Oh Jew No!!!

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Sir Arthur C. Clarke Makes His Final Voyage

At the age of 90, Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away. He had moved to Sri Lanka and after suffering from post-polio syndrome for decades he is reported to have succumbed to breathing problems. My paternal grandmother passed away some 15 years or so ago and she also survived polio as a young girl, leaving her to battle with physical difficulties her entire life. Clarke was forced to use a wheel chair at times because of the lingering effects of his illness and I remember in a strangely nostalgic way how my grandfather used to help her get around from place to place, always hanging on his arm for support.

Like the author, my grandmother entertained me with stories, some about my father’s childhood, some of my grandfather’s less than stellar antics and others that were just simple explanations of current events as told to a child in the 1970s through the filter of a woman in her later years. She often explained to me what my grandfather was doing when he had to leave the house whenever I visited (he coached a Little League in Co-Op City in the Bronx) and told me about his job (he drove a city bus) or about the little golden figures lined up on the shelf in their apartment (grandpa was an avid bowler and won some trophies with his team).

Both sides of my family had always been storytellers, not the kind that win Nebula awards but the kind who spin tales of familial history or anecdotal stories of life in the days of yore, i.e. second generation Jews from the five boroughs of New York City during the early to mid-Twentieth Century. My maternal grandparents have also been telling the same stories for lo these many decades of my life. So much so that I know them all by heart yet I am lucky enough to be my age (late Thirties) and still have a set of grandparents around to keep telling them to me.

Sure, it’s not exactly science fiction, but to a young boy, these stories might have well been speculative fiction, the characters and events as removed from my own life as those of Luke Skywalker. Especially when considering the fact that my sister and I were struggling to find a place in the world with the added burden of having divorced parents.

In many ways my grandparents provided a hope that the hole left in our lives did not stretch to infinity, like some sucking black hole in our universe. There was a past full of strange but wonderful times, where people lived all crammed in a small apartment in some lost section of the Bronx. In the pictures, all in black and white with very plain, uncluttered street corners, people always seemed dressed for some special occasion, giving me a sense of awe at a time when every place looked like a movie set and every person like they were characters in a period drama.

It has always been the artists who have taken me out of my funk (or put me further into one making my real world seem not so bad in comparison). I remember as a child, sitting at home with my mother’s collection of LPs and 45s selecting various Beatles songs like “Yesterday” and “Let It Be.” McCartney’s sappy and sad lyrics drew me into a strange and wonderful world, perhaps a little darker than other favorites of mine like “Strawberry Fields” and “Penny Lane,” but still transporting to another place and time, for as a elementary-aged kid in the Seventies, the Sixties seemed as long ago as those of Middle Earth, and apparently some thought the same thing when the generation of Flower Children re-discovered Tolkien’s trilogy and its message that in a big, scary world, unassuming people with little power can turn the tide and save us from evil.

The movie adaptation of Clarke’s book about the crew of a space ship on a mission to Jupiter facing the ultimate betrayal of technology, racing toward a seemingly preternaturally sentient monolith, was unleashed upon an unsuspecting public by a roguish and visionary director in a turbulent time in the world. Providing both a counterbalance and a parallel to current events, the sparse but amazing visuals served as backdrop for a complicated essay on the past, present and future of mankind. Were the same simplistic tools that supposedly civilized us (apes using bones as weapons) really a betrayal of our basic nature and our ultimate downfall (a computer that thinks and acts in what it deems our best interest) or a way toward salvation?

In his career Clarke flirted with the supernatural and religion as evidenced by his comments about the inspiration for Childhood’s End and 2001. He became very vocal about his criticism of organized religion though for what he said in an interview in 2001 were atrocities and wars committed in its name. One of the greatest products of a really good science fiction writer is to be able to balance the nature of man with the realities of science. Most of my favorite authors in the genre are able to do this without tipping the balance in favor of either but still posing poignant questions about both. Carl Sagan did this in the novel Contact, Robert did it in Calculating God and Arthur C. Clarke did it in his well-known novels, albeit in a much less overt manner.

