Short Story: Server

I've been sorting through some of the short stories in my folders of late, and submitting some to literary magazines to see if I can get any published.  I had this story among them; it was a short little ditty I had:  a sort of messed-up premise with a messed-up setting that I thought was compelling enough. 

The reason why I'm putting it here on my blog and not submitting it for publication is that I think it has the potential to be something bigger - maybe a novella or full-length book.  The biggest potential I see is that there can be more to the characters (I never explain what Li does for a living, and after all this there's plenty of directions this can go), and there's more to the whole thing that can be fleshed out better (I hope you'll catch on that the "service providers" are gangstas, but I probably should explain more about their operations, who runs it all, and how Li becomes involved).  On top of that, I may have to change some names around (Binju might be an actual city name already; I wound up using Aezu in another story).

As it is, this is more like a demo for a larger story.  Feel free to check it out; it could be a glimpse of a much broader cyberpunk crime thriller with some intriguing potential.
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    As Li Varakai crossed the threshold and treaded into Space 5x303, he felt his feet pressing on cool, dew-laden blades of grass.  The air was warm and humid, with a gently balmy breeze sweeping across the field.  It was quiet, save for the soft trickling of water nearby.  Beneath a blue sky with bright orange and pink clouds, Li could see the ocean in the distance.  Turning around, he faced a mountain with towering rocks.  Hot steam wafted around the mountains, as a telltale sign that there were hot springs all around it.
    Moving toward the mountain, Li walked through the hazy steam.  There was a warm pool at the base of the rocks.  As expected, Li found the girl he loved the most there.  Her name was Aezu; she was young, skinny, and petite.  Resting in the water, Aezu’s tanned skin was rendered smoothly, and it glistened in the sun.  Her short black hair was plastered on her soft round cheeks.
    Regarding him with her hazel-colored eyes, Aezu smiled warmly, flashing her perfect white teeth.  Entering the pool, Li immersed himself in the hot water.  It made his skin tingle.  It tingled even more when Aezu grasped his arms and pulled herself closer.
    Suddenly, Li tasted her lips moving across his.  He felt her skin pressing and sliding on his.  Feeling excited and aroused, Li’s hands stroked Aezu’s whole body, and gently tugged away at the lightweight strings that held up her bikini.  As enthralled as he was, he yearned to take Aezu’s beautiful, naked body and devote every inch of his essence to her.  He never wanted to leave her embrace.  If he had things his way, Li would never leave her.
    With the thoughts of making profound love flooding his mind, Li groped Aezu’s small, pert breasts.  He felt her wet kisses on his face, and he could smell her scent of flowery perfume.
    Then, she was gone.  Li was startled when he no longer felt Aezu’s body in his arms.  Then he noticed the glitches:  the water that flowed down the rocks stopped flowing, the grass of the surrounding landscape became pixilated, and the sky turned to strange colors.  All of the sound was cut out.  Li cursed, for he knew that the server running Space 5x303 was clearly malfunctioning.  It couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
    The entire island de-rezzed, leaving Li alone in a blank void.  Crossing the threshold, he left Space 5x303 behind.
    Opening his eyes, he beheld his true home once again.  His five-foot by eight-foot capsule apartment encased only his mattress.  The small shelves on his walls had just enough room for the neurological equipment that allowed him to connect to his favorite Space, and be with the girl he loved.  It took him months to save up the money for that equipment; the cost of renting the network bandwidth sucked up most of his paycheck every week.  His Space and his time with Aezu was all he wanted and cared about in his life; it irked Li to no end that his connection was interrupted.
    He took the time, squirming in his capsule to check his equipment.  All the lights were green, all the wires were securely connected, and all the network signals pinged back to him perfectly.  Whatever the problem was, it wasn’t on his end.
    Opening up the panel over his head, Li moved his scrawny fingers over the glowing desktop.  He twitted to his service provider, complaining about the issue in full.  A few uncertain moments later, he received a confirmation message.  There was nothing wrong with the network, according to them.  The problem must have been with the server that stored Aezu’s intelligence.
    Li was not deterred; he should have realized that the issue stemmed solely from the third party that supplied the Space service.  On top of his network fees, Li gave up a good chunk of his salary to rent Space 5x303.  He knew the company only by name:  Sun-Tsar Limited.  It took Li just a moment to pull up the company’s webpage and find its contact information.  He shot them an e-mail, and waited.
    The wait was long and agonizing.  Without the use of Space 5x303, Li had nothing to fill his time, much less the empty gaps in his life.  After spending thirty minutes waiting for a response and toying with the desktop games, he gave up and left the capsule.
    When Li slid the metal curtain open, the full stench of Binju City’s air hit him in full force.  It was the combined scent of smog, machine oil, burning electronics, and the body odor of the city’s ten million inhabitants.  Standing on the concrete floor, Li stood up in the hallway; the entire corridor was lined with rows and rows of other capsule homes.  There were fifty residents in this hallway alone; the building must have housed over fifty thousand.
    Having spent the last thirty hours in his capsule, Li’s legs were weak, and they wobbled uneasily as he strolled to the end of the corridor.  A door opened automatically for him, leading to the dimly-lit lobby.  There was a dirty glass wall in the middle of the lobby, where a series of vending machines stood and diligently provided sustenance.  A number of cheap tables and chairs were set up, where dozens of residents ate their manufactured meals.
