Stardust, Thin White Dukes and Labyrinths

“What I’m doing is theater and only theater, what you see on stage isn’t sinister, it’s pure clown. I’m using myself as a canvas and trying to paint our time on it.” - David Bowie

Like the rest of the world and like anybody who cares about music and rock and roll in general, I still mourn David Bowie’s death. He wasn’t just any regular Joe, he was special kind of human being, he was different and he reveled in the fact that he was like no other. He certainly shook the notions of a few conservatives, thankfully he also shook the pillars of heaven for all those rock and rollers out there, myself included. Bowie was a consummate artist and performer, always creating; be it through his music or through his many performances as an actor. Not only that, he was like Freddy Mercury, lead singer of Queen. With just the right lyrics and the according, perfectly chosen four cords, both of these singers could “get to you”; they could slither their way into your soul. For years, David Bowie portrayed himself as ‘Ziggy Stardust’, an being from another world who played with a band called ‘The Spiders from Mars’. Together they toured earth, collecting data on our behavior. The information Ziggy gathered would filter into his songs, songs that in turn spoke of who we are. Bowie was an observer of humanity, looking at us, like an alien “floating in a tin can” in space. He distanced himself from chaotic humanity, troubling themselves with rules and regulations. Bowie created his own unique persona so he could live by his own rules, Ziggy Stardust was a symbol of the unique, the different, it was also a response to the Glam Rock phase rock and roll through went through the 70’s with bands like KISS, The New York Dolls, The Sweet and T. Rex amongst many others.

Despite the fact that he played an alien on stage, Bowie was a very human entity. Sure he turned into a rock and roll god, but he wasn’t a perfect one. After Ziggy, Bowie would go on to live through some very dark passages in his life story. In 1976, after he’d squeezed the life out of his Ziggy Stardust persona, he transformed once again, becoming this time ‘The Thin White Duke’, a far more sinister version of Bowie. According to Bowie himself, he’s was a chameleon, acquiring, like some sort of mimicker, a hodgepodge of personalities. You see, Bowie, like most of us, was on a continuous journey of exploration, he wasn’t exempt from trying to find himself and in doing so, many a persona emerged. The Thin White Duke had pale skin, orange hair and always dressed in black and white, partially based on Thomas Jerome Newton, the alien he played on Nicolas Roeg’s The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976). At this point, some accused Bowie of being “pro-fascist”. These accusations came from some comments he made about Hitler, and a picture they took of him that looked like he was giving a “Hail Hitler!” salute. He stated that America needed fascism to “sweep everything off its feet and tidy everything up” he also stated that he believed “very strongly in fascism” and that he thought that Hitler was “one of the first rock stars”. He later refuted all that, chalking it all up to theatrics, a reflection of humanity, He went on to clearly state he was not a fascist.  

At first glance, The Thin White Duke seemed, at least from an aesthetic point of view, like a “normal” persona when contrasted with the flamboyant, glam of Ziggy Stardust. But in reality, The Thin White Duke was the persona that almost killed Bowie. Bowie would call these years “the darkest years of my life.” During those years, Bowie was dangerously close to the edge, He’d turned into a coke fiend that spoke and acted in nonsensical ways, this is probably why Bowie described the Thin White Duke as an “amoral zombie”, so those fascist comments were probably a byproduct of his monstrous cocaine addiction. He admitted that during that time, he was out of his mind, totally crazed. For proof of this, just type ‘Bowie on Cocaine’ on YouTube, you’ll be treated to an interview in which Bowie is coked up out of his mind and a video where you can clearly see him partaking backstage. Thankfully he evolved yet again and left this dangerous creation of his behind, The Thin White Duke nearly killed Bowie, but before that happened, Bowie killed the Duke at a rehab clinic, accompanied by the one and only Iggy Pop. Thankfully, Bowie realized the folly of his ways and emerged a far more “normal” individual; I guess we could call it ‘the real Bowie’. He wasn’t playing any character, he was just himself. Funny part is that during all these transformations and self explorations, he never stopped acting or making records, art was imitating life and to Bowie, life was one big theater.

I came to know of Bowie when I was about eleven years old, that first time I saw Labyrinth (1986). Back then I knew he was some sort of rock persona, but I had no idea. In fact, if I remember correctly, my Christian family had problems with me watching Labyrinth because to them Bowie was the lead singer of a satanic rock band! I always ignored these comments and watched Labyrinth more times than I can remember because it was just too cool of a movie not to see it and I found Bowies songs so addictive. I still say that if I ever get married, I’m dancing ‘As the World Falls Down’ with my wife. I place Labyrinth on my top five favorite Fantasy films from the 80’s.

