Ex Machina (2015)

Many films have been made about the perils of man trying to play God, but Ex Machina actually delivers on provoking thought and discussion from it’s audience. In a time when science fiction thrillers are the proverbial dime a dozen but most don’t do more than provide mild entertainment for 80+ minutes, Ex Machina is a breath of fresh air, a piece of science fiction so uncannily real and creepy it is likely to get under your skin and stay there.

There’s a concept called the ‘Uncanny Valley,’ which suggest A.I. will actually become more and not less unsettling if they are designed and programmed to closely resemble human beings. But in a world where advanced A.I. is possible, who should you fear more; the robots or their hubristic creators? Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson) is a bit of a nerd and an all-around good guy who happens to be extremely intelligent. When the organization he works for, a internet search engine company called Blue Book, holds a drawing to choose a lucky employee to get the meet the head honcho and brains behind the operation, Caleb can hardly believe his good fortune.

Being a genius doesn’t necessarily come equipped with an abundance of kindness or humility, that’s never been truer than it is for Blue Book’s former kid prodigy, Nathan (Oscar Isaac.) Nathan is an narcissist, an alcoholic, and a man who reaches a mentally ill level of creepy and ratchets up that creepiness a notch every minute you’re in the room with him. He is, however, a mastermind at coding, hacking, and, as it turns out, building shapely female robots. When Caleb meets Ava (Alicia Vikander,)  a beautiful cyborg with a sweet and innocent manner, it’s fascination at first sight. Nathan wants Caleb to perform the Turing Test on Ava to discover if she’s equal to a human being in her level of empathy and cognitive responses, but what happens to Ava if she fails?

If you like smart science fiction that actually incorporates science and philosophy in it’s story and challenges you to think about the ideas it’s presenting, this movie is for you. After being introduced to three compelling characters with their own individual (and sometimes frustratingly ambiguous) motivations and needs, we are forced to ask the question; which of these people is innocent? Who has the most humanity? Who is telling the truth? Who is full of shit? If Ava is not as innocent as she initially appears, does that make her less human or all too human? Which is a scarier concept?

Where does ownership end and violation begin in Nathan’s abuse of his robots? They’re his creations, but does that mean they should have to suffer at his hands? You give life to something, but then you mistreat it, and thus abuse your power. It’s a story as old as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but writer/director Alex Garland breathes new life into the concept, basing it off an idea he had as a boy. It’s easy to think of this as the anti-Chappie (and I was one of the few that actually liked Chappie!) because while that film handles the idea of a scientist creating artificial intelligence and the ensuing complications with the subtlety of a sledgehammer, Ex Machina is silk-smooth and insinuating when it comes to it’s themes.

The plot points are never applied with too much force, and it should come as no surprise to you that all the actors are extraordinary in their roles. Gorgeous cinematography when the movie dares to venture outside of Nathan’s expansive pad juxtaposes the mechanical, the manufactured, and the ‘fake’ with staggering scenic beauty. Can one be as real as the other? Ex Machina will grab your attention until the last scene.

The Imitation Game (2014)

Being a genius ain’t easy. However, being a latently homosexual genius with undiagnosed Asperger’s in a time where being different was not just detrimental to your social status, but dangerous is damn near impossible. “The Imitation Game” is a (sorta) true story of Alan Turing, who saved thousands of lives by cracking the Germans’ enigma code during World War II and may have cut the war short more than two years.

Turing is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, your go-to guy for Brit quirkiness without going too off the radar. Just look at the guy. He looks like he was born to play an eccentric-slash-asocial genius. And while many found “The Imitation Game” to be generic Oscar Bait, I was thoroughly engrossed by the troubled life of Alan Turing. Tragic, yes. But also fascinating.

My interest was largely based on Benedict Cumberbatch’s amazing acting job (it should also be mentioned that Alex Lawther, who played young Alan, also gave an outstanding performance) and the fact that I had reasonably low expectations. A drama about codes and mathematics? Bor-ing! Everybody who knows me knows perfectly well that math is not my strong suite. But a fascinating lead and an arresting storyline? That I can get behind.

If this movie is true at all to the real man, Turing had a brilliant mathematical mind, but he was not someone you’d invite to a squash game. In fact, he most likely isn’t the kind of man you’d associate with at all. He’s a genius, yes, but he knows he’s a genius, and that makes him all but insufferable. He’s actually a bit of an arsehole, but you still can’t help falling a little in love with him, as some (not me) were endeared to Sheldon in “Big Bang Theory.” Turing is a much better written character, but he possesses the same offhand arrogance, somewhat effeminate softness, and distaste for the common man. Not to mention his lackluster (to say the least) social skills.

