A Scanner Darkly

QuantumBalance · Post by **QuantumBalance** » 08 Apr 2007 20:18

When you can't see yourself... When you see darkly...

Have any of you seen this movie? Worth seeing...

"A Scanner Darkly"

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 08 Apr 2007 20:32

Interesting movie, but I don't know if I'd recommend it. A few things about it felt pretty bogus, in a crime/drug movie sense and in a sci-fi sense.

I'd sooner recommend Ingmar Bergman's "Through A Glass Darkly" , a much more interesting look a troubled psychology. Seriously. You might really like it, Sam. Bergman is so THE MASTER.

Anexthesis · Post by **Anexthesis** » 10 Apr 2007 12:33

I liked it. It was disturbingly trippy.

james · Post by **james** » 10 Apr 2007 12:53

go see grindhouse

mc · Post by mc » 10 Apr 2007 13:44

I love that style linklater used in this move and waking life. I hadn't read the book, and I found that the movie didn't really make it clear that our hero didn't know he was both the criminal and the officer of the law. I had a bit of an inkling of it by the end of the movie, so I read the plot synopsis on wikipedia, and that's how I was for sure.

I dunno, entertaining. decent acting. a fun watch.

I definitely want to see grindhouse.

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 12 Apr 2007 03:03

There was a topic about it somewhere when it was released I think.

Anyway it's a great book, one of my favourite books ever. You should definitely read it Sam. The movie is good, but as is always the case, the book is easily better.

Outsider · Post by **Outsider** » 12 Apr 2007 10:11

There was a topic about it somewhere when it was released I think.

Think that might have been on the dot org forum, J.

Anyway it's a great book, one of my favourite books ever. You should definitely read it Sam. The movie is good, but as is always the case, the book is easily better.

PKD is certainly a highly unique author. I'm not really a big fan. I've only read two novels, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep", and "Radio Free Albemuth", and I wouldn't exactly say that I really liked either of them. They were, however, interesting and unique. He doesn't write like most ordinary writers, and on some level anything different is good. I would not say that "Androids" is better than the movie that was based on it, they seemed radically different to me. Bladerunner was "cooler", but Androids was a more interesting story, just, so bizarre.

So, Jeremy, is there any ONE PKD story you'd recommend above all others?

Jeremy · Post by **Jeremy** » 12 Apr 2007 14:35

Well I don't know about one; but how about three

A Scanner Darkly
The Man in the High Castle
Valis

Also all his short stories.

I should have qualified that statement about books and movies, especially in the case of movies based on PK Dick books, it doesn't hold if the movie is only very loosely based on the book. For example Blade Runner cuts out the entire "Do androids dream of electric sheep" part of the book with that title, hence the change of name (ie, there are no pets.)

Total Recall starts off with the storyline of "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" but after about 15 minutes, diverges into a completely different movie (with a lot of references to other short stories by PK Dick).

Actually that's my recommendation; any of his collections of short stories. There's a series of anthologies published by Gollancz which is very good. "Second Variety" which I think is volume 2 contains my favourite story (Breakfast at Twilight).

bigdirtyfoot · Post by **bigdirtyfoot** » 13 Apr 2007 09:26

I like PKD's writing. I've read Androids and Scanner and I'm working on High Castle right now.

I own the movie version of A Scanner Darkly and I really like it - it makes me reassess my life but still come up with the same conclusion I had before - that it's just one crazy ride regardless of what I do. I would definitely recommend the movie.