    On the other side of the glass wall was the elevator.  Shuffling to the elevator, Li took it down to the building’s main entrance.  Exiting the apartment complex, he stepped onto the main street.  It seemed perpetually packed with hundreds of people moving along the sidewalks and cars constantly clogging the roads.  All of the city buildings stretched up to over two thousand feet in the air, forming an urban canyon that channeled all the traffic down its narrow streets.  As tall as the buildings were, and with all the bridges and highways far overhead, the lower levels of Binju City never saw any daylight.  Even in the city’s upper levels, smog and clouds obscured the sun; Li has never seen sunlight in person.
    As it was, he was comfortable in the dark confines of the city.  It was as comforting as his capsule.  The only source of discomfort for him were the crowds; even as he walked down the street, he hated having to brush so close to everyone else, smelling their odors and seeing their faces as they passed by.  Li was far more comfortable in his capsule with his neuro-sim setup, where he could have everything he ever wanted and needed without having to leave the building.  The longer he went without his neuro-sim hookup, the more agitated he felt.  It bothered him to no end, wondering what happened to his connection and what he could do about it.
    The only other thing he could think of was to meet the man who initially told him about the Spaces in the first place.  Just a few blocks down from his apartment building, he passed by a series of nightclubs.  Their walls glowed as electronic images flashed and danced on them, bathing the streets in colors.  Many of the pedestrians lined up at the clubs, waiting for entrance.  While they lined up, the deep, throbbing boom of loud electronic music filtered from the clubs and made the roads vibrate.
    Passing by the clubs, the streets became notably less crowded, and Li moved more fluidly down the sidewalk.  His legs felt stiff, but they weren’t as hindered as they used to be.  Turning down a narrow street, he reached his destination in short time.
    Li came to an apartment tower.  It was much more upscale than his building; these apartments had actual rooms and furnishings.  It even had a lobby with a desk and working clerks.  Walking across the lobby, Li took the elevator to the tenth floor and went straight to apartment 10099.  It occurred to him that the man he was looking for could be out; Li didn’t even know what the man did for a living.
    Decisively, Li knocked on the door and waited for a response.  A few short seconds later, the electromagnetic deadbolt unlocked, and the door swung open.  Li faced the very man he was looking for.   The overweight tenant – Fröde Schuzhen – looked down at Li with a sneer and stammered, “You…you’re that guy living in the pod, right? Li…Vykara, was it?”
    “Varakai,” Li dully corrected. “Do you remember that you told me about the Spaces?”
    “Yeah, so what?”
    “Mine cut out on me.  It must be a problem with the server.  I want to know where Sun-Tsar’s headquarters are.”
    “Are you kidding me? Do I look like a directory to you?”
    “You helped me get the contract with them.  You must know something, right?”
    “Look, you don’t just go strolling into Sun-Tsar’s turf! What do you think you’ll accomplish? What, do you think you can do their tech support or something? If they pulled one of their servers, they did so for a reason! You don’t go to them and f%*k around with their goods!”
    “What do I pay them for, if they can’t even maintain a good connection?” Li insisted.
    “You’re such a noob! Did you even read the contract before you signed up with them? Payment doesn’t guarantee connection!”
    “What’s it to you? Just tell me where to find them, and they can tell me all this in person.”
    “I’m doing this for your own protection, Varakai,” Fröde said, regarding Li with suspicious eyes. “What’s so important about your Space anyway? Don’t tell me this is all about a virtual woman!”
    “That’s none of your business.”
    “It’s none of yours either, idiot! V-girls are not real! Just do yourself a favor and get laid for real! It’ll save everybody a lot of trouble.”
    “It’ll save you trouble if you just tell me what I need to know.”
    “Whoa, what the f@#k is this? Are you threatening me? You’re just a scrawny punk! I could sit on you, flatten you like a sandwich, and eat you for breakfast!”
    “Try it, bastard.”
    Mumbling obscene curses, Fröde stepped through the doorway and balled his big meaty hand into a fist.  He swung and brought the fist down on Li’s head.
    In an instant, Li swung his body to the side, and Fröde’s fist sliced through the air beside his head.  Grabbing Fröde’s arm, Li pulled hard and yanked him downward.  Despite his size and stature, Li’s strength surprised Fröde.  With a gasp, Fröde found himself stumbling toward the ground; his body tumbled down and his head hit the pavement.  When he looked up at Li, Fröde felt blood trickling from a gash on his head.
    Reaching into his pocket, Li pulled out a syringe full of nanodrenaline.  Bringing the needle to his arm, Li warned, “You don’t want me to hurt you, do you?”
    Fröde knew all too well the consequences of nanodrenaline.  He realized that Li’s unnatural strength stemmed from his body’s tolerance toward the nanite-ridden drug.  With enough uses, Li’s body produced far more energy than that of a normal human being, and it allowed him to move faster and stronger using less nutrients.  If he injected nanodrenaline now, Li would have the strength to literally tear Fröde limb from limb.
    “You crazy nano-head!” Fröde cried. “Listen, I’ll tell you what you need to know.  Just put that s#!t away, will ya?”
    Li kept the needle in hand, but listened intently.  Fröde explained, “Sun-Tsar owns place, like a network hub, over in Kaiong-Odan District.  That’s where they keep all their servers at.  Problem is, it’s their headquarters, so the boss and all his men guard the place tight.  There’s no way you can sneak in, and there’s certainly no way you can expect to walk up to them and ask for their hardware.”
    “We’ll never know until we try,” Li remarked, walking away from Fröde.
    As Li continued on, Fröde shouted, “Are you crazy? Is this worth dying over?”
In his head, Li answered that it was worth living for.