When Alan Turing is hired to break a German code under almost unbeatable obstacles, he is convinced he can do it himself, aided by nothing but his big old brain (not to mention one hundred-thousand pounds government funds.) But he finds an unlikely ally in Joan Clarke (the lovely, if worryingly thin, Keira Knightley,) a girl who seems rather ordinary on the outside, but who possesses a keen mathematical mind.

Flash-forward to Turing being interviewed by a skeptical officer (Rory Kinnear) afted he is arrested for sexual indecency (i.e. homosexual acts.) Turing recounts to the policeman his efforts working for the military cracking codes as well as his childhood bullying at the hands of the other students and hopeless crush on his schoolmate Christopher (Jack Bannon.)

The film itself  is apparently fairly historically inaccurate. This has bothered some purists, but I say, so what? Sometimes biographical honesty is the best policy, and sometimes the story just turns out better when you take it in a different direction altogether. And yes, sometimes the story does feel conventional, with characters having dime-store epiphanies when the plot requires them to, but any occasional  lack of depth the script is overtaken by the fantastic acting. If  nothing else, this movie will make you think about the liberties we take for granted today concerning our sexual practices.

Mindblind by Jennifer Roy

Fourteen-year-old Nathaniel Gideon Clark is a highly unusual boy with an off-the-charts IQ- loved but misunderstood by his mother, ignored by his father, and oblivious to social norms. For a brilliant kid with Asperger’s, a form of Autism,  life isn’t always easy. Between his fraught relationship with his father and his confusing crush on Jessa Rose, the beautiful singer of the band he and his friends share, simply existing provides Nathaniel with many challenges. But Nathaniel has a goal. He wants to achieve something BIG so he can be considered a genius. Nathaniel read in a book that one has to contribute something great to society to be a genius, and becoming one would contribute some validation to a kid who fights fiercely to be his own person.

“Mindblind” is a really cute book and a surprisingly sunny addition to the Aut-Lit genre. It’s certainly not as dark as House Rules or The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, although I think The Curious Incident… was a more important literary work. While I couldn’t relate to Nathaniel’s incredible memory or gift for mathematics, I could relate to his mix of keen intelligence and cluelessness. I have always had a high reading comprehension level and a impressive vocabulary, but who can take a girl seriously who goes out with ratty hair, shoes on the wrong feet, holes in the pants? People have actually thought I was mentally retarded before.

Luckily I have supportive parents, unlike Nathaniel’s dad, who only looks to prove that his son is normal to his ridiculous self-help clients. This leads Steven Clark to force Nathaniel to go to a loud, noisy, and (unknown to Steven) drug and alcohol-hazed party, with disastrous results. Throughout the book Nathaniel has a lot of anger and hostility towards his dad, and I was actually expecting them to have a cuddly make-up session, but it never happened. Nathaniel stays mad at his father, but lets down his guard and allows himself to bond with his half-brother Joshua, who Nathaniel considers his father’s ideal son.

These scenes are really sweet. I would like Josh as a half-brother. He’s a irrepressible ball of energy, and Nathaniel resents him because he has taken up a spot in his father’s heart that Nathaniel can’t occupy. I thought the character development was pretty good overall. Nathaniel’s best friend Cooper is cool. You know as a math geek you’ve found a true friend when he loves the song you wrote, “Get Your Algebra On!” I also expected the song Nathaniel and Jessa Rose wrote about Asperger’s Syndrome to be brought into the plot somehow.

Nathaniel was really nervous about it being sung, so I was surprised when it was never performed by the group (with the plot directive of bringing Nathaniel out of his comfort zone.) Nathaniel is a little like Sheldon out of The Big Bang Theory but unlike Sheldon, I did not actively hope for Nathaniel to embarrass himself or suffer a painful injury. Nathaniel is someone I could actually imagine being friends with in the real world. Brilliant, brutally honest, and quirky, he is equal parts hard to relate to and hard NOT to relate to.

“Mindblind”‘s writing won’t blow you away, but it’s not a disappointment either. I think it did a better job at portraying Asperger’s than House Rules by Jodi Picoult because Nathaniel is less of a stereotype than Jacob, House Rules‘ Aspie. This book has feelings, realism, and even a little bit of romance. It is very recommend-able. Even if you can’t see yourself in Roy’s profoundly odd prodigy, Nathaniel, you should have fun reading it and recommending it to friends.

Rating-

4.0/5