The more I think about Machines the more it irks me. It seems so content in its ineffectiveness.

Scattered thoughts:

Keeping in the end sequence where workers challenge the filmmakers is necessary but that seems to be the extent of self-reflection.

It's a strikingly shot film about factory workers with an inherent anti-Modi sentiment which ends less with a rally cry than a weary shrug.

It plays around with anonymity (the 'union boss' anecdote) but then indulges in it: that…

Almost instantly forgettable, Nolan's latest feature might contain some stunning visual sequences but they are squished between mountains of clunky exposition, underwritten characters and cringe-inducing dialogue.

The film takes 45 minutes to actually get started, the Earth-set first act tethered to a very poorly explained future and weirdly simple plan to save it before we actually get into space. When that happens, we find ourselves at a recurring juxtaposition between some of the best visual depictions of deep space ever…

I'm not entirely sure what this film thinks it is, throwing so much shit at the wall and hoping something profound sticks. I do know, though, that without that really good drum score it would have been a whole lot more dull to sit through; we witness the process of the film figuring itself out, messily and unconvincingly over its far too long runtime.

Norton was great, if you want to tackle self-obsession and ego in art and theatre, make…