onfocus

I had to go see the Philip K. Dick inspired Steven Spielberg spectacle on opening night. I really enjoyed it, especially the action scenes, even though it had a couple of standard Spielberg-over-the-top-emotional moments. (cry now, dammit, now!) He really brought to life a future that seems entirely possible, but I couldn't decide how he felt about it. It wasn't quite the dystopia of Blade Runner, though it had some dark elements. He seemed to be envisioning a future where corporate control and constant surveillance isn't so bad. In fact, he showed that it's kind of cute and funny to have the police dropping in at all hours sending robotic spiders after you. And even the lowest dregs of bad guys live in fashionable houses furnished by Ikea. The story is what saved the movie from its problems, though, and it brought up some real issues to think about.

It's definitely time to bump another Dick novel up to the top of my reading queue. This time: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch. (If I can find it at the bookstore today.) Before the show we saw a teaser preview for the movie version of Solaris by Stanislaw Lem coming out in December.