Series Review: "Colin in Black & White" (2021).

"Some play the game. Others change it." This is Colin in Black & White. This drama series created by Ava DuVernay and Colin Kaepernick. Kaepernick narrates this drama series recounting his formative years navigating race, class and culture while aspiring for greatness.

On November 3, 1987, American civil rights activist and a former quarterback, Colin Rand Kaepernick, was born. Kaepernick played college football for the Nevada Wolf Pack, where he was named the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Offensive Player of the Year twice and became the only player in NCAA Division I history to amass ten-thousand passing yards and four-thousand rushing yards in a career. After graduating, he was selected by the 49ers in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Kaepernick began his professional football career as a backup quarterback to Alex Smith, and became the 49ers' starter in the middle of the 2012 season after Smith suffered a concussion. Since 1994, he then remained the team's starting quarterback for the rest of the season, leading the team to their first Super Bowl appearance. During the 2013 season, his first full season as a starter, Kaepernick helped the 49ers reach the NFC Championship Game. Over the next three seasons, Kaepernick lost and won back his starting job, with the 49ers missing the playoffs for three years consecutively. In 2016, in the 49ers' third preseason game, Kaepernick sat during the playing of the U.S. national anthem prior to the game, rather than stand as is customary, as a protest against racial injustice, police brutality and systematic oppression in the country. The following week, and throughout the regular season, Kaepernick kneeled during the anthem. The protests received highly polarized reactions, with some praising him and his stand against racism and others denouncing the protests. The actions resulted in a wider protest movement, which intensified in September 2017 after President Donald Trump said that NFL owners should "fire" players who protest during the national anthem. Kaepernick became a free agent after the season and remained unsigned, which numerous analysts and observers have attributed to political reasons. In November 2017, he filed a grievance against the NFL and its owners, accusing them of colluding to keep him out of the league. In February 2019, Kaepernick withdrew the grievance after reaching a confidential settlement with the NFL. In 2020, his protests received renewed attention amid the George Floyd protests against police brutality and racism, but he remains unsigned by any professional football team.

The series stars Jaden Michael, Mary-Louise Parker and Nick Offerman with Kaepernick narrating. All of the actors are phenomenal, but special attention has to go to Haden Michael, who is a revelation as Kaepernick. While the acting was riveting and heartbreaking, the dialogue can sometimes be too on-the-nose. It's jarring but luckily, doesn't take away anything from the show.

The series can get overly sentimental, and it's oddly trippy at the end, but it's still a tour de force of a show that is unrelenting in its message; and topped off with a beautiful, rousing, hopeful ending.

Simon says Colin in Black & White receives:

Also, see my review for When They See Us.

Series Review: "The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea" (2021).

From Netflix comes The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea. This South Korean documentary series directed by John Choi and Rob Sixsmith. In the early 2000s, Yoo Young-chul hammered his victims to death and cast fear across Seoul. This docu-series recounts the hunt for a prolific killer.

