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ort888 · Jul 21, 2006, 12:35 PM

Been done before. Star Trek: TNG covered it very well.

iRobot played out to me like it was written by a bunch of executives sitting at a table using data from focus groups. A soulless shell of a movie.

mitchell_pgh · Jul 21, 2006, 12:41 PM

I like his movies... and will be seeing this movie over the weekend. I'll give a full report.

Dakar · Jul 21, 2006, 12:46 PM

Hmmm... Didn't you post under another handle?

Landos Mustache · Jul 21, 2006, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by ort888

Been done before. Star Trek: TNG covered it very well.

Ya it was, in a different approach though.

Landos Mustache · Jul 21, 2006, 12:49 PM

Originally Posted by Gossamer

I think Bicentennial man addressed that issue a lot more directly. Apparent a robot can be considered human if it can die, so our mortality is what defines us.

How is flipping the switch on a computer dyeing though?

Can't I just download the memory of that robot, destroy it and upload it to another? Isn't that immortality then?

Dakar · Jul 21, 2006, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

How is flipping the switch on a computer dyeing though?

Can't I just download the memory of that robot, destroy it and upload it to another? Isn't that immortality then?

Reincarnation?

ort888 · Jul 21, 2006, 12:50 PM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

Ya it was, in a different approach though.

Different in that it wasn't buried under a bad summer blockbuster about robots taking over the earth?

Gossamer · Jul 21, 2006, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

How is flipping the switch on a computer dyeing though?

Can't I just download the memory of that robot, destroy it and upload it to another? Isn't that immortality then?

IIRC, he wanted human organs, then wanted them to fail. No one threw a switch, but his internal parts degraded then failed on their own.

Landos Mustache · Jul 21, 2006, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by Gossamer

IIRC, he wanted human organs, then wanted them to fail. No one threw a switch, but his internal parts degraded then failed on their own.

So I guess he is more of an android than a robot then.

Gossamer · Jul 21, 2006, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by Landos Mustache

So I guess he is more of an android than a robot then.

Like I said, it's been a while but the plot was something like:
Rich family buys standard robot
Something is wrong with robot, has emotions and stuff
Owner 'nurtures' robot and encourages learning and discovery
Robot leaves for a while, then returns and falls in love with owner's granddaughter
Wants to become human, so takes steps to get closer, like getting 'organs' (mechanical things that perform the same functions)
'Humanship' is denied, some board of deciding who's human tells him why
Takes further steps
Finally reaches the point where he makes his mechanical organs degradable
Dies alongside wife as he's granted humanship

Pendergast · Jul 22, 2006, 07:35 AM

Originally Posted by RAILhead

I'm also one of the apparent few that like all his movies. Predictable? Yes. Good? Yes -- to me.

I liked them all, even though major flaws were in the way, I like the way he tells the story, even if predictable at times, and understanding there is a recognizable recipe.

However, unbreakable was his best to me, because of so many antagonisms of characters and destiny, and the very nice playing of the actors.

I will always remeber the smile of that blonde on the train talking of a football player as a "God", and the embarrassment of Willis for his candor in approaching her, and the unease falling in between them.

I will see Lady In The Water.

Cody Dawg · Jul 22, 2006, 07:57 AM

The gossip around Hollywood with this picture was that it was very bad, yes.

That's why they've got Bryce Howard starring in it...no one else would.

The Village sucked. I watched it three times. It was a loose convoluted story.

tutelary · Jul 22, 2006, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

The gossip around Hollywood with this picture was that it was very bad, yes.

That's why they've got Bryce Howard starring in it...no one else would.

The Village sucked. I watched it three times. It was a loose convoluted story.

or, because bryce starred in the Village and he liked her, dip.

analogika · Jul 22, 2006, 08:29 AM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

The 3 Stooges were quite violent as well.

One reason I never liked the Stooges as a kid - nor later.

Originally Posted by Gossamer

I don't like the 'it's a simple solution to kill the aliens' type of solution. Like in Mars attacks when all they had to do was play loud music. Kinda lame.

Um, Mars Attacks was a SATIRE.

Jul 22, 2006, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by tutelary

His movies are wonderful. You either have the capacity to understand them or not. I like to see people bitching about the Aliens in Signs, when the movie wasn't even about Aliens, it was about one man's loss of faith.

"The Day After Tomorrow" was a masterpiece. Its detractors are obviously incapable of understanding that the film is not about a big snowstorm, but it is really about irony of man's willful disconnect from nature, yet its reliance on it at the same time. Anyone who doesn't think it should have won the Best Picture Oscar is obviously doesn't have the capacity to understand the film.

Cut the pompous attitude. People can disagree with you and still understand the movie. A good movie works on every level it presents. Signs may have worked on the "loss of faith" level, but it didn't work on the most basic and obvious level - the actual plot.

production_coordinator · Jul 23, 2006, 12:26 AM

Originally Posted by hayesk

"The Day After Tomorrow" was a masterpiece. Its detractors are obviously incapable of understanding that the film is not about a big snowstorm, but it is really about irony of man's willful disconnect from nature, yet its reliance on it at the same time. Anyone who doesn't think it should have won the Best Picture Oscar is obviously doesn't have the capacity to understand the film.

Cut the pompous attitude. People can disagree with you and still understand the movie. A good movie works on every level it presents. Signs may have worked on the "loss of faith" level, but it didn't work on the most basic and obvious level - the actual plot.

You are kidding about The Day After Tomorrow aren't you?

Chuckit · Jul 23, 2006, 01:40 AM

Originally Posted by production_coordinator

You are kidding about The Day After Tomorrow aren't you?

He was pretty obviously making fun of the "Signs is actually a deep metaphor about faith, not a stupid movie about an alien invasion" attitude Tutelary has taken here. Day After Tomorrow was a crap disaster movie, though it did indeed have the subtext of our being out of touch with nature.

production_coordinator · Jul 23, 2006, 02:39 AM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

He was pretty obviously making fun of the "Signs is actually a deep metaphor about faith, not a stupid movie about an alien invasion" attitude Tutelary has taken here. Day After Tomorrow was a crap disaster movie, though it did indeed have the subtext of our being out of touch with nature.

Gotcha... I like the M Night series (minus the last one [I saw today]). Granted... not Oscar worthy... but usually worth checking out even if only on DVD.

Mallrat · Jul 25, 2006, 01:25 AM

I didn't hate or love LADY IN THE WATER. I'm a filmmaker, so I've got a lot invested in this film because well I like M. NIGHT.

But he for sure got crowed an auteur very early and that is tough to live up too. Like A-Rod in baseball, people want successful people to fail. He makes lot of money, so it's EASY to hate him.

Because of his name and his success, not matter how good the movie is or isn't, he will have tons of bad reviews. Most of the reviews weren't about the movie, but about him. People are jealous.

The movie is original, but ridiculas at times. Inventive and stupid. A mixed bag that if it wasn't M. Night, people would probably enjoy more or maybe not at all.

As a film alone, I give it a 2 stars out of 5, but I can't dismiss it because I can't stop thinking about even though I didn't love it. At least he has a voice and a vision. Few filmmakers have that. Love him or hate him.

Me. I'm jealous like everyone else.