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That thing were I finally figured out I really can get movies through the library, and have thus been getting through some of my not-on-Netflix backlog, has taught me to watch movies again—without the restlessness or need to multitask that usually accompanies visual media longer than ~40min. It's a pleasant ability to relearn.
Get Out, film, 2017, dir. Jordan Peele
I had a rough start with this, but once I clicked with the The Stepford Wives-vibes, cutting but satirical & stylized, this really worked for me. The ( spoiler ) was—maybe not the tipping point of success, but certainly the moment when I realized that success: being denied that one last good thing pointed out my own biases (re: expectations of what are "good things") and showed me the strengths of its ruthlessness.
Ex Machina, film, 2014, dir. Alex Garland
Of the "beautiful female robot causes problems between white knight and inventor" genre, this is easily the best, but the bar is admittedly low. There's not a lot of surprise to the reveals, and the end feels cheap, a sort of heartless exaggeration for thematic payoff. But the truth is I appreciate the themes and particularly the ending, which manages to defy expectations of what women "owe" men but moreover reframes expectations of AI ethics and AI identification with humanity.
John Wick 3: Parabellum, film, 2019, dir. Chad Stahelski
The scene with the working dogs is everything I love in this series: the writing and characters are charming and trope-aware but absolutely secondary to "what gimmick haven't we used in a fight? what setpiece, what style? how can we frame it in the most satisfying, competent way?" Like, I don't have a lot to say, but I did hugely enjoy.
The Magicians, season 4, 2019
I never watch things as they air, so I'm never caught out by shows suddenly fucking things up—a good thing, because this does really fuck up. But I also find that ( spoilers, CW suicide. )
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, film, 2017, dir. Angela Robinson
I enjoyed the hell out of this. There's something about framing atypical love through that particular tropey, sweeping, orchestral, glowing lens so common in romance that feels fresh and lively and yet so effective, resting on the expectation that because these are obvious romance cues, the viewer will accept the romance—and playing that against the tension of social deviation in poignant but also playful, sexy ways. Researching to see the way this deviates from history was a more complicated experience, and the frame narration fits that playful tone but also gets preachy; there are caveats. But, oh, this was just delightful.
Her, film, 2013, dir. Spike Jonze
I'm crazy about AI waifus, both as a personal life dream but also the easiest, biggest example of the way we conceptualize AI gender and why it's problematic. ...Yet this manages not really to be about that? So much time is given to embarrassing social satire, towards creating a world of exaggerated distance and sentimentality; the more interesting speculative elements are pushed to the very end of the movie, leaving itself little time to follow-through. Would that they came at the midpoint, because AI emotional & conversations capacity (as opposed to emotional/conversation ability; as opposed to knowledge/processing capacity) is so interesting, and could have dovetailed nicely to the otherwise-traditional (in that quirky indie way) romance & interrogation of the magic pixie dream girl trope. I liked this, despite its humor, thanks in large part to Johansson's lovely voice work—but I liked it for its potential more than its actuality.
I Am Mother, film, 2019, dir. Grant Sputore
The easy worst in my AI film binge. It has such a predictable source of tension and the reveals rests on the viewer not considering common-sense elements of how AI consciousness/embodiment works. ( Spoiler ranting. ) So if the acting is fine, or the idea has potential, or the atmosphere decent (except for the exterior shots, which the special effects can't support), which is all true, it honestly doesn't matter because the underlying concept is so bad.
Get Out, film, 2017, dir. Jordan Peele
I had a rough start with this, but once I clicked with the The Stepford Wives-vibes, cutting but satirical & stylized, this really worked for me. The ( spoiler ) was—maybe not the tipping point of success, but certainly the moment when I realized that success: being denied that one last good thing pointed out my own biases (re: expectations of what are "good things") and showed me the strengths of its ruthlessness.
Ex Machina, film, 2014, dir. Alex Garland
Of the "beautiful female robot causes problems between white knight and inventor" genre, this is easily the best, but the bar is admittedly low. There's not a lot of surprise to the reveals, and the end feels cheap, a sort of heartless exaggeration for thematic payoff. But the truth is I appreciate the themes and particularly the ending, which manages to defy expectations of what women "owe" men but moreover reframes expectations of AI ethics and AI identification with humanity.
John Wick 3: Parabellum, film, 2019, dir. Chad Stahelski
The scene with the working dogs is everything I love in this series: the writing and characters are charming and trope-aware but absolutely secondary to "what gimmick haven't we used in a fight? what setpiece, what style? how can we frame it in the most satisfying, competent way?" Like, I don't have a lot to say, but I did hugely enjoy.
The Magicians, season 4, 2019
I never watch things as they air, so I'm never caught out by shows suddenly fucking things up—a good thing, because this does really fuck up. But I also find that ( spoilers, CW suicide. )
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, film, 2017, dir. Angela Robinson
I enjoyed the hell out of this. There's something about framing atypical love through that particular tropey, sweeping, orchestral, glowing lens so common in romance that feels fresh and lively and yet so effective, resting on the expectation that because these are obvious romance cues, the viewer will accept the romance—and playing that against the tension of social deviation in poignant but also playful, sexy ways. Researching to see the way this deviates from history was a more complicated experience, and the frame narration fits that playful tone but also gets preachy; there are caveats. But, oh, this was just delightful.
Her, film, 2013, dir. Spike Jonze
I'm crazy about AI waifus, both as a personal life dream but also the easiest, biggest example of the way we conceptualize AI gender and why it's problematic. ...Yet this manages not really to be about that? So much time is given to embarrassing social satire, towards creating a world of exaggerated distance and sentimentality; the more interesting speculative elements are pushed to the very end of the movie, leaving itself little time to follow-through. Would that they came at the midpoint, because AI emotional & conversations capacity (as opposed to emotional/conversation ability; as opposed to knowledge/processing capacity) is so interesting, and could have dovetailed nicely to the otherwise-traditional (in that quirky indie way) romance & interrogation of the magic pixie dream girl trope. I liked this, despite its humor, thanks in large part to Johansson's lovely voice work—but I liked it for its potential more than its actuality.
I Am Mother, film, 2019, dir. Grant Sputore
The easy worst in my AI film binge. It has such a predictable source of tension and the reveals rests on the viewer not considering common-sense elements of how AI consciousness/embodiment works. ( Spoiler ranting. ) So if the acting is fine, or the idea has potential, or the atmosphere decent (except for the exterior shots, which the special effects can't support), which is all true, it honestly doesn't matter because the underlying concept is so bad.
