Netflix 'Love, Death & Robots'

[lurok]

2019 Animatrix?

Definitely a contemporary sci-fi anthology/short series.

Some (majority) of the shorts folks raving about I thought were at best interesting and beautifully rendered cutscenes for videogames. Or quirky YouTube vids (Yoghurt and Alternate Histories)
Personal faves:
'Lucky 13' (beautiful CGI character and story)
'Zima Blue' (character and art defined in distinctive animation)
'Beyond The Aquila Rift' (eek sex - that's the one that really took me out of comfort zone)

 

[Awesome Possum]

I really loved Zima Blue.

 

[Christopher]

Three episodes in. "Three Robots" is the best so far.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Zima Blue was a great adaptation of an Alastair Reynold's story; unfortunately, Beyond the Aquilla Rift wasn't. I could stand to see more animated versions of his stories though.

I also enjoyed Lucky 13, which reminded me of Roughnecks. Three Robots was also amusing -- reminded me of The Cyberiad by Stanislaw Lem.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

2019 Animatrix?

More like Heavy Metal 2019.

I haven't watched any, mostly because some of it looked way too violent for my tastes based on the trailer. I know not every short is like that, so I'll have to figure out which ones I want to check out at some point.

 

[Christopher]

I haven't watched any, mostly because some of it looked way too violent for my tastes based on the trailer. I know not every short is like that, so I'll have to figure out which ones I want to check out at some point.

Yeah, the first short is really violent and gory, and I had to look away at some parts, but for the most part it didn't bother me too much because it was CGI and didn't quite feel real.

 

[ISS-Magnum]

Too many favorites. Beyond, Three Robots, Zima, Hunting, Lucky, Ice Age...

In my humble opinion, there are no bad episodes. Weak episodes - yes, a few, but no single bad.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I thought the gratuitous titilation and violence were turned up way too high. I'd rather have more SF&F content and lose the puerile content other than when it's relevant to the plot.

 

[Q2UnME]

The third episode had me just sitting there going ....

Parts of 'Helping Hand' had me turning my head because of the graphic 'real' nature of the ultimate choice to attempt to save her life.

All in all, there was one or two clunkers, but most of the 'episodes' were beautifully rendered and had a decent story. The "Hey, we're on Netflix!" nudity, cussing and graphic violence could have been dialed down a notch or two.

Hope they make a second season of this.

 

[JD]

I thought the gratuitous titilation and violence were turned up way too high. I'd rather have more SF&F content and lose the puerile content other than when it's relevant to the plot.

That's the thing that's kept me from checking this out. I don't mind some of that stuff if the rest of the show is good enough, but this just sounds like nothing but an excuse to through as much sex, nudity, violence and gore on the screen as possible.
I enjoyed Game of Thrones for a while, but after a few seasons the over reliance on that kind of stuff just got on my nerves and drove me away.

 

[Skipper]

Loved Hunting and Three Robots. The less liked one was Lucky 13, but I really didn't dislike any of them. I had to close my eyes at Helping Hand...

2019 Animatrix?

Not really. All the Animatrix shorts were set in the same universe.

 

[theenglish]

More like Heavy Metal 2019.

I haven't watched any, mostly because some of it looked way too violent for my tastes based on the trailer. I know not every short is like that, so I'll have to figure out which ones I want to check out at some point.

I've been wary about watching it for much the same reason. I avoided Heavy Metal my entire life just because it scarred me when I was young. I have no problem with gore when it is relevant to the plot and no problem with nudity or sex but these images really stay with me when they are disturbing. Implied images I find even more disturbing. Put these things in a fantastical setting and I have no problem because my mind can detach.

The Handmaid's Tale, which I do watch, has been the most disturbing series I've seen in recent memory for example.

 

[Christopher]

I always find it so weird that our culture talks about something as beautiful and natural as nudity and something as ugly as violence and gore as if they were equivalently disturbing or objectionable. Why does nudity get lumped in with the rest? Go to a museum and you'll find tons of representations of nude people presented as beautiful, wholesome works of art.

Granted, nudity can be prurient, used to objectify, but that's a problem with the attitude of the work, not with the concept of nudity itself.

