M3GAN

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic. Tech titans and academics (including the creator of ChatGPT) have issued stark warnings about the adoption and development of AI mirroring apocalyptic sci-fi storytelling seen in The Terminator franchise and more.

Ironically, Hollywood itself is facing a new challenge in the form of AI-generated content.

Nick Smith, our US-based stellar scribe, examines the movie M3gan - she ain't no Teddy Ruxpin - and looks ahead at the possible implications of AI on the creative industry.

Guest post by Nick Smith

Nothing warms my heart like a well-crafted cautionary tale featuring creepy killer dolls. While the Chucky saga laughed in the face of consumerism and Annabelle illustrated the importance of reading warning labels, M3gan tackles deep themes for a glossy horror flick.

Like all the best scary movies, it’s an avenue for social commentary. And there’s plenty to comment on. Parental responsibility; finding a work/life balance in our busy modern world; kids’ addiction to technology; the value of socialization versus gaining knowledge for knowledge’s sake.

8-year-old Cady (played by Violet McGraw) lives in a world of loneliness, marketing, and staged corporate events. Adults are sympathetic after her parents die in a car crash, but they’re just as interested in technology as a healing tool. The first half of the film is more melodrama than horror; the second half gets downright sinister with the ‘uncanny valley’ near-real visage and sociopathic tactics of M3gan (Amie Donald), Cady’s robotic companion with some unique dance moves.

M3gan wants to protect Cady and be her number-one pal. She’s willing to kill to preserve her function.

Her remorseless loyalty and murderous efficiency taps into our fear of haywire machines, as seen in movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Demon Seed (1977), Deadly Friend and Chopping Mall (both 1986). More recently, a high-tech Chucky’s AI chip went on the fritz in a Child’s Play reboot (2019) and Terminator: Dark Fate introduced an artificially intelligent, liquid metal simulacrum in a female form called Rev-9 (also 2019).

Concerns about AI do not involve it going wrong so much as getting too powerful. Last month, more than 350 AI researchers, ethicians, engineers, and business leaders signed a statement on AI risk, which begins, ‘Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority.’ For now, though, the most dangerous aspects of AI are hard to pinpoint. There’s a risk of an artist’s online work being appropriated, data being stolen, and resources being consumed.

In the film industry, I’m seeing recent graduates relying on Midjourney to create teaser posters and ChatGPT to write taglines, press releases and website content. It’s faster, they argue, and cheaper than hiring a marketing team. The AI-generated advertising copy and scripts I’ve read are technically competent but lack soul.

Fear of technological progress has always made popular movie fodder. Metropolis, with its soul-crushing technology and naughty maschinenmensch, was released almost 100 years ago. The bottom line is, we don’t know what will happen in our quest for a cushier, labour-light life. Our fascination with the unknown keeps us flocking to sci-fi movies like M3gan.

It’s not all gloom - AI can speed up workflows, solve complex problems and improve communication in different languages. In my short film Ask Astrid, the central human character develops a friendship with an AI device, and they try to prevent a crime together. Star Trek’s Data gives an optimistic glimpse of AI striving to become more human, rather than bending humans to its will.

M3gan will be back in January 2025, offering her idiosyncratic brand of friendship. M3gan 2.0 will be written by original screenwriter Akela Cooper, with McGraw returning as Cady and Allison Williams as her guardian Gemma.

With synthetic intelligence developing at a breathtaking pace, there’s plenty of scope for the sequel to scare us with more tech gone wild and out-of-control creepy dancing.

Have you seen M3gan? What are your thoughts on AI-generated content? Let me know in the comments below.

Nick Smith's new audiobook, Undead on Arrival, is available from Amazon (affiliate link).

MasterClass with filmmaker James Cameron

Academy Award-winning director James Cameron (Titanic) took a break from working on his Avatar sequels to become the latest member of a growing pantheon of creatives to be featured on MasterClass.



"From The Terminator and Titanic to Avatar, James Cameron has directed some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters. Now, for the first time in his 40-year career, he opens up about his process. Through behind-the-scenes breakdowns, James shares his approach to developing ideas, storylines, and characters; harnessing technology; and worldbuilding on any budget. Explore the innovation and imagination behind epic moviemaking."

“I’ve been directing films for almost four decades, and if there’s one thing I’ve realized, it’s that learning is a constant process,” Cameron said in a statement. “Every filmmaker stands on the shoulders of the filmmakers who came before them, and I hope that my MasterClass will allow members to filter and develop my techniques through their own subjective lens and experiences.”

