My Thoughts On The Series Upload On Amazon Prime

When I first saw the announcement of the series Upload on Amazon Prime, I couldn't help but do an article with my thoughts on the show's premise. I'm not really in favor of the idea of uploading your consciousness into a computer before you die. It comes from the transhumanist movement and the idea that somehow you're going to cheat death. It's the age-old quest of mankind to replace God. One of the concerns I voiced was that you would be giving up your free will and your soul to whoever it is that runs the computer program, but I'm not going to get into that discussion here.

I finally sat down and watched the entire first season of the series. Let me just say, it's very good. I don't think this is a series that takes itself too seriously. They have a premise, and they are trying to have some fun with it. The lead character dies, and he has to make a snap decision at the very last minute to either upload his consciousness to the computer or die and experience whatever it is we experience after death. What I find interesting is that we learn as the series goes on that maybe he wasn't really going to die. Maybe he was pressured into it.

Our lead character Nathan Brown, played by Robbie Amell, is in a relationship with Ingred Kannerman, played by Allegra Edwards. It seems like it's more physical than anything else. We learn more about his life as the season goes on and he gets used to the simulated afterlife of Horizen. We quickly learn that this is where people who have the money go in their effort to cheat death. Life is made quite comfortable and cozy for them. They don't have to worry about anything, or so it seems. 

We do learn that it's not cheap to live in Horizen. I like watching Nathan's friend Luke, played by Kevin Bigley. Because of his military service, Luke was able to be uploaded there, but based on the fact that he continues to try to cheat the system, you get the impression that he doesn't really have a lot of money to enjoy some of the perks that come with living there. Some things do cost extra.

As the events unfold, we learn that somebody wanted Nathan dead. His death was definitely not an accident. Furthermore, his fiance understood this. Remember I mentioned that his decision to upload was kind of pushed on him, and maybe he would have survived his injuries? Well, his fiance Ingred was encouraging him to consent to being uploaded. Apparently, she felt this was the best way to keep him safe. Once uploaded, Nathan realizes that Ingred has control over him in this simulated afterlife. He can't do anything without getting her permission.

In Horizen, you get an angel. This is the person who tends to your needs. If you have a problem with how things are going, you can contact your angel. Nathan's Angel is Nora Antony, and I think Andy Allo does an excellent job in the role. We learn that she doesn't really have very much money, but she aspires to have her ailing father Dave Antony, played by Chris Williams, uploaded to Horizen. She's trying to use whatever influence she has as an employee of the company and what money she has saved to get him uploaded there when he dies, but he wants nothing to do with it. As the season goes on, you start to wonder if he's part of the movement to destroy Horizen. He definitely has more of a story that will probably be told in the second season.

An angel and their client are not supposed to get intimate or too familiar with each other. The company has rules against that. Of course, the series would be very different if Nathan and Nora didn't have romantic possibilities. They do get closer as the season goes on, but it doesn't end exactly how you might hope. People are anxious to see the second season, which began filming at the beginning of the year. Nora's coworker Alesha, played by Zainab Johnson, is the angel for Luke, and this leads to some of the funniest scenes of the season. There's an adversarial thing going on between these two, but it makes for some entertaining situations.

In the first season, they did a good job of establishing the mystery. Why did somebody want Nathan dead? What was it he was working on before he died? It turns out he was working on uploads for people who didn't have the money to go to Horizen. Obviously, the competition doesn't want that to happen. Where is the profit in that? All of this is plausible. If and when uploading is rolled out in our future, it's going to be the rich and influential who have the first opportunity, if you want to call it that. The poor will be left out. No matter what the technology is, the poor are the last to see any of it until the cost is driven down.

Of course, we do get an example of how poor people might be uploaded into the simulated afterlife. At a point, Nathan gets tired of Ingred controlling his life and rationing him money when she thinks he needs it. He decides to go to a place called 2 Gig. This is where people use a monthly plan. They get a basic room with white walls and a bed and a table. When they use up their 2 gigs of memory, they simply freeze until the next month. The people who have lived there for a while have learned to do almost nothing so that they can be conscious for the whole month. That's not a very appealing way to live, and it serves as the backdrop for how the first season ends.

Among the noteworthy people in this show is Nora's boss Lucy, played by Andrea Rosen. She's a career woman who doesn't cut her employees any slack. You get a sense that she's a lonely woman, but it's hard to be sympathetic towards her with the way she's depicted in the first season. Nathan's cousin is Fran Booth, played by Elizabeth Bowen. She takes it upon herself to investigate Nathan's death, and there are some entertaining scenes with her. Sadly, it didn't go too well for her. There are some good performances by other cast members, but I can't ignore A.I. Guy, played by Owen Daniels. He's a bit annoying, sometimes funny and sometimes creepy.

We see a lot of little jokes about how the afterlife is, but I'd love to see a few things explored a little bit more. For instance, the people who are uploaded are not supposed to be involved in the living world. They're not supposed to be involved in anything business related or financial, although I get the impression that people like David Choke, played by William B Davis, might stick his nose in matters of the living. This character is based on David Koch. He's kind of a jerk, but he does give Nathan some useful advice from time to time.

