Rating: 
Summary: Slacker, plus or minus a little something
Review: Let me start by saying that this film is a visual treat of the highest order. Right up there with the best of the best in animation, and should be in every serious/artsy DVD collection for its incredible visual artistry alone. I would like to personally congratulate all of the animators. The original score, too, is very worthwhile - rather than assembling a collection of the alterna-pop du jour, Linklater wisely chose an acoustic troupe whose boudouir-Bartokian richness and lyricism lends a new layer of sophistication to the experience. Purely in terms of sensory bravura, "Waking Life" offers more than any of Linklater's other films.But, in terms of the story, "Waking Life" falls a little short of Linklater's brilliant feature debut. If you've seen and absorbed "Slacker" as many times as I have, you can clearly see the roots of this film with one viewing. It's a return to the original inspiration, with a nod to the commercial perspiration (a la Delpy and Hawke). The familiar Austin backdrops remain visible to the discerning eye: the Drag, the Capitol, the UT Campus, and the trendy coffee-houses. Several characters from "Slacker" make an appearance as well, sometimes in similiar roles, sometime radically shifted. Linklater attempts more narrative coherence in "Waking Life" by casting the impossible-to-dislike Wiley as a central protagonist around whom the chaos revolves, but it's the chaos itself that's not as interesting. It just doesn't hit as hard in the post-Terence-Mc-Kenna age. There are cogent discussions (by a UT professor on the positive and pragmatic modes of Existentialism, a spiritual linguist on "Byzantine" discourse semantics, by a crackpot driving emcee on post-capitalist revolutionism, and by a redheaded pixie on the ant-like behavior of socialized humans). There are also the moments of violence that Linklater has always felt the need to foreground, but in WL they are sometimes handled not as skillfully. And, inevitably, there are some quite banal, repetitive, or otherwise not-so-hot ideas and emotions being tossed around. It seems as though the characters are trying too hard, the script is too tight (whether consciously or not), and the result is a series of "my twenty cents" moments rather than a story that emerges from a true creative chaos. All of that aside, the film will indeed make you think and perhaps even dream. Give it a chance. The messages within "Waking Life" are essential as an antidote to consumer culture. If the experience of the film opens doors, writes question marks, and begs us to dream just a little bit more, then it has done its due. The struggle of maintaining one's dignity and individualism within an increasingly complex universe is the essential one faced by both everyman and the intellectual who doesn't simply want to cave into the forces of late capitalist culture. Reinjecting humanity, creativity, and even magic into our everyday life is the film's urgent message to me, and I think that message is communicated quite well. If, for example, we can take the film's own embedded interpretation of the filmic experience itself as a "holy moment" (rather than holding it to the same standards of judgment as we do written discourse), then perhaps my criticms are beside the point. All in all, I am glad the real Linklater is back. When someone pushes the edge as hard as he does with this film, and pulls it off with confidence and panache, he deserves our support and kudos for a long time to come. He certainly has mine.
Rating:
Summary: challenging reality
Review: "waking life" is much like "the matrix" in that i cannot really tell you what "waking life" is, you have to see it for yourself. it think this masterpiece is truly a different experience for every person. fascinatingly, the film pursues this very subject: the uniqueness of each individual consciousness. just as one begins to make sense, his dialogue is reduced to insane babblings. the answers seem ever near but always just out of reach. this film explores thoughts, ideas, and probes perceptions. some may call it pretentious. i call it visionary. the next evolutionary stage of film making.
Rating:
Summary: Dreams within Dreams......
Review: In Steven Soderbergh's bit in this flick he tells of Louis Malle meeting with Billy Wilder and telling Wilder his latest film cost $2.5 million. Wilder asks what it's about and Malle says "A dream within a dream" and Wilder replies "Well, you've just lost $2.5 million". Richard Linklater knew what he would be up against with this film, and judging by some of the reviews here, he got that kind of response. First, the film looks great! Using computer animation layed over live action footage, Linlater tells a tale of dreams within dreams, with his hero meandering around encountering this one and that one, and soon realizing that the distinction between his life awake and his life asleep and dreaming has been blurred beyond recognition. I don't know any other way this dream-like state could have been conveyed WITHOUT the use of animation. The rocking, floating surrounding motions, and the fluid ever- changing visuals conveys the dream state better than anything we've seen previously. As to the content of the encounters in the various vignettes that make up the film, I was always entertained by the intellectual prattle that ranged from fascinating to facetious, from the ridiculous to the sublime. I liked the fact that Linklater made a film that allowed people to expound on their obsessions and philosophy, whether crackpot or intuitive. It certainly was a different day at the cinema. Finally, I congratulate the filmakers for their cleverness and for the sheer originality of the endeavor. It is very satisfying to see someone marry technology with inspiration and tell a tale, in this case various ideas about the conscious and the subconscious, in a way it never could have been told before, and with a method that perfectly conveys the ideas presented. Certainly not for everyone, but well worthwhile for those seeking something different, done extremely well.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm flabbergastedso many people liked this film. . .
Review: I couldn't stomach my way through the whole film, the "speeches" in this sound like they were written by someone who got a hold of an intro to philosophy text and skimmed the chapters. To those who enjoyed this film for its "intellectual" merits: Go read some good books!!!! The ideas 'discussed' in this film have been around for a long, long time, and have been expressed much clearer. A lot of this is just 'pop-philosophy' gone berserk. It IS interesting visually: I agree with one reviewer who said this would have made a good 15 minute short film, that would have done the trick. It depresses me that so many people were impressed by the content; it just demonstrates to me how uneducated people are. Anyone who didn't sleep through their humanities coures in college would find this film sophmoric, pretentious, muddled, and ultimately insulting to the viewers' intelligence. Again, to found this thought-provoking, Fantastic!! Now just take the next step and go read some books written by educated, intelligent people with things to say!