    He knew exactly where Kaiong-Odan District was.  Taking the metro, it took only ten minutes to reach the dense industrial sector.  Coming out of the subway, Li stepped onto the street and beheld a tight road with tall metal walls extending up on either side.  Metal walkways, gantries, pipes, and wires criss-crossed each other overhead.  Dim streetlights provided just a faint amount of light.  The place smelled of oil, metal, and poisonous gas.
    Spotting the Sun-Tsar territory was easy for Li, since he understood what he was looking for.  Wandering down the cramped alleys, he saw a thug standing guard by a small doorway.  The man was clad in street clothes and he sported a pistol in his pants, but the cybernetic implants in his head gave away his affiliation.  The metal casing around the man’s skull had the Sun-Tsar markings imprinted on it.
    Approaching the man, Li demanded, “I need to speak to your boss.”
    “Beat it, punk,” the man sneered.
    “Let me in, or there will be trouble.”
    “You want trouble? I’ll give you trouble, you scrawny son of a-”
    As the thug pulled the gun out, Li suddenly grasped his hand and squeezed hard.  With a shout, the thug dropped the gun.  Li released him and bent down to pick up the gun, while the thug danced around and caressed his aching hand.
    Holding the pistol up at the goon, Li demanded, “Let me in now!”
    “You crazy fool! Fine! Just, hold on a minute.”
    The thug used his head implant to send a digital message to the others inside the building.  When it was done, the man nodded and said, “Okay, go in.  Just be cool:  the boss ain’t happy right now.”
    “That makes two of us,” Li muttered, shoving the man aside and stepping through the doorway.
    Inside, Li walked through a large room filled with racks of hardware.  There were hundreds of routers, switches, computers, and databanks that hummed softly and glowed with flashing blue and green lights.  Webs of cables were sprawled all around the room, connecting all of the devices to the local networks.  Despite the amount of hardware, it was a sloppy and messy arrangement.  Li always suspected, but now he was certain:  there was nothing professional about Sun-Tsar.  It was a small-time two-bit operation run by hoodlums.
    At the other end of the room, there was a staircase.  Li took the stairs to the next level, and entered the gang’s headquarters.  It was a spacious room, dark and filthy.  There was a couch facing a giant wall-sized TV, where a few thugs lounged with their drugs and liquor and laughed inanely at the screen.  Between Li and the couch was a table, where a pile of guns, drugs, and software chips were haphazardly arranged; a pair of goons stood nearby, cleaning pistols and staring at glowing data tablets.  In the corner of the room, there was a man in a chair with dozens of cables coming out of him.  He was tall, bald, muscular, and covered in colorful tattoos
    Rising from the chair, he disconnected all of the cables that were protruding from his arms, neck, and head.  Walking across the room, he faced Li and challenged with a scowl, “You got a lot of guts, coming to my place, interrupting my free time, and messing around with my men.  You better have something good for me, or I’ll be using your skull as a new breakfast bowl!”
    Undeterred by the boss’ threats, Li demanded, “Space 5x303:  I pay good money to use it.  It is mine.  It cut out on me recently, and I want it back.  If you can’t get it back online, I’ll gladly buy the server containing the Space from you.”
    The boss scoffed, “You’re kidding me, right? You come all this way and cause all this trouble just because you can’t get into your little piece of virtual heaven? What, you can’t stand being away from your Space for more than a few minutes? That’s not my problem, you pathetic rezz-head! You should have read our user agreement:  we can’t guarantee total connectivity, and you do not have exclusive rights to a given space! We can and will switch things up when we need to! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re not exactly a top-level company here!”
    One of the thugs held up his data tablet and explained, “Boss, Space 5x303 was the one we were going to transfer.”
    “Oh, so that’s the one with the girl,” the boss cried in realization. “That cute, sweet, small young thing.  Is that why you’re here?”
    “She’s all I have,” Li emphasized. “For the last three months I’ve signed up with this company, I’ve spent all my free time connected to the Space, so I can be with her.  She’s the only thing that makes my life worth living.  I need that Space! Without it, I have nothing!”
    “Dude…get a f$&king life! If that’s is all you have to live for, you know what that tells me? It tells me that you’re just some scumbag at the bottom of the food chain! Me and my boys here:  we got the real thing going on here.  If we want women, we get real women! If we want to live a good, meaningful life, we get wasted and party like there’s no tomorrow! And you know what else? We don’t plan on running this operation all that long; it’s just a stepping stone to even greater things.  I don’t want to run this rat-infested hole forever and deal with lowly pukes like you! I want to get out of this dump and live on the top level! I want to be able to walk into the high-roller clubs, shoot the s&*t with millionaires, and stuff my face with caviar and ten-thousand-dollar ice cream and s@#t! That’s just another difference between you and me:  I have ambitions, and that makes life worth living.  You don’t have any, so that tells me your life is worth jack s!*t!”
    Suddenly, the boss and the two thugs at the table grabbed guns and pointed them at Li.  The men at the couch watched them, but were too intoxicated to do much else.
    The boss threatened, “If I kill you, I’ll bet nobody would even notice you’re gone.”
    “Same goes for you:  you’re just the boss of a rat-infested low-level network hub.  I could take you down and nobody would ever notice you’re gone.  Look, all I want is the server.  Give it to me, and we can both walk away from this.”
    “Are you kidding me? Who do you think you are, coming in here and trying to steal my equipment? I’m the one with all the guns, idiot! You know what, f#*k this! Waste this rezz-head!”
    All three men brought their guns close to Li’s head.  Reacting, Li rushed forward and rammed himself into the boss.  Throwing the man against the table, Li dashed past him and vaulted over the couch.  Taking cover there, he pulled out the syringe of nanodrenaline.
