A.I. - Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Bleccchhh!

It would be difficult to suggest a director less-suited to the handling of Kubrick's work than Spielberg. Kubrick is cerebral, passionate, hallucinatory... Spielberg is prosaic, predictable, traditional. Kubrick likes to get under your skin with unsettling insights; Spielberg is the master of soapy drama and cheap-shot schlock.

Separately, each director rightly has his fans. Together... well, AI fully demonstrates just how disastrous the pairing could possibly be. It is a film without any redeeming merit whatsoever. Anything that Kubrick brought to the table is lost in a morass of Spielbergian sentimentality and a gush of glossy yet unappealing CGI special effects.

Spielberg has claimed that the (admittedly!) appalling Deus-ex-Machina ending was Kubrick's own. If so, we can only assume that Kubrick would have handled it very differently... or, in fact, that there was some sort of logical bridge that was not yet in place when Spielberg set to work. The first two hours of this film are nauseating and tedious beyond belief... but the ending is like an additional slap in the face, brilliantly emphasizing what an idiot you were to sit through the rest.

If you crave light entertainment, see Jaws, or Jurassic Park. If you want Kubrick, see A Clockwork Orange, or Paths of Glory. But if you value your time and your sanity at all, run a mile to avoid the embarrassing mess that is AI. June 19, 2008

AMAZING - literally(...)

This film is sort of an adventure film with a fairy tale mixed into it. It was quite interestingly told, not AMAZING exactly, but somehow keeping my attention; the last half hour of this film, though, was just AMAZING! It was emotionally charged, filled with THE MOST visionary visuals I've seen in ANY film and by the time I left the theater I was completely satisfied. I haven't bought this film, partly b/c it ticks me off to know that so many people think this film is bad b/c they don't know HOW to think, and that the price of the DVD is so darn cheap, it's like buying it doesn't mean anything. I'm not the kind of person who can reproduce moments at will, like watching a film repeatedly and getting the same feelings from it each viewing, and this is just one of those films that was worth paying for at the theater, and was most enjoyed there, but does not need to be seen 10+ times. May 25, 2008

Excellent dystopian work

As many wish to paint a bright future for us all. This work was a good depiction of what could be.

It begs the question: What defines "a real boy" or humanity?

Most of my family thought the end was sad, but given some thought, realized that it was actually good. It throws your emotions all over. You see the good, bad, and ugly in humanity. The emotions of David's "Mother" - well played. Take special note of when David is "Imprinted" his change in expression... That kid can act! It is no wonder he landed the lead in Second Hand Lions.

Some may find themselves lost in this film as there are some assumptions to what the audience may understand about the subject matter - Certainly in honor of Stanley Kubrick, but not as lost as you were with 2001: A Space Odyssey (he begged Spielberg to do the movie but didn't until after his death).

I thought this movie was excellent - My taste.
For the price; excellent for all.
May 21, 2008

A.I. - Great Film by Steven Spielberg,

This film was a five star science fiction experience for me. The (Full-Screen) DVD box set is an excellent transfer and includes many extras about the making of the movie. The story of Kubrick and his relationship with Spielberg is covered in some depth.

The plot was originally discovered by Stanley Kubrick, who in 1984 contacted Steven Spielberg asking him to direct the movie. Although they discussed the story at great length, Spielberg did not actually work on the film until asked to by Kubrick's wife after his death.

It might have been Kubrick's greatest film as he worked on the story and details of the plot obsessively for many years. Spielberg attempted to make the film a tribute to Kubrick by reproducing his visual style. It is, for better or worse, a Spielberg film. Personally, I believe the film lost out in certain areas and gained in others. I am glad that after so much of Kubrick's dedicated work the film was brought to the screen by a great film technician who tried to incorporate some of Kubrick's style. If you care about children passionately bring plenty of Kleenex. Also, a great job was done by the entire cast.

I find sci-fi movies that deal in a serious way with "conscious" computers or autonomous robot developments especially fascinating. I have also been waiting (with considerable disappointment) for the development of AI and a fully autonomous humanoid robot. Although chess master IBM's Big Blue and HONDA's humanoid bipedal robot, ASIMO, have been two noteworthy developments, I have been waiting for at least 50 years and still continue to wait.

