Screen vs Life

Transcendence (2014) is the directorial debut of Wally Pfister, better known for his work as the cinematographer who filmed Christopher Nolan's works since Memento. Transcendence is the  story of a leading Artificial Intelligence  (AI)  researcher, Dr Will Caster (Johnny Depp) who strives to create AI capable of the full range of human emotions. Following his mortal wounding by neo-ludite terrorists, Will, with the help of his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) and his colleague Max (Paul Bettany), Will’s consciousness is digitalised and uploaded to the web. In a Frankensteinien turn, Max immediately rejects the creation as monstrous distortion of Will’s former self, and eventually joins the terrorist cell that deposed him of his corporeality. Evelyn is henceforth moved to protect the digital remnant of her husband, and literally goes underground in New Mexico. Here, with Will’s ability to generate financial resources, Evelyn oversees the construction of an expansive faci...

I love science fiction cinema. It is, by far and away, the genre from which I derive the most joy. I love the exhilarating action sequences, the awe inspiring special effects, the darkened city streets slick with rain, I love the thrill of new technological imaginings, and I love the neo-noir aesthetic that colours these futuristic worlds a darker shade of dystopia (available in limited palettes of blue, green or charcoal). What I love most however, are the skilfully crafted hypothetical futures, which prompt us to ponder human nature and ethics in the here and now. So it is with great joy that I am experiencing the current resurgence of the genre. When the latest blue-tinted trailer explodes onto the screen my skin erupts in a rash of goose pimples, my heart kicks up a beat, and I dare to hope that this is in fact, the next Blade Runner, Terminator 2, Dark City or Matrix . And while many of blockbusters do fail to deliver ( Prometheus, Looper, Elysium and After Earth among the...

Last night my daughter and I settled in to watch the 2013 blockbuster The Lone Ranger, directed by Gore Verbinski, and produced by six companies including Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and a rather suspect organisation (in terms of Hollywood accounting practice ) called Silver Bullet Productions (II). While hardly a masterpiece, it made for enjoyable Friday evening in. This was, in part, due to that familiar brand of humour that Verbinski imbues into his films including the first three instalments of the Pirates of the Caribbean (2003, 2006, 2007), also produced in collaboration with Disney and Bruckheimer. Moreover, who can resist Johnny Depp’s incarnation as Tonto, despite the fact that it bears a remarkable similarity to his performance and appearance as Jack Sparrow in Pirates. And the film’s connection to Hollywood history runs far deeper that the creative talent involved in its production. To the degree that the  film labours the motif of crash...

So I have finally got around to viewing Disney’s 2013 animation Frozen (Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, 2013). Let me say up front that it took me two attempts to get through the film, because I am, for the most part, not a fan of musicals. Also be aware that in the pursuit of an informed critique of gender and feminism, this film review contains numerous spoilers. Frozen transforms Hans Christian Anderson’s classic fairy tale about a villainous The Ice Queen, into a nuanced account of how social prejudice drives desperate people to commit (what are perceived to be) harmful or immoral acts. The film begins with an unfortunate childhood incident when Princess Elsa accidently harms her little sister Princess Anna, when she misdirects her magical power to conjure up ice and snow. This sets the scene for Elsa’s isolation and her life-long quest to suppress the emotions that regularly set off her strengthening powers. Fast-forward a number of years, the girls have come of age, their par...