by RayPublisher 49 Replies latest social entertainment
The Matrix - "Do you want the blue pill or the red pill?", "All I offer you is the truth", "Ignorance is bliss", "The Matrix is all around us"
Shutter Island - Creepy, is it real or isn't it, it turns out the whole thing is a dream
The Truman Show - "In case I don't see you- Good afternoon, good evening and good night!", nice guy- totally manipulated by powerful org
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As well as the ones you have mentioned Ray two more that come to mind are
The Village
The Island
I watched The Truman Show as a JW a couple of times and it didn't register but when I watched it again after I left I immediately thought of the make believe, manipulated world of JWs.
Hopscotch
Stepford Wives. They all look spookily like they just stepped out of WTS illustrations.
funnily enough I watched Demolitian Man set in the future where there is no crime. The rebellious underclass and the corrupt rulers of perfection were all very resonant.
Two come to mind. Both are kids movies, but worth a watch (imho).
1. The Golden Compass (The Magisterium = The Organizational Authority)
PLOT (From Wikipedia)
The film is set in a world where a person's soul resides outside their body in an animal-like form called a Dæmon. A dictator-like organisation called the Magisterium exercises power in the secular world. Lyra Belacqua, an orphan of Jordan College along with her dæmon Pantalaimon (nicknamed Pan), spins tales of the Gobblers, whom she and her friends believe are snatching children.
Forced to hide in a closet, Lyra learns that her uncle Lord Asriel is about to present a proposal to the master and scholars of Jordan College. She watches as a Magisterium official pours powder into a flask of her uncle's favorite Tokay wine. Left alone in the room, Asriel pours a glass of Tokay, but Lyra rushes out and knocks the glass out of Asriel's hand. Asriel later presents evidence that particles called "Dust" exist. Over the objections of the Magisterium, the college funds Asriel's expedition to the far north to investigate the Dust. He believes it originates in a parallel universe and enters a person's body via their dæmon. The Magisterium has secretly been experimenting on children to discover a way to inoculate them against its influences.
At dinner Lyra meets Mrs. Coulter, who insists on taking Lyra north as her assistant. Before Lyra leaves, the master of the college entrusts her with the only remaining alethiometer (the film's titular Golden Compass). This device, he tells her, reveals the truth. The Magisterium has destroyed all the others; he warns her to tell no one she has it. Lyra accepts the gift, promising to keep it hidden.
At Mrs. Coulter's house, Lyra mentions 'space dust'. Mrs. Coulter warns her never to mention it again. Lyra refuses to remove her shoulder bag which holds the golden compass. Mrs. Coulter's dæmon attacks Pan, causing Lyra to give in. After hiding the compass under her pillow, Lyra and Pan search Mrs. Coulter's secret room, where they discover that Mrs. Coulter is head of the General Oblation Board, the "Gobblers", who have been kidnapping local children. She also discovers that her best friend Roger and her Gyptian friend Billy have been taken by the Gobblers.
Hearing Mrs. Coulter call out for her, Lyra and Pan meet her in a hallway. Running to her bedroom, they see Mrs. Coulter's dæmon holding the alethiometer. Changing into a hawk, Pan swoops down, grabs the golden compass, and flies out an open window. Lyra escapes behind him, slamming the window on Mrs. Coulter's dæmon. The "Gobblers" pursue her, but she is saved by some Gyptians. Aboard a Gyptian boat heading north to rescue their children, Lyra shows the alethiometer to a Gyptian wise man, Farder Coram, who advises her in its use. On deck that night Serafina Pekkala, the witch queen, tells Lyra that the missing children are in a place called Bolvangar — a place shunned by all living things. Mrs. Coulter sends two mechanical spy flies after Lyra and Pan; one is batted away but the other is caught and sealed in a tin can by Farder Coram, who explains that the spy fly has a sting with a sleeping poison.
At a Norwegian port, Lyra is befriended by a cowboy aeronaut named Lee Scoresby, who advises her to hire an armoured bear. Exiled in shame, the giant polar bear Iorek Byrnison has been tricked out of his armour by the local townspeople, for whom he now performs menial jobs for buckets of whisky. Using the alethiometer Lyra tells Iorek where to find his armour. Armoured again, the fearsome Iorek and his friend Lee Scoresby join the trek northward.
That night while riding on Iorek's back, Lyra finds a cowering Billy separated from his dæmon. Lyra reunites Billy with his mother just as the group is attacked by Samoyeds who capture Lyra. Taken to the armoured bear king Ragnar, Lyra tricks him into fighting Iorek one on one. After killing Ragnar, King Iorek carries Lyra near Bolvangar, to a thin ice bridge. Reaching the station, Lyra is taken to eat with the missing children. While hiding again Lyra discovers that the Magisterium scientists, under the guidance of Mrs. Coulter, are performing experiments to sever the bond between a child and their dæmon. Caught spying, Lyra and Pan are thrown in the separation chamber, causing them to scream in agony. Mrs. Coulter rescues Lyra and takes her and Pan to her quarters.
