122. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (Summer of Spielberg)

Is A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Steven Spielberg’s best movie? It’s certainly his most misunderstood. A.I. Artificial Intelligence is best remembered as a curious Stanley Kubrick project taken over by Spielberg, and the movie does indeed feel like a strange hybrid of the two filmmakers. But that’s part of its magic, because there is no other movie like this.

It’s a movie all about the horror story that is life. Even artificial life. We are cursed by our bodies and brains, folks. Life is a prison. We are in a cage.

But have fun with David (Haley Joel Osment), this child robot who’s out here looking for love, and his best friend Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), who’s also out here looking for love (of a different kind, wink wink). And don’t forget about Teddy (played by himself), an adorable little animatronic bear who stumbles around after David. These three are on a divine quest to talk to God and ask Him what the hell, man.

Watch this episode in full: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Vs9gXxAUNmmX8gJq76hOg

Next week: Ready Player One (2018)!

Time stamps:

00:01:23 — Promo for our Indiana Jones livestream

00:03:00 — Our personal histories with A.I. Artificial Intelligence and our big-picture thoughts on the movie

00:20:57 — History segment: The short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss, which served as the basis of the film; Stanley Kubrick’s long history with the project; Kubrick’s death and Spielberg taking the project over; production of the movie

01:00:26 — In-depth movie discussion

02:17:50 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: 

“Summer of Spielberg” - https://youtu.be/yglAqqLEaoI  

“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM   

“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg  

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ   

“Summer of Spielberg” theme song credits:

Words and music written by Matt Stokes

Performed by Wade Hymel (drums/guitar), Laci Roth (vocals), and Matt Stokes (vocals/guitar/bass)

Produced by TJ Barends, Wade Hymel, and Matt Stokes

Engineered and mixed by TJ Barends at Bare Sounds Studio in Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Sources:

“From Kubrick to Spielberg: The Story of ‘A.I.’” by Tim Greiving | The Ringer (2021) - https://bit.ly/3WuCwWf 

“Regarding Stanley” by Rachel Abramowitz | The Los Angeles Times (2001) - https://lat.ms/3WbbIKh