Monday, February 17, 2014

ROCK Sex: "Ground Control to Major Tom" - THE LONELY ASTRONAUT Movies

...with Music Player!

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and SOLARIS redefined modern cinematic Science Fiction, and their influence is as strong as ever.

The first decades of the 21st century are full of such films, helping to launch the phenomenal success of GRAVITY.

𝟰 • Intro
𝟯 • Films
𝟮 • Short Films
𝟭 • Music Player

Commencing
Countdown...

Early Golden Age sci-fi was rollicking space opera, from John Carter to the Gray Lensman. But in the Silver Age '50s and New Wave '60s, the challenges of modernity made sci-fi more reflective and philosophical.

The practical lessons learned in the first space flights (weight, design, expense, safety) ran parallel with the spiritual turmoil of the Space Age (humanism, politics, wars, existentialism). All of our dreams of the future now lay in a fragile space between hope and heartbreak.

Of course, from Odysseus to Robinson Crusoe>, all travel tales had explored the sea and the self; asking, what was our place in the natural world, and the natural order? But speculative writers of the rocket era expanded this to its widest, deepest possible range; what are we really, and what is our place in the universe?

2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, legitimized science fiction in the world mainstream by crafting speculative fiction into fine art; asking, our tools have led us to progress, but are we too flawed as a fledgling race to take our place in the cosmos?

SOLARIS (1972), Andrei Tarkovsky's adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's book, explored the spiritual gulf between revelation and ruin; will we actually fail at comprehending the abstracts in alien life and in our own minds?

The concept of the existential explorer, at the mercy of environment and emotion, thus permeated culture: from STAR TREK (1966-'69, etc.), SILENT RUNNING (1972), DARK STAR (1974), and SPACE: 1999 (1975); to David Bowie's "Space Oddity", Harry Nilsson's "Spaceman", and Black Sabbath's Supernaut".

STAR WARS (1977) brought Golden Age fun back, and greenlit decades of action spectacles instead. (In truth, STAR WARS is subversively as deep as 2001 and SOLARIS, but with more swing.) But in recent years, film students and cinephiles are bringing back the elements of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and SOLARIS: spaceflight procedurals, vérité practicality, desert landscapes, Ron Cobb set designs and Trumball miniatures and Moebius messiness, along with social critique, solipsism and alienation, and the bold struggle between fruition and ruin.

Here's a shortlist of recent films, and then short films, that reflect the influence of 2001 and SOLARIS.

Now It's Time To
Leave the Capsule
If You Dare

Have substance, will travel.
Independent creators are countering the CG spectacles with bigger ideas on smaller budgets.

(Note: these are existential explorer/cosmic fruition films in the stylistic mode of 2001 and SOLARIS, as distinguished from general explorer/survival films like ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS or ENEMY MINE. Some listed are both, but the imprint of the former is too clear to disqualify them.)

█ STRANDED (2001)
A Spanish production, with some wooden acting but interesting ideas, about astronauts marooned on Mars; from star/director María Lidón, with Vincent Gallo.

█ SOLARIS (2002)
A streamlined remake by Steven Soderbergh, with George Clooney.

█ THE FOUNTAIN (2006)
Darren Aronofsky's subjective meditation on One Life vs. All Life, with Hugh Jackman.

█ SUNSHINE (2007)
Danny Boyle's moody thriller that plays like a far better version of EVENT HORIZON (1997).

█ MOON (2009)
The full-blown return of the lonely astronaut with Sam Rockwell. Director Duncan Jones deliberately used the styles, techniques, and themes of Space Age-era films in homage.

█ UP IN THE AIR (2009)
Jason Reitman's indie comedy has an ambitious sequence, where George Clooney dreams of his alienation by drifting through Las Vegas in a spacesuit, that was unfortunately cut for time.

█ APOLLO 18 (2011)
A fictional moon flight and imminent disaster, told in found footage.

█ LOVE (2011)
A crowdfunded, impressionistic indie about the last man floating in his tin can far above the world.

█ THE EUROPA REPORT (2012)
As a sly riff on 2010: ODYSSEY TWO, this stunningly realized indie uses found footage to tell an ill-starred trip to Jupiter's moon, Europa.

█ THE COSMONAUT (2013)
A crowdfunded abstract indie about a lone cosmonaut roaming the world but cut off from everyone.

