cult films

“at the movies”

starting in the front row, left to right:

terry gilliam, alfred hitchcock, stanley kubrick, wes anderson.
jim jarmusch, joel coen, ethan coen, hal ashby, woody allen, paul thomas anderson.
werner herzog, michel gondry, martin scorsese, david lynch, jean-pierre jeunet.
françois truffaut, sidney lumet.

in a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

dir.: terry gilliam
mystery/sci-fi/thriller
1995
bruce willis / madeleine stowe / brad pitt 

facts:
- terry gilliam gave bruce willis a list of “willis acting clichés” not to be used during the film, including the “steely blue eyes look”.
- the army of the twelve monkeys is inspired by a passage in l. frank baum’s novel, “the magic of oz”, in which the nome king and kiki aru convince twelve monkeys they will have an endless supply of food if they become human soldiers for them.
- right after dr. leland goines gets off the phone with dr. railly, dr. peters can be seen handling a tray of seven vials filled with a golden liquid. twice in the movie, a passage of the bible’s book of the revelation is quoted referring to seven golden vials filled with god’s wrath.
- looking at the bodies in the aftermath of a fight bruce willis says, “all i see are dead people.” of course, “i see dead people” is the most famous line from 1999’s the sixth sense, which starred bruce willis.
- throughout the movie, actual monkeys appear on camera. from the “monkey and a roast beef sandwich” to zoo animals. some people suggest 12 different monkeys appear in the film.
- in the 24 hour hitchcock theater, katheryn transforms herself with a blonde wig. hitchcock had a notorious obsession with blonde actresses in his films.

an undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.

dir.: richard linklater
animation / drama / crime / thriller / sci-fi
2006

keanu reeves as bob arctor
robert downey jr. as james barris
woody harrelson as ernie luckman
winona ryder as donna hawthorne

some facts:

- charlie kaufman wrote a screenplay adaptation of the novel. when the project changed hands, kaufman’s script was no longer involved.
- terry gilliam (brazil, monty python, 12 monkeys, fear & loathing in las vegas) originally wanted to make a motion picture version of the novel in the early 90s.
- based on philip k. dick’s personal drug experiences.
- dir. richard linklater intended to film the philip k. dick novel “ubik”, but decided to film dick’s “a scanner darkly” instead after wiley wiggins, who played the main character in linklater’s film waking life (2001), suggested it to him. 
- the title is an appropriation of 1 corinthians 13:12, which reads, in part: “for now we see through a glass darkly; but then, face to face: now i know in part; but then i shall know even as i am known.”
- robert downey jr. wrote most of his lines down on post-it notes and scattered them around the set so he could read off them while filming a scene. the rotoscoping team simply animated over the notes to remove them from the film during post-production.
- 2ond film to feature winona ryder playing the love interest of keanu reeves. the 1st was dracula (1992) 
- when arctor and connie are about to have sex, there is a brief view of the clock/radio next to the bed. the clock shows the time as 4:20, a classic drug reference, fitting in with the theme of the film.
- according to dir. richard linklater, filming was completed in 23 days; the animation process took 18 months.
- each minute of animation required 500 hours of work by 50 animators working full-time.
- when freck goes to the liquor store to buy wine, one of the brand names being advertised is st. ubik. this is a reference to philip k. dick’s novel “ubik”
- in arctor’s kitchen there is a drawing of a head in a box next to the phrase “time to thaw walt out!”. this is a reference to the urban legend that animator walt disney had himself cryogenically frozen.
- the brand on the earphone of the woman in the surveillance room reads »phil d.«
- the brand on james’ wrist calculator reads »philip«

…what does a scanner see?