Thursday 26 May 2016

Thursday Movie Pick # 98: The Internet





Let’s face it, film and TV generally do not understand how computers or the internet works. Hacking is not done by some super smart computer guy typing away manically on a keyboard but by the gullible, unaware and sometimes downright stupid idiot handing over, willingly or unwillingly, their personal details. Some films are made with such breath-taking ignorance that it's astonishing that the script was accepted in the first place. Some films, such as The Net starring Sandra Bullock, are more outdated than the type writer, it’s an indication of how far we have advanced over the course of a decade. - Check out - http://wanderingthroughtheshelves.blogspot.co.uk/



The first film selected does, to an extent, have an understanding of how people use computers. Disconnect is a film about three interlinking stories that all revolve around the internet, from sex chat rooms, to online bullying and identity theft caused by a virus (a computer one not a common cold) and neglect of online safety. The film is a tad melodramatic in places, but each story is well written and powerfully acted. 


In what was a much darker film than his previous directorial effort, Run Fatboy Run, David Schwimmer’s 2010 film about an online predator grooming and seducing a young teenage girl is a powerful one and it tells a story about the whole family unit is shaken by such a devastating event.


I actually saw this film as a free preview screener a month or so ago and I really enjoyed it. It’s about an unpopular girl who befriends a popular girl (we know because she has hundreds of friends and literally thousands of photos) on Facebook but when the unpopular girl starts acting strange she is promptly unfriended (also a decent film). This releases a massive wave of anger which results in the release of an evil spirit that wishes to make the popular girl truly alone.

15 comments:

  1. I haven't seen...or even heard of...any of these!

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    1. Then I have accomplished my mission :)

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  2. Disconnect is great, I love that film. I haven't seen the other two. Trust, I remember getting pretty good reviews. I can't remember why I didn't watch it.

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    1. 79% on RT. I believe Roger Ebert was a massive fan.

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  3. I've not seen any of these. Trust sounds really good, though.

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    1. All of them are good in their own way. Trust is probably the best of the three films though.

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  4. I've heard of Disconnect but not the others, they all seem pretty grim but good fits for the theme.

    Funny you should mention The Net, it's one of my picks and yes it is hopelessly dated but I think most films about the internet date very quickly since the technology evolves so quickly. I struggled just coming up with the three though my third choice, surely the most dated of all, is still a highly enjoyable film because of its pacing and cast.

    Untraceable (2008)-FBI Special Agent Jennifer Marsh (Diane Lane) works in a division that fights cybercrime. World weary and jaded she is still shocked when confronted by a killer who posts live feeds of his crimes on his website, the more hits the site gets the faster the victim dies. Determined to stop him she and her team try to capture the killer before time runs out.

    The Net (1995)-Virtual recluse Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) is a software engineer who works from home as a freelance expert with few friends outside of cyberspace. One of those friends sends her a program with a weird glitch for her to de-bug. She discovers secret information on the disk just before taking her first vacation in years. While on that trip she meets an mysterious attractive stranger, finds herself embroiled in a web of computer espionage and her life endangered.

    WarGames (1983)-Young computer whiz David Lightman (Matthew Broderick) finds a backdoor into a system he mistakenly believes is devoted to games which he attempts to play. It turns out that he has accidentally infiltrated the US government’s computer and may have initiated the lead up to WWIII. Assisted by a young girl he’s sweet on (Ally Sheedy) and the inventor of the system he tries to stop the game before it’s too late. Made when computers on a personal user level were a relatively new phenomenon this is a solid adventure with a very winning Broderick in the lead.

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    1. Yeah. The advancement in technology and its capabilities is astonishing at times. I wanna check out War Games. Never got round it though.

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  5. I've only seen TRUST. I thought it was alright.

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    1. As long as you liked it overall. Where did you feel it lacked something?

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    2. I wouldn't say it lacked something. I just didn't find it to be THAT original or dramatic.

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  6. Never heard of them, but I'll add Trust on my watchlist.

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    1. Always like picking films people haven't heard of :)

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  7. Interesting looking picks - but I will be steering clear of Friend Request.

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    1. Awww, it's a right laugh. But, yeah. Sometimes I avoid films like the plague.

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