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VIFF 2024 Review: The Thinking Game

23 October 2024Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

*The Thinking Game* is a documentary that makes understanding A.I. pioneer Demis Hassabis to be as much about trying to understand how A. I. came to be and how it evolved to what we have now.

The topic of A.I. is something to provoke a lot of discussion. Some will regard it as a revolutionary breakthrough in technology. Others see it as a threat that devalues human abilities. The documentary The Thinking Game gives an insight into A.I. as navigated by one of its biggest pioneers.

The film begins with a look at Demis Hassabis: the British CEO of the technology company AlphaGo. It shows of his current working with A.I. and also his intrigue of developing AGI: Artificial General Intelligence. As we learn more about attempts to develop AGI, which is like A.I. but appears closer in developing the feelings similar to that of humans, we are introduced to Hassabis and his intrigue with the human mind. Hassabis was born to a Greek-Cypriot father and a Singaporean-Chinese mother in 1976. He grew up in East London and his above-average intelligence was noticed as he developed a love for chess. Soon he became the second-ranked chess player in the world for his age range and a chess master at 13.

Everything changed one day during a chess tournament he played in. It was a game when he was thirteen that he lost and he was out of the tournament. He was sad about it, but did not leave the playing area. While sitting, it got him thinking of all these people around him still playing and all the brain power going on. It got him thinking of a human’s brain power. Are there any limits to what human thinking can solve? Soon Hassabis bought a computer with his chess winnings and learned programming from books. One day, he won a contest to win a job at a video game company: Bullfrog Productions. Soon he helped with Bullfrog’s work and invented a game of his own: Theme park.

Theme Park became a hit and helped him make enough money to attend Queen’s College at Cambridge. College was difficult because he wanted to study artificial intelligence and he was chastised by the professors about it. He did graduate from Queens College with a Computer Science Tripos. He also went to the University College London where he achieved a PhD in Neuroscience. In between and after his stints at college, he continued his work in video games and programming going from Lionhead Studios to founding his own game studios Elixir. His fascination with the human mind never left him. He felt that through computers, he can create something with artificial intelligence that can even tap into human emotions. Something commonly referred to as Artificial General Intelligence, or AGI.

In 2010, Hassabis and his colleagues Shane Legg and Mustafa Suleyman created the artificial intelligence laboratory DeepMind. The activity on artificial intelligence at DeepMind started when Hassabis worked ways to get a computer to play old video games from the 1970’s and 1980’s. The AI system was taught nothing of the game and would have to learn by constant play. Over time, the A.I.’s learning system worked and they would master the games. Interest in DeepMind grew and it attracted investors like Elon Musk and would be owned by Google from 2013 to 2014. Then in late-2015, they created AlphaGo: a computerized version of the game Go with A.I. as the opponent. They would soon challenge the world’s highest-ranked Go players to matches and win.

For DeepMind, it was enough to declare victory. For someone like Demis Hassabis, it wasn’t enough. Hassabis has a lot of ambitions on his mind. One of which was protein folding. Solving the problem can help with solving Alzheimer’s, dementia and developing new drugs. Hassabis and his colleagues would create the program AlphaFold to perform the predictions of protein structures. For years, it was all trial and error. As one of the colleagues put it, they were the best in the world at it but they were awful. Then during the pandemic while everyone had to isolate and work at home, the code was cracked. It doesn’t end there for Hassabis as it appears he wants to crack every uncracked code that’s out there.

A.I. and A.G.I. are two things that are admired for what they do and despised for what they do. Through computer technology, they’re able to solve a lot of problems human’s either can’t solve or can’t solve fast enough. Because of that, many people see this as a threat to humanity, especially in terms of employment and the constant automating of jobs. Even Hassabis himself has been both praised for his discoveries and achievements and vilified by some in aiding something that many feel devalues human abilities. There are many people from his co-workers to journalists to his former professors that ask the big question when will it stop? Yet Hassabis comes across as the type who doesn’t want to stop until everything’s all solved.

