I can see clearly now

so, I saw A Scanner Darkly yesterday and I must say that I am quite the satisfied moviegoer. The newest film from Richard Linklater was engaging, funny, well-written (thank you PKD), disturbing and above all inventive. The animation was so much fun to watch, the dialogue was faithful to the book and the performances were dead on. Most notably, Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of the sinister Barris was exactly as I remembered him from the novel. Keanu Reeves was great as the main character Fred/Arctor whose addiction is so far along that he has no idea his brain is rotting. Winona Ryder and Woody Harrelson are used a little bit less and that works well also. This film deals with paranoia, drug addiction, trust and civil liberties, some heavy stuff so be prepared for some very talky scenes. I'm a fan of the novel and this movie to me is simply a visual representation of that story and it's awesome in its presentation, I want more films to look like this.

Also, on the web today, you can view the trailers for new films coming from Pedro Almodovar and Michel Gondry. Almodovar's newest is titled Volver and is about three generations of women dealing with their lives. Gondry, who last directed The Enternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is releasing an even kookier looking film starring Gael Garcia Bernal called The Science of Sleep in which the main character has trouble keeping reality and his dreams separate. Bernal and Gondry are two of my favorite new people working right now and I can't wait to see what they've done together, the trailer looks great.