Cars That Can Drive Themselves!

Hey, Internet World!

I just saw this today and thought, FINALLY! They are working on cars that, eventually, can drive themselves. Man, I can't tell you how impressed and excited I became when I saw this video, which is found below. Already, my thoughts were scrolling through every futuristic anime or movie that depicted what the world or at least traffic would look like if this technology became real.

The only movie I can think off the top of my head is Total Recall. That scene where Arnold gets in the cab and the driver is a robot, yeah, that's the one. It's not exactly driverless, but it's close and a robot is driving and it talked if I remember correctly. Oh, and that's next too! Ha! Robots that can move about society like humans do.

As far as anime, there's too many to name and remember. Anyway, the video is from a German research institute, and the car is still in it's early stages of development. I referring to the driverless computer/A.I. that's been developed to make this happen. I've read another article on this topic which says that here in the U.S., Nevada has greenlit the driverless car as long as it meets certain regulatory conditions that are being established for it.

Now I'm thinking of a driverless Toyota Corolla, the AE86, from Initial D and Bridesmaids. It just reminded me of how Kristin Wiig handled that 86 like a pro! Ha! Can you imagine that car drifting on it's own, without a driver?

As always guys and gals, drive safely. Until Next Time!

Surrogates: Movie Review

 
Hello all,

Another movie review coming at ya! This time it's the Bruce Willis Sci-Fi film Surrogates.

I have to say that my interest was piqued about this movie when I first saw the trailer a couple of years ago. However, I never got to see it in theaters at the time. Now that I think about it I don't watch that many movies in theaters, and I just catch them after they come out on Blu-ray or DVD. It wasn't until about a  month ago that I saw the trailer advertised on TV that I went out and bought it.

So, the premise is humanity has become completely dependent on the use of artificial robots/cyborgs to function or interact with society. In other words, when you get ready to go to work, you plug yourself into your robot/cyborg, known as a Surrogate, and go about your daily outdoor activities. Sound familiar? It should because it is the exact same plug-in/jack-in function used in The Matrix. Only, instead of plugging into a computer, you plug-in to your artificial clone. It's really a very intriguing idea. The movie explains that this new technology and mode of human interactive function has revolutionized humanity to the point that such things as crime are non-existent.

Of course, like any revolution or new concept, there are going to be opponents. These are known as Dreads, normal people/humans that refuse to allow technology/robots to replace man kind. I may be making this sound too much like the premise for Terminator, but its not this extreme. It has this feel much like Stephen King's The Stand where you have the two factions or social groups. In Surrogates, you have the society that accepts the robots as a means of social image, and the other society hates the robots for the same reason.

The story takes shape when a murder is committed with a device that not only destroys the surrogate but also its human operator. Bruce Willis plays FBI agent Tom Greer, and with Radha Mitchell (Agent Peters) the two investigate the crime which has roots reaching all the way into the surrogate manufacturing company VSI. I don't remember what the full name was, or if it was even mentioned, ha! Surrogates is a very decent detective story but at its core are the major themes that the concept of artificial dependence implies.

For example, all the surrogates are young while their human counterparts are older or aging. The reason I say this is because part of the story focuses on Bruce Willis' character's relationship with his wife Maggie played by Rosamund Pike. From very earlier on, we are shown a disconnect between the couple, especially after Tom is forced to pursue the investigation with out a surrogate. He realizes that his wife may have grown so dependent on the use of the artificial persona/image that she's lost sense of reality.

Another interesting point shown in the movie is that it is a comment on some of society's idea or need to display or appear young or perfect. As a matter of fact, the modern surrogate society is visually represented as a stylish, and artificial rendition of what a perfect society would appear as. The surrogates represent every human operator's own ideal self image of perfection. It's vanity in its purest sense. Even more intriguing is the reaction that Tom gets when he emerges into society in his actual 'flesh' form. Even though it is not revealed how long it as been since he actually set foot out of his house, we see the immediate disconnect with human interaction. Tom has a huge sensory overload that he nearly collapses as he tries to physically move in a space which he only interacted with through artificial eyes.   

Again, I was really impressed by the detective story that revealed the ethical question of extreme dependence on artificial technology. Surrogates was an entertaining film with many thought provoking ideas. And the scene where everyone drops to the ground in unison was pretty cool to see, and the ending provided a ideal awakening.

Real Steel: Movie Review

Hey there folks! Well I'm back with another movie review. Boy, it seems like I'm making this my new job or hobby. Unfortunately, I'm not getting paid for this.

