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Massawyrm Says SCANNER DARKLY Is "Just Plain Fucked Up" (But That's A Good Thing)!!
Hola all. Massawyrm here.
You know, I've been pretty brutalized over the years by my local buddies for just not liking Waking Life. And what can I say? I didn't like it. I thought it was inventive as all hell, a pleasure to look at and a solid piece of art. But philosophy is a tricky thing.
Injecting strong philosophical exposition into a film is extremely tough.
You either lose the bulk of your audience when going far over their heads by requiring a philosophical background to understand the piece, or you simply bore the students of philosophy by catching the audience up to speed by providing a retread of Philosophy 101. For me, Waking Life was the latter - a film I'm certain those who haven't spent years with their nose in philosophy texts found enlightening, but me, having squandered my prime college philandering years doing so, found dull as dirt.
One of the key problems with this is that Philosophy is currently in something of a dead zone. The last great revolution, existentialism, has long since passed and been worked as far as the equation will allow. All of its forefathers have passed and what we're left with is the minutia of defining terms and explaining subsets of subsets of philosophical thought. In fact, the only remotely exciting original thought and arguments in this day and age stem from science fiction, or more appropriately when used correctly, speculative fiction.
While Sci-fi certainly has its share of space battles, alien races and seemingly magical technological advancements, that's not why it is so wildly popular. Science fiction is the last bastion of freely dispersed, original philosophical thought. It is the great ethical 'what if' genre. Questions like 'What makes us human' pervades every bit of Asimov's and Bradbury's Artificial Intelligence literature.
William Gibson addressed the issues of intellectual property in a world where copying and transmitting something no longer required the resources we were accustomed to - a full decade before most people even knew what the internet was and two decades before it would become a huge legal battle with arguments of ethics on both sides. And when Heinlein put us at war with insectoid invaders, he didn't do it just because he thought it would be cool to read about guys in power suits fighting bugs - he did it because he was posing the values of properly run fascism, asking 'In the face of unthinking foreign invaders, would not Fascism be the best system to deal with it? And doesn't that make it the best system now?'
On the flip side of Heinlein was an anti-establishment speculative fiction writer by the name of Philip K. Dick - a man whose writing questioned the growing fascist ideals in this country (in the 60's and 70's) and posited in his literature the potential outcomes and ethical problems that were brewing because of it (both then and now.) Dick tied quite a bit of this in with his other passion - a complete distaste for the growing drug culture that he saw destroying many of his friends and contemporaries. One of his greatest works on these themes was a story titled 'A Scanner Darkly.' And this is exactly what Richard Linklater has attempted to bring to the screen with his second foray into intellectual animation.
This time, he absolutely succeeds. Everything Linklater grasped at with Waking Life, he accomplishes successfully here. Based upon a book that was published nearly three decades ago, the ideas are far from new, and yet Linklater injects new blood into it, perfectly positing Dick's question 'How long will it take of spying on ourselves before one man is actually, literally, required to spy on himself?' The answer to that question proves to be just as paranoid, darkly comical and just plain fucked up as its source material. This is true, speculative Sci-fi at it's best, a modern think piece meant to stimulate the juices in your brain to a fever pitch. It is a twisted bundle of nerves pulled out of the top of your spine and poked repeatedly by a sharp metal object. Imagine, if you will, an animated Requiem for a Dream and you begin to get a grasp for the frenetic, emotional, psychotic mood of Scanner Darkly.
Linklater's an interesting cat. He's one of those guys that simply refuses to abandon experimental, independent cinema while heeding the call for commercial success. I absolutely love a solid half of his films while really disliking the other half - and what's odd is that I don't specifically love either his independent work, or his studio work, as a whole. I love and detest certain films from both bodies of work equally. But despite the fact that Linklater is very hit or miss with me, I absolutely respect what he's doing as an artist. He has a unique vision, a definite philosophy to the way he makes films and what material he chooses.