█ GRAVITY (2012)
The astronaut at the mercy of space and spirit becomes a worldwide smash, a rousing cinematic triumph, and a moving soul fable. By Alfonso Cauron, starring Sandra Bullock and the ubiquitous George Clooney.

█ THE MARTIAN (2015)
On the heels of PROMETHEUS, Ridley Scott adapts Andy Weir's 2011 bestseller about the man left behind on Mars, starring Matt Damon.

* Though not Lonely Astronaut films specifically, these recent films also implicitly reference the themes, scope, and style of 2001:

⭕ THE TREE OF LIFE (2011)
⭕ PROMETHEUS (2012)
⭕ OBLIVION (2013)
⭕ INTERSTELLAR (2014)
⭕ ARRIVAL (2016)
⭕ ANNIHILATION (2018)
⭕ AD ASTRA (2019)

And I Think
My Spaceship Knows
Which Way To Go

The Lonely Astronaut also wanders through a landscape of recent short films.

Space suit? Check. Desert? Check. Abstraction? Check.
Blast off!

"Eclipse" (2012)

Link

"Grounded" (2012)

Link

"Voice Over" (2013)

Link

"Expo" (2013)

Link

"You Only Live Twice" (2013)

Link

BROKEN BELLS -"After The Disco: Part 1" (2013)

BROKEN BELLS -"After The Disco: Part 2" (2013)

Link

"Reveille" (2012)
(A film by Grant Howard based on ANDREW OSENGA's concept album,"Leonard The Lonely Astronaut".)

Link

And, as an extra on the GRAVITY dvd, a short film showing the other side of a conversation.

GRAVITY Short Film: "Aningaaq" (2013)

That's a photo, the short is a bonus feature on the GRAVITY disc.

Orbiting full circle, here's the real thing.

Chris Hadfield- "SPACE ODDITY" (2012)

1
Can You Hear Me,
Major Tom?
A LONELY ASTRONAUT Music Playlist

MAJOR TOM:
Lonely Astronaut songs
by Tym Stevens

This is a Spotify player. Join up for free here.

Surf the spacewaves with
ROLLING STONES, PINK FLOYD, DAVID BOWIE,
NILSSON, BLACK SABBATH, ELTON JOHN,
STEVE MILLER, THE REZILLOS, THE B-52's,
SPLIT ENZ, PETER SCHILLING, PIXIES,
SLOWDIVE, HOOVERPHONIC, RADIOHEAD,
WEILAND, MAN OR ASTRO-MAN?,
MESHELL NDEGEOCELLO, NEKO CASE,
MARS VOLTA, BEACH HOUSE, WE ARE KING,
and many more!

It's full of stars!

© Tym Stevens

"Here am I floating round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there's nothing I can do."

See Also:

⭕ 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture!, with Music Player

• BEST MOVIES & TV: 2013

• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

• The Roots and Branches of Lee & Kaluta's STARSTRUCK

• TWIN PEAKS: Its Influence on 25 Years of Film, TV, and Music!, with 5 Music Players!

• How SPAGHETTI WESTERNS Revolutionized Rock Music, with 3 Music Players!

• THE CANON 1: 50 Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player
• THE CANON 2: 50 More Books That Created Modern Pop Culture, with Music Player
• THE CANON 3: 50 Recent Books That Created Modern Culture, with Music Player

Thursday, January 30, 2014

BEST MOVIES & TV: 2013

The Great, The Good, and The Interesting!

12 YEARS A SLAVE

Shortcut links:
• BEST MOVIES: 2013
• BEST DOCUMENTARIES: 2013
• BEST TV: 2013

Note: This will often spotlight directors for special merit.
But Auteur Theory is a shoebox; films are a collaborative effort with everyone involved.

"And... Action!"

B E S T
M O V I E S :
2 0 1 3

E R O S

✭✭✭✭✭
• BEFORE MIDNIGHT ⇧
After the warm-up of BEFORE SUNRISE (1995) and BEFORE SUNSET (2004), this brave film bristles with a bold maturity that is wondrous, bruising, and poignant.

✭✭✭✭✭
• BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (France)
One of the most resonant and engaging romance stories that I've ever seen.

• HER
The nuances of cyber-love. I didn't think this would work, but it is excellent and inspired at every turn.

T H I N K

✭✭✭✭✭
• 12 YEARS A SLAVE ⇧
THE movie, of any year.
A true story of repression and liberation in the slavery South.
Required viewing for anyone with a brain and soul.

• KILL YOUR DARLINGS
The true story of the murder that brought Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs together.

