So Unreal

SO UNREAL, a collage of cyber-cinema films narrated by Blondie’s Debbie Harry. For a time, cyberspace, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence were unquantifiable terrors that penetrated many genres of movie-making: teen films (WEIRD SCIENCE, WAR GAMES), science fiction (THE MATRIX, TERMINATOR), horror (THE LAWNMOWER MAN), and thrillers (THE NET, VIRTUOSITY). Some were more mainstream than others; some masterpieces of filmmaking; others B-movies with a lot of character but little depth. But put into context side-by-side, these films gain a whole new layer of meaning.
Stone-cold classics coexist with semi-forgotten flicks in SO UNREAL. The clips are woven together with Kramer’s serene script, full of philosophical and cinephile musings about this bygone era where the saddest thing was to see a robot slowly realize its own inhumanity. SO UNREAL feels like a film fan’s reverie. (ANNA BOGUTSKAYA)