A Scanner Darkly

[Switchfront]

If you haven't heard of this or checked the trailer out yet, do so. Good stuff lies ahead.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/warner_in ... arkly.html

[Tarryk]

That right there is the coolest thing I have ever seen. Heart-attack-causing-sweetness.

[Mummu]

that trailer is somethign different I have to say,
taking rl vidoe and drawing over it, never seen that before, gives some great effect, especially the eyes are looking cool.
is the whole movie that way? doubtful, but would be totally ... weird.

[Zephem]

"A Scanner Darkly" is set in suburban Orange County, California in a future where America has lost the war on drugs. When one reluctant undercover cop (Reeves) is ordered to start spying on his friends, he is launched on a paranoid journey into the absurd, where identities and loyalties are impossible to decode. It is a cautionary tale of drug use based on the novel by Philip K. Dick and his own experiences. "A Scanner Darkly" stars Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder and Rory Cochrane and is written for the screen and directed by Richard Linklater.

Like a graphic novel come to life, "A Scanner Darkly" will use live action photography overlaid with an advanced animation process (interpolated rotoscoping) to create a haunting, highly stylized vision of the future. The technology, first employed in Richard Linklater's 2001 film "Waking Life," has evolved to produce even more emotional impact and detail.

It's somewhat of a cell shaded animation process that they're using in a lot of console games now (Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker). The movie sounds pretty good, but I hope it isn't going to be Keanu Reeves as Constantine in Santa Barbara. Better not say whoa, Keanu.

[Lykeios]

Ok not seen trailer yet, as at work and swamped with work... but will be watching it as soon as I get home...

The only worry I have is that, as someone else said, Keanu will do his usual. Now don't get me wrong I like Keanu Reeve's work but the guy does have a singular style, i.e Matrix - Mahogany, Point Blank - Balsa, Constantine - Pine, need I go on... the guy is as blank and wooden as a tree to put it bluntly.

Now this sometimes works very well, i.e. Bill and Ted / The Matrix, and sometimes just does not work at all e.g. Dracula.

... but whoever thought of casting him as constantine deserves to be shot...

(*sorry bit of a Hellblazer fan and Constantine should never have been American, should not have been dark haired, and really, seriously should not have been Keanu Reeves... )

[Boinky]

OMG this looks terrible! Please anyone look this title up. This is a book by Philip K Dick. It's about drugs, their use and what it can do to some people, and a nice little conspiracy about the government. From what I gather watching the trailer it seems to be turned into some kind of "What is my mind doing, playing tricks on me? Next you'll tell me I take a red pill and see reality"

::PKD rolls around in his grave again::

[Tarryk]

It looks terrible because it's a movie based on a book?

Whew. That makes for a whole slew of instantly-terrible movies on principle alone. Shake-and-bake critical opinions r teh lame mang!

I still say it looks 100% freakin' awesome. If I'm wrong I'm wrong, but I'm anticipating seeing this to know for sure.

[Boinky]

No, I said it looks terrible cause it seems to have taken his whole message, tossed it out of a plane & then rebuilt something they can sell and Keanu can woodenly act. I guess it might not be all bad, cause they probably at least kept some of his wonderfully genius dialogue or situations, but still seems like a train-wreck rushing towards his grave to me.

[Vallikat]

No, I said it looks terrible cause it seems to have taken his whole message, tossed it out of a plane & then rebuilt something they can sell and Keanu can woodenly act. I guess it might not be all bad, cause they probably at least kept some of his wonderfully genius dialogue or situations, but still seems like a train-wreck rushing towards his grave to me.

You got all this from the trailer or do you have some inside view into the script that you're not sharing with us?

Because I have to tell you that one of the things that I liked about the trailer (besides it's pure awesomeness) was that it intrigued me about the movie without giving the whole thing away (which seems to be the way of things these days).

So I'm very curious as to how you know that they "took his whole message, tossed it out of a plane & then rebuilt" it?

[Tarryk]

You're probably 100% correct. Bummer, but...

As it were, I'm probably one of the few people left who don't care when a movie slaughters a book, so long as the movie is good on it's own merits.

I don't know the book, and if it's different than the movie, well, I'm sure it's good, too.

[Boinky]

Well the thing is Valli I know Hollywood would probably not make a movie of this book without altering the message within. It was just about the furthest from Sci-Fi Philip K Dick ever wrote. It was a story of drug users & the government who was simultaneously oppressing them & creating the drugs they were addicted to.

I didn't know anything except the author really when I first read this book, but it was extremely satisfying & also wonderfully different than most of his other works.

[Zephem]

Boinky and I come from the future. Just so you know, Joss Whedon does become emperor of the world. He makes us watch movies featuring Sarah Michelle Geller 24/7. We managed to step away from the television for a few hours every day in order to build our time displacement machine. We are here to warn you about Keanu Reeves and that darn Firefly movie.