10 amazing movies you might not have seen

[An RnB Thug]

gtfoh with the bullshit list

 

[tical]

i liked all of those. what got me about ex machina is that it relied on virtually no action and still managed to be engaging. good sci-fi is just good. sci-fi has been marginalized in recent years to futuristic space operas and special effects extravaganzas. when at its foundation its simply a fiction story based in science.

I liked the twist in Her but did not care for the movie that much. I am also a M. Night Shyamalan fan and many people don't care for many of his movies after the sixth sense. i think signs, unbreakable and the village are three of his best works. sure he has had some misses but at his base he is trying to tell a good story. and lately much of sci-fi relies on special effects and decades old plot devices instead of actually telling a good story.

 

[mexico]

Are we doing spoilers in this thread? Cause I just saw Ex Machina thought it was pretty good from a psychological stand point but there's one scene that kind of got me in where I'm curious on what others think might have happen.

Man I was trying to be vague so as not to give away too much, but I really wish I knew what scene you were talking about.

Was it the end by any chance?

i liked all of those. what got me about ex machina is that it relied on virtually no action and still managed to be engaging. good sci-fi is just good. sci-fi has been marginalized in recent years to futuristic space operas and special effects extravaganzas. when at its foundation its simply a fiction story based in science.

I liked the twist in Her but did not care for the movie that much. I am also a M. Night Shyamalan fan and many people don't care for many of his movies after the sixth sense. i think signs, unbreakable and the village are three of his best works. sure he has had some misses but at his base he is trying to tell a good story. and lately much of sci-fi relies on special effects and decades old plot devices instead of actually telling a good story.

I was about to post this same sentiment. Science fiction has always been a genre where the artist delved deep into the social issues of the time, but could dress the scenery up into something glossy and palatable to the audience. The Matrix explored themes of consumerism, assimilation, religion, consciousness, but dressed it up with groundbreaking action. So there was something even the casual viewer could zone out and enjoy.

Ex_Machina went the complete opposite direction with a single, contained environment to ask similar questions about the nature of what it truly means to be self-aware... and even love. Can a man-made machine truly be alive, and if it can then what rights are it entitled to?

Two different movies on the surface, but no less weighty.

You're right. Lately most viewers come to view sci-fi as just another sub-genera of action movie, but real sci-fi leaves you something to chew on.

You right about not having too many truly amazing SyFy out in recent years. But, In that what 1999-2015..16 years span. I'm not bumping any of the following for Ex_Machina..Random top of my head(jogged by google)


District 9
Sunshine
Minority Report
Attach the Block
Moon
Snowpiercer
Inception
Edge of Tomorrow
Children of Men
Her (Not a huge fan of this but...)

I'm just gonna stop...

Good list, but Edge of Tomorrow was pretty much a straight action movie. The gravitas, the themes and social commentary seminal to great sci-fi like Children of Men, and District 9 where paper thin in Edge of Tomorrow, and that's coming from someone who enjoyed the movie. Ex_Machina, IMO, is at least as good as Her, and a better piece of true science fiction than Edge of Tomorrow. I'd even be tempted to bump Moon off, which I really liked, but thought was pretty derivative in some spots.

I think the thing that works against Ex_Machina, is that it's the most contained environment of all the movies on your list, and the action, the "ah-ha" moments are mainly found in the verbal exchanges between characters vs. the visual.

 

[Eclipse99]

Man I was trying to be vague so as not to give away too much, but I really wish I knew what scene you were talking about.

Was it the end by any chance?



I was about to post this same sentiment. Science fiction has always been a genre where the artist delved deep into the social issues of the time, but could dress the scenery up into something glossy and palatable to the audience. The Matrix explored themes of consumerism, assimilation, religion, consciousness, but dressed it up with groundbreaking action. So there was something even the casual viewer could zone out and enjoy.

Ex_Machina went the complete opposite direction with a single, contained environment to ask similar questions about the nature of what it truly means to be self-aware... and even love. Can a man-made machine truly be alive, and if it can then what rights are it entitled to?

Two different movies on the surface, but no less weighty.

You're right. Lately most viewers come to view sci-fi as just another sub-genera of action movie, but real sci-fi leaves you something to chew on.



Good list, but Edge of Tomorrow was pretty much a straight action movie. The gravitas, the themes and social commentary seminal to great sci-fi like Children of Men, and District 9 where paper thin in Edge of Tomorrow, and that's coming from someone who enjoyed the movie. Ex_Machina, IMO, is at least as good as Her, and a better piece of true science fiction than Edge of Tomorrow. I'd even be tempted to bump Moon off, which I really liked, but thought was pretty derivative in some spots.

I think the thing that works against Ex_Machina, is that it's the most contained environment of all the movies on your list, and the action, the "ah-ha" moments are mainly found in the verbal exchanges between characters vs. the visual.

Yea. And ill just say second helicopter scene. Those that scene it should know exactly what im talking about.

 

[veritech]

man from earth

will check out...

 

[phanatic]

then u are going to be surprised. i promise u a large percentage of black folks haven't seen it.

