Another drive-by week.... I got back to good ol' NYC late Monday night, and the big annual fundraising Gala at work is tonight! ACK! If only I was a robot, this would be a lot easier.
Which brings us to our theme this week! Here are three of my favorite androids/cyborgs.
Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1927) This is THE ONE. The mother of all sci-fi movies. Evil Maria is a cyborg for the ages. Lang's endlessly inventive, template-setting masterpiece is still a marvel to behold.
Prometheus (Ridley Scott, 2008) Michael Fassbender's David8 is such an impressive characterization - just how sentient is David? What is he programmed to do and what traits has he acquired/developed over his existence? - that I long for the sequel only in hopes that he somehow survives. The rest of this Alien prequel is alternately fantastic and flawed.
Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2015) Alicia Vikander won her Oscar (SHUT UP) for her incredible work as Ava, an android so believably human that when she puts clothes on over her chrome-and-wire body you would never know it, except for the slight stiffness in her movements. Alex Garland's film is one of the best of 2015, the thinking person's sci-fi (shoulda-been) blockbuster.
Metropolis is a master work but then Lang was a master at so many genres. A fascinating film.
ReplyDeletePrometheus was a slog for me. A beautiful looking one but dull and non-engaging. Very disappointing since I love the first two Aliens so.
Ex Machina is at the top of my queue but so far unseen. It's everywhere today and I'm anxious to see it.
I went back a bit to the seventies and eighties when their seemed to be flurry of films on this topic.
Eve of Destruction (1991)-Eve is a military android, an exact replicate of her creator (both played by Renee Soutendijk) who through a malfunction has become a killing machine as well as a nuclear bomb. Now that she is running amok and creating havoc in the big city a rescue team headed by Colonel Gregory Hines is tasked to disarm her before she explodes. She however will destroy anything in her path to prevent that.
The Stepford Wives (1975)-Something’s not quite right in the charming, old-fashioned town of Stepford. All the women are incredibly docile and yielding and new arrival Joanna (Katharine Ross) wants to know why. The answer is one that is both scary and disturbing. Eerie suspenser that is heads and tales about the crappy 2004 remake.
Westworld (1973)-Michael Crichton directed sci-fi story of an amusement park tricked out to resemble the Wild West and stocked with androids that the guests can have mock shoot-outs with as pretend gunslingers. Blaine and Martin (James Brolin & Richard Benjamin) arrive for a bit of adventure just as there is a system failure and their supposed to be relaxing vacation becomes a race for survival. Followed by a sequel Futureworld.
I agree Prometheus was a better-looking film than it deserved, but I only thought it was dull for the first act. After that it was pretty good, if still deeply flawed. Fassbender and Rapace are really good in it, though. I'm excited to know what you think of Ex Machina when you see it. I have this sneaking suspicion that it is not quite as smart as it thinks it is, but it's still pretty great, with three KILLER performances at its center.
DeleteOf yours I've seen Stepford Wives (both versions) and Westworld, and I love them both in different ways. Westworld I thought was creative and fun and I am actually kinda looking forward to the (supposed) TV series, as well.
Stepford Wives is so deliciously creepy - but I love it largely because Ira Levin based his novel on Wilton, CT - where my Dad taught high school French and Spanish for many years and where I lived after college. He couldn't have been more spot on about the people who live in that area of Fairfield county. I don't HATE Frank Oz's remake, but that's mostly because of Bette Midler (and Glenn Close a little bit). Overall, it's tacky and far too transparent in its desperate bids for "camp classic" status.
Metropolis still holds up almost 90 years after the fact. Great movie. Ex Machina is amazing, too. I'm with you on Vikander's performance in it, definitely worthy of Oscar consideration, if not the win. Finally, we're also on the same page with Prometheus. Great picks all around!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dell! When people don't like silent movies, I always try to get them to watch Metropolis. It's a damn great movie, period - spoken dialogue or no.
DeleteHey...great minds:) I love Metropolis and would love to see the film with the restored version and the original music. My favourite scene is when the hero is hallucinating and sees the gothic statue of death come to life. I haven't seen Promethius but have seen Ex Machina which is quite a good and creepy film
ReplyDeleteUGH YES. I am right there with you on Metropolis! That hallucination is so well-done. I would KILL to see the newly restored version, especially on the big screen.
DeleteAll three of these are popular this week. I really need to see Metropolis, I guess.
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely Blind Spot it next year. It's a HUGELY influential film and it more than holds up on every level almost 90 years later. Not many films can say that.
DeleteI haven't seen Metropolis. I liked the way Prometheus looked, and Ex Machina was an excellent film.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on Prometheus - the production design was better than the film deserved. It's definitely a case of the whole not being greater than the sum of its parts.
DeleteI haven't seen Metropolis, but I also went with Prometheus and Ex Machina, even though I didn't love neither of them. Those two androids were just too good, I couldn't not pick them.
ReplyDeleteTOTALLY agree with you that David and Ava are great. You should really see Metropolis. It's a stunner.
DeleteYey! Another for Metropolis. David and Ava two androids too clever for their and others good.
ReplyDeletehaha I LOVE that comment about David and Ava.
DeleteI agree! Ex-Machine is definitely the thinking person's sci-fi (shoulda-been) blockbuster. I like the end, when we find out what the test really was.
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