    The two drunken thugs at the couch fled in confusion and panic, before the other two goons approached the couch and started pelting it with gunfire.  A score of bullets hit the couch, ripping holes in it and tossing up fluffy pieces of cotton and linen.  The constant roar of gunshots filled the room with ear-piercing noise.  Li watched as several bullets cut through couch completely, continuing past his body and hitting the floor and wall across from him.
    Without any further hesitation, Li injected the nanodrenaline into his arm.  As the nanites fused with his cells, they pumped energy to his mitochondria.  He felt more alert, more awake, and more powerful.
    Rushing into the couch, Li threw his arms up and tossed it in the air.  The couch flew up and rammed into the two thugs; they were knocked down and pinned to the floor.  Their weapons left their hands.  The third henchman was pushed by the flying furniture.  The boss stepped back in surprise.
    The one goon left standing scrambled for his gun on the floor.  Circling the couch, Li flanked the man and kicked him in the gut.  Li’s kick was strong enough to throw the man across the room.  He smashed against the wall with enough force to crack it.  With his spine fractured, the thug screamed in agony, as he fell to the floor and writhed in pain.
    Li kicked one of the men pinned down by the couch, before he could do anything else.  The blow knocked the man out cold; if Li had kicked any harder, he could have snapped his neck.
    Then, the boss raised his gun and squeezed the trigger.  As a stream of bullets exploded from the gun’s barrel, Li jumped out of the gun’s path.  All of the bullets sprayed the room randomly, striking at the couch, the TV, and all the computer equipment that was in the room.  Pieces of each item flew out in all directions.
    The boss swept his arm, bringing the gunfire to bear down on Li’s head.  Li watched as the gun barrel turned toward him, still emptying bullets in succession.  Each shot impacted the wall behind Li, forming a deadly line of smoldering bullet holes that crept toward him.
    Decisively, Li took five rapid steps toward the boss, and grabbed onto the gun’s casing.  He threw his foot out at the boss’ leg, hitting his knee and making it crack loudly.  While the boss staggered and shouted in pain, Li held up the gun with one hand, and threw his fist into it.  It was a strong enough punch to dent the metal and knock its components loose.  The gun’s ammo clip, firing pin, and part of its casing clattered to the floor uselessly.
    Tossing the damaged gun aside, Li loomed over the boss and demanded, “All I want is the server.”
    Cursing at Li, the boss cried, “You know what? You can take it! I don’t care! Just get out of here! It’s not worth killing me over!”
    “Yeah, it is worth it.  You don’t mess with me, and I’ll let you keep your poor, wretched life.  Tell me, where is it?”
    “The basement! There’s a whole bunch of server rooms, and they’re all marked.  You can’t miss it!”
    “Thanks,” Li muttered, before punching the boss in the head and knocking him out.
    Leaving the room, Li took the stairs down.  Passing by the equipment room that he came in from, he continued down into a dimly-lit basement.  It was warm and damp in the basement corridor; the walls were cracked and covered with grime and mold.  There were pipes and wires all along the ceiling, and they were slick with moisture.  On either side of the hall, there were dozens of doors, all marked with spray-painted numbers and letters.
    Toward the middle of the hall, Li found the room he was looking for:  it was marked as 5x303.  Feeling satisfied, he opened the door.
    It was pitch black inside the server room, save for the small green, red, and blue lights that blinked in the corner.  Li touched the walls near the door, hoping to find a light switch.  When his fingers touched the light switch panel, a soft iridescent light came on and provided a dim orange glow on everything inside.
    When Li saw the server, he was taken aback.  It dawned on him that it was not just a piece of hardware that he was looking for, and Aezu was not an artificial intelligence like he originally thought.  He realized that the server he sought was literally one who serves.
    Thus, he beheld Aezu in the middle of the room, in the flesh.  She was far paler and more fragile than she was as a virtual incarnation.  However, she had the same face, the same body, and the same hair as the girl Li knew in his rented Space.  There was a powerful Ethernet hub attached to the wall, with cables stretching from it into the back of Aezu’s neck.  Next to the hub was a canister full of nutrients, which was fed intravenously into Aezu’s arm; it was just enough to keep her alive and fit, but she still looked sickly thin and malnourished.  Next to the monitor was a canister of weak synthetic morphine, which was also intravenously fed into her, to keep her in a constant stupor.  A faded monitor next to the canisters kept track of her pulse and health.
    The emotions that came over Li were a mixed rush of incompatible sensations.  Even though he was excited to see Aezu in a mortal form, it appalled him to see her in this wretched condition.  It angered him to think that petty criminals could kidnap people and turn them into virtual playthings.  Shame soon washed over him and overwhelmed every other feeling, when he realized that he directly supported these activities; his time in the Space with Aezu was nothing more than a form of virtual prostitution.
    Li was compelled to make things right from that moment on.  He wanted nothing more than to rectify his actions and liberate Aezu from her bondage.  As strongly as he felt for her, he knew that it was his duty to save her.  From that moment on, it would be his responsibility to take care of her.
    He started by unplugging the cables from her neck, and pulling out the needles that fed her drugs and nutrients.  Upon disconnection, Aezu’s body became slack, and what small amount of consciousness she had slipped away.  The monitor on the wall informed Li that she was still alive, and she had just passed out.
    Picking up her small, frail body, Li left the building with Aezu in his arms.  Carrying her back to his capsule apartment, he vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power to care for her and protect her.   After seeing Aezu for who she really was, Li felt that he loved her more than ever, and he was determined to give the woman of his dreams everything he could.

