The Circle disappoints, but asks compelling questions

Movie Title:  

The Circle [Bluray + DVD] [Blu-ray]

Grade:  C

Rating:   PG-13

In a Nutshell: Everyone loves Tom Hanks, right?  And who doesn’t adore Hermione, also known as Emma Watson?  Surely, the loveable Patton Oswalt could make fans smile. It sounds like a recipe for an awesome movie, right?  

Unfortunately, it didn’t do that well at the box office and audiences are just saying, “Meh” as it heads out to Redbox and DVD.

It’s kind of an even higher tech version of a Big Brother thriller, but while the movie doesn’t fully develop the intriguing ideas it tackles, it’s a great opportunity to talk about privacy vs. transparency with others…even if you have to Tweet it.

Uplifting theme: 

• “Do you think you behave better now that you know you’re being watched?” – Bailey (Tom Hanks)
• “I am a believer in the perfectability of human beings.  When we are our best selves, the possibilities are endless.  There isn’t a problem that we cannot solve.” - Bailey
• “Without secrets, without the hording of knowledge and information, we can finally realize our potential.” – Bailey
• ‘Knowledge is a basic human right.” – Mae
• Privacy vs. protection

Things I liked:

• SeeChange and the other tools The Circle company invents would be great ideas if they only tracked terrorists and human rights violators, but it would trample all over everyone else’s right to privacy.  It would be nice if politicians’ transactions were open and accountable though, right?  We simply can’t have it both ways.  Benjamin Franklin stated, “Those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”  The subject matter is fascinating and could have been an extremely compelling movie if written a little better.
• This movie might be a helpful reminder to the younger generation that loves to post Selfies and Tweet about what they ate for breakfast, that personal privacy is something to be protected.
• I like both Bill Paxton and Glenne Headley, who play Mae’s parents.  Sadly, they both passed away the year the film was released (2017).
• I’m not a huge Doctor Who fan, so I hadn’t seen Karen Gillan in anything before.  I love her cute Scottish accent and would like to see more of her.  Mae mentions her long legs, which was an Easter Egg shout-out for Doctor Who (2005): The Complete 5th Series (Blu-ray) fans who might remember when a character in that show described her as being “made of legs, the most legs on any living human.”

Things I didn’t like:

• Emma Watson’s American accent goes in and out.  I adore her as an actress, but sometimes I couldn’t tell if her character, Mae, was drinking the Koolaid or repelled by the personal invasion her company was promoting.  Maybe the audience wasn’t supposed to know. Maybe it was intentional that we weren’t supposed to be able to read her emotions?
• Group Think mentality can easily and quickly go awry.
• I have not read the book The Circle by Dave Eggers, but I have heard that the ending in the movie is different than in the book.
• John Boyega’s character, Ty, could have been explored more.  The events that followed Mercer (Ellar Coltrane) could have had even more impact if we had learned more about him too.
• Not much humor.

Interesting lines:

• “Knowing is good.  But knowing everything is better.” – Bailey
• “Introspection or communication?” - Mae's job interviewer
• “Needs of the society or needs of the individual?” – job interviewer

“It should be the same.” – Mae

• “Greatest fear?” – job interviewer

“Unfulfilled potential.” – Mae

• “Secrets are lies.  Secrets are what make lies possible.  We behave worse when we’re not accountable.” – Mae
• “Fugitive of friendship…” Mae

Funny lines:

• “I want to thank you already for this.  I love following strangers down dark corridors. This is the best.” - Mae

Tips for parents: 

• Some profanity, including an F-bomb.
• A scene with Mae’s parents in a “situation” in their bedroom, although clothing is on.
• There is not very much action, so children will be bored.

@trinaboice 

Transcendence weighs humanity vs. technology

Movie Title:   Transcendence

PG-13, 1 hour 59 minutes

Grade:  B

In a Nutshell:  This was a really interesting movie about awareness: both computers’ ability to become self-aware, as well as humans’ struggle to truly understand what’s inside each other’s hearts. 

Dr. Will Castor (Johnny Depp) explains in the beginning of the movie at a technology conference: “For one hundred and thirty thousand years, our capacity to reason has remained unchanged.  The combined intellect of the neuroscientists, mathematicians and engineers pales in comparison to the most basic A. I.  Once online, a sentient machine will quickly overcome the limits of biology; in a short time, its analytic power will become greater than the collective intelligence of every person born in the history of the world.  Some scientists refer to this as the Singularity.  I call it Transcendence.”

The film addresses the haunting “unavoidable collision between mankind and technology.” The overall feeling of the movie is, ironically, a bit artificial, but I still enjoyed it.  This is the first directorial effort from Wally Pfister, who is receiving some negative reviews for a few of the film’s clunky issues, but his cinematography experience (The Dark Knight trilogy) shows through and elevates the movie.

Uplifting theme:  The movie tries to preach two simultaneous, yet opposing messages:  Humanity is more important than technology; technology can help us heal the world.  What role should artificial intelligence play in our lives?

Things I liked:

• I adore Paul Bettany in any movie and who can’t say the same thing about Johnny Depp?   My kids laugh that Morgan Freeman is in every movie ever made; sure enough, he’s in this one too. 
• I loved the small twist at the end.  (No spoiler alert) The entire spark that sets off this artificial intelligence conundrum is the perfect love between two imperfect humans.

Things I didn’t like:

• Some of the scenes are ridiculous with plenty of holes and uninspiring dialogue.

Things to notice:

• Preppers will get a kick out of seeing the items listed as being in demand on the store door after all the power goes off the grid. Non-preppers should ask themselves what might happen if there were an EMP or some other trigger that knocked all of our power out and sent us back to the stone age.  What would you do?  How would you live?  What would you value?
• Someone hangs a computer motherboard of sorts on to a dream catcher.

Interesting lines:

• An audience member listening to Dr. Castor’s presentation asks him “You want to create a god?  Your own god?”   Dr. Castor answers “That’s a very good question.  Isn’t that what man has always done?”
• “I don’t want to change the world.  I just want to understand it.”  - Dr. Castor
• They’re short on logic, but there’s no shortage of irony.”  - Dr. Castor
• “The internet was supposed to make the world a smaller place.  It feels smaller without it.”  - Max
• “Artificial intelligence is an unnatural abomination and threat to humanity.” – R.I.F.T.
• Evelyn asks her husband “Where are you going?”  He answers “Everywhere.”
• Dr. Caster says to Evelyn “I can upload you.  I can protect you from them.”  A suspicious Evelyn replies: “I’m not afraid of…them.”
• Evelyn worries about one of her employees who has become “transcended” and asks the anti-technology fanatics who beat him up “What did you do?”  Max responds “We gave him back his mortality.”
• “Human emotion…it can contain illogical conflict.”  - Max

Tips for parents:   

Any parent who has watched their kids get sucked into their cell phones or other electronic devices will question how well technology is serving humanity.  The film has very little bad language, but some violence.  Young children may get bored, but older children could be guided into an interesting conversation about the role technology should play in their lives.  Check out this movie clip to get you started.

Another movie your kids and you might enjoy on this topic is: