Waking Life

Waking Life

Independent Film Channel Productions etc.

January 23, 2001

Animation, Drama

DVD
C-

I didn't really get this, but it was kind of interesting.  Richard Linklater wrote and directed, before Before Sunset and Me and Orson Welles, which were of course live action.

Me and Orson Welles

Me and Orson Welles

CinemaNX etc.

November 25, 2009

Historical Drama

DVD
C+

Although there were elements I liked, and I did stay with the movie until the end, it did feel off to me, especially very un-1930s Danes.  I was leaning towards maybe a B- initially, but I was sort of done before the movie was.  Still, the period details are solid, and Christian McKay is remarkably good as Welles.  Certainly this is better than director Linklater's Before Sunset (2004), which I gave a C-.  As soon as I saw that this movie is based on the Robert Kaplow novel, I thought That explains it, meaning that the pluses and minuses feel like they're because this is an adaptation.

Before Sunset

Before Sunset
Castle Rock
July 2, 2004
Romance
DVD
C-

This turns out to be the middle in a trilogy, with movies spaced nine years apart (Before Sunrise was first and Before Midnight is the last, so far).  I judged it as a stand-alone and it was just sort of there.  A novelist gets interviewed and then talks with his "ex," who shows up to surprise him, and even though I am big on dialogue (my idea of ultimate entertainment is a lot closer to people talking on a couch than it is to explosions or any "spectacle"), I just didn't care enough about what they were talking about.

Ethan Hawke not only stars as Jesse, but he co-wrote the screenplay with director Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan, who co-created the characters.