With A Scanner Darkly, he makes an interesting artistic choice that many are going to question over and over again. In a thousand reviews and in a thousand different voices, people are going to ask 'Why the hell is this animated?' Because it didn't need to be. So why was it animated? Because Linklater said so. It was his artistic choice, the pallet he chose to paint with. And personally, I love the choice. Sure, he could have chosen any number of special effects tricks to pull off the stranger, more hallucinatory effects and scenes in the film - but he didn't. He wanted to make a cartoon for adults that had a look and feel that is entirely Linklater's.
And that's where people are going to get off the bus for this one. Because A Scanner Darkly isn't for everyone. It's not an action film. It's not a tense sci-fi on the run thriller. It's not the Matrix, V for Vendetta or Blade Runner. It's its own little beast. Set in a world a scant 7 years in the future, this isn't a gritty piece of cyberpunk - it is very much set in our own world with a few, wondrous technological advancements. People still drive shitty, beat up cars and live in run down, homogenized tract homes overrun with crabgrass. They just happen to be on a brand new, top of the line drug while they do it. And being a film about junkies, this all works very well indeed. The grit, the grime and the surreal imagery all play perfectly into the realm of this kind of fiction, and Linklater's animation accentuates that even further.
A Scanner Darkly is a talk piece, a think piece, not at all the type of film you'd expect to be mixed with summer fare. If the closest thing you've ever come to knowing Philip K. Dick is Blade Runner, then man, do you have a surprise coming. Dick's work was paranoid, frenetic, mind bending and more often than not, pretty fucked up. And that all shows up here. This is the single most faithful adaptation of Dick's work to date. I won't say best - I dig the hell out of this film, but it's no Blade Runner. But it's a damn fine film and really gets everything that we love about PKD across.
The casting, however, is gonna be a mixed bag for some folks. Keanu's solid here, in fact, pretty perfect for the role of a "Burnt out husk" of a man, but many already are having a hard time getting past his monologues being a bit too "Matrix-y." Likewise, Winona Ryder is great, but not given very much to do at all. Conversely, Robert Downey Jr. and Woody Harrelson absolutely steal the show. All obvious jokes aside, can you honestly think of two guys better for the roles of tweaking junkies than two guys who are publicly known to have run in those circles? Talk about guys who have tons of personal experience to draw from - they know firsthand the cadence and delivery of drug addled logic spilled out over a coffee table of mixed drugs. And man do they sell it. They're both equal parts hilarious and Oh God, don't leave me alone with this guy, he freaks me the fuck out. The infamous 18 Speed Bicycle scene alone (adapted perfectly from the book btw) is worth the price of admission alone.
All in all, A Scanner Darkly is a fantastic work of speculative fiction and exactly the type of film PKD fans have been clamoring for for ages. If the idea of a cerebral mind fuck of a drug film sounds like your cup of tea, this comes HIGHLY recommended. However, if watching the trailers has you amped up for something tense, fast paced and more akin to the actiony sci-fi films, this film ain't for you. It's slow, mostly comprised of conversations and might prove just a bit too kooky and quirky for you. This is an "Over Coffee" movie, the kind that you should plan to sit with some friends afterwards and discuss. Far from the easily digestible films playing in the theatres adjacent to it, this, if nothing else, will find a cult following that will praise it highly and keep it on their DVD shelves for years to come. Others just won't get what all the fuss was about.
Until next time friends, smoke 'em if ya got 'em. I know I will.
Massawyrm
Got something for the Wyrm? Mail it here.
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Now I'll go back and read the article
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Since Requiem involved more than sitting and talking, I disagree.
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I could've done without the over indulgence of thoughts on Waking Life.
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The only problem with Dick's fiction is that so much of it involves an apocalypse. Guess it's a product of the times, but it kinda drags down the other (unique) ideas that is part of it.
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...at least they are using my favorite M83 song in the TV spots.
