Frazetta

Jerry Beck reminded me that it’s Frank Frazetta’s birthday. So raise a wench and battle-axe to the Michaelangelo of sword and sorcery illustration.

Friday Song: U2

What can one do about U2 at this point? I can’t think of another band that’s stayed on a plateau of popularity since their brilliant big hit debut in 1983 with “New Year’s Day.” I soon grew weary of the group, despite their superior songwriting. Red Rocks gave way to Madison Sqaure and beyond. Bono bugged me for his self-aware pomposity, though it’s clear in terms of politics and charity he’s done more for the human race than most of the planet. I can’t ignore that, or his obvious passion. But after the Eno-esque masterful “The Joshua Tree” (their Sgt. Pepper’s) they veered onto many different paths.

And of course, I loved “Achtung, Baby” — a more wily, less somber dirty pop-rock showcase. I particularly loved the apocalyptic anthem, UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD, written for the Wim Wenders 1992 epic of the same name. Next to WINGS OF DESIRE, this is my favorite Wenders film, featuring what to me is unarguably one of the greatest collection of pop songs ever assembled for a motion picture. From David Byrne to Depeche Mode to REM to Julee Cruse to Tom Waits, this is an awesome selection of original music from bands I’m not always partial too. U2 got their licks in with the title track that aporopos conveys the globe spanning vibe and angst of Wenders beautiful science fiction road movie. Here’s the video he directed for the band and film.

The Pee-Wee Herman Show

Had the surreal blast of attending the hit revamped version of “The Pee-Wee Herman Show” last night. Here’s what I wrote last year in a reverie about the original HBO broadcast of his groundbreaking stage fantasia:

Like most of America, I first discovered Pee-Wee Herman through his 1981 HBO special, apropos named “The Pee-Wee Herman Show,” a taped live version of his hit LA Groundlings show and precursor to his beloved Saturday morning series. I was entranced with Paul Reuben’s brilliant deconstruction of children’s shows situated in a pop universe designed by Gary Panter, influenced by 50’s educational films and Japanese cartoons. With a wide cast of colorful characters such as Phil Hartman’s sea dog, Captain Carl, and Miss Yvonne, “the most beautiful woman in the world,” the show managed to both playfully tweak kid’s television and honor its wide-eyed innocence.

We all know about the rest of Pee-Wee’s rise to movie and kid-vid fame and the ridiculous brief fall from media grace. When Reubens announced a revival of his stage show last year, I was only slightly worried that he could pull it off, but the overwhelming demand for tickets led to a last minute venue change from the most apropos Henry Fonda Theatre to the more inapropos Club Nokia in downtown LA. Walking towards the Nokia complex with its barrage of spotlights felt like entering the Neo-Tokyo in AKIRA. Fortunately, my fears were dispelled within notes of the infectious original theme song by Jay Cotton (not the Mark Mothersbaugh TV version) and then to see that beautiful pop playhouse stage…and when Pee-Wee Herman strolled out, we were all hooked again. It’s one of those moments where you think to yourself, “This is really happening — there’s Pee-Wee in person!”

I won’t go into all the details, but the show worked just as well as the 1981 version (with updated gags) especially the show-stopping “Abstinence” song (Reubens knows the best way to kill a meme is to bring it out in the sunlight). It was a treat to see the original Mailman Mike return (John Moody), along of course with the mystical Jambi and still the most beautiful woman in Puppetland, Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart). The sets and puppetry were fantastic, as were the technical credits including the lovely Chairy (voiced by the amazing Lori Alan) who shared a poignant moment with Pee-Wee. Bravo to director Alex Timbers for keeping the pace fast and furious as an episode of the series. The show belongs in a theater proper, as Club Nokia was too much of a Club Nokia, but that will change when it heads to…Broadway.

After the show, hung out in the VIP lounge (impressed?) and took a photo with John Paragon in his Jambi gear. Paul Reubens did an absolutely awesome Q&A and he took on every question, dumb or smart, with perfect answers or zingers:

Q: “How did you come up with Pee wee?”

A: “Uh, there’s this little thing called the internet…”

He told an archetypal Hollywood story about Paramount kicking him out of his huge lot office the Monday after BIG TOP PEE WEE opened to weak box-office and reviews. If Reubens wanted to be a talk show host, he would rule the roost. The best part was when he expressed with genuine emotion how grateful he is to everybody who cares about the character — watching Pee Wee Herman stifle tears…we all felt like the Luckiest Boy In The World. I woke up this morning with a song in my head and a roar in my throat…

