On 08/19/2012 12:08 AM, turquoiseb wrote: > Philip K. Dick had a brain full of odd but wonderful > ideas. Unfortunately, the cinema has not always been > kind to them. Possibly the best example of taking one > of his stories and running with it is "Blade Runner," > but the list of truly admirable efforts kinda stops > there. > > "Minority Report" was a special effects-laden snore, > "Next" was so horribly miscast that it was near to > impossible to focus on its good points, and "Paycheck" > barely even deserves to be mentioned. The only film > made from a PKD film that I thought was pretty good > was the little-seen 2001 "Impostor," and that was > mainly because Gary Sinise was tremendous in it. > > As for the first film based (loosely) on PKD's short > story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale," that > was actually kinda enjoyable because Ahnold's > general cluelessness and constant "I'm out of my > depth here" acting fit what his character was going > through. It's a challenging thing discovering that > you're not who you thought you were, and Ahnold > almost pulled that off in the 1990 version of "Total > Recall." > > The new 2012 version keeps a little of PKD's original > plot, the image of a woman with three breasts, and > even throws in a clever in-joke reference to the > previous film (if you see it, there is a scene where > Douglas Quaid/Hauser is going through a checkpoint > scanner, and the woman in front of him in line is > the same woman from the 1990 film). The new film > loses the whole Mars thang (and good riddance) and > replaces it with an Earth devastated by chemical > warfare, with only two livable areas -- the UK and > Australia. They are connected by some sort of tunnel > mechanism that serfs from the UK are required to > hop into to commute through the Earth to work in > The Colony. It's called The Fall, presumably because > it sorta falls through the Earth and comes up on > the other side. The fact that the other side of the > Earth from the UK is in the middle of the Pacific > Ocean and not in Australia shouldn't cause you any > disbelief -- this is science fiction, remember, and > you're supposed to "suspend disbelief" while watch- > ing it. > > Bzzzzzzzt. That's exactly what is wrong with the > 2012 "Total Recall." You have to suspend disbelief > FAR too much, because so little of it makes sense. > Good science fiction is internally consistent, and > even if it makes up new rules for the environment > it imagines, it has to stay true to them, and try > to make them *at least* be slightly plausible. > Simply not happening in the new version. > > It's basically a non-stop action film, a kind of > video game on steroids, aimed (one must assume) at > the kind of adolescent audience (it *is* rated > PG-13, after all) who have rotted their brains away > by staring at computer screens and trying to kill > as many video bad guys as possible. You're not > supposed to notice that much of the action is > physically impossible, and that heat and G-forces > would have turned our hero into something looking > a lot like strawberry jam in the first reel. > > Colin Farrell is earnest and in some films, given > enough to "chew on" as an actor to demonstrate it. > This is not one of those films. Kate Beckinsale > does a good job of being a bitch, and Jessica Biel > does a good job of what she's good at -- being > beautiful. Bryan Cranston is all but wasted in > the part of Cohaagen. He probably took the role > because he could fly in for a couple of days and > shoot all of his scenes and then go back to > "Breaking Bad," and quite frankly, he might have > been able to deliver a better performance (given > the lines he had to deliver) by staying home > and *literally* phoning in his performance. > > Was there anything GOOD about the movie? Absolutely. > If you're into non-stop action, and don't want much > else in a movie, this is your movie. The sets are > stunning, in a "Blade Runner" kind of way, and > create fascinating visions of both the UK and > Australia in this not-so-happy future era. > > For many people, this would be enough. For me, not > so much. And I have to believe that Philip K. Dick > himself is turning in his grave right about now, > thinking "Oh NO! Not another one. What is so hard > about taking a minor masterpiece and just trans- > lating it to the screen, without trying to 'improve' > it by dumbing it down?" > > I shudder to think what Hollywood is going to do > with the upcoming "Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said" > and "Ubik." The latter -- a science fiction novel > based on the Tibetan Book Of The Dead -- deserves > a faithful translation to the screen. I think we all > know that it isn't going to get one.
Being a questionable remake AND PG-13 I stayed away from it even though it is playing at the top of the hill. Might make a good rental. Probably the most authentic adaptation of a "Philip K Dick" novel would be "A Scanner Darkly". Dick's daughter Isa Dick-Hacket assisted writer/director Richard Linklater in the making of this film. She is also on the commentary and there is also an extra about Dick's life. Winona Ryder who is in the film also has a connection with Dick as he was friends with her parents. Though I see they aren't credited I believe both Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr. (both appear in the film) are on the commentary too. And OMG their careers are forever tarnished (in the eyes of certain FFL trolls) because they praised Linklater for having "conspiracy theorist" Alex Jones in the movie (he was also in his earlier "Waking Life" film. Jones said an addition scene was shot with him and Ryder that explained his other scene in the film but that scene was cut. I have the Bluray and it is probably time to watch it again. In other films I watched "Juan of the Dead" on VUDU last night. It's in the spirit of "Sean of the Dead" and a situational dark comedy. It was shot in Cuba and you get to see what the US will look like in a few years after no one has any money to keep buildings and properties up. I thought the funniest bit was how the Cuban news reporter kept blaming the zombies on the US. I was a little disappointed that VUDU has gone to Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 which my aging Pioneer AV receiver decodes to ProLogic. Time to get a new receiver I guess and one that will switch HDMI inputs. Other films, "ATM" is a marginal thriller as was "Knock Knock 2".
