The Wild Robot (2024)

 "I do not have the programming to be a mother."

"No one does. We just make it up."

Little Miss Llamastrangler and I toddled off to the cinema so very pleasingly nearby to watch this film today, and a good time was had by both nine year old and forty-seven year old, the main thing. It is, of course, quite the time-jerker. but it's also interesting in more than the obviousways.

The quote sums up the main subtext, of course: the conceit of a robot accidentally ending up as mother to a little gosling allows it to be a metaphor for the reality of parenting- there's n manual, every child is different and not what the books say, you do a lot of improvising and hoping for the best.

And yet... for all the anthromorphism of robots and animals here, the humans, decadent in their robotised sci-fi society, are not shown as "people". We see them only as a decadent other, surrendering their agency to the robots who live their lives for them. For slavery- and that's what this is- is fundamentally decadent. history shows us this. Slave societies have no further reason to advance, or progress. Sooner or later, they will be out-competed.

Yet the animals of the island are free... and they do progress. To them, the robot is not a slave but a beloved friend and member of their community. And so they seem to slowly learn to live together and forswear rugged, predatory individualism.

But, pretension aside, this is a wonderfully animated, richly emotional film... and yes, I cried when she told him that she loved him. Wonderful stuff.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm

 "You can only get so far without a tribe."

This time the focus is on the flashback as Boba, folloewing the detrruction of the Sand People tribe, resolves to get his ship back from Bib Fortuna and his underlings in the events prior to his and Fennec Shand's appearance in The Mandalorian. Yet this is crucial not only as backstory but also as deep character background, showing us how a bounty hunter came to settle down and become a "daimyo".

His first reconnaissance of Jabba's palace leads him to find a dying Fennec Shand, whose life he saves with cybernetic surgery. She agrees to assist him in order to pay off her debt of honour and they retrieve Boba's ship together, yet a genuine mutual regard grows between them- and when Mr Fett offers to employ her permanently he makes clear his respect and offers his "loyalty". It's fascinating to see the bond growing between them, and both interesting and fresh that there's no hint of sex or romance, just a friendship based on mutual respect. Boba is realising that the lonely life of a bounty hunter will not give him what he needs.

Returning to the present, we see Mr Fett undertaking the necessary diplomatic maneouvres in preparation for his attack on the Pyke Syndicate. Next episode will no doubt be action-packed, but I'm loving the diplomatic chess playing here. Yet again, this script may not focus on the most obviously crowd-pleasing areas, but this is top telly.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa

 "Take it from an ex-bounty hunter: don't work for scugholes."

This episode gives us a fascinating change of pace as it focuses on the realities of Boba Fett's new life as the boss of Jabba's former domain- he has to make complex, indeed political, decisions. The moisture farmers are having their water stolen by cool cyborg ne'er-do-wells, yet said cyborgs are left with no choice because of chronic unemployment and extortionate parties. The solution, as it often must be, is a messy compromise. Still, at least Mr Fett ends up with some cool cyborg underlings.

We get a nice bit of exposition from 808 too; Boba's position is not yet established as he only runs some of Jabba's old protection rackets and needs to expand his power- politics again. And it seems a bigger power, the Pyke syndicate, is muscling in, and charging protection money within Boba's sphere of influence. I'm rather enjoying this focus on Fett's responsibilities. Being a kingpin is za\a life of much admin.

Things get even more complex after a large set piece in which the twin Hutts' Wookie employee almost succeeds in assassinating Mr Fett (he would be dead if not for the cyborgs), only for the Hutts to apologise, give a Rancor monster as a geasture, and duly sod off so as not to offend the feared Pyle Syndicate. This serves to really big up these new baddies, although it will be a shame not to see the Hutts again. Still, saves on CGI, I suppodse.

We end with a touching scene of bonding with the Rancor (nice cameo from Danny Trejo as the Rancor keeper!) and a bit of a very Star Wars car chase, crammed with visual Easter Eggs, before Bobba determines to go after the Mayor, who is clearly linked with the syndicate.

Meanwhile, in flashback, Mr Fett finds the Sand People settlement raided and destroyed, vowing revenge.

