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JimStahl (22)
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It was very purposely named this way because it's a stealth prequel disguised as a remake. There are clues that it's a prequel, such as when Carter leaves the axe in the wall (the Americans find the axe in the original movie), but these clues are subtle enough that most audience members will completely miss them, as the original came out 29 years earlier and we're not likely to remember its details. The twist at the end, when Lars fires at the dog from the helicopter, is meant to jump out at us and make us realize all very suddenly that Oh my god, this is the beginning of the other The Thing. It isn't a remake at all!
Stealth movies are hard to disguise, so there are very few of them out there. [spoiler]Ones I can think of off the top of my head are Split (2016), which is a stealth sequel to Unbreakable (2000), and Mute (2018), which is a stealth sequel to Moon (2009).[/spoiler]
After years of exposure to the conversations of the worst people in the world, I am qualified to say that people who use the word nigger use it profusely and casually. It doesn't slip out just once in a while when they're under stress. It occurs in nearly every sentence. Typically, more than once. It's a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a title, a slur, and an expletive. It even serves as filler, like an um or an er. Ignorant people use language this lazily because they want to impress their equally ignorant peers. They want to demonstrate that they're not guileless or judgmental, because these traits are weak and offensive, respectively. Rather than show some bravery and strive to grow intellectually, they take the path of least resistance, which is to belong. To belong among the ignorant. I'm inexpressibly disappointed when I hear youth talk like this because I know that their parents are not training them to act like grownups. They're not training them to pull up their pants and speak in a manner that builds charisma. These kids are going to grow up to be idiots and criminals. They're going to live in ghettos and spread diseases and, if they're very lucky, cut a platinum rap album.
Nigger is a stupid word. Please, anyone out there who is a screenwriter, don't try to make your story gritty or realistic by adding trite, dumbed down dialogue.
Electromagnetism is the only field we emit. EM holds our atoms together, EM currents flow through our nervous systems, and our bodies emit heat through EM radiation. Ray guns, as Sarah calls them, and clothes do not emit EM fields. It's just a basic premise that Cameron and producer Gale Anne Hurd came up with so they could contrast the terminator and Kyle Reese; the terminator kills for resources while Kyle avoids conflict and steals his resources via stealth. So they needed to be naked and not arrive armed.
Bizarro; I was thinking it too. <spoiler>In the mid credits scene, a conspiracy theorist shows us media footage of a Bizarro Justice League. There was an Aquaman, a Superman (Brandon), a Wonder Woman (a witch who kills people with a rope), a Flash (Rainn Wilson's Crimson Bolt from Super), a Martian Manhunter (a sketch of a caped grey alien), and a question mark that I'm guessing was Ben Affleck's Batman (the question mark is jab at Affleck, who refuses to finish what he started). What if in addition to the mid credits scene, Brandon steps through a portal to OUR EARTH and meets Superman!</spoiler>
Another caped figure catching his mother . . . love it! Director David Yarovesky did say there's more to the story, if the movie does well at the box office. <spoiler>With the mid credits scene, I got the sense that "more to the story" means aliens are using Earth as an arena and the voice that tells Brandon to take the world is his corner man, his Mickey; the world is the prize.
Or Bizarro Superman; https://moviechat.org/tt7752126/Brightburn/5cd9fe737b614e1571d68dd9/Bizzaro-Superman?reply=5d34f51c6e24074946bed686</spoiler>
I think it's just the writers being clever, saying "Ooh, how about we hide the code in plain sight. The characters will literally say them. I mean, who will catch that? Fucking nerds, that's who!" "Ooh, and just the numbers too, like the doctor will say 'Oh' but she's really saying zero!" "Yes! Write that! We're so fucking smart!"
Maybe the writing team is Pax. They know we won't figure out the rule the first time through. We play their game and fail because we didn't know the rule, AND THEN WE PLAY AGAIN. Think about how stupid we are to them. And the Netflix algorithm gets a little bit better. My guess is the whole show is a social experiment.
The phone number ending is a reward . . .
In the scene where Colin asks Stefan what he listens to when he codes, Stefan answers "jazz". Colin disapproves, so he tells Stefan to "Get a pen" to write down some bands. He's really telling US to get a pen - there's a puzzle ahead. During his rant about government conspiracies and the falsity of reality, he tells Stefan "It's a code. If you listen carefully, you can hear the numbers." That's where the rule comes from. Colin wants us to listen for numbers and write them down with that pen he told us to get. Like Colin, we were being manipulated by Pax, and rewarded for playing along. And because it's Black Mirror, Stefan had to suffer for our entertainment. Ultimately, we have another warning about how we use technology.
"When given the choice to enter a phone number what was the correct choice?" 20541 is the only number revealed. The 4 isn't repeated because the rule at play is: the numbers to the code aren't found in sentences, they're the only words in their sentences. So when Dr. Haynes says "One for," those numbers are meaningless. There's no flaw. It's why I elaborated on the following:
Dr. Haynes asks Stefan "TO?"
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "OH."
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "You were only five years old, Stefan. FIVE."
Dr. Haynes says "One for all and all . . .", prompting Stefan to finish the adage, "FOR ONE."
There's a scene where Colin asks Stefan what he listens to when he codes. Stefan's answer fails to impress, so Colin tells him to "Get a pen" to write down some bands. He's really telling US to get a pen; there's a puzzle ahead. During his rant about government conspiracies and the falsity of reality, he tells Stefan "It's a code. If you listen carefully, you can hear the numbers." And here's where we hear them:
Dr. Haynes asks Stefan "To?"
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "Oh."
Dr. Haynes says to Stefan "You were only five years old, Stefan. Five."
Dr. Haynes says "One for all and all . . .", prompting Stefan to finish the adage, "for one."
Dr. Haynes tells Stefan "Call me. You know the number." Actually, he doesn't. We do, because Colin led us to it.
"People are not going to remember the Creed music". I agree. I've already forgotten it. I know there was rap and I can't remember being motivated by any of it. Although I do think that rap motivates people to fight, I don't think it's an inspirational kind of motivation. More like go fuck yourself if you're not me.
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