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Introduction to Cyberpunk Literature - Mar 2010
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A. I. Artificial Intelligence
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Hei!
Just a note with the short story that forms the basis of the first part of the movie, Super-Toys Last All Summer Long. You can find it here: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.01/ffsupertoys_pr.html
I wonder how the movie would've turned out if Kubrick would have done it all the way, as planned. Looking forward to the discussion.
Cheers!
Dana
If you need a quick refresher of the movie, here it is as interpreted by 5 second movies:
For my review I will defer to one of my Science Fiction heroes, the esteemed Brian W. Aldiss. Author of such works as "Galaxies like Grains of Sand" which drew me back into Science Fiction at a certain point in the past, "Trillion Year Spree" one of the greatest histories of Science Fiction ever published, and "Super Toys last all summer long" the short story on which A.I. is supposedly based.
"It's crap" - Brian W. Aldiss
My own response after having to sit through this movie for a second time is a bit longer, but has less words in it.
"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU..." - Sjef van Gaalen
In conclusion Mr. Aldiss and I will now hand the matter over to reviewer Gabe at Videogum, as he encounters A.I. in his hunt for the worst movie of all time.
The Hunt For The Worst Movie Of All Time: A.I.
Hahaha, Sjef, yes, the Spielberg's mushy style is sometimes a bit too much.
Apart of the exercise of trying to get what's Kubrick and what Spielberg in the movie, this movie was chosen as it illustrates some things about humans, the way we treat others, how evil we are (Martin), how barbaric we can be (Flesh Fair), etc. I'll let you all tell me more in the essays.
Check also
http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/movie/decade/2000-current/artificial-inte...
http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/artificial-intelligence-ai-more-screencaps/
BTW, am I the only one that I thought of Philip K. Dick's "Ubik" semi-life when I saw Monica reading a book to Martin in cryo-stasis?
Also, along with Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, it frames quite well what we are. We start here with a boy simulacrum that develops (a kind of) feelings, in Blade Runner those feelings are pre-controlled by memory implants but we need(!) to control their lifespan, in Innocence there is ghost dubbing...
@Sjef: I think SS could've made 3 movies out of AI. The first Kubrickian part would have been well suited for the Twilight zone. I liked the Aldiss story very much, it was well balanced and the alienation was really well pointed out. Like "What do we do with them?" (David and Teddy) - and the answer "Do they have functional problems?". Like it were that easy.
The second part - cyberpunk world in its splendour. Cybersex, destruction, rage against the machine, the quest for the yellow brick road.
The third part - marvelous imagery of flooded NY. I can imagine some people peeing in the cinema :)). Here we return to the mainstream genre, with thin aliens who communicate though telepathy and wish to recapture traits of civilisation. Though, I think 2000 years is a short span of time.
yup, just watched the movie. i feel slightly abused by Speilberg's use of sentimentality. as far as the cinematic vision of AI... i can't really note anything i'd want to bring attention to. perhaps reading the book would have been better.
Oops, I screwed up my Netflix timing and won't be getting AI until Wednesay. Sorry I'll be tardy to the party. Thanks to whoever posted the link to the story (sorry I'm blanking right now) I'm quite curious to see how such a tight short story got expanded into an epic movie.
Finally watched AI last night, and liked it more than I expected to. I went into it expecting to hate it, so that helped, I'm sure. Despite the cheesiness I really liked a lot of the story, although personally I would have ended it with David frozen in time at the bottom of the ocean. His whole dilemma of needing to be unique and special is such a human desire/plight- the movie was actually creepier than I expected it to be. Anyway, I posted my essay, not sure if it makes sense or not but I'm more on the "introductory" end of the spectrum with this course so bear with me ;)
FINALLY watched AI...and while I realize by all critical evaluation the movie is supposed to be terrible, it still made me cry at the end. But I'm a bit of a sap, so it's not so surprising.
My immediate reaction...
I would have like to have seen the perspective of Professor Hobby explored a little more. How did he feel upon realizing David had fled the lab? What feelings of responsibility did he have for the "soul" that was David? Did he even consider he had a responsibility to the being he created?