BladeRunner

A little late on this, but it took me a while to get my blog set up... Better late than never, I guess.

Watching Blade Runner, every time a character came on screen it took a minute to decipher whether it was a replicant or a real human, which, once getting a fair way into the movie, felt like that was the point Ridley Scott and the writers were trying to make. It was like a 2 hour long neo-noire Turing test where the audience was the subject.

The end of the movie, right before Roy gives his infamous 'tears in rain' speech, there was one particular image that struck me. When he meets Deckard on the roof, in one hand he has a dove and in the other, his hand is pierced through the palm. With the dove being a symbol for peace and the spike through his hand alluding to Jesus on the cross, I wonder the movie was trying to suggest some relationship between sacrifice and peace.

The Matrix and Dark City

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No question, “The Matrix” is a stylistic masterpiece and spurred a revolution in the action genre by introducing the “bullet time” technique. It’s one of those movies that, somehow or another, you find yourself watching at least once every year. Three years ago I watched the 1998 sci-fi film “Dark City” for the first time. Instantly, I was blown away by how strangely similar the films are to each other. Only made a year apart, both films share a similar plot outline, general message, and at times, style. Someone online has posted still shots from each movie comparing scenes that are similar. After watching “Dark City” and viewing these still shots side by side it seems evident that “The Matrix” was influenced to a degree by “Dark City”. I am not claiming “The Matrix” ripped off “Dark City” by any means but I do believe that certain elements in “The Matrix”, especially in design, were lifted from “Dark City”.

The Matrix

This past summer, I spent about 2 months in Greece studying abroad and visiting family. During that time, I visited Delphi and then went back on 2 other occasions, since it is such an amazing site. Most importantly, and relevantly to this post, Delphi is the home to one of the most prolific and famous oracular temples of ancient times. During our post-movie discussion, it was brought up about how the oracle in The Matrix said that neo was not "The One". For anyone informed about oracular tradition though, it should not be strange that this was the fortune that Neo received. By nature of their duties, oracles needed to deliver cryptic and semi-ambiguous prophecies in order to be correct. If they weren't correct, people would stop patronizing that oracle and the temple would lose support and the gifts that happy patrons would bestow upon them. While those motives may not have been absolutely the same in The Matrix as they were in the ancient world, it is just going to show that the oracle from the movie was just acting as its ancient counterpart would, giving a prophecy that could be construed in any number of ways but would still hold to be valid no matter the result. This can be seen in the prophecy that Neo receives, as well as the one Trinity talks about. It can be argued that Neo did die, only to be instantly resurrected as "The One". In the case of Trinity, if Neo had died, it could just be said that she thought she loved him and that he'd be the one she would be with forever, when in reality what she was feeling really wasn't love and "The One" was still coming. In both of these cases, no matter the result, the Oracle would still be able to argue that the prophecy she gave was accurate.

The Matrix

There’s a great deal that can be said about the Matrix: its similarity to a host of other films also published in a year period of its 1999 debut (Dark City, Three Kings, Eyes Wide Shut, Being John Malkovich, etc.), its introduction of “bullet time” and “wire fu” action sequences into the popular imagination, the way that it both channeled and affected the fashion of the late nineties and early aughts. It’s a film that I’ve seen many, many times (it was, as I suspect of many people, the first DVD that I owned) and one which I thought I had pretty well figured out; however, there is one sequence that recently I’ve been rethinking which has implications across the entire film. When Cipher dines with Agent Smith there is the obvious problem of who is jacking him in and out? The sequence is also followed with Cipher being startled by Neo while sitting in the operator chair, which is soon followed by Cipher’s statement, “I don’t even see the code anymore; all I see is blond, brunette, redhead.” Thus, the only way that this would make sense is if Cipher isn’t actually “fully” present in the restaurant in the way one is if they were jacked in and instead he is simply perceiving the code so fluently it appears to him as if he is within the Matrix. This of course only manages to further confuse the many levels of mediation present in the film and really nails home one of its key tenets: reality and perception are so often far from synonymous. 

