A young programmer is selected to participate in a ground-breaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid A.I.
Young Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
An astronaut becomes stranded on Mars after his team assume him dead, and must rely on his ingenuity to find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive.
A young African-American visits his white girlfriend's parents for the weekend, where his simmering uneasiness about their reception of him eventually reaches a boiling point.
Director:
Jordan Peele
Stars:
Daniel Kaluuya,
Allison Williams,
Bradley Whitford
An otherworldly, beautiful female android travels in time while scientists try to understand her enigmatic secrets exploiting the occasions of her mysterious, rare appearances. Until she decides the right time to share her vision has come.
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director:
James Cameron
Stars:
Sam Worthington,
Zoe Saldana,
Sigourney Weaver
Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
Director:
Duncan Jones
Stars:
Sam Rockwell,
Kevin Spacey,
Dominique McElligott
Caleb, a 26 year old programmer at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.Written by
DNA FILMS
This film has many similarities with The Machine (2013), starting with the title, ("The Machine" vs. "Ex Machina"), the plot, and the female robot named "Ava." See more »
Goofs
Throughout the movie, Ava speaks with an American accent. However, when she asks personal questions of Caleb, upon asking "What about your family?", she uses a very distinct British accent. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Caleb:
How long until we get to his estate?
Pilot:
[laughs]
We've been flying over his estate for the past 2 hours.
See more »
Husbands
Written by Thompson, Hassan, Milton & Jehnny Beth (as Berthomier)
Performed by Savages
Published by BMG Rights Management (UK) Ltd, a BMG Chrysalis Company (c) 2013
Courtesy of POP Noire Records
Used with permission.
All rights reserved. See more »
User Reviews
A stunningly crafted Sci-Fi with a star making turn from Vikander
Nail bitingly tense, terse and most importantly thought provoking, well renowned British screenwriter and author turned director Alex Garland's incredibly competent feature debut is one of modern cinemas most memorable and original Sci-Fi's, a film that you sense will be oft discussed in years to come thanks to its wealth of questions asked and a heralding in of the era of young actress Alicia Vikander.
While Ex_Machina deals with the old aged staple of A.I and the pitfalls of it and what it means to be a human, not a machine, Garland operates his tale with a pinpoint accuracy that mines tension and intrigue from the films first frame to its last and creates a small scale vision that feels entirely in a world of its own. Garland's vision is a sight to behold and his direction is not far removed from the works of greats such as Kubrick, while Machina largely takes place within the confines of reclusive tech genius Nathan Bateman's stunningly designed home/ research facility, there is much visually wonderment to be found wherever you look. From the beautiful surrounds of the wilderness outside, the handle-less rooms that operate Nathan's lavish digs through to the flawless design of Ava the artificial being at the centre of this cautionary tale, Garland has created a small scale yet undeniably impressive universe that manages to mix the smarts, the visuals and the performances into one.
Filled with heart and humour (a trademark of Garland's works) Ex_Machina features what will be one of the years most accomplished trio of acting turns with well-rounded and pitch perfectly played acting turns. In another sign that he is quickly becoming as good as his father, Domnhall Gleeson plays kindly tech guru Caleb with the right amount of smarts and heart while his scenes with his upcoming Star Wars co-star Oscar Isaac are brimming with underlying motives and tension suggesting that their pairing in this year's space adventure will be a sight to behold. Isaac shows off a dark side to his growing screen powers and his Nathan is in equal measure sad and dangerous and while the two leads excel, they along with the film itself pale in comparison to Vikander's star making turn.
With a beguiling beauty and a truly remarkable ability to possess the charms of a human and the persona of an artificially created living entity, Vikander's Ava is without doubt one of the year's most stunning creations in both a CGI sense and characterization sense. Ava's "sessions" with awe struck Caleb may be purely dialogue driven but it's here that Garland's study of the not too distant A.I advancement comes to its greatest fruition and it's in no small way built almost entirely on Vikander's turn, as Ava is hers through and through, thanks to motion capture abilities. While it's some time off one would hope that Ava see's Vikander find just rewards come awards season but Ex_Machina may be slightly to left of centre for the sadly outdated and out of touch Awards ceremonies that dominate the industry.
While it's not flawless, some motivations and scenarios remain somewhat underdeveloped or questionable; Ex_Machina is a stunning Sci-Fi vision that is also a fully formed thinking man's thriller. With a jaw droopingly good turn from the soon to be megastar Vikander, Ex_Machina is another excellent example of what makes the Sci-Fi genre such a harbourer of thought provoking classics and further proof that Garland is one of the most consistently good storytellers working in the industry today.
4 and a half dancing showcases out of 5
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www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com
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Nail bitingly tense, terse and most importantly thought provoking, well renowned British screenwriter and author turned director Alex Garland's incredibly competent feature debut is one of modern cinemas most memorable and original Sci-Fi's, a film that you sense will be oft discussed in years to come thanks to its wealth of questions asked and a heralding in of the era of young actress Alicia Vikander.
While Ex_Machina deals with the old aged staple of A.I and the pitfalls of it and what it means to be a human, not a machine, Garland operates his tale with a pinpoint accuracy that mines tension and intrigue from the films first frame to its last and creates a small scale vision that feels entirely in a world of its own. Garland's vision is a sight to behold and his direction is not far removed from the works of greats such as Kubrick, while Machina largely takes place within the confines of reclusive tech genius Nathan Bateman's stunningly designed home/ research facility, there is much visually wonderment to be found wherever you look. From the beautiful surrounds of the wilderness outside, the handle-less rooms that operate Nathan's lavish digs through to the flawless design of Ava the artificial being at the centre of this cautionary tale, Garland has created a small scale yet undeniably impressive universe that manages to mix the smarts, the visuals and the performances into one.
Filled with heart and humour (a trademark of Garland's works) Ex_Machina features what will be one of the years most accomplished trio of acting turns with well-rounded and pitch perfectly played acting turns. In another sign that he is quickly becoming as good as his father, Domnhall Gleeson plays kindly tech guru Caleb with the right amount of smarts and heart while his scenes with his upcoming Star Wars co-star Oscar Isaac are brimming with underlying motives and tension suggesting that their pairing in this year's space adventure will be a sight to behold. Isaac shows off a dark side to his growing screen powers and his Nathan is in equal measure sad and dangerous and while the two leads excel, they along with the film itself pale in comparison to Vikander's star making turn.
With a beguiling beauty and a truly remarkable ability to possess the charms of a human and the persona of an artificially created living entity, Vikander's Ava is without doubt one of the year's most stunning creations in both a CGI sense and characterization sense. Ava's "sessions" with awe struck Caleb may be purely dialogue driven but it's here that Garland's study of the not too distant A.I advancement comes to its greatest fruition and it's in no small way built almost entirely on Vikander's turn, as Ava is hers through and through, thanks to motion capture abilities. While it's some time off one would hope that Ava see's Vikander find just rewards come awards season but Ex_Machina may be slightly to left of centre for the sadly outdated and out of touch Awards ceremonies that dominate the industry.
While it's not flawless, some motivations and scenarios remain somewhat underdeveloped or questionable; Ex_Machina is a stunning Sci-Fi vision that is also a fully formed thinking man's thriller. With a jaw droopingly good turn from the soon to be megastar Vikander, Ex_Machina is another excellent example of what makes the Sci-Fi genre such a harbourer of thought provoking classics and further proof that Garland is one of the most consistently good storytellers working in the industry today.
4 and a half dancing showcases out of 5
For more movie reviews and opinions check into -
www.jordanandeddie.wordpress.com