Ex Machina (2015) – movie review

Ex Machina (2015) 

Directed by Alex Garland
A young techie, Caleb, is chosen to assist tech guru and company pioneer, Nathan. He is escorted via chopper to a remote underground base, isolated from the world where he meets his boss and his new project. Caleb is to give a personal analysis to an intelligent humanoid, Ava. Caleb is putting her through the Turing Test to see if she has fully achieved AI and could pass as human with her intellect. He meets with her everyday and a relationship develops. Caleb provides simple analysis of her human-like qualities as Nathan watches from a monitoring and security system. Caleb’s interactions with Ava tell us much about human interactions with each other. The lab itself experiences periodic system black outs. It’s during one of these system failures that Ava tells Caleb that Nathan is a liar and not to be trusted.

Nathan is an arrogant, manipulative prick, the kind that we have all come across in our lives. It’s difficult to tell if his original intentions were for the betterment of the world or just to stroke his own ego. During proceeding system blackouts Caleb and Ava have short bursts of uncensored discussions. Nathan discovers a problem with letting Caleb get extremely attached to Ava. He reveals his plans to replace her with the next model version, 9.6. She will be destroyed, and along with her, the memory of what Caleb and Ava had shared. Is that murder? The movie’s question is whether Ava had reached true AI. I’d say by the end of the film she has…adopting and formulating both the best and worst traits of human kind

The movie is an intellectual curiosity and is therefore only effective when you’re in the frame of mind to engage in both self analysis and to delve into the bigger questions of the human condition. Existential dilemma and conflict, aspects that make you think beyond the borders of a movie, are what make classic science fiction films. I think that is something missing from many of today’s sci-fi movies. This film certainly has a high quality story and script, but no high action. I just don’t think it can impress the CGI expectant modern audience and be considered a classic. I would recommend it, but I just don’t see many others doing the same.

Interesting analytical sci-fi film worth a viewing for its thoughtful stimulation.

I give it a 4.0 terabytes of AI analysis on the realistic robot reverb scale.

The Original Terminators! – Horror Art

The Original Terminators!

When Robots attack! Sci-fi Art – A look at robots in early pulp fiction magazines

 

Damsels in Distress – part 4 – here’s some more!

More Damsels in Distress – Movie Posters!

This post also takes a look at Damsels in distress as depicted on movie posters through the years for horror and sci-fi.

I also included the ‘banned’ inside cover art for Guns & Roses first album Appetite for Destruction, just because it fit so well in the theme.

Damsels in distress – Part III – magazine and comics

This post takes a look at Damsels in Distress as depicted on Sci-fi & Horror pulp magazines, horror comics and a few Book Covers (and a few loose illustrations, too!)

Magazines:

 

Comics and misc:

Books:

 

Damsels in distress – part II – horror and sci-fi movie posters

This post takes a look at Damsels in distress as depicted on movie posters for horror and sci-fi. There’s no truth in advertising here as many of these depictions never actually happen in the films.

Movie Posters:

Gallery 2:

 

And don’t forget to take a look at Part One of our Damsels in Distress pictorials: Damsels in Distress – in movies

The World’s End (2013) – Movie review

The World’s End (2013)

I was skeptical about this new Simon Pegg/Nick Frost film. While I liked Hot Fuzz, I thought it was a step down from the comedy sensation Shawn of the Dead. I didn’t like Paul at all – I tried to laugh but it just wasn’t happening for me. Pegg was also branching into the Hollywood mainstream in recent years and I thought this comedy duo’s better days were behind them. I was wrong. This is one damn funny f**king film! It is the exact style as Shawn of the Dead and includes similar comedic bits. The biggest difference is the two actors switched roles, Pegg, playing the irresponsible loser and Frost playing the more rational character. I have to say this film made me laugh, a lot! And that doesn’t happen very often with modern comedies. I actually hate most modern comedies and don’t think they are truly funny. Sure the plot is ridiculous and some of the actions by the characters unrealistic but that’s part of these over-the-top style comedies. The characters put importance in the wrong things aka, drinking over survival and doing the exact opposite of what a normal rational individual would do. Why do reviewers pretend that Shawn of the Dead was any different. This film appeals to the bar crowd mentality and weekend warriors who live for the weekend binge above all else. I’ve been there; I can relate to that. If you like the comedy aspects of Shawn of the Dead, I think this film is a close second. I cheered them on, hoping they’d finish the bar crawl challenge and I laughed along the way, not at all worried about the realism of the plot and storyline. If you want realism in your comedy, go watch When Harry Met Sally and let me know how many times you actually laugh.

Directed by Edgar Wright
Written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan and Rosamund Pike.

Pegg and Frost are back in true form – best comedy I’ve seen in years. Outrageous fun!
I give this 4.5 out of 5 pilsner pints in the category of blue-blooded, beer-guzzling bonanzas!