How about you recommend a movie for ME this time?
April 4, 2024 12:16 PM Subscribe
Hi! I'm that MeFite who likes to recommend movies to people. A friend IRL asked for a highly specific recommendation that actually has me stuck. She asked for "optimistic, not-sad movies about robots for grown-ups." And you know what? Robot movies, it turns out, are usually pessimistic, sad, or for children. Frequently, they are at least two of these things. This request actually has me stuck. Ideas?
"I, Robot" ticks all your boxes.
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:34 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:34 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
Pacific Rim? Not sure if the mechs count as robots?
posted by chuke at 12:36 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
posted by chuke at 12:36 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Also, The Wild Robot is coming to theaters. The books are targeted at kids but with very sophisticated themes.
posted by chuke at 12:39 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
posted by chuke at 12:39 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
It's on the margins of being "for children" (as in, there's nothing explicitly adult in it) and not yet streaming (it's finally getting a wider release next month), but I think Robot Dreams works here. There are a couple of wistful bits but I wouldn't call it sad overall.
posted by edencosmic at 12:40 PM on April 4
posted by edencosmic at 12:40 PM on April 4
Response by poster: Brian & Charles is one of her favorite films. I don't think she likes event-type movies, which further complicates things, so I, Robot and Pacific Rim are out.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:40 PM on April 4
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:40 PM on April 4
I was going to suggest Heartbeeps with Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters, but I just barely remember it, and it looks like reviews are quite poor.
posted by Glinn at 12:41 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
posted by Glinn at 12:41 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Somehwat hilariously, one of the negative reviews on Letterboxd for Heartbeeps is from the director, Allan Arkush: "A fucked this one up. Got it all wrong. Youthful hubris. Wrong tone."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:50 PM on April 4 [12 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:50 PM on April 4 [12 favorites]
Please don't discount Pixar's WALL-E. It's an amazing movie.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:53 PM on April 4 [18 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 12:53 PM on April 4 [18 favorites]
Does Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey fit the bill? Robot Ted and Robot Bill are totally bogus but not in a sad way. Just a mean way.
Making Mr. Right with Ann Magnuson and John Malkovich?
posted by Kitteh at 12:57 PM on April 4 [8 favorites]
Making Mr. Right with Ann Magnuson and John Malkovich?
posted by Kitteh at 12:57 PM on April 4 [8 favorites]
Pushing the literal definition of "robot", Pinocchio (1940) is nominally a kids movie, but it's difficult to think of a more thematically rich kid's movie. And obviously it has a happy ending.
Does it absolutely have to be a movie? The TNG episode Measure of a Man is an all time great episode, and an example of the show at the top of its game. For the purposes of this question, and despite the dark premise and serious theme, it has an ending that is not only happy, but also optimistic.
posted by caek at 12:59 PM on April 4 [5 favorites]
Does it absolutely have to be a movie? The TNG episode Measure of a Man is an all time great episode, and an example of the show at the top of its game. For the purposes of this question, and despite the dark premise and serious theme, it has an ending that is not only happy, but also optimistic.
posted by caek at 12:59 PM on April 4 [5 favorites]
I can only think of things that would meet the letter of the prompt, but not quite the spirit.
Terminator II is probably not what your friend is looking for.
I don't believe Short Circuit is technically a "children's movie" by intent, but probably is one de facto.
Wargames isn't technically about a "robot" (like, an independent cognitive machine that can move around on its own) but is about an artificial intelligence interacting with its creators.
posted by LionIndex at 1:00 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Terminator II is probably not what your friend is looking for.
I don't believe Short Circuit is technically a "children's movie" by intent, but probably is one de facto.
Wargames isn't technically about a "robot" (like, an independent cognitive machine that can move around on its own) but is about an artificial intelligence interacting with its creators.
posted by LionIndex at 1:00 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Would a whimsical dark comedy work for you? If so, there's Pierre Jeunet's Bigbug.
posted by The Half Language Plant at 1:07 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
posted by The Half Language Plant at 1:07 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
Brad Bird wrote the screenplay for Batteries not Included and it's produced by Spielberg.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:10 PM on April 4 [5 favorites]
posted by RonButNotStupid at 1:10 PM on April 4 [5 favorites]
I haven't seen Ich bin dein Mensch (I'm Your Man) and can't tell from the wikipedia plot summary what kind of mood it has, but this FanFare review called it a mix between a romcom and a Dark Mirror episode, so maybe?
