Cool News
Linklater screens WAKING LIFE and dishes news on A SCANNER DARKLY, BAD NEWS BEARS & Future Sunrises & Sunsets!
Hey folks, Harry here... seems Linklater dropped by a UT Film Class out here last night and made quite the impression. Here ya go...
Hey Harry,
You and I have crossed paths now three times: once at the SKY CAPTAIN screening,
once at the SIN CITY premiere at the Paramount, and then at the UFA Conference a
few days back. Let me just say that it is good to love film and live in Austin.
And why, besides those three events that I just listed and others like them, is
it so great? Because some of the best and brightest working in the industry live
here in town and are helping the blossoming Austin film scene grow into the
legitimate “third coast” of filmmaking.
Of those folks, Richard Linklater is something of the big grandpoppy of it all.
And he happens to be close personal friends of my film history professor here
at UT. So, last night, my class enjoyed a screening of WAKING LIFE, followed by
a rare Q&A with the man himself, Mr. Richard Linklater.
I’ve written up for the
site one of these such events before, and I hope you can use this one too.
This was the first time I’d seen WAKING LIFE since moving to Austin, so
realizing that so many of these locations were so close to where I live and go
to school (the scene with Ryan Power from SNACK AND DRINK, for example, was
shot on the roof of the parking garage next to my dorm) was pretty amazing.
But this movie has been out for four years, so I’ll spare you all my thoughts
on it and move onto what the man had to say:
Most of the questions in the very brief Q&A dealt with his process, since this
was at a film school after all. He described how very collaborative he liked
his work to be, and how he liked feeling a sense of looseness when on the set.
“Film would be very boring for me if you were just rendering your ideas (with)
no deviation.”
When asked about what inspired him to make such a free-form movie as WAKING
LIFE, he seemed pretty nonchalant. He described the film as being a “Kitchen
sink movie,” pieced together from moments that had been dropped from other
films, or little thoughts and ideas or pieces of conversation that he had
always wanted to explore on film but never got to explore. For example, the
scene early in the movie with the car-boat where the passenger gives a
seemingly random series of directions for where to drop of the nameless
protagonist was actually taken from a cut sequence in SLACKER. Remember in the
opening scene of SLACKER, when he’s in the cab talking about how an alternate
reality is created with every decision that is made? In the end of that scene,
he gives the cabbie a seemingly random series of directions, suggesting that
the outcome of the movie is just one possible version of what could happen
next. Or the scene with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. That is indeed supposed
to be their characters in a scene that never came to fruition in either of the
“BEFORE” movies.
Speaking of which, he suggested that there may be further romantic adventures in
store for the two characters. “Maybe we’ll see them again in another five or
seven years... It would be like the SEVEN-UP series.” He said that he and Ethan
talk about the possibility of making it an ongoing series every time they meet.
“The big hurdle was making the first follow-up, and now that we know we can…”
he trailed off with a smile. He also joked that if the characters are to be
revisited in future films, that the stars would probably appreciate it if any
sexual stuff appeared while they were still young and beautiful. I don’t know
if there will ever be a time when those two aren’t beautiful people. The only
trouble I can see with doing a third one is the title. You’ve done BEFORE
SUNRISE and BEFORE SUNSET, so what’s left?
But on the subject of re-visiting characters, somebody brought up the subject of
a DAZED AND CONFUSED sequel. Linklater said “I’ve kicked around the idea before…
they’d all be, what, thirty now?” (paraphrasing) “That movie was about my
experiences in high school, it wasn’t really about a lifetime. Though I guess I
should do my big college movie someday.” The crowd seemed to like the idea.
The subject of A SCANNER DARKLY came up, much to the delight of some in the
audience. Richard started describing the differences between WAKING LIFE and
the upcoming sci-fi film: (paraphrasing) “With WAKING LIFE, we were sort of
doing more of a documentary feel. I just loved the idea of a hand-held animated
movie. With SCANNER, we’ve got a more traditional film set thing going on. We’ve
got techs lighting the sets just like they would any other picture, only we’re
going to paint over it later.”
He also talked about the technical differences on the animation side, saying
that “the software has come a long way” since WAKING LIFE. For example, while
WAKING LIFE was 12 frames per second, SCANNER is 24 frames per second (It’s
interesting, though, that even though this is a primarily digital film, he’s
going for 24 instead of 30), because the technical capacity is “that much
farther down the line.” Also interesting is that he mentioned that SCANNER
would have a consistent visual style from start to finish, saying that where
WAKING LIFE was a series of “cartoon characters,” A SCANNER DARKLY was like a
“moving graphic novel.”
What is it with Austin filmmakers and moving graphic novels?
He also laughed at the fact that BAD NEWS BEARS, which was shot after SCANNER,
would be coming out long beforehand. “Film in general—and animation
specifically—there’s long-term gratification.” Unfortunately, that was all we
got to hear about that one.