This is the best episode yet, daring to focus on areas which may not appeal to everyone but doing so superbly.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tattoine

 "I am not a bounty hunter!"

Here we have another fascinating episode, yet again light on dialogue and heavy on well-directed and compelling montage sequences, in which the two contyrasting narratives play out. In the present, the esteemed Mr Fett and the redoubtable Fennec Shand, played by the ever-youthful kick-as Ming-Na Wen, 58, battle to seize full control of Jabba's former criminal empire on Tattoine, complete with loads of fun cameos from Return of the Jedi. Meanwhile, in the past, Boba continues to gradually earn the trust of his Tusken captors.

The first narrative is more straightforward, as Boba pursues the recalcitrant mayor only to discover that his true foe is "the twins", cousins of Jabba who are carried on a litter truly creaking in the middle, in a nice little bunch of scenes involving a nice bit of sleight of hand re the Rancor monster. But the meat of the episode is a fascinatingly cpurageous sequence where Boba earns the trust of his sand people captors by masterminding a raid on a train (shades of the Firefly episode Train Job, and a reminder that, like The Mandalorian, this is very much a Western) amnd adopts their customs, including an extraordinary druggy sequence where he swallows a lizard up his nostrils and things go well trippy. This is not your standard mainstream Disney Plus strreaming, and it's bleeding superb. And the mention of "spice" has to be a Dune reference.

Oh, and the train is being driven by a cool-looking droid. And it crawls off like a bloody spider when Boba chucks it out of the train. I have no idea where this is going, but I love it.

The Book of Boba Fett, Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land

 "Jabba ruled by fear. I intend to rule with respect."

This is, in the end, a programme in a very similar format to The Mandalorian, although it unexpectedly acts not as a direct sequel but the story of a side character, albeit a major character in the mythos. Jon Favreau is still showrunner; the directorial house style (helmed this time by Robert Rodriguez) is similar, as are the closing credits. Oh, and we're still very firmly within the Western genre.

Temuera Morrison is excellent, as is the ever stoic and ever ageless Ming-Na Wen, whose room wust surely contain a much older-looking portrait of herself. But even more excellent is the writing. On one level there's lots of fan service, perhaps, with Boba's refusal to torture those Gammorrean Guards who escaped the Rancor and hire them instead being a nicely observed character point: he's not a Hutt, he won't travel by litter and he's ruthless but not sadistic. Boba is a much  more expressive character than the Mandalorian, but equally fascinating.

Structurally, the episode is clever. We have two time zones, both of which reflect the Heinlein-evoking title. In one, a flashback, Boba escapes the Sarlacc just after the events of Return of the Jedi only to have his stuff nicked by Jawas and to have to endure harsh captivity by a tribe of Sand People.  The other, in the show's present, shows the beginnings of his attempt to gain full control of Jabba's empire. It's a first episode, with lots of necessary exposition to get out of the way, but so far it's utterly gripping. More please.

Moon (2009)

"I want to go home..."

Well, it's the fiftieth anniversary of the Moon landing so I'm blogging this splendid film- what else?

It’s a wonderful film, of course. Bowie’s lad done good; it can’t be easy being the offspring of a genius, and Duncan Jones did well to eschew music, where expectations would have been impossible, in favour of another art form. He chose directing and, whatever happens in his career from now on (his career since 2009 seems to have been variable), he has this splendid achievement to his name.

Sam Rockwell is also superb and, indeed, has to be; he’s the only actor to have more than a cameo here, amusing and disorienting though it is to see Matt Berry as his boss. But the other character is the ship computer, Gerry, whom I shall try not to compare to HAL- oops- and who is creepily voiced by a pre-scandal Kevin Spacey. Gerty is creepy; not least because of those smileys.

These are all just surface things, though; what makes this film sing is its ideas and themes, of corporate ethics in a world where private corporations mine Helium-3 from the Lunar surface, yes, but mainly about- how shall I put it- themes of self and consciousness. This is serious science fiction with a twist, a Tharg’s Future Shock, if you will, or an rxtended episode of Black Mirror. And it’s wonderful.