The future is here and it does not look pretty. Apocalyptic and eerily familiar to, both, the film classic, Blade Runner and The Island of Dr. Moreau, Ex Machina, is set in a remote area in a secret valley in the loneliness of Antarctica where nobody can help you. Starring Alicia Vikander and Domnhall Gleason, Ex Machina is the greatest science fiction film nightmare for this millennium.
Written and directed by Alex Garland(28 Days Later and Sunshine), Ex Machina is a mind-blowing reality check on mankind's intentions and progress in science that delves into robotics, ego, love, technology and human selfishness that lays out a horrifying vision for the future of humanity.
In this sci-fi thriller, a young coder(Domnhall Gleason) is brought into the world of an AI genius and his corrupting power. The young hero is selected as the winner of a corporation-wide contest based on his coding skills to take part in a secret program with the top of the company's ranks. What he encounters is amazing but the plot soon thickens like a deep, red and mysterious cabernet into a futuristic shocker that is both captivating and disturbing. Here, one must wonder, "how much science is too much science?" ....and how close are we?
Disregarding any concerns for ethics, we dive, headlong, into reality and what AI means, today. We get that it can be very bad for humanity but does Garland have to rub it in the way he does? Every prototype that our mad scientist created is hot....and alluring.....and seductive....it gets very troublesome. These women are beautiful....but, wait.....they are robots. Check yourself.
At this juncture I'm not going to go too much more into the plot of this film. I don't want to give any more away. If you are a sci-fi buff then put down your pop tarts and lock your dog in the car - this is very good science fiction.
As creeped-out as this wonderful film - Ex Machina left me, I can only point to a very special wine from a remote, secret valley much like that in the setting of the film. Far down below the equator is the Valle Secreto and their 2011 Vintage Cabernet is one of the very good Cabs of the world that hovers around $20. Deep with hints of mocha and blueberry on the front with a luxurious journey into concentrated blackberry and dark cherry fruit, a glass of this wine will help calm your nerves when you return home from this fantastic horror flick.
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label science fiction. Show all posts
Friday, April 24, 2015
Sunday, June 15, 2014
THE SIGNAL FILM REVIEW AND WINE PAIRING
What do you get when you cross The Blair Witch Project, District 9, Boxing Helena, and Area 51? The Signal. The Signal is a sci-fi horror sensation directed by William Eubank and starring Laurence Fishburne. It is nothing shy of a creepy freakshow that crawls and stretches into several different genres of horror.....and crawl and stretch it does, well.
Everything unfolds for a team of young MIT students as their personal computers get hacked and what seems to begin as technological trouble turns into scientific hell. Without going into the plot too much, bold and adventurous youth wind up so much over their heads that there could not possibly be a happy ending to this film.
The Signal is a case study in the possibility of alien life, advances in technology, and some cold, hard truths about the government and the future of humanity. At the beginning, I wasn't so sold on the plot and how the story was designed. By the end, I felt quite differently. Google this film and watch the trailer. It is very dark. Dark is good.
Fishburne stands out so magnificently in is acting as the lead doctor of the secret medical facility that he makes you crawl in your own skin. He's not saving Keanu in this sci fi plot. There is no love to lose, here. Rather, he is instrumental to the plot in making patrons in the theater feel very, very uncomfortable.
Hand in hand with all that creeped me out in this film, the imagination that designed and built the technology that is unveiled - once things, really, begin to go south, is absolutely wicked good. Insightful, inventive, and diabolical, whereas in the beginning I felt this film was taking me into another silly sci fi horror, I was dropped into a nightmare that had me asking my two buddies who saw it with me, many questions about applications for the future, discussing possibilities, challenging reality, and sharing in the general uneasiness we were all feeling.
The Signal could only be paired with a very complex and deep, red wine. I choose a varietal blend of great character and depth - something founded on several plots with the introduction of several different grapes that mixes a little of each of its' greatness into a wonder of winemaking science:- The 2010 Mariner is a perfect pairing for this super-geeky, existential, science horror experience. It is composed of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and the rest Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Soft tannins as well as plenty of black currant, cedar and plum characteristics. Enjoy....and hope you don't receive the signal.
Everything unfolds for a team of young MIT students as their personal computers get hacked and what seems to begin as technological trouble turns into scientific hell. Without going into the plot too much, bold and adventurous youth wind up so much over their heads that there could not possibly be a happy ending to this film.
The Signal is a case study in the possibility of alien life, advances in technology, and some cold, hard truths about the government and the future of humanity. At the beginning, I wasn't so sold on the plot and how the story was designed. By the end, I felt quite differently. Google this film and watch the trailer. It is very dark. Dark is good.
Fishburne stands out so magnificently in is acting as the lead doctor of the secret medical facility that he makes you crawl in your own skin. He's not saving Keanu in this sci fi plot. There is no love to lose, here. Rather, he is instrumental to the plot in making patrons in the theater feel very, very uncomfortable.
Hand in hand with all that creeped me out in this film, the imagination that designed and built the technology that is unveiled - once things, really, begin to go south, is absolutely wicked good. Insightful, inventive, and diabolical, whereas in the beginning I felt this film was taking me into another silly sci fi horror, I was dropped into a nightmare that had me asking my two buddies who saw it with me, many questions about applications for the future, discussing possibilities, challenging reality, and sharing in the general uneasiness we were all feeling.
The Signal could only be paired with a very complex and deep, red wine. I choose a varietal blend of great character and depth - something founded on several plots with the introduction of several different grapes that mixes a little of each of its' greatness into a wonder of winemaking science:- The 2010 Mariner is a perfect pairing for this super-geeky, existential, science horror experience. It is composed of 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot and the rest Malbec, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Soft tannins as well as plenty of black currant, cedar and plum characteristics. Enjoy....and hope you don't receive the signal.
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