Radio Free Albemuth

• USA • 2010 • 111m •

• Directed by: John Alan Simon. • Starring: Shea Whigham, Jonathan Scarfe, Michael Rothhaar, Katheryn Winnick, Scott Wilson, Julie Warner, Bruce Hensel, Rosemary Harris, John Prosky, Kelly Hare, Jon Tenney, Rich Sommer, Joel McKinnon Miller. • Music by: Ralph Grierson, Robyn Hitchcock.

Berkeley 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. With the help of best friend, science-fiction writer Philip K. Dick himself and a mysterious woman named Silvia, Nick finds himself drawn into a dangerous political-mystical conspiracy of cosmic proportions.

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2:13

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Review:

"Radio Free Albemuth" is an excellent film. I first saw it at the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention in Reno, where it appropriately followed the Hugo Award Ceremonies (the highest science fiction literary honors). The film itself is one of the most refreshingly "literary" science fiction films to come out in recent years; uniquely, it brings Philip K. Dick's later exploration of religious ideas (and mystical experiences) to the screen, while preserving his singular brand of science fiction humor and comic humanity that runs throughout his work (one thing most other PKD film adaptations forget is the humor!!). The performances are great in this respect - not least Shea Whigham as the excellent "Phil" himself: skeptical, deadpan, and passionate.

I love also how the film explores the clash of everyday life and science fiction "alternate realities" that makes Dick so intriguing to readers - "Radio Free Albemuth" is his most autobiographical and personal novel, and it offers political commentary that remains very relevant today. Hopefully, it will inspire some viewers who have not yet read Philip K. Dick to explore his writings (as well as other science fiction). And thankfully, after much hard work and dedication, "Radio Free Albemuth" has had the general release that it deserves.

In fact, I liked the film so much that I eventually signed on as an Associate Producer (following the kickstarter campaign) to assist with its release. There is no film quite like it. I hope you take the opportunity to explore this great independent film.

Review by seancnye from the Internet Movie Database.

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