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ElxDiablo
Reviews
Hacker (2016)
Not a movie about "hacking" in the traditional sense
While the acting and dialogue was solid, this rather cliché and moralistic tale may leave some people with a sour taste in their mouth.
It may leave an even worse after-taste when the (totally private) "Federal Reserve" banking system, becomes its own bubble and then bursts, which is something that appears to have been building in the wake of the mortgage-bubble lead financial meltdown. If indeed these predictions are correct, and a worldwide economic collapse of far greater magnitude ensues, the US citizens will probably be told that it was all due to "Russia", "China", and "Hackers operating out of Russia and China...who may be on their respective government's payroll".
I listen to people who actually know what they're talking about and not talking heads with vested interests, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to smell the faint aroma of economic propaganda (or a "contingency story" for mass consumption), which may become stronger in the years to come if these economic predictions are correct.
Just some food for thought.
However, I digress. On with the review!
Why should I give this film a better-than-average rating when the plot was weak and the main protagonist knew less about protecting their online anonymity than I do? Well, to answer that question I should say that "social engineering" is also considered a valid form of hacking. People are always the weakest point in any system, hence they are the easiest way to bypass security without having to force your way through from behind a computer.
Even with the most sophisticated of proxies and other counter-measures, there is no way to ensure something won't be traced back to you online, just as there is no assurances of remaining unrecognized IRL on a camera, even with a disguise; The latter just happens to be far more efficient, and can often be achieved by using real-life proxies to do your data-collection.
The more real life proxies that are distributing the original data in a non-pyramid/linear, distributed fashion, the less chance of one person being caught as the "ring leader", which is the exact same principle one uses when using an online proxy network. The fact they did funnel information from proxies in bottom up fashion was certainly a major security flaw that would have easily have had them nabbed for credit card fraud under normal circumstances.
If you're into the guts of how people hack from behind a keyboard, then this movie is not for you...but if you want to see a totally different type of hacking at work (predominantly social engineering), you may get something out of this film in spite of its pitfalls.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Normal Again (2002)
"Life is the Big Bad"
According to the DVD extras, this season is all about LIFE being the "big bad", and in that context, this story makes absolute sense as a story arch episode. For Buffy, it sums it up perfectly!
Every single one of our main characters have faced a major upset in their life, not least of which ends up being Willow (but that is a story for another day). Obviously Xander and Anja's relationship has imploded, and it's taken Anja back to her former occupation. Dawn is a kleptomaniac with major problems keeping her grades up, and poor Buffy is barely holding things together as a person, let alone as a slayer.
Oh...and Buffy is being messed with by the Trio! The icing on the cake!
Now, people have been complaining a lot about Dawn's reaction in this episode, but I want to take a moment to call out Spike.
I want to preface this by saying that I'm a huge Spike fan. He's possibly one of the best characters on this show in terms of complexity and character development (and just being plain hilarious)...but being a good character does not mean that one is immune from faults...and oh boy, his faults sure come out to play here!
He knows that Buffy is tripping balls, and is tasked with making sure she drinks the antidote, but instead decides to take the opportunity to go on a diatribe about her little "hero trip", and how if she told her friends about them she might actually have to be happy.
Hmm...Newsflash! There is no THEM. Buffy broke off their meaningless sex-fest (quite amicably, all things considered) during "As You Were", which was two episodes earlier. This is Spike being selfish and wanting things to go back to how they were before. He's attempting a convoluted form of blackmail to see if she'll sleep with him again to shut him up.
Then he leaves the room with absolutely no regard as to whether she'll drinks the antidote, or what effect his words might have had on her fragile mind.
Yep! Spike gets the gold medal for being a jerk to Buffy in this episode.
Now that that's out the way, I want to say that while I don't think that Buffy is actually in an asylum, that the fact that it's left open for interpretation is an awesome ending.
Heck...If you drew the storyline out a little further and didn't rely on the back-story of an entire series, you could cut-and-paste the outline of this episode, flesh it out with new characters, and have yourself a neat little screen play in the "psychological thriller" genre.
If this happens, don't blame me if the unoriginal cyborgs in Hollywood create a "Normal Again"-esque abomination.
Just sayin'.
American Mary (2012)
Live by the knife...die by the knife.
To call "American Mary" a horror film is somewhat of a misnomer. However, it is an understated gem that has clear horror elements, not unlike those in the movie "May".
As usual, Katherine Isabelle plays her role to perfection, as a diligent and ambitious surgical student, whose life takes an abrupt turn when she finds herself being drawn into the world of illegal body modifications.
Her sudden influx of cash catches the eye of her professor and his colleagues, who (assuming she's working in the sex industry) set her up to be drugged and subsequently raped at one of their parties; something we later discover is a regular occurrence. Her revenge is to use her professor as a live equivalent of the turkeys she's been practicing suturing on...only in this case, the procedures are far more complex and gruesome, with the element of torture that is absent in her new "day job".
While some have written that sadistic streak that leads Mary to be a surgeon, I would contend that it the trauma of her rape that leads her to become increasingly desensitized to the extreme surgeries she's being asked to perform, and to the suffering she inflicts on both her professor and those who may threaten to expose her.
The film truly is a subtle depiction of a woman who is slowly pulling away from the reality of what she's doing, but is not completely lacking insight, as one might expect from the typical horror villain. This is what sets this movie apart from many others in the genre. The role of "victim" and "villain" is fluid and often blurred. "Gruesome" is not necessarily synonymous with "torture" or "sadistic" (although sometimes it is). Our protagonist remains both terrifying and sympathetic throughout the film, aided largely by Katherine Isabelle's wonderfully nuanced performance.
Perhaps this is why the film received such a mixed reaction from critics: It's not easily categorized, and the ending (which has been described as rushed and unsatisfactory) is actually a fitting finale for someone who "lived by the knife".
For those who prefer straight-forward horrors or slasher flicks, you will probably find this film lacking, but for those who enjoy the more unconventional films falling under the "horror" banner, then this is definitely worth watching.