Glenn, the Flying Robot

The pure genius of this movie is overlooked perhaps to its understated presentation. But this is an amazingly well written film! At its heart is an exploration of consciousness and memory. Although jaded critics seem to have give this title an unworthy cursory view, I truly believe that this film will stand the test of time as a cult classic, despite the current trend of surface-level criticism.

True Science Fiction fans, writers, musicians and thinkers with all find something of value here to ponder. From my perspective, the human characters are a counterpoint to the real central figure of the film, Glenn, and his inquiry into what it means to be human in comparison to himself.

I will say no more, other than serious thinkers give this a second look. This is a true gem!

In the futuristic world of Glenn, the Flying Robot, obviously robots intermingle among humans. They're domestic servants or assistants, but just like you might have seen in another robot movie, they have the potential to become dangerous.

Billy Boyd and Dominic Gould star as rival pianists who compete in the professional and personal arenas. They both love the same woman, and while fighting over her, Dominic accidentally slams the door on Billy's hand, ruining his music career. Billy finds comfort in teaching his robot how to play the piano, but it quickly gets out of hand. The second half of the movie is pretty exciting, so if you think it's off to a slow start, hang in there.

I would have missed this movie entirely had Hot Toasty Rag not been honoring Gérard Depardieu as Star of the Week. In the opening credits, he's listed as "special guest star" and he's shown for only a few minutes in the beginning and the end as a newscaster-but his voice was dubbed! If you're going to cast a famously French actor, why would you dub his voice so no one can hear his accent? If you don't want that part to be played by someone with an accent, why cast Gérard Depardieu?

Good ideas don't always make good movies... At least not when the movie has a bad direction. There are extremely painful moments, for example when the robot plays the piano, and we see his hands... which are playing nothing like what we hear. And there are a lot of incoherences : robots don't blink 'cause the don't have to. Flying without the slightest noise? Impossible. Does a robot needs to mark the rhythm moving like Ray Charles when it plays the piano? I don't think so... and so on. Long story short, the acting is pretty bad, the dialogs are mediocre, the story is foreseeable, and the so-called special effects... well, better not to say anything about it, the cup is full already.

I must say I'm really sad about it all. I wanted to watch this movie, I like the principal actor, and I love movies about music (like "the legend of 1900" or "Shine", which I enjoyed immensely). I have no idea what happened here. Lack of budget? A first movie by a young greenhorn wannabe film maker? A thing is obvious though, the directing is bad. The good intentions fail to crystallize in a movie, if not good, at least watchable until the end. Thing that, I must admit, I didn't manage to stand but in fast forward motion.

It's sooo sad...

A sci-fi film set in the near future with pretty good special effects. A futuristic movie that I rather enjoyed. This is a love story about a jealous music genius (Jack)who is a rival for Lana (who is pregnant with Henry's child). The rest of the movie is about the feud over a woman that loves them both...but is done with both of them. Nothing heavy...but an enjoyable suspenseful ride. Gerard Depardieu is wasted in a cameo. Jack, because of an injury to his hand attempts to train the flying robot, so he can win the girl on a bet with Henry. This is just one of several reasons that Lana is done with them. The robot in this movie could have been considered cute...but the director avoids any temptations to do so. Stay after the credits for another couple of minutes of the film.