Creative Control

Artsy Musings are what inhabits this "Selfie" Film, Filmed in Black and White (of course). Sterility is Everywhere as is that Oldie but Goodie, Sex. These "Techies" and Nerds, no matter how Outrageous Their Hairstyles or Wardrobe, are still just like Everyone Else.

Multitasking can't Mask the Fact that Mostly on the Mind is a "Bit of the ole' in and out." It all comes down to that when all's Said and Done. The Movie is Obsessed with the Thing. Just like the Past Generations of Young People these People try so hard to Distance Themselves.

It's all Slick Surface, Shiny and Reflective. Even the City Streets seem to have been Vacuumed of the Vile Stench and Debris. Everyone in the Picture is Perfectly Coiffed, Manicured, and ready for Their Inumerous Close-Ups.

Even though the Story is about High-Tech and things that "Everyday People" find Frighteningly Frustrating, it somehow seems Mundane. The Commercial Shoot, the Yoga Classes, and Board Room Meetings contain Dialog that might well be in a Foreign Language, it's Numbed Down for the Masses.

You might Try Hard, in vain, to Understand anything Reggie Watts or the Yoga Instructor is saying in Their Extended Dialog Scenes. It all makes about as much Sense as an Acid Trip.

Speaking of Drugs, there are Plenty Consumed. In almost Every Scene something is being Smoked, Snorted, Popped, and Drank. Party On.

The Virtual Reality of the "Augmenta" Glasses is, of course, just like a Drug as Our Protagonist (Writer-Director-Actor, Multitasker, Benjamin Dickinson) gets so "Turned On" by wearing the "X-Ray Specs" that at times He can't separate the Experience from Reality (big surprise).

Overall, this Indie is Worth a Watch for the Artsy Way it Displays its rather Pedestrian Postmodern Philosophy, but in the End, there really isn't Anything Post-Modern about it. It just Appears so, Dressed-Up in Hip Garb and Hairstyles.

Nonsensical artsy-fartsy claptrap. That's time I'll never get back.

The character studies are priceless . . . and remarkably on target

How to actually describe this?

A stylized rendition of uber fluff post millennial somethings immersed into the quasi emergent culture norm of this near future world, something like "Silicon Valley", extruded through a NY augmented reality enhanced art / ad agency scene mandrel.

But, that only barely covers the real description of what this is.

The character studies are priceless . . . and remarkably on target (at least in my perturbed opinion), maybe too close to home for some?

Visually, this is an art piece to be appreciated, but perhaps that is too distracting for some of the previous reviewers.

It's something of a twisted love story, but I had no difficulty at all following the various sub plot threads woven into this story.

No, not quite a 10, but certainly a well deserved 8.

Yes, this is a bit different, perhaps a bit of a risky tangent to have extrapolated upon, but for what it is, remarkably well done.

I don't mind when a production takes a bit of a risk, strays just a bit outside the box to deliver a potential future experience.

Some have suggested this will be soon forgotten as a trivial experiment in filmcraft.

I'm leaning in the other direction, more toward this maybe becoming a sort of future cult classic in its own context.

My humble suggestion . . . watch and absorb this, it will be worth the time spent.

I'm guessing this is what one would call an artsy film, the whole movie is shot in black and white, which is actually quite well done, but the movie itself kind of goes overboard in the whole art project thing.

The story is actually quite simple, and not as hard to understand as the few trippy drug scenes imply, but it also isn't anything special, and really wasn't worth the 1,5 hour movie, as it could've fit into a 30min short.

A lot of scenes give the feeling someone went overboard with the filters, adding unnecessary sfx and 'noir' style effects to scenes that really didn't need them.

There is also quite a bit of dialogue that goes a little bit too far in its 'high/trippy' mindset. An actual quote; "I was looking into his eyes, and that's when i saw you, i saw you, and i realized that loving him was loving you was loving me, because we're all one"

This is where i stopped watching and started writing this review while leaving it on for the final 10 minutes. The end was actually quite good, but felt rushed, almost as if the budget ran out and they weren't able to film any substantial scenes for it. (probably because they used it all on unnecessary sfx earlier on.)

In the end i was left feeling like this would have been great for an art exhibition, and with that in mind it was kind of impressive i almost made it to the end, the camera-work and music quite good also, which is why i give it a 5/10, instead of anything lower.

There's plenty of sex, drugs, nudity, explicit language, and Augmented Reality fantasies here, but if you're looking for any characters you can care about you may very well come up empty handed. Shot in black-and- white, to be fair there is some humor and satire that emerges every so often, but it never stays on a steady enough path to sustain itself.

Benjamin Dickinson stars here as David, as he also directed the movie and co-wrote the screenplay with Micah Bloomberg, an advertising exec who wins the Augmenta account for his agency. They specialize in Augmented Reality glasses and David volunteers to try out the product so he can prepare his marketing campaign. However, he begins to find the trips into Augmented Reality much preferable to his fast crumbling personal life.

All in all, there's a few things to like here but they're outweighed by pretentious and unlikable characters, so that by the end of the movie I really didn't care what happened to any of them.