oh today was fun! this morning i was very lucky to attend the press junkets for the upcoming film a scanner darkly – directed by the amazing richard linklater (love slacker – ‘scanner’ was shot in austin too!) it stars keanu reeves, winona ryder, rory cochrane, robert downey jr, & woody harrelson – it’s an adaptation of sci-fi writer philip k dick’s 1977 novel which deals with drug use in a modern police surveillance state – pretty heady stuff – all very cool – it’s interesting to note that the tale was set seven years ahead in the future – so if you add 7 years to 1977…you get the always ominous 1984!
the film was first shot in low-budget live action – the footage was then put through a very long advanced animation process ( aka interpolated rotoscoping) to give the film an amazing live/animated painted look – the film is simply brilliant looking! linklater also used this technique in 2001’s waking life which you haven’t already seen i highly recommend you do…i will write a review of ‘scanner’ as its july 7th release draws closer!
i was pretty excited to see keanu & winona along with richard discuss & answer questions about the film in a fairly intimate setting – keanu seemed chill & relaxed and even cracked a few jokes – he was unshaven and very tall & super sexy! winona was just down right adorable (she kept tucking her hair behind her ears) she is working on a new film called sex & death 101 that reunites her with daniel waters – the man behind 1989’s beloved heathers – she even mentioned the possibility of a sequel to ‘heathers’ – we all must seriously keep our fingers crossed on that front! but she did promise this latest waters film is twisted & dark – just like we like it! ‘scanner’ also reunites ms. ryder with mr. reeves who did their costumed turn in bram stoker’s dracula (kinda awful) – when ryder left we exchanged a cool smile moment – i love so many of her films – it was great to finally see her in person! oh i still adore beetlejuice – i can watch that movie over & over again!
gosh there so many old pairs coming back together again…like keanu w/ sandra bullock in the lakehouse – someone even asked him a question on that…all i could think was stick to the film at hand people! anyways overall it was a great experience to further my appreciation of the film and i am actually reading dick’s novel now – so i will be all geared up to review the film soon – for sure a thumbs up…popbytes over & out for now…xxoo!
