Courtesy of Spackman Entertainment Group
#Alive (Streaming September 8 on Netflix)
Judging by its trailer, this South Korean zombie flick was dubbed in English for its Netflix release. In Seoul, unemployed gamer Jun-woo (Yoo Ah-in) awakens late in the day to news of a strange pandemic that is turning the city’s population into zombies. The infected wander the streets and into his building, trapping Jun-woo inside his apartment. After running out of food, hope is renewed by Yoo-bin (Park Shin-hye), a young woman also trapped in her apartment, located across a busy street. Released to Korean theaters in June as a massive hit, the film speaks to our fears in the wake of COVID-19.
The Social Dilemma (Streaming September 9, on Netflix)
Google, Facebook and other social media mine our data for profit. Jeff Orlowski's cautionary documentary explains and dramatizes the methods used and their effects upon us. Former Google exec Tristan Harris, coined the phrase “human downgrading’ to describe social media’s reinforcement of addiction, distraction, isolation, polarization and fake news—to weaken us and undermine society. Among other means, technology platforms employ psychology to capture human attention, with the goal of no less than to enslave our minds. How do we fight back? Laws most certainly must change, but until then, this film sounds the alarm.
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