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I checked my local showtimes for tomorrow to see which theater was playing it and didn't see it anywhere. Figures. This has been, hands down, the most disappointing summer of movies and the ONE AND ONLY FILM I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO ISN'T EVEN PLAYING NEAR ME!!!!
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"Dick tied quite a bit of this in with his other passion - a complete distaste for the growing drug culture that he saw destroying many of his friends and contemporaries."
Do your research Massawyrm, Dick was a drug addict himself. So I really don't think he had a distaste for the drug culture. -
according to boxofficemojo, Scanner Darkly is only showing in 17 theaters in the U.S. this Friday. On July 14th it will expand another 25(?) theaters and on July 28th it will expand even further.
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Uhm, I have read countless philosophical texts and I really liked Waking Life. Also, existentialism is an equation? Really? and it has been pushed as far as it can go? Oh and it was the last great philosophical revolution? I see, post modernism didn't really tickle your fancy I suppose, me neither but I wouldn't discount it as anything less than a philosophical movement. I could question almost everything you have thus far posted, as it is all quite fallacious, but that would be pointless and boring.
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...what - do you knuckleheads get paid by the letter?
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with hardly any screens no-one will see it. I can smell the SR desperation from here. It needs a billion screenings a day, but this gets 17. Yeah right.
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I wouldn't exactly compare it that closely to Requiem for a Dream. And "Motherfraker" no it wouldn't be a 10 speed bike, because that's part of the joke in the movie.
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((Fucking return key)) See you in line, fanboys & fangirls! Who's got the herb?
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I've got high hopes for this one, and it looks to be right up my alley. Also, Massawyrm, I didn't care too much for Waking Life originally, either. But on a 2nd viewing I came to appreciate it, and on 3rd viewing I full on enjoyed it. Maybe give it another look if you haven't already.
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Seems like Massawyrm had a good reason to be bored by Waking Life; but I'll bet a lot of people secretly reject the film just because they didn't like being called lazy chimps by that old Nietzsche-reading dude in the bar. *Votes for Massawyrm in the "who would you blow" poll* Embrace Mercerism!
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Have you read the fucking book?
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Name me one ground breaking science fiction novel that came out in the 90ies or 00s. I dare you.
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..explains his long-windedness. Now how to explain his poor grammar?
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Jul 06, 2006 10:57:50 AM CDT
Sounds alot like "Angel Heart", except with a wild drug
by excaliburffolkes
subtext instead of a devil worshipping/voodoo one. Certainly seems to have the same big plot twist.
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Good call. What's this guy thinking, existentialism is the last philisophical movement? Postmodernism is only visible in just about any movie you see these days. Hell, its seeped into just about every facet of our lives. Massa, read some Derrida or some Focault. You betray your own ignorance, it's obvious that you know little about philosophy. Don't criticize a movie for being beneath you intellectually when it's not. Just be honest about why you didn't like it (too pretentious, too little structure, too self-indulgent, too whatever, but at least be honest). A Scanner Darkly looks like it's gonna kick some ass.
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Forgive me if someone already posted this but I think Massa's facts are screwed up. Didn't PKD in fact do drugs heavily and even die as a direct result?
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Not only pseudo-philosophy for the sake of sounding deep and smart. Downey and Harrelson sound promising.Funny thing, I think LazeeBastard still thinks he is fighting the dark first side, when in fact he is on his path to becoming Darth Primus.
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I mentioned it above, but yeah, he did alot of drugs throughout his life. It was a big problem for him. If he had any "distaste" it was for the "war on drugs" and the way that society treated drug addicts.
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I love good hard Sci-Fi. There's so little of it being produced out there now that I usually find it at the used bookstore. There are many gems to be found in Sci-Fi anthologies from the 50's and 60's. Great examples of true imagination. I see reading these stories as being like mental weightlifting - the more you use your imagination, the stronger it gets. *** BTW - One of the best mostly hard Sci-Fi stories going today is the Ghost in the Shell TV series.
