I just found out that the Finnish folk metal band Turisas included a cover of Jethro Tull's Broadsword on the 2 disc release of their recent Stand up and fight. I'm sure those who are more in tune with the whole metal scene knew about this already, but seeing as it is only available on the 40$ import 2-disc release, I thought I would share it with everyone.
I went to see this film last night. As is usual for studio Ghibli films it was pretty much great. It was a cute kids movie without being cloying or leaving the lingering aftertaste of artificial sweeteners. At the same time it also kept from wandering into the soul crushing, entire box of kleenex affair, territory of some of the studio's other films.
Following their adaption of Diane Wynne Jones' Howl's Moving Castle and Ursula K. LeGuin's Earthsea, we are treated to another foray of Studio Ghibli adapting western Fantasy fiction. This time, Mary Norton's The Borrowers, was the subject of the adaption. As with the previous adaptions it captures something of the spirit of the book. At the same time losing something due to shifting the setting to Japan, which to me, felt some what jarring. Though that likely was due more to the Dub (All animation is dubbed by the way, so don't tell me to watch the subtitled version) choosing extremely western names for a number of the characters. I just cannot see a Japanese boy having the name Sean, or his aunt being named Jessica. And at the same time the landscape was so unmistakably Japanese that I couldn't imagine the film being set anywhere else. These are minor quibbles, It wasn't distracting enough to keep me from enjoying the film.
This particular film was not directed by Studio head Hayao Miyazaki but it didn't suffer for it. It had all of the studio hallmarks, and was clearly part of a larger corpus of work stretching back to Nausica: Valley of the Wind. I really can't think of anything bad to say about the film. On the other hand I can't say that I liked it as well as I liked The Borrowers with Jim Broadbent, or the BBC television show with Ian Holm.
All in All, this being the first Studio Ghibli Film I've seen in Theaters since Princess Mononoke, I had a pretty good time. Disney for the most part does a really top notch job in the dubbing process and in bringing attention to these films. At the same time some of the localizations (such as the names) were jarring in ways that they wouldn't be if the entire movie had been localized (which it wasn't). If you haven't seen it, or if you have kids and want to show them a movie which has deep themes to it but won't leave them distraught or hyper active after they finish watching.. I recommend the movie.
I read the first of the Barsoom books about 3 years ago. I regret to admit I've yet to journey back to that world. I do not know why. It was a short book, packed with story, action, adventure and all that sort of thing, but it took me a really long time to read it. I never got into ERB's prose style. I had the same problem with Tarzan, and to a lesser extent with some of REH and Lin Carter's very ERB-Esq writings. The story though was great. I enjoyed every minute of the reading process. Sure I had my problems with the book. It is woefully out of date. The setting of Mars is of course preposterous now even as it was at the time ERB was writing it. The same problem befalls the Eric John Stark books of Leigh Brackett, C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy and countless other books which take place on the Moon or Mars or Venus. The book doesn't leave you a lot of time to really dwell on this though. The planet itself might as well be Alderan or Arrakis. It's completely alien and though dying, still teeming with persistent, pugnacious and strange life forms.
If you haven't read the book, I don't know if I would recommend it at this point. Obviously for any serious Fantasy, Sword and Planet or Sword and Sorcery fan it's a must read just as DUNE and the LORD OF THE RINGS and the HOUR OF THE DRAGON are. ERB's John Carter brand is stamped across all of these genres. Inescapable even if you don't know you are seeing it. This is the problem that is arising now, with people accusing John Carter of "Ripping off" Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clone's Arena of Death scene. It's no slight against Star Wars for it to have been created as an homage to creations of earlier writers and filmmakers. That's why Star Wars is perhaps one of the most important American films ever made. . Star Wars wears it's Wild West, Far East, Anti-Fascist, American Revolution, Civil Rights era Multi-cultural Melting pot thesis clearly on it's sleeve. But without ERB, Leigh Brackett, Frank Herbert, and others, Star Wars wouldn't exist. It's really not possible to stress this enough. Despite all of it's flaws, I recently saw the new 3D re-release of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, and even though Jar Jar was just as annoying as ever, and the cast was just as wooden as ever.. I had a hell of a lot of fun. I had forgotten how much FUN Star Wars was. It got me extremely excited for John Carter.
Over the last two weeks a lot has been happening in my life. I cannot wait to be transported to Mars along with John Carter and do battle alongside Woola and Tars Tarkas. I need a Vacation, and I hear Mars is nice this time of year.
It's also going to be a chance for me to vent about a recent story I was told. You will understand the serendipity of this in a second.
Recently, an online professor, posted a "Discussion" topic on his forum. In it he argued, with apparent sincerity, that the film '300', based on the Frank Miller comic book, was an accurate portrayal of ancient Sparta, bottomless pits and all. Which one can suppose also means that the Persians really did have horrible goat headed, flute playing, monsters and that Xerxes really was a 9 foot tall transvestite.