When Lyra wakes up she is comforted by Mrs. Coulter, who tells Lyra that she is her mother. Lyra then guesses that Lord Asriel is her father. When Mrs. Coulter asks for the compass, Lyra gives her the can containing the spy fly. The spy fly stings Mrs. Coulter, knocking her and her daemon out. Lyra runs to the room with the separation machine and toggles the switches and dials wide open. The growing chain reaction builds as Lyra yanks a control box loose and hurls it into the separation machine, causing it to explode. This sets off a series of explosions that tear the facility apart. As alarms whoop, Mrs. Coulter is found and carried outside.
Outside, the children are attacked by Tartar mercenaries and their wolf dæmons. The battle is joined by Iorek, the Gyptians, and a band of flying witches. The Tartars are defeated and the children are rescued. Rather than returning south, Lyra, Roger and Iorek fly north with Lee Scoresby in search of Lord Asriel.
Unaware that he is in mortal danger, Lord Asriel has set up a laboratory to investigate the glowing Dust from another world, but Lyra is certain that, once she delivers the alethiometer to her father, the two of them will be able to make things right.
2. City of Ember
PLOT (From Wikipedia)
In the midst of a nuclear war, the Builders of the underground "City of Ember" place secret instructions in a small box. They agree that 200 years should be a reasonable margin of safety to stay underground. The box is thrust into the hands of the mayor of the underground complex. Each mayor, in turn, passes the box onto his or her successor. When the box has 47 more years left on the time-lock, the mayor holding the box dies suddenly. It seems the significance of the box had not been explained to anyone because the box is just put at the back of a junk-filled closet. When it finally reaches year 200, the time-lock clicks open, but the event goes unnoticed.
For generations, the people of Ember have lived in a huge underground complex built as a refuge for humanity. It is built into a vast cavern so high that it is filled with regular-sized buildings. Far above the tops of the buildings are banks of floodlights that light the city during the day and provide light for the greenhouses. The lights are powered by a massive generator. Now it is year 247 and Ember threatens to fall into darkness as the generator begins to fail. Blackouts are occurring with increasing frequency and last longer each time. There's also a major shortage of canned goods and light bulbs.
At a rite of passage for all graduating students called Assignment Day, the mayor (Bill Murray) stands before the graduating students as they choose, by lottery, what their occupations will be. Lina (Saoirse Ronan), a young girl dreaming to be a messenger, is assigned "Pipeworks Laborer" and Doon (Harry Treadaway) is assigned "Messenger". The two swap occupations. Lina goes home to find her grandmother searching for something in the closet, which turns out to be the lost metal box. Unable to piece the torn papers inside the box together, Lina nevertheless resolves to decipher their meaning and enlists Doon's help. As blackouts become more frequent, Lina and Doon realize that the information inside the box could lead to the salvation of Ember. Racing against time, the two follow the clues, cleverly maneuvering around corrupt politicians.
During their flight, it turns out that their parents had once joined in an attempt to make their way beyond Ember - an attempt which ended when Lina's father drowned after their tunneler hit an underground river. The pair realizes the document is a set of instructions on how to escape the city, and they search for the hidden exit. They also discover that the mayor has been hoarding canned food in a secret room. When they report the theft, they are declared traitors. Now on the run from the mayor's police, the pair puts their escape plan into action. They fetch Poppy, Lina's younger sister, and follow the instructions, which leads them to the surface where they see and feel the natural air and sky for the first time. At first, they are sad because it is dark, but they do not realize it is nighttime. In the morning, as the sun rises, they gaze in amazement at the glowing sun and blue sky. They then tie a message of their discovery to a rock and drop it back down to the city, where it is found by Doon's father (Tim Robbins).
In the movie: "Lost in Space", You have two corporations=Catholics, Protestants.
They engage in a race to populate new space=spread religion to the "new world".
The more competitive (Protestant) org. is sabotaged=corp. influence, by the other.
It's flag ship=WT&BTS, is isolated=rejects (Protestantism), with an infiltrator=GB elites.
The infiltrator collaborates with space spiders=demons. This leads to the
(mother) ship being lost further into deep space=WT's "far out" beliefs of present!
As a burned out elder I love the Jason Bourne line from the Bourne Ultimatum: "Do you even know WHY you a supposed to kill me? Look at us, look at what they make you give."