It still begs the question, what is the economy of the after world? While they may not be involved in finances in the living world, there is a currency of some sort in the afterlife of Horizen. Luke, Nathan and young Dylan, played by Rhyes Slack, use it when they go off grid to take care of a couple of things. They go to a place where you can get just about anything you want for a price, which leads to a comedic situation for poor Dylan. There is a contest later in the season where the winner gets so many tokens, while their angel even gets a little bit of money too. 

Basically, I can see them setting up a scenario where the less influential are left having to work and wait on the more financially secure people in this after world. For example, somebody wanting to be conscious for the entire month who lives in 2 Gig might have to get a job to make that happen.

It still doesn't sound at all appealing to me. I'd rather go to wherever it is after this existence and experience what I'm meant to experience. However, as a series, there's no denying that this setting is fertile ground to tell a good story. I must admit that Greg Daniels had a good idea when he created this series. The first season was better than I was expecting, and I look forward to what they have planned for the second season. 

I know the story will have some interesting twists and turns when Season 2 premieres, but I'd like to see the simulated world of Horizen explored a little bit more. Overall, I would recommend it. Season 1 is 10 episodes, and if you're a fan of science fiction with a dash of comedy and a little bit of romance, you might just like it. It helps that they have good writing and a good cast. You can catch all of the episodes on Amazon Prime.

Was The Leader Of The Morlocks In The Time Machine Evil?

I was just watching the 2002 version of The Time Machine on YouTube. I think the movie from 1960 was even better, but the remake is visually stunning. I think it's a bit rushed, but it's a pretty good movie nonetheless. This article will contain spoilers. If you haven't seen The Time Machine from 2002, go to YouTube and check it out. It is currently free. It was directed by the great grandson of HG Wells (Simon Wells), who authored the book that this movie is based on. 

In the story, our lead character Dr Alexander Hartdegen, played by Guy Pearce, travels 800,000 years into the future to get the answer to his question. Why can't he save his true love's life? I've always found time travel stories to be fascinating. Part of it is the way it's being used in the story being told, but there's that longing to know what would happen if I could change something I did in my past. I think that's relatable for many people.

Dr Hartdegen travels into the future and meets a race of people called the Eloi. They are reimagined from the 1960 version of the movie and given more of a Native American look. I think it was a good creative choice. They are young and innocent. The doctor quickly learns that amidst the beauty of the scenery and the stunning architecture of the cliff-side village in which they live is a horrible truth. They exist to be the prey of the predator class of creatures that live underground known as the Morlocks.

The doctor is found unconscious and is taken back to the village. He wakes up in a bed and meets Mara, played by Samantha Mumba, and her younger brother. When the Morlocks emerge above ground and hunt the Eloi, Mira is captured. The doctor learns that the people who are taken are never seen again. Most of the Eloi accept their fate, so nobody is organizing a party to go rescue anybody. The doctor gets Mira's younger brother to tell him where the Morlocks are so that he can save Mara.

The story in the newer version of the movie seems a bit rushed, but the visuals help make up for that. The doctor makes his way underground and ends up being captured by the Morlocks. As luck would have it, he is thrown in with the Morlock leader, played by Jeremy Irons. I find this to be a very interesting scene, and the question posed in the title of this article is based on the 2002 movie. I ask if the Morlock leader was a bad guy? Was he evil?

I would submit to you that he wasn't evil. He was somebody bread to be in the position he was in. The Morlock leader speaks of the order of things. Civilization, such as it was in the future, had to adapt to the disaster caused by men's foolishness in mining the moon. When the moon exploded, life on earth as we knew it ended. The underground creatures evolved into predators, and they functioned almost like a hive. The people who could survive on land became docile. They co-existed with nature, but they had no big ambition to evolve. They were easily made the prey of the Morlocks. By taking the older Eloi and leaving the young behind, they kept them ignorant and docile. The Eloi never fought back against them.

The Morlock leader explains to the doctor that his people became the hunters, but they needed order. Every colony of Morlocks evolved in a similar way. They all have a leader similar to him. He's the one who keeps the order in his colony. He has evolved to have a sort of psychic ability that can manipulate people's thoughts. This is why the Morlocks haunt the dreams of the Eloi at night. This is why the Morlocks don't just go above ground and wipe out the whole village of Eloi and feast. The Morlock leader's function is to keep the order so that his people can continue to live.

He explains to the doctor that he is a victim of his circumstances. He can no more change his situation than the doctor can change his. He's basically telling the doctor that he can't save his true love because that's just the way it is. At that point, the Morlock leader tells the doctor that he has given him his answer and he may go back to his time. He reveals that he has his time machine. This is a gesture that should prove that the Morlock leader was not evil. He was just keeping the order and had no issue with the visitor. He knew that was a time machine that could have even helped make him more powerful, but he had no interest in stealing it and killing the doctor.

The doctor, of course, has to make a snap decision. He did get his answer. It may not have been what he wanted to hear, but it was an answer. It was probably the only answer he was going to get. He looks over at the cage where Mara is being kept. The Morlock leader explains that she is going to be breeding stock for the Morlock race. The doctor has to make the decision. Is he okay with leaving the Eloi and Mara in the situation they are in, or does he want to do something to help them all? Of course, we know the answer to that question.

