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Flash Movie Review: Companion
A RELATIVE OF MINE JUST NEEDED to vent and knows I always have an open ear. She was telling me about her son who desperately wanted to be in a love relationship. The more I heard, the less I thought her son understood what love really meant. She told me all her son wishes for is to be with someone. He uses the dating apps, goes out to bars to meet women, and has no qualms starting up a conversation with a female shopper at the grocery store. However, according to my relative, he does not want to do much of the dating and wooing part to get into a committed relationship. I asked how that was working out for her son, while keeping a perplexed look on my face. She said he scares off a lot of women because he is so quick to tell them he loves them and wants to move in together with them. I knew she knew this, but I had to say his actions were a big red flag to prospective dates and she agreed 100% with me. She said he does not take the time to really learn anything about the women he meets; all he wants is to be part of a couple. In my mind, all he wants is a companion. THE REASON I USE THE WORD companion is because I have already seen couple relationships where the two people seem more like companions or roommates instead of it being a relationship of love. Not that there is any right way, or I am criticizing someone, I am aware that love comes in all shapes and sizes. There was one couple I knew, where the woman was a long-time friend of mine. She started dating a man that I soon learned not to trust. He was a braggard and a liar. After catching him in a couple of lies, I felt compelled to tell my friend. She heard what I had to say but it did not stop her from following her heart. After one year of dating, she discovered he had been stealing tiny amounts of money from her purse. She was devastated and told me she felt foolish. I tried to comfort her, but she stayed upset for some time. Another friend of mine had been dating a woman for six-seven months. I thought everything was fine until we stopped at a store for the girlfriend to get a pair of sunglasses. We all tried on various pairs, but during that time I could overhear my friend directing his girlfriend on what he wanted her to buy. It was odd the way he said it, so I asked if he always tells her what to buy. He said he wanted her to look a certain way that he thought was flattering. It still was odd to me; it looked like he had an idea of how she should look, and he wanted her to become that image. It seemed more like he was dating a doll instead of a live human being. I thought it was strange but not as strange as what I saw in this psychological comedy thriller. A WEEKEND GETAWAY FOR A GROUP of friends turns sinister when one of them is killed by one of the others. With Sophie Thatcher (Heretic, Yellowjackets-TV) as Iris, Jack Quaid (The Hunger Games franchise, Scream) as Josh, Lukas Gage (Road House, Smile 2) as Patrick, Megan Suri (It Lives Inside, Never Have I Ever-TV) as Kat, and Harvey Guillen (The Internship, Werewolves Within) as Eli; this science fiction film was twisted fun. I thought Sophie and Jack were great together and enjoyed all the twists and turns in the script. Part of the success was the tight directing taking place; I felt engaged throughout the movie as I was exposed to scenes of dark humor, satire, tension, and fear. What helped me was not knowing or seeing anything about this picture because it increased my surprise level. I will have to say, when the movie was over, it made me wonder if we could ever get to a similar place in time. There were a few brief scenes with blood and violence. 3 ¼ stars
Flash Movie Review: Atlas
ON A FINANCIAL STATEMENT, I NOTICED for the first time a deduction was taken for “other tax.” I had never seen this before and had no idea what it could be. I found a customer service phone number on the statement and called to find out. After a couple of rings, an automated message came on the line thanking me for the call. Thanking me?!?! I would have preferred there to have been an explanation on the form so I would not have had to make the phone call. The voice next began listing possible reasons for my call, such as if I needed to check on my account balances, dial extension 1102 or to open a new account dial extension 1150. I sat and listened to nine different options before the voice asked me to say in a few words the reason for my call. When I said, “questioning other tax deduction on statement,” the voice asked if I needed a replacement ATM card. I said no and the voice asked me to repeat my request. After trying again and getting the same response, I said “help” into the phone receiver. The voice tried asking something else, but I talked over it and repeated my request for help. Before connecting me to a customer relations representative, the voice said, it needed to ask me a couple of questions about my account so it could connect me to the correct party. I provided the information and was put on hold. A COUPLE OF MINUTES PASSED BEFORE a different voice came on the line and asked how they could help me. At first, I was not sure if it was a human or an AI generated voice asking me; however, after a couple of interactions I realized it was not human. It also did not comprehend my request. We went back and forth with a few exchanges where they would reply with an incorrect response until, I became so frustrated I blurted out, “customer service.” Of course, the artificial voice had to confirm that I wanted to speak to customer service, which I sternly replied, “Yes.” So once again, I was put back on hold but