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Summary: Inventor Nathan (Oscar Isaac) has his employee Caleb (Domnhall Gleeson) test an artificial intelligence (complete with humanoid body) named Ava (Alicia Vikander), through a week of one-on-one conversations in a remote, isolated laboratory. The interviews lead Caleb to a plan of his own. Reaction: I was blown away by Ex Machina: The emotions it invoked surprised me, the A.I. was believable, the tension palpable. The style, the music! To say it moved me is an understatement -- I was haunted, remain haunted, by the ideas it conveyed, the insight it gave. Spoils follow: Beware ye who should look beyond their place in time! Follow-up thoughts: The brilliance of the film is in having an unnervingly life-like yet fragile gendered automaton that humanizes itself before us, drawing us in, encouraging us to marvel at its transformation and share in its hope to be human. And then finally, utterly, shattering that perception, revealing how little it shares with humans, a sociop...

Spring, it seems, has finally reared its windy, rainy head. What a joy it is to be outside without that biting chill we have endured for so long. The seasons pass and I trudge along, forgetting more and more each day, memories falling like so many grains of sand slipping through my clenched fist. I saw Chappie on Easter Friday and thought it was decent; not perfect by any means, but I enjoyed it. I'm sure others will pick on the acting, the plot, and the corny voice and mannerisms of the titular robot, but I was particularly troubled by the simplification of what's involved in writing an artificial intelligence! The brain is not a blank slate that can be filled easily; it has built-in tendencies and algorithms -- Chappie displayed a sense of right and wrong, of justice, of community, and these are not simple things to describe, let alone develop a script for. Additionally, if the programmer built an algorithm to grow a brain, can he not make many more thinking machines? That ...

As part of my return to blogging, here's a recap of ALL the films that I saw in 2014, in generally the order I saw them. Enjoy, feel free to agree or disagree. The Lego Movie (2014): Thought the father-son bit was a bit of a stretch but overall, really quite good. Vernon, Florida (1981): Apparently Errol Morris had to re-work his idea for a story about a town of people who commonly cut off their own limbs to collect insurance money; the result is limp, without legs. Gattaca (1997): Ethan Hawke struggling to survive under a strict classist society based on one's genes. Thoughtful, suspenseful, the value of a true friend. Punch-Drunk Love (2002): That movie everyone says Adam Sandler really shines in outside of his usual schleppy demeanor. I say, yeah, it was pretty good. Battle Royale (2000): Not as traumatic as I had feared it would be. Bloody, certainly. More of a quirky survival-horror than the slaughter I'd imagined. Grand Budapest Hotel (2014): Strong conten...

Games seem to be the thing on my mind, these days. I suppose the cold weather is a strong influence on my staying indoors, where it's warm and I can keep my coziest garments on. I did get up to playing some board games with people though: Thursday night MJ and I discovered the joy of Lost Cities , a simple two-player game that is deep enough to keep one always thinking, but quick enough to not get bogged down with lengthy turns. Perfect for filling up half an hour. Friday night I went to a CFI board game night, where I got to try and enjoy Shadow Hunters , which I liken as a version of The Resistance but with hit points. It doesn't have the same social directness as there's no need for accusations or protestations. Much more tactical, and at the same time more tame. I didn't much care for the artwork, or the visual design choices -- that card font is just awful. Saturday Jenning's wife had a birthday party where a group of us played The Resistance, which is al...

One of my resolutions, one of several such odious things, is to post more. So here are some quick movie reviews of films I caught over the past couple of weeks, me having had so much time to myself (but never enough, nay, hardly close to enough): Tokyo Godfathers (2003): One of those rare Christmas-themed stories that is actually a joy to watch while maintaining a semblance of seriousness, entertaining every minute without resorting to jerking tears. Highly recommended. Four Lions (2010): A comedy about young terrorist-wannabes. The lamely controversial theme aside, I found this film funny in parts, smiling frequently but rarely breaking into audible laughter. I still am not sure if I should like the ending, though perhaps that's the point. Equilibrium (2002): Priests with guns and high martial arts hunting terrorists! A dystopian society subdued by drugs! I actually quite liked this one, and wished that they'd the budget to make the film a bit more timeless. Christan Bal...