I was astounded by this assertion, that some one who has multiple PhD's would make such a statement. Clearly he realizes that '300' is an effort of creative storytelling on the part of Dilios (David Wenham) to exult his fellow Spartans and assorted Greek allies to greater feats of glory on the eve of the battle of Platea? It should be clear to anyone with a half functional brain that what the character Dilios is engaging in is a fish-tale. He is exaggerating the size, composition and martial prowess of not only the Spartans who took place at the battle of Thermopylae, but also of their Persian foes.
I will freely admit that I don't actually know much about the ancient Greek city states, but I'm relatively sure that if this film had been 100% factual, not quite as many people would have been so dead set on destroying it's reputation. Perhaps he is correct and there are a few historically correct details, but I certainly would never extrapolate that out to say the entire movie is a valid representation. '300', along with films such as Braveheart and Gladiator, are designed with entertainment first and foremost. They are the modern day equivalent of Shakespeare's Histories. They take historical details, and then form them around the key plot that already exists. They aren't meant to be taken as serious scholarship, and, while it has merit to be used in a composition or literature class, certainly shouldn't be used in a History class.
The title really makes no sense.. but Harshitude.. a Dude'ism if ever there was one.. is about the best word I could really think of.
I just got done reading a rather critical look at the works of Steven Spielberg. It had a portion that really resonated with me, specifically about how I feel towards the "Grimdark" sub genre of Fantasy.
"In each of his issue films, Spielberg presents a bleak world, then finds a ray of hope within it. Often, that contrast between light and despair is rendered visually, and not always comfortably so. In Ryan, the gray, grainy, skittery feel of the invasion of Normandy clashes with the gauzy shots of the aged Matt Damon at the grave sites. In Amistad, the awful portrayal of the Atlantic Passage jars against the scenes in which John Quincy Adams, like a character in a play, stands off from the people he’s speaking with to declaim his lines into the distance. Spielberg is sacrificing aesthetics in his intense desire to sequester the harsh material cinematically. He never commits to a worldview that doesn’t ultimately have a sunny patina."
That is a very good explanation of what my problems with Grimdark really are. I don't mind the graphic depictions of war or battle, what I draw issue with is their general lack of hope. Lots of defenders of the sub genre like to point out that Lord of the Rings, ends on a pretty down note. They are some what right, yes, Frodo never really recovers, The world will never be quite so magical as it was before, but the world has hope returned to it. Most of Robert E. Howard's works, again sometimes pointed to by the grimdarkers, isn't so much against civilization but for the triumph of human spirit and will power. Hopeful themes both.
Granted not all of Spielberg's movies make sense. He twists reality to fit his worldview. He forces his films, if not have a happy ending, at least only have a bittersweet ending. He doesn't do down endings. Even the bulk of the films he produces follow this model. Think about how culturally important the movies he has directed or produced are, not only to the culture of the United States, but likely to the world in general. Arguably he is less culturally important than George Lucas, another man who shares the some what gauzy rose tinted world view. The two men are after all frequent collaborators/partners in crime. When I think about just how many films I've seen that Speilberg or Lucas made.. It begins to make sense to me why I have such a similar world view.
Even in Lucas's darkest turn, The Empire Strikes Back, which I've never hidden the fact it is my least favorite of all 6 films in the Star Wars series.. precisely because it's such a departure from the rest of the work Lucas puts out. I can't view it as anything but a middle chapter, it exists to shift the characters from the end of A New Hope, to the beginning of Return of the Jedi. Just as the down ending of Revenge of the Sith functions to transition the hopefulness at the end of Attack of the Clones into the hopefulness of A New Hope.
I grew up watching Star Wars, Willow, The Goonies, Back to the Future, Hook, Jurassic Park, and Batteries not included over and over again. It's really no surprise I can't deal with bad endings. I grew up being exposed to media that presented the bad guys winning as anathema to itself. The Bad Guys ALWAYS lose. Thats the way it should be. Hope remains, and with it reaffirmation that the world isn't really as crappy as it seems to be.
Maybe that's not accurate. In fact I know it's a lie. But it's a lie I willingly accept in order to not sink into depression. That's perhaps the whole point, and says more about me than it does about the people who write down books.
More apt words I cannot think of. Today would mark the 106th Birthday of Robert E. Howard. It's difficult to know what he would think of the world today. In many ways he was abjectly progressive. His views on Women especially set him apart from the rest of his generation. In other ways he was reactionary, especially if he was writing a letter to a Non Texan or a Non Southerner. But one thing he wasn't, and that was normal. There is no mistaking that Bob was a Texan through and through. So he wasn't exactly a square peg in a round hole, but he had a few rough edges that kept him from fitting comfortably. This discomfort was probably a great factor in his imaginative output. The output which inspired so many people, lead to the creation of so many things, movies, music, games, endless streams of novels written in imitation of the master.