From September to November 2003, the South Korean serial killer, sex offender, and self-confessed cannibal, Yoo Young-chul (유영철), killed several wealthy senior citizens by breaking into their houses and bludgeoning them with a hammer. To cover his tracks, Yoo made the scenes of his crime look like a robbery-homicide took place. However, no money was taken, which confused the police investigators. When the investigation started to intensify, Yoo switched to targeting female masseuses. From March 2004 onwards, Yoo called prostitutes to his residence in western Seoul and bludgeoned them after having sex with them. His prostitute victims were dismembered and mutilated to hinder their identification. They were buried in the mountains surrounding the city. Police recovered eleven bodies from the mountain behind Bongwon Temple after Yoo's arrest. On July 15, 2004, Yoo was taken into custody and confessed to murdering as many as nineteen people initially, specifically targeting affluent senior citizens and masseuses. On July 18, 2004, he admitted to an additional murder: the killing of a forty-four-year-old male street vendor. Yoo eventually confessed to killing twenty-six individuals the next day, several days after his arrest, although no details were given. The list of purported victims included several individuals that did not match his prior pattern of wealthy seniors or masseuses. Friends of two of the masseuse victims, whose bodies had been recovered, claimed they were not involved in massage therapy, meaning that Yoo could have other, unreported victims. Although the "Rainy Thursday" murderer was active contemporaneously starting in April 2004, stabbing multiple women late at night in southwest Seoul, police were unable to link Yoo to those murders. Several days later, Yoo also confessed to killing a young woman (a worker in a clothing store) on 6 February 2004 in Imun-dong after he suspected her of being a prostitute. Yoo had approached her for questioning by pretending to be a police officer. Approximately a month after his arrest, Yoo confessed to eating the flesh of his victims, although no evidence to prove this was available. After he admitted to the murders of multiple people, mostly prostitutes and wealthy old men, the Seoul Central District Court convicted him of twenty murders. One case was dismissed on a technicality: this case from Yimoon-dong was committed by another serial killer, Jeong Nam-gyu. Yoo burned three and mutilated at least eleven of his victims, and admitted that he ate the livers of some of them. Yoo is currently detained at the Seoul Detention Center.

Disturbing but not salacious, the series does a good job of showing how hard the Seoul Metropolitan Police went into finding Yoo Young-chul, whose methodology was all over the place, and thus more difficult to profile.

Simon says The Raincoat Killer: Chasing a Predator in Korea receives:

Film Review: "Dune" (2021).

"Beyond fear, destiny awaits" in Dune (or titled onscreen as Dune: Part One) (2021). This epic science fiction film directed by Denis Villeneuve, adapted by Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts and Eric Roth, and based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Frank Herbert. It is the first of a planned two-part adaptation, primarily covering the first half of the book. A mythic and emotionally charged hero's journey, Dune tells the story of Paul Atreides, a brilliant and gifted young man born into a great destiny beyond his understanding, must travel to the most dangerous planet in the universe to ensure the future of his family and his people. As malevolent forces explode into conflict over the planet's exclusive supply of the most precious resource in existence-a commodity capable of unlocking humanity's greatest potential-only those who can conquer their fear will survive.

Since its publication in 1965, the rights to cinematically adapt Herbert's seminal science-fiction epic classic have been held by several producers. Multiple attempts to make such a film have been made, and it is considered to be "unfilmable", a difficult work to adapt to the screen owing to its breadth of content. Further, because of the book's status among passionate fans, any deviations from the original material without strong justification have the potential to harm the film's reputation. Famously, cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky had acquired the rights in the 1970s to make an extravagant fourteen-hour adaptation of the book, but the project fell apart. In 1984, David Lynch's Dune was released, but became a critical and commercial failure. In 2000, a live-action miniseries on the Sci Fi Channel was released and went on to become one of the three highest-rated programs ever to be broadcast on the Sci Fi Channel. Prospects to make a successful adaption of Dune came after critically-acclaimed adaptions of The Lord of the Rings film series and the Harry Potter film series, both which maintained most of the works' key characters and plots while managing the limited film time. In 2008, Paramount Pictures were developing a new feature film adaptation with Peter Berg set to direct. However, in October 2009, Berg left the project with director. In January 2010, Pierre Morel brought on to direct before Paramount dropped the project in March 2011 as they could not come to key agreements with their rights expiring back to Rubinstein.

