This just in from the Philp K. Dick desk: a movie rendition of A Scanner Darkly (starring Neo) is due out next Spring.
(But why did they have to cast Neo?)
Androids Dream of Bladerunners was close... but I'm snooty.
Re:Grrrrr
ziggy on 2005-07-27T14:17:23
The time is just about right to do a decent scramble suit for A Scanner Darkly, but that is one of the least important parts of the book.
We have the technology to do a great version of Maze of Death. Even as a one-hour (er, 44 minute) story as something Twilight Zone-ish. Sadly, we don't have the will. Not in the current political climate.
Re:Grrrrr
GAVollink on 2005-07-28T21:36:31
Strangely enough, it seems that all these recent horrible Dick adaptations have been from his (relatively) shorter stories.Based on that - there's a chance that A Scanner Darkly could be a better movie than some of the others.
Haven't read Maze of Death, so I can't intelligently comment on it.
Re:Grrrrr
ziggy on 2005-07-28T23:39:21
Actually, Total Recall didn't completely suck. The short story didn't have as much of the phildickian ending that the movie did. And so what if they had to make it a summer blockbuster? They had to improvise a whole heckuva lot.Strangely enough, it seems that all these recent horrible Dick adaptations have been from his (relatively) shorter stories.It's been back in print for a decade, so it should be easy to find new, used or in a library. Go treat yourself. It's a quick read and the ending is very phildickian, with more of a twist than Ubik.Haven't read Maze of Death, so I can't intelligently comment on it.RecallMyBalls
GAVollink on 2005-07-29T21:31:39
If (if) you can ignore the fact that your eyeballs don't go that far out of your head without also assuring... death.Re:RecallMyBalls
ziggy on 2005-07-30T01:44:32
It was a summer action flick based on a Dick story.I'll ignore the factual errors like the exploding eyeballs, just as easily as I'll ignore the fact that dust devils the size of Rhode Island didn't prevent colonization, and that Quaid could hop on the next shuttle to Mars, be unnoticed by the Federal authorities during boarding and transit, and still arrive mere hours after he departs.
(OK, I'll admit, that was an exaggeration. The dust devils on Mars are only a few football fields across. They're about as tall as Rhode Island is wide.)
Re:Darkly
ziggy on 2005-08-10T02:51:47
It's got Neo. It doesn't matter if they're using the A-Ha effect. It's got Neo. If Kurosawa or Hitchcock rose from the dead to direct the greatest story ever told, and cast Neo in a starring role, it would still be unwatchable.
Re:Darkly
pudge on 2005-08-10T05:29:17
No, but check it: he is ANIMATED. They can make him ACT DIFFERENTLY. OK, it is still his voice, but they can change anything about how he LOOKS!
Re:Darkly
ziggy on 2005-08-10T13:30:10
No amount of A-Ha effects can make Neo act. Cast him in any role, and there's that unspoken tension that his next line is going to be Whoa, I know kung fu!. The best role he could possibly land is if casting sent someone like Noah Wyle to take his place.