The Matrix

Generally I feel that there is a five-year statute of limitations for how long ago you could have seen a movie and still retain a comprehensive knowledge of the plot.  The last time I saw the Matrix was in sixth-grade (2004), so needlessly to say I was way beyond said statute.  Something that really interested me about the film was its Eastern-world theme.  The way I've come to generalize, or rather define, the Eastern philosophy (& ideology) is by contrasting it with my perception of  our (Western) culture.  This generalization being that Eastern philosophy places a much heavier emphasis on the intuitive, rather than the intellectual, means for attaining knowledge.  The effect of this emphasis is a much for subjective, personal knowledge.  The element that I am specifically referring to in The Matrix that possesses these qualities is the Oracle.  The Oracle tells Neo that he is not the One.  She says that he has the "gift" but that something is blocking him from realizing it, that perhaps he is waiting for something.  The Oracle's entire purpose can be summarized by the advice she gives on knowing thyself.  The idea of "knowing thyself" is linked to intuition.  You cannot be directly told in definitive terms your own comprehension of yourself.  It is a knowledge that only you can be assured of through your intuition, in the same way that only you can know if you're in love.  This intuitive knowledge also manifests itself in what ultimately becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  Morpheus is convinced that Neo is The One.  The Oracle tells Neo that he appears to be waiting for something.  In both circumstances these are assumptions that ultimately only revealed to be true through intuition and "knowing thyself."  Neo eventually proves himself to be The One by trusting his intuition and fulfilling his prophecy through this own volition.  He intuitively understands the Matrix and manipulates it by willing his fate.  The moment in which he does this is indicative I feel of the departure from Western World thinking.  He doubts himself based on what he has been told.  The generalization of Western thinking as being intellect over intuition is essentially broken down to accepting definitions of "the other"--a major theme in the previous film we watched, Blade Runner.  The moment when Neo stops "waiting" is when he fulfills his prophecy, becomes the One, and trusts his intuition.

The Matrix- Jake Bradbury

The Matrix is a movie that I have seen multiple times and consider to be a favorite of mine. The western elements infused with the martial arts style of fighting makes for a good action movie. The plot, however, is not straight forward and thus gives the movie more depth than a regular action movie. The concept of everyone being in the year 1999 is interesting to me due to the fact that Mr. Smith says that it was the apex of human society. This is strange because this is the apex from the eyes of the computer and this is the boom of the dot com era. My question is how time evolves in the matrix. When people grow up and have children, because the matrix is making new children for power, how will they perceive the passing of days, months, and years. DO the robots merely reboot the system? Do the robots interfere with the everyday lives of the human minds just for fun? Also, if the oracle is a robot program, why was it made? It seems to me that the robots wanted to lose eventually if they would create software to help the humans. Furthermore, why would Morpheus trust the Oracle if she was indeed made by the robots.

The Matrix

I really liked The Matrix, as an action film and an intellectual film.  My favorite scene was when Agent Smith was attempting to break Morpheus.  He began to compare humans to viruses saying that we spread and destroy everything.  In reality, the machines have taken over the planet and have decimated all natural resources.  It seems that the programs that protect the matrix cannot see outside of it and observe what the world actually looks like.

My second favorite scene is when Neo comes back to life and accepts that he is "The One."  He fights with Agent Smith then enters inside of him and destroys/infects him from the inside, like a virus.  After seeing this the other agents run away in fear.  This is significant because throughout the movie Neo is constantly told to run away from the agents because they are too strong.  Also in the movie, the agents are able to take over other people's bodies.  In the end, Neo does both of these: takes over an agent's body and strikes fear in them to make them flee.

The Matrix

The Matrix is a really good movie, it's just such a boy movie. In class was the third time I've ever seen it, and  both prior times were for school. It's not a movie I would opt to watch on my own time.

What I thought was really interesting in the film was how for Neo's entire life, he was actually in a gooey future pod, and his mind was just living in a computer generated world. But every human was in a gooey pod, and they were all living in 1999. So, my question is, if Neo had a best friend- we'll name him John- was John in a gooey pod, experiencing the same Matrix, making Neo his best friend? Does everyone experience the same Matrix?

