A tale of 3 films

Watched 2 very interesting films and one utterly disappointing one over the weekend.

Started with A Scanner Darkly. Now what got me interested in the film were a couple of things - (a) its an indy film which is sorta semi reality, semi graphic novel. Its animated, but not really. Was shot in digital with real actors and then animated using a special technique called cel-shading with an interpolated rotoscope (thanks Wikipedia for making me sound smart). (b) It has a great cast - Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Woody Harrelson, Robert Downey Jr and Rory Cochrane. To add to that, George Clooney is one of the executive producers. The movie is based on a novel by the same name by Philip K. Dick and is set at a time in the near future - "7 years from now" in a society that has gone downhill from where we are (surprise surprise!!). The scourge of life then is substance D - a drug that has taken over the city. Bob Arctor (Keanu) is an undercover narcotics agent who, in the line of duty, gets hooked onto the substance himself. He is then put into rehab. As the plot unravels, it gets more interesting (I'd kill the movie for anyone if I said more than this about the plot). All in all, a very interesting watch if only for how the movie has been shot.

Next up was the utter disappointment - Stranger than fiction. The movie was even stranger than that. It has Will Ferrel and Dustin Hoffman - a great cast doing a shit film. Harold Crick (Will Ferrel) is an IRS agent who is kinda obsessive compulsive (interesting angle, but the movie does nothing with it... unlike "As good as it gets"). He suddenly starts hearing a voice in his head narrating his life (interesting angle again - could have gone down the psychological path a la "Being John Malkovich" but doesn't). 2 things happen - (a) he meets a chick and falls in love with her, (b) he discovers he is about to die, (c) he meets a literature expert (Dustin Hoffman) who does.. well... nothing. This movie peters out to a lame ending and is eminently forgettable. It's kinda caught between a chick flick and a hard place.

Last was a breath of fresh air. A Singaporean film - Mee Pok Man. This film was made in 1994-5, directed by Eric Khoo - a nascent Singapore film industry's leading light. Its about a.. well.. a Mee Pok Man (Fishball Noodle Seller) who falls in love with one of his frequent customers - a prostitute and goes on to paint a beautiful collage of their touching, sometimes-funny-sometimes-bizzare love affair. The film deals with the little known seedy underbelly of Singapore and is full of surprises. Its been shot in 35mm, so don't look for a full on gloassy film. It has a very short film look to it. Definitely worth a watch if you live/have ever lived in Singapore.