[nycbug-talk] way off topic - hacker movies

Wed Jul 16 09:28:25 EDT 2008

Hi All,

So I had this idea for a 'Hacker Movie Marathon Night' for a friend-  
and started making a list of, and thought I'd post the list here for  
comments from people I trust to be technical.

Essentially, the list I made below reflects stuff that I feel has  
*actually* culturally influenced contemporary computing, for better or  
for worse.

I'd love to hear what people here have to add, or comment on- (feel  
free to tell me why something on the list blows).

Rocket-
.ike

--
So here's my criteria for this list of hacker/cyberpunk movies:

+ My list leans towards hacker as artist/protagonist
+ Hacker movies, stuff about computer hackers.
   - hackers in the cracker sense
   - hackers in the oldschool UNIX sense
+ People doing things with the electronic (and biological) extensions  
of man.
+ Hard-Science based, stuff that real hacking, computer science, and  
hard sciences folks jive with.
+ Conceptually important to hacker culture, philosophically
  - Cyberpunk, reality questioning, living in ideas
+ Conceptually important to hacker culture, politically/socially
  - usually corrupt social systems vs anti-facist idealism
+ 'Gotten over it' technology approaches (however fantastic),
   e.g. technology is portrayed as simply an extension of man
+ Geek factor, usually explores themes of isolation through  
individualism
+ The tech on the cinema screen may or may not be metaphorical
+ I love a true story :)

The list Excludes:
- excludes pure sci-fi movies dealing with computing
- excluding heist or other thriller movies, this is a computer hacking  
list- (The Heist, Manchurian Candidate)
- purely dystopic future films, while related, are out (La Jetee',  
Metropolis, I Robot).
- not sci-fi-ish movies about memory and time either, (Eternal  
Sunshine of the Spotless mind, etc...)
- Not AI films about science/computers taking over humankihd, though  
they are DEFINATELY related-
- no stuff that just looks styled like cyberpunk stuff- (Liquid Sky,  
et. al.)
- No robot vs. man fear movies
- !And point blank: some camp in this list, but no embarrassingly  
junky films (e.g. Swordfish).

--
Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation"(1974)
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0071360/

  Enemy of the State (1998, essentially a re-make of Coppola's 'The  
Conversation')
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120660/

Hackers (1995, campy classic)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113243/

The Matrix (1999, THE modern mythos)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/
  The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions
  - both have extremely redeeming qualities worth discussion IMHO,  
aside form the obvious suck

War Games (1983, Matthew Broderick)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/

Sneakers (1992, Robert Redford and totally insane casting)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/

Pi (1998)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0138704/

Serial Experiments: Lain (1998, Japanese TV series, first episode is  
awesome)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0500092/

eXistenZ (1999)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120907/

Tron (1982)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/

Antitrust (2001, cheezy)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218817/

Office Space (1999)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/

Takedown (2000, Kevin Mitnick capture story)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159784/
I want to see this first for accuracy reasons

Ghost In The Shell (1996, Animae, classic but a bit si-fi genre)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113568/

X-Files: "Kill Switch" (1998, Episode 11, Season 5)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0751150/

Weird Science (1985, every hacker/nerd kid's dream)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090305/

Stuff I haven't watched but want to see first:
  The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/

  The Score (2001, Ed Norton and Robert DeNero)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0227445/

  Topkapi (1964)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058672/

  Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113481/

  Code 46 (2007)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345061/

  Strange Days (1995)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/

  Electric Dragon 80.000 V (2001, Star from Ichi The Killer, need I  
say more)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276935/

  Nirvana (1997, supposed to be excellent)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119794/

  Sixteen Tongues (1999, um I dunno... well... it explains a lot about  
hacker culture, but...)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0190008/

  I.K.U. (2000, Android Cyberspace Rave Orgies- nearly porn,  
definately disturbing)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0255233/

  Cyborg 2087 (1966)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060272/

  The Thirteenth Floor (1999 supposed to be awesome)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139809/

  Casshern (2004, Japanese, supposed to be visually stunning- heavy)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405821/

  Cypher (2002, story is like Hitchcock's North by Northwest)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284978/

  Final Cut (2004, Excellent story, bad movie)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364343/

  Fragile Machine (2005, Supposed to be excellent and trippy)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455951/

  Magdalena’s Brain (2006, supposed to be good)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780561/

  One Point O (2004, Supposed to be insanely good- hard to find in US)
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317042/

Videodrome (1983, kindof not really hacker flick, but worth mention)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086541/

--
Definately not worth watching, but technically meet list criteria,  
waste of time crapola:

Cyberpunk (1990 Documentary about William Gibson, sucked- but worth  
mention since he's awesome)
http://www.cyberpunkreview.com/movie/decade/1990-1999/cyberpunk-documentary/

Swordfish (should be fucking burned)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244244/

Recent Die Hard 4 (Crap, ideological hollywood reversal of hacker  
ethics)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337978/

The Net
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113957/plotsummary

Webmaster (1998 junk)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136535/

Avatar (2004)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270841/