In late November 2016, Legendary Entertainment acquired the film and TV rights for the book. In December 2016, Variety reported that Villeneuve was in talks with the studio to helm the film. Since September 2016, Villeneuve expressed his interest in the project. Adapting Dune for the big screen has been a lifelong dream of Villeneuve, ever since he learned about Lynch's Dune (1984) from the magazines Fantastic Films and Starlog, and read the novel when he was around twelve years old. He wanted to make a faithful adaptation, so he waited until he'd done sci-fi films Arrival (2016) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) first so that he would have sufficient experience in the genre before starting work on the film. By February 2017, Brian Herbert, son of Frank and author of later books in the Dune series, confirmed that Villeneuve would be directing the project. It was also confirmed that the film will be produced by Villeneuve, Mary Parent, and Cale Boyter, with Tanya Lapointe, Brian Herbert, Byron Merritt, Kim Herbert, Thomas Tull, Jon Spaihts, Richard P. Rubinstein, John Harrison and Herbert W. Gain serving as executive producers and Kevin J. Anderson as creative consultant. In March 2018, Villeneuve stated that his goal was to adapt the novel into a two-part film series. Villeneuve ultimately secured a two-movie deal with Warner Bros. Pictures, in the same style as the two-part adaptation of Stephen King's It. However, all subsequent dealings were to secure the production of the first film, and new production deals will need to be made to start production for the second film. Villeneuve to make it the Star Wars he never saw. In an interview, he explained that most of the main ideas of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) came from Dune so it will be a challenge to tackle this project. In April, Roth was hired to pen the adaptation with Villeneuve, and Spaihts was later confirmed to pen the adaptation with Roth and Villeneuve. In adapting the book written in the 1960s for the 21st century, Villeneuve wanted to reflect on realities that have happened related to overexploitation of the Earth. Other changes included altering some of the arcs of the female characters in the book. Lady Jessica was given an expanded role as a soldier as well as being part of the Bene Gesserit. The studio labelled this role a "warrior priestess", in contrast to the joking label of "space nun" that Villeneuve felt the book gave across. Villeneuve also wanted to move the Baron Vladimir Harkonnen from being a caricature as he was presented in the novel to a more complex antagonist. In May 2018, Villeneuve said that the first draft of the script had been finished. By July 2018, Brian Herbert confirmed that the latest draft of the screenplay covered "approximately half of the novel Dune." In April 2019, Legendary CEO Joshua Grode confirmed that they plan to make a sequel. Also, Game of Thrones language creator David Peterson was confirmed to be developing languages for the film.

By late March, Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, David Dastmalchian, Chang Chen, Duncan-Brewster, Charlotte Rampling, Jason Momoa, and Javier Bardem were cast. In July, it was reported that the film would "gender swap" the character Liet-Kynes by casting Duncan-Brewster in the role. According to Duncan-Brewster, Villeneuve felt it was necessary to capture the essence of the character from the book, but was not necessary to remain consistent with all other facets, and thus opted for this change. Also, this was to help expand the cast's diversity. By late March, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late July. Filming took place at the Origo Film Studios in Budapest, Hungary; Wadi Rum, Jordan; Stadlandet, Norway, and Liwa Oasis, United Arab Emirates. The film was shot for the IMAX format with an IMAX-certified Arri Alexa LF camera and an IMAX-certified Alexa Mini LF prototype, equipped with Panavision's large-format lenses in the Ultra Vista and H-series line-up. In March, it was confirmed that Hans Zimmer would be scoring the film near the start of its production. At the time, Zimmer had been approached by Christopher Nolan for composing Tenet (2020), but Zimmer opted for Dune—citing his personal love for the book as the reason. The film was originally scheduled for a November 20, 2020 release date, but was pushed back to December 18, 2020. However, the film was then delayed to October 1, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In early December 2020, it was announced the studio's entire 2021 film line-up, including Dune, would see a simultaneous theatrical release and a one-month limited release on the streaming service. Like all 2021 Warner Bros. films, the film will be streamed simultaneously on HBO Max for a period of one month. The film will then be removed from the service and follow the normal home media release schedule. Villeneuve was one of several directors, alongside movie theater chains and production companies (including Legendary Entertainment, which financed 75% of the film), who expressed disappointment and displeasure over the move. In late June 2021, Warner Bros. once again delayed the film's American release date again by three weeks to October 22, 2021, to avoid competition with No Time to Die (2021).

