Acemanplayz

A bit surprised to see some very negative reviews here. Sure, the documentary had some very poor acting at times (it resembled the intro scenes of adult movies, both in style and quality), and the backstory with Ramona was a bit cringe at times. Certainly when she declared her love for Ray. But this is still an important point; will a sentient AI love or at least be thankful to its creator? The answer to that may well determine whether our species makes it to the 22nd century.

But I felt they got the main science across at a level where the general audience can understand and appreciate, and it is a documentary after all. Who cares about how realistic Ramona is.

I know a fair bit about the topic. Never read Ray's book, but received his follow-up book the other day (singularity is nearer). I am not the target audience. But the movie still opened my eyes to some aspects of AI that I had not come across earlier (such as whether or not a conscious AI should have rights).

If you are interested in the topic of AI beyond what we read about in the paper (loss of jobs, chat GPT), this docu is definitely worth to watch.

Why does one mix up extreme and pretty unnecessary graphic violence, with a fairy tale plot? Hitting a guy in the head ten times with the bottom of a wine bottle while his dad was standing next to him? Really? Before that we had already understood pretty well the captain was a mean idiot. No need to rub it in like this.

Showing the details of sawing someone's leg off? Minutes-long torture visualized in close up? Going around shooting people in the head who already lie shot on the battlefield. Including shooting someone through the hand that he holds in front of the barrel. Why? What's the added value in this story?

I would accept that in a Vietnam picture, or some WWII plot. But why on earth these details in a story about a girl following a fairy into a labyrinth on a course to become a princess. Completely misplaced. The whole labyrinth story was secondary to this rebellion gore.

These scenes destroyed the entire movie for me. Still 24 hours later I am appalled by them.

Very highly-rated on many platforms, and I had high expectations from it.

What a disappointment. A complete lack of depth; both the story itself but particularly the characters are all so bland. We have to guess about most people's motives. Except from the officer at the very end of the story, all Germans are evil stereotypes. Everyone is so one-dimensional. There is no nuance; only black and white.

We learn nothing about the pianist's thoughts or dreams or fears. And not much about those of the people who helped him either. Why not a few more minutes of film after the war to learn a bit more about what drove him? What were his darkest thoughts? How he looked back on all of it? How does he now view Germans, Polish people?

Of course for Szpilman himself this was an incredible chain of events that led to his survival. But a 2,5 hour movie of what is essentially a story of people helping him survive is just too much.

The title is also deceiving. Music plays only a minor role in the movie. Nothing much beyond him sticking out as a person, which helped his chances of survival.