I, Robot

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:01 pm Post subject: I, Robot

Saw this last night (I rarely go TO the movies...I prefer renting them).

I must say I liked it. It is not true to Asimov's original story in many (well all) ways, but I liked it. Hey...we have to book for the original.

Will Smith is a good actor...I just like him. Yes, he is a Mega Movie actor, effects and grandiose plots, but he is likeable and a good enough actor.

The effects were very good and I liked the story. I will probably watch it again before I bring it back.

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

I came to get down, I came to get down. So get out ya seat and jump around - House of Pain

HEY! Is that a ball in your court? - Mr. P

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

CSflim · Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2005 5:54 pm Post subject: Re: I, Robot

One thing that really got me was the blatant product placement. Now I have no problem with movies where the hero has a sip of Coca Cola. But when the product placement goes all the way, right down to the script writing stage, that's when you've gone too far.
I really got sick and tired of seeing and hearing about Mr. Smith's Converse shoes....
we see him getting the converse package, then opening it and looking at the shoes...then a close up of him lacing up the shoes.
Not long later his mother is talking to him about his retro shoes ("Vintage 2004!" :rolleyes

).
Then for no reason at all his boss tells him "nice shoes" as he is about to leave the bar.
THEN later on after Will's car crash and encounter with a robot we see that he is dismayed at the fact that there is gunk all over his lovely shoes (complete with close-ups)

GAH! I never want to see another pair of converse shoes again in my life. Least of all in a film.

Beyond that, I thought it was okay, but somewhat of a missed opportunity.

___________________
Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?
-Douglas Adams, Last Chance To See

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:14 am Post subject: Re: I, Robot

The shoes underline his uneasiness in the robot age...yes it is product placement, but it was worked into the character...he is a retro character, so this did not offend me.

Hey...money is the game, product placement is harmless to me!

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

I came to get down, I came to get down. So get out ya seat and jump around - House of Pain

HEY! Is that a ball in your court? - Mr. P

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

yellowlight · Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 2:20 pm Post subject: I concur

Yes, I agree with Mr. P - the shoes were the reenforcement of past days - days when things were "real" - i.e. made strictly for the purpose at hand; not things futuristic.

It is of course interesting that you, CS, thought of it only as product placement - that never occurred to me - I found it as Mr. P did - part of his character analysis.

See Mr. P - a free-thinker and a theist that believes she can be both a free-thinker AND a theist can agree on some things - and that is foundation that can be built upon.

Mr. Pessimistic · Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2005 3:45 pm Post subject: Re: I concur

Quote:
See Mr. P - a free-thinker and a theist that believes she can be both a free-thinker AND a theist can agree on some things - and that is foundation that can be built upon.

I never doubted you!

And I agree...the foundation can be made of different brick types, so long as it holds the building up!

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

I came to get down, I came to get down. So get out ya seat and jump around - House of Pain

HEY! Is that a ball in your court? - Mr. P

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

Chris OConnor · Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 11:03 am Post subject: Re: I concur

If you hadn't mentioned the Converse thingy I wouldn't have thought about it at all. And I usually notice and am annoyed by such blatant advertising in movies. Usually I don't get into sc-fi, but this was a decent movie.

Chris

scrumfish · Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: Themes

*********POSSIBLE SPOILER*********but not really a bad one

The product placement didn't annoy me in this movie as much as it does in some. What really caught my attention was the villain's plan to make life better, in the process sacrificing the lives of some humans. This theme wasn't very developed in the movie, it was rejected by the heroes without a second thought. What is better? 15 million people living in fear of crime and most of them not being able to pay for health care, or killing 5 million and having 10 million people that don't have to worry about crime and never have to worry about paying for a doctor when they get sick? Is a life of lower quality worth as much as a life of higher quality? Is a loss of freedom not worth having to deal with certain problems? Do you think this doesn't apply to us? Sure it does. Think about what people are giving up in order to rid the world of terrorism. If that one is a no brainer, then check this out: a health care company in Michigan has made it a policy that they can fire people who choose to smoke in order to not have to pay higher health care costs caused by smoking. They have already fired 4 people. Here is the article I got this from.The diseases that cost the most money in the United States are preventable ones caused by smoking and poor eating habits. If you believe that everyone should receive health care, do you also believe that people should have choices taken away from them in order to make that possible?

Interbane · Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:53 pm Post subject: Re: Themes

"If you believe that everyone should receive health care, do you also believe that people should have choices taken away from them in order to make that possible?"

I think people should stop sueing doctors for malpractice over every little mess up, so health care is cheaper. Malpractice insurance costs doctors around 40k a year, bumping their prices way up. If a doctor commits malpractice, he should have his license revoked, not get sued.

The people who've been injured were taking the risk of malpractice when going to the doctor in the first place. They should understand that humans are fallible and make mistakes, it's inevitable. For monetary reimbursement, make their own insurance pay for it. Insurance companies are blood sucking bastards anyways.

As for the question, no, I don't think everyone should get health care unless it's paid for. So many people are simply lazy and do nothing about their situations.

Doc: "In some way, it is a bit ironic that we must try to be more stupid to obtain salvation."

MA: "I can't think of a better way to convince a group of critical thinkers of the worthlessness of faith."

scrumfish · Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:57 am Post subject: Re: Themes

You bit Bush's bait- hook, line, and sinker. My question wasn't meant to start a debate about health care, it is more about what people would be willing to sacrifice for the things they think humans should be entitled to, but here is an article you really, really need to read that makes a clear case that litigation has very little to do with the high cost of health care. Maybe it would be a good idea to start a thread for health care.

RickU · Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:28 am Post subject: Re: Themes

Let me say this first: I thought the movie was good. I just watched it this weekend. For those of you who haven't read it, "I, Robot" is not a novel. It's a series of short stories. I thought the movie did a pretty good job of working Asimov short stories and some charachters into the plot. Will Smith's charachter is definitely not in the stories though.

In Asimov's robot stories, the populace is generally distrustful and resentful of robots for mostly the reasons that Will Smith's charachter pointed out. Notice the bartender robot? Any menial labor task was done by a robot.

Scrumfish - your comment makes sense, but in this case it was simply the screenwriters once again trying to work an Asimov plot into the movie. There was no violent robot revolution in the particular short story where the robot's took over but it happened in a story nonetheless.

In Vino Veritas

Ken Hemingway · Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:20 pm Post subject: Re: Cost of Malpractice Insurance

"The HHS report put the cost of malpractice insurance to doctors at $6.3 billion in 2002" from
www.factcheck.org/article133.html

"Estimated total U.S. health spending for 2002 is $5,427 per capita" from
www.pnhp.org/news/2002/ju...ds_60_.php

$5427 * 270 million = $1465 billion

6.3 / 1465 = 0.4%

Why is this discussion in the movies forum?


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