It's been a month and how have I been? Not miserable, but not boomingly good either. Winter has cast its shocking gaze, and I find myself little prepared for it. Drained, I find myself. I just got back from visiting my parents, who are well enough. My father had a mild heart attack a couple months ago, and seems to be relatively good now, though he still suffers from high blood pressure. We're all getting old, very old. I feel new aches and pains all the time and find the value in stretching throughout the day. I went to the AGO with the aim of seeing the David Bowie exhibit but the thing had sold out, such is its popularity. I took in a couple of other things, eager to avoid the crowds. A quiet gallery is a blessed thing. Some coffee, some sweets, some escape. Saturday MJ and I picked up groceries from the St. Lawrence Market, some of which made its way into a simple meal. We started in on the third season of The Walking Dead -- such violence, such gore! They really took...

Pacific Rim sucked. It blew hard chunks of stinky fetid space cheese. I admit that it was loud and brash and visually a spectacle to behold.. but the characters were boring, the plot didn't make sense and the fights were just plain silly. The good: I enjoyed the rendering of the futuristic shiny robots; they felt like giant machines, with incredible heft and weight behind every stomp. The aliens, the "Kaiju", were pretty cool too, harking to Godzilla-esque monsters. I liked the banter between the two scientists, who, along with the black market dealer, were the only creatures that displayed any life in the film. The bad: I didn't care for the main character. I didn't feel the love story, or much of his sense of loss over his brother. It's fairly safe to say that the characters were about as one-dimensional as a Saturday morning cartoon, which perhaps is what they were going after but that doesn't excuse them -- they geared the movie towards the adults,...

Finally getting around to seeing Eagle vs. Shark. Not sure what to do with Facebook any more; it's like my every post is judged and scrutinized, no note unwatched. So much work to present and organize my thoughts in a clear and concise light. Often I find myself nearly ready to post a link with a comment before I take it down, unready or unwilling to exhibit, censoring myself in fear of echoing what's already out there. I've tried to extend myself of late, to be more open with my thoughts, but I seem to retreating, back to my hermit ways. Stop-motion has an endearing quality, does it not? Whimsical to think of time as staccato moments, our minds filling in the frames between. Germaine is a good choice for a nerd, but this actress is just too attractive to be believed as his mousey admirer. Or it just me, who finds beauty in any woman on the screen? No, the others do not compare, simply do not compare. "She's a lesbian, she went to a lesbian party." H...

Why do I deny myself sleep? It's a funny thing, that I should act so. When that time in the night approaches, my procrastination increases. A routine, what I need is a routine! Not tonight, perhaps, but some time soon I'll find one. Seems like I am always sleeping too little or too much; never am I feeling rested and ready in the morning. True, my addiction to caffeine plays some part but there are good and bad days, regardless of my access to coffee. Movies! I've seen a few: I got around to seeing Drive  and immediately loved it. Quiet hero gets involved with a young mother, is forced into a difficult situation, chooses to do what it takes to save her. Composure and blood is lost. Great soundtrack . Oblivion , while visually beautiful, was full of dumb ideas. The premise and reveal didn't make sense, horrific and profound as they may have been. It was just too too much. The film would be much improved if they cut out the voice-over, though even then there's th...

Friday I watched the latest James Bond film, Skyfall , and did not think much of it. The first half stretched too long by far, and the action sequences were few and uninspired. The second was saved somewhat by Javier Bardem but I still lacked satisfaction when the film ended. I liked the cinematography; it cannot be denied, the visuals are sumptuous. However the plot was, even by Bond standards, ridiculous. As such, it was hard to have much feeling for, or attachment to, any of the characters. The film shall pass from my mind without a flutter of care. Saturday I was scheduled to see Wolf Children Ame and Yuki by Mamoru Hosoda but it was sold out by the time my friends (Andrew, Andrea, Marc and Alex) and I got to the theatre. Instead, after picking up some Portuguese baked goods and making Rice Krispies' squares, we sat down to Hosoda's Summer Wars , which I'd heard of before (from Andrew), but had little opportunity, or inclination, to see. So I was delighted to find th...

