Now, on to business. For the month of September we will be returning briefly to our regular structure, that is, one film on the third Thursday of the month, before we move on to October's Horror Fest. The film I have chosen for this month is the directorial debut of Alex Garland: Ex Machina.
Ex Machina is a 2015 British science fiction thriller film written and directed by Alex Garland. It stars Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, Sonoya Mizuno and Oscar Isaac. Caleb (Gleeson) is a programmer in the near future working for Bluebook, the world's most popular search engine. In a company-wide contest, he wins a visit to Nathan (Isaac), the company's CEO, at his secluded home and research facility in the mountains. Caleb is informed by Nathan that he will be administering the Turing test to an android with artificial intelligence. The film was made on a budget of $15 million and grossed over $36 million worldwide, receiving positive reviews.
The film holds a 92% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 201 critical reviews. Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for Rogerebert.com, awarded it 4/4 stars, saying this of the film, "Throughout, Garland builds tension slowly and carefully without ever letting the pace slacken. And he proves to have a precise but bold eye for composition, emphasizing humans and robots as lovely but troubling figures in a cold, sharp mural of technology. Garland's screenplay is equally impressive, weaving references to mythology, history, physics, and visual art into casual conversations, in ways that demonstrate that Garland understands what he's talking about while simultaneously going to the trouble to explain more abstract concepts in plain language, to entice rather than alienate casual film-goers. The ending, when it arrives, is primordially satisfying, spotlighting images whose caveman savagery is emotionally overwhelming yet earned by the story. This is a classic film."
We will be meeting Thursday, Sept. 17th at 6:15pm
I hope you can all make it out to this excellent film!
Here's the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bggUmgeMCdc
The film holds a 92% certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 201 critical reviews. Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for Rogerebert.com, awarded it 4/4 stars, saying this of the film, "Throughout, Garland builds tension slowly and carefully without ever letting the pace slacken. And he proves to have a precise but bold eye for composition, emphasizing humans and robots as lovely but troubling figures in a cold, sharp mural of technology. Garland's screenplay is equally impressive, weaving references to mythology, history, physics, and visual art into casual conversations, in ways that demonstrate that Garland understands what he's talking about while simultaneously going to the trouble to explain more abstract concepts in plain language, to entice rather than alienate casual film-goers. The ending, when it arrives, is primordially satisfying, spotlighting images whose caveman savagery is emotionally overwhelming yet earned by the story. This is a classic film."
We will be meeting Thursday, Sept. 17th at 6:15pm
I hope you can all make it out to this excellent film!
Here's the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bggUmgeMCdc