Added MasterClass founder and CEO David Rogier: “Having directed two of the top three highest-grossing films of all time, there’s no question the impact that Jim has had on both the film industry and film fans around the world. In his class, Jim takes our members behind the camera and, for the first time in his career, shares what he’s learned in four decades of directing epic films.”

25 years ago I graduated with a degree in Media Production from Bournemouth University. Cameron, along with contemporaries George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, inspired me to pursue a career in the creative arts.

As I've written previously, a textual analysis of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (handwritten and lost to time) garnered unconditional offers to study on several university courses, which was in stark contrast to what a high school career tutor suggested would ever be possible as outlined here.

Will you be watching James Cameron's MasterClass? Let me know in the comments below.

Aliens and Terminator star joins The Mandalorian

If it wasn't enough that Rosario Dawson is playing fan-favourite Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Michael Biehn, star of Aliens and The Terminator, joins the cast of The Mandalorian.

Biehn is expected to play a bounty hunter pursuing the titular character, played by Pedro Pascal, in the second season of the live-action Star Wars series on Disney+.

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, The Mandalorian wrapped principal photography on its second season and will premiere this October on Disney+. Meanwhile, the first season continues every Friday on Disney+ in the UK.

I Am Mother is a maternal Chappie

I Am Mother is the best Netflix original genre film since director Alex Garland's Annihilation. Like Garland's previous film, Ex Machina, I Am Mother shares the same sense of encroaching claustrophobia and mines a rich seam of sci-fi tropes (at times inverting them) with post-apocalyptic aplomb!

Set in the aftermath of an extinction event, I Am Mother could have been a pedestrian retread of overly-familiar themes. Instead, it is elevated by stunning cinematography, taut direction from first-time film director Grant Sputore with a background in commercials like Ridley Scott and David Fincher, Weta's wizardry - Mother is a memorable robot performed by Luke Hawker - and an inspired casting trifecta. Hilary Swank (Woman) channelling Linda Hamilton, Rose Byrne as the sensitive voice of Mother, and Clara Rugaard (Daughter) who is the revelatory driving force and evokes a young Natalie Portman.



I Am Mother weaves a philosophical tale of artificial intelligence raising human life, a prevalent sociological theme as digital assistants become increasingly integrated into our daily lives. What are Mother's motivations and is Daughter in danger from her gleaming guardian or the mysterious woman? There are nods to Alien, Blade Runner and Terminator as Sputore and screenwriter Michael Lloyd Green explore allegorical subtext with greater subtlety than Neill Blomkamp (Chappie).



Where I Am Mother stumbles is in the third act as the story moves from a confined space into an open world decades after a cataclysmic war. Yet, despite that unexpected narrative stutter, the ending is ambiguous and thought-provoking. It is easy to see Sputore going on to direct for Marvel Studios and a galaxy far, far away...

Look who's back in Terminator: Dark Fate

Arnold Schwarzenegger is back and he's brought an old friend. As someone who's been a fan of Terminator since the mid-eighties, I wasn't sure about another sequel after Genisys failed to ignite the box office and reboot the ailing franchise. However, the trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate has my attention.



With Tim Miller (Deadpool) at the helm, James Cameron (Avatar) as producer and Linda Hamilton reprising the role of Sarah Connor for the first time since Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the franchise may have a resurgence not seen since Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Terminator: Dark Fate is in cinemas this October.

James Cameron's back for Terminator 6

Director James Cameron will be producing the upcoming Terminator 6 with Tim Miller at the helm, which will ignore all sequels following Cameron's own Terminator 2: Judgment Day and reboot the ailing sci-fi franchise, again.

"This is a continuation of the story from Terminator 1 and Terminator 2. And we’re pretending the other films were a bad dream. Or an alternate timeline, which is permissible in our multi-verse. This was really driven more by [Tim] than anybody, surprisingly, because I came in pretty agnostic about where we took it. The only thing I insisted on was that we somehow revamp it and reinvent it for the 21st century." he explained.

You know, I quite enjoyed Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Genisys with Matt Smith (Doctor Who) as the physical embodiment of Skynet, which Cameron had previously championed in the movie's marketing upon release in 2015, and the short-lived Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles television series starring Lena Headey (Game of Thrones) in the titular role.

Terminator will be in cinemas November 2019 with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton reprising their iconic roles.

Timey-wimey Terminator

First, we had Jurassic World, successfully rebooting a franchise to the tune of $1.3 billion and counting, and now it's time (no pun intended) for Terminator Genisys to revive the flagging fortunes of a once-beloved franchise and its iconic Hollywood star.

