Radio Free Albemuth

2010 "Coming soon to a reality near you"
5.6| 1h50m| R| en| More Info
Released: 25 February 2010 Released
Producted By: Discovery Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://radiofreealbemuth.com/
Info

Record store clerk Nick Brady begins to experience strange visions from an entity he calls VALIS that cause him to uproot his family and move to Los Angeles where he becomes a successful music company executive. Nick finds himself drawn into a dangerous political-mystical conspiracy of cosmic proportions.

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Director

John Alan Simon

Production Companies

Discovery Productions

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Radio Free Albemuth Audience Reviews

VividSimon Simply Perfect
Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Moonwolf95 Back when Ridley Scott made Blade Runner, it wasn't that well-received by critics, and for many years ended up relegated to being a "cult classic". That seems to be the fate that awaits adaptations of Phillip K Dick's stories into movies that try to keep sight of the Question behind themRadio Free Albemuth, at its core, involves real people like you, me, your neighbor down the road, that kid you knew in grade school. In a time when "gritty realism" in movies is neither gritty nor realistic, it eschews the usual "enhancements" demanded by entertainment to stay true to the original story.Part of that is undoubtedly because as an Indiefilm it was budget constrained, but it is more trying to stay true to the source material without adding in the bells and whistles people demand.RFA isn't a movie you can just watch and come away feeling good about yourself after, but it *is* PKD - given Shea Wigham seems to have been channelling PKD while playing him in the movie, just watch his performance and you'll see what I mean :)Blade Runner is no longer a "cult classic", now it's "visionary" and "prophetic". To some, Radio Free Albemuth already qualifiesRFA is about a group of normal people, flawed warts and all, in an impossible situation, trying to figure out a way to live when the odds are against them. In retelling that story the movie keeps to one precept of PKD's works that most movie adaptations seem to have forgotten:Real life doesn't come with a soundtrack
schltrlegal Full disclosure: a producer of this film is my cousin. She is also the wife of the writer/director.This is one of the most utterly sincere films ever made. That is high praise. I am a lawyer. This movie reminds me a new lawyer who prepares his argument in front of a judge with impossible carefulness and utter conviction in the rightness of his cause. Some mid-career judges might overlook that meticulous preparation and utter conviction because they are impatient to call the case with the notable lawyer, who is in the back of the courtroom drumming his fingers on his costly, leather briefcase embossed with his full name in gold letters. Some mid-career judges fawn over such notable lawyers. That's because they feel important when such a lawyer appears in front of them. They overlook that the notable lawyer lost his sincerity when he learned that he could win without believing, and he lost his passion for the law when he realized that he was rich.This film is an act of devotion. In fact, it has occurred to me that it is an act of religious devotion.I myself am religious. This film is not my religion. But I look upon it as a passionate statement of someone else's utter belief. We still value other viewpoints. We might not share them, but that does not mean they fail to challenge and inform – like many a new and zealous advocates who prepare meticulously and argue with the pure beauty of utter conviction.I have a particular background in a way that I won't describe here. As I watched this film, it occurred to me that that particular dimension of the human condition was depicted more truthfully than it has been in any other film. Those who share my particular background – and there are many of us – will understand when they see the film.The film has its flaws. All films do. I love "To Kill a Mockingbird." But I know many of its faults. I have written a blog- post about them. ("To Kill a Mockingbird: A Crumdgeon's Guide." http://justsayinghere.blogspot.com/2011/09/to-kill-mockingbird- curmudgeons-guide.html )But I so love "To Kill a Mockingbird" that its faults are like the defects of a much-loved woman. Somehow, those faults become inseparable from her beauty – in fact, they are part of her unique beauty.Think of this movie that way.One more thing. Some films are prescient about casting. "Boogie Nights" is a fine movie. (But the first time I saw it, I quit it, and I demanded my money back from the video store.) But whether you love it or hate it, you have to acknowledge that it cast people who went on to great fame and accomplishment. Mark Wahlberg. Heather Graham. Julianne Moore. Philip Seymore Hoffman. John C. Reilly. William H. Macy. Don Cheadle. Of course, some of these actors were already on their way to fame. But it is phenomenal how many actors seem to have gotten a leg up from "Boogie Nights".That has already proved somewhat true for Radio Free Albemuth. The makers of it had an eye for talent on the rise. That may make its place in film history.
Tss5078 From Philip K. Dick, the mind behind the Terminator, Blade Runner, & Total Recall, (just to name a few) comes one of his most abstract and best reviewed novels, Radio Free Albemuth. Since being released in the early 80's, Science Fiction fans and literary scholars alike have analyzed it over and over again. They seem to think there is a deeper meaning, but to me the meaning of the story is simply that every single person can make a difference and change the world, if they are inspired to do so. Radio Free Albemuth is Philip K. Dick's biography, only in an alternate universe. Dick is a Science Fiction writer and the narrator of the film, who tells the story of his friend Nicholas Brady (Jonathan Scarfe). Brady is an ordinary guy who one day starts receiving visions of the future. Most people think Brody is crazy, especially his wife, until all of his predictions start to come true. Brady moves his family to L.A., where he becomes a record executive and that's where the story really takes off. The world these people live in is a police state, cause by the hysteria brought on by terrorism and The Cold War. Brady comes to realize that he is the key to changing the world for the better. All he has to do is find out how to do it and who or what is instructing him to do so. The alternate Phillip K. Dick, played admirable by Shea Whigham, is a witness to the events and makes it his mission to chronicle the work of his friend. Like most writers, Dick was known for being more than a little eccentric and many have questioned where this story came from, and weather or not Dick believe he was experiencing the same types of messages that Brady was. As for the film, it is just so well done, and I've always love stories that take place in alternate realities. The story is as much political as it is scientific, and when you throw in the inspirational message that anyone can change the world for the better, you've got one hell of a story. From beginning to end, the cast is terrific, especially the mysterious Sylvia, played by Alanis Morrisette of all people. I knew she was in Dogma, but I had no idea just how good and actress she could be, isn't it ironic? Radio Free Albemuth has everything I look for in a movie and then some, and it is written by one of the best there ever was, I can't possibly recommend it enough.
Green-Irish-Eyes If this is a faithful adaptation of a Philip K Dick book, then I guess I'm glad not to be a Philip K Dick fan. The acting was flat, the script incomprehensible, and the story line simply ludicrous.Alanis Morrisette, bless her heart, can't act any better than she can sing -- thankfully she only attempts one of those in this project. The other actors, unfortunately, aren't much better, though they do try. And try. And try.There is WAY too much dialog and, again, most of it make no sense (or sound issues make it too difficult to hear). While acknowledging that the film is set in "an alternate America" in the late 1980's, it doesn't look 80's at all.Bottom line, this is a terrible movie. Hardcore Philip Dick fans may enjoy it, but I'd advise viewers who appreciate a good *movie* to look elsewhere.