Amores Eletrônicos

Electric Dreams is a quirky '80's film that has remained one of my favorites from that decade. The story of a boy, a girl, and a computer trying to find the meaning of love could have easily been a ridiculously campy movie, but instead is played out with a lighthearted sincerity. Lenny Von Dolen's portrayal of architect Miles Harding is done well, conveying the feelings of insecurity and wonder of falling in love for the first time, and Virginia Madsen's performance as would-be girlfriend Madeline equally shines. The movie is shot more like a music video (Director Steve Barron also worked on Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" video), and while there have been plenty of films that have used similar "MTV-style" techniques in the '90's, this was an unpioneered format at the time, and it seems to work the best here. The set design is great, the scene pacing doesn't drag on, and the sentiment is in the right place so that viewers can laugh at the humorous parts and relate during the romantic scenes. The music soundtrack is also top-notch, with music from Culture Club, Jeff Lynne, Heaven 17 and Giorgio Moroder. The computer technology and the commercials set this movie firmly in the early '80's, which may make it seem a little dated, but the overall story still holds up well and is fun. Electric Dreams is an enjoyable romantic fantasy that a lot of people may have missed when it was first released (even more so since the film seems to be out of print), but for those wanting to see something a little different, this may be what you've been looking for.

This movie is rather funny and like some of the other viewers, the main song has stuck with me since the movie was first released. One point this movie tried to make is that there can never be enough montages. Without all the musical montages in this movie, the film would have lasted only thirty-minutes or so. Anyway, if your in the mood for a movie with a strange love triangle that doesn't involve questioning a characters sexuality, watch this.

They don't make 'em like this anymore. Watching a restored version of this film on DVD put a smile on my face. It's a warm science fiction romance about an electronic prodigy with the sensibilities of a child come to life.

Miles is the proverbial introvert who has a relatively good job, and is smitten by an arrival of the opposite sex in his building. But at the same time Miles, being a paper and pencil architect, is wondering how he can get his life organized. He goes for the obvious option of seeking a left brained solution. In other words; a computer.

But the logic circuits of keyboard, monitor and printer cannot compare to the ultimate solution of a second mind in the form of a the fairer sex. Miles discovers the thing that a computer can not give him, and Edgar, his computer, discovers what he cannot have and has always misunderstood about human feelings.

It's a simple film with lots of cinematic trickery to make it appear bigger than it actually is. It's a film about heart and mind, and about which wins out over the other. It's a classic tale of the mind finding the heart, and the heart finding peace of mind with another soul.

One of the appealing things is seeing various exteriors shot locally, including a local radio personality whom I used to listen to on KMEL, the Blue Angels, Palace of Fine Arts and a number of other places. The music is of course classic 80's fare, and the primitive electronic tones highlight's the time and theme

It's a delightful warm-hearted film that I waited many years to see again in its full widescreen glory, and relive some younger days when things were a little more innocent, and a little more lively. When computers needed dialup modems, electronic music had just come into its own, and video games were still using cartridges (note the Activision cartridges for the Atari 2600 behind Miles when he purchases his computer, Edgar).

Well, I waited well over 20 years to see it, and I'm glad I did. It's the kind of simple and loving film that I would be proud to shoot for the rest of my life. It has heart, it has warmth, it is a segment of 1980s San Francisco Bay Area that puts a smile on this viewers face. It is electronic romance San Francisco 1980's style.

Please watch it and enjoy, but try not to be too judgmental.

Steve Barron's "Electric Dreams" will almost certainly be one of the hardest movies to find, but if you can you should definitely check it out. It got released around the time when computers were starting to become part of everyone's lives, and it seems to be predicting just how much these devices would come to dominate our lives. Lenny Von Dohlen (never heard of him until I saw this movie) plays an architect who buys a computer to get better organized, but an unexpected event turns the thing into a sillier version of HAL...especially after the owner falls for his musician neighbor (a young Virginia Madsen).

At once piece of light entertainment and a look at relationships, this movie does it just right. Some scenes are probably just comic relief, like the concert, but the computer does teach the man a good lesson about life. You're bound to love what the computer does in the movie's last scene.

All in all, a really fun movie. I can't believe that it's out of print while tons of boring movies get special edition DVDs. Definitely check it out if you can. Watch for a young Miriam Margolyes as a ticket taker.

When I first saw 'Being John Malkovich', I didn't really know much about - it was a while since I'd been to the cinema because of work and I went to see it on the strength of John Cusack. As I sat in that cinema full of bored teenagers, watching the story unfold, I was amazed at how similar an experience it actually was to the first film I really fell in love with, 'Electric Dreams'.

I've never been completely sure what I especially liked about the film. Virginia Madsen certainly has a big sister / first crush quality, with her woolly jumpers and body wrapped around a cello. Lenny Van Dollen is certainly as good an actor as anyone whose worked in this kind of film and offers work of quite subtle range. And the computer is heartbreaking. And the music is lovely. This is perhaps a film which is uncriticisable because it captures a time in life so beautifully.

Made in 1984, 'Dreams' has a plot similar in scope to 'Malkovich'. Miles subordinating of the newly sentient computer parallel's Craig Schwartz control of the film actor. As the computer operator uses Edger to woo the love of both their lives, so the puppeteer controls Malkovich to get into the panties of his 'business partner'.

There is no doubt the film has dated, although in its own way it uses visual techniques which at the time must have seemed as extreme as the flourishes of the latter film. Its use of pop video, in the sequences of high emotion, especially in the scene of where Miles is chased around the house, are at least echoed in the chase sequence at the heart of 'Malkovich'.

With all this in mind, its perhaps a time to re-assess this film as more than the fluff its previously been thought of as being.