Philip K. Dick Series Episode 12

In the early ’80s, the dawn of home video, it would be easy to think movies had a lifespan of only four years. But Ridley Scott’s creation Blade Runner escaped box-office failure to find its own life. Its imagery still influences artists 35 years after being released, and it’s spawned novels, video games, and more. But now this dystopian vision returns to big screens with a sequel: Blade Runner 2049. Harrison Ford returns as Deckard, a man with secrets sought after by a new Blade Runner played by Ryan Gosling.  Can director Denis Villeneuve craft a vision that we’ll still be discussing in 2052? Listen to this review to find out!

Philip K. Dick Series Episode 11

Philip K. Dick’s novel Radio Free Albemuth was published in 1985, three years after the author’s death and nine years after the book was written. Yet with the author’s name as propellant, this discarded novel was optioned for a low-budget movie. After lengthy post-production the film Radio Free Albemuth was released direct-to-VOD in 2014.  Can the acting (and singing) of Alanis Morissette help audiences swallow this film’s extra-terrestrial premise? Listen to find out!

Philip K. Dick Series Episode 10

Maybe next Colin Farrell can star in a more-true-to-the-story remake of The Running Man!

Do you remember Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1990 movie Total Recall? If not, Columbia Pictures will remind you with their wholesale retelling of that film. Featuring Colin Farrell in the lead this movie was quickly forgotten in theaters. But now, after much listener demand, the Now Playing Podcast hosts give Len Wiseman his props! So join Stuart, Brock, and Jakob for this return to our Philip K Dick Retrospective Series!

Hear Stuart’s review of Philip K. Dick’s original short story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”

Philip K. Dick Series Episode 9

The Adjustment Bureau pairs rising political star Matt Damon (The Bourne Identity) with dancer Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) in a romance that literally defies fate. After a chance meeting sparks an unexpected connection, Damon discovers shadowy agents are manipulating reality to keep their relationship from derailing a carefully charted destiny. Loosely inspired by Philip K. Dick’s short story “The Adjustment Team”, this film blends conspiracy thriller with love story, asking whether free will can outmaneuver cosmic bureaucracy. But does The Adjustment Bureau balance romance and high-concept sci-fi, or does one undermine the other? The hosts examine whether this battle against destiny earns its happily ever after.

Also hear Stuart’s review of Dick’s original “The Adjustment Team” short story:

This week, Stuart examines “Adjustment Team,” the 1954 short story by Philip K. Dick that later inspired the film The Adjustment Bureau starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. Dick’s original tale is a tighter, more overtly metaphysical story about a man who glimpses the machinery behind reality and discovers that unseen bureaucrats quietly “adjust” events to keep the universe on schedule. With less romance and more existential dread than the film version, this original story explores fate, free will, and whether humanity is simply following a script written by forces it can’t perceive. Stuart breaks down how Dick’s concept differs from its cinematic reworking and whether the lean short story delivers a sharper philosophical punch than the big-screen love story.

This week, Stuart turns to The Golden Man, Philip K. Dick’s 1953 short story that later inspired the Nicolas Cage thriller Next. Dick’s original tale is lean, strange, and far more unsettling than its Hollywood counterpart. Set in a post-nuclear future, it follows a mutant who can glimpse the immediate future and survives by instinct alone, hunted by a society that fears what it cannot control. Stuart explores how Dick uses this simple premise to examine evolution, fate, and humanity’s urge to destroy what’s different, and considers whether the short story’s stark vision delivers a sharper punch than the big-budget adaptation.

Philip K. Dick Series Episode 8

Next casts Nicolas Cage (Ghost Rider) as a man who can see two minutes into his own future, a loose adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s short story “The Golden Man.” It turns into a chase thriller involving government agents, terrorists, and Cage trying to outmaneuver fate itself. Blending sci-fi concept with romance and action set pieces, Next aims to turn a tight Dick premise into a mainstream popcorn movie. But does expanding a short story into a feature give the idea room to breathe, or does it stretch it thin? The Now Playing Podcast hosts look into the immediate future to decide whether this Cage vehicle is a clever twist on destiny or just another miscalculated move.

Hear Stuart’s thoughts on The Golden Man, Philip K. Dick’s original story that inspired Next:

This week, Stuart examines A Scanner Darkly, the 1977 novel by Philip K. Dick that later inspired the rotoscope film adaptation directed by Richard Linklater and starring Keanu Reeves. Set in a near-future California ravaged by Substance D, Dick’s novel follows an undercover narcotics agent whose dual identities begin to collapse under addiction and surveillance. Written from personal experience, the book blends dark humor, paranoia, and tragedy into one of Dick’s most intimate and emotionally raw works. Stuart explores how the novel handles identity, betrayal, and the human cost of the drug war, and whether the source material hits harder than its psychedelic big-screen counterpart.