Rating:
Summary: Motion Sickness: The Movie
Review: I had to give up on this movie after less than 15 minutes because it was making me sick to my stomach -- literally! Not because it's gross, but because the constantly shifting, floating, warping images were producing the same sensation I used to get on car trips when I was a kid. I've learned from experience (boat rides, airplane flights, etc.) that I am much more susceptible to motion sickness than most people, and Waking Life made me very queasy, very fast. (And from the 10-15 minutes I did see, the dialog is no prize either; kind of like what you'd hear at a university-area coffee house at 2 am.) I realize that many other people think this is a really wonderful movie, but if you have motion-sickness tendencies, stay away!
Rating:
Summary: A trip like no other
Review: As a character in this movie said, often it's very boring to hear about someone else's dream. They often don't make sense to either the dreamer or the victim of the recap, but when you yourself have a dream that bugs you all day, it's almost irresistible to tell others about it. It kind of feels like Rick Linklater, in making a movie like this, found a way to tell us all about some of his dreams, and the dreams of others, but without being boring at all. Far from it, in fact! It's exhilarating! It's sad and happy, hopeful and despondent, and most of all, thought-provoking. Of course, the movie itself is a dream, a stroll through someone's unconscious. It feels very personal, a feeling enhanced by the director himself appearing at both the beginning and the end ov the movie, almost as a guide both to the main character and to us, the viewers. It's as if Linklater is telling us, "Hey- are dreams cool or what?!" and at the same time showing us the message of his own dream creation. We hear many people talk about their perspectives on reality, consciousness, and life in general, and this makes us feel like one of them, because we all wonder about these things from time to time. Any movie that can remind people that they are not alone in this world (without being smarmy) is a success in my book. Everyone has dreams, and this mere fact makes the movie work, because it appeals to a side of all of us. Not only that, it introduces the concept of lucid dreaming to anyone not already familiar with it. This review is not a plot summary. To try that would be futile, because I'd only focus on the stuff I thought was cool. It's like a collection of seeds for each of us to sort through at leisure and cultivate on our own, and this very process makes it a unique and personal experience for everyone that sees it. After seeing this movie, I began writing my dreams down, because I was so excited at the prospect of being able to control my own dreams. And any movie that inspires something like that in me is also a success in my book! See it and you won't be sorry!
Rating:
Summary: Certaintly not your common animated movie
Review: Now here's a movie which definetely stands out for it's originallity : Waking Life , a based on real actors' moves animated film displays an endless string of philosophical discussions all taking place in one of our central hero's dream ( and then again ... maybe not ) . The conversations involve around various challenging subjects while , at the same time , the style of the sketch changes constantly depending on the nature of what is being talked about .
Dark , hauntig and undeniably different this is one for the library .
Rating:
Summary: Works Wonderfully On Many Levels
Review: If you are an artist, as I am, this film is so envelope pushing on blending the real world with the animated world that you can shut off the sound and just watch it. It is worth the money right there because you have never seen a film that looks like this. And you even get to see a special feature with the inventor of the process working with his drawing tablet and computer monitor so you can learn how it is done. My husband, who hates animation, loved this because he noticed right away how much more real world everyone looked. Next, if you like the kind of film that explores quirky characters and ideas with lots of conversation, this film contains that in spades. It reminded me a bit of "My Dinner with Andre" in that respect. So even when you turn on the sound, there is still a movie that many people will enjoy. There is no other plot per se as this is a film about ideas and daily life albeit in a university setting. Linklater, the director, is notorious for having made "Slackers" as his first film. Some viewers will compare this film to "Slackers" saying it is a more adult version of that film. In its quirkiness, it does resemble "Slackers." However, "Slackers" was only a mild nudge of the envelope whereas "Waking Life" is a full blast push off the cliff. I bought this film after seeing it. There was no way I was going to be caught without my own copy if it went out of release. That kind of says it all.
Rating:
Summary: Eye Opener
Review: the movie is for those who can open their body and soul along with their collective conciousness. This movie is not for the light thinker. It is very philosphical and full of meaning, some more apparent than others. This movie is a most see if you are into a new experience and underground films.
Rating:
Summary: Breaking Sight ... Viewing Strife ... Quaking Lights
Review: ... The first 10 minutes of the DVD contain some good "rotoscope" style animation -- at once intriguing and engaging. And then the seasickness kicks in. Perhaps using the queasiness engendered by the Blair Witch Project as a model, some of the animators seemed determined to conceal their attempts at art under a panopoly of discordant visual stimuli. Who knows whether their attempts at art was successful? It is unviewable. Like the "computer newbie" who's discovered different fonts, effects, and colors in a word-processing package, and seems to have sworn out a vendetta on white space, several of the animators use the Macintosh-hosted animation application to make their own work unwatchable. Not content with the camera movement that the hand-held digital video backdrop provides, several of the animators place 'their' segment's background on multiple layers, each of which has been configured to rock back and forth -- out-of-synch with the others. This completely unnatural effect will give you an eyeache, at the very least. Persevere at your own peril. You will be probably be rewarded with a splitting headache, and no comprehension of the animator's message, if you try to bear it out (as I must ruefully admit to having tried to do). The animation application itself, the subject of a very good documentary -- shot with a tripod-mounted camera -- is very rich in functionality and has been developed to be useful for a broad range of users' talent-levels. So what ... I can only wish several of the animators had been forced to take lessons. The ease of use of a camera, the interface of the application used for F/X in the Jurrasic Park movies, the difficulties trapping colors in blue-screen effects, and other technical issues should be concealed from the viewer. The producers of this film forgot this critical element. <> <> <>Don't waste your money on this one!! ...Please, please, don't waste your money on this one!
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