The new animated film "A Scanner Darkly" from director Richard Linklater ("Slacker," "suburbia") opens at the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke, Va. today. The film is based on a work by the late psychedelic sceince fiction writer Philip K. Dick, whose previous works have been the basis for films such as "The Blade Runner" and "Minority Report." It has recieved rave reviews. Linklater also directed the film version of "Fast Food Nation," which screened at the Cannes Film Festival, and will be released this fall. "A Scanner Darkly" stars Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder. I find it interesting that Linklater chose to cast two troubled stars (Downey and Ryder) for this film.
It leads to a trivia question, which I myself am congering up:
Downey and Ryder starred together in a 1988 film entitled "1969" with Keifer Sutherland. The film marked the directorial debut for playwright Ernest Thompson, who is best known for this play which later became a film which won an Oscar for its star.
Is the play:
A) "Tender Mercies"
B) "Driving Miss Daisy"
C) "On Golden Pond"
or D) "A Trip to Bountiful"
Theatre buffs will know that A and D were written by Horton Foote. "Driving Miss Daisy" is an Alfred Uhry play, so the answer is "C." The movie won Henry Fonda an Oscar for Best Actor shortly before he exitted stage left:(
"A Scanner Darkly" is also showing at the Caneo Arthouse Theatre in Fayetville, NC, for those of you looking at my blog here in NC. And, if you live in the Denver area, as a certain member of my family does, the film is showing at Landmark Crossroads in Boulder, Co.
The film was recently profiled by "Film Comment" magazine. And, when it was playing here in the Greensboro area, it was reviewed by Glen Baity for "Yes Weekly!" Ironically, I became the replacement for Baity at a local newspaper, but the experience for me was straight out of a Dick novel hence the reason why the paper is not being named here!
Here are some useful links regarding this blog entry:
http://www.scannerdarklymovie.com
Film Comment http://www.filmlinc.com
Yes Weekly! http://www.yesweekly.com
-Click on 'front cover' then 'flicks' and you will find Baity's reviews, including a very humorous one for "Clerks II" in which he recalls his experiences working as a video store clerk in Lexington, NC.
A)
Update on Aug. 10: I enjoyed "A Scanner Darkly" tremendously. I gave it an 8 out of 10. I have not had a chance to check the Grandin Theatre web site yet, but it might very be available at the theatre's web site: http://www.grandintheatre.com
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