Movie time again! This time, an indulgence into "guy" films, though have I ever really strayed that far from the genre? Perhaps it's the cold weather, or the mind-numbingness of work, or the feeling that my life is accelerating away, like so much sand squeezed from my hands. Food, Inc. (2008). It almost turned me off meat -- chicken, pork, beef, all of the scariest meats. The film highlights well the fearsome food-making machine that is the Monsanto Company ; they are wicked and everything they touch is death, carefully formulated blight. Inception (2010). Indeed, I saw this only a few weeks ago in the theatre but I still feel like talking about it. Or rather, mentioning that I loved it On an unrelated note, what's up with all these YouTube comment spammers? See for yourself! I think y'all know my opinion of them ; may they suffer horribly, each and every one. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). My love of the Aubrey-Maturin series led me here, to a fascinating true n...

Indeed, this Hwan is losing the energy to update hwan.com. I have watched a few films of late, though recalling them is not all that easy. Kick-Ass . I enjoyed the fighting and the daughter/father team, but the rest of the film was mostly unpalatable. The obvious Toronto landmarks mercifully distracted me from some of the more painful bits. Disgrace , 2009. Shakes up everything without closure; some things can't be fixed even when they obviously need to be. Uncomfortable to watch. Malkovich is excellent. Battle in Heaven . Yikes, just yikes. Another film difficult to, ahem, swallow. Leaves a lasting visual impression, even if the plot is otherwise non-existent. Broken Embraces . Well-acted enough but predictable, obvious. Departures . I thought it was rather enjoyable. Quirky. Right up my alley. 3 Extremes , 2005. Not for the faint of heart: bloody gristly crunchy goodness. Fruit Chan, Takashi Miike, Chan Wook Park. In truth I only saw two of the three storie...

meditated for 15 minutes, involuntarily opening my eyes. Not today, the other evening. if a task I need to do occurs to me, I need to write it down or else it will haunt me (through remembering it) later. wow I am really bad with updates, for which I apologize. I'm just.. too boring and busy to talk about anything. I saw Fantastic Mr Fox, that was primo. I don't have any stories to share, other than I recently realized that I am horribly, disfiguratively broke. Work is totally kicking my ass. So yeah, job and money stress await me in 2010. Been online dating, which I guess means I'm out there and meeting people, sometimes face to face! I bought Agricola and have yet to play it, although Settlers has been getting some action. I am taking today off, so I'm typing in my pajamas, a bit of free time before I have to get ready and get out there. The weather is a cool -6C, but it'll get up to zero later. Christmas and Boxing day are supposed to be 4 and 3 degrees...

Work.. it consumes us, surrounds-- no, that's not how I meant to start. I have been pouring myself into work, a mould I am familiar with: staying late, stressing about deadlines, focused in my coding and procrastination. So many lines have passed through my mind and fingers, but to what end they will achieve is yet to be seen. I am not (yet) proud. I am a little worn. Movies! Lessee... Where The Wild Things Are (2009). I liked it. Not for kids, I'd say, though sure they'll enjoy parts. The look of the film is wonderful; I couldn't imagine it done better. Paranormal Activity (2009). Awesome. Enjoyable. Made me laugh at how good it was. Even now I smile thinking of how masterfully they've managed to tap into fear, to draw it out and run with it. Dude, just go see it. Some Like It Hot (1959). Pretty funny! Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon. I did find that I get uncomfortable watching beautiful women climbing over each other. How very o...

This year's Nuit Blanche was marred by large crowds and mundane exhibits. Is it my old man syndrome speaking thus? It's how I feel and I am certain that there are some who feel the same as I do. Certainly the size of the throngs cannot be disputed; I believe this year attracted the largest numbers yet. It wasn't all bad, I guess, but my dislike of line-ups was taken to its limit Saturday night. Sunday I stayed in, having gone to bed near 6 AM and getting up around 4 PM, groggy with a broken Circadian rhythm. I watched the first season of Party Down , an excellent new comedy. The next following I woke up feeling awful and was plagued with a malaise I had not felt in ages: a decidedly colitis -like sensation, only without the sharp abdominal pain. I plan to retire by 11 so that my body can get some extra rest. I guess I've watched a few other films since I last wrote, including: Wet Hot American Summer (2001). It has quite the who's-who cast in comedy , ...