Life is a labyrinth, we just gotta figure it out

Labyrinth is a coming age story about a young girl that learns that in life things aren’t always the way we’d like them to be. Labyrinth taught me many things, among them that the unexpected can happen and that when it does, there’s no time to complain, you just have to deal with it. It taught me that the world is full of lies and distractions and that we have to sift through them, searching for the truth. It taught me that we should focus on our goals and never give up on them, not even when we reach a terrible black oubliette. Labyrinth was the movie that taught me that “nothing is what it seems in this place” and that I “shouldn’t take anything for granted”. It taught me that we can go up against impossible odds and that we can win if we only stay true to ourselves and surround ourselves with true friends. It taught me that we should become masters of our own destiny, that we should take responsibility for our actions. It’s a film about evil wanting to corrupt purity, innocence and goodness, only that in the world of Labyrinth, goodness has the courage and the will to fight back! “You have no power over me!” says Sarah to Jareth, in this way teaching us that should we choose to do so, we could lead our lives in the direction we choose. Throughout the film, Sarah becomes an adult, leaving the things of childhood behind, but does this mean she’ll forget entirely about her beloved childhood? One thing I always liked about this film is that it doesn’t tell us to completely eradicate childlike innocence from our lives. Instead, it taught us that that innocence, that sense of wonder should always be there for us should we ever need it. 

Labyrinth is an amazing accomplishment on many levels, it’s an impressive production, but then again, no one should expect anything less than awesome with the talent involved in the making of this film. First off, Jim Henson himself directed this magical tale. Yes, THAT Jim Henson, quite literally, the master of puppets! Staying true to his title, Jim Henson and crew made sure this film was populated by a plethora of puppets. Literally every nook and cranny of this world is filled with a puppet of some kind. The way they made this film, entire sets were built above ground so that the puppeteers could stand below, maneuvering the creatures. No one makes films like this anymore, it takes special individuals to propel this type of production, and it seems no one is picking up Jim Henson’s reins, which makes movies like Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal (1982) all the more special. If they remade Labyrinth now, I’m sure it would be populated with lots of CGI creatures. What Hollywood doesn’t understand or chooses to ignore is that what made these movies so magical were the puppets and the sets and the artistic talent involved. Labyrinth might be a fantastic tale about goblins and fairies, but behind it all was that human touch. We know there’s puppeteers pulling the strings and that makes the film a million times more special, it adds that human touch to it that is so sorely missing from today’s films. 

To top things off, Bowie’s songs are so freaking memorable. Sometimes when artists do songs for a film, they’ll do throwaways that they won’t even sing in their own concerts, but not with Labyrinth. On this show Bowie produced and performed tunes that were just as good as his regular records.’ Dance Magic Dance’, ‘As the World Falls Down’ and ‘Underground’ are all amazing. For a while there Bowie’s Labyrinth soundtrack was all I knew of the artist. Even then as a child, knowing nothing else about Bowie, I connected with those Labyrinth songs. I guess, even as a child I recognized greatness. When I reached my late twenties I decided to reconnect and explore the rest of his work. A whole new world opened up for me. I was immediately blown away by the coolness, the purely rock and roll aspect of Bowie. I loved the fact that Bowie reveled in his exoticness; he was a wild one as are most of us during our younger years, when we think we’re going to live forever, when we think we are indestructible. But time passes, and death and decease will eventually catch up with all of us, as it did with Bowie who died of cancer on Juanuary 10^th 2016. Bowie was an artist to the very end and beyond, as he was working on a final album before he died, that album was ‘Blackstar’. He was such an artist, that he wrote a whole song, and filmed an amazing video, precisely to be released after he died. The chilling song is called ‘Lazarus’, a song in which he reviews his entire life as a rock and roll superstar, musing about it all with longing in his voice. It's a song performed by an artist who lived a truly rich life. Leave it to Bowie to send shivers down our spines even from beyond the grave. Speaking of which, as I sit hear in front of my computer, musing on how to finish this article, Life on Mars? started playing on my phone randomly...I can't help getting an eerie feeling and remembering those lyrics from Lazarus "Look up here...I'm in heaven..." Perhaps there is Life on Mars after all! 