posted by trig at 1:17 PM on April 4
posted by trig at 1:17 PM on April 4
Brad Bird, again, The Iron Giant, animation set in Maine in the 1950s. "Widely regarded as a modern animated classic, and one of the greatest animated films ever made."
posted by xaryts at 1:19 PM on April 4 [8 favorites]
posted by xaryts at 1:19 PM on April 4 [8 favorites]
The Iron Giant is a terrific movie, but from what I remember, it is definitely not not sad.
posted by umbú at 1:21 PM on April 4 [28 favorites]
posted by umbú at 1:21 PM on April 4 [28 favorites]
If they make A Psalm for the Wild Built into a movie, that'll be the answer to this question. The book wasn't really my cup of tea (har-har) but I bet a movie will get made.
posted by cocoagirl at 1:45 PM on April 4 [8 favorites]
posted by cocoagirl at 1:45 PM on April 4 [8 favorites]
Robby the Robot in Forbidden Planet (1956). "I rarely use Oxygen myself, it promotes rust"
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:48 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
posted by BobTheScientist at 1:48 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Archetypally, and subconsciously...this individual may just be crying out for Nerd. They should consider binge-watching The IT Crowd! Tell me there's not an amazing amount of optimistic, not-sad robot content in every episode! Feature-length Nerd content also abounds.
posted by circular at 1:53 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
posted by circular at 1:53 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
There's Marvin in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is kind of sad, but the movie isn't. It's not good, either, but well, it has a robot. And then, there's Chappie. I liked Chappie! I don't remember it all that well, but I think although it's violent and dark, it's not unhappy? Maybe? My bar for thinking something is unhappy might be higher than most people though; I sort of take a certain amount of cynical pessimism as the norm.
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:56 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
posted by mygothlaundry at 1:56 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
Nine (2009) has a lot of darkness but also a lot of beauty, and it ends very optimistically.
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:00 PM on April 4
posted by seanmpuckett at 2:00 PM on April 4
After Yang isn't happy, but as you very well know, DoT, heartbreak feels good in a place like this. Funnily enough it reminded me at 40 of the feeling I remember from Short Circuit on VHS.
Lots of sad but intimate/interesting SF works for this but they are all mostly sad/cathartic.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:04 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Lots of sad but intimate/interesting SF works for this but they are all mostly sad/cathartic.
posted by kittensofthenight at 2:04 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Oh yeah, I'm Your Man is a good one! I don't remember it being "sad" -- introspective, certainly, but not tragic.
I was also going to suggest After Yang but I do think that falls too much into "sad" but it's worth a try.
Blank skews slightly more into thriller/horror and while it's not absolutely positive, I wouldn't exactly call it pessimistic either.
I feel like there's another one I'm just not thinking of right now.
posted by edencosmic at 2:13 PM on April 4
I was also going to suggest After Yang but I do think that falls too much into "sad" but it's worth a try.
Blank skews slightly more into thriller/horror and while it's not absolutely positive, I wouldn't exactly call it pessimistic either.
I feel like there's another one I'm just not thinking of right now.
posted by edencosmic at 2:13 PM on April 4
I see Kitteh beat me to it, but I came in to suggest Making Mr. Right (1987), a silly, quirky, low-key, and very 80s SF romcom directed by Susan Seidelman--and I figured it's worth pointing out it's available on Tubi. Its IMDb rating of 5.5 undersells it if its themes are the niche you're looking for or you're nostalgic for 80s malls and/or Miami.
posted by Wobbuffet at 2:14 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
posted by Wobbuffet at 2:14 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
Real Steel was so much better than it needed to be.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:22 PM on April 4 [4 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:22 PM on April 4 [4 favorites]
They're making a TV series based on the Murderbot books, which are not sad but not exactly optimistic.
It has Alexander Skarsgård, so that might be a plus.
posted by signal at 2:25 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
It has Alexander Skarsgård, so that might be a plus.
posted by signal at 2:25 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
The robots are not the supremely central things in them, but:
The parts of 2010 that deal with HAL are positive and optimistic and about how it was never his fault and he is a good boy.
The parts of Moon that deal with Gertie are likewise very positive, but OTOH Kevin Spacey.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:37 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
The parts of 2010 that deal with HAL are positive and optimistic and about how it was never his fault and he is a good boy.
The parts of Moon that deal with Gertie are likewise very positive, but OTOH Kevin Spacey.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 2:37 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
It's true that The Iron Giant is not sad, but it may make you cry a little.
posted by Archer25 at 2:37 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
posted by Archer25 at 2:37 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
+1 for I’m Your Man and WALL-E.
