yes and i thought it was just so-so. it was better than waking life (less of the bullshit mumbo jumbo), and in between slackers and before sunset/sunrise (his best ever). haven't read the pk dick book, so i didn't have much to compare it to, but i was happy to see robert downy jr and winona ryder on screen again...playing druggies and i think the only time i can stand keanu reeves is in animation form. actually, the coolest part is the very opening scene.
yeah my reaction to it was a little in the middle as well. having just read the book like three weeks ago it was very fresh so the whole thing had a certain predictability and "that could have been better explained" quality to it. i thought that all things told it was a good adaptation considering the fact that they didn't make any major deviations but I did find that the thing was a little lacking in a certain cohesion that the book was more better at. i know it seems weird to suggest that cohesion is a quality that you could ascribe to this movie, but in truth, the book was very cohesive in the process by which the protagonist moved into a mental divergence. in any case, i thought that the aesthetics were great and i actually really like downey's recent flicks (seen kiss kiss, bang bang?). if you have time i'd recommend the book just because its a great read... btw, you mentioned that you liked the opening scene; did you notice that when the camera focused on arctor for the first time in his scramble suit that for a second Philip K Dick's face appeared? It was a really subtle tribute that most people prolly miss, but I thought it was a great little bonus.
yeah, you know the movie is never as good as the book... i dunno. i think i prefer his other films because they were more conversation-driven and this one was more action-driven, which is fine, as i love action flicks, it's just not what i expect from him. haven't seen kiss, bang, but i've been meaning to because i have such a crush on downey and i think he should be allowed to do all the drugs he wants, so long as he can continue to act. and there are too many other pk dick books i'd rather read first, before that one, but i'll add it to the list. the scramble suits made me nauseous! and that's not the scene i was talking about; i meant the scene with the fleas in the apartment.
thats where the cohesion factor was lacking for me -- the book is all about bob arctor and how he relates to himself and how that relation degrades over time and he loses the ability to self identify with any of his "selves". that was pretty much wholly left out of the movie, which turned it more into a kind of vignette style with nothing pulling all of the pieces into a single thread. granted, the nature of the thing is so disjointed already its doubly hard to get that effect when you have to leave things out (going from the book to the movie) but there were subtle ways it could have been done (IMHO). although given the difficulty they had in even getting the thing OUT in the first place, i'm totally pleased. I'd rather have this than nothing. The flea scene was cool--and actually the attemped-suicide was cool too. Charles... Freck, I think was that chars name? anyway, they actually played him up a bit more in the movie than in the book. Makes for good scenes, though. I think the next PKD book i'd like to read is Valis. Though I heard there is a new pynchon book coming out...
supposedlythis is the new pynchon book. there has been some speculation as to whether it is some kind of hoax but who knows? at 992 pages it sounds like murder.
8 Comments:
Have you seen it yet? If so, what did you think?
yes and i thought it was just so-so. it was better than waking life (less of the bullshit mumbo jumbo), and in between slackers and before sunset/sunrise (his best ever). haven't read the pk dick book, so i didn't have much to compare it to, but i was happy to see robert downy jr and winona ryder on screen again...playing druggies and i think the only time i can stand keanu reeves is in animation form. actually, the coolest part is the very opening scene.
yeah my reaction to it was a little in the middle as well. having just read the book like three weeks ago it was very fresh so the whole thing had a certain predictability and "that could have been better explained" quality to it. i thought that all things told it was a good adaptation considering the fact that they didn't make any major deviations but I did find that the thing was a little lacking in a certain cohesion that the book was more better at. i know it seems weird to suggest that cohesion is a quality that you could ascribe to this movie, but in truth, the book was very cohesive in the process by which the protagonist moved into a mental divergence. in any case, i thought that the aesthetics were great and i actually really like downey's recent flicks (seen kiss kiss, bang bang?). if you have time i'd recommend the book just because its a great read... btw, you mentioned that you liked the opening scene; did you notice that when the camera focused on arctor for the first time in his scramble suit that for a second Philip K Dick's face appeared? It was a really subtle tribute that most people prolly miss, but I thought it was a great little bonus.
yeah, you know the movie is never as good as the book...
i dunno. i think i prefer his other films because they were more conversation-driven and this one was more action-driven, which is fine, as i love action flicks, it's just not what i expect from him.
haven't seen kiss, bang, but i've been meaning to because i have such a crush on downey and i think he should be allowed to do all the drugs he wants, so long as he can continue to act.
and there are too many other pk dick books i'd rather read first, before that one, but i'll add it to the list.
the scramble suits made me nauseous! and that's not the scene i was talking about; i meant the scene with the fleas in the apartment.
thats where the cohesion factor was lacking for me -- the book is all about bob arctor and how he relates to himself and how that relation degrades over time and he loses the ability to self identify with any of his "selves". that was pretty much wholly left out of the movie, which turned it more into a kind of vignette style with nothing pulling all of the pieces into a single thread. granted, the nature of the thing is so disjointed already its doubly hard to get that effect when you have to leave things out (going from the book to the movie) but there were subtle ways it could have been done (IMHO). although given the difficulty they had in even getting the thing OUT in the first place, i'm totally pleased. I'd rather have this than nothing. The flea scene was cool--and actually the attemped-suicide was cool too. Charles... Freck, I think was that chars name? anyway, they actually played him up a bit more in the movie than in the book. Makes for good scenes, though. I think the next PKD book i'd like to read is Valis. Though I heard there is a new pynchon book coming out...
yeah, yeah, yeah, what is this about a new pynchon??
supposedly this is the new pynchon book. there has been some speculation as to whether it is some kind of hoax but who knows? at 992 pages it sounds like murder.
"Let the reader decide, let the reader beware. Good luck."
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