Genisys, ignoring Rise of the Machines and Salvation, plays like a remix sequel to The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day for twenty terrific minutes.

My first memory of The Terminator was on rental video in the mid-1980s. A childhood friend's dad let us watch it on a sunny Sunday afternoon. The movie's meshing of time travel, a killer cyborg and changing the course of history was terrifying, economical, storytelling. Almost a decade later its first sequel captured my imagination with a liquid metal T-1000 and, in the form of a textual analysis, earned me an unconditional offer from several universities to study media production at degree level.

Today. Genisys' attempts to reboot a franchise, bolstered by alternate timelines, seems quaint when contrasted with the lean and mean thrills of Ex Machina and the chilling alternate reality of AMC's Humans currently airing on Channel Four, Sunday nights. You see, Sundays are made for genre. Yet there's much fun to be had here. More fun than most reviews and franchise fatigue suggested.

The first twenty minutes or so are a riot of briskly paced fan service. For better or worse, I, along with the small audience who had gathered in a darkened theatre on a sultry summer afternoon, laughed and whooped with delight as director Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) took us on a timey-wimey tour of The Terminator mixed with Terminator 2. From then on its boom, boom and more boom!

Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) acquits herself admirably as Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger savours reprising his quintessential role as a T-800 for the first time since Rise of the Machines. Their father-daughter relationship is the movie's emotional core, evoking James Cameron's filmography, and deserved more screen time. I won't spoil it, but there's an unexpected moment that will choke you up.

Seeing known timelines erased with new ones isn't without controversy and intrigue. The orchestral score makes sparing callbacks to Brad Fiedel's themes and wouldn't be out of place in the Transformers or The Fast and the Furious franchises.

You may have wondered why former Doctor Who star Matt Smith has been missing in action (MIA) from the trailers? It's for fear of spoilers, Sweetie! Ironic, given the major plot twist surrounding John Connor revealed in the last trailer, which the director has publicly denounced. Suffice to say, Smith's role is small but pivotal. As a lifelong Doctor Who fan, I lamented his departure from the time-travelling series that tiny bit more.

There's an amusing reference to Paramount stablemate Transformers. However, if the studio wants to reboot the Terminator into a blockbuster transmedia franchise, there's more work to be done, and I suspect Genisys won't spawn a new trilogy unless it succeeds at the box office.

But, you know what, I'd gladly watch The Terminator, Judgment Day and Genisys back-to-back as a trilogy. That's something I didn't think would be possible and my teenage self would approve.

Revenge is Coming

With the official UK theatrical release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen only a week away. You can now download IDW Publishing's lavishly illustrated comic book adaptation #1-4. Avoid if you do not want to read spoilers.



It's worth pointing out that you can now follow @ParamountUK on Twitter!

After seeing Terminator Salvation - A misguided melange of Mad Max meets Transformers-wannabe via Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone - at the refurbished Odeon, Exeter...

Bring on the Bayhem!

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Heroes Do Blu

First Transformers and now Heroes is to receive the Blu-ray treatment!

Both franchises were HD DVD 'banner bearers' in the HD format wars! The war ended a few months ago and, with Sony's Blu-ray platter emerging victorious, Universal Studios Home Entertainment has, finally, unveiled the specifications for the upcoming Blu-ray releases of 'Heroes: Season One' and 'Heroes: Season Two', both due to hit store shelves on August 26th.

The wildly successful TV series will get the full high definition treatment, with video being presented in 1.78:1 1080p accompanied by a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

Season One has been reduced from seven discs for the HD DVD release to five! Some special features, such as "Genetics Test" and "Mind Reader" games, have been removed. The special features are as follows:

Disc 1
* Artwork Presentation; Hero Connections
* 73-Minute Premiere Episode with Audio Commentary by Show Creator Tim Kring
* BD-Live Enabled
* Making Of
* Special Effects
* The Stunts
* Profile of Artist Tim Sale
* The Score
* Deleted Scenes

Disc 2
* Artwork Presentation, Hero Connections
* Deleted Scenes

Disc 3
* Artwork Presentation, Hero Connection
* PIP Cast Video Commentaries
* Deleted Scenes

Disc 4
* Artwork Presentation, Hero Connection
* PIP Cast Video Commentaries
* Deleted Scenes

Disc 5
* Artwork Presentation, Hero Connection
* PIP Cast Video Commentaries
* Deleted Scenes

Season Two comes on four discs, notably due to the writers' strike. Extras for this season include:

