Last night,
being date night, saw a foray to the local theater to see the sci fi opus Transcendence,
featuring Captain Jack himself Johnny Depp.
This film has a fascinating concept involving the relationship of
technology to humanity but misses the mark on a number of fronts. Depp totally mails in his performance which
dooms the movie since the plot revolves around his humanity. He plays the world’s foremost AI scientist
who’s loaded into a computer when tragically assassinated.
There were some
really cool effects but plot holes you could drive a well-stocked semi through
make it seem kind of silly. The movie is
told through flashback as we see the results of the climax before anything happens. That plot device only works if getting there
makes sense which this doesn’t. Rebecca
Hall does a great job as Depp’s devoted wife but she’s fighting a losing battle
with his lack of presence. Morgan
Freeman and Kate Mara are criminally underused in supporting roles. Instead of being a soaring statement about
the possibilities and dangers of technology, it comes across as something trite;
ploddingly so.
I had an
interesting day at work yesterday when I was called upon to host a bunch of students
from my daughter’s alma mater, Boston University. They are sophomores working on their big
research project (something she’ll fondly remember). They wanted to learn about our use of
technology and electric buses. They were
full of energy and had a million questions so it wasn’t the dreaded waste of
time I anticipated beforehand. It was
kind of scary to see how impossibly young they all seemed.
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| (L-R) Jim, Fred, and I at the Fort Amador Causeway 1981 |
Speaking of
young, while searching for the picture of my son and his spruce tree for yesterday’s
blog post I ran across a picture from my own youth. It was taken when I was a young lieutenant in
Panama with two of my buddies (Jim and Fred) at our favorite Sunday afternoon
hangout, the Fort Amador causeway. We
would park our cars next to the ocean to nurse hangovers and continue our pursuit
of any Panamanian ladies that survived the crucibles of Friday night at the Albrook
O-Club and Saturday night at one of our BOQ bohio parties. It caught my eye because so much has changed
since that picture was taken. Whne we
visit Panama we usually go to a huge restraint that’s been built near where
this picture was taken. The open area directly behind us has been filled in with
a fairly large hotel and the entire causeway has been significantly upgraded
since the Panamanians took over. It still
brought back some great memories, pursuits being what they were at the time. (BOQ = Bachelor
Officer Quarters)
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| The Causeway Nowadays The Earlier Picture was Taken from the Far Right Side of this Picture Looking Back Towards Where the Hotel is |
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