Symphonic Suite Theatre

I love how the Japanese romanticize their anime characters, particularly when it comes to the de rigeur soundtrack collections. In my youth of Arcadia, Japanese toys and media were absolutely scarce unless you lived on the West Coast or had a relative in the overseas military. I reveled in the moments I could tune into Channel 26’s GATTIGER or IKKYU-SAN from faraway San Francisco. When my parents first took me there to Jeffrey’s Toys in Ghiradhelli Square for a weekend treat, I discovered a giant glass case displaying an explosion of die-cast and plastic color in the form of robots, racecars, monsters, and spaceships representing all walks of anime and even better, kaiju — which meant the incredible Bullmark metal Godzilla, Ghidrah, Gigan and Baragon. Jeffrey’s became my cultural treasure chest (and those toys were outrageously expensive) and a reservoir for my entry into Japanese collectibles. I also loved the LP’s hanging on the wall with their gorgeously illustrated covers, my favorites being the Symphonic Suites for GATCHAMAN and SPACE CRUISER YAMATO. The albums promised a world of action, mystery and adventure, all encapsulated by the archetypal Japanese overtly-lush soundtracks.

2012

Afternoon Matinee ‘74

Friday Song: The Asylum Street Spankers

I have a strange relationship with this incredibly popular yet unknown band from the green oasis of Texas, Austin. When I was living in Dallas, a co-worker passed me a copy of “Bud Good & The Good Buds,” a front for some weed-crazed local musicians who played the hell out of their own collection of satirical bluegrass folk country, centered around a pirate radio station and a ship full of pounds. I played the hell out of that CD driving from Dallas to the 1998 Poetry Slam at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. I particularly loved the joint anthem, “Funny Cigarette” and the train tribute, “Super Chief,” songs that captured the eccentric Texas ambiance like an episode of “King Of The Hill.”

So what were the odds that the opening band to kick off the Poetry Slam was the Asylum Street Spankers, featuring one Pops Bailas, who began to sing…”Funny Cigarette.” Bud Good & The Good Buds! Some of them anyway, for the Spankers had about seven or eight revolving members, but I knew by his voice Pops had to be Bud Good. When I later moved to Austin, I become more familiar with this most-Austin of groups, replete with its eclectic and electric membership (you might recognize singer Wammo from his role in SLACKER). They’re simply one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen and they always carry with them my time in Texas. The Spankers have a new album, “God’s Favorite Band’ and are on tour now so I advise those to treat yourself to a night of fun, song, satire and kick-ass music.

J.D. Salinger RIP

I first picked up an orange copy of “Catcher In The Rye” back in high school. Well, found it in a desk actually and took it home. I’d barely heard of it or its author, but within the first paragraph I was hooked, as were most readers in 1951 and to this very day. Despite J.D. Salinger’s prep school millieu — or maybe because of it — Holden Caufield became the most famous adolescent in 20th century American literature. His abhorrence at the “phonies” around him solidified the first post-modern generational angst and would lead to the flowering of the Beats. I devoured all of Salinger’s thin output, amazed that a writer could so easily remove himself from the public eye after such a brief, successful run. Maybe he said everything he wanted; maybe he thought he couldn’t top “Catcher In The Rye.” I’m hoping we’ll get a clue as to what he’s been writing over the past four decades. But it’s certain that no matter what the era, Holden Caufield abides.

“Among other things, you’ll find that you’re not the first person who was ever confused and frightened and even sickened by human behavior.  You’re by no means alone on that score, you’ll be excited and stimulated to know.  Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now.  Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles.  You’ll learn from them – if you want to.  Just as someday, if you have something to offer, someone will learn something from you.  It’s a beautiful reciprocal arrangement.  And it isn’t education.  It’s history.  It’s poetry.”

whyPad?

So let me get this straight, it’s a screen without a keyboard. Half a laptop. How does that help? Where does it go? Does it sit on my lap or table? Am I to be looking down at all times? Do I want to type on a soft screen? How do you watch a 16:9 movie with a 4:3 ratio? Are you to read books? How? Hold it up? Prop it up? Then you have a laptop without a lap — in other words, a screen. Why?

Blu-ray Theatre

I’m always a suspicious Sid when it comes to new technologies, especially since I understand all too well the post-modern industrial concept of “planned obsolesence” (Apple’s silent motto), which is why cassette tapes I have from the 70’s play and sound fine but some of my compact discs from the 90’s are unplayable. That’s why I have a nice turntable and LP collection. I sometimes prefer the analog over the digital. I like to collect VHS tapes and laserdiscs still, particularly out of print movies and miscellania that will never make it to DVD (Roger Vadim’s PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW and GRAMPA’S SCI-FI MOVIES trailer collection comes to mind). So I was skeptical of the Blu-ray versus HD DVD war, content with my tapes and DVD’s. But I needed to see for myself and so the first Blu-ray film I ever watched was BARAKA and was duly blown away by the image depth and clarity. I’m still  unsure how much detail is too much, but with a visual landscape poem like BARAKA, nothing is too much.

