My only complaint

Otherwise-Frikkin’ definitely my favorite film of the year and one of my top five ever. Everybody delivered.

Everything (almost)that was in there was faithfully from the book with only omissions. I especially loved how the “If I’d known it was harmless I would have killed it myself” sequence was only hinted at and somehow made an homage to the readers. The rotoscoping really did remind me of some trips I've had and really worked on the characters’ eyes. Of course Robert Downey Jr. shined. The part where he jumps up behind the potted plant in the police station…If you’ve ever found out you’re going into custody, well, he encompassed that feeling times 100

I cannot type enough good shit. They came through on my favorite book of my life. I’m going back today.

I saw it at Embarcadero, but I could have sworn I saw a theater advertising it on Shattuck in Berkeley. That might be for the full release (yes i said it) next week.

And for the record: I really, really doubt that Winona Ryner got naked. See Body Double, then consider the film's technique.

I know it's weird that I'm saying that. Well, the weather IS nice but sometimes I feel we're treated like a foreign country. Smaller films like "Art School Confidential" has played here even while the blockbusters like the "X-Men" are playing. And even OLD films are still around like "Akeelah and the Bee." So, I'm not sure why "A Scanner Darkly" can't play in a theater here. Maybe the chains are deciding "Pirates" will need more theaters and they'll get around to "Scanner." Which is a shame. And maybe the Warner Independent label isn't help much either.

It's definitely not because of a lack of theaters here. I think per capita there's probably WAY TOO MANY theaters here!

To anyone who's seen this:

Is the scene where



in the movie? That's one of my favorite passages in any novel I've ever read.

cheers,

-the Jesus

If A Scanner Darkly went into wide release this weekend, it would've been out of theaters by the 21st. A film like this has to build upon it's release so word of mouth spreads as Warner Indepedent isn't given too much money by it's parent to promote their films. Thus like any other indepedent release, a film is released in the major markets first to see how it preforms and then unleashed onto the rest of the country. The success and/or failure of an indepedent film decides where it'll travel after the major markets. Since A Scanner Darkly has a noteable cast and director plus buzz already surrounding it, it'll most likely hit most cities as the film begins to go wide next weekend.

You initially mentioned Art School Confidential in your post. I honestly believe Sony Pictures Classics fucked up the release of that film. There was little-to-no advertising regarding that film and it went into nearly 1000 locations it's second week in with no fanfare causing it's instant death. Granted, the film was a piece of shit and maybe Sony sabotaged the film for the better. :shrug: That film was out of all the theaters in Vegas by the next Friday. However, most indepedent film releases work the way I described them.

While I've been waiting to see A Scanner Darkly for two years now (since the project has been announced), I can wait until next weekend to see it as this weekend is strictly for Pirates.

No. it's not in the movie. A lot of good stuff got left out. Fortunately, everything that was in the movie was straight from the book. It was like Sin City.

Saw this last night in Denver. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Yes, very faithful to the book, but there's a little resonance lost, I think, simply because of omission. For example, Arctor's musings about "seeing through a scanner darkly" are well developed in the book but I can see how people who haven't read the book would be confused by his solilioquoy in the film.

The humor of the scenes between Downey, Harrelson, and Reeves is played up, and the audience I was with really lapped it up. But you lose that group dynamic about halfway through, and you miss it.

The rotoscoping is perfect, totally in service of the subject matter.

Bah! Still looking forward to seeing this, though - opens here tomorrow, and I'll be there. Glad to hear that PK Dick fans are liking this movie.

cheers,

-the Jesus

Really liked this movie a lot. Haven't read the book, but the performances were excellent, the rotoscoping looked awesome and the dialogue was mostly brilliant. The movie never dragged and it was fresh and entertaining throughout. I'll probably check out the book now that I've seen the flick. I'd like to see RDJ get a nomination for this baby.

MATT

Checking this out tonight, hopefully with a little alcohol involved before viewing.

It's finally here in Honolulu. At the crappy theather that usually plays to small crowds. Disappointing. I'm used to my THX-certified theater.

I'll see it though. I hope my car doesn't get stolen. :grumble:

That describes my evening plans to a tee. :D (do they have a buzzed up grinning smilie?)

Bonus: I’ve got a friend who loathes animation ( :rolleyes: don’t ask me) and I’ve convinced her to go. I offered a money back-satisfaction guarantee (which she probably won’t take me up on in the unlikely event that she doesn’t like or love it). This is going to blow her mind.

Well, she loved it (paid me back in lager). Reflecting on my comparison of this to Sin City, I realize my mistake. The dialogue and pacing were completely adaptation material. I can totally see where I was fooled, though. The feel is absolutely faithful. A tenspeed becomes an eighteenspeed, monetary references are elevated and lines incorporate pop culture (lightly) and seem ad libbed at times. You know what? To absolutely no detriment. The reason I didn’t notice the liberties taken the first time I saw this was because the new dialogue is essentially the original, in spirit, and given new life by the cast. This time I actually got the tears I got when I finished the book the first time.

Did you have a nice walk home? (Did you like the movie?)


(I miss Hawaii, and I was only there for two weeks. :( )

Jumpin' Jehosaphat! Am I padding this thread or what?

For those who haven't seen it or are undecided, IGN has posted the first 24 minutes of this movie...

http://media.filmforce.ign.com/media...07/vids_1.html

That is the longest teaser yet. Thanks. :)

Saw it last night. Liked it overall, but the movie didn't seem to know at times whether it was serious sci-fi or stoner comedy. I'm still a little confused about the end, if someone can enlighten me.

Went and saw this last night. I was completly engrossed and had a grin from ear to ear the entire film. Excellent stuff.

LOL, I went to Varsity Theater to watch this as well. First time seeing anything at that place and was [b]not[/i] impressed. The audio was shite, the aspect ratio seemed to be off, and no stadium style seating.

Bad thing is they'll probably be the only place in town showing Gondry's new movie, "The Science of Sleeping."

And yes, I felt rather sketched out parking my S2000 in that area.

Finally got a chance to see this. What a trip. I've read the book, and this was so faithful, it was amazing. But it had a life of its own. I really dug the whole thing.

Now, the big question is, were those Winona Ryder's actual tits?

I liked it a lot too, but they should've expanded winona's role and where Reeves was at the end. I doubt that was really her tits anyway cuz the blonde chick had the same boobs prior to that morph into ryder, so I think they just changed heads.

The nipples were a different color when it was Ryder, though.