Another movie about a perfect robot looking like a real man, this one is by Spielberg.
I don't actually want to write a review on this film. I wouldn't say that its message is pioneering, the more films about supercomputers I watch the more I realize they are all alike. One of the special features of such movies is that a perfect computer has a strong resemblance to a human being. And that is the point I can't understand. I wouldn't like to live in a world where I couldn't tell a human from a machine. Even if it has an artificial intelligence, the machine is still just the machine, no matter how it looks like. The similarity to a living thing just makes it more difficult (sometimes even impossible) to make a decision and switch it off if necessary.
September 6, 2012
July 19, 2012
I'm here
It's about the 2010 short movie by Spike Jonze. Не is a weird guy known by the film "Being John Malkovich" and by the MTV show "Jackass".
The movie "I'm here" is also a bit strange. It's about the world inhabited by robots equally with people. At the same time, robots seem to have lower social status than people do. Maybe that's one of the reasons why they look like they were constructed from the parts of a very old PC. However, this makes them really cute, especially the facial expressions are very touching.
And that's the main reason for watching this film. If you want to spend half an hour seeing nice things, that would be a good choice. For the plot seems really poor to me. It's an ordinary melodramatic story of a modest guy falling in love with a cool girl and then getting her out of troubles almost at the cost of his life. It's so simple and you'll always know what's going to happen next. But it's so sweet nevertheless.
And there's only one thing I can't understand. Why on Earth should anybody create a robot that can't be repaired without causing a loss to another robot? Even if it's just an idea for a movie, it's so absurd that I can't accept it anyway. They are robots, aren't they? Then shouldn't legs and arms and other stuff be just spare parts?
The movie "I'm here" is also a bit strange. It's about the world inhabited by robots equally with people. At the same time, robots seem to have lower social status than people do. Maybe that's one of the reasons why they look like they were constructed from the parts of a very old PC. However, this makes them really cute, especially the facial expressions are very touching.
And that's the main reason for watching this film. If you want to spend half an hour seeing nice things, that would be a good choice. For the plot seems really poor to me. It's an ordinary melodramatic story of a modest guy falling in love with a cool girl and then getting her out of troubles almost at the cost of his life. It's so simple and you'll always know what's going to happen next. But it's so sweet nevertheless.
And there's only one thing I can't understand. Why on Earth should anybody create a robot that can't be repaired without causing a loss to another robot? Even if it's just an idea for a movie, it's so absurd that I can't accept it anyway. They are robots, aren't they? Then shouldn't legs and arms and other stuff be just spare parts?
June 27, 2012
On the air (by David Lynch) - part 2
Some time ago I wrote about a short TV series by Lynch that I had started watching. Now finally I've seen it all, and I can say that my first impression of it was correct. The mixture of absurdity introduced by Lynch and more prosaic humour (by Mark Frost?) and the plot in whole is perfectly balanced and makes the TV series both charming and funny. There is a peculiar atmosphere of the made-up studio that forces you to watch episodes one by one non-stop. I think that if you loved "Twin Peaks", you would most likely love "On the air" as well.
June 21, 2012
Me and languages
In case if you want to know something about me.
The list of languages that I have ever started to learn is rather vast. Unfortunately, in most cases the initiative ended in nothing. I think that's because I couldn't find application for this knowledge in real life and so I lost the motivation gradually.
It all started with French which was expected to become my third language, after Russian and English. But it didn't work. I can hardly put two words together, despite having spent about 10 years learning this one.
Then there were several attempts to learn German, but every time I quit in a couple of months, for I didn't just like the sound of it.
After that came two years of Latin at school. That was great, and I still remember some poetry and sayings that we learned there. And we also translated a bit of Cicero speeches, which was a real challenge.
The next step was trying to learn Sindarin and Quenya, the languages created by Tolkien. But I was clever enough not to go deeply into these, because it would definitely have no use in real life.
