Sci-fried? Not even close!!
Sci-fried? Not even close!!
I used to look forward to the weeks
purely so I could sleep in and refresh from the week. However, now I long for
them so I can escape on another Sci-fi adventure. I still get plenty of time
outside, Kona allow it to be any other way. I cannot even begin to tell you how
many I have watched since I kicked this off about a month ago. I just know each
day I dream about being able to do nothing but get lost in another adventure on
Netflix, well normally Netflix every now and again I branch out to Amazon.
Every time I think I am done digging up a new adventure I find even more to go
on. I just put 8 more in the queue yesterday during breakfast. The truth is I
watched so many that I cannot even remember what I watched this weekend. I also
know I am way behind in writing reviews and I will probably never catch up.
I am going to try and recount the
movies I have watched this weekend alone:
Friday 4/17
- Extinction
- Mute
Saturday 4/18
- ARQ
- IO (or Destination IO)
- I, Robot
- Tau
Sunday 4/19
- Transcendence
- White Chamber
- Assimilation
- Ready Player One
I have learned there is a fine line
between horror, thriller and Sci-fi. Sometimes they make a horror movie and
throw it a few years in the future and boom its Sci-fi. Twenty-six movies into my Sci-fi binge I have
to say I have watched some good ones and some bad ones. Obviously, the worst being Singularity and
the best, well, I am not 100% which one is the best. There are several I have really enjoyed: 2049,
Automata, Tau, Ready Player One, and Anon.
Then there are others I appreciate because I either liked a twist, some
bodies acting was good, or the premise is something that made me think. I am going to try and do a little review here
of the movies I watched the weekend of 17th – 19th of
April. I am going to try and do this without
spoilers but just in case, I will say Spoilers below just so I do not blow
anything for anyone.
The Watch List:
TAU
Written by: Noga Landau
Directed by: Federico
D'Alessandro
Starred: Maika Monroe, Ed Skerin, Gary Oldman
Rating: Watch
Where: Free on Netflix
TAU is an AI program that runs a
house. TAU is connected to drones and one badass Robot named Ares who can bring
the pain if he needs too. TAU starts off
more like a serial killer movie with kidnappings and experiments. At first, I was thinking I could sort of
seeing them use this set up for a porno not Sci-fi movie but after it gets
going, it gets good. You cannot help but
root for the crafty protagonist as she plays a cat and mouse game with her captor. TAU the AI System is caught in between. TAU is fiercely loyal to the captor and will
carry out his orders without hesitation which are basically if she does not do
as she is told bring the pain. TAU is
also hungry for knowledge, a need to be alive, and to understand being
alive. This gives our craft protagonist
a way in. The protagonist
and TAU’s relationship is well developed and seems a real friendship is being
developed between women and machine. The
captor is a compelling bad guy, his motives are clear, he wants knowledge that
the women can help him with. I feel like
he is underused, and we never get a sense of how this knowledge he is obtaining
will actually work, we just know to get it he has to hurt the protagonist. I think I would have liked to see that developed
better. Overall, the movie is a joy if a
bit on the dark side. I would definitely
recommend a watch especially if you are into AI and its real-world
applications. The protagonist is easy on the eyes and that
doesn’t hurt at all either. Gary Oldman
although he is just a voice in the machine in this movie is always a pleasure to
see in a movie and is a definite positive to the movie.
Ready Player One
Written by: Zak Penn and Ernest Cline
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starred: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, and Ben Mendelsohn
Rating: Can’t Miss
Where: Rented on Amazon Prime
Wow!
Ready Player One blew me away. I
really enjoyed this movie. Of the 26 Sci-fi
movies I have watched in the last month this and 2049 are the only two I think
I will re-watch. I think Ready Player
One will be a multiple watch movie. This is an amazing blend of pop culture
references (which I love: Psych and Supernatural are my favorite TV shows and
they blend them in non-stop) and Sci-fi.
I laughed while I watched. Almost
cried during the viewing and while I didn’t cry, I got misty. It was an epic adventure for me.
The story is that in the future the
world is a shit hole. Therefore, the
place to be is in a virtual world known as the Oasis. The Oasis
isn’t just a normal virtual reality (VR) like we have and know today. It is a little more like the Matrix but you
choose to go there, you aren’t forced.
You go and you come as you please.
Although you do feel pain, so if you get hurt you can get hurt in the
real world. If you lose your money in
the Oasis you can lose everything you have.
Also, everyone is in the Oasis. Everyone
in your family, your co-workers, and corporations. The two largest companies in the future are
the company that owns the Oasis and another company that provides content for
the Oasis. The second largest company is
lead by a chap named Sorrento, played by Ben Mendelsohn so you know he is going
to be a dick. Our hero is a kid named
Wade who is better known by his Oasis name Parzival. He is teamed up with Art3mis, Aech, Sho, and
Daito, and together they make up the High Five.