I would love to have heard what Clarke said when he peered into the darkness. I am inclined to predict it was the same as his astronaut creation, Dave, when he peered into the monolith. I can only hope that beyond the veil there is more than what we see, perhaps the next place really is “full of stars.” If so, then with the passing of Sir Arthur C. Clarke, there is but one more in that place shining among the rest.

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Putting All The Elements In Iron Man

Jon Favreau appears in some of the most interesting places. I first remember seeing him as the heart broken pal of Vince Vahn in the quotable and cool film, Swingers. Then he showed up as host of a roundtable dinner and a movie show on cable television when cable television was still a distinct entity from other kind of television. (Remember that?) He had a gig as Monica’s ultra-wealthy boyfriend on Friends. Now he’s in the director’s chair in the much-anticipated Iron Man movie staring another guy who gets around Robert Downey Jr. (albeit in all the wrong ways, e.g. criminal court, jail, rehab, etc.)

The teaser trailer I spied last year was very promising. The effects were already looking pretty finalized; the cobbled together Iron Man costume that Downey makes initially is fantastically Steam Punkish looking (and a throw back to the original Iron Man in the comics). Downey has the role of arrogant, then redemptive Tony Stark down pat. And from the snippets I saw he pulls off blending a Tony Stark full off faux-melodrama and snarky comedy. I actually laughed at Robert Downey Jr. and not because he showed up before the judge in an orange jumpsuit the morning after getting busted for drugs. (Not that there’s anything at all funny about doing drugs. There is nothing funny about illegal drugs and going to jail—nothing! He. He.)

I worried about Downey in the same way I worried about Michael Keaton playing Batman but Downey seems to be wearing the characterization of wealthy arrogance like, well, it’s his own. But the new trailer gives us a peek into Tony Stark’s personality post-epiphany and he’s very convincing—I guess serving jail time will do that to a guy. Robert Downey Jr. just may nap a place in the pantheon of actors who brilliantly models a formerly 2D comic character into his own multi-dimensional role. Confidence is high.

To make Robert Downey Jr.’s real redemption happen on screen (who I believe appeared briefly on Ally McBeal some years back before a return trip to the slammer) director Favreau must have either A) Given him some great direction or B) Let Downey go at it whole hog, which again is probably great direction.

Generally I hate comic book movies because we fans have to suffer through the origin story which is either presented in a ridiculously simplistic fashion to get it out of the way quick or done to try to play off ultimate drama, which aggravates us because its blasphemy. Walking the fine line of an origin story is extremely difficult, especially for a well-known character like say, Spiderman and Superman—both of which were done brilliantly combining both elements I presented above and making it work. My personal opinion is that Batman (Tim Burton version) and Batman Begins (staring Mr. Moody himself Christian Bale) both equally handled that character’s origins, though many debate me on the former. Marvel has had a run of bad luck amid their successes. Fantastic Four (both movies) missed the mark entirely making it much too family friendly and the Hulk, Ghost Rider and Spiderman 3 all went horribly wrong. X-Men got it right, if only because there was no need for any origin stories and because of Bryan Singer’s genius at handling characterization, which you can also say for his Superman Returns.

In an interview I swiped off the net somewhere but neglected to reference in my notes Favreau was asked about the budget of the movie. His answer was, “I feel like there's never enough money no matter how much money you have…” You know, this guys a good director and all but I have to admit that he may have taken that answer from me. I mean anyone who’s anyone knows I’ve been saying that for years.

He went on to say that the reason is that “because you're always trying to put more on the screen than you've got.” As opposed to George Lucas, who has so much that he puts everything on the screen. I think the point here is that it’s good to have a budget and work within the scope that you are given. In general movies that start blowing budgets out of control tend to be overwrought, embellished garbage instead of scrappy, full-of-hear films. Of course we’re talking about relativity here. (Not the Einstein type of Relativity which I generally capitalize, it’s the Ben Bernanke type of relativity, like when the head of the Federal Reserve says that he’s using billions of tax payer dollars to increase liquidity in the financial markets like it’s no big deal—that kind of relativity.) Lord of the Rings costs mega bucks but looked scrappy and cool, whereas The Phantom Menace was just the Hollywood version of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon—it looks nice on the outside but has no substance, all fluff.

