Weekly Roundup! February 4th, 2024

Welcome to Weekly Roundup!, where we dive into the captivating world of films, books, and articles that caught our attention over the past week. 

Watches of the week

• Ex Machina (2014) by Alex Garland - 4.5/5
• The Sting (1973) by George Roy Hill - 4.5./5

Ex Machina

The inspiration to rewatch Ex Machina came from a discussion (lecture) with V about Charles Perrault and the fairy tales he wrote. Just like last year with Hans Christen Anderson, I became woefully aware of my ignorance of the authors and origins of many popular folklore and fairy tales. Charles Perrault was a French author of the 1600s who popularized many folk tales into the modern interpretations as “fairy tales”. Some examples of his are Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, and Bluebeard—the latter unfamiliar to me at the time. 

Bluebeard is a tale about a wealthy, sinister man with a blue beard. He lives in an exquisite palace on a wondrous estate, but mystery surrounds him because he’s been married many times, and each time the wife disappears. However, that isn’t enough to stop one of the daughters of the neighboring estate from accepting his marriage proposal. Shortly after they are wed, Bluebeard is called away on urgent business. He gives his new wife the keys to the palace, each opening a specific room filled with riches. One of the keys, however, opens a room that is strictly forbidden to enter. 

In his absence, she invites her sisters and friends over for a party, and they all marvel at the riches contained behind each new door they open. She eventually succumbs to her curiosity, and sneaks off to open the forbidden room. She’s greeted with the bloody bodies of the previous six wives hung up by hooks on the wall and, in her shock, drops the key in some blood on the floor. Hard as she try, the blood stain cannot be wiped off as the key is magical. It’s at this time, Bluebeard returns early from his business, and she’s forced to suffer his wrath. However, before he can finish her off and add his seventh wife to the room, her brothers and sister arrive and kill Bluebeard. 

There have many adaptations and inspirations in literature, theater, and film, including Ex Machina. 

Ex Machina, the directorial debut of Alex Garland—writer of 28 Days Later (2002)— is a sci-fi thriller that follows a young programmer for the tech company Bluebook (that can’t just be a coincidence), Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), invited to a weeklong stay at the estate of his company’s CEO, Nathan (Oscar Isaac). Upon his arrival, he is given a keycard that has the ability to open some doors but not others (like the keys Bluebeard gives to his wife). It is revealed that the estate is not only Nathan’s home, but doubles as his private research facility where he’s been working on an AI robot called Ava (Alicia Vikander).

Nathan reveals his true motivation for Caleb’s visit is to administer a Turing test for Ava to scope her level of consciousness. As the days continue, Caleb not only becomes more and more enthralled with Ava, but witnessed the animosity with which Nathan treats his creation. An escape plan is hatched by Caleb when he learns Nathan intends to destroy Ava and begin a new iteration of development. 

The escape doesn’t go fully to plan. Ava not only ends up killing Nathan with a literal knife in the back, but traps her conspirator Caleb inside a room where he, due to the reclusiveness of Nathan and the estate, will likely not be saved.

One day the AIs are going to look back on us the same way we look at fossil skeletons on the plains of Africa. An upright ape living in dust with crude language and tools, all set for extinction.

The Sting

I’m ashamed to admit this was my first Paul Newman movie. First impressions? Old-school cool. I’ve seen a few movies with Robert Redford already and recognize his charisma. Any modern-day actor would look like a high-school theater boy next to him. However, I can’t help but notice when the two are on the screen, it’s Newman who my eyes focus on. 

Winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, The Sting is a heist film set in 1930’s Chicago. Henry Gondorff (Newman) and Johnny Hooker (Redford), are two con men who plan an elaborate and intricate scheme to con a ruthless gangster named Doyle Lonnegan (Robert Shaw). The film checks all the boxes—there’s humor, twists, turns, great costume design, and captivating chemistry between Newman and Redford. 

Reads of the week

Call it busyness, laziness, or some combination of the two, but I did not fill my leisure time this week with any exceedingly thought-provoking reads requiring more brain power than I cared to muster. This extended to movies as well; left off the list of this week’s watches were the first two John Wick movies. Occasionally, you just need to sit back and relax to the pleasing sound of Keanu Reeves dropping bodies with a Glock.

That being said, the highlight of this week was Stephen Fry joining Substack! The comedian and actor (on-screen and voice) that we know and love from such films as V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes, The Hobbit, and more is gracing us with his wit in prose. 

Reader Recommendations

Now, I want to hear from you! What movies, books, or articles captured your attention this week? Share your top picks in the comments below; your insights might just lead someone to their next favorite film or book. 

Stay tuned until next week!