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Pete Wolf's avatar

Nice. The obvious gen X part is the last sentences, like "stop worrying and leave everything to someone — or something — that knows better". See where that took us. Btw, while on recent movies that are the epitomy of just that X-bit, try the triptych Paterson (2016), Fallen Leaves (2023) and Perfect Days (2023). Maybe worth a piece here.

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Tobias Sturt's avatar

Thank you. Of course, that wasn't the last sentence originally, I had a whole other conclusion, but Rowan quite rightly pointed out that that was the correct ending. And definitely have the Kaurismaki and Wenders on the watch list, but I'd forgotten about that Adam Driver Jarmusch one. I'll give it a look, thank you

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Lou Tilsley's avatar

I *was* expecting a piece on Back to the Future and have now read and digested that too. Thank you!

I’ve yet to watch Severance so I’ve skim read some of this to come back to later. It seems to me though that most dystopian tales need to be backward looking (at least in the modern day) because they have to reflect the loss of something but I like this take on it as a metaphor for bureaucracy. I also loved the etymology/entomology word play on computer bugs!

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Tobias Sturt's avatar

Thank you! I have to say I was entirely too pleased with the etymology/entomology joke myself.

Severance is pretty good, although it took a few episodes to properly bite. I enjoyed Loki a lot more than I expected too, I must admit.

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Hayley Dunlop's avatar

Adore this. Another recent piece of fiction that strips away technology from an otherwise seemingly modern world is the film Fingernails on AppleTV+. It's still a story about control, but in a micro sense (individual personal relationships) rather than in a macro, societal sense. I love it.

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Tobias Sturt's avatar

Oh! Now I go and look at it, I realise that I saw a trailer for Fingernails and was already intrigued. I shall add it to the watch list for sure, thank you

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Jacqueline W's avatar

Very good, but at the risk of being pedantic I would say 80s computer systems weren't really often called "master slave" (that terminology was/is used, but at a different level - below user level - for describing more automated interactions). They /were/ often called "dumb terminals" or server-client systems

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Tobias Sturt's avatar

Yes, I was slightly wary of invoking the 'master / slave' thing at all for those reasons, but the symbolism was too tempting. Quite right to call me on it, thank you

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Tess Dixon's avatar

Masterful. Brazil is one of my faves and you've just inspired a rewatch.

I also love the overlapping / adjacent genre, Films Where The Main Character Is Trying to Escape From a Futuristic Society (think THX 1138, Logan's Run, etc.).

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