"Turn and face the strange...ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, just gonna have to be a different man..." I'm sure it's pretty obvious to anyone who has seen me take the stage- David Bowie was a HUGE influence. I always had him in the back of my mind... how I imagined the perfect rock star should sound and look. It was art and rock and soul. This past summer I had my first shot as front man (really) for a live music band- it seemed absolutely fitting that I start by singing a medley of two of his biggest tunes, "Suffragette City" and "Fame." Honestly, I could have done a whole set of his songs. All that is good... alternative/indie rock...whatever they are calling it these days...owes a huge debt to Bowie. He was always exciting and consistent...one of the few. A true performer, who brought drama and intelligence and tons of creativity to the world of music. I'm so glad I had a chance to see him live on a handful of occasions, and sad that I won't have another chance. But his spirit will live on, that's for sure... how could it not? R.I.P. and THANK YOU, Ziggy Stardust.
Happy New Year…and, conveniently, Happy National Science Fiction Day!I say “convenient” because a “long time ago” (last year) in a “galaxy far, far
away” (this blogosphere), I had been meaning to write about a couple things
related to the genre. Today’s “holiday” celebrating the birth date of sci-fi
author Isaac Asimov, seems the perfect excuse to revisit that idea.
My introduction to science fiction, like most kids born in
the 1970s, was through Star Wars. I
already had a pretty active imagination (fueled by comic book super heroes and
monster movies) by the time that George Lucas’ classic, space western exploded
on the big screen; I would, however, be lying if I said that that the film series wasn’t
a huge turning point for my creative mind growing up. Weird-looking aliens, droids,
spaceships, and futuristic battles…I was absolutely hooked. I forgot just how
much these films took over my creative world, until a recent trip back to my
parents’ house where I uncovered box after box of action figure, play station,
and comic book (some of my own creation), which I would use to reenact Lucas’
amazing fantasy world.
The Ghost of Christmas Past (aka the droids I was looking for)!
As I grew older, the world of Star Wars became a little more
distant, but it never stopped being an inspiration for me as an artist. Maybe
that’s why the prequels, which started rolling out during my late 20s, sort of
soured that experience. Design-wise, The
Phantom Menace recaptured the imaginative brilliance of those early films,
but something was definitely off…even with all the hype, I could sense that the first
time I saw it and the subsequent films (i.e. I only saw them once... that's saying something).
By 1999 we had entered the world of digital filmmaking and,
ironically, the huge advances in special effects actually made the movie
experience seem less special. I no longer believed these characters were
interacting in this world, and the spectacle seemed to take over the human
element (don’t even get me started on Jar Jar).
So this past year I approached the news of a “reboot” of
Star Wars with a little more weariness. Truthfully, it applies to all big
budget Hollywood films these days… most of the time they feel cheap and
unwatchable in comparison with the films (from the Golden Age of 70s/80s) that I grew up with.
Then I started seeing previews for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with Harrison Ford (reprising his role
as Han Solo) telling his Wookie friend, “Chewie, we’re home…” how couldn’t I
get excited?
Furthermore, I began to feel reassured to learn that director J.J. Abrams,
who also grew up with these films, was on board; a couple years ago he had rebooted Star Trek, and I loved those movies! I
was never much of a Star Trek fan,
but he actually rekindled my interest in that science fiction world (which were probably more science-based, in retrospect)... his
updated movies, with their nod to the original TV series, felt more organic,
more fun than most big budget movies these days… more like the original Star Wars, actually.
The Force is strong! Two thumbs up, post-screening, December 17, 2015
By late last month, I couldn’t wait. Sarah and I caught a
sneak preview of The Force Awakens
the day before it was released. It was a 3D spectacle, but Abrams brought a
human element back to the series, and I actually found myself quite absorbed in
the new characters’ story before any of the original cast returned to the
screen. That being said, there was something so comforting about the site of
the Millennium Falcon, the droids, and all these players, and the way it
connected to a new generation! The movie series was always about family
struggles and this new installment adds to that drama (but no spoilers from
me!). It’s got me excited about The Force again, and I want to go back and
watch the originals (which I haven’t seen in ages).
The only sad, perhaps inevitable note is hearing that George
Lucas was disappointed. Apparently, he considers this new outing “retro"—that has been a criticism of the new film, that it basically retells the original
plot of the movie with slightly different settings and actors. I understand
that, to an extent, but I also see plenty of fresh ideas—the biggest plot twist
took me by surprise, and I thought it was really interesting. The difficult
thing is that I now have to wait a couple years for the sequel (it’s an odd
experience…this instant, Netflix generation), but it just might be worth the
wait, as I hear that its director, Rian Johnson, is quite innovative… apparently he directed some of the more memorable episodes of Breaking Bad (that’s saying something),
as well as 2012’s Looper, a film
about time travel… hmmm….