The cast, skilfully chosen and directed with intelligence, performed as a polished unit. Paul, as portrayed by Chalamet with a career-making and career-defining performance, is one of cinema's most fascinatingly complex characters. Whatever Paul is, he makes an intriguing subject for dramatization. In the role, Chalamet is most effective in conveying the many facets of the man's personality. Chalamet makes an effective Paul, his skills putting much shading into a many-sided and contradictory character, and his support from an impressive cast is uniformly excellent. The supporting cast can only be described as unbeatable. The performances given, by Ferguson as Lady Jessica, Isaac as Duke Leto, Brolin as Gurney Halleck, Skarsgård as Baron Harkonnen, Bautista as Glossu Rabban, Henderson as Thufir Hawat, Zendaya as Chai, Dastmalchian as Piter De Vries, Chen as Dr. Wellington Yueh, Duncan-Brewster as Dr. Liet-Kynes, Rampling as Gaius Helen Mohiam, Momoa as Duncan Idaho, and Bardem as Stilgar, are all outstanding pieces of acting.

Villeneuve does the impossible: he makes a faithful, magical, thrilling, and-most importantly-compelling film version of Herbert's seminal science-fiction epic classic. A grand old-fashioned entertainment and an undeniable technical achievement with its breath-taking scenery, epic score & gorgeous cinematography. All in all, I would definitely say that Villeneuve and his talented associates have done an incredible job with an almost impossible subject.

Simon says Dune (2021) receives:

Also, see my review for IMAX Presents: An Exclusive Look At Dune.

Film Review: "The Four of Us" ("Du Sie Er & Wir") (2021).

From Germany and Netflix comes The Four of Us (Du Sie Er & Wir). This German comedy drama film directed by Florian Gottschick, and written by Gottschick and Florian von Bornstädt. Following a partner swap experiment — with a "no sex" rule — four friends reunite at a beach house to face the unexpected fallout together.

By late November 2020, Nilam Farooq, Paula Kalenberg, Jonas Nay, and Louis Nitsche were cast in as German comedy drama film penned by Gottschick and von Bornstädt, and to be directed by Gottschick. A the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late December. Filming took place in Tetenbüll, Schleswig-Holstein, and Hamburg, Germany.

The film stars Farooq, Kalenberg, Nay, and Nitsche. The entire enterprise plays as workshopped, checkboxed and algorithm-assisted. But let's not lean into German stereotypes, even if the filmmakers and cast do. But the performances are sparkling, sharp and rounded. Each star is beautifully cast.

Partner-swapping may be a catchy concept to start with, but the film simply isn't sexy enough, nor does it have enough post-coital emotional resonance to maintain interest over its eighty-eight minute running time. Even with lots of shagging and some hilariously cringe-making moments, the climax ironically comes much too soon and leaves the viewer feeling frustrated rather than satisfied. This Modest-budget German film fails to ignite, held back by rudimentary production values and bland characters. The film is successfully constructed so that the many forced elements of this generally unlikely story fall together in an emotionally true and persuasive way. It is another product of the industry's blngeworhty content Movies, aimed at the deprived, indigent and needy who find they can peep better in the dark than in sunlight. The comedy peaks infrequently, and even as our laughter begins to subside, the director has started moving us further away from even funnier moments. The film will disturb you. It will also make you laugh. It may make you think about your own marriage. How can you ask more from a social satire? With a gross touch which wavers between bedroom farce and satire, a picture called The Four of Us exploits the sexual revolution's arrival in the middle class. What Gottschick and von Bornstädt obviously had in mind was a sophisticated, controversial comedy, but their work suggests that sex is too important to be left to Hollywood. When Germany and Netflix decides to devote its full arsenal of production-value shlockerai to bring to cinematic life a cheat-and-tell tale of two young couples, full of sexual fury signifying nothing, it comes up with this film. It strings together a series of funny skits, some of them dragged out way too long, allows us to pussy-foot along the edge of the serious issues but never really takes the plunge. Evidences considerable talent and cleverness on the part of the producing-writing-directing team of Gottschick and von Bornstädt, the film itself remains a slick and conventional comedy whose antecedents lie closer to Tashlin than Lubitsch.