This film actually spends more time focusing on Hassabis and his accomplishments than on the subjects of A.I. and A.G.I. The film showcases Hassabis as someone who many feel deserves the praise equal to that of other computer technology pioneers like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Sometimes the film shows Hassabis as having acclaim ‘unsung’ compared to the two. The film also shows Hassabis as one of those child geniuses who was able to find a way to make better use of his brain than winning chess tournaments. It does show Hassabis to display a lot of genius traits both in action and personality but it doesn’t show him to be as much of an eccentric like many other famous geniuses.

The film is able to mesh Hassabis’ life story of how he went from a chess prodigy to being on the forefront of A.I. development with the current developments of A.G.I. his current lab. It chronicles his achievements while it also shows how workers in his lab are working to perfect his A.G.I. technologies to match human feelings and emotions. It doesn’t spend a lot of time on the news stories involving his lab and of A.I. research. It also spends a small amount of time on people who feel threatened by the latest wave of A.I. technologies. Especially the actors who went on strike last year. The film does leave out the times Hassabis has focused on the topic of existential risk from A.I. which Hassabis has spoken out and warned against. Hassabis has even stated the risk from extinction from A.I. is as much worthy of concern as nuclear war or another pandemic, but there’s no mention of it in the film here.

It’s interesting that this documentary comes out in the very year Hassabis and his AlphaFold partner John Jumper were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the very protein structure prediction they were experimenting on in this documentary. The documentary does make it interesting how meshing games with work appears to be Demis’ life. He calls chess a good thinking game as a child, does game development as a teenager and young adult, uses A.I. to challenge people at chess, then using A. I. to challenge the world’s best Go players, to using A.I. to work protein structures. It seems like everything Demis has worked on in his lifetime appears to be another ‘thinking game.’ Leaving the film, maybe the film shows that science itself in all of its trials, errors and experimentations has always been a ‘thinking game.’

Director Greg Kohs delivers a documentary some could find intriguing or some could find to be missing information. It does a good job in getting us to see Demis’ achievements in a topic that has many people intrigued in. It can also lead people to scratch their head about what this film is about. Is it about Demis? Is it about A.I. or A.G.I.? Is it about his inventions and contributions? Is it about a person we’re to blame for what threatens us now? Is it even the world through Demis’ eyes? Or even is it about science as a whole with all the many failures before the successes?

The Thinking Game is an ambiguous documentary that is as much about A. I. evolving over the decades as it’s a biographical film of Demis Hassabis. It doesn’t focus too much on the controversies of A.I. Instead it focuses on Demis’ intrigue into A.I. and how it would greatly pave the way to what we have now. Whether it rightly or wrongly glorifies Hassabis, that’s up for the viewer to decide.

VIFF 2019 Review: To Live To Sing (活着唱着)

27 October 201910 November 2019Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

I accidentally came across To Live To Sing when the virtual reality show I wanted to see was in a venue with a low capacity. I’m glad I saw it.

The film begins with a show of local performers in a Chinese city. The show starts with a modern fan dance by schoolgirls. It’s then followed by the Jinli Sichuan Opera Troupe: a local troupe that performs traditional Chinese opera. Right after the show, the opera troupe goes back to their own end of the city where they put on their own daily show. They perform every day at the same time at the same small theatre and entertain the same local crowd they’ve charmed for years. They rehearse well and they get along mostly fine. They have their own disputes on how to do something artistically, but it doesn’t last long. The Troupe is led by Zhao Li whom oversees everything. Her niece Dan Dan, who was orphaned at a young age and raised by Zhao, is seen by Zhao as the future of the troupe as most are aging.

Things are changing in the area they live. A lot of old homes are being crushed under government orders in order to build new developments. The theatre is under threat. This will not only mean the end of the theatre but the end of the opera troupe too. Zhao is frustrated as her theatre doesn’t attract crowds big enough. The others are worried too, but they try to make plans fearing the worst. Dan Dan however sees this as a breakthrough moment as she always dreamt of being a pop star instead of being confined to an opera troupe where she only gets paid 10%. During the time of frustrations, Zhao notices a dwarf in Chinese opera wear. She tries to spot him out, but he runs away.