When I first saw the trailer for Real Steel, I thought, hmm, this looks interesting and vaguely familiar. Then it hit me! It's rock'em sock'em robots but on the big screen. Seriously, that's what this movie is when you look at it from the perspective that it has robots fighting in a ring. And, this brings me to my first non-movie related question.

How many of you out there in internet land know or have seen and played with a rock'em sock'em robot toy. Those things were fun! Bang! and the head gets popped up, ha!

Originally, I thought this movie would never live up to post-Transformers series hype. After the huge, grossly, uber-hammered success of the Baysplosion films, there could not be another smaller movie that used robots which made an impression and left a mark that didn't include things blowing up or a billion parts moving at the same time.

Whew! That was a long sentence.

Luckily, this movie came along and left a sweet, endearing taste in my mouth. On the surface, Real Steel is a film about human controlled robots battling it out in underground and professional fighting, sanctioned and unsanctioned, matches. However, at the core is a heartwarming tale between a father and his son, and that son and his robot. And it appeals to the kid in all of us who always wanted a robot, whether large or small, that we could control and have as a friend.

Hugh Jackman plays Charlie, a former professional boxer, now fighting robot operator who is trying to make ends meet by purchasing fight-bots and pitting them in matches with bitter results. He's the protagonist who is far from his glory days but still finding himself a part of that world and way over his head in debt. In a way, Charlie is still looking to find his gold ticket back to his former glory days but has no idea where it will come from and only continues to make unfavorable decisions that place him further in a hole. Doesn't this remind you already of our struggling economy?

At heart Charlie is a good character and this really emerges with the introduction of of son Max. Charlie never raised his son, and after Max's mother dies, Charlie is called in to sit at a hearing to determine custody of the child. Charlie decides to hand over custody to his sister-in-law and rich husband, but he also schemes to retain custody for a few months with the promise to be paid $100,000 upon transferring total custody to his sister-in-law after her short hiatus. Something about her going away for a few months but putting Max in Charlie's custody during that time.

I'm probably not explaining this properly, but who cares because this whole custody issue plays a very minor almost nonexistent plot to the story. All it serves is to place Charlie and Max together to center the father-son story arc. At first these two do not get along, but their common interests in robot fighting bounce off of each other so well that the audience can begin to see a unique chemistry and bond forming between the two. This especially becomes evident with the discovery of the primary glue factor that keeps them together and not so much focused on winning but figuring out that they need to be in each others lives. It is at this point that we are introduced to Atom.

Atom is the underdog sparring robot that they salvage from a junk yard, and Max immediately places his affections into the robot which becomes a surrogate father, friend and hope. Charlie sees how much time and effort Max places into Atom that he also encourages and supports Max's decision to make an old, 2nd generation sparring robot compete against other mashers. Here is where the most endearing moments of the father-son relationship take shape during the movie.

The fights are great and clean in terms of how they are depicted. It is what you would expect from big robots duking it out with each other in boxing matches. At times it is no-holds-barred, rock'em sock'em and other times it is very technical as it mimics even the flashiest of boxing movie matches. Either way it is pleasant to see, and since the robot designs are very non-complex, like the millions of moving parts in the bots from Transformers, it's good to see and recognize movement and action and not get lost. 

All in all, i was surprised and pleased with the end result. The special effects and CGI made the robots look and move hyper realistically. Even the moments where Atom shadows Max or Charlie's movements were spot on fluid and down right hilarious at times. Dancing robot, that's all I'm going to say about that! When I think about now, this movie resembles Rocky on so many levels. It's about an underdog robot and its struggling controllers overcoming adversity both in the ring and with each other while on the way to the top of the robot fighting league.

I remember when I heard Max give the robot a name, at first I thought he called it Adam, but later he spells it A-T-O-M. I was surprised because it feels like an homage to Osamu Tezuka the creator of Astro Boy. The original Japanese name of Astro Boy is Tetsuwan Atom which translate to Mighty Atom. I know this is a bit of a side note and maybe unrelated, but I felt that the writers were paying there respects to Tezuka by naming the films protagonist robot Atom.  

Honestly, I really enjoyed this film and Hugh Jackman's performance is a nice alternative to his tough as nails Wolverine character. Max's character is also very enjoyable as he both mimics his father's personality and balances him out as well. It's one of the few times where a film reminds me of something I also wanted when I was younger. I mean, who did want or still doesn't want a robot friend? I know I still do.

Now with all this robot action coming to big screen, when will Evangelion or dare I say Voltron get the big screen treatment? Come on, you know you're waiting for it too!

