When you think of powerhouse, intellectually brilliant science fiction on the screen that came from the printed page, Philip K. Dick is in a class of his own. Bladerunner, Total Recall, Minority Report, the list just keeps growing, and reaching television and streaming as well as movie screens, with The Man in the High Castle which I reviewed last month, and found to be one of the most provocative series ever on television. (See this Top 10 list in Omni for Philip K. Dick movie adaptations, compiled in 2014 or prior to TMITH, for more.)
I'm thus delighted to be attending the Fourth Annual Philip K. Dick Film Festival here in New York City, January 14-17, at the Village East Cinema. I'll be on a panel 3-5pm at the Lovecraft Bar, 50 Avenue B, on January 16 , discussing that alternate history masterpiece, The Man in the High Castle, and how the screen version compares with Dick's 1962 novel.
I'm also one of the judges for the short-film competition, and, let me tell you, some of those movies are peerless, and all are excellent. There will of course also be full-length movies, and, apropos Blade Runner, Rutger Hauer's Clones will be showing on Friday night.
I was just quoted in the Christian Science Monitor early this month in an article by Molly Driscoll about how, as convenient and satisfying as it is to stream narratives on screens at home, there's something special and appealing in the sense of community you get when you see a movie in a theater. I just had that in the theater watching Star Wars. Hope you can come to Village East Cinema in New York in January and get that for Philip K. Dick.
I was always struck by these words of Thomas Gray -
Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
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