Intelligence

2008.07.21 - Monday

What is extra-terrestrial intelligence? This is a topic which has been bugging me for a while now, and I'm finally getting around to addressing it. I've seen a bit of talk on forums and on blogs recently about how we may have to redefine our meaning of the term. After all, there are many degrees of intelligence here on Earth. Many animal species exceed Humans' mental abilities at certain tasks. Primates, dogs, dolphins, birds. The list of "intelligent" animals is extensive, and it would certainly be a monumental event to find alien life even at those levels of development, but let's get right down to it, shall we? Dolphins are not what we mean when we talk about "alien intelligence". Argue details and definitions all you want. Split hairs until the Sun explodes. Everyone knows what we're talking about here, no matter how many people want to appear smart by suggesting otherwise.

Are Humans the first evolution of intelligent life on the Earth?

I'm not making that up. It's the title of an actual thread on a sci-fi forum which I won't name. Ridiculous. In case you're wondering, the answer is yes. Insect colonies do not count. Dolphin family groups do not count. Primitive whale "languages" do not count. I actually read an argument suggesting that dinosaurs must have been extremely intelligent because "they survived for hundreds of millions of years, so they must have been doing something right." No, that's not how it works. Crocodiles out-lived them. Does that mean they're automatically more intelligent? One also has to put up with the eco-crazies. "Humans aren't intelligent at all" because we "kill the planet". It's impossible to argue with that sort of logic.

Look, I don't care what you call it. Call it whatever pretentious, unnecessary word you like. We all know what we're talking about here. Extra-terrestrial intelligence. Sophisticated languages and cultures. Manipulation of the natural environment. Advanced, un-natural technology. Refined and processed ores. Artificially created alloys and elements. Mathematics. Space travel.

Take the semantics elsewhere. I'm not having any of it.

Jumper

2008.07.20 - Sunday

"Jumper" looked like an interesting film from the first trailer I saw, so it jumped (ha...ha...ha) off of the shelf at the video rental place. Besides, I was looking mostly through the Blu-Ray section, which is steadily improving but still somewhat limited. A few people have said the movie is "okay" and "not bad", and I'd have to agree. Actually, even though I'm sure it's unlikely, a sequel would be pretty interesting at this point.

I didn't mind the casting of Hayden Christensen. He's certainly better here than in the awful "Star Wars" prequels, and it really does help that his character is supposed to be a spoiled, somewhat annoying child. The Jumpers in the film, people who can teleport themselves instantly through space, are all young adults who've been spoiled by their ability to live outside of society's normal rules. They've never worked, instead they simply steal money from locked vaults. They don't have normal lives beyond just doing whatever they feel like doing at any given moment, anywhere in the world.

Naturally there's a catch. The reason all of the Jumpers are young adults or children is because there's a society of normal Humans out there called the Paladins; religious zealots who seem to believe that Jumpers are natural abominations, existing against the will of God, and therefore they must all be killed. Historical atrocities, witch burnings, the inquisition, and such are laid at the feet of the Paladins in their quest to seek out and destroy Jumpers in previous centuries. Presumably, almost all Jumpers are found, caught and killed by the Paladins before reaching the age of thirty or so. Indeed, any Jumper older than their earliest twenties seems to be a shock to the Paladin organization.

It's not a bad idea, and for me, the film could have used more of it. There's no explanation or even casual investigation for how long this has been going on. Hundreds of years certainly. Thousands? People are simply "born" Jumpers, so there's no telling how far back it could go. The Paladins' belief system in the film strikes me as shallow, at least as it's presented, and could have used some more exposition. Even religious zealots always have some fragment of a logical reason for why they act as they do. It's alluded to in the film that the Paladins believe that "sooner or later, all Jumpers go bad". It seems to me that having the ability to completely flout society's rule set for one's entire life couldn't do anything but breed a God complex, perhaps to the point where most adult Jumpers in history become threats to normal Humans. The Paladins may believe they're protecting the public from danger by hunting down and murdering children and teenagers. In any case, some additional drama could have been used. As it is, the Paladins simply act the way they do because the story requires it, without ever really giving us anything more.

I'm not sure what the budget on this film was, but it's by no means a huge blockbuster. It would be nice to see a sequel of some kind. Honestly, it could even make a good series. Surely there must be other Jumpers beyond the three shown in the film? Perhaps there are even some older ones out there, who've managed to survive, somehow, and master their powers beyond anything the younger set have been able to accomplish. There are a lot of places it could go from here, and it would be too bad if nothing happened other than this one fun popcorn flick. As it is, it's a bit of a tease.

Terwilliger

2008.07.03 - Thursday

Aviation Epic

I decided to take a look at the website for "One Six Right" this evening, just to see if they'd gotten around to realizing that no one wants HD-DVDs these days and released a version of the film on Blu-Ray. No such luck. It was nice to see that there is another aviation film in the works, however. Though currently untitled, there is a short trailer and an anticipated release date sometime in 2010; still quite a bit of time to go. It would be great to see more of the "One Six Right" type of thing, but maybe on a larger scale or covering a greater spectrum of aviation than just one medium-sized civilian airport. I guess we'll see.

One of the great things about documentary films in general, and especially in HD, is that they almost always show you a natural image, as you would expect to see it with your own eyes. A lot of the time this is when people really notice the leap in quality when they're viewing a proper HD source. Television and films, whether to imitate film or to appear artsy or sophisticated, almost always colour-treat their image or apply post-camera effects such as grain, more motion blur, or gamma adjustments. It's really no wonder that after all of that tinkering, most of which is designed to hide details, confuse the audience, or create a "mood", that most of the public can't tell the difference between a film on DVD and one on Blu-Ray. On the other hand, how many times has an electronics store been displaying "Planet Earth" or another documentary film, only for people to walk by the screen and stop, commenting on how "clear" and "real" the picture looks?

But hey, what the hell do I know about making movies?

Canada Day

2008.07.02 - Wednesday

I spent Canada Day down at Kits beach, getting far too much sun for a single day. Of course, when the sun does come out in Vancouver, one must make the most of it before it's gone!