Does it see clearly or darkly?

I've been following the news on Richard Linklater's new animated Philip K. Dick adaptation, A Scanner Darkly, very closely. I like Philip K. Dick a good deal, and have always felt that, though a lot of cool movies have spawned from his writing, like Blade Runner and Total Recall and Minority Report, that there hasn't ever been an adaptation that really feels like one of his stories. Directors tend to take Dick's interesting ideas and then reinterpret the story to fit their own needs.

And that's fine. But this Linklater film looks to be the first time a talented director has really merged his style with the author's, to produce something entirely different and new. Linklater's using the animated technique he developed for his 2002 head trip Waking Life to tell the story of a cop chasing a drug dealer that may be his own alter-ego. And it looks fantastic.

Don't believe me? Check out the trailer here at iFilm. You have to watch a creepy trailer for the Army first, in which they try to convince young men that the only way to make their daddy proud is to join the Army. Shameless. But once you get past that, it's all gravy. Enjoy.

And, as with all these trailers and movie-themed goodies, my thanks to Aint It Cool News for the link.