Disc 1
* Hero Connections - Bios, PIP Cast & Crew Commentaries
* Heroes Season 2 "A New Beginning"
* Takezo Kensei: Sword Saint
* BD-Live Enabled
* Hero Connections: Network
* My Scenes
* Deleted Scenes

Disc 2
* Hero Connections - Bios, PIP Cast & Crew Commentaries
* Genetics of a Scene
* Hero Connections - Network
* The Drucker Files
* My Scenes
* Deleted Scenes

Disc 3
* Hero Connections - Bios, PIP Cast & Crew Commentaries
* Tim Sale Gallery of Screen Art
* Hero Connections - Network
* My Scenes
* Deleted Scenes

Disc 4
* Hero Connections - Bios, PIP Cast & Crew Commentaries
* Generations Alternate Ending
* Inside the Alternate Ending of Generations
* Hero Connections - Network
* My Scenes
* NBC.com Featurettes

Given that Heroes includes BD-Live, I recommend that you watch this title on a PS3! For those who are completely unaware of what BD-Live is, it is a newly developed Blu-ray feature that enables you to access content via your internet-connected Blu-ray player. BD-Live can allow you to download a variety of up-to-date content (e.g., refreshed previews and exclusive special features) and also enable exciting next generation possabilities, such as ringtone/wallpaper downloads, peer-to-peer interactions, live events and gaming activities. BD-Live is showcased on Men In Black (Blu-ray).

You'll be able to pre-order Heroes S1 and S2 from my Blu-ray Shop and support my blogging. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Blu-ray) is available for pre-order now! Your support is very much appreciated and, most importantly, at no additional cost to yourself! Thank you.

Super Glau

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is to be renewed!

The Sarah Connor Chronicles mines the rich seams of Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (eschewing Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, which is notable for its brave Planet of the Apes ending).

Although the series, currently airing on Virgin 1 in the UK, has yet to truly capitivate me in the manner of Lost or The Big Bang Theory. The ever-enigmatic Summer Glau (best known as River from Firefly/Serenity) is a revelation as a Terminator! Her otherworldy performance, as Cameron, is pitch perfect and scene stealing! The fight scenes are more than a match for the franchises big screen origins!

The intrinsic potential is there, but in the absence of James Cameron and Linda Hamilton...

T2 on iTunes

In 1991 T2 was a sociological and technological touchstone; CGI came of age, morphing became the subject of water-cooler conversations and a generation of aspiring artists (myself included) augmented pencil and paper with a graphics tablet. This breakthrough paved the way for the Jurassic Park franchise and, perhaps controversially, the Star Wars prequels.



James Cameron's seminal movie is now available on iTunes.

Bay Route

I've no desire to compete with the likes of Harry Knowles and his 'writing' staff. But wouldn't it be dull if there was only an homogeneous source for movie musings, eh?

After wrapping up yesterday's post, I ventured over to IGN FilmForce and read the review for The Island (2005). The movie centres around Lincoln Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson) as they attempt to escape a NASA nightmare. My interest piqued, I downloaded the teaser preview from the official site.



The lauded freeway frenzies from The Matrix Reloaded (2003) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) have been overtaken by director Michael Bay's custom coupe. Logan's Run (1976) meets Minority Report (2002) by way of Brave New World (1932) and big brands.

Want movies on the go? A veritable avalanche of UMD titles are now available for pre-order from Play.

Now that my podcast is listed in iTunes, I'm working on releasing an Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) sample sometime next week.

The Dark Knight Returns

Happy Birthday to Hayden Christensen. Only a month to Revenge of the Sith and to bridge the gap I've been watching Fan Films on TFN. Although mostly enjoyable, the majority of the spirited productions would benefit from judicious editing! Revelations suffers from overblown CGI and stilted performances that should have been cut around. George Lucas is always quoted as an advocate of the art of rapid cutting, I'd like to see a Fan Film subscribe to that notion.

Ironically, and I'm not going to engage in prevarication, it is the unofficial use of the Batman license that most impresses on TFN! Grayson, World's Finest and Batman Dead End combine superlative production values with taut direction. Really reminds me of when Michael and I submitted our teaser trailer for Terminator: The Series (1989). I must investigate whether or not that 'hidden gem' can be transferred from VHS, digitally restored and remastered for online distribution. The 'difficult' part will be capturing the raw data from VHS (using a DV camcorder) and the rest will be a piece of cake.



The third teaser poster for Batman Begins elegantly encapsulates gothic grandeur and vampiric myth. Sepia cool.