• THE EAST ⇧
Brit Marling scores again; the star/co-writer/co-producer (ANOTHER EARTH, SOUND OF MY VOICE) fights the power with this smart thriller.

• DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
Harrowing true story of a man's battle against AIDS,
and the corrupt government and drug companies that let it run rampant for profit.

• THE FIFTH ESTATE
An interesting, generally well-rounded drama about Wikileaks.
Benedict Cumberbatch.
[see also documentary, "We Steal Secrets" (2013)]

• MANDELA: Long Walk To Freedom
Idris Elba and Naomie Harris.
A fast-paced highlight reel of an important life, with just enough character.

• THE BUTLER
A broad strokes overview of the Civil Rights struggle told through one man's family, with strong moments.

• MUHAMMAD ALI'S GREATEST FIGHT
The behind-the-scenes story of how The Greatest's conscientious objection to the Vietnam War nearly tore up the Supreme Court.

➤ • The Struggle For the Moral Soul: MARTIN LUTHER KING and Civil Rights

✭✭✭✭✭
• FRUITVALE STATION ⇧
An excellent film, devastating.
The true story of a struggling young man in Oakland and what the Law did to him.

• TO THE WONDER
No to defeatist existentialism.
Yes to epic visuals, a majestic score, and a truly wondrous Olga Kurylenko.

• MUD
A coming-of-age thriller in the Southern swamps. Great cast.

• CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
A cargo ship is seized out of desperation.
Gripping, intense, multi-sided.

• A HIJACKING (Denmark)
A Danish parallel to CAPTAIN PHILLIPS;
Instead of action, this focuses on the Corporate nickel-and-diming of the hostages' lives, and its toll.

• ALL IS LOST
Redford.
The elder man and the sea, or, The Naturalist vs. Nature.

✭✭✭✭✭
• WADJDA (Saudi Arabia) ⇧
A must-see. A young Saudi girl is determined to get a bike, even though only boys can have them.
Youthful hope vs. the stranglehold of religious sexism in Saudi Arabia, by female director Haifaa al-Mansour.

• THE GRANDMASTER (Hong Kong)
A Wong Kar-wai (IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE) spectacle with Tony Leung and goddess Zhang Ziyi.
Gorgeous martial arts epic interlaced with war, revenge, and heartbreak.

• RENOIR (France)
A quiet drama about Jean Renoir's later years (and the origins of his filmmaker sons) that does a remarkable job emulating the light and impressionism of his work in its cinematography.

• MUSEUM HOURS (Austria)
Understated story of new friends bonding over discussions of life and culture in an art museum.

• THE SELFISH GIANT (U.K.)
Brutal dramedy about two hardscrabble boys doing all the wrong moves to survive.

• THE LAST MATCH, a.k.a., 'La Partida' (Cuba/Spain)
Two young Cuban men discover their attraction to each other, and the dangers of others' reactions.

• THE PAST, a.k.a., 'Le Passe' (France/Iran) ⇧
✭✭✭✭✭
The director of A SEPARATION (2011) scores again.
An effortlessly complex human drama more gripping and surprising than any suspense thriller.

• NO (Chile)
Engrossing dramady about the populist voting drive in 1988 to purge the dictator Pinochet from power.

S M I L E

• IN A WORLD ⇧
Lake Bell (writer/director/star) wants to be the first great female Movie Trailer narrator.

• SAVING MR. BANKS
When Walt Disney met P.L. Travers, and the havoc of bringing MARY POPPINS to film life.
Emma Thompson, practically perfect in every way!

• INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
Coen Brothers. A shaggy dog story about the early-'60s Folk movement, with left-field moments and stunning music by star Oscar Isaac.

• THE WORLD'S END (U.K.)
Never watching spoiling trailers has served me well again!
This seemed like a routine buddy comedy, until 30 minutes in when everything suddenly went... insane.

• THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Or, 'A$$hole Chic (A Satire)'.
The most fiercely absurdist Scorsese has been since his cult flick AFTER HOURS.

• GIMME THE LOOT
A couple of NYC graffiti artists need money and manage to goof up everything they touch.
Interesting cast, odd turns, and zany moments.

• R100 (Japan)
A man signs a contract with a dominatrix agency, who begin to attack him at all times like ninjas.
The fun film gets exponentially wilder right into the huge finale.

