Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Tyreece Hulme One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

darthfusion I watched this episode first by accident (due to how my Netflix was setup), and I liked it so much I watched another 2 episodes right away :PWithout getting into to too much detail, I think the episode was a perfect example of the shows synopsis: "An anthology series exploring a twisted, high-tech world where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide."Robert Daly possesses the ability to do some remarkable things with the "innovative" tech that he has created, and he has gone one step further with his personal iteration of the tech. It would appear that his version was originally designed as a way to "get away" from the real world, but eventually evolved into a separate reality where he has taken on a bit of a god complex, and that is where his "darker instinct" shines through with those who don't play by the rules.(Sidenote, perhaps if he worked with the crew to enjoy the experience, they might have actually got into it to...)

darnthatdream I have an idea for another "Black Mirror" Episode: some kind of device will allow people somehow to enter some kind of virtual reality and in the end they will be trapped in hell for all eternity. Also, behind all this is some kind of genius mastermind, who only gets away with it, if he had 'good' intentions.This BM-episode is one of the better ones I watched. It was entertaining in the beginning, mostly due to the spoof factor and the iconic scenery, but eventually lacked in logic, interesting details, ideas and performances and became stale and boring. One of the most unrealistic factors of the whole story and character portrayals is the fact, that Walton didn't just try and apologize to Robert earlier, even if he didn't mean the apology and just use it as a manipulation. It seemed to have had an immediate effect on Robert, so clearly he was portrayed as someone not completely shuttered towards dialogue and cathartic communication.

hnt_dnl Even though Seasons 3 and 4 of Black Mirror have been rightfully accused of being more mainstream due to the Netflix streaming and requiring a wider appeal to continue going, mainstream isn't always a bad thing, and there's no further proof of that than this premiere episode of Season 4 called USS CALLISTER, an infectiously entertaining episode that pulls off the amazing feat of being both hilariously funny and darkly terrifying all within the same scene in several moments in the episode. With the obvious parody of the original Star Trek 60s series, there's also an homage to the classic Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life".CALLISTER tells the tale of Robert Daly (superbly played by Jesse Plemons), a computer genius and CTO of a tiny startup company specializing in virtual reality gaming. Daly is an extreme pushover and introvert, allowing everyone in his company to walk all over him, even though he's the 2nd-in-command. The CEO is Walton (excellently played in scene-stealing fashion by Jimmi Simpson), who implores Robert to be more authoritative to his employees. Daly seems like he's about to crack his introverted shell when a new hire coding phenom Nanette Cole (solidly played by Cristin Milioti), who worships Daly because of his tech expertise. Daly develops an immediate attachment to Nanette, but like everyone else, she eventually shuns him due to word of mouth around the company. So Daly in his own way takes action against his insensitive office cohorts.CALLISTER, while very funny, also has several moments of surprising power, especially as embodied in the performances of Plemons and Simpson. Although she plays a large role and her character was believable as quirky hacking geek in the real world scenes, I don't think Milioti really stood out in the Callister gaming scenes. Her humor felt a bit forced, although not enough to really take me out of the story due to the pace being relentless. The supporting cast (Michaela Cole, Billy Magnussen, Milanka Brooks, Osy Ikhile, and Paul G. Raymond) is also wonderful and nails their parts. A really strong way to start off Season 4.

bob the moo The return of Black Mirror was greatly hyped of course, and as one who has watched since that first famous episode, I was happy to see Brooker doing well, even if it cost us Screenwipe 2017 due to his workload. The first episode starts out within an episode of a Star Trek clone of sorts but then jumps to the real world where we find the 'captain' is also the CTO of an online virtual gaming company. The USS Callister is his personal offline version of that game, where he has characters based on people he knows in the real world.In the spirit of the show, there is an element of the real word within this episode. Specifically the idea of people within online games using them as a place to vent frustrations and limitations within the real world. This is me being a bit generous though, because that link to the real that would make it chilling is a bit weaker here, Instead we are held within the detail of the plot - the characters inside the game and their efforts to escape. In this way it is a perfectly fine episode with some drama, urgency, comedy, and a conclusion. Perfectly fine - but not more. What limits it is that the smartness is not there to the degree I'd like. The plot holes in the writing are distracting in their presence. I'm not picking some small technical detail but rather the way things happen (like the fate of the main character) don't have any base, and seem just like good things to happen which were written backwards. Speaking of the writing, I do think the lack of real link to the real world of today hurts it; I am kind in my link to online trolling because there is not that impact to something we know - which is the type of commentary that I followed in Brooker when he wrote in the Guardian, and in other BM episodes.The production standards are high, and the cast is impressive (with Fargo and Breaking Bad written large across several of them, as well as many other well-known faces). It is a perfectly fine episode, with plenty to make it entertaining, but the writing doesn't manage to find that Black Mirror gut-punch or connection that it has so often managed to do. It is disappointing from that standpoint, but still fine as a piece of television.