Love technology. Love films?
I’ve got you covered. As a former radio host for Witney Radio, I reviewed films weekly and like to think I know a thing about film. I also did a bit of filmmaking during my university course (BSc Multimedia Development at the University of Central Lancashire).
These are of course my recommendations. Please note that this article will include affiliate links.
The Social Network
Directed by David Fincher, this is a story of how the social network platform, Facebook, came to be. It goes into coding and algorithms, but also some dark issues such as betrayal.
It’s interesting, dark, humorous and well acted with a case that includes Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield. It’s worth a watch if you are interested to know the story of how a couple of Harvard students created one of the biggest companies in a few years.
Blade Runner
Perhaps my favourite film of all time. There are numerous cuts of this film, but I recommend watching the Final Cut. Based on Philip K Dick’s novel, do androids Dream of electric sheep, it stars Harrison Ford as Deckard, a retired blade runner that is being forced out of retirement. His job is to track replicants (advanced androids that look like humans) that need elimination.
It is a dark-noir science fiction film that includes flying cars, futuristic technology, and CRT monitors (not so futuristic) but also a point on what it is to be human.
I would also like to add Blade Runner 2049 is a good sequel
The Matrix
An an absolute classic in mind-bending cinema. The action scenes still hold up today.
It is a film that makes you question reality and the dangers of artificial life.
Ex Machina
When an employee at a tech company wins the opportunity to spend a weekend with his boss, he soon discovers that he is part of an experiment. The employee is tasked with performing the Turing Test on a female humanoid machine. However, the lines between real emotions and superficial intelligence are mixed, leading to an interesting third act.
The Imitation Game
Both Ex Machina and Blade Runner use forms of a Turing Test. The Turing Test derives its name from Alan Turing, the protagonist in the Imitation Game. Without his knowledge and ability to think outside the box, the world would look different. He helped pioneer modern computer science by developing a machine to help decipher the German enigma.
Other mentions
The Fifth Estate
iRobot
Steve Jobs
