Spielberg's Masterpiece A.I.

[coleslaw]

Wow. What can I say?? I had to keep telling myself that this was Spielberg and not Kubrick himself. Everything was reminiscent of Kubrick... the bright colors, the overexposed shots from extreme light conditions, and even the camera work. One of the opening scenes in which Doctor Hobby is addressing the group, the camera makes an entire circle around the doctor as listeners in the audience pass at the bottom of the screen, while the doctor slowly walks across the room, eventually meeting the camera at the end of its revolution. Brilliant work...

The story remained believable throughout, which is all that I asked. I was hoping that Spielberg would not do something silly by allowing the mecha boy to become a real live boy; I was very pleased with how the movie ended in comparison to how it COULD HAVE ended.

Kubrick can rest easy in his grave knowing that Spielberg has worked wonders with his 15-year vision.

[ArkiStan]

MAN! All of you who are in the US and get to see it suck. Nobody get's to see it until I get back to the states in August!! Wait, maybe we'll get it her in Asia, too....

[Black Francis]

I agree that this was an excellent movie.....My only complaint was that I thought it was just a bit too long. I think some of the scenes could have been shortened, which would have produced a movie that flowed better, and had greater potential for multiple viewings.

[coleslaw]

Originally posted by Black Francis
My only complaint was that I thought it was just a bit too long. I think some of the scenes could have been shortened, which would have produced a movie that flowed better, and had greater potential for multiple viewings.

That, however, was part of Kubrick's style. He would tend to draw scenes out quite often, resisting the need to cut away to a different camera angle when most other directors certainly would have had 2 or 3 cuts in the same scene. Other than Full Metal Jacket, there aren't many Kubrick movies that I can watch more than once or twice a year. They are just so powerful, both in content and in duration.

[ArkiStan]

Hey I read this in some movie review....haven't seen the movie yet, but pretty interesting:

"...I hadn't commented on this before as I wanted to try and find out just what it was all about. For those who don't know, here's what i'm talking about. A few weeks back the latest AI trailer appeared online (exclusively) and in with the credits that appear at the end of the trailer was a listing for 'Sentient Machine Therapist' alongside your usual producer and director credits. Alongside the credit is the name Jeanine Salla. Now some bright spark typed the name into the Google search engine and her own web site turns up at http://www.jeaninesalla.com. At the site she talks about her work with artificial intelligence and names one of her friends, Evan Chan. Nothing strange about that, only she lives a couple of centuries into the future. Have a look at the site and see what I mean. Also, take a look at http://www.familychan.org, which is her friend's own site. It reveals that her friend Evan Chan died in an accident on his yacht, Cloudmaker. There are loads of sites listed but not one mentions the AI movie. Here's another weird
coincidence. At the end of the same trailer for AI, there is the words SUMMER and 2001 made up of a lot of notches. Apparentley and i'm only going off what I have read over the last couple of days is that if you count the notches on each letter, it will give you a valid US telephone number that, when dialed has a message that ends with a mention of Jeanine Sallas website, but no incling of a tie with the movie. WHAT IS GOING ON! Well both Dreamworks and Warner Brothers were contacted by Harry Knowles from Aint It Cool News and both replied 'No comment!' Well the whole thing is just the latest advertising tactic to come from the distributers and filmmakers. But nobody has said anything and thats the cool thing. And if you're wondering how someone noticed the clues at the end of the trailer, well Harry Knowles was sent an email a few weeks back from a scooper named Clavius Base (the name of the moon base in 2001), and people are now to thinking that the email was leaked from Dreamworks or Warners to get the ball rolling. Or it could be some sad arsed movie fan out there with nothing better to do. Etheir way its all good stuff and if it did come from the Spielberg camp, you've gotta take your hat off to 'em."

[ironchef]

So you fellas liked it?

I've heard that critics, in their infinite wisdom, are totally bashing it. A co-worker saw it and said she freaking hated it, along with most of the theater who were laughing during the sad scenes.

I was totally bummed to hear that cause I'm looking forward to seeing it. But y'all are making me feel a little better :)

[eSDee]

I just saw the movie today. I thought it was brilliant. I had some reservations before I watched it because I had also heard some critics bash it, and I saw a clip of it on Conan that wasn't very impressive. However, as soon as the movie started I was engulfed by the story and I ended up really diggin it. Nobody laughed at the sad scenes either, actually it sounded like a funeral in there at certain points. Of course, I didn't cry. I DIDNT!! Ok I cried like a little girl with a skinned knee. Big deal.

This movie kicked ass. Speilberg is the MAN!

[ufcrusher]

Well I saw AI tonight and I have to say, I am not sure that I liked it, but I didnt dislike it either. The movie was thought provoking and in many ways terrifying. I have to say that it definitely reeked of Kubrick to the point that it seemed to overpower any influence Spielberg had on the movie. I am sure that it will grow on me in the next few days, but as of right now...I am not that impressed.

[coleslaw]

Now the wait begins for the DVD. I just want to see what all was cut from the movie to make it PG-13. I think some scenes involving Giggolo Joe were cut because of violence/sexual content. Kubrick would have insisted that those stay in the movie. It would have been 'R' or die for Stan the man!