Waking Life

It is rare for a director to return to a film and improve it but Linklater does it here. Taking the general form of Slackers, he adds a metaphysical story line and coats it with extraordinary eye candy.

The rotoscoping really provides an acid trip experience of constantly shifting planes with backgrounds going one way and characters going the other.

The string quartet tango score also is an excellent use of music to reinforce the exotic aspects of the production.

The monologues are thought provoking and compelling. The story line examining dream/death connection is novel. Score points for originality of story, art direction and narrative line. Some quite funny parts (e.g. boat car, bar shoot out, etc.), some creepy parts (e.g. jailbird rant, second boat man meeting, etc.).

I have seen this several times and enjoyed it every time. Farily rare is the movie that can really stand up to multiple viewings. This is one.

Very refreshing. See it.

Waking Life is among a handful of films (Woyzeck, Magnolia, The Passion of Anna) that really frustrate me, because as much as I love them I can't necessarily recommend them to everyone. There are certain films for which one needs to be on a certain wavelength to enjoy, no matter how cultured or intelligent. This film is best for those who have sat around thinking about the big questions in life for long periods of time, dying for someone to talk to about them. I guess Waking Life isn't about those questions so much as it's about the people who are asking them, the wonderers, the thinkers, and especially the dreamers. For those who can appreciate it, it's a cleansing experience, one of a purity and beauty that has no equal in the films I've been fortunate enough to see.

Waking Life is probably one of the most randomly amazing works that I have seen. It's lack of a plot, random events, and constant motion give it the dreamlike feel. The ideas are all so intriguing that I don't understand how anyone can hate this movie. I can understand that it could be hard to sit through if you're tired, or if you refuse to contemplate the endless possibilities presented. I'll also admit that some people would find it very hard to watch the animation, but to me it keeps your attention. I tried to imagine what this movie would have been like if it hadn't been animated and I don't think it would have had the impact on as many people as it has if it weren't for the animation. I think that anyone who enjoys the topic of dreams would find it worthwhile. I could watch this movie over and over and still find something that I hadn't noticed before. If you don't like movies that make you think, don't watch it. But if you want a movie that gives you a lot of things to think about and allows you the freedom to interpret it in many different ways . . . check it out!

This is one of the most thought provoking films I've ever seen. It's also visually stunning and perfectly acted: every single one of these people seem to be just giving their own opinions as if you were overhearing/having a meaningful conversation with them.

We can chalk this up to the genius of Linklater who over the years has shown not only the pretentiously humorous coffee house crowd cliches but also the searching, often deeply insightful side of our generation that the media overlooked when we were dubbed slackers. In films he has written: "Slacker" and "Before Sunrise" and in his films of stage plays Bogosian's brilliant, Chekhovian "SubUrbia" and the faintly melodramatic "Tape", Linklater has always been fascinated with the question of what we should doing with our lives. Our responsibility is to contribute something lasting and meaningful to our society. But what exactly is that? Where and when should I do it? Who with? How do I know if I've really found it? Why is it so important again, anyway?

I saw this movie for the first time late last night and 5 minutes before it started I had fallen asleep and was hoping I'd be able to make it all the way through the film. From the first frame I was riveted and completely awake and remained so even after it was over; contemplating all the myriad viewpoints the film had thrown at me.

This movie is so exciting and bursting with ideas that I'm going to buy the DVD as soon as I possibly can and watch it over and over trying to absorb it all.

See this film. It will remind you of how thrilling it is to be an active thinking, feeling member of the human race.

This film, if seen by someone who has DEEPLY considered the mysteries of life, will thoroughly delight. If you don't have a spiritual bone in your body, avoid. It has its flaws, but only in retrospect or through the eyes of another will they be found--and then forgiven if you have even an ounce of heart or a particle of transcendence.

It gets beneath one's radar and past one's filters.

For instance, it hits you perceptually with constantly varying animation styles, and after some time, you adjust to this so much that when you leave the theater, THE WORLD IS ANIMATED--a poetic way of saying that your connection to the proposition that all things are real is loosen WONDERFULLY!

And then, it hits you intellectually by parading a dozen+ viewpoints of persons who would not necessarily disagree with one another, but show the vast importance to us of the personal way we manifest our philosophical axioms and how much that depends on our individual interests-not all of us are psychologically constructed to be philosophers, but all of us can be analyzed to have a philosophical set of suppositions. Waking Life challenges these suppositions by merely presenting to you, in dramatic form, persons who vividly present their `takes' on the concepts and how they are impacted by them...especially emotionally.

Ultimately, this is not a movie, and it shouldn't be viewed as such; instead, one should approach it as therapy. See it, be with it, relax, and GROW. Every time you see it again, the concepts saturate your nervous system with reinforcing patterns that will later "echo" in your dynamics in synergistic ways. A seed gets planted and with repeated viewings the seed gets watered.

Go to this event. See it from a seat that's within the first ten rows of the theater; immerse yourself. Let go. All you have to lose (loosen) is identification with a reflection of the real you.