Simon says The Four of Us (Du Sie Er & Wir) receives:

Film Review: "Halloween Kills" (2021).

"Evil dies tonight" in Halloween Kills. This slasher film directed by David Gordon Green, written by Green, Danny McBride and Scott Teems, and based on the characters by John Carpenter and Debra Hill. It is the sequel to 2018's Halloween and the twelfth installment in the Halloween franchise. An injured Laurie Strode inspires a vigilante mob to hunt down unstoppable killer Michael Myers and end his reign of terror once and for all.

In June 2018, McBride confirmed that he and Green had originally intended to pitch two films that would be shot back-to-back, and then decided against it, waiting to see the reaction to the first film. By October, after the film's opening weekend, McBride confirmed that early development on a sequel had begun. In February 2019, it was confirmed that Teems was hired to pen the sequel with McBride and Green. In June, it was reported that a sequel would begin filming in September, with Green returning to co-write and direct with Curtis, Greer, and Matichak reprising their roles. By late July, Will Patton, Nick Castle, James Jude Courtney, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens, Charles Cyphers, Dylan Arnold and Omar Dorsey were confirmed to reprise their roles. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in early November. Filming took place in Wilmington, North Carolina. Also, Universal Pictures revealed the titles and release dates of two sequels were announced: Halloween Kills, set to be released on October 16, 2020, and Halloween Ends, set to be released on October 15, 2021. Green will direct and co-write both sequels with McBride, and Curtis will reprise her role for both sequels. Teems was confirmed as a co-writer for Halloween Kills, while Paul Brad Logan and Chris Bernier were announced as co-writers of Halloween Ends. In late August, it was announced that Anthony Michael Hall would join the cast as Tommy Doyle, a character portrayed by Brian Andrews in the original Halloween film. Paul Rudd, who played Doyle in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995), was approached to reprise his role, but declined as he was unavailable due to his commitments to Ghostbusters: Afterlife. The film was originally scheduled for an October 16, 2020 release date, but in July 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was delayed to October 15, 2021. In early September 2021, it was announced that in addition to being released in theaters the film would also be streamed on paid tiers of Peacock for sixty days.

The film stars Curtis, Greer, Matichak, Patton, Castle, Courtney, Richards, Stephens, Cyphers, Arnold and Dorsey, reprising their roles, with Hall as a newcomer. Despite the strong performances given by the cast, the characterisations are fairly routine and under-developed, and Curtis has too little to do this time round.

Despite being far bloodier than 2018's Halloween, the suspense generated by the Green/McBride screenplay, which begins with the end of its predecessor, builds nerve wrackingly to a lacklustre middle chapter that is a retread of its far superior predecessor and 1981's Halloween II.

Simon says Halloween Kills receives:

Also, see my review for Halloween (2018).

Series Review: "What Happened, Brittany Murphy?" (2021).

"Her life beyond the headlines". This is What Happened, Brittany Murphy? This documentary series directed by Cynthia Hill. The series is an intimate, in-depth character portrait of the actress, going beyond the headlines to explore the mysterious circumstances surrounding her tragic death at thirty two years old. A captivating actor as effervescent on-screen as she was off, Murphy was a rising star whose movies helped define a generation. But in 2009, Murphy’s untimely passing ended her promising career, while the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death quickly became fodder for speculation and conspiracy theories. Featuring new archival footage and interviews with those closest to her, the series goes beyond the tabloid rumors to examine the impact of Hollywood’s sexism on her struggles, as well as lingering concerns about her relationship with husband Simon Monjack. Sensitive and nuanced, the docuseries explores the legacy of a unique talent.