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Pattern Recognition. The fact that it's set in the present day is why it's so groundbreaking as speculative fiction: the idea that incredible sci-fi concepts have already arrived, at least within internet subcultures.
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You took Philosophy 101... but you never took L.S.D., eh?
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Existentialism is the last great revolution? Cargill, you're about as deep as a bowl of Crunch Berries. Waking Life was a brilliant take on the subject matter in question. I have it on good authority that you squandered your prime college years loitering at Jim's, getting 'turned down' by the locals...
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I mean, if you are going to alter the story significally then keep altering, call it differently and leave it to those wanting to tell that exact story. The mainstream doesn
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http://jimhull.atspace.com/HeinleinAndTroopers.html
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If by "stimulate the juices in your brain to a fever pitch" you mean "put you to sleep," then I agree completely. Also if it being a "cerebral mind fuck" means it fucks your mind by boring you to death with nonsensical conversations to show how crazy and trippy the annoying, badly acted characters are, then you are dead on. Actually, I'm glad Massawyrm liked it. I could see small traces of an interesting movie scattered here and there and I actually do agree with him that while most people will be bored shitless, a very small cult following will love it. And those are mostly the people who Linklater was making the movie for anyway. I guess I'm just a chump because I'm with the masses who will prefer Bad News Bears.
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...many other less self-infatuated "philosophical" films. like _dude, where's my car?_..._scanner_, on the other hand, and m. downey in particular, have been singled out by the mighty j. hoberman, still allowed to expound at truncated length in the new-times-ified village voice, thusly: "Downey...delivers the most animated performance. (Midway through 2006, this supporting turn is the performance to beat in what seems the year's American movie to beat.)" will downey wear a scramble suit to the oscars? join me here again in nine months and share in the contempt as we watch this film not even get an animation nomination. meantime, please join me in taking some black pyramid acid and let us go, then, you and i, and check this bad boy out. linklater, rather surprisingly to me, has emerged as one of the most important american filmmakers. good looking out, ricky.
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The conspiratards over at InfoWars are promoting the hell out of this (that Linklater/Austin connection). If this film stiffs at the box office, what are the chances that they will claim it's because Americans are stupid and that the government/MSM is intentionally keeping us from discovering the "truth"? So, be on the lookout for the likes of pockybot, AGEIIX, and Ginger Twit.
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Americans ARE stupid and the government IS intentionally keeping us from discovering the "truth." The apocalypse has been in effect. Go get a late pass.
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... X3 kicked ass, so I don't know what you mean when you say this summer has been disappointing.
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I'm talking about the excuse they will offer as to why the movie may bomb. They're whoring the movie. You see, genius? And whenever I read TB handles such as "Jar Jar 4 Prez", I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Americans are stupid.
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I came on to AICN to read the bitching, back-stabbing, ill-informed, sniping at each other talkbackers. Instead, I get existentialism, philosophy and postmodernism!!! I demand that normal service be resumed at once and something or someone be decried as either gay, stupid or just plain crap!! Oh and I'm looking forward to seeing this when it arrives over here.
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Well, if you believe it then it's not an excuse--it's a REASON. I assume that you're an American as well.
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Bring intelligence and integrity back to the White House!
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To the philosophy guys: I love how you guys took the phrase "Great Revolution" and changed it to the word movement so you could make an argument that made you look smarter than me. Awesome! But postmodernism is hardly the "Great Revolution" that existentialism was. Hey tuck that in...your psudointellectualism is showing****Mr Nice Gaius, of course Infowars is pimping this, Alex is in the movie.***And to the PKD Guys, hell yeah Dick was heavily immersed into the culture...until he watched friends lose their minds and lives, and began to take up the literary cause against it. I never said he was good at staying off the drugs.