 

[USS Firefly]

I always find it so weird that our culture talks about something as beautiful and natural as nudity and something as ugly as violence and gore as if they were equivalently disturbing or objectionable. Why does nudity get lumped in with the rest? Go to a museum and you'll find tons of representations of nude people presented as beautiful, wholesome works of art.

Granted, nudity can be prurient, used to objectify, but that's a problem with the attitude of the work, not with the concept of nudity itself.

That is something I also always find strange in American movies/ tv shows, chopped off hands or heads or lots of blood are normal but a naked person is not acceptable.
I grew up with movies and shows like ''Flodder'' and ''Turks Fruit'', so I find nudity not special or shocking

 

[Skipper]

chopped off hands or heads or lots of blood are normal

Err, ok, aren't we exaggerating a little bit? I don't know what kind of tv shows you watch, but chopped off hands or heads AREN'T the norm...

 

[Christopher]

Err, ok, aren't we exaggerating a little bit? I don't know what kind of tv shows you watch, but chopped off hands or heads AREN'T the norm...

Maybe not the norm, but there are plenty of TV-MA shows that freely depict graphic violence and have uncensored profanity, yet will never show a single female nipple.

 

[theenglish]

I always find it so weird that our culture talks about something as beautiful and natural as nudity and something as ugly as violence and gore as if they were equivalently disturbing or objectionable. Why does nudity get lumped in with the rest? Go to a museum and you'll find tons of representations of nude people presented as beautiful, wholesome works of art.

Granted, nudity can be prurient, used to objectify, but that's a problem with the attitude of the work, not with the concept of nudity itself.

Well, nudity can be very disturbing when its intention is such. I found many of the scenes in Game of Thrones to be disturbing, the sex and nudity in works such as Requiem for a Dream, many Peter Greenaway films, a lot of JG Ballard's work, etc.

As for graphic violence on television, Supernatural is a good example of a show that has pretty graphic violence on a regular basis.

 

[Christopher]

Well, nudity can be very disturbing when its intention is such.

So can anything else. A lullaby can be disturbing if it's sung by a serial killer. A gourmet meal can be disturbing if it's part of an elaborate murder scheme. It's not the fault of the thing itself.

I'd say the cause and effect is the other way around -- the reason so many media images of nudity are disturbing or exploitative is because our culture stigmatizes nudity as something shameful and disturbing, so we don't get as many casual or positive portrayals of it as you would in a culture that didn't have a nudity taboo.

And that's basically what I'm saying -- it annoys me that productions that feature nudity are usually also productions that feature violence and dark themes, because of the way they're lumped together as equally "adult." Personally, I'd be happy to see more things that had nudity and positive sexual content without violence and death and horror and such.

 

[theenglish]

Those are all good points and I understand what you are saying. I was just referring to why I had avoided the series initially.

 

[Christopher]

Finally got back to this. The one with the farmers in mech suits had an intriguing animation style, a bit too jerky but an interesting "painted" semi-2D look that worked quite well. But the story was kind of lacking in detail and background, and the characters could've used more ethnic diversity.

I gave up on "Sucker of Souls" partway through. I generally like seeing genuine 2D animation in these 3D-dominated times, but this short was just way too self-consciously graphic with the violence and gore and other "adult" stuff, like it was taking advantage of the lack of censorship just because it could rather than because it suited the story. I think it was going for a degree of comedy with how over-the-top the violence was, but the whole thing was just too unpleasant for me.

EDIT: Three more... The John Scalzi yogurt short was cute, but notable mainly for Maurice LaMarche's "Orson Welles" narration.

"Beyond the Aquila Rift" was okay, a pretty straightforward story -- hard SF from Alastair Reynolds, but with the feel of an EC Comics short story in a way. I do wonder if the original story had as much of a horror feel as this version gave the final twist. The photorealistic CG animation was quite good, with more natural detail and nuance to the character movement than other such productions I've seen; it was barely in the Uncanny Valley at all.

The Ken Liu adaptation "Good Hunting" was the best so far, a rich and powerful alternate-history story from a Chinese perspective and both feminist and anti-colonialist. Fully 2D-animated as well, and beautifully done. Plus it's a refreshing exception to the mostly or exclusively white casts of the other shorts.