It better not be because it's a foreign film. I had someone tell me they walked out of Crouching Tiger because it wasn't in english. So I gotta apologize to you fam, there probably are a decent portion of people that didn't see it because it was in a different language. If you like gangsta flicks, this should be at the top of every fans listen over that horseshit Belly.

 

[veritech]

It better not be because it's a foreign film. I had someone tell me they walked out of Crouching Tiger because it wasn't in english. So I gotta apologize to you fam, there probably are a decent portion of people that didn't see it because it was in a different language. If you like gangsta flicks, this should be at the top of every fans listen over that horseshit Belly.

i have actually never seen belly. i have zero interest.

 

[tical]

will check out...

Wow! Please do asap! Then let me know what you think...

 

[MistaPhantastic]

No love for Ex Machina or the universal themes it explored like what constitutes consciousness and "dont trust these hoes"?

In the grand scheme of things, this movie was just a thriller wrapped in a sci-fi setting. So, rather than comparing it to great sci-fi movies, I HAVE to compare it to great thrillers. Look at something like "The Last Seduction" with Linda Fiorentino. At the end of the movie, you HATE that bitch because of everything she did but you hate her because they did a really good job of creating a movie where you have a very smart chick manipulating smart people.
Ex Machina was thematically similar but it didn't wash. A home with a sophisticated security system and no failsafe? A BILLIONAIRE genius needs a card to get from room to room in his own home? GTFOH. No. Helicopter pilot just took the bitch away, no questions? Hell no. Too many holes. I could easily keep going.

Also, with Her, you had a well-acted lead playing an unlikeable character. Nobody in their right mind could feel sorry for that selfish asshole. Dude was emotionally dysfunctional on several levels. Any regular chick, let alone an AI, would have bounced on him. As a matter of fact, his ex DID bounce on him.
Her is no more a great sci-fi movie than Ruby Sparks. Its not even a great movie, IMO. Neither is Ex Machina. The theme has been done better. The new trend in Hollywood is deception by construction. They will take a sci fi setting and make the actual movie a love story or drama or thriller. They have done the same with a few so-called action movies lately as well. Its the great fake-out.

 

[MistaPhantastic]

Oh, and another thing about Ex Machina:
Dude may have created a sentient being but that bitch's BODY still says "property of Bluebook Industries" on it somewhere. I'd have told that bitch: "You wanna leave? Then jump your ass into another body because this one is mine." Its not really a struggle in my mind - just white folks. Bitch would have been shut down before she could go Ultron on a nigga.

Great movie. That is a fine example of what a good script can do. No special effects, no souped up cinematography - just great writing...and Tony Todd.

 

[mexico]

In the grand scheme of things, this movie was just a thriller wrapped in a sci-fi setting. So, rather than comparing it to great sci-fi movies, I HAVE to compare it to great thrillers. Look at something like "The Last Seduction" with Linda Fiorentino. At the end of the movie, you HATE that bitch because of everything she did but you hate her because they did a really good job of creating a movie where you have a very smart chick manipulating smart people.
Ex Machina was thematically similar but it didn't wash. A home with a sophisticated security system and no failsafe? A BILLIONAIRE genius needs a card to get from room to room in his own home? GTFOH. No. Helicopter pilot just took the bitch away, no questions? Hell no. Too many holes. I could easily keep going.

Also, with Her, you had a well-acted lead playing an unlikeable character. Nobody in their right mind could feel sorry for that selfish asshole. Dude was emotionally dysfunctional on several levels. Any regular chick, let alone an AI, would have bounced on him. As a matter of fact, his ex DID bounce on him.
Her is no more a great sci-fi movie than Ruby Sparks. Its not even a great movie, IMO. Neither is Ex Machina. The theme has been done better. The new trend in Hollywood is deception by construction. They will take a sci fi setting and make the actual movie a love story or drama or thriller. They have done the same with a few so-called action movies lately as well. Its the great fake-out.

Well, yeah, a lot of modern films have elements of multiple genres, and it's always been that way with sci-fi: Joss Whedon's Serenity was basically a western in space, Chronicles of Riddick had elements of Conan the Barbarian, Minority Report was very much an old school film noir mystery...

Alex Garland, the dude who wrote and directed Ex_Machina, also wrote another film on the OP's list -- Sunshine -- that others in this thread noted took a left turn in the third act with the slasher storyline. Sometimes when a movie does that, it's a lack of confidence in the storytelling. It didn't bother me so much in Ex_machina the way it ended, although, yeah, there were some holes there that can't be explained away.

I actually can live with the no fail-safe. SPOILER SPOILER... The Caleb character did reset all the security protocols the night before. And for all of Nathan's brilliance, I thought the film did a pretty good job of setting him up to be somewhat careless probably as a result of spending so much time in isolation. From those videos Caleb found of the other robots Nathan didn't have too much problem fucking them up and taking them apart when the time came.

Yea. And ill just say second helicopter scene. Those that scene it should know exactly what im talking about.

The helicopter one being the big one. I could have even bought it if she killed the pilot and took off herself, but if I remember correctly, she just got on like nothing.

Interesting take on Her.

 

[Confucius]

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[Joe Money]