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"Alex is in the movie". I thought that was the case. Considering he was also in "Waking Life", it makes sense. -Cheers-
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'Bring intelligence and integrity back to the White House!' I'd like to thank you for resuming normal service however I think you might have a point with the above statement.. but only if Daffy Duck is his running mate. After all someone on the ticket has to have some level of international credibility.
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Let me just say that I'm hoping this film is worthwhile. -- Now, a REASON this might bomb is because it's just flat-out not a good flick. An EXCUSE would be that it bombed because the government exerted pressure on the mainstream media out of fear of the film's subject matter.
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Anybody going to point out that Heinlein was not a fascist? Or that Starship Troopers was not a call for fascism? Or that what Heinlein describes in Starship Troopers is not even close to the definition of fascism? (As whacked out a system as the one described might have beenI didnt think so.) I thought the guy that wrote this review claimed to be conservative.
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Until then I'll just be a Maneudo intellectual. Seriously, the mere fact that they chose to animate this sucker is enough to dissuade many NOT to see this. It's got its built-in geek audience but surely they realize that they won't have a massive hit on their hands. You have to respect the Link-meister here. He absolutely refuses to be defined and categorized as a director.
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has this movie been delayed? i remember seeing the trailer attached to "the jacket" w/ adrian brody.
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So are you saying that the government doesn't exert pressure on the mainstream media?
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Absolutely not. But are you familiar at all with InfoWars? Are you aware of any of their claims? All I'm saying is that they have a personal interest in the film. Should the movie not do well and/or get panned, it will not surprise me if they resort to their global conspiracy agenda. Does this make sense to you?
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I went to the screening here in NYC at the sunshine cinemas last night and I have to strongly disagree with this review. This movie seemed rushed and through the long winded banter arrived at nothing. The cute animation got boring after 20 minutes and the characters were boring and uninspired. I felt the screenplay lack any spark or proper pace. I do not suggest this movie to anyone Satre or Not this was a pieced of nicely arapped up fluff. Do not be fooled by big words it was a small mined movie.
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I went to the screening here in NYC at the Sunshine cinemas last night and I have to strongly disagree with this review. This movie seemed rushed and the long winded banter arrived at nothing. The cute animation got boring after 20 minutes and the characters were tired and uninspired. I felt the screenplay lacked any spark or proper pace. I do not suggest this movie to anyone Sartre or Not this was a pieced of nicely wrapped up fluff. Do not be fooled by big words it was a small minded movie. Remember when you walk out of the theater all pissed off and cheated you were warned!
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Why would anyone want to make themselves seem smarter than you? Who really cares about that? I was just pointing out a few things that made me think "this guy doesn't know what the hell he is on about". I could have continued and moved on from the philosophical stuff to your hilariously vapid section regarding SF, but what's the point?
I'm losing valuable time that could otherwise be devoted to balancing this here pen on me nose (thats right!). Oh well, you don't know much about philosophy, but at least you know about...hehe, I was about to say films. Oh well, nevermind. Ciao! -
is that there are nearly 50 posts in the talkback, and no one has yet commented on Winona Ryder's fabulous animated titties.
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and I don't think philosophy is in a rut at all. Read Hyperspace or the Tao of Physics to see where 21st Century thinking is going. Western philosophy hasn't had any new movements (it's constipated?) its just integrated its studies with quantum physics and asian religous philosopy.
I did think Waking Life was dull as shit though. But I'm excited for this film, I love Dick. In fact my two favourite writers are PK Dick and M Moorecock which is ironic really. -
"Name me one ground breaking science fiction novel that came out in the 90ies or 00s. I dare you."
I found Hyperion by Dan Simmons (1990) to be pretty ground breaking for sci-fi and his follow up series starting with Illium (2005?) which I haven't read is supposed to be equally 'ground breaking'. -
In response to the talkbacker who asked anyone to name some good science fiction from the 1990s and 200s: I'm not a big sci-fi buff, but found books by Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, Diamond Age) and William Gibson (Neuromancer) to be quite entertaining. I'm surprised no one mentioned these guys yet.
