Posted on 06/29/2005 6:02:40 PM PDT by zook
You bet. I have that from Gutenberg and a bunch more. I set my laptop to "scroll up" and read when I am flying or in the boring parts of meetings. If I convert to pdf, Acrobat Reader 7 will "speak" the text in my earbuds.
WOTW is a great story, as good as The Chrysalids IMO.
Speaking of Spielberg, Brian Aldis's Supertoys Last All Summer Long is also online. It's the basis of AI, along with Pinocchio, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, and bits of the literary version of Peter Pan. If you have at least Supertoys and Frankenstein under your belt the movie is much more comprehensible. For me, AI was a superb film that touched on several deep topics, as did Frankenstein.
AI and Minority Report are both underrated, especially AI.
I'll see WOTW this weekend maybe.. Hopefully it's good.
Artificial Intelligence.
The kid from Sixth Sense plus Jude Law.
I liked it. That kid is very talented. The movie is rather, what's the word- stylized. Great cinematography.
If you haven't seen it, rent it. It's one of those movies you should just see no matter what the reviews.
One of my all-time favorite books. I just bought my 12-year-old a copy, and I'm happy to say she's enjoying it. An interesting cultural note: I was afraid she -- being a typical kid into the Lindsay Lohan / lite rap world -- wouldn't take to the prose, but apparently Harry Potter and Limony Snicket have made Wells digestible for her. Conan Doyle, too. That's a happy thing.
Stands for A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) Based on a short story that Stanley Kubrick puzzled over for years to turn into a film. (I forget the author of the short story.) Spielberg took up the challenge from Kubrick to turn the short story into a movie which premiered 2? 3? years ago.
Universally derided, I actually liked it.
I hope Faraday does not mind my answering for him.
AI is a science fiction film set in a future Earth. It's possible to make autonomous humanoid robots, 'mekkas. They are used as servants, workers, and sex toys. They get smarter and smarter and more capable.
So why not create one that looks like a nine or ten tear old boy, that is programmed to love one person forever?
The story is about the beta version and the woman who imprinted the 'mekka, who was replacing a severely ill son. Uh Oh, the real son gets better, but the 'mekka is still irreversibly imprinted on the mom.
Mary Shelley posed the question, what if a man created an artificial man, but the creation was so ugly and revolting that even his creator could not stand it, but recoiled in horror and revulsion?
AI asks, what if the monster was cute and programmed to love? Would real people love it back?
There's more to it, and rather than try to be a reviewer, I'll suggest that you read some reviews. Lots of folks did not care for the film at all. I did, but I ain't no Siskel and Ebert.
It gets lots of things right, but the story is incomplete. All three of us just sat there at the end feeling unsatisfied. As an aside, The "big name" star was just OK. Little girl stole the show.
And I'll keep repeating how moronic this film is
Saw it at 2PM EST and I realize it's still with me past 10:30PM.
You will emerge from the theater a changed person. Your mind will have evolved to the next level. For the following three days you will be confused about what you are doing here on this planet. You will be asking yourself, "What is my mission here on earth?" Not to worry. The condition is not permanent. It is easily cured by a few beers with friends at your local tavern.
i wonder when hollywood figures out that their stars' bad behavior is reflected in box office receipts.
i wanted to see "cinderella man," which sounds like a perfect family film, but russell crowe's behavior just made me SICK. you would think he wouldn't want to alienate his target audience....families.
I liked Minority Report. Based on a PK Dick story, I think, and the Dickian paranoiac twistedness shone through.
Another Dick movie was Screamers I and II- cheezy, but clearly related to the short story "Second Variety"
There are other splendid images in the film, as when a train suddenly races by Ray and the army of darkness he has joined, making them all look up from their zombie-like trance in wonder at the train's bright lights.This reviewer did not pay attention to the movie... the train's "bright lights" were FLAMES coming out of every passenger window as the runaway train roared past the people standing by the crossing at a speed far higher than normal. It was a train coming from hell, heading toward disaster.
My pardner had a choice of Herbie or War, he says he should have good seen Herbie and he is a SciFi nut.
I love SciFi, but will admint that some is POS, he rarely finds any bad SciFi.
Must check - is it true that Ann Robinson from the 1953 film also appears?
I watched the 1953 version again instead - flaws and all, it's still great. I never drive by the LA city hall without thinking how good it looks despite being blown up by the Martians all those years ago!
We just saw it this afternoon. It really was a good movie!! As flaky as Tom Cruise may be, he acted well in this one.
"By the way, Gene Barry has a cameo."
Ooh, where was it? I was thinking it would be a great link to the older film but I don't know what Gene Barry looks like after fifty years.
Where was he in the movie?
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