Philip K Dick; a Documentary review

Philip K Dick was a literary force, that is just a fact. He is my favorite author in the sense that I feel at home when reading his stories even though they sometimes feel very unsettling and uncomfortable.

I have just finished viewing a wonderful documentary produced by Deutsche Welle called “The World According to Philip K Dick” and hosted all around the place; I watched on YouTube.

He led the field in so many ways, specifically the notion of other-worlds and the idea that in ours is not all is as it seems. He was the Father of so many ideas that made their way into Hollywood hits throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s, 2000’s and beyond.

His life was one fraught with mental illness and depression, but perhaps that was the place where he wrote his best, trying to escape from that mind-set into another world, one where we can thankfully read about in his vast library of Novels and Novella’s.

In my opinion, one of the most memorable lines of the Documentary was a description of his writing style, given by David Brin (a brilliant Science Fiction writer in his own right) is as follows:

Science Fiction was badly named; it should have been “Speculative History” because we are constantly obsessed with how history might have been different.

This Documentary is a short 45 minutes or so long; but is filled to the brim with all you could want to know about the brilliant Philip K Dick. 5/5

Informer; a dark and amazing espionage journey

Informer; NOUN
a person who informs on another person to the police or other authority.

I’m a fan of deep, dark and complex tv shows; even more so if it involves espionage and spies. Informer is all of these shows rolled up into one and one hell of a show it is too.

Informers features scared and flawed characters as the heroes and the berated enemies de-joure; extreme jihadists' wanting to end our mindless but albeit comfortable existence. This is one show that weaves is web of lies, truths and everything in-between into your world as is leaves you wanting more.

As per usual with a UK production this is a six part series, which is just enough to tell the very deep story of each and every character in Informer, plus some.

When a show consistently gets around 80-85 percent out of 100, you know you are in for a real treat, no matter how dark and somber the journey is along the way.

Best of all, the entire series is available for free on iView catch-up in Australia. So strap yourself in for a deep dark and satisfying journey.

Watch now on iView

After Life; A melancholy series that won't disappoint

After Life; the Netflix series written and directed by Ricky Gervais is simply amazing. If you are someone who likes a deeply meaningful story to have a beginning, middle and ending, then this is one for you.

After Life as a series has a purpose; it’s a show that demonstrates that it’s okay to be sad and even manically depressed at times as it all has a place, time and purpose. I’m certain that the countless amount of people (including myself) who are suffering or have suffered from depression will appreciate the thoughtfulness Ricky Gervais has put into writing this story.

Ricky’s acting is worthy of a gold medal, in my opinion. It strikes me as ironic that such a happy person can play a deeply suffering character with such conviction and commitment. Take note Hollywood; this is how fine acting is done.

After Life is on showing on Netflix now, if you are in a melancholy mood, this amazing show will accompany you along your journey.

The Wild Bunch; a classic that matters.

I like classic movies, it doesn't matter when, where or how it was made...a great movie is a great movie. One genre that has countless classics is Westerns, one of my favourites.

I heard about this movie from a Marc Marons' podcast; WTF (Episode 982, Seth Macfarlane). Both Seth and Marc reminisced over the greatness of 'The Wild Bunch' and the making of it. This prompted me to watch it, and they weren't wrong.

The movie is set on the Mexican/US border in 1913; at a pivotal time in history where old west meets the new world. Traditional pueblos meet automobiles and rumours of some that have wings and fly, someplace north...

The Wild Bunch does not disappoint, it is packed with A list actors of it's time and all give great performances from beginning to end. The length of this classic is a whopping two and a quarter hours of nail biting, edge of your seat action.

The Wild Bunch is critically acclaimed as one of the best of it's generation, borrowing the tried and tested tropes of the western genre. It's ironic that this movie is set in the sunset of the old west as the the golden age of Hollywood Westerns was coming to a close in 1969.

If you like iconic movies, performances and all round classics; The Wild Bunch will not disappoint.

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