http://www.wakinglifemovie.com

This is my first year attending the New York Film Festival and i'm hooked...i've only been to two films but i feel like i've gotten the jist of what its all about...the most delicious part is being able to talk to the film's director, cast and crew after the screening..

I knew Waking Life was a popular selection this year but i went without a ticket hoping to buy one at the box office or from someone outside...i had learned from the other movie i went to that, unfortunately due to the tragedy, many people were not showing up for the film festival which left many last minute tickets available...i got lucky and found this lady who sold me her ticket for $10 (they're usually $14)....and to my further surprise and delight, i ended up in the 3rd row, left.

We were shown a short film first...called "Saturday Morning"...it was interesting..about 10 minutes long with only 1 line of dialogue..the rest of the time devoted to the camera panning the reactions of several people to some later revealed event. it was eh..i guess i don't have enough experience with short films to really judge it intelligently...

Then the director (Richard Linklater, 'Dazed and Confused') and one of the stars (Wiley Wiggins) came out before the movie started to say a few words...

Basically Waking Life is an incredibly smart and thoughtful film about a guy who can't wake up from his dream within a dream...he meets all these characters within his dream that expound their theories on life, love, death, society, the big bang theory and many many other things...its basically a film full of clever, well written monologues that leave you thinking "wow" after every one...

the films famous "gimmick" is that it was shot originally with live actors in digital video then transferred to animation...the result is a visually appetizing look that never stops moving...it will take you a few minutes to adjust to the fluid landscape of the film and then you settle into realizing how brilliant it is...facial expressions and body language of the characters take on new life...the animation style actually reminded me alot of those paint by number jawns i used to do when i was a kid...lol

All in all, this was a great experience...the question and answer session that followed was fun and interesting as well...

damali

"The point of art is not to create reality, but verity." - Catherine Breillat

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