Film Review: From Russia With Love (007)

In the midst of the Cold War, it's inevitable that they'd send James Bond on some kind of mission that would pit him against the Soviets. In his second official film, the man goes to even more exotic locations with even bigger stakes, in a spy adventure that would set even more trends for future films to follow.

The film starts off rather dry - a collection of standard scenes where Bond gets his mission and jets to Instanbul. Even then, these scenes are pretty eye-catching, and fans will geek out at seeing Q and the members of SPECTRE for the first time. In the film's last act, however, a bunch of huge twists emerge, and it becomes one thrilling action scene after another. There is a pretty neat train fight, followed by the characters being run down by a helicopter, followed by an explosive boat chase, and just when everybody seems safe, there's one more henchman to fight. It adds up to a complete and satisfying action film.

The story always felt rather random to me throughout the first half, but the second half pulls out some interesting twists that put it in a pretty neat perspective, and helps keep the film in line with others in the series. A few conventions are introduced that will carry over in future films, such as the introduction of gadgets, and having one final fight scene before the credits roll. Overall, the film is a pretty twisty thriller with plenty of action, but it's still well-grounded and satisfying.

This film is crafted with good-looking photography and editing. Sean Connery continues to excel as James Bond. Pedro Armendáriz shows exceptional dedication to his role (he was battling cancer at the time of shooting). Daniela Bianchi and Tatiana Romanova look great in their roles and are quite playful in their roles. Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw are good villains we love to hate. I think the script could have been more focused, but parts of it are really good. This production uses good, real-looking sets, props, and costumes. John Barry's music score is decent.

From Russia With Love is one of the essential classics in the series, and it deserves to be seen at least once.

4/5 (Entertainment: Pretty Good | Story: Good | Film: Very Good)

Film Review: π (Pi)

You might think a movie about numbers and math would be boring, but Pi is anything but. It is one trippy experience that mixes experimental expressions with a gritty neo-noir style to craft a sharp and punchy thriller that exudes paranoia.

The film's style is what makes it consistently engaging. It's a very stark and gritty black-and-white picture with a lot of intricate sets, unique photography, and snappy editing. It's almost on the same level as Eraserhead, but with a production that looks like the first half of The Matrix. It's a pretty cool way to take an otherwise uninteresting subject and make it presentable. As the film goes on, the character becomes a target by various people, and he goes on the run in some mildly satisfying chase scenes. It all builds up to a climax that will come off as bewildering and extreme.

The story's pretty simple: a bunch of people chase after one man who knows a special number. It is pretty novel to use a number as a plot device. What makes the story most interesting, however, is the subtext. The film draws strong parallels between mathematics, nature, and the man-made world, suggesting that through math and patterns, there is a correlation between order and chaos. This is what gives the plot its weight, and gives the characters a reason to struggle to figure out numbers. Fundamentally though, this is a story about a man gifted with great talents and insight, but descends into self-destructive madness due to the knowledge in his own head.