What's interesting is that this interpretation of the HG Wells classic could have been turned into a franchise. The holographic character from the library, played by Orlando Jones, somehow miraculously lasted underground for 800,000 years. What I find interesting is when the doctor first encountered the hologram in 2037 and mentioned time travel, the hologram suggested the HG Wells book The Time Machine. In the movie universe, you could even surmise that at some point, the doctor did go back in time and tell his story. However, there's another thing to consider.

The Morlock leader suggested that there were other colonies on the planet that existed in a similar way. The other Morlock colonies under ground were similar, as were the Eloi villages above ground. This Morlock colony had been destroyed, but others still existed. It's pretty much suggested that the Morlock leader has mental and telepathic abilities, so one could surmise that the Morlock leaders were in communication with each other as needed. Maybe it was constant communication, and maybe it only happened from time to time.

The doctor went about educating the Eloi children. This is where the hologram came in as he had a wealth of knowledge. The doctor himself was going to teach the older people of the village and presumably come up with other inventions that would help them. He might even develop a new time machine, but that is speculation. However, in this time machine universe, one could surmise that at some point there would be a return of the Morlocks to attack the Eloi of this village. This time, they would be better prepared. The doctor himself might even realize that there were other Eloi in need of leadership, and that opens things up for more stories to be told.

I don't believe HG Wells meant to continue telling this story. However, the ending in this movie leaves things open for a new story or two. Unfortunately, the movie made about $123 million on an $80 million budget, meaning there wasn't enough profit to entice them continue telling this story. I don't think they were ever considering any sequels, and maybe that's just as well. 

After watching the remake again today, I started thinking about the question of whether the Morlock leader was truly evil, and I just don't think he was. Allowing the doctor to return to his time was not an evil act. Unfortunately, the Morlock leader didn't realize that allowing the doctor to leave with the time machine would lead to the destruction of his colony. That would lead to the question, why didn't he see that coming? I'll leave that one for another time.

I Enjoyed The Coming To America Sequel For What It Was

When I heard that Eddie Murphy was doing a sequel to Coming To America called Coming 2 America, I was thrilled. I loved most of Eddie's movies from the 1980s. I'm not sure what I would consider my favorite, but Coming To America ranks high among them. Having finally seen the sequel, I can honestly say it didn't disappoint me. I am at a little bit of a loss as to why it's receiving so much hate from people on the internet.

When you talk sequels to comedies, let's be honest about it. People enjoy the rhythm and the humor of a particular movie, and it's sequel doesn't usually change it up too much in many cases. If we go back to the 1980s, I would point out a movie like Fletch and the sequel Fletch Lives. Both movies did well at the box office. All they did with Fletch Lives is take Chevy Chase's character from one location and put him in another location. Beyond that, it's Chevy doing what he does best. There's also the Police Academy movies. I think they all did pretty decent at the box office and the fans enjoyed them, but if you've seen one, you've seen them all.

People debate whether a movie should have a sequel decades after the last installment. It's been over 30 years since the first Coming To America. This puts people in a different frame of mind, or I think that might be what Eddie was thinking when he decided to go back to the franchise. The reason he was inspired to do that was he noted that of all of the movies he has done, this is the one that rose to a sort of cult status. For instance, there is the case of the burger restaurant in Southern California that is decorated like McDowell's for Halloween.

One thing I will say about this sequel is it didn't really take the idea in a dramatic new direction. It followed the established formula. It introduced a few new characters with most of the the old favorites and didn't stray too far from the spirit of what the first movie was about. I feel like the message it conveyed was ultimately the same. 

One of the things that made the original movie iconic was the fact that Eddie and Arsenio Hall created some entertaining characters. In fact, I think it's safe to say that they felt obligated to return to those characters. It's almost like if they didn't do that, what's the point?

This meant that we got to see the characters from the barber shop, Randy Watson and Sexual Chocolate and Reverend Brown, among others. In fact, this movie even gave a nod to one of Eddie's other popular 1980s movies, Trading Places. We saw the great grandson and great grand nephew of the Duke brothers, and he actually fit in well with what they used him for in this movie. Some people are saying at times this movie acted like a "greatest hits" revisited from the first movie, and I don't disagree with that. I think that was one of the points in making the movie. It plays on people's love of nostalgia.

My biggest concern was whether the movie would go down the woke path that other franchises have, most notably Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and The Terminator. Given the fact that Eddie's a Akeem character had three daughters and no son, the stage was set for it. However, I don't think that's what happened in this case. I could say more, but that would require me giving away the plot of the movie. They brought back several of the actors from the old movie, and the new actors did a good job in their respective rules.

I can't find too much to complain about here. I pretty much knew what I was getting into when I chose to watch this movie. In fact, I was counting on it. I don't know what people were expecting. I think there are those people that are going to complain about anything for the sake of complaining, and others may have had higher standards than they should have given the material being presented here. Coming 2 America is good for what it is, and I say you should enjoy it for what it is. It's a nostalgic trip down memory lane starring one of the funniest actors and comedians from the 1980s.