The Secret Rules of Modern Living: Algorithms (2015)

Algorithms is a pretty cool documentary about an exceptionally dry and technical subject. The host is an energetic British math professor who starts out by playing an algorithmic game with his students outside in the commons; he later explains how to make it so one’s playing partner is always forced to take the sweet pepper as the last item in the jar after all the wrapped candies have been removed by taking turns. He explains how algorithms now form the core of much of modern society’s technology, from organ matching to online dating (lame) to air traffic control. He could do with more examples but the simplicity of his explanations are exemplary. I think you could only do better if the late Richard Feynmann had his own series of documentaries. Here is a dry, eyelid-numbing subject turned alive. 3.5 stars. (4-12-2016, posted 6-27-2016)