I think After Yang and The Iron Giant, while both great movies, skew more strongly towards the melancholy side of things. But Iron Giant has a happyish ending. Idk for me these both made me ugly-bawl at multiple points.
Big Hero 6?
posted by phonebia at 2:48 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
I think After Yang and The Iron Giant, while both great movies, skew more strongly towards the melancholy side of things. But Iron Giant has a happyish ending. Idk for me these both made me ugly-bawl at multiple points.
Big Hero 6?
posted by phonebia at 2:48 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
Probably not what your friend had in mind but....Weird Science?
Definitely not sad! Most likely full of offensive tropes, stereotypes etc... but my preteen self enjoyed it way back when
Yikes just watched the preview I linked
posted by bahama mama at 3:01 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Definitely not sad! Most likely full of offensive tropes, stereotypes etc... but my preteen self enjoyed it way back when
Yikes just watched the preview I linked
posted by bahama mama at 3:01 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
Electric Dreams is robot-adjacent (it's a sentient computer) but still worth mentioning (and I think, worth watching).
Archive was what I was trying to remember. It's fine. I personally didn't find it sad and the ending doesn't really work but the robot stuff is interesting.
posted by edencosmic at 3:11 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
Archive was what I was trying to remember. It's fine. I personally didn't find it sad and the ending doesn't really work but the robot stuff is interesting.
posted by edencosmic at 3:11 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
Last one, I swear. I Am Mother is worth a look. At least, I apparently liked it.
Also I had no idea I've watched so many movies about robotos.
posted by edencosmic at 3:15 PM on April 4
Also I had no idea I've watched so many movies about robotos.
posted by edencosmic at 3:15 PM on April 4
So, Ich Bin Dein Mensch (I’m Your Man) is wonderful but not a “happy” film in my opinion. The main character’s father has dementia and a painful story arc. The main plot line has comedic elements for sure but overall I found it more introspective and the ending very wistful.
posted by oxisos at 4:24 PM on April 4
posted by oxisos at 4:24 PM on April 4
If your friend is up for anime, the original Ghost In The Machine* is not sad for me, though intensely thought-provoking, beautifully drawn, and scored with music that hails human souls from their bodies. *ONLY with subtitles - the voice acting is sublime.
(I am a bit odd in that the overall feeling I get from it is one of optimism, that both humans and someday-artificial-lifeforms might find ways to coexist and learn to share our world, rather than seeking to destroy each other.)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 5:07 PM on April 4
(I am a bit odd in that the overall feeling I get from it is one of optimism, that both humans and someday-artificial-lifeforms might find ways to coexist and learn to share our world, rather than seeking to destroy each other.)
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 5:07 PM on April 4
Short Circuit and Short Circuit 2?
posted by stormyteal at 5:24 PM on April 4 [5 favorites]
posted by stormyteal at 5:24 PM on April 4 [5 favorites]
…Metropolis, if you squint? I guess the ending is reasonably optimistic, although the one “robot” isn’t really a force for good, and things don’t end well for the robot. So optimism is despite the robot, which maybe isn’t what you’re after.
posted by Suedeltica at 5:24 PM on April 4
posted by Suedeltica at 5:24 PM on April 4
Bicentennial Man probably fails as a suggestion due to the not-sad requirement?
posted by stormyteal at 5:31 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
posted by stormyteal at 5:31 PM on April 4 [2 favorites]
MetaFilter: I fucked this one up. Got it all wrong. Youthful hubris. Wrong tone.
posted by wenestvedt at 5:44 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 5:44 PM on April 4 [3 favorites]
If they have not seen The Last Starfighter, I think it may fit the spirit, if not the letter, of the request.
I came in to recommend Brian & Charles because it is so fun and charming, and because my adult son was so excited to share it with me.
posted by theora55 at 5:56 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
I came in to recommend Brian & Charles because it is so fun and charming, and because my adult son was so excited to share it with me.
posted by theora55 at 5:56 PM on April 4 [1 favorite]
Here are some action suggestions. My question is whether "sad" rules out violence or action films with lots of stress, fighting, death etc. Is that just anger/aggression, or is this anger merely transmuted grief and sadness?
There's the whole genre of killer fighting-robot person (Battle Angel Alita, Ghost in the Shell, etc). If you expand 'robot' a little there is Upgrade (2018), another martial art/action film about a man whose new spine transplant contains personal-assistant AI that takes over his body for 'self defense'.
