Werner Herzog has made a documentary about AI and technology

January 26, 2016 11:42 AM

Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World - "With interviewees ranging from Elon Musk to a gaming addict, Werner Herzog presents the web in all its wildness and utopian potential in this dizzying documentary." (via)
posted by kliuless (24 comments total)

“This morning I woke up to terror such as I have never experienced before: I was entirely stripped of feeling. Everything was gone; it was as if I had lost something that had been entrusted to me the previous evening, something I was supposed to take special care of overnight. I was in the position of someone who has been assigned to guard an entire sleeping army, but suddenly finds himself mysteriously blinded, deaf, and effaced. Everything was gone. I was completely empty, without pain, without longing, without love, without warmth and friendship, without anger, without hate. Nothing, nothing was there anymore, and I was left like a suit of armor with no knight inside. I vowed never to ask Siri to beatbox again.”
posted by oulipian at 12:39 PM on January 26, 2016 [17 favorites]

Werner's great and all, but I'm not liking the smell of this one. I'd rather he got back to his core competency of screaming megalomaniacs on remote rivers.
posted by phooky at 12:40 PM on January 26, 2016 [7 favorites]

What do you mean?
posted by Sebmojo at 12:46 PM on January 26, 2016

I'd rather he got back to his core competency of screaming megalomaniacs on remote rivers.

Why not cover both areas and make a documentary about John McAfee?
posted by Cash4Lead at 12:47 PM on January 26, 2016 [51 favorites]

Even lesser Herzog is always surprising and thoughtful and strange. Then again I would watch that guy eat a shoe.
posted by theodolite at 12:47 PM on January 26, 2016 [14 favorites]

Is this available on any of the streaming services?
posted by monospace at 12:52 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

Where and when can I see this.
posted by echocollate at 12:53 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

I've been excited for this ever since I heard it features Werner Herzog in conversation with Ted Nelson. That's going to be bonkers fascinating.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [5 favorites]

Then again I would watch that guy eat a shoe

I wish to state my genuine intention of supporting this Kickstarter, and would like to encourage you to contact Mr. Herzog regarding the details as soon as possible.
posted by aramaic at 1:09 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

I'd rather he got back to his core competency of screaming megalomaniacs on remote rivers.

Did you miss the bit about Elon Musk?
posted by mr_roboto at 1:11 PM on January 26, 2016 [7 favorites]

aramaic, you can already watch the finished product, though I'm sure Herzog wouldn't turn down your money.
posted by hollyholly at 1:11 PM on January 26, 2016 [7 favorites]

Yes, but he cooked those for five hours. Five hours! With spices, no less! That's cheating. I mean, it demonstrates that he has the necessary core competency, but for the aficionado it is something of a paler imitation of true shoe consumption and I think Mr. Herzog could be convinced to complete this great task.
posted by aramaic at 1:16 PM on January 26, 2016

Then again I would watch that guy eat a shoe...

I wish to state my genuine intention of supporting this Kickstarter...

Surely: Kickstaster?
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:19 PM on January 26, 2016 [5 favorites]

And what haunts me, is that in all the comments of all the sites that man ever posted, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of distant regard. To me, there is no such thing as a secret world of the web. And this blank knee-jerk response speaks only of a half-bored interest in infamy. But for our children, this infamy was a friend, a savior. I believe the common denominator of the web is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.
posted by This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things at 1:25 PM on January 26, 2016 [11 favorites]

This is good news, I'm looking forward to it. Thanks for posting.

As happens from time to time, today I had a deep longing to download and play some EVE Online again. When I saw this post that longing deepened. It would make total sense for Herzog to make the documentary about EVE, but it will never happen. It must never happen.
posted by Elmore at 1:25 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]

this infamy was a friend, a savior. I believe the common denominator of the web is not harmony, but chaos, hostility, and murder.

Hahaha.

Oh. You.
posted by innocentsabored at 1:52 PM on January 26, 2016

Werner will make a documentary about anything that interests him. He once dropped in on my neck of the woods.
posted by lagomorphius at 2:39 PM on January 26, 2016

If all the data transmitted online for only one day was burned on to CDs, the pile would stretched to Mars and back.

Oh Grauniad, never change.
posted by shmegegge at 3:29 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]

I've always found his work fascinating even if I have a hard time connecting to his material. Can't wait to see this! Now if we can only get Werner Herzog and David Lynch to collaborate on a movie before either of them die, you might have something incredible. (as long they don't try The Big Lebowski 2)
posted by Muncle at 6:29 PM on January 26, 2016

I press my index finger onto the "mouse", and a strange new page appears, with a nauseating blue background. It is full of quotations apparently concerning my new film, but every one of them is attributed to some absurdly-named persona, each more ridiculous than the last. Can this truly be the new frontier?
posted by uosuaq at 7:58 PM on January 26, 2016 [8 favorites]

Aramaic and Atom Eyes, I get the impression that some of you thought theodolite was speaking hypothetically or merely using a fanciful turn of phrase. If you greatly want to see Werner Herzog eat his shoe, this is not something that requires a Kickstarter or similar funding. It already has happened.
posted by RobotHero at 6:12 AM on January 27, 2016

Now if we can only get Werner Herzog and David Lynch to collaborate on a movie before either of them die, you might have something incredible.

This is also a thing that already happened. I am beginning to suspect that the comments in this thread are retroactively changing our timeline.
posted by theodolite at 7:57 AM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Oh, I'm well aware of that film, RobotHero. I just couldn't resist making a terrible pun.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:02 AM on January 27, 2016

RobotHero: it happened, but it's inadequate for my purposes. I want him to struggle with an uncooked shoe, because the struggle is a key part of the film concept (in my head-canon, I mean).
posted by aramaic at 9:14 AM on January 27, 2016