StarkerMann Reviews

Silo (2023– )

As a book reader, some of the reviews pain me to read

[9/10 · 26 May 2023]

"Silo" is based on a very intriguing and well written first book, WOOL, of Hugh Howey's trilogy of the same name. Originally, the books were to be adapted to the silver screen with director Ridley Scott at the helm. However, the project was shelved due to scheduling and I believe the third book was still being written. Yet it's for the best as a miniseries format works well given the dense material, allowing it to breathe. Creator Graham Yost and author Hugh Howey have worked hard at adapting the material with Morten Tyldum directing much of the first series. The mini-series is expanding on characters and side plots that are merely brief mentions in the original material as they play important roles while bridging some aspects from the other two books into the first season, smoothing out timelines and giving audiences information that is relevant to the "Silo" series world. Overall, the changes work and in some cases are improvements.

Yet as a book reader, it pains me to read some of the negative reviews. There are explanations for things that may initially confound viewers, such as Juliette jumping into the steam with water that should have been boiling hot and seemingly physically fine. Some have complained Rebecca Ferguson's character isn't likable - well, that's the point. She plays a guarded, rough, hardworking mechanic out of her element who is now in charge of thousands of lives, pushing her out of her characters comfort zone as she's not a people person. However, she evolves and her journey is the centerpiece to a story about the human spirit in times of great uncertainty in which a simple mistake could crash the entire system. Elevators were specifically not included to keep people separated and communication limited. The suits worn outside will be further explained as to why people die so quickly and the helmets are intentionally difficult to remove which is one reason why people don't take them off before cleaning. The cleanings aren't just a form of punishment or a method of psychological conditioning. As another mentioned, many cities are powered by geothermal sources and the damage to the generator was a simpler fix in the book yet the miniseries explains how they're powered which ultimately lead to the necessary jeopardy another reviewer claimed was unnecessary. We're only 5 episodes into the first season which only covers half the first book. There's much more information yet to be revealed that accounts for complaints by some viewers, give it time. Stories don't reveal everything upfront as there would be no mystery, suspense, character development, intrigue - it may as well be a tweet or Wikipedia entry.

Some have complained there aren't any hints as to what's happening and I've read some comparisons to "Lost". Let me assure you, there are MANY hints to the overall story. In fact, this weeks episode 5, "The Janitor's Boy", has a rather glaring tell towards the end which isn't in the book and surprised me. Certainly, hindsight is always 20/20, yet stay with it as the oddities and seemingly unrealistic events all tie into each other and are well explained.

Watching the series, I can understand some viewers finding it corny or silly; a society that doesn't remember the past, is forbidden from remembering it, cannot possess any items from the past, and has customs and traditions similar to our own yet very different. Religion being a big one as citizens praise the Founders instead of deities, burial practices that are odd at best, and not knowing about camcorders or electronics beyond what is only necessary for maintaining life in the silo all have explanations.

Give it a chance. It's not "dumb" Sci-Fi (yet do not forget this is still Science FICTION) and the events of the past that lead to the world they are in are very much a frightening and real possibility if we are not careful. As the idiom goes, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions".

The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

It's you. It's me. It's us.

[8/10 · 11 October 2020]

The haunting of hill house and Bly Manor are an anthology series with one common thread: love. Love of family, friends, ourselves, and life itself. Both stories are set against the atmosphere of a presumably haunted home. Not haunted by malicious spirits but by people and memories. Home is where we spend most of our lives with our families and loved ones and the walls are bursting open with all those memories and moments shared inside, immortalized collections of photo albums or movie libraries of all the people who have come before but are never truly gone. The two tales are not horror stories, they're cautionary tales of love and loss, acceptance and denial. We cannot escape our pasts anymore than we can escape ourselves - no matter where we go our pasts are always behind us. The spirits and manors are reminders of those we left behind and who came before us. Their presence are warnings for those who are committing similar mistakes in their lives, acting as guides for those they love and those whose lives are parallels to their own pasts. Each character is escaping their pasts and themselves, terrified of what they've done and who they have become. They flee from themselves and their loved ones as they cannot accept themselves, instead they write books changing their truth, self medicate, cover mirrors, yet most importantly avoid each other and genuine intimacy. Yet the past always has a way of catching up with us and in ways which we never expect.

Hill House's "Red Room" was the heart of the home. A room that was never truly a physical place but a varying escape for each member of the family. A reading room, a dance studio, a gaming center, a treehouse, a tea room - it was a reflection of the passions of each individual who resided in Hill House. Yet it was also an escape from the world outside the walls of Hill House - and each other. The "Red Room" was neither good or evil - it merely represented the human nature it observed. For the room was not just a place of contentment but of escape and people often escape from each other, especially family and especially in times of distress.

Every family is imperfect as people are imperfect and homes are merely red rooms observing the daily lives of those who walk its hallways and share their lives with one another. All families and relationships have their troubles long before they settle into a new domicile. Some families recognize and accept their faults while trying to reconcile relationships while others may be incapable of seeing the cracks inside their families and retreat into their red rooms. The mother saw Hill House and her cracks inside its walls as a project to make her life perfect yet the more she tried the more the manor fell apart and with it her. Unintentionally, the children became a secondary concern and were mostly left on their own, escaping to their own red rooms. As with any structure - albeit a home or a relationship - a family is as strong as its weakest link and can only survive through so much before the foundation breaks and with it the walls holding all the memories of all their moments.

The mother is often the heart of the family and when she breaks so to does the family. The aftermath of that tragic night at Hill House shattered the family and each one took shelter in their own red rooms in the world outside of Hill House. Each had forgotten one another and the love they once shared, and their red rooms became traps of addiction, rage, loneliness, betrayal, blame. Yet Nell's prophetic dreams haunted her and she never truly gave up on her family; she was the youngest and arguably the least damaged as she still had hope for a better life - a life filled with love and happiness and family. It was Nell who reunited her family and reminded them of what matters most in life - each other.