Zhao is trying to negotiate with the government about keeping her theatre. However she knows it will be uncertain due to the small crowds that come to her theatre. Zhao is very forbidding of any modernisms that come to the theatre. She is strict on tradition. Then one night when she’s out, she notices the dwarf. She tries to follow him but loses focus of him. She is by a night club and she is drawn to the music. Then the announcer announces a singer for her first performance. It’s Dan Dan, and in a showy dress. Dan Dan notices Zhao in the crowd and can’t sing. The two have a fight outside where Dan Dan walks off furiously. The following day, Zhao confessed to Dan Dan that she always saw her as her daughter. Dan Dan becomes more committed to the troupe.

Zhao has another encounter with the dwarf and the dwarf takes her to a restaurant. There she sees one of the men negotiate a future job deal. Feeling the threat harder, Zhao decides one day to break with tradition and do a show that fuses modern with traditional. The troupe is welcoming of it. They perform the show with the mix of modern and traditional. The crowd loved it, but Zhao notices the spirit of the dwarf as it takes her to a mysterious land of Chinese art and culture.

Despite the audience pleased with the performance, Zhao can’t lose focus as an official from the party will be attending a show to see whether to keep the theatre up or not. They get a chance! However it’s a very slim one as the areas nearby are being crushed. The night before, Zhao has the same fantasy of the dwarf taking her to that land. Then the day of the show. The audience is ready. The players are ready, but the official is not to be seen. There has to be a wait and it’s making the crowd impatient. Then the official finally arrives and they are able to put on their show. Just as the show is happening, Zhao is again taken away to that imaginary place. The show she’s in is a dazzling trip of the imagination, until the character played by Dan Dan is stabbed. It all falls apart.

We then learn that the official decided to have the theatre removed. The troupe is heartbroken, even though some talk about plans of what to do after. The next day where there’s no show, members of the local audience show up and wonder why know show? The film flashes five years later with Zhao and Dan Dan returning to the same spot and what’s become of it. They see the development and the ruins. However Zhao sees the dwarf again. Possibly to send one last message.

The film is a common story about art attempting to stay alive. The film also touches on the subject of gentrification. We see it all around us; old buildings being crushed for new developments with big profits in mind. I see it a lot in Vancouver. Here it shows it happening in the People’s Republic of China. In most countries, they have the freedom where they can come bring this issue up to the government. Not all chances work out successfully, but they’re still given a fair chance. In China, you’re chances are very limited with a chance that’s slim to none. When the government says it will happen, it will happen. Zhao was lucky to have that one chance where she could prove to the government the importance of her opera. It was unsuccessful but she still had it.

The film also showed another aspect or battle. It also showcased the battle between traditional art and the more modern art or entertainment that’s the call of the day. Without a doubt, Zhao is a purist of the traditional Chinese opera and starts off as forbidding to the new ways and the new sounds. We should not be surprised that she would be furious if she saw Dan Dan become a contemporary pop star. Despite her belief in traditionalism, she does convince herself to welcome the modern sounds and even mesh it into the traditional opera. We see that a lot in many countries of mixing traditional or classical with the modern. It’s actually very successful in many countries. It proves to be a success here too. However the film sends a message that even with modernisms, the traditional should not be lost. It should still be admired and celebrated.

One thing the film tried to make clear with the story is of the spirits of art and how it exists inside Zhao. You may notice there are many times a dwarf in opera garb is in Zhao’s vision. The dwarf leads Zhao to many images all telling the story of what will happen. However the dwarf doesn’t always lead Zhao to images of a happy ending. That image where the opera comes alive in Zhao’s dreams but leads to the stabbing of Dan Dan is what would send the message of the bad fate of the opera troupe and its house. However it’s right at the end where when it appears all has been long lost at the end, it’s not. The spirit of art still remains even in the ruins.

This is the first film I’ve seen from Chinese-Canadian writer/director Johnny Ma. Living in Vancouver, he’s able to do Chinese stories that would not be the most welcome in the People’s Republic. His first feature from 2016 Lao Shi was about battling bureaucracy and legal manipulation in China. The film was shown at the Hong Kong film festival but not in Shanghai. This film was shown in both Shanghai and Hong Kong. It doesn’t depict the government that bad here. Instead the focus is on art and its attempt to survive. Johnny does a very good story and is good at sending a message, but it is a bit uneven in its storyline. The film also has a real opera troupe as its cast and they all play fictional versions of themselves. That’s another quality to the film. It does make you wonder how they’re doing in their home country. The actors all did well by being themselves when they had to, performers when they had to, and actors when they had to. Zhao Xiaoli and Gan Guidan stood out the most as the two did show a close chemistry in the film that made the aunt/niece relationship look real.