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That makes me smile. And if you guys want to read some pretty imaginative SF, check out John Varley or David Feintuch. The Seafort Saga rocks!
Wish to God this movie would play within two hundred miles of where I live, but that would probably be too much to ask. We didn't even get "Munich" around here when it came out, had to drive to KC to see it. Fucked up. -
Way to condescend! Have you really read countless works on philosophy? Really? Because I've got a feeling I can count up to the number of philosophy books that you've read.
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Balanced and honest from a guy who knows what he's taliking about here. Hopefully this will be succesfull and we'll see more PKD works (Now Wait For Last Year, Flow My Tears, UBIK!!! etc) adapted properly. I'll be in the queue for this on opening day.
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Anything by Peter F. Hamilton. When you first read him, he reads like any other sci-fi writer. Then you realise that this guy is probably one of the best writers at creating feasible speculative societies. He takes a a few major speculative technological achievements like human cell regeneration or wormholes, then builds epic human societies including intricate economies and different social groupings for his tightly woven, absorbing plots to take place.
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Sure, I put in a comment a couple of hours before you did. Page up a couple of times...
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...that, yes, PKD was heavily into drugs, but in the afterword to A Scanner Darkly he actually did a little PSA on the evils of them - as Massawyrm states, particularly with regard to his friends and family - and his regrets. Maybe that was a posthumous afterword written by a fan of his, but I think it is an accurate summation of his feelings.
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This was so well done, everything i wanted it to be. Keanu & Winona were SO not good at the drug-talk. No one mentions Rory Cochrane's performance, just as whacked out as Woody and Downey's. I miss PKD
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What a mindfuck, but a great one at that. And I agree Topaz4206 that Rory Cochran was just as good as Harrelson and Downey. I didn't mind Ryder and Reeves, although they sort of paled next to the other three.
Bring on the HD-DVD! -
perhaps I was a little harsh in my critique of your critique of Waking Life. However, I do believe you were being disingenuous in saying that, essentially, Waking Life was beneath you. I have had many conversations with friends more versed in philosophy than I am about that film. While we were able to pinpoint the general theories used in each segment, we still argued as to the nuances of the arguments made. If you really do know a lot about philosophy then you realize that the simplest argument can spiral into the something much larger. This leads me to believe that either (a) you completely missed the nuances of the film or (b) you are substituting another reason you didn't like the film (the aforementioned pretentiousness or whatnot) and instead claiming it was beneath you. I am giving you the benefit of the doubt and assuming you understood the nuances of the film, and I believe you are merely subsituting one citique of Waking Life with another.
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are phenomenal actors. How did they possibly figure out how to act like ludicrous drug addicts ?
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This movie was not crazy, it was not a mind fuck, it wasn't even very intelligent or thought provoking. It was kind of a mish mash, very badly paced, felt like it was 5 hours long. The big reveal at the end does nothing for the film, because you simply don't care. There are sme good bits mixed in, but it was a sloppy mess that felt very rushed, without a script kind of. The ideas on screen are not thought provoking at all, and if there was a message to the film they muddled it. Winona Ryder is such an awful actress these days, it's amazing how bad she is in this. Keanu was pretty good, but he did not have to do much. Downey Jr., who I love, was alright at best. He gets tiresome after a bit. You never really know what the movie is about, or what anyone is doing or why, which may be the point, but it simply did not work with this. I still don't know what A Scanner Darkly is, except a cool sounding title. Keanu mentions it at one point near the end, but by that point you're sleeping. I wish someone used this kind of animation for a good film for once. Just weak, but Linklater is not a very good filmmaker. He has not made one film that i would even consider buying on DVD, that's pretty bad.
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You're an idiot.....Why don't you stick to movies like "The Devil Wears Prada", and leave movies that require thought to the big boys.
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