On November 10, 1977, the American actress and singer was born. Since childhood, Murphy pursued a career in acting and ultimately moved to Los Angeles in her teens. Her breakthrough role was in Clueless (1995), followed by supporting roles in independent films such as Freeway (1996) and Bongwater (1998). She made her stage debut in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge (1997) before appearing in Girl, Interrupted (1999) and in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999). In the 2000s, Murphy appeared in Don't Say a Word (2001) and 8 Mile (2002), for which she gained critical recognition. Her later roles included Riding in Cars with Boys (2001), Spun (2002), Just Married (2003), Uptown Girls (2003), Sin City (2005), and Happy Feet (2006). Murphy also provided her voice talent on the animated television series King of the Hill (1997–2010). Her final film was Something Wicked (2014). On December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical request" at the Los Angeles home Murphy and her husband, Simon Monjack, shared. She had apparently collapsed in a bathroom. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she died after going into cardiac arrest. An autopsy was performed the day after she died. In February 2010, the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office issued a report that the manner of death was accidental and that the cause of death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of severe iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. In late December, Murphy was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills. Five months later, on May 23, Monjack was found dead at the same Hollywood Hills residence and his cause of death was eerily similar to Murphy's, according to the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office.

The series is beautifully shot and structured so uniquely that it almost feels like an actual suspense/thriller movie rather than a documentary. Certainly interesting, but there are moments when it feels like the series is dangerously close to giving into sensationalism. The series fails to illuminate much about the circumstances around Murphy's death, even if the story itself may be familiar to many across the globe.

Simon says What Happened, Brittany Murphy? receives:

Film Review: "The Velvet Underground" (2021).

From the director of Far from Heaven and Dark Waters comes The Velvet Underground. This documentary film co-produced and directed by Todd Haynes. This hypnotic new documentary and the first major film to tell the band’s legendary story. The Velvet Underground created a new sound that changed the world of music, cementing its place as one of rock and roll’s most revered bands. This kaleidoscopic oral history combines exclusive interviews with dazzling archival footage.

In 1964, the American rock band, The Velvet Underground, was formed. Their integration of rock and the avant-garde achieved little commercial success during the group's existence, but they are now recognized as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. The group's provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and often nihilistic attitudes also proved influential in the development of punk rock and new wave music. In 1965, the group settled on the name The Velvet Underground after they performed under a number of names. In 1966, pop artist Andy Warhol became their manager and they served as the house band at Warhol's "the Factory" and Warhol's traveling multimedia show, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. In 1967, their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico was released to critical indifference and poor sales but has since drawn wide acclaim. They released three more albums in 1968, 1969 and 1970, with none performing up to the expectations of record labels or of Lou Reed, the band's leader. In the early 1970s, the group functionally disbanded as everyone except Doug Yule left the band. In 1973, an abortive UK tour with Yule as the band leader and with new musicians followed, and a final album released in the band's name, Squeeze (1973) marked the end of the band for some time. All of the members continued to collaborate on each other's solo work throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and a retrospective "rarities" album, VU, was released in 1985. In the early 1990s, a full reunion of the band came, and releasing a live album from the tour, Live MCMXCIII. In 1995, after Sterling Morrison's death, the remaining three members played together for a single performance at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 1996, the last time the band performed together musically. In 2004, the Velvet Underground were ranked number 19 on Rolling Stone's list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". In 2017, a study of AllMusic's catalog indicated the group as the fifth most frequently cited artist influence in its database.

Haynes' sublime documentary serves as an awesome crash course on the underappreciated titular rock band and what made their music so revolutionary (at times, to the mainstream chagrin). This film is a gift for Velvet Underground fans. But while I like one or two of their songs, I couldn't take a whole album. The biographical sections and interviews with the members and others were engaging. It's the kind of film that makes us want to revisit all of the band's songs and just get lost in them all over again.

Simon says The Velvet Underground receives:

Also, see my review for Dark Waters.

Series Review: "The Billion Dollar Code" (2021).

