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Post by IDBUG on Jul 14, 2006 19:22:51 GMT -5
Dammit. Mzd told me about this movie coming out, I got all excited about it, went on another PKD reading-my-ass-off kick, and now the movie is only playing at ONE theater in the whole Phoenix area. WTF is that all about?
I'm pissed. There is no way I'm going to get people to meet me at Harkins Camelview to see this movie..... is there? (hint hint)
But still, what is wrong with this picture? Why isn't it showing at more theaters? I don't want to wait and hope it will be in more places later, because by then it will probably be gone.
A couple of years ago I got all excited about this movie Ralph Fiennes was going to be in.... it was called Spider. I waited and waited for it to come out, it never did. Or maybe it was only at Camelview and I never even saw the listing. GRRRR
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Post by mzdiagnosed on Jul 14, 2006 22:57:26 GMT -5
Hey Id, I am not really surprised that you can't find this movie in too many places. It's one of PKD's darkest novels. He was a drug addict himself I'm sure you know. The descriptions about paranoia and other drug induced accompaniments are not faire for the mainstream (IMO) even though Keanu Reeves headlines. I love the fact that Woody Harrelson and Winona Rider are in the flick but let's face it- they are not big box office draws now. Anyways, glad to see you are revisiting PKD novels. I also enjoyed Ubik- definitely worth a gander. Have you ever read "Dead Girls" by Richard Calder? It is something I think was influenced by PKD though I can't explicitly say why... Rad Scifi tho.
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Post by mzdiagnosed on Jul 16, 2006 0:02:35 GMT -5
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Post by IDBUG on Jul 22, 2006 16:59:30 GMT -5
Ok I just saw it. Finally. DAMNed good movie. I am sooooo glad I finally got to see it. It was beautiful. I loved Rory Cochrane's performance. Great stuff. The whole thing was... wow. I haven't read the book yet, although it's been in the back seat of my car for about a month. In fact, I've only read about 50 of PKD's short stories and one of his novels, so far. The reason I waited to read this one is because I watched Blade Runner after I read "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?", and I didn't like the movie so much after reading the book. Blade Runner was good in its own way, it has its merits. But after reading the book, I saw all the important stuff they left out, and all the eighties trendy crap they put in (especially the phony "futuristic" music ... yuck). Edward James Olmos with his origami and his pimp cane served zero purpose to the story (even though I like EJO just the same). They could have, should have, touched on the themes of the book waaaaay more effectively, but whatever. They did do some things very well as adaptation of the book, but I thought they missed the main point. (I feel the same way about Paycheck: they should have stuck to the story. It was ok, but compared to the story, eh.) Your points about "Scanner's" non-mainstream status are well appreciated, especially after seeing it. We saw it in a theater that mainly shows indie and art films, so the people who went to see it were actually interested in the movie itself, and weren't suffering from "blockbuster-itis". The amazing thing we noticed was that we didn't hear people chatting it up through the movie, answering their goddamn phones, there were no kiddies wailing or constantly asking questions because they were stuck watching a movie that was sooo not meant for them, nobody whining that "it was boring" or "where's the plot?" or "why didn't anything blow up?" after it was over. Believe me, I'm not an indie movie snob, but there was such a difference in being able to actually WATCH and LISTEN TO the movie, it was like night and day. I cannot tell you all the insane frustrating shit I had to deal with last time I saw a movie in a theatre, without going into a seriously angry rant. There was a wonderful lack of morons this time (oops ), thank god. I haven't read Richard Calder, Mzd, but I'm definitely going to check him out. Thanks very much for pointing me in that direction. I am always looking for new authors to read.
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Post by mzdiagnosed on Jul 25, 2006 0:41:57 GMT -5
ID, Good to hear- now I have to find the movie in a cool venue like the one you saw it in. I just got the book from the library and it is the graphic novel version. Don't know quite what to make of it yet but it's pretty paired down and the main character looks like Keanu which takes some getting used to.
I am so glad I saw Bladerunner before I read the book so it had half a chance. This one will be hard to match to what my imagination drummed up despite PKDs descriptions which are somewhat vague given the drugs and other things.
I thought of you while reading this book A student of all living things. and Under the banner of heaven. I guess for different reasons. Neither are sci fi but things you have said here made me think these books might interest you.
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Post by IDBUG on Aug 3, 2006 15:30:36 GMT -5
Ack! Sorry it took me so long to reply, mzd. I'm involved in so many things at once, I lose track of stuff I was trying to remember five minutes ago. I'm about 80% of the way through the novel, and so far the movie has been very, very close. A few things were moved around, order-wise, and a couple of characters were combined (Jerry Fabin + Charles Freck in the book = Charles Freck in the movie). But otherwise, I'm pretty impressed with the job they did of adapting this book. And Robert Downey Jr. did an EXCELLENT job as fast-talking burnt-out nutty-pie know-it all Jim Barris. Now, I can't picture anyone but Keanu as the main character. I guess that's what I get for not reading this until after seeing the movie, but Keanu really does nail the bewildered, vacant, mind-blown thing pretty well. Hehe, I just looked up both of those books you mentioned. Yeah, I'd definitely be interested in reading both. Thanks for suggesting them! I've put a hold on them at the library, along with Richard Calder's "Dead" trilogy. I can't wait to pick them up. --T
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Post by IDBUG on Aug 18, 2006 12:35:50 GMT -5
bumpity bump.... I like the book discussions. ;D
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