D R E A M

✭✭✭✭✭
• GRAVITY ⇧
A quantuum leap forward in cinema craft, as seismic as 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and STAR WARS.
And a beautiful rebirth parable underneath.

• STAR TREK: Into Darkness
This is an excellent reinterpretation -and escalation- of classic elements, fresh with new possibility.
Any naysayers are fools.

• THOR 2: The Dark World
The only Superman film done right this year.

• ELYSIUM
This is how most of us live right now; mass poverty with no healthcare, overlorded by The Rich on high.
This is real life.

• PIERCING BRIGHTNESS (UK)
Experimental indie; thin story with good craft.

• PACIFIC RIM
Robots vs. Monsters!
I haven't been a Kaiju movie afficianado, but this Del Toro film is magnificent!

• THE HOBBIT: The Desolation of Smaug ⇧
Tauriel!

Underrated, Dept.:

• OBLIVION
This film constantly plays notes from other classic SF films, knowing your familiarity and feinting clever with them.
Feels like reading a good SciFi short story.

• AFTER EARTH
A dsystopic future parable starring Will Smith and his son, Jaden.
Some wonkiness, but in general it's very enjoyable.

N I G H T M A R E

✭✭✭✭✭
• UPSTREAM COLOR ⇧
The creator of PRIMER returns with a sharp headtrip film that demands every moment of your concentration and imagination.
Excellent craft, mindbending smarts, and the ever-versatile Amy Seimetz.

• EUROPA REPORT ⇧
"All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landing there."
-Arthur C. Clarke, "2010: ODYSSEY TWO"

• CARRIE
There are two films interpreting Stephen King's classic book; both are worth your time.
Director Kimberly Peirce (BOYS DON'T CRY) skips DePalma's Hitchcock stylings in favor of focusing new nuance to characters and actions in every scene.

• THE TRUTH ABOUT EMANUEL
Thoughtful, twisty psychological Indie by writer/director Francesca Gregorini.

• SIDE EFFECTS
Soderbergh's quietly subversive homage to a particular Hitchcock film, with merit all its own.

• STRANGER BY THE LAKE (France)
At an isolated cruisers beach, a man sees the guy he cares for murder someone.

G R A P H I C
I M A G E S

• BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (France) ⇧
✭✭✭✭✭
> Four Color Films review
This brilliant film is based on Julie Maroh's graphic novel, "Le Bleu est une Couleur Chaude", thoroughly expanded and deepened.

• IRON MAN 3
> Four Color Films review
Fun but uneven mix of IRON MAN and KISS KISS BANG BANG.
(Slighting Gwyneth Paltrow and Rebecca Hall was foolish.)

• THOR 2: The Dark World
> Four Color Films review
An antidote to MAN OF KILL.

• AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
The best DOLLHOUSE writers combine the better parts of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE and ALIAS with the Marvel mythos.

A R T F L I X

• STEVEN UNIVERSE ⇧
Ultra-Pop zaniness!

• TOY STORY HALLOWEEN (TV special)
Every time they sequel TOY STORY, it only improves!

• MONSTERS UNIVERSITY
Pixar makes films for adults who remember the wonder of being a kid.

• FROM UP ON POPPY HILL
Studio Ghibli. Nuff said.

• ERNEST AND CELESTINE (France)
Exquisite watercolor film that warms you like a splendid meal.

• RIO 2096: A STORY OF LOVE AND FURY (Brazil)
Hand animated allegory about the oppressive history of Brazil, challenged across 600 years by an immortal and his reincarnated love.

B E S T
D O C U M E N T A R I E S :
2 0 1 3

✭✭✭✭✭
• THE AFRICAN AMERICANS (PBS mini-series) ⇧
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. gives an excellent and always timely overview of the crucial history and contributions of Africans in the United States.

• WE STEAL SECRETS: The Story of WikiLeaks
An admirable journalistic attempt to show all sides of the Julian Assange and Bradley Manning controversies.

• INEQUALITY FOR ALL
Robert Reich reveals how the economy is a grift machine.

• FIRE IN THE BLOOD
In the '90s, drug companies blocked access to affordable anti-AIDS medicines, causing the deaths of millions of 'third world' people.

• FAR OUT ISN'T FAR ENOUGH: The Tomi Ungerer Story
A children's book author/illustrator deals with uncomfortable truths and gets hammered by reactionaries.

• STORIES WE TELL
A journalist discovers her hidden parentage, and examines all the roots and repercussions of this.