  

The Dark Crystal (1982)

Title: The Dark Crystal (1982)

Directors: Jim Henson and Frank Oz

Review:

Fantasy films of the 80's how I love thee, let me count the ways. The Dark Crystal, a fantasy film written and directed by the creative duo of Jim Henson and Frank Oz, is a very special movie for me and not just for me, but for many fantasy lovers out there as well.  Along with Willow (1988), Legend (1985) and Labyrinth (1986), The Dark Crystal was one of those fantasy films I grew up with. I consider myself lucky to have grown up with these fantastic fantasy films; everytime I re-watch any of these films I get the feeling that "they just don't make them like that anymore" And to tell you the truth, in retrospect, the 80's produced some of the best fantasy films out there, films that are still remembered and cherished to this day. They had that that magical feeling you get when everything just clicks to perfection, the music, the art direction, the story. Of course, a lot of that has to do with the folks involved in making the film: Jim Henson and Frank Oz, two true lovers of fantasy. Technically speaking, whenever Jim Henson decided to make a fantasy film, you could bet your sweet ass he was going to give it his best;  the guy truly knew what he was doing. If you don't believe me, just watch Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal back to back, you'll get the sense that these films were not easy films to make, that they took more of an effort to make than your regular picture. You see, Henson didn't just want to make any old movie. Oh no, he loved making films entirely populated by puppets, this was something that he would continue doing through the years in whatever medium possible. Cable specials, various television shows and films. But his first attempt at it was with The Dark Crystal, a film that was being hailed as the first live action motion picture with absolutely no humans on screen. This alone makes The Dark Crystal worth a watch, but honestly, once you've visited the world of The Dark Crystal you'll no doubt want to revisit it again and again, its a really wonderful world to go back to; so complex, so detailed, my hats down to Jim Henson, a truly talent was lost the day he died.

Jim Henson, filming Labyrinth

But what makes a good fantasy film? In my opinion, it has to effectively whisk me away to another land, another place, another time, and it has to make me believe it; and in the end, good has to triumph over evil. I've often cited Ridley Scott's Legend as a good example of the perfect fantasy film. It has unicorns, elves, demons, fairies, gnomes and witches, but the way the film was made makes you feel like the world of Legend exists. With fantasy films like the ones I've mentioned, you'll never feel like you are watching actors act in front of a green screen; which I feel is the problem with many fantasy films of today. They've gone and replaced creating a world through the use of sets, miniatures and props with creating a world in a computer. True, when CGI is done right it can work, but that is a rare occasion in Hollywood. Truth is, the differences between CGI overload and films that used practical on camera effects are palpable when you watch the final product. For example, I am a lover of fantasy films, but I was totally disconnected from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010). Why? Because it just didnt feel real to me. I applaud directors who still actively believe in practical effects, guys like Ridley Scott, who recently demonstrated the perfect balance between practical and computer generated effects with Prometheus (2012). Another director that knows how to balance the two is Guillermo del Toro, for a good example of this check out Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). The problem is that with most fantasy films of today, you can't help but get that feeling that only the actors are real. This is something that never happened with fantasy films before the invention of CGI. Before CGI, filmmakers actually built sets! Go figure! But I guess this is something we have to get used to, apparently, this is the way films are going to be made from now on.  This is one of the reasons why I love The Dark Crystal so much, every nook and cranny of this world was made specifically for this film. You feel the love and the hard work put on this one, the result is so engulfing and absorbing, you can't help but get pulled in.

Don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to pay lots of attention to the people behind the cameras on my reviews, I'm the kind of guy who wants to know who's responsible. I love for example the whole dynamic that goes on between conceptual artists and film directors. That wonderful cynergy that occurs at the very early moments of a production, when the world is just starting to take shape. Case in point, Brian Froud, the conceptual artist responsible for designing both Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. Froud's a wonderful fantasy artist and one of the best conceptual artists for film; period. He alone is responsible for the entire look of these two amazing films. The puppets look the way they do because Froud drew them that way; reportedly, the designs for The Dark Crystal took five years out of Froud's life, that's how you know this is a truly special film.  I love it when a film brings so many truly creative people together to make something that's going to be amazing and a delight to watch. The people behind The Dark Crystal weren't just anybodies, these were true lovers of fantasy; true artists and performers. These were guys who lived and breathed art; artists who thrive on creation.