Dear dear dear.. I've spent many an evening watching movies I've meant to see. Here's the latest batch that I've burned through: Alexander Nevsky . The haircut that endures time and space. An operatic track is used in The Simpsons episode G.I. (Annoyed Grunt) First Blood . Yup, that one, drawling Stallone and all. Why are small towns given such a bad rap? They Live . I think I got this one so that I could experience the source material for Duke Nukem. The bubblegum line was the best part. Gran Torino . I very much enjoyed Eastwood's laying down of slurs. The Hurt Locker . Excellent, one of the best of 2009. The ending's a bit long/forced, but doesn't detract much from the rest of the film. The Outsiders . I would've loved this as a teenager. I'd be a greaser, definitely. Up . Wonderful prelude. My eyes watered. Who Killed The Electric Car? I'd avoided this one but it's quite informative, if a little biased/heavy-hande...

Two Korean films. First, I mistakenly saw Seven Days . I say mistakenly because I do not know why I got it -- I'm not a fan of grisly murder mysteries (aside from perhaps the fantastic Memories of Murder ). I guess I figured that because it was so popular it might be worth watching. It actually builds up well enough, but when you start to realize what's going on and who's behind what, well, it simply doesn't meet expectations. Speaking of expectations, how about that The Good, The Bad, the Weird ? The action scenes? Woo-eee, man they are smoking! But what was all that junk in the middle? And by junk I do mean all those pointless plot bits. Seriously, we GET IT -- there's a treasure and everyone wants the map! It would've been nicer if the backstory was more coherent/relevant, but to have all that unnecessary running around was a bit much. And the opium house? What was all that about? Anyway, some great action (the opening 30 minutes or so pretty much...

I have, thanks to the generosity of a co-worker and friend, been able to see no less than four TIFF films thus far. Ghost Town , the new Ricky Gervais romantic comedy of a jerk who can see ghosts, a kind of Sixth Sense, only replace the scary bits and whispering with Gervais' signature awkwardness. He was actually at the showing (no pictures, sorry), but he didn't speak. Also there was the director, an editor, as well as Kinnear and Kristen Wiig, who was wearing this great electric blue dress with lacy black stockings. Oh, the movie was mildly good. It's a romantic comedy, has a "feel-good" message. Detroit Metal City , a story of a country boy moving to the city in the hopes of becoming a "trendy" pop music star. Instead, he finds himself as the lead singer of a death metal band Detroit Metal City. Eh, it was fun and all but I often find with these Japanese films that for all their quirkiness there's an equal amount of lulls and missed joke...

Lo my brothers I bring great tidings from the other side! There I have seen the truth and the way, and it is good. A golden age has come upon us, and its name is The Dark Knight. Long I have waited for its arrival, and my patience has been well rewarded. Nay, such riches beyond my imagination: such acting, action, story, drama! All in great measure, all to great effect. Heath Ledger's Joker is surely the villain of the year, a complex, intelligent, dangerous, eloquent, unpredictable animal with a charm that fills every scene. I mean, superb acting all around but Ledger is just a dynamo, a catalyst -- he makes the movie the satisfying experience that it is. And of course, as with all films I recommend, this one has an excellent ending which I shan't otherwise comment on. Go forth and enjoy! Hmmm while I'm here I'll also quickly write my thoughts on Attack the Gas Station ("Juyuso seubgyuksageun"), a Korean comedy from 1999. Four ne'er-do-well punks attem...

When you use the bathroom to wash your hands, do you often find that your bladder decides to, er, chime in? Is it because I know I'm in a bathroom, or is it maybe the smell that triggers some response? If I enter a room that I don't think is a bathroom but has all the trappings of one upon entering, will my peeing instinct kick in? Just got back from riding around that Humber Bay Park East area , sticking around the bridge to watch the sunset -- pastel purples, pinks and blue. I could barely perceive the shadows moving across the Toronto skyline, which I'd not seen before. A bit of exercise to take advantage of the lovely, very reasonable weather. Enjoying post-pill fruit I did go to work today, an otherwise pretty quiet day. Nice to be able to tinker on long put-off side projects, without the constant grind all up in mah grill. Yeah. We did have strawberries and champagne, which was nice. OH! Last Wednesday my miracle fruit delivery finally came in, and on Frida...