Archer's Ongoing Favorite Films List

Favorite Film 10
Artificial Intelligence
Dir. Steven Spielberg


Among film addicts A.I. seems to split people down to middle. What was going to be Kubrick's next project was passed over to Spielberg personally and some found their two distinct styles didn't mesh well. Especially the sentimental, tear-jerking ending, which many blamed was Spielberg's fault, when they couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, the ending we see in A.I. was Kubrick's original vision, and not Spielberg's contribution. Working closely from the wealth of information and research Kubrick left in Spielberg's hands, the resulting film was nothing short of fascinating. This may be one of Spielberg's most challenging and underrated pictures, but I found it to be a breathtaking, visionary, and fascinating motion picture. It contains some of the greatest sequences of Spielberg's career, one of John William's greatest scores, and it never fails to move me to tears every time I watch it. Haley Joel Osment gives a phenomenal performance (notice the subtle transformation of his facial expression after his 'mother' has read him the list of words (which were specifically picked by kubrick)). This is also one of the director's darkest efforts, a fairy tale, but one for adults only. There are so many grand sights to behold, from the moon on the rise, to Rouge City (filled with Kubrickian imagery) to the flesh fair, which brings back memories of some robot holocaust. Jude Law is also terrific as Gigalo Joe, hugely charismatic and always great to watch. Ultimately, A.I. doesn't get enough credit, because even beneath the seamless , eye-popping, special effects, there is an underlying powerful story of love. A tragic, dark, but visionary masterpiece (I'm sure many will disagree.) A.I. is the best film of Spielberg's post 2000 career. (Check out the bluray if you can, it raises the film to a whole new level.) I just love this film.