When asked about the differences between making a movie like WAKING LIFE or A
SCANNER DARKLY and making a movie like BAD NEWS BEARS, he said that for him the
difference was minimal. “It’s not that different for me. I got up in the
morning, I worked on a movie, went home. They were different movies.”
When asked what draws him to a project, or what makes him want to do a project,
he said with a grin: “I have to feel like I’m getting away with something.
That’s when I know I’m in the right territory.” Somebody brought up Scorsese’s
old line about how he’ll make two for the studios so he could get to make one
for himself, to which Linklater said with a laugh, (paraphrasing) “I can’t
trust them to give me one for myself. So, I take what I can with every one I
do.”
One of the last and most insightful things he had to say before he left was
about how making a movie about dreams seemed only natural. “I think the reason
that cinema is successful, and the reason that cinema has been successful is
that we’ve been seeing films for 100,000 years while we sleep.” He also related
the idea of “lucid dreaming” to being a filmmaker, saying “I do that pretty
naturally—just being aware that you’re dreaming and making decisions… that’s
what directing is, you just make decisions”
Only two major commercial filmmakers have had the opportunity to render,
verbatim, their dreamstate into a film: Linklater with WAKING LIFE and Kurosawa
with DREAMS.
And on the subject of comparing the two, compare this quote of Linklater’s from
last night:
“There’s some writing, there’s some painting, there’s some sculpting in
(cinema). It’s the artform of our time, because it’s an amalgam of all the
other art forms. And yet, it’s important to me to make films that couldn’t be
anything else besides films.”
…with this quote by the master from his autobiography:
“Cinema resembles so many other arts. If cinema has very literary
characteristics, it also has theatrical qualities, a philosophical side,
attributes of painting and sculpture and musical elements. But cinema is, in
the final analysis, cinema."
So, there’s that. Richard Linklater, visionary storyteller and one of the
pioneers of the digital age comes and humbly chats with a room full of
undergrads.
Damn it feels good to be in Austin.
~Leo Boxclocke
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+ Expand All
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Why, then, why? Oh - first? =)
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Keep up the great work Harry
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Well said, cant wait for scanner!
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I don't see any hope for "The Bad News Bears" unless it gets an R rating for launguage... because THAT'S THE WAY 12 YEAR OLDS TALK THESE DAYS! (Hell, that's the way they talked 20 years ago if you want to be perfectly honest.) If this movie isn't AT LEAST as raunchy as "Bad Santa" then I'm afraid it's just time and money wasted once again.
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you know the rest. (but you wish it applied to you in real life, cuz you know no high school girl even looks twice at you anymore...dont cry...life's hard...there's always that slightly overweight 30 something department store clerk who wears glasses and is a closet hornball just wayting for YOU)
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I also think its cute when they post "first".
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Apr 20, 2005 6:23:56 PM CDT
The scene with Woody Harrelson in Scanner Darkly, looks straight
by orionsangels
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What are YOU doing to become famous? The more and more our media-drenched culture develops, the less point there is to doing ANYTHING in life that won't make you famous. Do you realize RIGHT FUCKING NOW some B-list kid on the WB is driving sports cars, doing blow, fucking a model, and will NEVER HAVE TO WORK, EVER????? How can you guys NOT be suicidal over a prospect like that? Take this SITH movie. Not one of you guys is EVER going to have sex with Natalie Portman. But SOME GUY somewhere in the world WILL have sex with her. That inherently makes THAT guy better than you. So why not hate yourself every second of life? Are you older than Hayden Christensen??? I AM. So why are we where WE are, and he is where he is?????? Best of my knowledge, Hayden Christensen does NOT come from acting royalty. We had EVERY chance in life he did, and we fucked it up. IT SUCKS NOT BEING FAMOUS!!!!! IT SUCKS NOT ACTING!!!!! IT SUCKS NOT FUCKING NATALIE PORTMAN!!!!! IT SUCKS NOT DOING COKE!!!!! IT SUCKS NOT BEING RICH???? WHY ARE YOU READING THIS INSTEAD OF AUDITIONING? MOVE TO L.A.! BE AN ACTOR!!!!! EVERYTHING ELSE IS WORTHLESS VOYEURISM!!!!!!
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Linklater is a god in Austin, but nobody else really cares about him. They do a funny send-up of Linklater at www.farceforce5.com.
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"Only two major commercial filmmakers have had the opportunity to render, verbatim, their dreamstate into a film: Linklater with WAKING LIFE and Kurosawa with DREAMS."
You can't make a blanket statement like that since there are many filmmakers throughout the world for over a hundred years that have made films. I'll name a few that have rendered their dreamstates onto film: Tarkovsky, Lynch, Paradjanov, Deren, Fellini, Makhmalbaf.