Transformers 3, Here Goes...

I thought about whether or not I wanted to write something about this movie. In the end I just gave in because, well, who cares, right? It's Micheal Bay's next and hopefully last installment to Transformers. A lot of this stuff is to be expected, and at times it comes out as my own personal rant. Be warmed, there are spoilers, so if you planned on watching Transformers 3 don't read this. If you don't care then read on!

Okay, what can be said that hasn't already been said about Michael Bay's consecutive summer blockbuster, action and explosions ridden, robots from outer space franchise Transformers?

Absolutely nothing. Why? Because even if we bitch and complain at how agonizingly bad their story, pacing and continuity is, we continue to flock to them so we can be awed by the big screen treatment. Now I'm not saying that Transformers should not have been brought to the big screen. I think it should have been given a more competent direction and handling. I know that Transformers has always been about big robots, Autobots and Decepticons, battling each other for superiority, but the inconsistent plot, explosions and visual effects extravaganza that has been fed into our retinas and mental consciousness seems to replace all evidence or clue that there was even a story to begin with.

Now I know some of you will say that, "Well, that's Micheal Bay for you." Yeah, I know, I've said it too. But, you know what? Shame on you for expecting any less, especially those of you who have, like me, been long time fans of the original cartoon series. I would expect nothing less from Bay with other films like Pearl Harbor or Bad Boys, but this is friggin' Transformers!! I'm not taking anything away from Pearl Harbor because at least that was visually and historically accurate for the most part; I mean, it had to be. Still, this is no excuse for Bay or the writers to take the entire series' history and dump it in the trash. This might be harsh, but it's the truth when you see these films.

So here begins my grip with Transformers 3. Oh, and this will be a first! SPOILERS ahead. I'll try to keep them at a minimum but who knows.

So how come nothing that happened in the previous films seems to mean or have any real significance in this third installment? I mean, Sam (Labeouf) subsequently saved the Autobots and humanity on two separate occasions from either new or returning villains. In each, he put not only his own life in danger but those of the people/robots around him. So, why is he not more recognized or given a higher position of status in life/society/government? I'm mentioning all of these categories because Sam has affected or been affected by these in some way, shape or form. I mean, for Christ's sake, he died in Transformers 2 and went to that hilarious and inconceivable realm know as robot heaven! He came back, brought the Matrix of Leadership with him and resurrected Optimus Prime, IN FRONT of everyone that meant anything on those films! So, why he is treated like dirt at the beginning of this film?

Why isn't he recognized by anyone as the one who saved the earth on two separate occasions? Yeah, I know, you can argue that the Autobots took credit for everything to protect him, sure. But, why in the hell would the government and military just let him wander on his own AGAIN when he's the principle reason that crap happens? Everytime the Decepticons went after him to start some kind of ruckus. Wouldn't the government have figured it out that maybe they should have put this kid under some kind of protection? Or in a sound proof box to avoid hearing his hyper high-pitched screaming voice. Although it wouldn't have matter because the writers would have found some way to get him in danger again.

I'm going to start pointing to things at random here now, so bare with me, ha!

The pacing of Transformers 3 was so unmerciful. The movie lasted about 2 1/2 hours but actually felt like 4 hours. This was due to the fact that so many pointless scenes that were intended to develop character accomplished none of that. Take for instance, Ken Jeong and John Malkovich's cameo appearances. These two characters were meant to develop Sam's awareness that something was brewing, but their delivery was so awkward that it felt unneeded and out-of-place. Seriously here, Ken Jeong's performance only served to showing viewers how he drop his pants to give Sam a bunch of folded papers he kept in his underpants. To his credit, Ken did deliver his performance with that hokey, erratic behavior that we saw from his performance in The Hangover, but here it served no other purpose. He was there to literally give Labeouf papers that he had tucked in his underwear. And, John Malkovich only served to play Sam's ego power driven boss. Malkovich had maybe about ten minutes of screen time and that was it!

Rose Huntington-Whiteley. All I'm going to say is that Megan Fox gave us a better performance as Sam's love interest and our eye candy. Man, never have I seen someone look so lost and more out-of-place then she did! There was something about her face that didn't sit right with me, and it irritated me to no end how she could get away with most of her scenes based solely on her looks. Where was the acting? Oh wait, there was no acting because, and correct me if I'm wrong, she can't act! She's a model, and based on what I read, Michael Bay only placed her there because she could walk in high heels and look good doing it.