Hill House and Bly Manor were neither haunted by the malicious or benevolent spirits of previous families as people are never truly one dimensional - we're all kind, hurtful, selfless, egotistical, joyful, aggrieved, calm, frightened. Generations of families fill homes with all their memories and moments; the older the home the more alive it becomes. We leave our marks on every inch - a mark on the floor from a spilled wine glass during a party or the stain on the walls from the emotions of an argument. Our lives shape our homes, and our homes reflect our lives - the good and the bad. Those reflections are recorded forever and new families often discover them exploring their new surroundings while making new memories and marks along their own journey's. Yet those marks are reminders and lessons from the past that speak to each characters own struggles as each sees what they want to see. As with our own lives, they have forgotten their pasts and unless they truly see the warnings and listen to the walls that know their pasts the past often repeats itself and the lost love for their family may be forgotten forever.

Family and relationships are complex and often times we neglect one another for fear of being hurt and rejected, escaping one another and burying ourselves in work, materials things, an affair - anything to alleviate the pain we fear no matter how inconsequential our escapes. Yet we must tend to one another like the moon flowers Jamie plants every year that only bloom for a short while. Life is about the journey and each other, and each need tending. Our lives and those we let in along our journey's are especially important as they define so much of who we are and what we do. They shape us for better or for worse, til death do we part.

Each character in Hill House and Bly Manor is escaping from their lives and tragedies in hopes a new setting will remove their personal hauntings. Yet the past is forever and always finds them in new ways - in the schematics of an old home or the reflection of a passed loved one. Our pasts are inescapable and if neglected often shape our future unless we accept what has been and come to terms with who we are and what we do with our lives. Dani fled her life for England hoping to be someone else yet the past is buried deep within no matter where we go or where we live. As with relationships with loved ones, our pasts are our relationships with ourselves. Each needs acceptance of their own imperfections and that requires acknowledgement of their full and whole existence. When neglected, our pasts crumble us from within until our own foundations break and the walls we built within ourselves and from others fall with it.

Bly Manor is simply another home who watches and collects all the moments of all those who lived within. The ghosts of our pasts find us in our own reflections and the ghosts of those who came before us are warnings of their own tragedies in rubbings of grave stones or roses and moon flowers. Our red rooms and lakes are symbolic of our are escapes from ourselves and each other and with the homes we reside in as they often cover our secrets and shames we don't want others to know.

The past isn't meant to be feared, it's meant to be accepted and understood if we are to truly love ourselves and each other. Each character in Hill House and Bly Manor has forgotten what is important in life: family and love. As with the living, those who have passed on are just the same as us as they made the same mistakes. It is the fear of each character - ourselves - that skew their perceptions. The spirits in Hill House and Bly Manor are neither good nor evil - they're merely echos of pasts reaching out to guide loved ones and others towards a better path they could not see nor have for themselves - a reminder to love. As with Dani, they are teachers. In the lessons of Hill House and Bly Manor, it's important to listen.

Remember: Home is where the heart lives.

Dark Waters (2019)

EVERYONE should see this movie.

[9/10 · 6 December 2019]

EVERYONE needs to see this movie. These chemicals are in all of us, especially C8 (PFOA). Derived from The Manhattan Project, DuPont used one of the most toxic "forever chemicals" in everything from cooking products to paint. 99% of all humans have it in their systems.

Before you dismiss this as "hyperbole" or exaggerated for artistic license, don't. This is based on decades of documented and well known civll and criminal cases, countless deaths, DuPont's own records they tried to hide, and on and on. This isn't another "liberal agenda" film as some often state as a means of dismissal - this is about all of us and knows no political bounds. Please, I sincerely implore you, watch this movie and do your own research if you doubt any of it - and prepare to be gutted (warning: not an uplifting film).

Game of Thrones: The Bells (2019) Season 8, Episode 5

Should have stuck with the leaked season

[6/10 · 16 May 2019]

Everyone pretty much expected the series to end on certain notes and the leaks of season 8 which lead to major rewrites, reshoots, and a delay undermined what could and should have been the only ending. Not everyone would have been happy, not everyone is happy, but based on what GRRM and show runners and writers D&D worked out, they should have stuck with the original plan and not this rushed and uncharacteristically flawed finale. With one more episode left, my hopes are not high.

Designated Survivor (2016–2019)

An Original Series Premise that Lost Its Way in Season Two

[5/10 · 28 January 2018]

The first season was a solid and engaging start even with its flaws. Then the show creator and writer left before season two began production, and it's as though the show's premise was forgotten and season one never happened. Instead, the series' story arc shifted away from the events that defined its premise and each episode became a contrived "by the numbers" drama of the week. What happened with catching those responsible for the attack? Who were the domestic and foreign operatives involved? Why did the VP and his wife suddenly shoot themselves towards the end of the first season? What events occurred with his military unit? The answers were weak as if the writers simply wanted to end the series story arc and begin with an entirely different concept for the second season. The weekly episodic story arcs in season two seem desperate attempts in trying to reflect current US political drama yet falls short with absurd premises ("sucker-gate"? really?).

It's a shame as the cast is solid. Kiefer Sutherland, Natascha McElhone, Adan Canto, Kal Penn, Italia Ricci, LaMonica Garrett, Virginia Madsen (what happened to her character?), and of course Maggie Q, Maggie Q who I personally believe is a severely underrated actress. With a solid cast and an original, interesting premise that simply needed fine tuning, "Designated Survivor" lost its way in season two and with it my interest.