That certainly sold me on the cinephillic pleasure of Blu-ray; I follow the arguments on DVD Beaver for this or against that remastering job; whether the grain should stay or go (let it be); or if Friedkin was right in altering the look of THE FRENCH CONNECTION. I hope that Blu-ray discs import all the previous DVD and laserdisc extra features, but sometimes they don’t to their detriment. There’s plenty of space for extras and at Blu-ray prices and storage space, they have little excuse not to cram them. I tend to dislike 90 percent of Blu-ray covers, usually cheap, unimaginative Photoshopped images thrown together. How about just using the original movie posters? And please get rid of the labyrinthic menus that often show key scenes from the film you’re about to watch. Otherwise, I’m anxious to see more classics and cult films transformed into a more representative version of their theatrical shadows. With that in mind, here’s a brief selection of Blu-ray releases that have appealed to my cine-soul:

AKIRA (1988) – Based on the popular manga, Katsuhiro Otomo’s groundbreaking anime ushered in the new age of Japanese cartoons and helped flower burgeoning American interest. I was already a devoted reader of the manga before I saw the film and my friends and I passed AKIRA around on a bootleg tape when it became available. I still remember how transfixed I was by the opening scene, a mesmerizing motorcycle ride and battle through a neon pop Tokyo 2019 by night. Although the story of Tetsuo and Kaneda is too detailed to go into here (I’m still figuring it out myself), suffice to say the Blu-ray transfer is awesome, as good as it ever looked. It has the charm of the last age of non-computer animation, especially when you see the subtle movements of the cells. But I love that like I love the bristling fur from an animator’s fingertips. This is still the single greatest achievement in sci-fi anime as far as I’m concerned.

GOLDFINGER (1964)/THUNDERBALL (1965) – Bond and Blu-ray are a match made in spy movie heaven. After years of varying remasters, some quite superior, the crispness and color on display here is stunning. This is a great double feature as they represent the height of the series, at least in terms of their cultural impact. GOLDFINGER looks fantastic, particularly in my favorite scene, the pre-credits action beat that for me is still the best of the series. I don’t think Sean Connery has ever looked cooler as 007 than in his black jumpsuit as he lays out plastique explosive. With Blu-ray, you note all sorts of things you might have missed before; the color of a lapel, the glint of steel or the down on naked skin. GOLDFINGER would be the film’s template for worse ultimately not better, but this is still the archetypal, culturally defining Bond epic. Need I mention John Barry’s iconic soundtrack?

THUNDERBALL was the first 007 to be shot in Panavision, the perfect widescreen format to encapsulate the global scope and phenomenon of the character. Terence Young came back for one final directorial swan song, and though this is the film that began to lose Bond amid the kitchen sink of gadgetry and spectacle, it also represents Sean Connery at his cool, witty, suave best, the ultimate 1960’s Playboy Killer. And the Blu-ray to my eyes is spectacular, from the sexy hues of Maurice Binder’s memorable title sequence to the lush panorama of the Bahamas. Ken Adams’ awesome sets reveal more heightened depth and detail; they’re almost as important as the characters. And this must be the most beautiful collection of Bond babes in the series. Luciana Paluzzi is terrific as Fiona Volpe, the unrepentant SPECTRE agent who finally tells 007 that his bedside manner has failed to convert her. Connery gets his most serious retort in the movie with a pithy, “My dear girl, don’t flatter yourself. What I did this evening was for Queen and country. You don’t think it gave me any pleasure, do you?” SLAP. Volpe’s suspenseful comeuppance at a dance club is my favorite scene in the film.

Hard to believe that THUNDERBALL is still the most successful Bond film, and in adjusted box-office has made almost one billion dollars. It’s overlong, true and the underwater scenes slow down the film, but I still like the frogmen battle at the end. The color and clarity of the Blu-ray makes you pay more attention to the scenes, so they  don’t seem as ponderous as before. Tho even as a kid, I hated the high-speed boat fight at the end. But I always thought it great when Domino spears Largo. Now I’m anxious to have an excuse to revisit the whole 007 series again. The Blu-ray versions are a long way from the days of box televisions with pan-and-scanned edited prints. But of course.

