Steampunk Granny's Review of Ghostbusters 2016

                                                               

If anyone is going to enjoy a good ghost movie, it’s a person who actually goes ghost hunting and since I'm that person, I was excited to see this new and improved version of an old favorite of mine. I was especially stoked to see the film because Melissa McCarthy was in it. Did Ghostbusters 2016 meet my expectations?
 

                                                          

Ghostbusters 2016

Based on the remake of the 1984 Ghostbusters film which starred Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Sigourney Weaver and Ernie Hudson, this newer version was directed by Paul Feig and featured Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones, and Chris Hemsworth. Chris plays the part of Kevin Beckman, an incompetent receptionist who reminded me of a male version of Mrs. Wiggins, which fans of Carol Burnett will know what I’m talking about.

                                                                  

If people were worried that a female ghostbusting team would tarnish the original version, they were soon proven wrong. The script was well written and the acting superb. I have over the years become a loyal fan of Melissa McCarthy, although I did not like her earlier film work. It wasn’t until I saw Heat and later Spy that I knew that I would watch any film Melissa McCarthy starred in.
                                                                 

Plot

Kristen Wiig plays the part of Dr. Erin Gilbert who is forced to track down an old friend when she learns that Dr. Abby Yates (Melissa McBride) has republished a book on Ghosts that both co-wrote together. It isn’t long after that reunion when Abby, Erin and Abby’s assistant, Kate McKinnon are called out on a case. There are ghosts to deal with and because of a frightening incident in the subway tunnels of New York, a new member joins the team. Patty (Leslie Jones), who has encountered a rather strange man and the nasty spirit he was able to call forth, now wants to help catch ghosts. One of the biggest surprises of the film was Chris Hemsworth playing a ditzy receptionist. This casting was pure genius.

                                                                   

The other surprise was Kate McKinnon’s character. Kate is a blast to watch and I don’t want to ruin the show by telling you too much, but if you watch Orphan Black and love the clone, Helena, played fabulously by Tatiana Maslany then you’ll see why I freaking loved Kate McKinnon’s character.
                                                           

Conclusion

I truly enjoyed the movie from beginning to end and I want to see it again. Go see the movie. You’ll thank me for it.

Steampunk Granny's Take on Ex Machina

                                                              

                                       

I love robots and, I love films about artificial intelligence. I wrote about my love of robots is an earlier post here. Is it possible for a robot to surpass humans? Would they also exhibit a will to survive?  I was especially interested in watching Ex Machina because I have a similar plot going on with one of my characters in my Roof Oasis apocalyptic series, but we’ll talk about her at the end of this film review.

Ex Machina is a British science fiction thriller written and directed by author & screenwriter, Alex Garland. The film stars Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander and Oscar Isaac.

Plot

Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson, a computer programmer working for the world’s most popular search engine company is chosen in a company lottery to meet and assist the company’s CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac).  The quiet and reserved Caleb is flown to the CEO’s secluded mountain hideaway to assist in a project.
                                                           

Everything is about the project is top secret and to move through Nathan’s home, Caleb has to use a swipe card. There is only one other person there, a young Japanese woman named Kyoko (Sonoya Mizuno) that Nathan speaks to in a disrespectful manner.

                                                     

Nathan is a cocky genius who spends most of his time lifting weights and getting drunk.  Nathan wants Caleb to perform the Turing test on a humanoid robot named Ava (Alicia Vikander). The Turing test is used to research a machine’s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from that of a human. Would Ava be able to generate enough human-like responses to pass the test?

Conclusion

Over the next few days Caleb gradually develops a friendship with Ava who is exhibiting real human emotions. During one of the sessions Ava asks Caleb what will happen if she fails the test. Ava wants to survive, but if she fails the test, her memories will be erased and a new and improved artificial version will take her place.

I won’t go any further with this review because I want you to see the film. The premise of Ex Machina is thought provoking and, I find myself connecting the consequences of cloning and artificial intelligence. Cloning and humanoid robots are both possibilities that can create a moral dilemma that must be dealt with by the Supreme Court.  

What rights will cloned people have in a society that wants them only for their body parts? What rights do humanoid robots have after they’ve been given the ability to think and feel emotions just like a human? The human race has failed miserably in caring for the fauna and flora that share this world with us. We have shown a callous lack of concern for fellow humans in the wars that we rage. Do you really believe we would do better with a cloned person? 

What would happen to us if machines evolved past the three laws of robotics? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics

                                                         

In my Roof Oasis apocalyptic series, there is a robotic character named Patty that started out as a child’s companion, but in the second book, Saving Solanda which will be released this summer, is now exhibiting actions that deal with this very topic. When we take that huge step into the realm of creators with either clones or intelligent robots, we face the reality that our creations might consider us, primitive and prime candidates for extinction.

Go see the film! Roof Oasis can be purchased on Amazon and Kindle.

 

Eraserhead

                                                         

I wrote about this film last year for Biff Bam Pop! The Canadian Pop Culture site where I am a senior writer, but  I've also decided to share this post on my blog. Enjoy 

I love horror films, but there are a few that have worked their way into the recesses of my mind and made a permanent home for themselves. One such film was Eraserhead, a 1977 black and white film which went past the definition of surreal. Eraserhead was written, produced and directed by filmmaker David Lynch, who would later go on to direct such movies as The Elephant Man, Dune, Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and the television series, "Twin Peaks". 