As the story goes the creator of the Oasis has died and left his
holdings in the company to whomever can finish a quest of finding 3 keys and finish
his unique challenge. So, it is our heroes
the High Five going head to head with the dick Sorrento for control over the
Oasis and therefore control of the world.
Each quest to get a key is a trip
down memory lane one way or another.
What other movie could you possibly imagine that would have references
to Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, King Kong, Atari, old school horror
movies, and new school anime? None that
I know of and that is part of what makes it so cool. These are subtle references like I normally study
TV shows and movies for. No, they are in
your face, how the hell did Spielberg and company pull these off references? Aside from the fucking amazing pulp culture
references there are also a real plot here.
It is not all big explosions, alien invaders, and all the other cliché things
that you get in a huge block buster. You
get know the main characters and their motivations, which I think most of it is
friendship and acceptance. It is also
about regret and about how a few decisions here and there can change your fate
forever. Regret isn’t something easy to
live with. I think Spielberg did what Spielberg
often does. He told us a kick ass story
full of tremendous spectacle. I can’t
recommend this movie enough. Next to 2049
it is the best movie I have watched over the last month. However, seeing how this was a huge blockbuster
in 2018 and I am late to the party like always you probably have already seen
it.
Transcendence
Written by: Jack Paglen
Directed by: Wally Pfister
Starred: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, and Morgan Freeman
Rating: Watch
Where: Free on Netflix
I have noticed something as I write
these, that I say a movie is free on Netflix, but in order to watch Netflix you
must pay a subscription. Therefore, is
it no just on Netflix? Does it
matter? No Probably not. Just something that caught my eye.
There are a lot of movies that pull
all star cast together. I have seen a
ton of them. There are lot these movies and
most in my opinion don’t live up to the expectation. This movie has a star-studded cast: Depp, Bettany, Freeman, Hall, as mentioned
above. Not mentioned above were Cillian
Murphy, Kate Mara, and Cole Hauser.
People most movie fans would know.
Then other recognizable people
who will scratch you brain saying where have I seen them before: Clifton Collins Jr (Star Trek), Josh Stewart
(Dark Knight Rises), and Xander Berkley to name a few. In my mind this cast pulled this movie off,
made it believable for me. When a former CFO I worked with years ago when the
movie came out and he told me it was awful, I should have known then he was
full of it. This movie might not be the
greatest ever made, sure it make technological leaps, and it is using a tried
and true story about the dangers of AI, but I think it is something we all need
to stop and think about as the world we live in comes closer and closer to the brink
of AI that might just make one of these stories about the rise of machines comes
true. This movie made me think a lot
about AI and its place in our world.
Will Caster (Depp) is the Steve Jobs
of the world created in this movie. He
is the greatest mind in AI. His tag team
partners are his wife (Hall) and best friend Max (Bettany). These three are on the verge of discovery of the
ultimate AI. They are working on getting
funding to secure their research for another five years, when a terrorist group
shoots Caster and infects him with radiation.
Caster is given a few months to live.
All hope is lost until genius wife and genius best friend figure out a
way to upload Caster consciousness into the machine.
Caster comes online and the first
things he asks for is financial records and power sources. Wife wants to give him anything he wants,
while best friend is cautious and thus begins the great debate of the movie. Is it really Caster’s consciousness in the machine
or is it another AI they have created? Has Caster gone made with power or is he just
enlightened and wants to help the world?
These are questions I will let you dive into the movie and find the
answers too. As I have already stated the movie takes us to that place of is
the AI trying to destroy mankind or is it trying to help us? Where is the line when the machine knows to
much? What if the machine is smart
enough to know the biggest problem facing the Earth today is man? What would it do then? What could it do? These are the exciting twist and turns this
all-star cast take you through.
I found the message of the movie
very powerful. I like the acting. I like
the characters. All around I found this
very satisfying. I am not sure why it is
scored so low on IMDb and people don’t like it.
To me the point was very transcendent, sorry had to do it. I think as a world we are going to face the
question where the line between too much technology is and not enough. Maybe in our live times we will have to make
that choice, maybe our children will have too.
Hell we already have cars that are smarter than lots of people. I think this movie makes you think about
that. What freedoms are we willing to
give up having the better world we all want to live in. If you want answers to those questions, watch
this movie.
Well I am at four pages and I didn’t
get to say everything I wanted to say but it is Friday night and my dog wants
me to take her out. I know when I have
been in front of the computer for to long.
So those movies I appreciate will have to wait, it is time for me to
step away from the technology and go watch some more Sci-fi.
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