FUTURE SHOCK PONDERING `A SCANNER DARKLY'.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer Director Richard Linklater began writing his adaptation of Philip K. Dick's ``A Scanner Darkly'' shortly after 9/11. Dick's book is a personal story -- certainly his most autobiographical work -- of the paranoia and recklessness of the drug world, set in a near future where the government routinely spies on its citizens in the name of maintaining law and order. ``It's funny, the sci-fi elements in his work aren't about life on other planets or romantic notions,'' Linklater (``Slackers,'' ``Before Sunrise'') says. ``He saw control of population, how power will use technology to condition you. It feels like some kind of Soviet-style conditioning, where they'll tell you you're free. But when at some point, when you're just generally paranoid, it gets into the psyche of a country.'' ``I felt it as an American for the first time ever, post 9/11, that you kind of have to watch what you say,'' Linklater continues. ``I was a little bit afraid for the first time. The thing's in the air. You can't really have an opinion now, or you hate your country.'' Linklater's movie, which features the same rotoscope See rotoscoping. animation he used in his 2001 film, ``Waking Life,'' is incredibly faithful to its source material, so much so that it infuriated in·fu·ri·ate tr.v. in·fu·ri·at·ed, in·fu·ri·at·ing, in·fu·ri·ates To make furious; enrage. adj. Archaic Furious. some Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . executives, who found the movie's tonal shifts problematic. Too bad, says Linklater, who had final cut of the film that opens today. ``The thing is a full-blown comedy, but then it's a full-blown tragedy, too,'' he says. ``I always thought Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16 1928 – March 2 1982) was an American writer, mostly known for his works of science fiction. In addition to his dozens of published novels,[1] was hilarious, but you never see that in the movies based on his work. That's how specifically the drug world is. It can be exuberant and fun. There's an up, but the down can be swift and can go from fun to tragedy really fast. And that's the heart of the story.'' ``A Scanner Darkly'' arrives as the eighth movie adapted from a Philip K. Dick short story or novel. No. 9 -- a big-budget, boom-boom Nicolas Cage movie, ``Next'' (based on Dick's story ``The Golden Man''), opens next year. ``It's easy to see why filmmakers look to his work,'' says ``Scanner'' producer Tommy Pallotta. ``Philip K. Dick was a visionary who came up with these great premises that incorporated philosophical ideas into their fabric. He's more popular now than ever because the things he was writing about are more relevant. Certainly, they're more evident.'' Says ``Scanner'' director Richard Linklater: ``It seems like every week there's a revelation -- NSA NSA abbr. National Security Agency Noun 1. NSA - the United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign spying, the government tapping millions and millions of phone calls -- that makes Philip K. Dick's view of the future that much more right on. The paranoia he felt about Nixon has come around again tenfold.'' ``Scanner,'' then, gets it right. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com Linklater on Bush's league Outside of filmmaking and his family, Richard Linklater's greatest love in life is watching his alma mater's powerhouse baseball team, the University of Texas Longhorns. But the subject of Texas baseball also brings Linklater some pain, what with its connection to George W. Bush. In 1989, Bush invested $500,000 of borrowed money in the Texas Rangers Texas Rangers, mounted fighting force organized (1835) during the Texas Revolution. During the republic they became established as the guardians of the Texas frontier, particularly against Native Americans. , assuming the title of managing general partner in the process. Bush held the job for five years, eventually leaving to run for governor of Texas. But, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. some intimates, he ran for office only after realizing that his dream job -- commissioner of baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball.[1] Under the direction of the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts. -- was going to Milwaukee Brewers owner Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig, Jr. (born July 30, 1934 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is the Commissioner of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was previously the team owner and administrator of the Milwaukee Brewers. . ``That's all Bush wanted, to be baseball commissioner,'' Linklater says. ``And he probably would have been OK, but he wasn't qualified, so he ran for governor of Texas on the family name and family money.'' And if Linklater, a vocal Bush critic, could ask Bush one question? ``One of the most exciting things in baseball right now is that they added some wild card teams (in 1995),'' Linklater says. ``And what one voter of all the teams voted against expanding the playoffs? (It was Bush.) And what was his quote? He said, `I think it's bad for baseball, and history will prove me right.' Wow. History has really proven him right on that one. But that's the mind-set.'' ``It would be great if someone could sneak this question to him: Do you still think the wild card was a bad thing for baseball? And I guarantee you, knowing him, knowing