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Computer Chess

Play trailer Poster for Computer Chess Released Jul 17, 2013 1h 31m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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88% Tomatometer 82 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
In the early 1980s, young computer geniuses take part in a tournament to see who can create a program that will enable a computer to beat a human player at chess.
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Computer Chess

Computer Chess

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Critics Consensus

With its delightfully retro production design, Computer Chess is an inventive, intelligent, and humorous comedy that celebrates the eccentricity and uniqueness of its subject.

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Critics Reviews

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Amy Taubin Film Comment Magazine Andrew Bujalski's Computer Chess is bracingly idiosyncratic-and close to perfect. Aug 28, 2019 Full Review J. Hoberman ARTINFO.com A double or maybe a triple nerd-fest, influential independent Andrew Bujalski's typically deadpan Computer Chess is a small movie with a comic novel premise and a near cosmic theme. Feb 22, 2019 Full Review Tara Brady Irish Times Think vintage found footage meets wilfully anachronistic dot matrix art. And then think way, way outside the box. Rated: 5/5 Nov 27, 2013 Full Review Vadim Rizov Filmmaker Magazine Computer Chess is bounded only by the ambitious weirdness of its creator’s willingness to baffle, discombobulate, introduce unexpected new elements. Jan 25, 2023 Full Review Ray Pride Newcity <I>Computer Chess</I>' deep-ecology tech comedy is completely under control, never sacrificing an innate, lovely weirdness. [It] looks like it wasn’t even made, that it just happened, and sat, shedding magnetic flakes on a closet shelf for decades. Rated: 10/10 Jun 4, 2022 Full Review Jeremy Polacek Hyperallergic While relations between actors are delightful, what Bujalski does to link man and computer is clever and singular -- slyly masterful. Jan 31, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member I watched this movie soon after its release on streaming and was stunned by how awful it is. At that time it had something like a 98% fresh rating among critics, which I will never understand. This tedious exercise painstakingly recreates unpleasant VHS-level video of a bunch of unfunny, uninteresting characters in a sad motel. If only the MST3K crew could have had their way with it. It makes Down By Law look like Die Hard. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/24/23 Full Review Audience Member So is it a time capsule, chronicling an era (the early 80s) when computers were on the brink of taking over the world? Or is it a trippy science fiction film about the first and only truly A.I. computer? Or is it making some obscure statement about sex and humanity vs technology? Or is it a quirky "mumblecore" comedy? Well, it seems to be all of those things and more; and it's a movie I enjoy more as time passes. In fact, this one of my favorite independent films. I watch it so often, I'm surprised my wife hasn't thrown my TV out the window. The story is told partially through a faux documentary format and partially via a traditional (though somehow simultaneously atypical) narrative. This throws some people for a loop, hence the complaints from some viewers who felt "taken out of it" when it switched in and out of documentary format. This did not bother me. Another of my favorite films, "The Grand" with Werner Herzog, does something similar and I thought it worked well in both cases. I liked the characters a lot and the setting (a cheap motel) was the perfect little "world" for them to spend a weekend. And I liked spending the weekend WITH them. There's no other movie quite like it. And sometimes it's enough to be shown something new. Talk about "fresh." This movie should be rated fresh because that's precisely what it is. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Not very engaging, interesting or funny. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review harrison r Too plausible to be funny, and otherwise lacked anything else to make it interesting other than the fantastic production choices. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review andrei d It goes places and then it goes some more distant places Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member By no means did I see this as 'hilarious' or even a comedy. I did however think it fascinating as an authentic, dug-up treasure of footage from over thirty years ago at a computer nerd convention. For that I was glad to watch it. Brilliant in many ways, therefore, but NOT hilarious! Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Computer Chess

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the early 1980s, young computer geniuses take part in a tournament to see who can create a program that will enable a computer to beat a human player at chess.
Director
Andrew Bujalski
Producer
Morgan Coy, Scott Colquitt, Andrew Finnigan, Brooke Finnigan
Screenwriter
Andrew Bujalski
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Production Co
Computer Chess
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 17, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 6, 2014
Box Office (Gross USA)
$100.6K
Runtime
1h 31m
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