COMPUTER CHESS (15) 2013 BUJALSKI, ANDREW £17.99
Spoof documentary following a group of computer chess programmers as they meet up to test their software against one another.
The fourth feature film from the brilliant and maverick American
filmmaker Andrew Bujalski, whose previous works include Funny Ha Ha (the
early ‘00s film that arguably kicked-off the so-called “mumblecore”
movement of American independent cinema), Mutual Appreciation (an
acclaimed comic portrait of love and longing in the Brooklyn indie music
scene), and Beeswax (which among its principals starred Alex Karpovsky,
the filmmaker and actor who has gone on to renown for his own comedy
features and his role in Lena Dunham’s Girls).
A boldly intelligent ensemble comedy with a feel and atmosphere that
surpass easy comparison, Computer Chess takes place in the early-1980s
over the course of a weekend conference where a group of obsessive
software programmers have convened to pit their latest refinements in
machine-chess and the still-developing field of artificial intelligence
(AI) against an assembly of human chess masters. Computer Chess is a
portrait not only of the crazy and surreal relationships that come to
pass between the abundance of characters who participate in the weekend
event (and among whose ranks include Wiley Wiggins, the revered
indie-game developer and star of Richard Linklater’s classic Dazed and
Confused), but of the very era of early computing itself – and of the
first, rudimentary video games – and (if that weren’t enough) of the
hopes and insecurities that persisted through the film’s “retro” digital
age into the present-day — that semi-virtual, hyper-social,
maybe-kind-of-dehumanised landscape that, let’s face it, is our very own
era. If that still weren’t enough: it’s also one of the wittiest, most
shift-and-cringe-in-your-seat, and entirely LOL-hilarious movies of
recent times.
With its radical retro video aesthetic and wry rumination on
digitality and where-we-are-today, Computer Chess is a far-reaching and
ambitious benchmark for the modern American cinema. The Masters of
Cinema Series is proud to present Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess in
its UK home-viewing debut in a Dual Format (Blu-ray + DVD) release.
2 DISC DUAL FORMAT DVD & BLU RAY
More about the film -
COMPUTER CHESS, the smash indie-hit selected by the 2013 London Film
Festival, 2013 Sundance Festival, 2013 South by Southwest, and 2013
Berlin Film Festival. Directed by the “godfather” of the American
“mumblecore” movement, Andrew Bujalski, director of Funny Ha Ha, Mutual
Appreciation, and Beeswax – and selected by The New York Times this
summer as one of 20 Directors to Watch, Computer Chess is poignant,
absurd and downright hilarious. Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess
follows the trials and tribulations of a group of oddball geniuses over
the weekend of a computer chess tournament circa 1980. As they pit their
chess programmes against each other’s they’re met with right-on
new-agers, voracious swingers and a computer that appears to be self
aware…
Computer Chess transports viewers to that fleeting moment when the
contest between man and machine seemed a little more up for grabs. We
get to know the eccentric geniuses possessed of the vision to teach a
metal box to defeat man, literally, at his own game, laying the
groundwork for artificial intelligence as we know it.
Released as a Dual Format (Blu-ray & DVD) edition as part of
Eureka! Entertainment’s award-winning The Masters of Cinema Series on 20
January 2014.
SPECIAL FEATURES
• 1080p presentation of the feature film on the Blu-ray
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• Two trailers for the film
• Andrew Bujalski’s short 2013 film Analog Goose
• New and exclusive video interviews with Bujalski, actor Wiley Wiggins, and producer Alex Lipschultz
• 56-PAGE FULL-COLOUR BOOKLET featuring a new essay by Craig Keller; a
discussion on retro gaming with Wiley Wiggins; a profile on cover
artist (and original Atari 2600 packaging artist) Cliff Spohn; a
plethora of full-colour photography from the set; and more!
DVD AVAILABLE TO BUY AT
http://www.worldonlinecinema.com/Home/new-english-language-films-on-dvd