Latest news with #BlackMirror's'
Tom's Guide
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
My favorite Netflix sci-fi anthology series is back — and it's not ‘Black Mirror'
If I asked you to name a Netflix original sci-fi anthology show, there's a good chance your mind would go straight to 'Black Mirror.' But for me, the top contender in this (admittedly pretty niche) area is 'Love, Death and Robots.' Debuting in 2019, the show now spans 45 episodes (with runtimes that range from merely a few minutes to around 20), so if you've yet to discover the bizarre joys of this Tim Miller-created show, you've got plenty of chapters to keep you entertained, and maybe a little disturbed. 'Love, Death and Robots' season 4 debuted earlier this week (on May 15), and it's already looking like a prime candidate for the best Netflix show you're currently not watching. While 'Black Mirror's' most recent season went straight to No. 1 last month, more than 24 hours post-launch, and 'Love, Death and Robots' (often referred to as 'LDR') has yet to even rank in the top 10. That's a real shame, because while 'Love, Death and Robot' can be characterized as uneven, a common issue with anthology series, when it's firing on all cylinders, it offers unique explorations of sci-fi, fantasy and horror, and is like nothing else on Netflix. The fourth season of the (typically) animated anthology show offers 10 new installments, and these run the gamut from surrealist comedy to chilling nightmare-fuel. This season, there's even a string puppet concert that returns director David Fincher to his music video roots. Yup, the first episode, 'Can't Stop,' is a Red Hot Chili Peppers gig with a real twist: The entire band has been transformed into string puppets, and dance around the stage like otherworldly Pinocchios. It's pretty awesome, and I'm not even a huge Chili Peppers fan. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. That's just the start of the eccentric mix of shorts within 'Love, Death and Robots' season 4, another sees an alien apocalypse play out in miniature form, while one presents interviews with household appliances in the style of beloved Aardman classic 'Creature Comforts.' There's even a rare live-action outing for the series, in 'Golgotha,' a 10-minute short that sees a vicar (Rhys Darby) encounter an alien race that believes a dolphin to be their messiah. Plus, for longtime viewers, the third installment sees a return to a fan-favorite universe. Because (almost all) episodes are standalone, you can totally dive into 'Love, Death and Robots' at this junction. It's very much a series where you can pick and choose the concepts that appeal most to you, or you can make your selections based on fan episode rankings. Which isn't to say the full season isn't worth watching. While it does have its peaks and valleys (the Chili Peppers episode has proved less popular with viewers), overall, 'Love, Death and Robots' season 4 holds a perfect 100% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. One of my favorite things about 'Love, Death and Robots' has always been that it's the perfect palate cleanser in between longer watches. With episodes that can last only a few minutes, it's great for a quick fix of sci-fi creativity or when you have a little time to fill. If you've never seen the show, you've got plenty of worthwhile episodes to get caught up on, and for longtime fans, 'Love, Death and Robots' season 4 continues to carry the show's offbeat but compelling torch. Stream 'Love, Death and Robots' on Netflix now
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Black Mirror' used to feel like a distant dystopian future. Now we're living in it.
In the first episode of 'Black Mirror's' recently debuted seventh season, Amanda and Mike, played by Rashida Jones and Chris O'Dowd, are an enviably in love couple with a simple, happy life. But when Amanda passes out while teaching her elementary-aged students a lesson on solar panels, we learn she has an inoperable brain tumor. Later, in a hospital waiting room, an immutably serene saleswoman played by Tracee Ellis Ross meets with Mike and offers to 'give him time' with a new product by a company called RiverMind. The technology is simple, she explains, gesturing to an iPad: We 'take an imprint of the affected part of [Amanda's] neural structure and we clone it onto our mainframe […] a backup of part of her brain onto our computer.' I remember watching the first season of 'Black Mirror' in 2011 when it debuted with just three episodes. The stories were thought-provoking and alarming, the sort of speculative dystopian fiction that generates good conversation and makes you hope desperately for a different kind of future. Six seasons and well over a decade later, this episode, called 'Common Place,' is a salient indication that we are now squarely in the future we hoped would never come. Like all techno-dystopic episodes of 'Black Mirror,' the narrative takes aim at how technology exposes and exploits our society's ills, starting with the constantly moving goal post that is paying for streaming services. First, Amanda and Mike are promised a free surgery and the 'less than you think' monthly fee of $300. For Amanda and Mike, very intentionally depicted as industrious members of the working class, that $300 is just nearly too much. And of course, expensive and necessary upgrades are coming. Soon, the couple must pay more, much more, to prevent Amanda from verbalizing 'contextually relevant' advertisements. We watch as she enters something of a fugue state and begins shilling products in the middle of teaching a lesson, morning coffee and sex. A baby, they learn to their horror, will be an additional $90 a month. It's interesting that "Black Mirror" would so conspicuously critique the payment model used by Netflix, the streaming giant that pays the show creator's bills (and it feels worth noting that in January Netflix raised the cost of its streaming plans and added an ad-supported, cheaper tier.) But the bait-and-switch freemium model underscores the narrative's real concern: America's deeply flawed and profit-driven health care system. There are thousands, probably tens of thousands, of active GoFundMe campaigns raising money for medical emergencies right now. Media coverage of these fundraising efforts is often positive: highlighting the kindness and altruism people so often rely on as the only way to get a lifesaving surgery or medication. And viral appeal is critical. If your story is heart-wrenching, if your blurb is funny or poignant, and if your family is beautiful, chances are you'll get a little bit more. Of course, GoFundMe is for-profit and charges a transaction fee of 2.9% and $0.30 per donation. In 'Common People,' Mike doesn't turn to crowdsourcing to raise money for Amanda's RiverMind subscription, but to a fictional social media platform called Dum Dummies. Dum Dummies allows users to pay so-called creators to complete certain tasks live onscreen. The tasks, as you can imagine, are dark, degrading and often physical. We watch Mike earn just $90 on Dum Dummies by closing his tongue in a mousetrap. It gets worse from there. 'Common People' watches like a vintage "Black Mirror" episode. It is thought-provoking, well acted, entertaining and, frankly, laborious. Yet, if you believe, like I do, that the critical role of dystopian storytelling is preparation for the worst-case scenario, then this episode has failed. There is nothing to prepare for, nothing to examine, nothing to stop, because that reality is already here. This article was originally published on
