Tag Archives: Science-fiction

Movie review : The final cut

Be the editor of your life

Editing lives

I watched this movie last week : The final cut. I would define it as an organic SF movie. Probably my favorite genre. Same aura as Eternal sunshine, but unfortunately with a weaker scenario. Organic because it’s one of those movies where technology is part of life, and not obviously futuristic, I like that. In this movie, the computers were wooden, and their look and feel was very retro, old, almost anti-technological, it was very interesting to observe.

I like the idea that technology could be embedded in your furniture and fade in your environment. I like the idea that technology could be something not fragile, not a sign of wealth or advancement. I like the idea that technology could be for everyone.

However even if organic in its form, technology was still depicted in the movie as a threat or something evil like in most SF movies. But here its evilness was less obvious as it was not used as a weapon, its evilness was rather more ideological. Should you or shouldn’t you let your life be recorded on an organic implant? Well, what movie would ever tell you that you should?

The context : Privacy and technology

The movie treats the subjects of privacy and technology and life. The story starts in a future where it is the norm to let your life as you see it (not your thoughts) be recorded on a “Zoe” implant that was implanted in your body at your birth. This implant is semi-organic, so as you grow it becomes part of your body and it’s impossible to remove. People don’t know if they have an implant or not and know it very late, after 21 when “they’re old enough to understand”. Implanting the child is a choice of the parents, and the implant is a commercial product that you buy for your child. But you have to do it at the child’s birth. Interesting context, isn’t it?

Continue reading

Book review : The caves of steel (Asimov)

The caves of steel

Done ! I finally finished this book. I had started it a long time ago, just after reading The naked sun, its immediate sequel in the robot series of Asimov. When I read The naked sun I got completely hooked by the robot character in the book “R. Daneel Olivaw”. So even if I started in the wrong order I decided to discover the series and start from the beginning by reading The caves of steel. Personally I preferred by far The naked sun and I will probably write a review about it more detailed than this one. But until I find the time to do that, here are my impressions about The caves of steel.

Continue reading

Movie review : Prometheus

Noomi Rapace - Prometheus

This week-end I went to see the movie Prometheus. I got a mixed feeling out of it. A part of me loved being propelled years away in the future, and the other part is frustrated to come back to the present without any more answers, my mind is still hungry. The movie tells the story of the quest of humans to meet with their galactic “engineers”  – our original creators. With this interesting plot, I expected the movie to be more philosophical but in the end it is another alien movie, but still a good one. I have 4 impressions to share about the movie:

Continue reading

Posted in Movies

Tagged

Movie review: The Adjustment Bureau

Screenwriters, you need to find other problems than just "losing touch with s.o" or "not knowing" for your stories because technology is already solving this.

The Adjustment Bureau

I watched this movie this morning: The Adjustment Bureau. I had no idea what it was about but I just assumed from the poster that it was a regular action movie. That’s what I was in the mood for: action movie. I hadn’t watched the trailer or read the reviews or summaries to benefit from a potential pleasant surprise effect. I suggest you do the same for that movie, don’t read or watch anything about it, just watch it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Now about the movie (beware some possible spoilers following).

Continue reading

HAL 9000

I finally watched “2001 A space odyssey”. I have tried to watch it 3 times already but never got passed the first 30mn because the beginning is really slow. I wanted to watch it to finally meet HAL for real after hearing about him in all my readings. I enjoyed the movie, there are some interesting ideas there, and I retained some amusing quotes :
Continue reading

Tron Legacy : I’m a user, I’ll improvise

I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer, what do they look like?
Ships?
Motorcycles?
Were the circuits like freeways?
I kept dreaming of a world I thought I’d never see and then, one day, I got in.
I’m a user.

–Kevin Flynn, Tron Legacy

Continue reading