PLAYTIME (1967) – Although I’ve never been a huge observer of Jacques Tati and it took a Frenchman to show me his classic MR. HULOT’S HOLIDAY, which came across as a more subtle Jerry Lewis, I never delved into his gentle mise en scene. I’d read much about his opus PLAYTIME, which took five years to produce in 70mm at a cost of 15 million dollars, a staggering number by 60’s cinema standards, especially in France. Tati wanted to make his ultimate statement on the depersonalization of the city, so he actually constructed his own airport facade. Combined with his social optimism that even under technologically oppressive conditions, people will still find a way to connect with one another. The film was well-received by critics, but since Tati wanted the film to be seen in its proper aspect ratio and most world screens lack 70mm projection, the release did poor box-office and led to Tati’s bankruptcy. Twenty minutes were also trimmed, believed lost forever. I could kick myself like a bad mime for missing the last two recent Los Angeles 70mm screenings, but thanks to the film monks at Criterion, PLAYTIME is available in a stunning new Blu-ray transfer and short of a giant theater, this is the best it will ever get for a home viewing.

So I recently sat before a vast home screen and basked in the glory of Jacques Tati’s cine-metropolis. It’s always wonderful when you’re exposed to a fresh experience from an older work of art, and PLAYTIME certainly counts, a cross between THE PARTY and 2001: A SPACE ODYESSY. Tahti’s intricate compositions of people amid stark cityscapes from dusk to dawn are astounding, literally jaw-dropping. Like a MAD magazine panel, each frame is overloaded with information, to the point where multiple viewings are de rigeur. Mister Hulot is only a peripheral character, as everybody who appears seems to have a beat or narrative, and dialogue is kept to a bare minimum, used almost for comic rhythm in the background. There are no big gags, only a series of them, some instantaneous, some sustained throughout the film. PLAYTIME is one of the films I would say must be seen in 70mm in order to fully envelope and  appreciate. A genuine cinematic masterpiece.

Friday Song: Bryan Ferry

Here’s a favorite from a not-at-all-guilty pleasure, Sir Ridley Scott’s magnificent, misunderstood 1986 fairy tale epic, LEGEND, written by William Hjortsberg (ANGEL HEART), with fantastic makeup effects by Rob Bottin and beautiful production design by Assheton Gorton. And Tim Curry as the greatest devil in film history. A critical and commercial failure on release due to the pragmatic Reagan era of Michael Keating and Donald Trump being a harsh buzz killer on a world of fairies and unicorns. Still, I showed the director’s cut of LEGEND to some friends a few years back and they were giggling in disbelief: “Unicorns?” Yet they loved THE MATRIX and could accept Keanu Reeves as a kung fu killing machine in the future. Ultimately, Tom Cruise with long hair didn’t work for audiences in the 80’s, especially after TOP GUN. He won’t even talk about the film today.

But as the third of Ridley Scott’s amazing genre trilogy, ALIEN and BLADE RUNNER, I adore LEGEND, even though the American release has clearly been over-edited, losing its pastoral narrative rhythm in favor of a more MTV version. Replacing Jerry Goldsmith’s unique, evocative soundtrack with Tangerine Dream gives the film a different texture, if not wholly appropriate, yet I appreciate their score in its own way; obviously, I’m a big TD fan. Sir Ridley asked Roxy Music maestro Bryan Ferry to record a song for the end credits and to use as a promotional video. Ferry took an unused demo called “Circles” from the “Avalon” sessions and adapted it into this haunting, memorable song — with the added bonus of David Gilmour on guitar. Although “Is Your Love Strong Enough” didn’t save LEGEND and only made it to number 22 on English charts, I’m a sucker for Bryan Ferry’s ultra-smooth and sincere voice. That this song has its roots in their masterpiece, “Avalon,” makes it even more appealing. And then there’s lovely Mia Sara running among fairies, devils and unicorns…

Serfs Up

WASHINGTON, DC – A coalition of public interest organizations strongly condemned today’s ruling by the US Supreme Court allowing unlimited corporate money in US elections and announced that it is launching a campaign to amend the United States Constitution to overturn the ruling.  The groups, Voter Action, Public Citizen, the Center for Corporate Policy, and the American Independent Business Alliance, say the Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC poses a serious and direct threat to democracy.  They aim, through their constitutional amendment campaign, to correct the judiciary’s creation of corporate rights under the First Amendment over the past three decades.  Immediately following the Court’s ruling, the groups unveiled a new website – http://www.freespeechforpeople.org – devoted to this campaign.

“Free speech rights are for people, not corporations,” says John Bonifaz, Voter Action’s legal director.  ”In wrongly assigning First Amendment protections to corporations, the Supreme Court has now unleashed a torrent of corporate money in our political process unmatched by any campaign expenditure totals in US history.  This campaign to amend the Constitution will seek to restore the First Amendment to its original purpose.”

1963

Massholes

Random Blog Comment of the Day: “A truck-driving nude model with an American Idol-loser as a daughter winning on an anti-health care platform because his opponent got some sport facts wrong, in a meta-liberal state? This is a referendum on the American voter.”

MLK

From 1986’s “The Pacific Age,” here’s OMD’s musique-sound collage tribute, “Southern.”