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Ari's Art Review 3
Geddy Lee, Neuromancer, Solaris, Canticle for Leibowitz, Contact, Vamps, Titanic Peter Pan, Monster High, and more.
Copyright © 2024 by Ari Armstrong
August 4, 2024
Geddy Lee's Autobio: I include this brief review of Lee's 2023 My Effin' Life in my art files because it pertains mainly to Lee's career as the lead bass player and singer for the rock band Rush (which I love). The book also has a heavy chapter on the experiences of Lee's parents, who survived the Holocaust. I imagine that intelligent musicians turn to Lee's book for ideas on how to build a long and successful career in music, not easy! I hadn't realized how many drugs the band members took; Lee had a phase with cocaine, while Neil Peart smoked cigarettes until the end of his life. Lee faced various tragedies through his life, including the early death of his father and death of bandmate Peart. If you love rock music generally or Rush in particular, you'll probably like this book. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has some videos from when Rush was inducted in 2013.
Neuromancer: William Gibson's 1984 novel introduces the terms "matrix" and "cyberspace" to refer to the internet. Snow Crash (about the "metaverse") appeared almost a decade later, in 1992; the first Matrix film came out in 1999. So Gibson definitely was on the edge of something big. Gibson's book also deals with intelligent, autonomous AI and with the uploading of consciousness into computer systems. I appreciated reading the book as a slice of history; however, I did not not much care for the story or the characters.
Solaris: I did not enjoy this novel as a work of science fiction. As a psychological sketch, I found it somewhat interesting. The setup that the ocean on a distant planet is alive or something close to alive, and it generates human-like beings based on the memories of astronauts on the planet.
A Canticle for Leibowitz: This 1959 book by Walter Miller is probably the funniest book ever written about the apocalypse. The characters are richly drawn; the writing exquisite. The book is split into three stories. The first deals with a monk who discovers some ancient scientific papers from before the nuclear catastrophe; the second with monks at the cusp of a new Renaissance; the third with a technologically advanced world again with the capacity for nuclear annihilation. It is not an optimistic book. The book (implausibly) sees religion as the key to preserving knowledge and to guarding against its misuse. (Obviously some religious institutions, both Christian and Muslim, did play a crucial role in preserving important texts.) A genuine classic.
Contact: I enjoyed rereading Carl Sagan's 1985 novel less than I did previously. The story meanders. And its portrayal of superpowerful (yet benevolent) alien races is unrealistic. On one level, Sagan's book is wildly optimistic; on another, it unrealistically hopes for some outside force to save us or inspire us to improve. Although we cannot rule out contact with advanced alien civilizations, we need to look within (as a species) to find the motivation to improve our lot in the universe.
Vamps: This 2012 vampire comedy film is about friendship (between the characters of Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter), love, and moral responsibility. The main scene toward the end is as poignant a meditation on aging and death as you're likely to find in cinema. The film was written and directed by Amy Heckerling, who also wrote and directed Clueless (1995), the Silverstone classic.
Titanic: I hadn't seen Titanic for years. When I watched the 1997 film recently with my family, I was reminded of why it is rightly widely regarded as one of the great and timeless movies. I hadn't realized that James Cameron wrote as well as directed it, an astonishing feat. The romance, with its story of a woman breaking free from a controlling fiancé, continues to resonate. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet give career-defining performances. The themes of hubris and class tension fill out the story and heighten the tragedy. The modern angle of exploring the sunken ship (using real footage) layer the story in mystery and nostalgia. I enjoyed reading the Wiki accounts of how various people thought the film was headed for disaster. One critic called the movie "a hackneyed, completely derivative copy of old Hollywood romances." But people still watch Titanic, whereas for the most part they do not watch those "old Hollywood romances." I look forward to watching it again in a few years.
Peter Pan 1953: Recently my family watched the old Disney animated Peter Pan. Overall it's an okay film. I was surprised by how sexist and racist it is. Tinkerbell looks at her hips reflected in water and is sad they're so wide. Her minidress keeps slipping up over her underwear. Then Peter spanks her to sprinkle Pixie dust. The segment with the "redskins" (Native Americans) is embarrassingly bad by today's standards. Stereotyped "injuns" sing a cringe-worthy song about how they got their red skin when some guy blushed when a maid kissed his cheek. This is about as bad as the Dumbo scene showing Black men building rail lines. The serious theme of the film is that Tinkerbell's jealousy causes her to do horrible things, such as attempt to murder Wendy. This element too is sexist; Cook says (without opposition) that it's easy to talk jealous girls into doing bad things. What about jealous boys? Regardless, the film raises an opportunity for parents to speak with their kids about jealousy and its problems. My eight-year-old enjoyed the film and I think understood my criticisms of it.
Peter Pan 2003: This is a genuinely good film. Unsurprisingly, Jason Isaacs is a standout as the father and Captain Hook, and the other actors do well. The film reaches deep emotions about growing up, leaving behind the things of childhood, and thinking about having children of one's own. I felt like the writing, although good, could have been polished more. I was sorry to see that the film lost money. But we can continue to enjoy it!
Hook: This 1991 Spielberg film starring Robin Williams as Pan, Dustin Hoffman as Hook, and Julia Roberts as Tink serves as a great sequel to the "regular" Pan movie. The idea is that Pan grew up after all, forgot about his earlier magical life, and had children of his own. Peter has to become Pan once again to save his children. The film suggests that one can come to grips with one's mortality and adult responsibilities while still holding the spirit of childhood.
Finding Neverland: This 2004 film offers, not the usual magic of Pan, but the magic of J. M. Barrie's writing. In this film, Barrie (Johnny Depp) finds inspiration to write Pan from the children of a widowed woman (Kate Winslet) he befriends. Dustin Hoffman returns to Barrie's world as the producer of plays. A young Freddie Highmore shows the anger and bitterness of a boy left fatherless. Apparently the film is inspired by reality: "Barrie . . . spent a great deal of time . . . with the five boys of his good friends Sylvia and Arthur Llewelyn Davies. . . . Reflecting Barrie's close relationship with the family, he adopted all five boys after Sylvia and Arthur's early deaths." See also the Wiki entry.
Monster High 2: I enjoyed this film quite a lot considering it is a low-budget made-for-TV "woke" musical for kids. The basic theme is that we should accept people for who they are and not succumb to prejudices. There's a very powerful scene in which the protagonist faces intense pressure to sell out her values and her friend, and she has to make a choice. If you have kids you have the perfect excuse to watch it.
Old Favorites: I enjoyed rewatching Taken, The Patriot, School of Rock, Ready Player One, The Edge of Tomorrow (one of the the great sci-fi films), and the first several Harry Potter films. The new film If is just okay.