Steven Barnes's Blog, page 4
January 26, 2019
“Serenity” (2019) and the art of the “Twist”
What is it about the movie title “Serenity”? The 2005 attempted “Firefly” reboot chose that title, referring to the ship crewed by our merry band of madfolk. Why in the world give such a placid, misleading name to a badass SF action movie, thereby guaranteeing that NO ONE but diehard fans would have the slightest idea what it was? I don’t know, but consider that one of the all-time worst marketing decisions.
And in 2019’s use of the term, there is once again a switch, a movie that looks like...
January 25, 2019
“Close” (2019), Love, and Fear
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The new Netflix action movie “Close” stars Noomi Rapace as a combat veteran and body guard, a “close protection specialist” assigned to protect an heiress from mysterious assassins/kidnappers in the Middle East. Rapace is intense, deadly, vulnerable, whip-smart, and cool under pressure. Great job in an above-average Netflix action romp based on a real human being, JK Rowling’s female bodyguard Jacquie Davis. I wouldn’t mind seeing more stories about this little wolverine.
Nicki would have LO...
January 24, 2019
Are You Ready For The Love Of Your Life?
I was alone, my first marriage broken on the rocks, with no sense of hope.
My future wife Tananarive was alone, disappointed by the “dating scene” and ready for something totally different.
We found it. Found each other, and within 72 hours were bonded for life. A MIRACLE…or was it a science? Over our twenty years of marriage, we’ve talked for hundreds of hours about HOW we found each other, the work we’d done to prepare ourselves…and realized we’d really found a path that anyone could use. I...
Captain America Civil War (2016) and the power of emotion
We have a new sound system for our bedroom television, and its terrific. To test it, I’ve been enjoying movies with big action scenes and bombastic music. So 2012 and Starship Troopers and Total Recall have been guests in the house of late.
And over the last couple of days, in and around episodes of True Crime and Robot Chicken, we were watching what might be the best purely Marvel Comic Book Comic Book movie I’ve ever seen. It felt exactly like watching a Summer Annual issue, say the episode...
January 23, 2019
Fannish Arguments and Cultural Impact
One of the ways you know that a movie has reached the point of cultural acceptance is when you see cosplay, fan fiction and endless arguments about minutea. When it becomes part of a national conversation, that’s even greater proof that something in this story touched a deep thread of emotion. It is also a testament to the creativity and thought behind the illusions: it is impossible to create an illusion no one will question. Heck, there are REAL events people don’t believe in, and REAL aspe...
January 22, 2019
“Black Panther” nominated for Best Picture!
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This is an amazing accomplishment, and before you ask, yes, it is an honor just to be nominated. I don’t expect a Best Picture Oscar (at the least, however, I’d expect Best Costume) but I’ve definitely seen “Best Picture” winners I respected less.
It isn’t possible to evaluate art totally objectively. You just…can’t. Value isn’t length or depth or weight or height. It is impact: on myself, and on each individual filmgoer. Your life experience influences the way you interpret the images.
I KN...
January 21, 2019
The Content Of Our Character
I get emails from time to time, criticizing my discussions of race. “You are so intelligent” they say. “Why can’t you see that all this talk just separates people? That BLM has done nothing but damage? Why can’t you be more like MLK..?”
Sigh.
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I have a rule on my FB page: I won’t discuss race publicly with anyone who is unwilling to take a clear stand on human equality. Usually measured by the answer to the following question: “given the same historical circumstances, would...
January 20, 2019
What Are You Really Saying?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgwI4JkWcsA
Watched the Gillette ad again. In it, ethnically diverse men are challenged to avoid and prevent toxic behavior. I thought it was interesting, but not for a fraction of a moment did I see any behavior I wanted to defend, or anything that had not happened to someone I knew personally. Seemed no different really from encouraging people to brush their teeth twice a day or to remember that “buzzed driving is drunk driving.” If it ain’t you, why are you...
January 18, 2019
One Step A Day
About twenty-five years ago I was teaching writing at UCLA, and noticed something. The most common complaint from the students was lack of time in their lives. Man, it came up again and again. Everything: work, play, family, rest, eating…EVERYTHING got in the way.
So one week, feeling very sneaky, before I started teaching I started talking about television shows. I talked about my favorite show, and what had happe...
January 16, 2019
The Tao of Gymnastics
https://www.facebook.com/CBSNews/videos/307696270103579/UzpfSTYwNDUyMDkwOToxMDE1NjI2NDUzMjU1NTkxMA/
Life can be viewed many different ways. A “journey” as in “The Hero’s Journey”.
The movement between levels of existence, as with the “Chakras”.
A search for dynamic balance, as with Body, Mind, and Spirit.
All of these are actually different ways of looking at the precise same thing: the answer to the question: how shall we live? What is it to be human?
“Who Am I?” and “What is Tru...
