Computer Chess

I've spent the last four weeks trying to figure out what to say about Computer Chess. Much has been made of its retro production values ("don't point the camera into the sun!") and its wry portrait of a nascent nerd culture that nobody realized was about to take over the world.  But what I haven't seen anybody talk about is the clear affection with which Andrew Bujalski approaches his subject: a bunch of barely-out-of-high school "C" programmers who are trying to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence - which, in the 80s, was kind of adorably clunky and mechanical.

It's clear that Bujalski loves these guys. He KNOWS these guys. He's probably sat around in hotel rooms getting stoned with them, back in the days when that's what we did, because internet chatrooms didn't exist.  As someone who literally grew up in that culture, I was excitedly jumping up and down in my seat as I recognized people onscreen who I hadn't thought about in years (I'm still convinced one of the characters is based on Somtow Sucharitkul, but of course I can't prove it.) And it opened up my heart in ways I hadn't expected. And maybe that's why I find it so hard to talk about. I feel something personal in my relationship to this film. It's like a memento I keep in a box in the back of the closet, that I only pull out to look at in private. It's nerd nostalgia at its finest.

The phrase "coming of age" has become really devalued in the film world, since it is generally associated with a bunch of hormonal high schoolers on prom night finally getting laid/assaulting a teacher/discovering their bromantic feelings for one another on the verge of adulthood. This film, thankfully, is none of those things. But it is the portrait of a bunch of smart kids earnestly trying to make a machine think like a human, as they navigate academic politics, the human potential movement, and the halls of the Marriott to try to score points for futurism. If you were avoiding it because you don't like "Mumblecore," do yourself a favor and check it out. This is something special. And it's on Netflix right now.