Transcendence (2014) [Blu-ray/DVD/Ultraviolet)

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It’s interesting to see that Johnny Depp is at a point in his career where he can just film himself with the cast for twenty minutes worth of a two hour movie, and then just rely on special effects for the rest of the film. I imagine Depp was in a bungalow vacationing, and would interrupt his getaway to film his footage for a few days with green screen. For a film that revolves around demonizing technology to emphasize how it destroys humanity and human contact, it’s inadvertently comical to see most of Depp’s performance rely solely on him having zero contact with anyone in the cast. And even when Depp is on screen, you’d swear he was being played by a robotic double still figuring out that tricky concept called emotions.

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S.E.R.P. (2013)

Director Mark Schwab’s “S.E.R.P.” is thought provoking science fiction, but along the lines of “Primer.” Its considerable low budget confines it to one room where it’s very similar to a stage play, but opts to tell a very interesting story about the evolution of technology and the concept of consciousness and morality. While it’s by no means a perfect indie film, it has aspirations to do more than show off flashy effects and action. It’s based more around how scary cognizant technology is, and how it can be the undoing of pure evil in humanity.

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Kindred (2014)

It’s pretty clear that director K” is ambitious and has aspirations to be so much bigger. Considering the budget and the limitations, “Kindred” is pretty fantastic and garners implications that could hopefully lead to a sequel sometime in the future. I was definitely sucked in to the world Nicholson and writer Josh Bryer unfolded for us and I just wanted to see more and where it was all leading.

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The New Adventures of Superman: Season 2 & 3 (DVD)

“The New Adventures of Superman” are mainly just shorts trimmed from the series “The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure” from the sixties, and given their own spotlight. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, but you can sense that the shorts here were once a part of something bigger and more diverse. That said, “The New Adventures of Superman” works considerably well if you’re okay with crude animation.

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The Purge (2013)

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It’s a shame that “The Purge” is only sub-par since the concept for it is fantastic. A new society allowing the world to murder, steal and wreak havoc for twelve hours as a means of catharses is a really good concept for a wonderful film. I imagine the scenario for the development of “The Purge” was something similar to “The Player.” A writer comes in pitching a great concept but with absolutely no story to offer the studio. So instead they just tacked on a half assed home remake of “Assault on Precinct 13” with a sanctimonious commentary on free will, and patriotism.

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Her (2013) [Blu-Ray]

The gap between what’s just a machine and what’s a genuine human experience is gradually shifting and closing. Every year technology is evolving to where it’s almost sentient, and while technology needs human input to process and obtain information, how long will it be before it can simply drop in to the internet and form its own thought patterns and make its own decisions? “Her” is an exploration of that mind set, except it examines the relationship between human and technology as something of a spiritual and very loving symbiosis. It’s not so much a cautionary tale, but a fantasy about what is living reality and what’s merely experiencing programming and binary.

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Isa (2014)

isa-movieOne of the aspects of “Isa” that I enjoyed beyond the predominantly latino cast, is the fact that its heroine “Isa” is a strong individual. When we first meet her, she’s a brilliant tech wiz who sells jail breaking cards on the side for extra cash. She always seems one step ahead of everyone, even at her most vulnerable, and uses a troubling dilemma as an opportunity to find out about her shady past. She has memories of parents she barely knew, and is living a life she doesn’t quite trust to be her actual one, and she’s capable of finding out and giving the villains of the film a damn hard time working around her brain.

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