Upstream Color: Art-House Science Fiction

Upstream Color is a 2013 science fiction film directed by Shane Carruth, who also plays a major part in the film. The film is one part con artist/thief and two parts science fiction. Here is the description from Amazon: A woman is abducted and hypnotized with an organic material harvested from a specific flower. When she falls for a man the two come to realized he may also have been subjected to the same process.

What was left out of the description (and this is minor spoiler territory) is the parasite introduced via the "organic material" and the "same process" doesn't explain much, but the two were abducted so a thief could rob them blind. The two fall for each other and try to put their lives back together, but the concoction they ingested has them recalling experiences they both shared and bonds them. I won't write anything more on the plot, but this film is beautiful and touching, but also ugly and disturbing.

If you prefer your science fiction (or film watching experience in general) spoon-fed to you, this film isn't for you. It's not even that surreal, certainly not in the same way as a Luis Buñuel or David Lynch film is surreal, but it is challenging, and I'm sure the long stretches without dialogue will turn some people off. I do not believe this slows the pace of the film, as the visuals are fascinating and thought-provoking. Upstream Color is both visceral and blunted at the same time, sharp, yet unfocused depending on what Carruth is attempting to get across.

Carruth not only directed the film, but wrote the soundtrack (which suits the film perfectly and would be a great soundtrack to have on in the background as I'm writing).

If you want something a little different from your science fiction, give this film a try. If you're a Hulu Plus subscriber, it's available for streaming there, or you can rent on Amazon.

Gateway or: A Science Fiction Classic Invaded My Dreams

I first read Frederik Pohl's Gateway (novel published in 1977 from a 1976 serial) in the early 1990s when I was in the Navy. I did a lot of reading during my off duty hours and while on liberty, mostly the classics of science fiction and fantasy, with a smattering of mystery and horror. I was writing a lot back then, too, and looking back on that time in my life, I must have been trying to escape from the daily hazards my military duty posed as well as my personal life which was a mess at that time.

Gateway transported me from my life to a future earth, which I must admit, seemed bleak, but fascinated me. Other classic science fiction novels had socked me with sense of wonder, but Gateway invaded my dreams. The idea of a space station built within a hollowed out asteroid housing alien ships that took crews to unknown destinations captured my imagination. The risk of death mixed with the possibility of reward (perhaps not unlike when I was out on search and rescue missions in old Vietnam era helicopters) resonated with me. At that time in my life I would have jumped in one of those Heechee spaceships in a heartbeat.

I've read this book a half dozen times and the thrill never diminishes for me. To me, Gateway is up there with Foundation, Rendezvous With Rama, Ender's Game, Starship Troopers, Ringworld, and so on and so on. But I love Gateway, and it will always hold a special place in my heart not only because of the sense of wonder, but because it also transports me back to a time in my life I shouldn't forget.

I thought of this book again when I came across a thread on Facebook about the new generation of writers not reading the classics of science fiction. I'm of the opinion that the classics should be visited by today's writers--even if the ideas and the sensibilities seemed outdated. I'm sure many years from now when the readers of the future read our work they'll balk at our primitive mindsets and barbaric sensibilities. This doesn't only apply to books--I feel this way about music and film and television, and art as well.

Learn from the past, but enjoy the past--the passage of time doesn't and shouldn't diminish the quality or the enjoyment of the classics.

Bonus: Syfy may be making Gateway into a mini-series. Also, back around 1992 video games were made based on Gateway, which I played and enjoyed despite the clunky interface.

In A Lonely Place

In A Lonely Place is one of the few films that nearly equals the novel upon which it was based. The novel of the same name, by Dorothy B. Hughes, is a masterpiece and quite daring for the time, the 1940s. Hughes compares quite favorably with James M. Cain (author of Mildred Pierce, Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice) and in many ways surpasses him as a writer of noir. Her character development exceeds Cain's, in my opinion.

I highly recommend picking up a copy of Women Crime Writers - Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s. Not only do you get In A Lonely Place, but also, Laura (another wonderful film), The Horizontal Man, and The Blank Wall. There is another volume, but Suspense Novels of the 1950s. If you want both, I believe a box set is available.