The list of languages that I have ever started to learn is rather vast. Unfortunately, in most cases the initiative ended in nothing. I think that's because I couldn't find application for this knowledge in real life and so I lost the motivation gradually.
It all started with French which was expected to become my third language, after Russian and English. But it didn't work. I can hardly put two words together, despite having spent about 10 years learning this one.
Then there were several attempts to learn German, but every time I quit in a couple of months, for I didn't just like the sound of it.
After that came two years of Latin at school. That was great, and I still remember some poetry and sayings that we learned there. And we also translated a bit of Cicero speeches, which was a real challenge.
The next step was trying to learn Sindarin and Quenya, the languages created by Tolkien. But I was clever enough not to go deeply into these, because it would definitely have no use in real life.
June 6, 2012
Artificial intelligence
Yesterday I watched the movie "I, robot". I wouldn't say it's full of innovative ideas, but it resulted in my husband and I discussing the advantages and disadvantages of an artificial intelligence.
As for me, I would have switched all the machines off after such an accident as described in the movie. I can't say I'm a robot-hater, but the idea of an allmighty and omniscient computer does frighten me. If the machine obtains consciousness, humanity would be no rival to it.
There are two possible alternatives of what comes next, I suppose. On the one hand, the machine may try to find out the purport of life, discover its uselessness and commit a suicide. On the other hand, it may soon realize that carbon forms of life are inefficient, have low potential and therefore are destined to destruction.
My husband said it looks like a phobia, but I can't agree with him. The machines exist in our life for quite a short period of time, and we still don't know where the scientific progress can lead us. I think we should regard futuristic movies and books more as a caution than just as fiction.
May 10, 2012
World of glory
It's one of the most weird movies I've seen.
This Swedish short movie was shot in 1991 and tells us about an ordinary life of an average person. It's made in the best traditions of Scandinavian social cinema - the camera doesn't move, and even the main character himself stays still almost all the time. The other people on the screen seem not to be aware of the shooting process, and this collision of conditional and real worlds is really interesting. It is a sort of a counterpoint, together with the contradiction between the title of the movie and its content.
The general idea appears to be close to "The bothersome man", but in the "World of glory" it's shown in a more severe way. We can see what a person has to conceal living in a world that may seem to be perfect from an outsider's viewpoint. The film is said to be a comedy, but I'm far from agreeing with that. As for me, the things shown in the movie are too scary to laugh at.
This Swedish short movie was shot in 1991 and tells us about an ordinary life of an average person. It's made in the best traditions of Scandinavian social cinema - the camera doesn't move, and even the main character himself stays still almost all the time. The other people on the screen seem not to be aware of the shooting process, and this collision of conditional and real worlds is really interesting. It is a sort of a counterpoint, together with the contradiction between the title of the movie and its content.
The general idea appears to be close to "The bothersome man", but in the "World of glory" it's shown in a more severe way. We can see what a person has to conceal living in a world that may seem to be perfect from an outsider's viewpoint. The film is said to be a comedy, but I'm far from agreeing with that. As for me, the things shown in the movie are too scary to laugh at.
May 3, 2012
On the air (by David Lynch)
I never knew Lynch had shot TV series except for "Twin Peaks". But he did.
"On the air" is a sitcom by this fabulous director, filmed in 1992 and telling about the 1950's.
"On the air" is a sitcom by this fabulous director, filmed in 1992 and telling about the 1950's.
Honestly, I couldn't have imagined a sitcom by Lynch. I've seen only the first episode so far, but I'm going to proceed.
The plot is rather simple - a TV company is trying to put on a live program "The Lester Guy Show", but everything that can go wrong does go wrong. So they have lots of comical troubles, but in the end it's a hit, as their chief tells them by phone.
Of course, the air is full with oddity so characteristic of Lynch. It can be felt mainly in the details, but they are the basis of the whole show. Traditional gags turn into illustrations of absurdity of our life.
So, I'm looking forward to seeing the rest episodes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)