There are many others, I'm just going off the top of my head. -
I don't know if you were intentionally trying to be funny but your post cracks me up. It has the two main ingridiants of great humor, tragedy and absurdity. First its tragic because you seem so depressed and angry, you lash out at complete strangers and you say life isn't worth living. Then you travel into absurdy when you ask philosophical questions that include Hayden Christinson and actors from the WB. No one knows why anything happens. From the big question WHY religions of evolved, great thinkers have written masterpieces in philosophy, music, literature, and film. Please respond and tell me if this was a joke. Because you act like their is some objective happiness that actors on the WB posses that makes their lives "better" then anyone elses. You think those actors will wake up every morning for the rest of their lives satisfied. No they won't, no one does, everything is relative, the only thing we have is humor and your post is full of it.
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That is all.
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As you say, it was intended to walk a delicate line between actual angst/depression and full-on ironic absurdity. But the fact remains, right now some guy out there is making a movie with Keira Knightley or Lindsay Lohan or who-have-you, making millions, and sleeping with models, and another guy -- say me, us, your average Joe -- is NOT, and has grown complacent in his acceptance of an "average" life without colossal expectations.
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But us "average Joes" weren't blessed with the cheekbones, clear eyes, natural musculatures, and full pouting lips of the average Hollywood pretty boy, who is generally more glamorously feminine than most female actresses of, say, the 1970s. We will never be as pretty as Ashton Kutcher or Freddie Prinze or even Darth Hayden. But we learn to live with our limitations. Nothing wrong with nailing the "average woman" who is befuddled because she doesn't have Lindsay Lohan's tits, or Angelina's lips, or Salma Hayek's Salma Hayek-ness... etc. But it was a funny post nonetheless. DAMN THE MAN!
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Apr 20, 2005 8:35:52 PM CDT
I may never get to fuck Natalie Portman or Keira Knightley
by grandocariissian
but at least I can jack off to their topless pics on the internet. that's enough to keep me going.
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Apr 20, 2005 8:38:57 PM CDT
I have high hopes for The Bad News Bears remake. The criticism
by barry egan
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All these comparisons are reminding me of "Richard Cory" by Simon and Garfunkel.
I hope A Scanner Darkly will be a fun movie. -
i slammed natalie portman last nite.....but then i woke up from the marvelous dream....i went back to sleep, but had the same dream, only this time it was gilbert godfrey...ughh...
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Written by Wiley Wiggins (pinches bridge of nose, exhales and shakes head.....repeats...)
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yup, it does
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make those Before Sunrise/Sunset movies closer together. Get it down from every 10 years, to every 8 hours, and hopefully the banality of the conversations can get so bad Selene just explodes with confused rage on Jesse and asks how the fuck he got that ugly dent in his head. "You didn't have that freakin' thing 10 years ago in Vienna!"
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because I love. But come on, seriously, you have to admit some early Linklater stuff (Dazed and Confused) had about as much pointless, unfunny dialogue as a Kevin Smith movie. Though gotta admit, that last shot in Sunset was probably the best closers to a film in years.
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Apr 21, 2005 2:32:46 AM CDT
Wooderson was one of my dad's best friends in high school
by george newman
Wooderson was my dad's age, and (from the look of his yearbooks) Rick's sisters' age as well. Rick's impressions of a lot of those guys were from the freshman perspective. I suppose he knew them all through being around his older sisters' friends... My Dad had his 30-year high school reunion 2 summers ago and got a pic with wooderson. he's not the looker McConaughey was,, in the pic he's got a huge mustache, cowboy hat and he looks a little drunk....After the official festivities, a large group went out to the tower spot, only to find that it had been taken down and replaced by a concrete slab
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Makes you too damned edgy. Smoking Marlboro Reds, however, is pretty damned cool. Used to be, anyway. Oh, how I miss those days...
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unlike _slacker_, which developed a layered momentum with the variety of perpectives colliding and the narrative focus continually shifting -- simultaneously the film's charm and what it was "about" -- _waking life_ coasted on the technique of photo-realized animation and woozy, undigested "insights" tacked together in a careless, hodge-podge fashion, 'cause, you know, it's like a DREAM! more like a self-ivolved nightmare...once i got over the novelty of the rotosloppy, it was one tedious slog. note that i think _waking life_ is overrated, not linklater, who is an interesting director and who undoubtedly had ther best intentions for this film. maybe he'll realize those intentions with _a scanner darkly_, which might have the advantage of, you know, a plot...
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DEAD ON. That kid's tics are so irritating! Why is it that all the best comedies about teenagers ALWAYS have losers in the lead roles? Michael O'Keefe's Noonan. Brian Backer's Ratner, Judge Reinhold too. Wiley Wiggins, of course. All those movies are ensembles, yeah, but they always have losers in the prominent roles and rely on supporting cast members to carry the film. I am blanking on a few others right now, but think about it. And no, the everyman argument doesn't necessarily work, normal does not mean whiney and dorkish and loser.
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I will, someday, fuck Natalie Portman. Mark my words!
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Consider me duly chastened. But I'm back baby, I'm back!
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