Darren Aronofsky's debut film is made with very vivid black-and-white photography and editing. He employs some hip-hop montages here and there (as he later does in Requiem for a Dream), and it looks great. Acting is pretty good from the cast, and the writing gets the job done. The narration is pretty slick. This production uses pretty interesting sets, props, costumes, and locales. Electronic music is used throughout the movie, with a lot of beat and energy, and it is really cool.

This film is pretty bizarre, but there is plenty to think about in this basic story and plenty to admire in the intense style. If you enjoy experimental films, then this should interest you.

4/5 (Experience: Good | Content: Good | Film: Very Good)

Video Game Review: Dragon Age: Inquisition

After all the events of the last two Dragon Age games, the entire land of Thedas is thrown into peril.  A giant hole appears in the sky.  Rifts start forming all over the world, with demons sprawling out of them.  The Divine is dead, leaving the Chantry in shambles.  The war between mages and templars rages on, and Red Templars start their own invasion.  There are dragons to kill, Orlesian plots to foil, Venitori agents to hunt down, and Darkspawn to kill.  And in this third game, it's up to you to lead the Inquisition to resolve all these problems and become a new hero of the realm!

DA:  Inquisition takes all the best aspects of the last two games for a more refined gameplay.  As before, you can customize your character and build him/her up as you see fit, and you have a bunch of charming companions to control as well.  Controlling four people at a time, you travel through multiple open-world maps to slay hoards of enemies, find loads of secrets and treasures, and discover more of the story.  The amount of ground you get to cover is huge, and you can easily spend hours upon hours combing through each map and completing all their tasks.  Among the activities you can engage in, there are artifacts, landmarks, collectibles, puzzles, dragons, keeps, camps, rifts, secrets, and more to find.  As you progress, you'll eventually unlock huge potential in your skills, your crafting abilities, and your resources.  When you aren't going around killing things, you can send out dispatches across the land (much like the Assassin missions in the Assassins Creed games), which will net you even more rewards.  The game gives you a ton to do, and it empowers you with enough flexibility in shaping your characters and their gear to make them a force to be reckoned with.

What makes the game even more rewarding is the story and characters.  It is a basic premise, but it is also a grand and epic tale that incorporates many different subplots sprawled across the entire land.  Each character adds a bit of color and personality to the mix - there are a number of companion quests that help build them up even more.  The main character can be played either gracefully, aggressively, or with a sense of humor, and all personalities make him/her appealing in their own ways.  At this point, all of the myth and events of the last two games carry over and contribute to different parts of the story, tying up the entire franchise really well.  It also leaves enough open for a possible fourth game (which I'm sure is inevitable).  Choices made in the last games can be carried over or built up from scratch using the Dragon Age Keep website, although it only amounts to small, subtle changes.

On the PS4, this game looks gorgeous, especially in regards to the settings and locations, which look very detailed, clean, colorful, and fantastic.  Most movements are smooth, but some far-away creatures can get suttery for some reason.  Character animations are good and all the different people look good.  Each area is designed really well, with a phenomenal attention to detail.  Gameplay is easy and smooth throughout, with a lot of consideration put into the systems for skills and crafting to make it manageable and empowering.  Voice acting is decent, the writing is good, the sound design is good, and the music is great.  Unfortunately, the game is still not flawless; glitches are common, with plenty of instances where characters tend to float in the air or get stuck in places.  I've seen the camera do dumb things.  It also seems like some quest icons can be glitched on the map or they may not register properly.

The other issue with the game is that, eventually, you will run out of things to do.  Once you've spent 100 hours going through all the quests you can and exploring every inch of the maps, you might find yourself growing bored.  Regardless, most of the game is a smooth and high-quality RPG experience, with a great immersive world and a fun cast of characters.  It's a definite must-play for franchise fans.

4.5/5 (Experience:  Very Good | Story:  Very Good | Game:  Very Good)

Film Review: Chappie

Can a machine posses a consciousness? Will a robot be able to feel, or express itself with art, or judge morality? Sci-fi has asked these questions before in everything from the books of Isaac Asimov to Star Trek. In the hands of Neill Blomkamp, who previously explored the possibility of aliens in the ghettos of Johannesburg, tackles the subject of robot sentience...once again in the slums of Joburg.

Chappie borrows a few aspects from other movies we're probably already familiar with: the idea of a robotic police force echoes RoboCop, and Chappie's exploration of the outside world immediately brings Short Circuit to mind.  Watching Chappie become a gangster might have been inspired by Bender from Futurama, and his body is like a slimmed-down version of Briareos from Appleseed. One other robot resembles a Mechwarrior. However, the film plays with all the same textures and themes that Blomkamp previously explored in District 9 and Elysium: all these movies share common character archetypes, plot structures, and settings.

So Chappie might not be anything new, but it is a funny little animal in its own right. Most of the film focuses on Chappie, the robot created in secret by a company scientist who wanted to grant consciousness to his machines. Chappie winds up in the hands of some thugs, who try to mold him into a mean killing machine. What follows is often funny, as Chappie learns to talk all gangsta while learning the ways of the world. It can be sobering too, as Chappie is manipulated, beaten, and abused. It all builds up to a heavy-duty climax, complete with loud and bloody shoot-outs, and explosive robot fighting. The film may not have nearly as much action as Elysium or D9, but it is consistently entertaining and charming at times.

