Secret 'Scanner' screening
OK, so here's what I didn't mention earlier: As I was leaving the
comic shop today, I met two animators who worked on Richard
Linklater's upcoming film, A Scanner Darkly. They recognized Patton
Oswalt and told us about a "secret" screening of the movie today at
4 p.m. They were as excited about it as we were: "I've seen a rough
cut and that's it," one of them said. Suddenly, I knew how I was
going to spend my afternoon.

The movie was received very well -- I sat behind Harry Knowles and a
cluster of his Ain't It Cool News gang, so expect to see a review on
that site soon. (Update: Here it is!
http://aintitcool.com/display.cgi?id=22747) Afterward, I stopped by
the after-party at a nearby bar and had a drink with Linklater in a
quiet room downstairs.

"I wish it were opening Friday," he told me. (The flick doesn't come
out until July.) Making the movie has been an incredibly long
process, with a 23-day shoot taking place in 2004 and animators hard
at work since then. Today's world-premiere screening was prefaced by
the phrase "a work in progress," but Linklater told me the only work
left to do is the final sound mix and some music mixing.

One thing that really struck me about this movie is how captivating
and comfortable these particular actors -- Robert Downey Jr., Keanu
Reeves, Woody Harrelson and Winona Ryder -- are as animated
characters. Linklater said he didn't have to do much
coaching: "Woody's a very silent-movie comedian," he said. "Robert's
very cerebral, but also incredibly physical." As for Reeves, he said
he'd had him in mind for the part for awhile, but it wasn't until he
was out of "the sci-fi world" of the Matrix trilogy that he came
aboard.

Around the same time Scanner hits theaters, Linklater's Fast Food
Nation will be released. "I think it's countercultural programming
whenever it comes out," he says of Scanner. Only time will tell if
the counterculture is ready to embrace his mind-bending, intricate
take on the Philip K. Dick novel. Personally, I think the odds are
in his favor. Sent wirelessly via BlackBerry

http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2006/03/secret_scanner_.html