• ROOM 237
We bring our own meanings to everything;
revel in these unique interpretations of Kubrick's THE SHINING (1980).

• MUSCLE SHOALS
Rival to Motown and Stax, the Muscle Shoals studio made many of the greatest Rock and Soul songs ever.

• SOUND CITY
A seedy studio, a magic mixing board, and a history of great music.

B E S T
T V :
2 0 1 3

(The season number follows each title.)

D R A M A

✭✭✭✭✭
• RECTIFY 1 ⇧
The best show on television.
Has a zen understanding of human joy and pain that is often breathtaking.

✭✭✭✭✭
• MASTERS OF SEX 1 ⇧
How Masters and Johnson liberated the libido! Lizzy Caplan is a force.

✭✭✭✭✭
• BREAKING BAD 5
A shattering and elegant close for one of Television's greatest shows.

• THE KILLING 3
Grim, ambitious, fearless performances, Amy Seimetz.

• LOW WINTER SUN 1
An urban crimed drama starring Mark Strong, remaking his original British series.

• MAD MEN 6

• BATES MOTEL 1
The co-showrunner of 'Lost' remakes PSYCHO as TWIN PEAKS.

• TOP OF THE LAKE (mini-series)
A murder in the remote woods. Jane Campion does TWIN PEAKS in New Zealand.

• HANNIBAL 1
At last, the spotlight shifts from Hannibal Lecter to the game-changing and very first empathic investigator, Will Graham (RED DRAGON, 1981)!
Now Moriarty has the Holmes that disappeared from the subsequent books.

W O N D E R

• THE RETURNED (a.k.a., Les Revenants/ They Come Back) 1 (France) ⇧
Parallels the spirit of Stephen King in poetic depths that the bubble-dum UNDER THE DOME never will.

• GAME OF THRONES 3
Brutal.

• AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. 1
It'll never beat Kirby or Steranko, but I like it.

• ALMOST HUMAN 1
Cop and robot partner. Formulaic, but good leads.

• SLEEPY HOLLOW 1
Crazed fun.
With more retcon backstory than Supergirl.

U K

✭✭✭✭✭
• ORPHAN BLACK (Canada/BBC) 1 ⇧
Tatiana Maslaney.
The clone odyssey. Same genes, different dreams.

• DOCTOR WHO 7
Thank you, Matt Smith, for your livewire run.

• MISFITS 5
Final season fo the punk 'superheroes'. The first two seasons mattered most.

• THE FALL 1
Gillian Anderson gets spotlight in a taut, bracing murder procedural set in Ireland.

• BROADCHURCH 1
David Tennant. Jody Whittaker.
A death devestates a coastal town, as two detectives battle each other.

• RIPPER STREET 2
A Whitechapel police precinct, grappling in the wake of the Ripper murders.
COPPER is good, but RIPPER STREET is great.

• BLACK MIRROR 2 ⇧
The acidic anthology set 'five minutes in the future' tops itself with another trio of brutal, cautionary speculative fictions.

• "DOCTOR WHO: An Adventure in Space and Time"
A splendid take on the making of the original First Doctor serials (1963-'66).
David Bradley is marvelous as Willam Hartnell. So much so that he should portray the First Doctor at some point on the current series.
(Update: And he did, on the 2017 Christmas Special.)

C O M E D Y

• ENLIGHTENED 2 ⇧
Destroy evil corporations. Save your soul.

• ELEMENTARY 2
The fine American parallel to SHERLOCK hits its stride, with more mythos and exponential depth.

• ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT 4
From wobble to stand to jog to sprint; an odd season that regains its original glory full-on by the end.

• STEVEN UNIVERSE 1
The beach! Pizza! Super powers! Aliens! Plus songs!

© Tym Stevens

Monday, February 17, 2014

ROCK Sex: "Ground Control to Major Tom" - THE LONELY ASTRONAUT Movies

...with Music Player!

Commencing Countdown...

Now It's Time To Leave the Capsule If You Dare

And I Think My Spaceship Knows Which Way To Go

Thursday, January 30, 2014

BEST MOVIES & TV: 2013

B E S T M O V I E S : 2 0 1 3

E R O S

T H I N K

S M I L E

D R E A M

N I G H T M A R E

G R A P H I C I M A G E S

A R T F L I X

B E S T D O C U M E N T A R I E S : 2 0 1 3

B E S T T V : 2 0 1 3

D R A M A

W O N D E R

U K

C O M E D Y

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