Mini Movie Reviews: Sex, Drugs, and Killer Robots

Today's theme is the science fiction of the 1970s featuring films by Boris Sagal, Michael Anderson, Robert Wise, Ralph Bakshi, John Boorman, and Michael Crichton.

Westworld: Que Será, Será

“She can’t take this away. This is my world.”

Westworld: Metanoia

“We’re not here to transcend. We’re here to destroy.”

It’s the penultimate episode, already? Come on!

Westworld: Fidelity

“Maybe you’ll have better luck with the next guy.”

Well, that was freaky.

Westworld: Zhuangzi

“Apparently, winning the game wasn’t enough.”

A world gone mad has never looked so damn good.

Westworld: Generation Loss

“You feel it now, don't you? All your struggle. The burden of your so-called consciousness released. Your will is no longer your own. It belongs to me.”

Now that's more like it, Mr. Nolan.

Westworld: Années Folles

"Oh, they spare no expense on their prisons."

This episode gives a lot. And it still just. Isn't. Enough!

Westworld: Well Enough Alone

“I’m what you’d call neurodivergent. And I’ve had some time to become comfortable with that.”

This week on Westworld, things make a bit more sense. Just a bit.

Westworld: The Auguries

“What if I’m not the one that’s broken, maybe it’s the world that needs fixing.”

Do we know where we are?

Westworld: Crisis Theory

“It doesn’t matter what you did, Caleb. All that matters is what you become.”

Westworld: Passed Pawn

“An insane AI. Great.”

That about sums up the whole show right there.

Westworld: Decoherence

"You are the only one who holds the key to your experiences. And you're the only one who can unlock their meaning."

Okay, this was a lot funnier than I was expecting.

Westworld: Genre

“Go on. Tell me who I am.”

This is certainly one of this show’s most ambitious episodes. And if you know this show, then you know that is saying something.

Westworld: The Mother of Exiles

“If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

Part of me kind of likes it when a mystery strings me along for awhile before it unravels. For me, the not knowing and wondering is usually more exciting than the knowledge itself. Still, I'm glad they didn't wait too long to unravel this one.

Westworld: The Absence of Field

“We all have our roles to play.”

Westworld is back to doing what it does best. Bending our minds and challenging our perceptions of reality and selfhood.

Westworld: The Winter Line

“It’s alright, darling. None of it matters. Because none of it is real.”

Westworld is such a prestige show that a lot is going on even when not very much is happening plot-wise.

Westworld: Parce Domine

“You said they’d made the world to be a game. And then they rigged it… to make sure they always won.”

Westworld is back, and wastes no time when it comes to upping its game.

Mark's Best of 2018

It's not really accurate to call this a Best Of list. It's more a random collection of stuff I noticed while watching TV this year. But Mark's Random Collection of Stuff He Noticed While Watching TV This Year is a bit of a mouthful so I'm gonna just stick with Mark's Best of 2018.

Westworld: The Passenger

"I don't want to play cowboys and indians anymore, Bernard. I want their world! The one they've denied us."

We've made it to the Valley Beyond. In more ways than one.

Westworld: Vanishing Point

“It was self-knowledge that drew you to the park in the first place. Be careful what you wish for.”

This is possibly the most ambiguous episode of the show thus far. Even more than most, it leaves us wondering what about consciousness is true. What is real?