This dark and brooding film may have been inspired by Lynch’s fear of fatherhood, his daughter’s extensive surgery for her severely clubbed feet and his five years of living in a troubled neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Hmmm…thought provoking since I was born and raised in Philadelphia and I love horror stories.

The filming of Eraserhead began in 1971, but because of Lynch’s meticulous direction, this film remained in production for a number of years and was kept alive not only by regular donations from Lynch’s childhood friend, Jack Fisk and Fisk’s wife Sissy Spacek, but by investments made by cast members. 

The Cast

Jack Nance played Henry Spencer in Eraserhead, Mary X was played by Charlotte Stewart, Mary’s mother was played by Jeanne Bates, her father played by Allen Joseph, the beautiful neighbor across the hall was played by Judith Anna Roberts, Jack Fisk plays the part of The Man in the Planet and The Lady in the Radiator is played by Laurel Near.

I’ll try to explain the plot from my point of view because anyone watching this film will eventually walk away with their own concept of what this movie is revealing. The movie starts with the man inside the floating planet pulling and pushing gears, while creatures resembling sperm swim in the background. Meet me after the jump.

The Plot

We see Henry as he makes his way through an Industrial cityscape. The scene is dark, noisy, threatening and sets the mood for the entire film. When Henry reaches his apartment, his beautiful neighbor tells him that his girlfriend left a message for him to come to her house for dinner.

 Now I have to pause here to mention Henry’s hair. He reminds me of a well-known character from the Seinfeld Show. What do you think?

                                                                        

Henry arrives at Mary’s house and meets her family, who are not your classic Norman Rockwell family…no, they’re more like the Addams family, very strange. The family behaves in a lifeless manner bordering on robotic at times. The father asks Henry to carve the roasted chicken that is placed on the table, but the chicken begins to move as Henry cuts into the meat. Reminds me of my first Thanksgiving dinner, the turkey was a little underdone, but luckily no one got sick. Henry learns that Mary had his child and now he is forced to take her and the baby back to his dirty and dark apartment. But there is something very wrong with it.

The Baby

Something is very wrong with the child and Henry is not happy with either Mary or the deformed baby. The baby has a snakelike head and all it does is cry. It refuses to eat which upsets Mary. 

                                              

 

Henry on the other hand is distracted by the need to have an affair with his beautiful neighbor and by his visions of The Lady in the Radiator.

Henry does have a sexual encounter with the neighbor, but the baby frightens her during her visit. Mary runs away and Henry must care for the child. At this point Henry has a dream that his head falls off and a young boy finds the head and brings it to the factory where they use parts of the brain to make erasers for pencils.

                                                                   

Henry unable to stop the child from crying takes a pair of scissors and cuts open it swaddling cloth. I won’t describe what is inside; you’ll need to see the film. Henry stabs the child and as the child dies and its head begins to grow until it turns into the planet seen at the beginning of the film. The Man in the Planet struggles to work his levers as the planet bursts apart. The show ends with Henry being embraced by the Lady in the Radiator.

                                                                      

My Thoughts

This film had a surrealist and sexual theme and spoke to me about the ills experienced in an Industrial Society. Did this inspire David Lynch’s making of Eraserhead? Can Industrial wastes cause deformities? Philadelphia is a beautiful city, but it was also home to a lot of industry. Silent Spring the book by Rachael Carson was published in 1962 and told of the health concerns encountered when Industries polluted the world. 

Steampunk Granny Reviews Gone Girl

                                                              

       

The other week, my daughter and I went to a matinee showing of Gone Girls, staring Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike and Neil Patrick Harris. Neither one of us had read the book, by Gillian Flynn, but hearing great reviews about the film, we figured this was a perfect time to see the much raved about story.

                                                              

It was pouring rain and freezing that day, which made for a perfect day to sit in a dark theatre munching on our favorite candies. Did we like the film? Did it live up to all the hype?

Plot

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) are celebrating their fifth anniversary. Amy is part of a franchise, “The Amazing Amy”, a series of books written about her childhood by her cold and publicity seeking parents.

Nick heads off to the bar that he co-owns with his twin sister Margo (Carrie Coon). We haven’t seen Amy as of yet, but we know that Nick doesn’t look to happy. When Nick returns home, he is surprised to find the house a mess and his wife missing. He calls the police and this is where the story leads us down an “Alice in Wonderland” tunnel into the seedy side of marriage.

                                                                        

The film starts with the voice over of Nick saying that he would like to crack open his wife’s head to learn what she’s thinking and then we jump from past to present in a series of revelations that make you wonder if Nick is a killer.

Detective Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) and Officer Gilpin (Patrick Fugit) argue over whether the scene of kidnapping and possible murder is a setup and if Nick is a cold blooded killer. Maybe it's because Nick is acting so strangely and not at all like the loving husband he claims to be.When Amy’s diary is found in Nick’s childhood home’s furnace, the police are shocked by Amy’s claim that she fears for her life and that her husband is going to kill her.

                                                                 

In a series of twists that reveals not only how the neighborhood women adored Amy and hated Nick to statements by two of Amy’s former disgruntled boyfriends like Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris) who paint a slightly different picture of Amy. Are you confused yet? Good! Because it’s this back and forth revelation of who is the more depraved partner in this story book marriage that kept my daughter and I on the edge of our seats.

Conclusion

This is a film that I’m highly recommending. It’s a peek into a marriage gone sour and a mirror for those of us who are planning on getting married, or...are already married. It makes us want to ask our partners, “What are you thinking?”

We may not want to know.