Ex Machina (1 Viewer)

[Mark Booth]

'Ex Machina' could have been a great movie. All it needed was some level of joy. As it is, it's a bit of a downer. There's plenty enough downer in the real world. I go to the movies to be uplifted.

The Booth Bijou gives 'Ex Machina' 3.5 out of 5 stars. I feel no need to ever see it again, so I won't be collecting it on Blu-ray.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

I think it was a great movie. I don't mind the downer ending (and I'm not sure it quite is a downer ending), because the subject matter is appropriately challenging, and the resulting impacts are organic to where the story has been. It is earned, so to speak.

 

[DaveF]

Hopefully this isn't as silly as Snowpiercer. . .

Not at all (and I enjoyed Snowpiercer).

Ex Machina is that rare movie that affected me: I left the theater agitated. The rest of the night and the next day at work, it pressed on me. The final choices of the characters are real, and disturbing.

I'm not sure it's a great movie. But it is well worth watching. Doubly so in this day of franchise fantasies, all the better to get a quality, unique sci-fi move.

 

[TravisR]

Doubly so in this day of franchise fantasies, all the better to get a quality, unique sci-fi move.

Good god, yes.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Not at all (and I enjoyed Snowpiercer).

Ex Machina is that rare movie that affected me: I left the theater agitated. The rest of the night and the next day at work, it pressed on me. The final choices if the characters are real, and disturbing.

My dad was pretty agitated after we watched Snowpiercer, but I'm pretty sure it was for a different reason. (I just watched the Ozymandias episode of Breaking Bad a couple of weeks ago, so I think I know what you mean. )

 

[DaveF]

My dad was pretty agitated after we watched Snowpiercer, but I'm pretty sure it was for a different reason. (I just watched the Ozymandias episode of Breaking Bad a couple of weeks ago, so I think I know what you mean. )

Similar, but different. Breaking Bad, by the fifth season, you know the feel of the story, the bent of the characters. Ozymandias is startling and compelling. But Ex Machina took me utterly by surprise.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I viewed Ex Machina the other day and enjoyed it quite a bit. I didn't think it covered a lot of new ground in terms of its ideas, but I liked the way it combined those familiar elements into a compelling storyline. Performances of the three principals were all effective. (I am really starting to become a fan of Oscar Isaac after this film and last year's A Most Violent Year.) The film does a good job of establishing a quiet, spooky sort of atmosphere that sets the mood.


I thought the film did a good job of messing with my mind. Case in point... Last night I had a few pretty disturbing nightmares that were probably at least partly inspired by Ex Machina. There were some aspects of my dreams that I could vaguely associate with the film. So, yeah it was an effective film.


- Walter.

 

[Tim Glover]

this is on my radar to see asap.

 

[joshEH]

There needs to be a crossover-sequel.

Spoiler

"The Amazing Amy & Ava the Android." They'd travel the country twistedly destroying the lives of beta-males.

 

[DaveF]

http://www.theverge.com/2015/5/8/8572317/ex-machina-movie-visual-effects-interview-robot-ava
Interview with the FX supervisor.

 

[joshEH]

Seeing this film this past week reminded me of Tony Gilroy trying to cast Oscar Isaac as the lead in The Bourne Legacy before the studio balked because they reportedly wanted a blond, white lead for "psychic continuity," or somesuch bullshit.


I'm glad that he dodged the bullet of having to carry that film, and now his career looks even better in some respects than Jeremy Renner's.

If he kills it in Star Wars, he's going to supernova. He's got rare talent. He makes this shit look easy.

 

[Hanson]

Great movie with great performances all around and a smart and compelling screenplay. I was enjoying it so much but became deathly afraid in the fourth act that they were going to fuck up the ending. No worries - - they nailed it. Definitely should be paired with the Be Right Back episode of Black Mirror, which, as someone pointed out, Ex Machina very closely resembles.

 

[mattCR]

Good movie. Great ending.

 

[ROclockCK]

Very cool movie. I found it to be more like a horror movie (in the vein of The Shining) than the sci-fi movie that I was expecting. Takes its time and is suspenseful & spooky. Oscar Isaac continues to make good movies.

Interesting observation Travis. I felt a Kubrick 'vibe' throughout...especially in in its mounting dread mixed with ethereal beauty. The execution was as fascinating as the ideas. Absolutely not to be missed.

 

[AshJW]

I watched it on Monday, an hour before Mad Max: Fury Road.

The latter ist a lot of fun, but Ex_Machina is the one, that worked on me afterwards.


Oscar Isaac is frightening good, I need to see his other movie A Most Violent Year!

 

[Sam Posten]

There's plenty enough downer in the real world. I go to the movies to be uplifted.

Wow, I could not possibly disagree with this more, Mark. Expecting art to only capture a single frequency on the vast spectrum of emotions is a pretty tall order, and limits you to a VERY small percentage of movies ever made.


I go to the movies to experience slices of life and fantasy beyond my own existance, I want to be exposed to it ALL, not to have some predetermined happy ending boringly crafted for me every time I sit down.


You're welcome to your wants and needs and opinions of course, but I'm glad that this isn't how the world works. (And yes I know that the studios are famous for testing stuff with audiences who pine for things like you are suggesting and that it takes directors with strong spines to beat them out).

 

[Hanson]

I was deathly afraid the ending would turn into some nerd fantasy love story, which technically would have been more uplifting but would have completely shit all over the movie and the audience.


In any case, I didn't actually think the movie was a downer. I was personally uplifted that a smart, hard scifi movie like this got made and was so thoroughly entertaining.

 

[DaveF]

That end still makes me uneasy when I think on it. One of those perfectly constructed conclusions that cuts to the core.

 

[mattCR]

That end still makes me uneasy when I think on it. One of those perfectly constructed conclusions that cuts to the core.

I think this is what I loved most about it.. there was an expectation it would wrap up in a bow, and the ending went to a point that was both dark and creepy and yet very honest with the storytelling.


I thought the film as a whole was good; but it is the ending that bumps it up a few notches for me.

 

[Tim Glover]

Wow....what a spellbounding....methodical INTENSE movie. The word I kept thinking about and how I felt throughout is 'unsettling". Oscar Isaac just intimidated the hell outta me. Actually he almost always does in his films LOL. For a short man he packs quite a screen punch. Every moment he's on screen I felt uneasy and yet enthralled too. Domnhall Gleeson was also first rate. The acting in this film was excellent.



I actually loved the ending. It earned it.


10/10....