"History tried to erase" in The Billion Dollar Code. This German television miniseries directed by Robert Thalheim and written by Oliver Ziegenbalg. No one knows this story. In Berlin in the 90s, two friends, Carsten and Juri, create Terra Vision, something that seemed impossible at the time: the precursor to Google Earth. Twenty-five years later, the German computer nerds are facing the global corporation in court.

Developed in 1993 by the German company ART+COM, the 3D mapping software, Terravision, is a networked virtual representation of the earth based on satellite images, aerial shots, altitude data and architectural data collected. The project was realized by Joachim Sauter, Pavel Mayer, Axel Schmidt, Gerd Grueneis, Dirk Luesebrink, Hendrik Tramberend and Steffen Meschkat using Onyx Computers developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. Because Terravision was the first system to provide a seamless web navigation and visualization of the earth in a massively large spatial data environment, Joachim Sauter called it a prequel to Google Earth. It was developed originally as an art project in Berlin, a collective of artists and computer hackers, some from the Chaos Computer Club. In 1994, it was filed as a patent entitled Method and Device for Pictorial Representation of Space-related Data. It was presented, then named it T_Vision, at the International Telecommunication Union Plenipotentiary Conference in Kyoto on twin monitors of a RealityEngine by Silicon Graphics. An image of the earth in space on a five-foot television screen could be spun by a large trackball beside it. T_Vision was shown one month later to the public for the first time at the Interactive Media Festival in the Variety Arts Center, Los Angeles, winning the judge's $5,000 prize. In 1995, then Deutsche Post (now Deutsche Telekom) approached Art+Com searching for high-end applications for its high-speed VBN network. In 2001, Google Earth was released. By 2006, Art+Com emailed Google about Terravision. Google chief technology officer Michael Jones visited to discuss licensing and Michelle Lee, then a Google lawyer, showed interest in the patent. However Art+Com did not accept the offer, and in 2010 reissued its patent, asking Google to get a license under their patent. When this did not occur, Art+Com filed a lawsuit against Google in February 2014 for patent infringement, seeking US$100 million. In May 2016, the jury of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware found, that a Stanford Research Institute (SRI) geographical visualization system known as "SRI TerraVision" was used earlier than Terravision. In October 2017, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that decision and invalidated Art+Com's patent.

The series stars Mišel Matičević, Mark Waschke, and Björn Freiberg. The performances of Matičević as Juri Müller and Waschke as Carsten Schlüter are award-worthy.

A perfectly poignant and cautionary tale about how the biggest influencers in tech began and continue to operate today. It captures the essence of selfishness and treachery, all under the guise of creating a system geared toward making it easier for people to get around places. And sure enough, in the end, just about everybody gets screwed.

Simon says The Billion Dollar Code receives:

Series Review: "Colonia Dignidad: Eine deutsche Sekte in Chile" ("Colonia Dignidad: A Sinister Sect") (2021).

From Netflix and Germany comes Colonia Dignidad: Eine deutsche Sekte in Chile (Colonia Dignidad: A Sinister Sect). This documentary series written and directed by Annette Baumeister and Wilfried Huismann. A colony of German Christians with a charismatic and manipulative leader establishes itself in Chile and becomes instrumental to the dictatorship.