By the way, for those of you interested in Artificial Intelligence (AI), please be advised that Amazon markets a DVD box set which discusses a related subject, entitled CONSCIOUSNESS. Although consciousness and intelligence are, strictly speaking, defined as two different things, they are loosely related when applied to machines.
March 23, 2008

A Masterpiece Sci-Fi movie - one of the best ever.

Somehow I missed this movie and it wasn't until a woman I met (who works on robots in a University Research Department in Seattle) recommended it to me after I told her about Bladerunner (another masterpiece Sci-Fi).

A.I. immediately became one of my favorite movies. The movie is so rich and packed with deep philosophical questions on topics such as love, dreams, happiness, etc. The acting is phenomenal. It's one of those movies where you would not want to see any character replaced because you fell in love with them and each character became so "real". The movie just kept developing and getting better. A.I. is definitely well underrated.

A.I. appeals to human emotions in a very special way. I was moved many times throughout this movie. It opens up doors to the reality of life and human nature. Jude Law as Joe and Haley Joel Osment as David (both robots) are unforgettable, and the dialogs they have are powerful. David argues for the innocent side of human nature that chooses to ignore reality and pursue a dream that is a pure fairy tale. Gigolo Joe fires back with a reality check in an effort to win David to his cause, perhaps with the hope have David alongside fighting for their own survival (the survival of robots) against humanity who is trying to destroy the "artificial beings".
David ends up saying "goodbye Joe" with an acting that demonstrates his understanding of what is happening and yet his choice to go pursue his dream which subconsciously he knows cannot be attained. So many of us can relate to this. Perhaps David knows that if he does not pursue his dream he has no reason to go on living. He is not motivated to fight the humans as Joe is because he was programmed to love his mother, so that is what he does. We humans are also programmed to do certain things and follow our dreams, as articulated in a dialog later in the movie by Prof. Hobby, who created David.

So David goes on pursuing his dream even though logic demonstrates that he cannot attain it. Or maybe he can? Maybe anything is possible? Maybe the realization of our dreams are not exactly how we imagine it to be? This is a powerful way that carries the movie to the end. David, who is a robot, still functions after 2,000 years have passed and when "revived" by the more advanced Robots that survived the ice-age, is still trying to become human or a "real boy", so he can win the love of his mother. This finally happens in a brilliant and unexpected way. He gets to spend a day with his mother, just him and her, in scenes that are very moving. This could be interpreted as a dream fabricated by the collective input of all the advanced robots that are present creating this "matrix world" based on information that was stored in David's "mind" from when he lived in the house with his parents. This day with his mother could be interpreted as a dream, but isn't life itself a dream? I think that ultimately we know that our lives are nothing but a dream, and yet we choose to think that it is real just as David did with his mother, for the pure enjoyment of those rare momemnts. When we realize how precious each moment of our life is, that is when we can truly enjoy each moment. That is when we are awake as opposed to unconscious (a paradox here). This is truly not a movie written for the entertainment of the masses, and perhaps that is why it has not gotten enormous appeal. Many aspects of the movie are unpleasant and hard to swallow, such as Manhattan covered by seawater due to global warming. This is not a typical Hollywood movie with the formula of happy ending that makes everyone feel good at the end.

Stanley Kubrick may be gone, but his work still lives. Steven Spielberg is still alive and many of us hope that he will continue to create movies like this that gets the viewer thinking and perhaps transformed, instead of the typical formula that works to entertain the masses and earn money in the box office. Stanley Kubrick may be gogne, but his spirit still lives through his work and the masterpieces he's created. I have yet to wath 2001 Space Odyssey, but other powerful movies such as Dr. Strangelove and even Full Metal Jacket are cult classics. A.I. is another example of the precious gifts we would get if Kubrick were still alive and making movies.

I recommend A.I. to anyone who enjoys philosophical topics, anyone who wants to expand his or her mind, anyone who likes to look at human life in the big scheme of things, and what could happen not just in our lifetime but in 2,000 years or more. A.I. is a powerful movie packed with great material and superb acting, a modern Sci-Fi piece that has become one of my favorites of all time.



February 10, 2008

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