9 Movies Every Data Scientist Should Watch

I have been a movie buff all my life.

I have watched almost all the top 250 movies from IMDB and every decent movie from my favourite genres.

Now, you may ask me how data science and movies are related.

Watch my episode on the same topic on YouTube here.

Well, there are a few worth-watching movies on science & technology, like biographies, real-life events, sci-fi et Cetra.

Today, I would like to talk about 9 movies every data scientist should watch.

Please note, that these movies are not specific to data science, and I am covering them in chronological order.

First one in the list is ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’.

This film is a 1968 science fiction, produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick.

With a computer named HAL, the plot follows a voyage to the Jupiter, after the discovery of an alien monolith.

This film deals with themes of human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential films ever made.

Second movie that you should watch is ‘A Beautiful Mind’.

This film is a 2001 biographical drama, directed by Ron Howard.

It is based on the life of the American mathematician John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics, and Abel Prize winner.

The plot covers Nash’s achievements in the field of Mathematics, despite suffering from serious mental disorder.

The film was well received by critics, but has been criticized, for its inaccurate portrayal of, some aspects of Nash’s life.

The third movie in my list is ‘Minority Report’.

This film is a 2002 science fiction, directed by Steven Spielberg, and loosely based on the 1956 short story, with the same name.

The plot is set in the year 2054, where PreCrime, a specialized police department, apprehends criminals based on foreknowledge of the crimes to be committed.

The film’s central theme is the question of ‘free-will’ versus ‘determinism’. It examines whether free-will can exist if the future is known in advance.

It was one of the best-reviewed films of 2002 and was nominated for several awards.

Next movie that I recommend is ‘Moneyball’.

This film is a 2011 biographical sports drama, directed by Bennett Miller.

The plot covers a baseball team’s 2002 season where their general manager attempts to assemble a competitive team.

In the film, the manager faced with the limited budget for players, builds a team of undervalued talent by taking a sophisticated sabermetric approach, to scouting and analyzing players.

It achieved box office success and critical acclaim, particularly for its acting and screenplay.

Fifth movie in my list is ‘Her’.

This film is a 2013 science-fiction romantic drama, written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze.

The plot follows a man who develops a relationship, with an artificially intelligent virtual assistant, personified through a female voice.

The film received numerous awards and nominations.

In a 2016 BBC poll of 177 critics around the world, it was voted the 84th-greatest film since 2000.

Another movie that I would like to mention is ‘Interstellar’.

This film is a 2014 epic science fiction, directed, co-written and co-produced by Christopher Nolan.

Set in a dystopian future where humanity is struggling to survive, the plot follows a group of astronauts, who travel through a wormhole near Saturn, in search of a new home for humanity.

Interstellar received positive reviews for its screenplay, direction, visual effects, musical score and acting.

Seventh movie that I would like you to watch is ‘The Theory of Everything’.

This film is a 2014 biographical romantic drama, directed by James Marsh.

Set at the University of Cambridge, it details the life of the theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking.

This film is mainly about Jane Hawking, who deals with her relationship with ex-husband Stephen Hawking, his diagnosis of nervous system disease, and his success in the field of physics.

The film received positive reviews, with praise for the musical score, cinematography, and the performances of protagonists.

Next movie in my list is ‘The Imitation Game’.

This film is a 2014 historical drama, directed by Morten Tyldum.

The plot revolves around the life of a British cryptanalyst Alan Turing, who decrypted German intelligence messages, for the British government during the 2nd World War.

The title of the film quotes the name of the game Alan Turing proposed for answering the question “Can machines think?”

The film was criticized by some for its inaccurate portrayal of historical events, and for downplaying Turing’s homosexuality.

However, the LGBT community honoured it, for bringing Turing’s legacy to a wider audience, with its subtle and realistic approach.

The last movie that you should consider to watch is ‘Blade Runner 2049’.

This film is a 2017 science fiction, directed by Denis Villeneuve.

As a sequel to the 1982 film Blade Runner, it narrates the story of synthetic humans known as replicants.

In the film, Nexus-9 replicant known as “blade runner”, uncovers a secret that threatens to destabilize society and the course of civilization.

The film was praised by critics for its performances, direction, cinematography, musical score, production design, visual effects, and faithfulness to the original film.

So this is my list of movies every data scientist should watch.

Did you like this compilation? Let me know in the comments section.

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Ankit Rathi is an AI architect, published author & well-known speaker. His interest lies primarily in building end-to-end AI applications/products following best practices of Data Engineering and Architecture.

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