his ego, his simple mind, he would say, `Yeah. I don't like that.' ``It's an innocuous enough question, but it says everything about a mind-set that's unwavering despite all evidence.'' -- G.W. Dick's `psy-fi' world How has Hollywood seen the world of Philip K. Dick? In various levels of coherency co·her·en·cy n. pl. co·her·en·cies Coherence. Noun 1. coherency - the state of cohering or sticking together coherence, cohesion, cohesiveness and competency. Here's a scan: BLADE RUNNER (1982) Based on: 1968 novel, ``Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep Electric Sheep is a distributed computing project for animating and evolving fractal flames, which are in turn distributed to the networked computers, which display them as a screensaver on the individual node computers of the distributed network. ?'' Plot: Cynical ex-cop (Harrison Ford) ``retires'' rogue androids (``replicants''). Problem: He might be one. Dick's dilemma: What if artificiality has more authenticity than the real thing? Faithful to source? There are notable differences in plot and characterization, and stylistically it's very much a Ridley Scott film. Dick initially criticized the movie but changed his mind once he saw it. He died before it opened. Rating: Four stars TOTAL RECALL (1990) Based on: 1966 short story, ``We Can Remember It for You Wholesale We Can Remember It for You Wholesale is a novelette by Philip K. Dick first published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in April 1966. It features a classic meshing of reality, false memory and real memory. .'' Plot: Futuristic construction worker (Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): [ˈaɐ̯nɔlt ˈaloɪ̯s ˈʃvaɐ̯ʦənˌʔɛɡɐ] ) has ordinary life interrupted "Life Interrupted" is an episode of the science fiction television series The 4400. Synopsis Tom awakens to a world where the 4400 were never abducted. Plot when he remembers that he's a secret agent from Mars and his wife is a crazy shrew shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding the tail, and the largest are about 6 in. (15 cm) long. (Sharon Stone, playing herself). Dick's dilemma: Can our memories be trusted? Why is reality so slippery? Can't anyone invent a drug that doesn't result in a bad trip? Faithful to source? More a vehicle for Schwarzenegger's brand of pointless violence Pointless Violence or Zinloos Geweld (Dutch) is a term frequently used by among others the media, politicians and NGO's to define the nature of several shocking events in Belgium and the Netherlands in recent years. than a probe into Dick's brand of existential crisis This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. . Rating: Two stars CONFESSIONS d'un BARJO (CONFESSIONS OF A NUTCASE) (1992) Based on: 1975 novel, ``Confessions of a Crap Artist Confessions of a Crap Artist is a 1975 novel by Philip K. Dick, originally written in 1959. The novel chronicles a bitter and complex marital conflict in 1950s suburban California from the perspective of the wife's brother, an obsessive compulsive amateur scientist. ,'' written in 1959. Plot: Science-obsessed factory worker moves in with sister, decides to kill her. Dick's dilemma: Why can't an ordinary man live in an obsessive state of unreality? Faithful to source? Just as mundane; better on the page. Rating: Two stars SCREAMERS (1995) Based on: 1953 short story, ``Second Variety.'' Plot: Scientists create androids to kill enemy life forms. Androids decide to take out humans as well. Dick's dilemma: Don't we all deserve to die? Faithful to source? In the short story, the enemies were Russians. After the Berlin Wall fell, filmmakers moved action to a ``distant planet.'' Rating: Two stars IMPOSTOR (2002) Based on: 1953 short story of the same name. Plot: Engineer makes weapon to kill aliens, but is then accused of being an alien. Dick's dilemma: Why do oppressive governments always pick on the mentally ill? Faithful to source? As much as a short story can be. Rating: Two stars MINORITY REPORT (2002) Based on: 1956 short story of the same name. Plot: Detective (Tom Cruise) faces a prediction he will murder a man he doesn't know. Dick's dilemma: Are we fated to do stupid things or can we overcome the Cosmic Handwriting on the Wall handwriting on the wall Daniel interprets supernatural sign as Belshazzar’s doom. [O.T.: Daniel 5:25–28] See : Omen ? Faithful to source? More or less, depending on whether you believe the movie's ending is literal and, therefore, upbeat or all in the protagonist's mind, which makes it depressing as hell. Rating: Four stars PAYCHECK (2003) Based on: 1953 short story of the same name. Plot: Engineer (Ben Affleck) works on secret project, has memory erased, brings about fall of humanity. Or not. Dick's dilemma: If we trade our time for money, does that mean we're fated to an existence as meaningless as Ben Affleck's? Faithful to source? Noisy nonsense. Even director John Woo For other uses, see . John Woo Yu-Sen (Chinese: 吳宇森; Pinyin: Wú Yǔsēn lays an egg. Rating: One star CAPTION(S): 4 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) Drawing on paranoia Everybody thinks somebody's watching in `A Scanner Darkly' (2 -- 3) A rotoscoped Keanu Reeves, above, kicks back in Richard Linklater's ``A Scanner Darkly,'' co-starring a similarly rendered Winona Ryder, right. (4) no caption (Richard Linklater) Box: (1) Dick's `psy-fi' world (see text) (2) Linklater on Bush's league (see text) |
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