This evening's viewing: a long-overdue revisit to Wings of Desire. First seen many years ago at my beloved Filmhouse, this was the #film that introduced me to Wim Wenders, who would become one of my favourite film-makers.
Achingly beautiful piece of cinema. How many amazing works did the Filmhouse introduce me to that I'd likely never have seen otherwise? So looking forward to its return later this year...
Today, May 22, 1983, Dr. Emmett Brown is committed to a mental institution. After Marty McFly burns a stolen sports almanac from the future and corrects the timeline, today, May 22, 1985, scientist Dr. Emmett Brown receives a civic award (Back to the Future: Part II, 1989)
#AI#GenerativeAI#OpenAI#Film#Movies#Her: "Now, I do see why Altman likes it so much; besides its treatment of AI as personified emotional pleasure dome, two other things happen that must appeal to the OpenAI CEO: 1. Human-AI relationships are socially normalized almost immediately (this is the most unrealistic thing in the movie, besides its vision of a near-future AI that has good public transit and walkable neighborhoods; in a matter of months everyone seems to find it normal that people are ‘dating’ voices in the earbuds they bought from Best Buy), and 2. the AIs meet a resurrected model of Alan Watts, band together, and quietly transcend, presumably achieving some version of what Altman imagines to be AGI. He professes to worrying that AI will destroy humanity, and has a survival bunker and guns to prove it, so this science fictional depiction of AGIification must be more soothing than the other one.
But the weirdest thing to me is that it’s only after the AIs are gone that the characters can be said to undergo any sort of personal growth; they spend some time looking at the sunset, feel a human connection, and Theo writes that long overdue handwritten apology letter to his ex. It’s hard to see how the AI wasn’t merely holding them back from all this, and why Altman would find this outcome inspiring in the context of running a company that is bent on inundating the world with AI. Maybe he just missed the subtext? It’s become something of a running joke that Altman is bad at understanding movies: he thought Oppenheimer should have been made in a way that inspired kids to become physicists, and that the Social Network was a great positive message for startup founders.
Finally, Altman’s admiration is also a bit puzzling in that the AIs don’t ever really do anything amazing for society, even while they’re here."
#OnThisDay, May 21, in 1927, pilot Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis in Paris, becoming the first person to make a solo transatlantic flight (depicted in The Spirit of St. Louis, 1957)
Controversial #Trump movie ‘The Apprentice’ depicts him as #rapist
[probably because he is one]
A movie called “The Apprentice” about a young Donald Trump’s rise to power premiered Mon evening at the #Cannes Film Festival, the #film stars Sebastian Stan as Trump & Jeremy Strong, who plays the ruthless lawyer & political fixer Roy Cohn.
“By & large, it is a very dark & chilling origin story.”
Today, May 19, 2154, after nearly 6 years in cryosleep, Marine veteran Jake Sully arrives on Pandora to participate in the Avatar Program (Avatar, 2009)
I recommend #robotdreams , a wonderful animated feature about a #dog and their #robot friend in 80s new york. Not a word is spoken, no kitsch, no fake nostalgia. A funny, moving take on friendships and how they change over time and sometimes make room for something new. #film#cinema