IGX

I've been on a Phillip K. Dick thing lately reading some of his short stories and renting the movies that have been made of his works. Minority Report for example.
Last night I watched A Scanner Darkly. I had not read this prior and I dont recall hearing anything about it when it came out in 2006.

This was a shugyo-tastic fucking movie. We watched it twice last night. I think it has to be one of Keanu Reeves best roles, Robert Downey Jr. was great and Winona Ryder was most tasty in her comeback role.

A dark comedy/drama about drugs & the government "scanning" the populace to keep them in line. Written in the 1970's it is right on with Bush's policies of spying on us for "National Security"

Have you watched "Impostor" with Gary Sinise? Also very good, and unfairly ignored IMO.

Even my friends who don't normally like "experimental" movies liked "A Scanner Darkly" Downey's method acting practice really prepared him for this role. And Keanu's lack of the ability to seem like he believes in what's going on is a plus here, rather than a minus.

A Scanner Darkly is not my favorite PKD novel. I think the film might actually be more successful than the book. The acting is terrific and the rotoscoping works wonderfully. Waking Life was beautiful, but I thought the film was too sophomoric and inane to watch for longer than 20 minutes. In Scanner the rotoscoping work well with the subject matter.

But the most poignant part of the film for me is the dedication at the end taken from the book. Dick really saw first hand the madness of drug use and was profoundly shaken by its destructive role in his life and the lives of many of his dearest friends.

Tons of good reading, if you like Dick. I'll just mention one of his often over-looked works: Confessions of a Crap Artist. In the 90's, the French made a film based on this novel Confessions d'un Barjo. I've never seen. Have never seen a copy. A DVD transfer has never been made.

On the director of Scanner, Linklater, one of his first films Slacker is great. It is really low-budget and compelling, especially as a document from the 90's. Linklater should have never made Waking Life and just rotoscoped this film and re-released it.

The best thing about Scanner the Movie is that they got the rambling, nihilistic, drop dead funny gallows druggie humor down perfectly. It's not my favorite PKD book (that would be "Valis"), but I thought Linklater and co got the spirit of it. I was amazed that they actually released something so personal and non-commercial to the theaters.