Bliss Review: Mike Cahill s Sci-Fi Fable Misses the Mark
A promising premise gets a dull, lead-footed treatment.
Andrew Barker, provided by
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Running time: Running time: 104 MIN.
Courtesy of Amazon Studios
The biggest challenge of discussing Mike Cahill’s “Bliss” lies in describing its premise without making it sound considerably wilder and more interesting than it actually is. In short, the film stars Owen Wilson as a sad-sack office drone who, after accidentally killing his boss, is rescued by an intense, shamanistic homeless woman played by Salma Hayek, who not only informs him that they are soulmates, but also that they are among the few flesh-and-blood humans inhabiting a complex computer simulation, and by imbibing the right combinations of colorful crystals they can bend the laws of physics, and also travel to a paradisiacal alternate reality where their days consist of lounging on yachts and hobnobbing at parties with Bill Nye and a holograph
2/5/2021
Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek star in Mike Cahill s sci-fi thriller for Amazon about a man who discovers that he s living in a computer simulation.
Mike Cahill wants to blow your mind. That much is apparent from his previous theatrical films,
Another Earth and
I Origins, both of which dealt with intellectually trippy sci-fi themes. The writer/director continues on the same path with his latest effort set in two worlds, one of which is a computer simulation. Figuring out which is which provides the main interest of the film starring Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek, premiering on Amazon Prime Video. Although even after watching
When John Legend wrote and recorded “Never Break” for “Giving Voice,” he never intended to release the song before the film. The documentary, directed by James D. Stern and Fernando Villena, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, after which Netflix decided on a December release almost 11 months later. Then the world began to spin a bit differently, and Legend realized it was the sort of song people needed to hear sooner rather than later.
“Obviously, the year started out with the pandemic. We didn’t know how bad it was going to get at first,” Legend says. “And then we saw what happened with George Floyd and how upset and frustrated so many Black Americans felt seeing another example of our lives not being valued. And then my own personal issues with my wife and the loss of our pregnancy. It was just like situation after situation was calling for this song, and I just needed to have it out in the world.”
Bliss Trailer Traps Owen Wilson & Salma Hayek in a Mind-Bending Matrix
Bliss Trailer Traps Owen Wilson & Salma Hayek in a Mind-Bending Matrix
Amazon has released the first trailer for the new sci-fi flick Bliss, starring Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek.
Bliss. This is the latest from filmmaker Mike Cahill (
Another Earth), with Owen Wilson (
Wedding Crashers,
From Dusk Till Dawn,
Like a Boss) leading the cast. As we can see from the trailer, this looks to be a mind-bending tale of love that blurs the lines between simulation and reality.
The trailer wastes little time in casting doubt on what is real and what is not real, as Owen Wilson s Greg recounts a memory that feels real to him, though he is not certain that is the case. He then proceeds with a busy day at work before meeting, quite literally, the woman of his dreams at a bar. Things get strange in a hurry as Wilson s character comes to find that he s been living in a highly-advanced simulation. The idea is that these har