Ex Machina

First of all I would like to say a few words about Paris and the recent terrorism atrocity there, Sorry man, we had 7/7 way back so kinda know how it feels.  Stuff will get better and that you just need to pick up where you left off and don't let some  V.A.G.I.S.I.L Islamtard cunts stop you from living your lives.

The side bar has a slight updating with some excellent writing from the Males Of Games blog.  Its a critical look at the rise of Feminism in gaming and reminds me of Sargon Of Akkads channel on Youtube (similar content and the like).  If you are a Gamergater or just impartial like myself then please check it out.

Finally we lost Warren Mitchell, A.K.A Alf Garnett.  Til Death Us Do Part and In Sickness and In Health both class sitcoms and to be honest a satire on racism that went over the heads of many who took it to heart much to writer Johnny Speights dismay.  Will probably look up some stuff on Youtube later as they are still funny.

Ex Machina.

Finally got round to seeing this seeing as its Children in  Need or as its know in our house as quick turn over to ITV before Pudsey spots us.  I'll not spoil the film or give away the ending but I will say this its got some of the best music I've heard in a film in ages so much so that I'm going to track down the OST its that good.

The film stars a guy called Caleb who wins a lottery at his place of work (he has a boring office job as a programmer or coder as we must call it now) to become a guinea pig for an A.I project out in the middle of nowhere.  Dropped off by chopper he is given a key card to a hi tech log cabin in the woods and is met by reclusive programming genius Nathan who gives him the tour of the place telling him some rooms are off limits and what he will be doing there.  Essentially there to test his A.I (called Ava) a robot woman created in his lab, he has a one to one meeting with her and gradually begins a relationship with her.  The power cuts that the building is plagued with are caused by her and in the one to one sessions she confides in him when the power is down that Nathan is not what he seems.  Things become fraught when he sides with her instead of Nathan, and his servant a mute Japanese girl called Kyoko and things go from bad to worse...

Caleb.

Initially I thought his character reminded me of erstwhile CBBC anchor Andy Crane who used to do the broom cupboard. Took me to the near end of the film to work out who he reminded me of  Trip from indie game Facade.  He has that same look and manner if you've ever seen it in action, and I suggest you do. Even more spooky is  that Ava does look a bit like Grace in this as well with her short cropped hair. 

Nathan.

Reclusive programmer at the quite obviously not Google, Bluebook search engine (possibly named after the UFO project Bluebook of the same name.) indeed this is what he based Ava's A.I on.  Almost permanently pissed due to the whopping amounts of alcohol he drinks in the film.  A key plot piece takes place when he gets absolutely paralytic and Caleb steals his passkey.  Not the most sympathetic of characters, he does have a few redeeming qualities.

Ava.

A robotic A.I life form who gradually earns the trust of Caleb and that. Possessing a devastating intellect and and composed of parts composed in Nathans lab she is the Android host of his A.I software.  I've said in passing that she reminds me of Grace from facade and that's due to her short hair.  She does get longer hair at the end as like I said she is an Android, so its essentially a wig she wears.  I can't really talk about her personality without spoiling the ending, she does spark up a relationship with Caleb which turns romantic and they talk about dates and such its not a rom com or a chick flick as there is still awkwardness in there.

Kyoko.

Essentially Nathans servant she does menial chores around the house and is implied to have a sexual relationship with Nathan although not really his girlfriend.  She doesn't speak and you can kinda guess what she is if you think about it, and what Nathan actually does seeing as he built Ava in a lab below ground.

Music.

This is what I really wanted to talk about as its the first time I've ever seen a film with a totally dark Ambient soundtrack.   The film score is by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury and is totally good, there are some external tunes such as a bit of OMD or Oliver Cheatam when Nathan and Kyoko are dancing in a room, but forget that.  It reminds me of Aphex Twin SAW 2 in places and with some of the harder minimal techno pieces almost like Plastikman or Surgeon (Anthony Child) in places, in fact I had to wait to the credits rolled to see if they were on the sound track but wasn't. Like I said this is something special and is definitely on my favourite list of films.