instead of hearing a list of options I had non-descript music playing in my ear. By now, I had been on this call for nearly 15 minutes and my frustration level mixed with anger was rising. Finally, the music stopped, and an actual person was on the line. Hallelujah! Though she had to go through her list of security questions to confirm my identity, she was able to answer my question about the other tax deduction on my financial statement. I thanked her and quickly ended the call. Why couldn’t I have just started out with her instead of all the automated messages and the artificial intelligence exchanges. You can now understand why I felt the same way about AI as the main character in this dramatic, action adventure, science fiction film. A BRILLIANT DATA ANALYST WHO HAS a deep mistrust for AI joins a mission to neutralize a rogue robot who is threatening humankind. The only way she can help is to embrace AI. With Jennifer Lopez (Shotgun Wedding, Marry Me) as Atlas Shepherd, Simu Liu (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, One True Loves) as Harlan Shepherd, Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction, This is Us-TV) as Colonel Elias Banks, Mark Strong (The Critic, Shazam! Franchise) as Gen. Jake Boothe and Abraham Popoola (Cruella, The Marvels) as Casca Decius; this was all about Jennifer struggling and screaming through most of the film. The script was generic and did not offer much character development, besides the direction being poorly done. I also thought the special effects were rudimentary, nothing spectacular. Through most of this picture, I thought I was seeing bits and pieces of previous other films from this genre; the whole production was not very original. It was a shame because, as I have said before, Jennifer has a strong believable screen presence which with the right combination of script and direction would have made this movie a better viewing experience. Instead, I found myself being almost as frustrated as I was with my recent experience with AI.
1 ¾ stars
Flash Movie Review: The Creator
IF THE PERSON I WAS INTERACTING with on the telephone was an artificially enhanced intelligent receptionist, then I was not impressed or worried. When the phone call connected and she greeted me, listing the medical group’s name, I thought she was a live person. After asking for my name and date of birth, she asked how she could help me. I told her I wanted to make an appointment to see a particular doctor. She said she was putting me on hold to check on availability. After a couple of minutes, she came back on the line and said there were several patients in queue ahead of me making appointments; as soon as they were done, she could then offer me open dates. Before I could say anything, she was replaced with an automatic message that said if I remain on hold for ten minutes, I will be asked to leave a message and someone from the doctor’s office would call me back. I thought how strange this was since I had just talked to the receptionist. After a few minutes, the same scenario occurred. I tried to break in but there was no hesitation on the receptionist’s part. All she offered was an apology but went right back into her message. I wound up staying online for ten minutes and then a recorded message came on and told me to leave my information for someone to return my call. I cannot tell you how annoyed I was by this experience. NOW IF I THOUGHT THIS WAS going to become the standard procedure for all of us, I would say why bother with AI. However, ever since I saw the film The Matrix, I have wondered at times if we could ever get to a point where machines would be making all the decisions for mankind. If I am not mistaken, one of the more contentious disagreements in the talks with the actors’ union is the use of artificial intelligence to capture samples of an actor’s voice or face to generate content without paying the actors. I had to wonder if there would be a time where I might be watching a movie and none of the cast really had acted in it; everyone was computer generated. It is a scary thought for me. Wasn’t It last week when the news reported there would be a new Beatles’ song because AI pulled out the voice of John Lennon from an old recording and cleaned it up to the point it sounded as if he had just recorded the song with the other Beatles? So musical artists can be replaced just like actors?!?! Is it possible if AI goes unchecked, we could one day find ourselves in a world like the one depicted in this action, adventure drama? SET IN A TIME WHERE HUMANS found themselves at war with the forces of artificial intelligence, a former soldier is chosen to hunt down a new weapon that could end mankind, allowing machines to rule the planet. With John David Washington (Tenet, Malcolm & Marie) as Joshua, newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles as Alphie, Emma Chan (Eternals, Crazy Rich Asians) as Maya, Allison Janney (Lou, The Hours) as Colonel Howell and Ken Watanabe (Godzilla franchise, Inception) as Harun; this story had a thought-provoking message wrapped in a visually, fascinating landscape that was filled with sensitive acting. I felt John David stood out while Madeleine Yuna Voyles was the show stealer; she was that good. However, my issue with this production was the script. It seemed as if the writers used several ideas from different films and tried to put a story together. Especially, the last third of the movie was a mishmash of lost opportunities. As I said earlier, the idea behind the story was both frightening and curious. One must wonder if human beings were even involved with the writing of this story.
2 ¾ stars
moviejoltz 