If so, that's pretty impressive. If not, that's also impressive because that's a whole lot of random cyber people to make up. My eyes would hurt after staring at a computer screen for that long.

My favorite part of the movie was when Neo met with the oracle and he broke her vase. The oracle told him "what's really gonna blow your mind later is wondering if you still would have broken it if I hadn't said anything." I think that's a great line because it's so true-- people are constantly wondering "what if?"

Avalon

I loved Avalon.  The suspense of what was real versus what was the game kept me watching.  For example, when it shows Ash making the food for her dog, but her dog disappears.  She keeps the bowl with the food on the floor even when the Bishop visits her.  I also think it's funny that when she sees the Bishop in reality, she reaches for her gun as though she is in the game.

Avalon: losing reality = losing the game

            Avalon juxtaposes that which we are to assume is the rather dull “real” world with the high-action, illegal simulation that is Avalon. The game world, rich with adventure has an excitement that the outside world lacks; Ash’s repetitive, monotonous train rides home & the generally slow pace of life in the non-virtual world serve as devices to paint Ash’s ‘reality’ as lackluster, and give the audience an idea as to why this game is so enticing—it scratches an itch that the real world cannot. Upon having a taste, the players want more. But as we see by scores of players left catatonic, there is more than one way to “get lost” in this parallel reality.

            When Ash makes it to Club Real, she enters her biggest challenge: deciphering the game from reality. She’s given a pistol, and told to seek out and kill an illegal player, her former teammate Murphy. But I personally interpreted this challenge as something far greater than eliminating another player. Club Real didn’t test Ash’s skills as a player, but rather, her ability to distinguish reality from a falsely constructed world. Murphy never reached Avalon because he was fooled by the game, and lost sight of reality. The best explanation I could see for the game was that the individuals who completely lost sight of reality are those who went catatonic, and the only way to truly win, was to beat the game without losing grip on reality. But just like reality itself, this movie is open to a thousand interpretations and in the end, we’ll never know just what is real and what is simulated.
            Lastly, I may be the only one, but I thought this movie was freaking awesome.

Avalon- Jake Bradbury

My take on the film is a negative one. I had a hard time accepting the video game style when the graphics look so far behind modern day video game graphics. This could possibly be due to the fact that it is an older movie. I found the movie a little slow for my taste and I thought the movie could have been better without the whole aspect of Avalon and the nine sisters. The movie plays the song throughout and they mention the nine sisters but I do not think it clicked well. I understand that it was about Ash reaching Elysium but for me it did not click. I think it could have worked better if they had more closely looked into the details of the different realities instead of bringing in the confusing Avalon theme. I did appreciate how the director tied in things that made me think about other movies. The bricked wall was reminiscent of "The Matrix" and the gross chewing scene was used in the third installment of "Lord of the Rings. In conclusion. I found the idea of playing with the perception of reality interesting. The fact that Ash gets dragged further into the game and reality becomes distorted makes me think about what is actually real. I think that the film is trying to say that whatever realm someone is presently in is the actual reality and one can go crazy if they dwell on past and future places.

Avalon

Avalon is a film that can be interpreted in many ways. The movie does not intend to answer the questions it raises, which leaves room for much critical reflection. The ambiguous final scene in which the words “level real “ appear on screen distorts any notion of what really did become of Ash. I appreciated the ending of Avalon and the questions it raised about realities. Perhaps neither the virtual reality nor the physical world existed. Maybe, Ash only entered into the reality and existence once the film concluded and she was entering into the latest level. The game level scenes are well executed and I especially liked the glitches within them. My initial reaction to Avalon was that I did not like it. I understood its message and thought it was a good concept, but overall it was just an average film. After a few days of reflection, Avalon has grown on me and I would now be open to watching it again.

Avalon

I did not like the beginning of this film, I thought it was very slow and I did not really like the graphics, but as it went on, it got better. I don't fully buy into the premise of the film and I think it looks very low budget and amateur in most ways. What I did enjoy is the ending. I like how you really can't tell what really happened and where Ash ends up. I think that if you pay attention to the lyrics sung at the end of the opera that is being performed, you have to assume that Ash has won the game and now become part of the new "Nine Sisters" meaning that Murphy really was the intruder in Class: Real.

