Science, medical miracles, the power of technology, and Johnny Depp.

It’s Final’s Week and to make it even better, there’s one more opportunity for you to join in and watch a great free movie during our summer film series.  If you haven’t made it yet, this is definitely your week to come, relax, watch a great movie, and start your summer break off right. 

The final film for this summer is jam-packed with Hollywood style action, suspense, and thrills.  Not to mention, it’s Johnny Depp.  Need I say more…okay, I will.  We will be watching the 2014 film, Transcendence.  The story is not necessarily a new one.  The idea of a computer generated artificial intelligence (A.I.) has fascinated writers and audiences alike beginning with Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 classic 2001: a Space Odyssey.  This film, however, moves beyond the traditional story to the concept of A.I. to that of what if.   Johnny Depp’s character, Dr. Will Caster asks the question, can a live person be uploaded into a computer, the technology taking on the human’s memories, emotions, life.  To quote Depp’s character in the film:

For 130,000 years, our capacity to reason has remained unchanged. The combined intellect of the neuroscientists, mathematicians and... hackers... in this auditorium pales in comparison to the most basic A.I. Once online, a sentient machine will quickly overcome the limits of biology. And in a short time, its analytic power will become greater than the collective intelligence of every person born in the history of the world. So imagine such an entity with a full range of human emotion. Even self-awareness.

As if that wasn’t an intriguing enough…this film blends wonderfully the excitement, beautiful scenes, and intensity that we expect from a Hollywood blockbuster with some of the strongest and most compelling ethical issues of today.  Delving into science’s greatest potential to cure disease and heal the broken, audiences are treated to the magnificent potential for what stem cell research and nanotechnology can truly do while also seeing the cost.  Director Wally Pfister, in his directorial debut, artfully blends the philosophical and ethical questions of this age in medicine, science, and technology, with a story of true love that will have you hanging on until the very last moment.  You will find that this is not a sci-fi thriller, but actually a reality that we are facing today.  It is exciting, relevant, important, and highly entertaining with great performances by Depp alongside Morgan Freeman, Cilian Murphy, and Paul Bettany.

Come join us for the last week of the summer series.  There will be chocolate and, of course, licorice as our treat to you.

Okay, and  because I can't help it...a little bit of movie trivia for you.  Having worked under Christopher Nolan for several films, Wally Pfister steps out on his own in making a film about the power of technology and the question of the necessity and impact of human dependence on technology.  What would the world look like without the internet, cell phones, tech-enhanced cars, etc.  Making a statement and remaining true to his craft, Pfister refused to use any digital film or digital cameras in the filming of this movie.  He chose instead to shoot only on 35mm or anamorphic film stock and edited all the effects photochemically rather than digitally.  After you've seen this movie, the skill and incredible artistry in making the special effects that are in the film happen and be so realistic, you will be awed.