Sign in to follow this  
Moosferatu

A Scanner Darkly

Recommended Posts

Check out the new trailer, if you haven't already. Interesting style. I hope it turns out well. I'm not really thrilled about Keanu Reeves being in it, but maybe they'll touch up his acting while they mess around with it. It also sucks that they aren't using Charlie Kaufman's screenplay.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That's some pretty sharp stuff right there. And it's good to see Robert Downey Jr. out and about. I've always been a fan of his performances outside of prison.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

That looks freaky weird. It's creepy like The Polar Express but it's suposed to be.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Check out "Waking Life" if you like that sort of style.

It's Linklater's first film using the rotoscope animation tech, and it's more fluid in terms of styles than scanner will be. For that he had a number of different artists working on different parts, and the "plot" (like it has one) allowed for lots of fun stuff to happen with the animation. It's sort of like a moving A Lesson is Learned but the Damage is Irreversible

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It also sucks that they aren't using Charlie Kaufman's screenplay.

I'm a big Kaufman fan, but I've heard this particular adaptation wasn't his best work. And Linklater's great, so hopefully this one will be good.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Linklater's a hack. I do enjoy, however, when clubs plaster Waking Life all over the dance floor and then set it to some groovy music. Beautiful movie, talks a lot, nothing to say.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I really consider Waking Life as a proof of concept rather than a proper feature, and in that sense it works.

All of linklater's written stuff is a mess

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Why do people keep hiring Keanu Reaves, he's probably one of the worst actors ever.

"Two hemispheres of my brain.....are competing?"

Wow, thanks for repeating what the doctor just said to you 3 seconds ago.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

They have to simplify it for those people who didn't get it the first time. Then they need someone who can seem believable when saying these incredibly stupid things. Hence, you hire Keanu Reeves.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So now the script is the actor's fault? Interesting...

I really liked the trailer and I like Reeves in anything where he doesn't have to portray a character with any depth at all. Like the matrix for example (does the main character even have a family? who cares!)

And obviously names draw and whoever thinks he's exempt from that is either lying or uses filesharing software and therefor does not have to pay for the "privilege" to watch something.

EDIT: Or possibly has way too much time on his hands so he/she can do the research required to find good movies without big names.

EDIT: oh and it's called type-casting...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So in what way is trusting into a writer/director better than trusting in an actor? Ok writers/directors have more creative control I grant you that... but still, it's no guarantee.

As far as the "cock-sucking" is concerned, I am afraid that it just doesn't do for me, what it apparently does for you. So I would have to pass on that one, but thanks, how thoughtfull!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
So in what way is trusting into a writer/director better than trusting in an actor? Ok writers/directors have more creative control I grant you that... but still, it's no guarantee.

There are certain directors who are much more reliable than actors. I've learned to rarely trust that a film will be good based on its star, no matter how many great films they've been in. You can't even always count on the screenwriter.

While I agreed with Kingz back when he said Kevin Smith is a hack, this isn't at all true in Linklater's case. First of all, the word hack implies working for money and doing nothing interesting or original artistically. I don't think Linklater can be accused of working only for money, given that his conversational style isn't always accessible, and "Before Sunset" made "Before Sunrise" the lowest-grossing film ever to have a sequel (according to a quote that I think might not be entirely true if you take some foreign films into account). The listening booth scene in "Before Sunrise" is another beautiful moment that comes to mind. The super-8 sequence at the end of Slacker is one of the most beautiful moments in film, by the way. To enjoy a trademark Linklater film, however, you need to be in the right mindset.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

yeah well, my point is, that relying on nobody's name makes it really tiresome work to find a good movie to watch and that in my opinion relying on director's is not that much better than relying on actor's and to believe one is NOT part of the general public and part of the "all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world" is lying to oneself.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Why do people keep hiring Keanu Reaves, he's probably one of the worst actors ever.

I think he did a great job of playing Ted Theodore Logan

Edit: Also I like Lynch

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
if enough people say his movies are good, then suddenly they are good

You got it the wrong way around.

