contingent upon the results of this football (soccer) match. Okay, movie. Sure, movie. Whatever you say. Best thing I can say is that it's just bad enough to enjoy laughing at.

Offbeat is definitely an accurate tag for this weird little film. I didn't really expect it to be my thing, but found it entertaining and it kept my attention all the way through. I'm still not sure what it was trying to say, if anything at all, but it was fun. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that I enjoyed it because I'm often a fan of "bottle films" that rely on a lot of dialogue between not a lot of characters. But they aren't usually comedies... like Bug, Sunset Limited, or Primer... or even Travelling Salesman. These kind of movies usually require really excellent performances, and/or really great writing and a heavy concept. This one is more performance-heavy, and I think Taylor Schilling's is what made it work. Pat Healy did fine with the part he directed himself in, but doesn't really give the feeling of someone who could handle a wide range of roles. Seems like this type of offbeat comedy is pretty much his whole wheelhouse, and that's fine. But Schilling brought across all of the little nuances in her role, maintaining the mostly light-hearted tone, while also casting just enough doubt that you aren't quite sure where her character stands until the very end. Check it out if you have some time to kill and you're in the mood for something a little weird and different.

The most TL;DR way I can sum up this show is to take a quote from the prayer that's spoken by (most) religious member of the crew: "... Carry us now through this crucible of fire, so that we may show the world that there is a better world. A world beyond division, and confusion, and fear. Let us discover a world beyond fear." Even an atheist like me can say "Amen" to that. The longer version of my thoughts is that this really isn't my kind of show. I usually hate "human relationship drama" stuff because it's usually done so poorly. But I'm surprised to say that this time, while I came for the space travel, I stayed for the drama. "Away" shows us that "better world," and it's something we all need more of. Especially right now in 2020. It's all. About. Communication. Instead of showing us how to be more dramatic, neurotic, divisive versions of ourselves like most TV, it shows us ways to navigate through various difficult conversations and situations in ways that are healthy and constructive. How to admit when we're wrong, how to ask for help, or how to extend an olive branch. And it shows us the things that can be achieved when we are willing to communicate. The first manned mission to Mars is the perfect setting for exploring all of the ways relationships can be stressed and tested. Of course the show has some weaker moments that were soapy or cringey. But it has some incredibly strong ones as well. If you think it's all just "liberal feminist politics"... I truly feel bad for you. I mean, you're right, that's what it is. I'm just not sure why you that's a bad thing...? Yes, this is our "globalist liberal future", where people communicate effectively and have basic respect for each other's differences, and we go to Mars. I guess in that sense, Away is sort of a modern-day, hard(er) science Star Trek.

I'm willing to excuse a lot with B movies and I wanted to like this one, but there just isn't much to redeem it. Like most B movies, the premise is better than the execution, but this one fails so bad it's not really worth it. It had the potential to be a tense, bottle-sized psychological thriller. Like "Exam" with more action. But it misses almost every opportunity to do something interesting, and does something painfully stupid instead. The plot and the writing are weak, and the characters are frustrating to watch. They're all supposed to be "gamers" who accepted an invitation for a game trial, but they act like they've never seen a video game before, much less played one. Five minutes after being told how the armor and medipacks work, they're panicking and acting like they don't know what to do. They mostly walk around in the open instead of using cover, as if they weren't told that the building is full of enemies. This whole movie would have worked a lot better if the premise was just a bunch of regular people being abducted and dropped into the middle of the "game" - rather than a collection of the worst gamers in the world knowingly walking into it and being told exactly how it works. Even bad gamers could have breezed through this thing without ever discovering that it could hurt them. They would have come out at the end like "that was awesome! when can i buy?" But these people are determined to approach every situation like they were born yesterday and they're still getting the hang of breathing and walking at the same time.

Some of the acting is pretty suspect, but if you're able to look past that, the show is watchable. Decent enough for a rainy day binge.

4 episodes in - I'm enjoying the show. I like the unique cross between present-day documentary footage and dramatized scenes from the future. This show is not only very well made, it's also very original. It's a breath of fresh air among all of the shows about crime, corruption, and betrayal. There has been an unfortunate lack of quality sci-fi shows and movies in the past decade or two. My favorite sci-fi is the stuff that adheres as closely as possible to realism, and this is definitely that. Someone please do the Bobiverse (serious challenge but could be incredible)! The show clearly wants to bring the notion of (and the reasons for) inhabiting Mars into the mainstream. I'm happy to see this being explored in such depth, and in such a creative way. Conservatives will most likely bemoan the multi-cultural cast, prominent female characters, and "propagandized liberal agenda." It's trying to make you think about something other than right wing ideology, and doesn't spend all of it's time genuflecting the Great White Men of the past, so clearly it must be liberal propaganda. The only bad thing I could say about it is that some of the attempts to "build tension" only manage to build irritation for me. These highly professional individuals would not do things like stay silent for 20-30 seconds while you're by yourself at the bottom of a huge cavern, and the rest of your team is calling to you over the radio with increasing panic. "What do you see?" ...[silence]... "Marta?".... [silence]... "Status update, please.".... [silence]... "Marta, do you copy?!" The team on the surface is supposedly able to read her vitals, so the constant status checks are completely unnecessary. This kind of forced "tension" bothers me to no end. It just makes me hate the character at the bottom for not responding, and hate the characters on the surface for constantly bothering her. But this is really a complaint about TV tropes in general rather than this show in particular. Other than that I'm enjoying the show and hope it continues. It would be interesting to see a colony evolving over the course of several seasons. The only way forward for us as a species is to keep looking upward, I hope this show does inspire some kids to help bring it all to life.

I enjoyed watching this, felt like it added some color to the black and white facts I was aware of. It's well acted all around. In particular it was nice to see Michelle Pfeiffer again, and she nails her part. I actually enjoyed it enough to watch it again a few months later. However, this is not a documentary or docu-drama, and a certain amount of artistic license is taken. Apparently, the film makers felt it was necessary to fudge the facts somewhat and lay 100% of the blame on Bernie, as if he was the only one who was ever aware. Fair enough, Bernie does deserve to be the only person remembered for it. But I'm not sure his sons should be portrayed as if they were unaware. One of them admitted that they were fully aware of what was happening for several years, and Bernie had explained it to them. But again, fair enough, it was Bernie's scheme and he roped his sons into it. Other than the sons, I think the movie does a pretty good job of portraying Bernie as not a mastermind, but an oblivious sociopath.

As much as people want to deny that something like this can happen, or blame the people who were fooled, this movie (and the story behind it) tell some important truths. Many of the same truths revealed in the Milgram Experiment (despite its admitted flaws), and countless other examples throughout history. Is it a coincidence that this "prank" was targeted at fast food workers? Probably not. That makes it more likely that someone will fall for it. But even smart, educated people can be convinced to do or believe crazy things. Cons and pranks like this prey on our boredom, and our desire to believe that something interesting and "crazy" might actually happen in our dull ass lives. They also prey on things like paranoia and fear of authority. Instead of trying to dismiss the story because of how crazy it sounds, we just need to remember it. Always. Be. Skeptical.