Half the time the pacing of this movie just dragged and dragged. A friend of mine went as far as saying that the human scenes were so boring and dried up rehashed versions of interactions from the previous movies that Transformers 3 could have been better and shorter without them. To some degree, I agree because those interactions and dialogue just kept going and going that during several occasions I forgot what I was watching. If that weren't enough, the level of contradiction and inconsistency was aggravating. I couldn't get a sense of where they were going and felt lost. How can stopping Sentinel Prime become such a convoluted plan and at the same time so grossly planned out that it still works but with no rational or logical foresight. It's like everyone said screw planning let's just go head first into certain doom. And, from a militaristic point-of-view, how can a troop of soldiers be so gung-ho about invading a crumpled and Decepticon refortified city of Chicago only to back down when you're right at their doorstep? If you're part of a military, group don't you strategically and tactically plan out an attack or determine if a plan is conceivable? Why would you travel all the way to the enemies front door and then back out?!

Oh, but when the Autobots reappear from their non-deaths, you all-of-sudden grow balls and go in! Jeez!

And while we're on Sentinel Prime, as far as I have been made aware, a Prime doesn't switch sides so easily without a probable reason. Yet, he still betrays the Autobots who brought him back to life, kills Ratchet and whole bunch of other Autobots and soldiers to honor some pack he made with the Decepticons. To make this plot even more illogical is the fact that Sentinel Prime does it even after knowing that Cybertron is a waste land and that the war to save their race is over! Oh, and here's the real kicker. Fifty years ago, humanity made a deal with the Decepticons to allow them to take over earth.

Yes, earth's governments, specifically the United States government thought is was a good idea to join forces with a race of evil robots. I mean, WTF!! Hasn't humanity learned from every past movie alien invasion in history? Why would you trust an alien race for anything? As humans, we can't even trust ourselves, ha! So how can we trust an alien race that's stronger then us? Oh, because they gave you some of their alien technology to build nuclear reactors and thus the A-bomb. I love how the movie weaved Transformer influence into our world history and used it as the primary reason why bad things happened. I give it to the writers there because I enjoy "what if" scenarios. However, this whole idea and subsequent back-story, from the writers, that the U.S. government made a pact with an alien race in return for some advanced technology seems so contrived and pretentious that it feels a bit like a slap in the face. Was this your big "secret" movie?

Man, I felt like all my prior alien invasion movie watching experiences got shot in the face after this. I mean, they didn't see past the possibility that these robot beings could betray our feeble trust. According to Transformers 3, world governments put their entire faith and technological progression in the hands of big robots that could and eventually do blow us, or at least the city of Chicago, to rubble. It just occurred to me that the movie's writers could have gone has far as to say that the Transformers were involved in the Kennedy assassination! OMG! You know what, they could have been! It would explain that ridiculous "magic bullet" theory, ha! 

The only thing that seemed to save this movie were the robot battle sequences but then they too were blown out of proportion and dragged out. Every robot action sequence was subjected to the visual effect of Matrix-style slow motion acrobatics. Visually they were beautiful to look at but run-time wise they took to long. My friend and I both agreed that it seemed to take a page out of the Dragonball Z book of action pacing. For those of you that know Dragonball Z, you know what I'm talking about! It's the equivalent of three episodes of screaming before Goku throws a single punch or special attack. And how does the appearance of Cybertron right between the Earth and the Moon not affect Earth in any way, shape or form?

It must be said that I still enjoyed the action sequences even if they were mostly implausible and over-the-top. It's what we crave as an audience living in an age where we expect 100% sensationalism when it comes to movies about big robots. Yeah, it not only just expected from the news media, but from anything that Micheal Bay directs as well! Yup, I love mass destruction on an epic scale just as much as the next guy, but is it too hard to ask for continuity and a logical plot?

Wait! I know I said this will hopefully be Bay's last Transformers movie, but with other baddies still lose out there in the world and other possible threats, wouldn't there be a possibility for a 4th? I mean, the city of Chicago was left in ruins, so couldn't that mean... dare I say it - Autobot city aka Metroplex! Oh man! No, let me stop there before I raise my hopes up for something I might regret like Devastator.  

There are so many other things I could point out, but then this post will be forever long and I'm too tired to go on, ha! Again, Transformer 3 was visually stunning as always but flawed by plot and pacing problems. I mean, well, what do we expect from the king of explosions? Did I expect anything less, of course not. Did I want something more, but of course! But, if Michael Bay put more that would mean less screen time for helicopters flying at dawn, guy chasing after a superficial love interest, and, oh yes, explosions!!!  Long live BAYSPLOSIONS!!!