Brian Froud's conceptual artwork for The Dark Crystal

But aside from the technical aspects, I love the themes that this film talks about. This film can be categorized as a childrens film, but like many childrens films, this is one that touches upon very adult themes. The world of The Dark Crystal has been divided into two ruling classes, the evil 'Skeksis' and the benevolent and peace loving 'Mystics'. Thousands of years ago, a magical crystal that brought balance to the land was broken, a piece of it, a shard, is missing. Because of this, their world is slowly dying, according to the films opening voice over, the Skeksis are creatures living in a dying land. But fear not, there is a prophecy that a creature known as a 'Gelfling' would unite the crystal once again and make it whole and destroy the evil Skeksis. The young Gelfling know as Jen is the chosen one for this task, and so he goes on a quest to find the missing shard and make the crystal whole again. To me, the whole film is talking about the ever continuing class struggle. The rich and the poor, the ruling class and the working class. The crystal is humanities soul, which has been broken and brought back together, to heal humanity so we can all live in peace. Jen and Kira are the rebellious youth, looking to change things, looking to make things right again They are even willing to sacrifice themselves for this important task. So yeah, this is a childrens film, but one with a lot to say and an interesting message to the newer generations. Like many films before it, The Dark Crystal is asking young people to take matters into their own hands and change things. "You are the chosen one, and you haven't got much time" Jen's Mystic master tells him. 

So yes my friends, The Dark Crystal is a true fantasy classic. The art direction and puppets should keep you glued to the screen, there's so much to absorb on this film. There are these magical moments when Henson and Oz simply focus on the world, and the strange creatures that inhabit it, the strange plants and animal life. You could see a real effort being made to make this world real. The puppets are nothing short of wondrous. My favorite being The Mystics; these huge snail like creatures that move and talk very slowly, but are wise in their ways. Like our elderly, they posses a lot of wisdom if we but listen. I loved how Jen listened to his Mystic master who lay on his dying bed. I also enjoyed how it was a story about loss of a loved one, and having to face the world on your own. At one point Jen says "Im not ready to go out there all alone.."  but then quickly takes control of his life and says "alright...alone then!" and on his way he goes, to fulfill his destiny. This is a beautiful film to show your kids, it will teach them a lot about the importance of change; about how if we don't like the way things are in the world, we don't have to simply sit back and accept things, we can change them, make them better. 

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Muppets (2011)

Title: The Muppets (2011)

Director: James Bobin

Cast: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper

Review:

Of course The Film Connoisseur was going to review the new Muppet movie, I grew with these crazy characters, and by that I mean I watched the show on television back in the 70’s, when it was just about the coolest show on earth. The Muppets were really something back then, they even made it all the way to theaters, with three pretty darn good movies. The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). These first three movies were Muppet films orchestrated by the original creator of The Muppets, Jim Henson (and his right hand and partner in crime Frank Oz) and for that alone they are the ones that matter the most to me. These are the ones that really have that true ‘Muppet’ feeling to them; they had the most Jim Henson and Frank Oz in them. Every other Muppet film that’s come afterwards - with very few exceptions- hasn’t had that magic to them.  

I guess a lot of the magic behind The Muppets came from the folks doing the puppeteering. Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz…these were guys who puppeteered and voiced these characters for years and years! But then came the death of Jim Henson, and it’s as if The Muppets had lost their father, their creator. Brian Henson (Jim Henson’s son) took the reins of The Muppets for a while there. He directed a couple of the Muppet movies like A Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) and Muppet Treasure Island (1996), the last two good Muppet movies in my book. A Muppet Christmas Carol in my opinion had a lot of that Muppet magic infused into it. It was a Muppet movie that still ‘had it’, and honestly, it’s the one I watch the most, I love that one! Muppets from Space (1999) was alright, but nothing out of this world. And don’t even get me started on the abortion that was The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (2005); that one was a real waste of celluloid, an embarrassment. Thing is that The Muppets now belong to Disney, who seem to be gobbling up every property they can pick up. Hell, even Marvel Comics is a Disney property these days! And now so are The Muppets. Would Disney treat The Muppets with the dignity and respect they deserve? Considering they are so beloved by people everywhere? How was this new Muppet movie?

With this new movie, what Disney was aiming to do was present The Muppets to a whole new generation of kids with a colorful, happy, shinny and new sing-a-long of a movie. At the same time, they went with the nostalgia factor and tried to please all those Muppet fans from around the world by making a film that pays respects to these beloved characters. And they did just that. This new Muppet movie is an explosion of happiness, I dare you not to have a smile on your face the whole time! The movie presents us with the idea that the world has forgotten about The Muppets who were once famous and had their own variety show on television. Their fame has waded and they’ve all gone on with their lives. Kermit has retired and lives alone in his mansion, Mrs. Piggy works for a fashion magazine in Paris, Gonzo has his toilet making company, Fozzy sings in a Muppets Cover Band, they’ve all forgotten who they used to be together and have moved on. But something is about to bring them together: a greedy businessman wants to buy The Muppet Studios so that he can destroy it and dig for oil. Fortunately, the contract states that if The Muppets can make 10 million on their own, then they can save the studio and not sell it to the greedy business guy! And so, the Muppets are off to resurrect their television show so they can make their 10 million dollars and save The Muppet Studios! Will they achieve their goal?