The story could have used some refinement, as parts of it are condensed or left unexplained. There are a few contrivances or plot holes that can undoubtedly be found. However, the story does succeed in making Chappie a character we can care for, and his evolution from a newborn to a troubled and conflicted soul makes the story worth telling. In spite of this, the film unearths fascinating themes of morality and the nature of consciousness. I'd even go so far to say that the film has implicit parallels between Chappie's growth and the growth of all human beings, and it suggests that there's more to our short lives than mere money.

As expected, this film captures its scuzzy crime-ridden settings with decent photography, plentiful amounts of slow-motion, and quality editing. Sharlto Copley's voice acting is quite lively and playful, matching the character well. In place of his usual villainous archetype, Hugh Jackman stands in and does a pretty good job playing a jerk. Sigourney Weaver is as great as ever, but her role is minimal. Yolandi and Ninja, of the band Die Antwoord, play themselves and are okay at it. And Dev Patel is not bad. Writing probably could have been fleshed out more, but it gets the job done. This production uses highly-detailed and real-looking sets, props, costumes, locales, and special effects. Die Antwoord's music is featured throughout, and fits the movie well. The score by Hans Zimmer is pretty cool.

This movie probably could have used refinement, but it is a satisfying sci-fi flick that offers a fair amount of thought food and a fair amount of action. It's probably best recommended to fans of robot sci-fi and fans of the director.

4/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Pretty Good | Film: Good)

Film Review: The Drop Box Film

At any given moment somewhere in the world, a mother will abandon her child. There are any number of reasons why this happens, but the end result is tragic, as unwanted infants and newborns are ditched in the street and left to die. In South Korea, over 200 infants were abandoned all over Seoul in 2013. In the absence of any kind of government-run method for accommodating these lost babies, one pastor takes it upon himself to set up a "drop box" for people to leave their unwanted babies, and he takes it from there.

This is definitely news-worthy subject matter that deserves awareness and debate. Controversy exists regarding the morality and responsibility of parents utilizing this system, but the film doesn't spend much time exploring that. The film's focus is simply on the fact that a baby drop box exists, and the film divulges into a more intimate look at pastor Lee Jong-rak and the 15 children he's taken in (among the hundreds he received through the drop box, which are passed to social services). It is quite the sentimental presentation that will flash nonstop baby pictures at you with sappy music in an effort to reach into your chest and yank your heartstrings. However, the film is not all fluff; it does take the time to expose the cold hard truth that mothers have all sorts of reasons to abandon their children (to include social or cultural pressure, which is briefly touched upon), and these children need help to survive. A lot of the children that are abandoned are disabled, and their deformities are shown on-screen to really emphasize their need for attention. Some of the stories that the people tell are pretty rough, and it adds significant emotional weight to the issue.

The film's structure is somewhat random, intermixing stories of pastor Lee, the children, the larger issue, and other aspects together without a specific pattern. Really, the drop box in itself isn't much of a story; it's the human element that makes it stand out, and the film captures it and uses it to emphasize a key Christian message: the idea that all life has a purpose, and deserves to be preserved. The film even goes to far as divulging into how the various saved children are progressing through life, subtly suggesting that even abandoned children can be happy and have a future. One can't help but to admire pastor Lee for his efforts in spite of this (and thankfully, the Christian message is not all that overbearing, even though the sentimentality is).

The film is pretty straightforward. There are a lot of tight close-ups of all the kids' faces. Some shots can be rather herky-jerky and some were out of focus, but most of the film looks okay. Editing is pretty decent; images are cut up effectively to help convey the subject matter well. There are some cheap animated segments that are cute, but ultimately unnecessary. The film itself isn't necessarily groundbreaking, but it gets the job done.

I would say that the film is worthwhile for bringing up awareness of the issue on a wider scale and possibly bringing up talking points. However, the film is most interested in putting human faces on all this, making it emotionally manipulative. I personally would have been more interested in a greater exploration of the social and moral implications of the drop box's usage. If you don't see this film being played at churches or schools or anything, it may be worth a look as a rental sometime (or you could just start reading up on it).

3/5 (Experience: Mixed | Content: Pretty Good | Film: Average)

Film Review: American Sniper

It's easy to romanticize about soldiers, but snipers have their own unique and alluring shroud of mystique. Any gamer can tell you how cool it is to play Call of Duty and be the hotshot camping out on some rooftop picking off bad guys all day long. In films, you can look at Enemy at the Gates or Barry Pepper's character in Saving Private Ryan and marvel at a sniper's deadly prowess. Far be it for me to comment on what experiences soldiers of any kind go through, I have no doubt that the reality of being a sniper is nowhere near as glamorous as the media makes it out to be; it's a burdensome duty in which one has to take lives indiscriminately in order to save lives. I can't even imagine the stress of having to evaluate who lives and who dies - to include women and children - in the heat of the moment.