If the movies are good, then people will say his movies are good.

People don't just say movies are good for no reason, and oftentimes it's the director who has a track record of "good" stuff who is harshly criticised when he makes a misstep.

Also, School of Rock is hardly inaccessible.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Yeah, I love the way this "swaying" move he does in Bill 'n Ted is essentially in any movie he does... I think there was an Episode of Mad TV where they used it all the time (even tho I think Mad TV sucks ass). Even the famous sequence from the Matrix where Neo gets bullettime for the first time is pretty much like that! disturbing but inevitably true ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I thought Mulholland Dr was a good movie, and the old Dune is just fucking awesomely bizarre on its own. Blue Velvet was odd, I guess, not one of his greatest.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The only Lynch films that I've really enjoyed are Mulholland Drive and The Straight Story. Blue Velvet is pretentious, sophomoric and overrated. But the comparison to Linklater doesn't make any sense. At their core, films like "Before Sunrise" are about communication and self expression, while Lynch isn't at all interested in that. I love School of Rock, but am even more appreciative of Linklater's intelligent, non-commercial work. It's not hard to follow like much of Lynch's work, it's just a different form of cinema with less-to-no focus on plot. Just because many people can't accept that doesn't mean that it isn't a good film.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Even though I hated the School of Rock for its totally inane plot and though I hated Waking Life because it is tedious and boring, I would like to take back what I said about Linklater's hackness. I just watched Before Sunset. I am sorry.

;(

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think for little kids (the intended audience), School of Rock is a pretty good movie. It's sappy and goofy, but not terrible. The MPAA gave it a PG-13 for some stupid reason though, I'm sure to the frustration of the people who made it... But anyway, I don't like a lot of Linklater's films but the fact that he's made Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise/Sunset, Waking Life, School of Rock, and now A Scanner Darkly... I at least have a lot of respect for him for clearly getting himself in the position to make whatever movie he'd like.

Also, I think people who think Lynch is a pretentious man who makes worthless films is probably getting him confused with his fans. I get the feeling that there are a lot of misguided fans out there who really want his films to be that, but it really seems like he just likes making movies. His stuff sometimes falls apart a bit too much, but usually his movies are really tight/cohesive in their own way, he gets great performances out of his actors, and his cinematography is always at least genuinely interesting and stimulating, if not always "good looking." I don't think David Lynch has some large pretentious aim, he's not out to piss on Hollywood or represent for all the misunderstood artists in the world or something. To be honest I suspect he thinks that most of the stuff he makes is funny, I mean, in a very serious way.

Dunno. I can't hate on David Lynch. I'm not going to piss on you about how he's some dark postmodern ironic mastermind like some people might (I guess?), because I don't think that, and I really doubt he does either, but I think he has made some really good movies.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Even though I hated the School of Rock for its totally inane plot and though I hated Waking Life because it is tedious and boring, I would like to take back what I said about Linklater's hackness. I just watched Before Sunset. I am sorry.

;(

Before Sunset may be my favorite work of his, so I'm glad it made you re-access Linklater's hackiness. The Newton Boys is his only bad film in my opinion, but that isn't to say that his other works aren't without flaws. I thought School of Rock was great as a piece of traditional, formula entertainment, and loved the look of Waking Life, though I can see how it could be seen as tedious. Anyway, I think "Before Sunset," which I've seen twice, shows just how talented he is as a director—it looks simple, but the real-time conversation structure could have easily become a disaster.

Also, I just started reading the book, and what I've read so far is very cool.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As far as Lynch is concerned I really like how uncerebral his movies are. You just sit and enjoy and stop thinking for the duration of the movie. The first time I watched Lost Highway the thought that there must be a coherent "normal" plot to be discovered drove me nuts until I kinda got the whole dream thing... anyway, just sharin...

Oh and I loved the way the actors looked like total idiots when they were trying to make sense of their roles in Lost Highway... (Patricia Arquette that is) :clap:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
Sign in to follow this