To Live To Sing is a story of artistic ambitions with a bittersweet ending. However it’s a good and colorful, albeit imperfect, reminder that art will triumph.

Movie Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2

5 May 20176 May 2017Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

gallery-1486477910-guardians-of-the-galaxy-vol-2-team — The Guardians are back, even with a Baby Groot, in *Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2*.

We first met the Guardians Of The Galaxy back in 2014. The Guardians are back in Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2. But do they have what it takes to deliver this time?

Back when the first Guardians Of The Galaxy came to the big screen, most people have not heard of them. This was a chance for Marvel to introduce them to the world. It was a unique mix of quirky characters, both virtual and live, loads of action, and a mix of both music and humor that made it a hit with families and superhero movie fans alike. The movie became the third-highest grossing movie of 2014 and turned the Guardians into household names. In fact “I am Groot,” became the top movie line of that year.

This time around is about bringing about the sequel. Most of you already know my feeling of Hollywood sequels in my review of Furious 7. However sequels can either propel a movie franchise further or sink it. Sequels are hit and miss. I’ve seen so many sequels where they simply rehash the formula of the first movie plot-for-plot, moment-for-moment. That’s why I’m mostly turned off sequels. That’s also often all one needs to do to end a franchise. Nevertheless there are a good number of sequels or second-movies that do differ a lot from the original. That’s often the better idea but even that’s a gamble. One example is the second and third film of The Matrix. It was too different from the original film that blew audiences away in 1999 and they disappointed fans.

This sequel for Guardians takes the chance of being very different from the first film. One can already notice the differences here: animosity between the members, the stormy family relations of Peter and his father and Gamora and her sister, the people of the various galaxies going against each other and all galaxies being threatened by Ego. I appreciate them creating a scenario different from the original. Nevertheless there were some things from the original that they had to bring back into the sequel like the humorous tones in various scenes, the unique and sometimes crazy personalities of each of the Guardians, and of course the use of 70’s songs in the many scenes. It was all a case of making the right choices of what to include from the first and what to change up. I feel they made a lot of the right choices here.

Another difference I noticed in Volume 2 is that there are a lot more ‘salty’ and ‘spicy’ things in the film. For example, I noticed there was more swearing included and a lot more lewd talk. There were even scenes hinting towards sex or even showing suggestive situations like a stripper bar in another galaxy. Sometimes I think ever since Deadpool shook things up in the world of superhero movies, directors are less afraid of including risque stuff even if they know children will be watching. However unlike Deadpool, the film knows it’s supposed to be a superhero movie and the theme of heroes and the values they stand for and fight for is definitely not forsaken. Whether it’s okay for parents to take their children to see it or not is completely the parents’ call. I’d say it’s best for 11 and older.

James Gunn again delivers as a director and a writer in this sequel. He takes some of the first, some new ideas, and some racy choices and turns it into a movie that works. Chris Pratt delivers again as Peter and Kurt Russell does a very good job in playing a deceptive villain. Zoe Saldana again proves why she’s the top actress in sci-fi movies with her performance as Gamora. Dave Bautista was hilarious as Drax as was Bradley Cooper as Rocket. Michael Rooker was also good as Nebula. Baby Groot had a lot of funny moments but there are times I felt in retrospect that he went too much on the ‘cutesy’ side. Michael Rooker was also good as Yondu. The two newcomers–Karen Gillan as Nebula and Pom Klementieff–were good in their roles even if Mantis did come across as too weird or ditzy. Judianna Makofsky did a very good job in designing the costumes to fit the story, Tyler Bates delivers a fitting score to the film, and the visual effects team with hundreds of credits again delivered effects to make the action and drama that more exciting.

It seems appropriate that Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2 kicks off the 2017 Summer Movie Season. It’s a sequel that delivers the right stuff most of the time. It’s able to deliver some new magic without compromising the magic of the original and keeps one thrilled one moment, laughing another moment, and entertained throughout.