Are remote controls and other extensions of the body/mind also 'robot', or only when they display self-activation or sentience? Maybe consider Remote (1993) which seems to be a version of Home Alone but with more remote control toys. If you're going for remote control themes there's films about, say, drone warfare or other worrisome robotics. (If you want toys as a technology And prescient anticipation of drone warfare, there's Toys (1992))
posted by panhopticon at 6:50 PM on April 4
There's the whole genre of killer fighting-robot person (Battle Angel Alita, Ghost in the Shell, etc). If you expand 'robot' a little there is Upgrade (2018), another martial art/action film about a man whose new spine transplant contains personal-assistant AI that takes over his body for 'self defense'.
Are remote controls and other extensions of the body/mind also 'robot', or only when they display self-activation or sentience? Maybe consider Remote (1993) which seems to be a version of Home Alone but with more remote control toys. If you're going for remote control themes there's films about, say, drone warfare or other worrisome robotics. (If you want toys as a technology And prescient anticipation of drone warfare, there's Toys (1992))
posted by panhopticon at 6:50 PM on April 4
Best answer: They might consider Everything Beautiful is Far Away.
posted by gudrun at 8:07 PM on April 4
posted by gudrun at 8:07 PM on April 4
eschatfische recommended Robot & Frank and I agree. Of the other films suggested in this thread that I have watched (which is not all of them), none actually fit the specifications laid out.
I don't know the anime world well but maybe there is some recent anime that would suit.
posted by brainwane at 2:19 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
I don't know the anime world well but maybe there is some recent anime that would suit.
posted by brainwane at 2:19 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Time of Eve is an anime of a few short episodes that was also released as a feature length movie, both ways of watching are good. It’s a bunch of vignettes set in the same world where robots and humans look the same so robots have to label themselves as such, and the central setting is a secret coffee shop where that rule is removed; thoughtfulness and nuance ensues.
I have asked my Gundam nerd bestie for grownup not sad robot recs, I’ll get back to you if he has any suggestions. If your friend is up for an anime series and not just a movie, there’s tons to dig into. Not just Gundam. I’d recommend Gargantia on the Verduous Planet, it grapples with a lot of complex grownup stuff and transhumanism and disability rights and cults and wild stuff but is overall uplifting in tone. Also I love the robot designs - if a robot anime has unremarkable robot design it’s not worth watching.
posted by Mizu at 2:42 AM on April 5
I have asked my Gundam nerd bestie for grownup not sad robot recs, I’ll get back to you if he has any suggestions. If your friend is up for an anime series and not just a movie, there’s tons to dig into. Not just Gundam. I’d recommend Gargantia on the Verduous Planet, it grapples with a lot of complex grownup stuff and transhumanism and disability rights and cults and wild stuff but is overall uplifting in tone. Also I love the robot designs - if a robot anime has unremarkable robot design it’s not worth watching.
posted by Mizu at 2:42 AM on April 5
Also, The Wild Robot is coming to theaters. The books are targeted at kids but with very sophisticated themes.
Just want to say that I'm an adult and a bog fan of the Wild Robot books.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:35 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Just want to say that I'm an adult and a bog fan of the Wild Robot books.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 4:35 AM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Robots (2005) is an unfortunately obscure and baffllingly underrated animated movie with lots of humor, some drama but a happy ending.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:29 AM on April 5
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:29 AM on April 5
I remember Batteries Not Included as being fairly upbeat... Does that count as robots?
Edit: Ron But Not Stupid has this one already. Even so.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 3:18 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Edit: Ron But Not Stupid has this one already. Even so.
posted by Pickman's Next Top Model at 3:18 PM on April 5 [1 favorite]
Oh did anyone mention Toys yet? 1992, starring Robin Williams. Surreal and brilliant, criminally panned during release.
posted by Mizu at 9:19 PM on April 5
posted by Mizu at 9:19 PM on April 5
Ex Machina?
Does very well on the "movies about robots for grown-ups" scale.
The "optimistic, not-sad" is a little complicated... it's optimistic from one particular viewpoint.
I should mention this was #1 on a IMDB keyword search for robots-as-pathos.
posted by alikins at 4:25 PM on April 15
Does very well on the "movies about robots for grown-ups" scale.
The "optimistic, not-sad" is a little complicated... it's optimistic from one particular viewpoint.
I should mention this was #1 on a IMDB keyword search for robots-as-pathos.
posted by alikins at 4:25 PM on April 15
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posted by eschatfische at 12:30 PM on April 4 [7 favorites]