Though it may cause discomfort, Fitting in, isn't supposed to be mandatory. It confers certain social advancements. It most certainly isn't supposed to be dangerous. If you've read my ramblings for any length of time then you know I'm an advocate for the outsider. The kid who got picked on for playing D&D. The boy with long hair. The girl who likes metal and has a Mohawk. The guy in Texas who writes fantasy stories instead of getting a real job. All these things come with their downsides, lack of job opportunities, social ostracism, or even outright pariah status in school. This has its own downsides. It leads to depression, anxiety, people becoming stranger because they retreat into themselves to escape a world they don't fit into. Sometimes, like Robert E. Howard, they feel they have no alternative but to depart this world for another.
But that is a personal choice, those of us who survive are merely left to wonder why. Our status as bystanders disqualifies us from ever fully understanding the inner workings of another person. We should be understanding of others differences. Differences and hobbies and interests aren't supposed to be damning enough to take your entire childhood away. Being a Nerd or a Goth or an Emo or a Geek isn't supposed to be Dangerous. But in Arkansas that's exactly what it was.
I'm sure you all are aware of the nausea inducing West Memphis 3 case. Where a podunk town railroaded three boys into prison for the murder of 3 children, using as evidence heavy metal albums, black clothes and Stephen King novels to support an outlandish hypothesis involving ritual sacrifice and Satan worship. They were recently released, with the understanding that they admit they did it. It allowed some people in Arkansas with severe indigestion to sleep more soundly, but it didn't clear the boys names, it didn't give them their adolescence back. Unfortunately this rescue from the cusp of death wasn't at the hands of Roland Deschain, Jireal, Conan and Aragorn riding to the judges house and forcing him to recant his misguided decision, to crawl on bended knee to beg forgiveness for his sins, to ride an ass backwards in front of the gates of Jerusalem so that all might know his foolishness. The only reason it happened it all is because a filmmaker from New Zealand with deep pockets took it upon himself to do something to right this wrong.
Just because they are out of jail doesn't mean it's over. They still have a great big GUILTY next to their names. The flaws unearthed by this injustice are still built into the system. It could happen again. Remember that. If you don't fit in, This could happen again. No I think it will happen again, probably has happened again already and we just don't know about it because it didn't get media attention. Didn't get musicians and actors and filmmakers attentions.
It is my hope that Peter Jackson's recently produced West of Memphis documentary has just premiered at Sundance. If nothing else, if it can be prevented from happening again, then something good will have come out of this.
It is important for us to accept others as they are. I want to wrap up by talking about Bob Howard. A Man who I feel like I almost know but don't quite. He didn't quite fit in. I'm not going to postulate on why he killed himself. That's not fair to him. He knows why he did it. I wonder if he had found more acceptance in life if he would have felt it his only option. I wonder if these three boys had lived somewhere, where being different wasn't a sin, if there would have been another option.
As anyone who has been involved with Fantasy, Role Playing, and general geekiness will be able to tell you.. there is a long history of incestuousness between Hard Rock/Heavy Metal bands and the various realms of secondary creation. Led Zeppelin arguably was one of the earliest, with repeated references to Tolkien's work begging to appear on their 2nd album. But it wasn't until the space/prog rock period that the idea of a Concept album became possible.
Band's such as RUSH and King Crimson produced multi-part epic songs detailing entire story-lines based on secondary worlds. It's my suspicion that a RUSH song may have been the inspiration for The Sword of Shannara. Hawkwind collaborated repeatedly with Michael Moorcock. This sort of thing never really has gone away, it mutated maybe, but even bands like Metallica and Megadeth have songs which directly reference the words of H.P. Lovecraft. It has metastasized into bands such as Blind Guardian who create entire albums based around fantasy concepts.
Many of these albums though came from groups who never tried to hide these aspects, they were there from the very beginning. Worn proudly on their sleeves, be they J.C. Penny front pocket shirts or Denim jackets with the sleeves torn off. But occasionally you get a group which you think would do this sort of thing regularly, and instead what you get is stadium jock rock ala Ac/Dc. A Good example of this is KISS. Despite the make up and glam rock aspect of the band, their music for the most part deals more with partying and sex than it does with elves and adventures.
The exception being their 1981 album "Music from (The Elder)". The band does it's best to ignore the album. Which is a shame. It's a great experiment by a band which doesn't really challenge itself that much. But as with any unexpected experimentation this did not go over really well with the band's fans. Perhaps even less well than their brief experiment with ditching the Glam Rock makeup and costumes. People like KISS, but they like KISS to be KISS.
But "Music from (The Elder)" is a great fantasy album. It features lyrics written by Lou Reed, advanced vocalizations by Ace Freely, Faux Gregorian chants, extensive use of synthesizers and a continue story from beginning to end. It details the story of the selection and education of a young boy by a group of mystical elders so that he can confront the villainous Mr. Blackwell. It cries out for a sequel. Where does the boy go afterwords?
It's apparently the subject of a new crowd-sourced independent film which is in the early stages of being made. Described as 'The Road meets Excalibur'. I wish them luck on it. Films such as 'The Hunt for Gollum' illustrate that you don't need huge budgets to get high quality Fantasy films made.
