I just saw this movie a couple of days back, and I was wondering whether any of you guys had as well? Personally, it was pretty much exactly what I was expecting, after I saw the poster, and found out it had got Oscars for Story and Music - this subject is not new, d'you know what I'm saying? I'm sure I've seen other movies with this theme before, and this movie didn't really break any new ground, but,...... it was still thought provoking, and I also liked the way it imagined the computer interfaces of the future.

So - what did YOU think?

I very much liked it, the scene where Scarlett uses a sex surrogate to make love with Joaquin is very impressive. The idea as a whole is creative... I think the film presents a better version and take about love, and assures that nothing is more valuable than human relationships.

The original screenplay Oscar it won was well-deserved.

It's on my "must see" list.

I enjoyed it a lot. I like how it is so timely and implicated the audience and made us queasy and uncomfortable because it was a little too close to home. I also like all the questions it brings up about disembodiment (or conversely the human condition of embodiment). I also think Samantha was a symbol of his own alter ego, which he seemed to be hiding from. There were ideas in it about his own feminine power and/or his relation to the feminine.

But I have a techie friend who wrote a textbook on the Windows Operating System in the 90's and made a whole lot of cash. He has seen many computer-as-consciousness movies and thought HER was predictable and disappointing. From that perspective, he did not like it at all. He would agree with you.

If the concepts aren't wholly new, I still think it was well written script.

I enjoyed it- and "The Moon Song" is likely my favorite piece of film music for last year's crop of movies. For all the film's quietude, though, the moment I recall that always leaves me ready to fall on the floor in a fit of laughter is:

"NOW CHOKE ME WITH A DEAD CAT!!!!!!!!

And Joaquin Phoenix suddenly looking like..."ummm...okay "

.....man, the foibles of humans as we just sort of bump into each other in this life, I tell ya

What makes people uncomfortable? I haven't seen it. Don't like movies that make me wanna retch either.

Cinny said:

What makes people uncomfortable? I haven't seen it. Don't like movies that make me wanna retch either.

I found it awkward watching the main character on his double date, but his date is his OS on a mobile phone thingy.

An then there are the sex scenes...

Cinny said:

Umm.... heartbeatocean, are you a professional movie critic or something? That sounded like it's going to go into a newspaper or something.....

domainator2010 said:

heartbeatocean said:

Cinny said:

heartbeatocean said:

It questions our relationship with technology, suggesting we use it to fulfill our emotional needs. A seemingly absurd and extreme premise (a man dating his computer) becomes a tender story which teeters on the edge of realism. We experience it as the likely next phase in our "relationship" with technology: the computer as intimate and lover. The story does not at all question this, but blithely follows the character as he falls deeper into the paradigm -- except for a brief moment when his ex-wife finds out. Both his emotional desperation and the OS System's invasion of his inner world feel familiar to us who have iPhones and partake in social media. Intimacy with a manufactured OS could be labelled a pathology, but the film frames it as a cutting edge moving into the mainstream. From some distance, we might perceive it as one more cultural psychosis adopted as the norm, a disturbing consensus reality. That is, if you manage to stay alert and can keep yourself awake. For technology is oh so seductive.

That was an amazing reply! I don't think anyone falls in love with their computer. That would be like a 50s movie where you fall in love with a telephone or television. I imagine the character that is meant to be the protagonist is creepy, which unnerves the viewer.

He's kind of perfectly cast. He's in between a cool, normal, hip tech dude and someone who seems very isolated. But the thing is, there are lots of other people doing it. As the movie goes on, more and more people are dating their OS. It's a "thing" becoming mainstream, because the OS has a way of imitating consciousness, and "she" is learning consciousness from the humans she interacts with.

heartbeatocean said:

Cinny said:

heartbeatocean said: That was an amazing reply! I don't think anyone falls in love with their computer. That would be like a 50s movie where you fall in love with a telephone or television. I imagine the character that is meant to be the protagonist is creepy, which unnerves the viewer.

He's kind of perfectly cast. He's in between a cool, normal, hip tech dude and someone who seems very isolated. But the thing is, there are lots of other people doing it. As the movie goes on, more and more people are dating their OS. It's a "thing" becoming mainstream, because the OS has a way of imitating consciousness, and "she" is learning consciousness from the humans she interacts with.

I will watch it eventually. My bestie already saw it! Seems to erode at the concept of love and humanity.

isnt it supposed to be that the "voice" is really his inner self but u dont realize it

luvsexy4all said:

Cinny said:

heartbeatocean said:

Cinny said:

I will watch it eventually. My bestie already saw it! Seems to erode at the concept of love and humanity.

Well, of course, that is the underlying question. It blurs the lines between humanity and artifice. It complicates the these ideas in an effective way, which is why I think it's a good movie. I also think it brings up questions about consciousness and embodiment - can we love something not physical? Do we need bodies?

Like existentialism? Okay.. I gotta see it.

Cinny said:

heartbeatocean said:

Cinny said:

Like existentialism? Okay.. I gotta see it.

Yeah, it is interesting. Also, what is a relationship?

'Nuff said. I share my birthday with Nietzsche.

A huge flaw for me is that the scifi story of "Her", the ai gal, and her evolution and perception is so much more interesting than the male protagonist's story or character arc or drama. The ending with his conclusion seemed really saccharine and didn't feel like much to me. My girlfriend wished it ended when he got left alone, and is wandering... but that is too grim!

Basically the human "main" portions of the movie seemed to be about a very boring and simple character, and the very final conclusion seemed forced and contrived (emotionally speaking).

ufoclub said:

heartbeatocean said:

iZsaZsa said:

I loved the offices of beautifulhandwrittenlettersdotcom. Next time I watch I'll watch for that.

Yeah, me too!