June 2008 Archives

"What does a scanner see? Into the mind? Into the Heart? Into the darkness?" This is one of the classic quotes from a "Scanner Darkly". When this film came out I think a lot of people over concentrated on the face that it was Sci-Fi and animated. This might of resulted in a lot of people writing it off. However this is an amazing film. It explores topics from the modern (and well grounded) fear of constant surveillance to depths of drug addiction. The amazing part for me is that the book this film was based on was written in the late seventies. Well before the ubiquitous monitoring of our society but yet Philip K. Dick was spot on. The film has an amazing depth in covering those topics of drug usage and surveillance without turning into a stoner movie or a straight up 1984 style film. The film has a great screenplay as written by Richard Linklater as well as weaving in the essence of Phillip K. Dick's original novel. The acting is amazing (Keanu Reeves and Robert Downey Jr are highlighted well here) and is only enhanced by the animation.So let's talk a little about the animation. In speaking about the rotoscoping of the film I would say that It has an amazing "painterly" sense of style. I use the term rotoscoping, being a film nerd, but you can check out an exact definition here. Besides the aforementioned amazing plot and actors the film was shot and edited and "locked" before any of the animation was done.

As is revealed in the great bonus features they thought the animation would take 9 months and instead took 18 months before it was done. Talk about a long post production cycle! The behind the scenes of this film are in two parts, one called "One Summer in Austin" and the other one called "The Weight of the Line" which explores how the line art was added to the film. Both are well done and cover all the bases. "One Summer in Austin" is not so much a exploration of how the film was produced but how the actors played their parts. Their is a great interview with Robert Downey Jr on how he memorizes his lines. Amazing stuff to here from one of the best actors of our generation. In the "Weight of the Link" it was very cool to take an inside trip into the Austin animation studios where the film was finished. It was also crazy to see how much work the animators did over the course of those 18 months to nail the actors movements and colors, etc. They estimated 350 animation/rotoscoping hours for each minute of film. How completely insane is that?

Overall I give this DVD a A+. It's an amazing film with excellent bonus features. Go pick
this DVD up today. And if you're from Austin, TX be sure to check out the cameo from Alex Jones
in the film as well.

PS. If anyone can tell me where the house that is featured in the film is here in Austin you will win a free DVD. Speaking of constant surveillance, go ahead and leave the link to the street view from Google Maps in the comments to win. 

Another kick-ass behind the scenes feature from Scanner Darkly.

The full review of "Scanner Darkly" is coming soon. In the meantime enjoy this great behind the scenes footage. It really concentrates on how the actors took to their roles instead of what cameras or film was used. A nice change of pace for this kind of footage.

This review is coming soon. But in the mean time let me just say this DVD was not very exciting. The film is one that never really sucks you in and the Behind The Scenes Features are what you see here. Just a "Bloopers Reel". It is a good blooper reel so please do enjoy that. But skip the film when you see it on your VOD or bog box store shelves.

I was in my local big box DVD store the other day looking for "Scanner Darkly" and finding crap when I saw a young skinny Gary Oldman screaming from the front of this DVD cover for a film called "SID AND NACNY". Has anyone seen this before? I was intrigued being a Sex Pistols fan and a Gary Oldman fan. For some reason I have never seen Oldman in any movie where he didn't look around 45. In mind he didn't start acting till he was like 35 but here he is. Anyway this film was a real trip. The story is of Sid Vicious and Nancy (Chloe Webb). Sid was the bassist for the Sex Pistols and Nancy is his junkie girlfriend. Two misfits who love each other, and heroin, literally to death.

This could of just been another Romeo and Juliet (or should I say John and Yoko) crap love story but the acting and cinematography take it to another level. Gary and Chloe really shine in this movie and you can watch their gradual decline as the band breaks up, and the heroin addiction kicks into overdrive. One of the best things to watch for in this film are the points where reality fades away and the heroin fueled dreams kick in. There are some really gorgeous surreal moments ala "Train spotting" or "Being John Malkovich" but with a touch of the 80's. The music video in the middle of the film is one thing where I have trouble sorting if that was real or a dream? Did Sid Vicious remake "My Way" by Frank Sinatra at some point?

All in all I really enjoyed this film. It was filmed in 1986 so I can forgive the lack of behind the scenes footage. However the only extra we get is the Theatrical Trailer. Lame. Still I give this DVD an A. If you like your rock n roll loud and angry and your love stories tragic then this DVD is for you.

Wow. Every once in awhile I find a real gem on this Blog. It's times like these that make my job reviewing all the bad DVD's totally worth it. That gem of a film is called "Intimate Confessions of a Chinese Courtesan." Marketed as another sexy kung-fu movie from the 70's it's a lot more than that. It's a Shaw Brothers classic. I had never heard of them before this and now that I am re-discovering my love of classic kung-fu films I feel like an idiot for not knowing them. Anyway this is one of their classics. It's the story of a young rebellious Ai Nu who is abducted and sold off to the Four Seasons brothel. While there the lusty lesbian madam (the gorgeous Lily Ho) who runs the joint falls for Ai Nu and starts to teach her some deadly kung-fu moves. All the while not realizing that Ai Nu is just using her to plot her revenge on her captors and the madam running the brothel. ON top of that their is another sub-plot involving the dedicated Chinese police captain trying to solve a series of murders that Ai Nu is involved in. Pretty ground-breaking for a 1970's kung-fu film.



I was suprised at the level of acting in this movie as well as the cinematography. Lots of long wide shots showing you action with things frequently coming at the camera and hitting the lens. Very stylish and the opposite of most of the garbage you see in 80's karate movies. This movie reminding me a lot of Kill Bill. So much so I might say this is was Quentin was inspired for by the plot of Kill Bill but I am sure some film nerd out there will correct me.

I can't fault this film for not having behind the scenes footage as it was shot in the 70's and, in fact, it does have a really good Featurtte with interviews from all 3 shaw girls. Good stuff and you can find the first 10 minutes of that on our YouTube account.

All in all I give this movie a A. Hey Image Entertainment, keep the Shaw Brothers stuff coming! Have you got any others I should be watching readers?