Ex Machina (2015)

Here's another Oscar Isaac movie that's right up my alley.  This one is an intimate, claustrophobic little sci fi movie with basically four actors:  Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Sonoya Mizuna.  Oscar plays Nathan, a brilliant billionaire recluse who's created Artificial Intelligence in the form of Vikander's robot, Eva.  Gleeson arrives at Nathan's remote underground research facility/home to help test Eva, to see if she really is an AI.  Things do not go quite as planned.

This movie is both scripted and directed by Alex Garland, whose script for Sunshine (2007) I absolutely love.  (I found out from the extras on the disc that Oscar Isaac auditioned for a role in Sunshine!  How cool would that have been?  Wonder who he might have played?  Sunshine is also perfectly cast, and so I'm ultimately glad he's not in it, but that would have been cool.)

The casting for this film is perfect, and what makes everything else work.  Oscar Isaac is excellent as the simultaneously friendly and intimidating genius inventor.  He pads around the film barefoot for the most part, looking ridiculously well-built and good-looking in his half-buttoned shirts.  His home/facility is fabulous, built into the rock and earth of a ginormous fictitious estate in Alaska (that you can fly over for two hours before ever reaching his abode).  The remote, beautiful home fits Nathan's personality perfectly, richly and neatly but sparsely furnished.  I love his kitchen and deck.  But the majority of the place is underground, windowless, controlled by computers, and more than slightly claustrophobic.  Worse, there are power glitches in the electrical system that lock everything down at random times, trapping you wherever you are until the power comes back on.

Domhnall Gleeson plays Caleb, an employee of Nathan's company, who supposedly wins a lottery to spend a week with the big boss.  But Nathan's not a chancy person.  Everything he does and sets up is very specific and with purpose.  Caleb is nice, almost too nice, and a bit naive.  He's skinny and awkward and helpful and concerned.  Nathan is much smarter, and much stronger physically, and it's a great contrast between the two.  Nathan takes Caleb on a hike up beside a waterfall, waiting politely for out-of-shape Caleb to catch up, then promptly taking off impolitely again before Caleb can catch his breath.  (This made me laugh, I admit, cuz I've been guilty of doing that to people who weren't in as good a shape as me.  But I've also had it done to me just as many times, so fair's fair.)

Alicia Vikander is wonderful as Eva, the AI Nathan has created, that Caleb helps test.  She brings so much to this role, and has just the right alien quality and humanity at the same time.  The effects on her are also amazing.  She's beautiful and a bit terrifying at the same time.  Nathan prowls his home like a bored lion, and she prowls her much smaller living quarters like a sleek ocelot.  They're both very cat-like, but as one is creator and one is the creation, this works very well.

Sonoya Mizuna plays Nathan's domestic servant, who does not have a single line of dialogue, nor does she need one.  She conveys everything with looks and action, never needing to speak.

This is not an action movie, so the conflict and tension comes from the relationships of the characters.  There's a lot of talking, but I never found any of it boring.  There are a lot of ideas in there to chew on, and I like that.  It is also a very tense movie, particularly as things unravel.  I quite liked the ending, though apparently people's mileage on that varies.

I also love all the little things that you only pick up on in re-watches.  Like Nathan only ever wears grey, black, or white clothes, and I don't think that's an accidental choice, particularly as each color subtly matches his actions of that scene.  It's kind of brilliant, particularly as just about everything in the movie is orchestrated by Nathan.

This one I bought immediately almost as soon as I returned the Netflix disc.  It is rated R for language and some nudity (not sex).

Westworld (1973)

This is the umpteenth time I've rewatched this movie, but I've never written about it before so.... I've always loved Westworld. It's both fun and frightening. For one thing, the concept is great. Westworld is one of three amusement sub-parks within Delos. The other two are Roman World and Medieval World. For $1,000 a day, guests can immerse themselves in the time period recreations, which are populated by robot characters so real you can only tell them apart by their hands. I'd jump at the chance to go to Westworld! Man, where do I sign up?

Heading on vacation to Westworld are two buddies, Peter (Richard Benjamin), a first-timer, and John (James Brolin), who's been to Westworld before. I love the opening in the hovercraft, when Peter's grinning like a goon and asking all the dumb questions most of us would probably ask if we got to go there ("can I get the holster with the strings?" he asks). The two vacationers' adventures in Westworld are juxtaposed against the behind-the-scenes shots of how the park is run. Every time the scene cuts to the workings of the park, it's a bit creepy. And each time gets creepier, particularly as you find out there appears to be a virus spreading through the robots and messing up their central controls. You know it's only a matter of time before the robots stop obeying their programming and start doing whatever they want. And then the fun really begins. Not.

And for our two particular vacationers, that means running afoul of the Gunslinger.


If I was going to rank "movie things I don't want chasing me," then Yul Brynner's Gunslinger from Westworld is right up there in the top five. I originally saw Westworld on television when I was fairly young, and Yul Brynner's Gunslinger scared the crap out of me. He still does. Like the Terminator that came years later, he has a one-track mind and he just doesn't stop coming after you not matter how you try to destroy him. But I find him scarier than the Terminator, mostly because Yul Brynner can act and Arnold can't. Brynner's got these frightening little smirky satisfied smiles that pop up when he knows he's figured out your plan that are chilling. You can see his robot mind recalculating his own counterplan. It's lots of subtle expressions that just really bring the Gunslinger to life.

Heck, just the way he walks is downright creepy, particularly towards the end when his footsteps are echoing down the underground tunnels, with no music, just those boots tapping concrete as he stalks his prey... and then he breaks into a precise jog, those echoing footsteps going to double-time. It makes me want to start running away every single time I get to that part, and I'm sitting comfortably on my couch. And his eyes! Gah! Those reflective eyes still freak me out. Even his few lines of dialogue are creepy. The fact that he dresses just like his character Chris (from The Magnificent Seven) just increases the cool factor, even if you wouldn't hire this guy for anything in the world.



And really, when it comes down to it, the main reason to watch Westworld is to watch Yul Brynner play the scariest robot ever. Oh, the two main characters are entertaining, and the supporting actors fill in the cracks, and there's some truly funny moments, along with bar brawls and jail breaks, and shoot outs, and sword fights (in Medieval world, which we get a few glimpses of). Don't think too closely about the plot or how this amusement park works (but what if someone wanted to walk around at night when the crews are cleaning up with floodlights? she asked plaintively), cuz there's a jillion holes if you start thinking. But it's not about that. It's about:

Tech: "Gunslinger... must be a model 404 or maybe a 406. If it's a 406 he's got all the sensory equipment. It's a beautiful machine."
Peter: "He's after me!"
Tech: "I don't doubt it."
Peter: "What can I do?"
Tech: "There's nothing you can do. If he's after you, he'll get'cha. You haven't got a chance."

And watching Peter trying to escape and out-think this unstoppable Old West terminator is what makes Westworld such a cool movie.