The deadliest marksman in US history - Chris Kyle - is the focus of this film: the real-life Navy SEAL who served four tours of duty in the Iraq war. The movie tracks his career across all four tours, with occasional breaks where he reunites with his wife and has difficulty adjusting to civilian life. Thus, the film dishes out two different conflicts: the fight against al-Qaeda on one hand, and the struggle to adjust to life after war on the other hand. Both narrative strands offer their share of compelling scenes; the combat is quite intense and harrowing, while the family drama emphasizes stress and emotion aptly. Together, it's a consistently-engaging experience that will truly underscore the intensity of war, and the hardship of overcoming post-traumatic stress.

I have no idea how close the film adapts real-life events, but a few contrivances can be spotted easily. It is quite the black-and-white film that glosses over the complexities of the war. I almost pegged it as a pro-war movie, until the last act started to emphasize the futility of the war effort and illustrate the hardships of veterans. The film does outright refer to Iraqis as "savage;" it's probably meant to label the regime rather than the entire country or culture, but it can be taken the wrong way easily. There are strands of jingoism that will rub some viewers the wrong way.

All that being said, I was personally enamored by the characters; I found them easy to follow and relate to, and it made their journey in and out of war a compelling one. The film sets up an actual villain sniper that Chris has to take down; I don't know if this was invented for the movie or what, but I thoroughly enjoyed the sniper-vs-sniper plot. The film has its fair share of messages; on one hand, the film does emphasize the "this is why we fight" message, but on the other it digresses into the physical, emotional, and psychological damage on the characters and their families. These aren't subtle themes at all, but I felt the two together formed a point and counterpoint that keeps the film rather well-rounded.

This film uses good-looking photography and punchy editing. Bradley Cooper is excellent as the main character, and the other actors aren't too bad either. Writing is okay. All the sets, props, and costumes look authentic and creditable. Special effects are sparingly used, and mostly okay. Sound design is superb. Music is okay.

American Sniper is for snipers what The Hurt Locker is for guys who defuse bombs. I favor American Sniper more though, because it doesn't have nearly as many stupid parts as The Hurt Locker, and Chris Kyle is a far more compelling character. The character is ultimately what makes the film most watchable, and with quality acting, it is well worth seeing.

4/5 (Experience: Good | Story: Good | Film: Good)

Film Review: Dr. No (007)

Not counting the 1954 made-for-TV rendition of Casino Royale, the film adaptation of Dr. No is where the cinematic saga of James Bond truly begins. Chances are that you already know the man, even if you've never seen the movies; Bond's image and swagger have permeated through pop culture for the past five decades, crafting the classic archetype and stereotype of a British special agent (look no further than Austin Powers, Archer, or Kingsman for many fine examples of how far and how long the Bond image has persevered). He is timelessly appealing through his smooth combination of charm, sophistication, and ruthlessness.

Dr. No introduces us to the rough and romantic adventures of Bond. It's nowhere near as action-packed as other movies in the series, but its simplicity as a spy thriller is what makes it elegant. There are just a few fights and chases; when they happen, they are modestly satisfying and thrilling. Most of the film's appeal will be in the smaller details; the way Bond dives into the mystery and sidesteps henchmen at every turn is expert and cool. It gradually builds up to an outlandish climax, in which Bond confronts the titular Dr. No in his secret lair, and has to stop his evil schemes. This becomes the fundamental template for future Bond films, but Dr. No stands out with its fair share of iconic scenes, including Bond's introduction during a game of Baccarat, a certain scene at a beach where Honey Rider makes her appearance, and a memorable dinner scene with the villain.

The story follows after Ian Fleming's novel faithfully, although many parts of the story are changed. The story unfolds pretty neatly, gradually introducing the audience to Bond, the various characters he encounters, and the exotic world he inhabits. The plot has a satisfying structure, filled with just enough thrills and mystery to keep it moving. Even though Bond himself is an alluring character, most of the people in the film are one-dimensional; hardly anything is revealed about their motivations to make them stand out above the definitions of their archetypes. However, they all have a worthy presence and are likable to some degree. The film overall plays out as a fine piece of adventure and escapism, but it's only a small taste of even greater things to come.

The film sports very good photography and editing. Acting is swell; Sean Connery is perfectly charismatic and iconic as James Bond, embodying all the right aspects to make his character shine even to this day. Joseph Wiseman is pretty stiff and robotic as the villain, but for interesting effect. I felt Ursula Andress was somewhat unlikable in her role; she's best seen for her looks. I enjoyed the performances of Jack Lord and most other players. Writing is not too shabby. This production uses very exotic and interesting locales. Sets, props, and costumes are quite old-fashioned, but still very slick. The music score features a lot of really funky calypso music, but Monty Norman's main theme is an instantly recognizable tune that resonates to this day.

Dr. No is one slick thriller. Future Bond films will take the character to even more exciting adventures with even bigger stakes and bolder expressions, but this is the film that started it all, and it deserves a watch at least once.

4/5 (Entertainment: Pretty Good | Story: Good | Film: Very Good)