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McG Tackles T4

The fast food menu item turned director, McG—Charlie’s Angels fame—is slated to direct T4, aka Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins for a 2009 release.

According to IMDB the plot goes a little something like this (harmonica please!):

After Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust, a group of survivors led by John Connor (Bale) struggles to keep the machines from finishing the job.

Bale is none other than Christian Bale. You may remember his work in Empire of the Sun directed by Steven Spielberg. No? How about Newsies? Swing Kids? Then you surely caught him in Reign of Fire? Ok, 3:10 To Yuma, or The Prestige? Not familiar, huh?

Anyway, the writers of T3, Rise of the Machines say that they put in little plot details as a set up for this next film. Apparently the idea is to reboot the series in a new direction with T4 setting off a brand new trilogy.

Personally, I liked T3 so I am looking forward to this new series with great anticipation, though it’s tempered by the fact that the series was purchased by a new production company called The Halcyon Company headed up by a former Marketing guy and a former Finance guy. Not that Marketing and Finance guys can’t be uber-fans of science fiction movies. Heck, I am both a former finance guy and a Marketing guy so that makes me just as guilty as these two yokels. In fact, I believe every movie studio and production company should contain at least one of each of these types of guys, if not more. But quotes by one if the partners saying that this new movie will build on the already huge fan base of the franchise makes me a little frightened.

No mention of staying true to the original vision of creator James Cameron or how the franchise might diverge from the storyline of the first film but it will be true to the overall thematic arc of mankind’s struggle against its own creation while dealing with the complex implications (and paradoxes) of time travel. Nope. It’s all “already huge worldwide Terminator fan base,” which is from the actual quote. For some reason if I put in my Babel Fish, I’m translating “already huge worldwide Terminator fan base” as “ready to spend huge amounts of hard cold cash paying worldwide Terminator geeks-who-will-pay-through-the-nose-to-see-hot-chicks- and-robot-violence-fan base.”

Maybe it’s just me being cynical.

The script has understandably been kept under wraps but with the current speculation on casting, I guess John Connor is about as old as we’ve ever seen him: A man and not a whiny little golden boy with a robotic arm—wait wrong franchise! That doesn’t mean we will not see a self-loathing mope, as that is the persona that Mr. Bale does best.

What we can be joyous about is that the film finally will be set in the post-apocalyptic world that we geeks-who-will-pay-through-the-nose-to-see-hot- chicks-and-robot-violence-fans have been absolutely dying to witness on screen. No more short glimpses of tanks crushing piles of human skulls while the military march plays, we’re talking full on war story in the middle of the shit storm that is the machine uprising as promised to us some two and a half decades ago.

There is this troubling thing about a character named Marcus played by Sam Worthington, whom McG said is going to be the focus of the film. Also McG mentions somewhere that some new Model 101 Terminator will be revealed. McG might have just as named it the Model T.

I’m all for the evolution of the robot models but what’s up with the numbering system. Wasn’t the original Terminator, played by Schwarzenegger a model T-1000 or something? Seems like a step backwards in my eyes. Shouldn’t this be the T-1003? Or the U model (since logically U follows T.) Or even better the TT-1000 or the ST-1000 (for Super Terminator) or maybe the SST-1000, the Super Sonic Terminator. Model 101 Terminator sounds to me like a vacuum cleaner. How about Model McG? Or The BLT? Or the Big MacG T? Mr. T-1000?

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New Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull Poster

Just got an email from Paramount. The new Drew Struzan poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is on the official site!

CLICK HERE TO SEE INDY, MARION, AND MORE ON INDIANAJONES.COM

The movie will open May 22nd, 2008.
http://www.IndianaJones.com

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