Avalon

As I said in class, I'm not totally sure what I disliked about this movie more:

-the sepia tone

-the subtitles

-Ash's frontal bangs

-Ash's Harry Potter glasses

-the really graphic eating scene in the dinner (ew)

-the random opera concert that kept flashing during Ash and Murphy's shoot out

I'm pretty sure Ash's bangs are tied with the eating for worst place.

However, I did think that it was really interesting how all the character's struggled to define reality after becoming so involved with the game. Towards the beginning of the movie, Ash made a comment about how she's sure that "real life" must have felt more like reality at one point, but now she doubts herself. The game was so real and so constant to the players, that it felt more like reality than their actual reality.

I also found it interesting how when Ash was on her quest to find the Nine Sisters, she stumbled upon a poser team with the same name. When this fake named team attempted to steal her weapons, Ash commented how that was illegal, and the team members shrugged. Players in the game broke the rules just like how people do in reality. Even within a video game, people can ignore their conscience. Perhaps even more so in the game because it's "not real."

Regardless, I really didn't like this movie, and am still asking myself why some one would want to play a video game that could leave them brain dead. I would rather play Temple Run.

Blade Runner

I thought Blade Runner was an excellent film and fit perfectly with the whole Metropolis themes and ideas, while creating its own unique and compelling story. I love the concept of space and how it is utilized in the film. While the more urban city below is extremely crowded, the city gets more and more spacious as it goes up, in my opinion giving a sense that there is no limit. My favorite scene, on the other hand, is when Decker is looking for Pris in Sebastian's house. The entire film is done in stark contrast of dark, urban cities with bright, neon lights. This scene, though, is very soft as Pris sits, doll-like, among a room filled with a light pink light. Seeing Pris in this state begs the question, "can androids be trusted?", "can they display as much human emotion and intellect as we can?" Clearly though as Pris tries to kill Decker, we lose sympathy for the androids. Still as Decker seems to be in love with Rachael, we can again question our feelings towards android kind.

Avalon

Perhaps the most pivotal scene for an interpretation of the rather ambiguous ending of the film is when Ash comes home to her Bloodhound, seemingly her only remaining connection to the “real” world, and prepares a meal for him before his sudden and unexplained disappearance. Especially when considered in light of the earlier sequence of her first exiting the warehouse that serves as an access point for Avalon wherein the figures around her seem two dimensional and static the “reality” of the world outside the game is much less reliable. Therefore, if the entirety of the movie takes place in some form of simulated reality the movie perhaps reverses in direction: instead of Ash “jacking in” (to borrow a phrase from The Matrix, which was published only two years before) and moving to higher and higher levels of simulation she is in fact exiting into reality as we, the audience, perceive it: modern, static, capitalist, relatively safe. The film seems to support this as she moves onto level Special A which has no time limit, appears to be secure and affluent, and whose color palate finally moves away from the sepia which has so heavily draped the film up to that point. 

Blade Runner

I really loved how this film used the eye as a symbol throughout the film.  One of the first scenes of the film is Leon's pupil dilation test, which determines if the subject exhibits empathy and is thus considered human.  Throughout the film, Blade Runner explores what it means to be human.  Is it enough to have selfhood?  What does it mean to have a soul?  The replicants exhibit self-confirmation.  For example, as Pris explains, "I think, Sebastian, therefore I am," we see that she believes in her own selfhood.  Humans view the replicants as entities, but not as humans because they believe they lack the essential element of a soul.  The image of an eye shows up repeatedly in the film's opening scenes such as the eye that reflects the fire and smoke coming out of the chimneys and the eye reflecting the Tyrell building.  This crystal blue eye looks eerily like Roy Batty's eyes as he stands in the rain at the end of the film and explains to Deckhard, "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.  Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.  I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.  All those moments will be lost in time...like tears in rain...Time to die."  As the saying goes, eyes are the window to the soul, so this use of symbolism could be interpreted as a key to the film's exploration of whether replicants have souls or not.