The biggest worry I had was that this new film wasn’t going to be special, that it wasn’t going to have that Muppet magic. To be honest, the movie did alright. I mean, it wasn’t completely magical, but it did manage to keep a smile on my face for most of its running time. They got one thing absolutely right, they made it into a musical, with people dancing and singing with a smile on their faces all the time. Everything is shinny and happy and colorful. Many of the classical characters are back, it’s so cool to see them again on the big screen! The story for this film is all about what the first Muppet movies were all about: putting on a show, entertaining people and making it in the big time! But would they be the same Muppets we’ve always loved? Would this new Disney version of The Muppets nail it? I’m feeling like they did. The whole gangs back, they might look slightly different in very small ways (Fuzzy the Bear for example) but it’s the same characters. The same style of humor, the same slapstick, self referencing, and breaking the fourth wall type of jokes we love to see in these movies.  

   

Funny thing about this new Muppet movie is that FOX recently asked the question “are liberals trying to brainwash our kids?” in reference to this new Muppet movie. Ha! Goes to show who’s really controlling the media. I thought the news reporters were supposed to be objective with their points of views? Yet right there, by asking that question they are taking a side and assuming that everyone in American has to be a conservative capitalist! These comments on FOX news are so nausea inducing, they see that a film is sending out a message against evil businessmen (of which there are many in this world) and immediately see it as a threat to their way of life. You know what FOX news? So what if this new Muppet movie is speaking against capitalism? Isn’t the United States of America a free country, with freedom of speech as part of its way of life? Yes? Okay then, what’s the big surprise? I guess conservatives are scared that liberals will spread the germ of communism through the United States…oOoOooOOoohh scary! Gimme a break! And you know what FOX news; of course liberals will speak against capitalism! That’s what liberals do, that’s why they are called liberals, because they want to be free and speak their minds! And of course its liberals making films, artists are going to be liberals by nature; so deal with it! They aren’t trying to brainwash anybodies minds, they are just saying what they feel, if you like it cool, if you don’t like it then don’t go and see the movie. Last time I checked, saying what you feel was still okay in this country. It still is isn’t? We still got freedom of speech? Or have they written some new law that prohibits people from speaking their minds? I guess FOX is going to have to criticize a whole bunch of other films that play with the same theme of the “evil, greedy businessman”, in fact why don’t you just go full on fascist and prohibit films such as these? Ban them? Or make the whole world boycott them by saying your comments on FOX….jeeez…Look final word on this is GREED is a great evil that’s eating up the world isn’t it?  And movies that speak against it are doing a fine job in my book, so hooray for this new Muppet movie and its capitalism bashing themes.

Last words on this movie…it had the magic and sense of humor that the original Muppets had. I loved how they focused the whole film on them trying to start up their show, because that’s what the Muppets were always about, the theater, performances, entertaining the masses. Though the story has been used in other films before. This new Muppet movie is similar to films like Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo (1984), Waynes World 2 (1993), and The Blues Brothers (1980), all films where the good guys have to put on a show to go up against the evil business man type. Yet, in spite of its generic story line, the film is very entertaining. Jason Segel and Amy Adams play their roles innocently enough, like to kids falling in love for the first time. They lead a real innocent kind of romance through out the movie. I felt like their story was tacked on, I don’t know if we really needed the whole Jason Seagel/Amy Adams story line about them wanting to get married and she feeling ignored by him. They could have left that whole plot line out and focused more on The Muppets and the show, and their problem. On these movies, humans were always secondary, almost like window dressing. But not on this one, they decided to give a little more importance this time around to the human characters. There’s a lot of cameos on this one, but some of them feel really wasted! A stand out cameo comes from Zack Galifianakis as a bum, and Jack Black as…himself. But other cameos seem like wasted opportunities. The new songs were catchy and fun, except for Chris Coopers rap song which just felt out of place. But ultimately, this was such a nostalgic film for me. I must admit I enjoyed it so much when they sang “The Rainbow Connection”, I got teary eyed, which I’m guessing was what the filmmakers where going for. To have the target audience reconnect and remember the old movies with this one, to awaken that feeling of familiarity with The Muppets. I gotta be honest, they kind of achieved it.    

Rating: 4 out of 5