JonathanScarfe Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Surprise, surprise! We will be getting to choose what sort of semi-true Philip K. Dick production we want to check out. As I told you earlier this month, Taryn Manning and Bill Pullman have already shot Your Name Here, a part biography/part creative embellishment about the author. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, we've got another one gearing up -- the adaptation of Dick's semi-autobiographical novel, Radio Free Albernuth, which began filming this month. The pic will be the feature directorial debut for The Getaway producer John Alan Simon, who also wrote the screenplay.

The Ironic lady herself, Alanis Morissette has signed on to co-star with Jonathan Scarfe (The Poet), Shea Whigham (All the Real Girls), Katheryn Winnick (Failure to Launch), and Hanna Hall (Halloween). Alanis is playing Sylvia, "a woman who shows up in the vision of a record label executive named Nick (Scarfe) as a glamorous singer." But there's a twist -- she's actually "an ordinary woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma who, after appearing in Nick's visions, gets a job as his secretary." Through shared visions and spirituality, they become soul mates. Basically, the typical, funky Alanis fare. I mean, she has been the top holy dog, after all. Morissette says: "I am a big fan of Philip K. Dick's poetic and expansively imaginative books. I feel blessed to portray Sylvia, and to be part of this story being told in film."

It'll definitely be an interesting addition to her repertoire. She got famous getting slimed on You Can't Do That on Television, then uber-famous for her music (the second round, not the super pop stuff), from there, Kevin Smith made her God, she smooched Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and the City, did a few more movie and TV stints, and most recently, appears in Jeff Goldblum's mockumentary, Pittsburgh. Maybe one of these days she'll combine the music and spirituality and play some sort of traveling Christian musician. But for now, she's just going to have visions.

Over the years, Toronto has become the faux façade for many films. So many, in fact, that I'm surprised there isn't a cheesy guided tour of the filmed locales, a la L.A.'s death tours, star homes and the like. Nevertheless, many Torontonians play the "Spot the neighborhoods of Toronto " game. Some are obvious. The Dan forth became the windy city for My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Patrick Bateman ran around the financial district in American Psycho. Roy Thomson Hall hosted a political conference in X-Men.

But The Poet is going to do all of them one better. The film, which just began shooting, is a period piece set in occupied Poland during World War II. Damien Lee is directing the feature, which is adapted from a story by Jack Crystal. You might be familiar with Lee's work on such cinematic powerhouses as Baby on Board or Ski School, or maybe Corey Haim's Watchers, which Lee co-wrote with Bill Freed.

The Poet is a bit different. It's a romance about a German officer who falls in love with the Polish daughter of a rabbi, who is set to wed a doting, Orthodox Jewish man. Ah, the classic story of the lure between bad passion and boring sweetness. The theme might be over-done, but the cast looks promising. The leads are less well-known -- prolific bit-part actor Jonathan Scarfe is the German officer, and Nina Dobrev of Sarah Polley's Away From Her is the young woman. However, the supporting cast makes things a touch more intriguing – Daryl Hannah, Colm Feore and Roy Scheider.