Tuesday, May 24, 2005

only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe [may 23, 2005]

Impostor is yet another unsung adaptation of a Philip K Dick short story. This one reuses sets and costumes from Starship Troopers and unfortunately feels a lot more like a TV movie than an involved atmospheric piece. And dropping references to replicants is not enough to pitch this work for votes in the Blade Runner camp. In fact, there is virtually no suspense in the narrative. Yes, if you've read PKD's stuff, you already know what's coming; but the journey ain't too interesting. Luckily, I had the short story on hand to read and compare. Once again (unfortunately, really: PKD's stuff is promising material for a ton of interesting films), the source material wins. The fatality of the proceedings is something PKD wins hands down in conveying. It's nice to know, though, that John Lee Hooker continues to be played in the future (Boom Boom to be precise).

The only important discovery as far as I am concerned was that the spelling of the titular word involved an o instead of an e: impostor. The film and its acknowledgement for PKD used this spelling. And I always thought it was imposter. The source story I had used the variant that I was familiar with. Some googling told me that both variants were acceptable, although the one with the o was the first choice.

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