Established in post-World War II Chile by emigrant Germans, Colonia Dignidad ("Dignity Colony") was an isolated colony of Germans which became notorious for the internment, torture, and murder of dissidents during the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s while under the leadership of German emigrant preacher Paul Schäfer. Colonia Dignidad has been described as a "state within a state". Schäfer and members of the colony were deeply religious and followed the teachings of William Branham. The main legal economic activity of the colony was agriculture; at various periods it also was home to a school, a hospital, two airstrips, a restaurant, and a power station. In 1961, Colonia Dignidad's longest continuous leader, Schäfer, arrived in the colony. Schäfer was a fugitive, accused of child molestation in West Germany. The organization he led in Chile was described, alternatively, as a cult or as a group of "harmless eccentrics". The organization was secretive, and the Colonia was surrounded by barbed wire fences, featured a watchtower and searchlights, and was later reported to contain secret weapon caches. External investigations, including efforts by the Chilean government, uncovered a history of criminal activity in the enclave, including child sexual abuse. Reports from Chile's National Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, indicate that a small set of the many individuals abducted by Pinochet's Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional during his rule were held as prisoners at Colonia Dignidad, most of whom were subjected to torture, and often to extrajudicial execution as well. Several members of Colonia's leadership of the time, including Schäfer, were participants in the atrocities. In 1991, the name of the settlement was changed to Villa Baviera. After Schäfer fled to Argentina in 1996 to escape child molestation charges in Chile, control over residents loosened. Residents of the colony are now free to leave, and the site is open for tourism.

Worth the watch because it sheds a beam of light on a very strange corner of Chilean history that would otherwise become a blip on the radar. But after it's all said and done, it also has the ability to reveal something about the viewer. Rather than sitting on the edge of my seat, I became comfortable in its story beats and with its rhythmic editing. I found myself going days between episodes because my attention kept slipping. Propelled by ample vintage video footage from local and national news covering the situation at the time, the documentary also benefits from contemporary interviews. Forget all the click-baity reviews dubbing the series a "German cult doc" - the truth is far more complicated and fascinating than a group of Germans and Chileans living on a commune.

Simon says Colonia Dignidad: Eine deutsche Sekte in Chile (Colonia Dignidad: A Sinister Sect) receives:

Film Review: "The Many Saints of Newark" (2021).

This is "a Sopranos story". This is The Many Saints of Newark. This crime drama film directed by Alan Taylor and written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner. it is a prequel to Chase's HBO crime drama series The Sopranos (1999-2007). Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark’s history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters begin to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family’s hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities—and whose influence over his nephew will help make the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss we’ll later come to know: Tony Soprano.

Following the release of The Sopranos, Chase was suggested by Oz creator Tom Fontana to write a film centered on Tony Soprano's father Giovanni "Johnny Boy" Soprano set in the 1930s or 1940s. However, the idea eventually fell off due to Chase's lack of interest. In June 2017, Chase ruled out the idea of continuing The Sopranos story, while simultaneously expressing an interest in a prequel to the series. In March 2018, New Line Cinema announced that it purchased the rights to produce the film along with HBO Films, with Chase co-writing the screenplay with Lawrence Konner. In July, Taylor, who directed several episodes of The Sopranos, was hired to direct the film. By early April 2019, Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Ray Liotta, Billy Magnussen, John Magaro, Michael Imperioli, Joey Diaz, Kathryn Kates, Nick Vallelonga and Michael Gandolfini were cast. At the same time, with a budget of $50 million, principal photography commenced and wrapped in wrapped in June. Filming took place in Bloomfield, Hasbrouck Heights, Highlands, Passaic, Paterson and Newark, New Jersey, as well as Bronx, Nyack and Yonkers, New York, USA. The film was originally scheduled for a September 25, 2020 release date; however, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on theaters and the film industry, its release date was rescheduled to March 12, 2021. It was then delayed again to September 24, 2021, so it could premiere on the film festival circuit and better position itself as an awards contender, before later moving to October 1. The film was simultaneously released in theaters and on HBO Max (for a limited period of thirty-one days), as part of the 2021 Warner Bros. film release schedule plans.

Despite the terrific performances by the cast, the film mainly provides a showcase for Michael Gandolfini in the role that his late father inhabited. Despite not being free of expectations, he really gets to show off what he can do as an actor. Bravo to him.

The film is a good two-hour episode of the show. It works perfectly as a prequel (in every sense of the word) to Tony Sopranos dramatic rise and at no point does it clash with the canon from which it emerges.

Simon says The Many Saints of Newark receives:

Also, see my review for Terminator Genysis.