I don't want to give away the novel or the film--though you'd think a novel from the 1940s and a film from 1950 should be fair game. But I've found so many people today haven't paid the classics any mind and that's a real shame. The novel is actually much darker than the film and ultimately heartbreaking and tragic (the film is also heartbreaking, but in a different way).

Criterion (I've gushed over Criterion products before on here and on social media) is releasing In A Lonely Place on 5/10/2016.  Criterion Blu-Rays are more expensive than other Blu-Rays, but if you're a film buff there are no better versions to buy. The films are restored versions and always have plenty of extras.

While the film deviates from the novel (it's a very loose adaptation), it doesn't take away from the novel. They're both equally enjoyable and tragic. So noir.
 

The Endless River On The Dark Side Of The Moon

With the upcoming release of Pink Floyd's The Endless River, I've been thinking a lot lately about The Dark Side Of The Moon and what the album means to me. Yes, it's an album--a cohesive collection that should be listened to as such and not necessarily downloaded in pieces on iTunes or wherever it is you youngsters (hey, get off my lawn!) get your music these days.

I won't go into the accolades and the number of consecutive weeks on the Billboard Album chart (741). And I won't go into how if you begin the album at the whatever minute mark of The Wizard of Oz that it syncs up. I'm discussing how this album played an interesting part in my life.

Dark Side was introduced to me by my high school girlfriend probably in early 1985 (before this I listened to all sorts of things, but for some reason not Pink Floyd). Her parents had a copy on vinyl (of course--and it's wonderful on vinyl) and we listened to side 2 over and over, even though side 1 was just as awesome as side 2. We'd sit on the sofa at her parents' house and talk and kiss and talk and listen to Dark Side and I didn't ever want it to end. Such wonderful memories of the mid-1980s. (We did listen to other albums--Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti for instance.)

Also in the mid-1980s--my history teacher one year in high school put on a trip to Greece. Before I went I picked up a copy of the album on cassette and about wore out the tape on that trip. Even the cruddy headphones and cruddy little walkman type player couldn't ruin how great the album was--it made the non-stop from JFK to Athens bearable.

The soulful saxophone and soaring guitar solos of Money--the production values and inventiveness of the entire group of songs was mesmerizing. For a high schooler, who was (and I suppose still is at times) also a musician, this album was pretty amazing stuff.

Of course, I didn't pay much attention to the lyrics at that point--the music really did it for me at that point, the lyrics would get me later--

Fast forward to the mid-1990s, I'm firmly in my mid-twenties and I'm not in a good place and I feel like my life is over before it has even really started. I was in the Navy, working my ass off to finish my degree before I got out of the Navy, and I was in a marriage that could not last (certainly not one person's fault more than the other's--we were young and simply unable to function as a married couple--we were too different). I had a fifty mile commute each way in an un-airconditioned car (this was in the Mojave Desert of all places) to go to my classes a few nights a week (these classes were in addition to my full time job in the Navy and all the responsibility that came with that--having to miss class because of helicopter maintenance issues or having to be a crew chief on search & rescue missions). 

Well, I played The Dark Side Of The Moon--and I'm not sure I regretted it as much as I wallowed in it. Time is a wonderful song, but not so wonderful for someone who feels like their life is predetermined to suck at this point and that they're trapped. When you're in high school listening to Time, the song doesn't really mean much--ten years earlier and you're a little kid, what in the hell has gotten behind you? All you want is to move forward and can't wait until you're out of high school. But when you're 27 or 28 and you hear the line about how "ten years have got behind you" --that's you're entire adult life up to that point and I felt like I didn't have anything to show for those ten years but a doomed marriage and uncertainty about what I'd do after my enlistment was up.  I just couldn't deal with the failure of my marriage.

My antidote at the time was listening to a lot of Metallica to wipe my brain free of Time. 

Since around the year 2000 I've listened to Pink Floyd in spurts, and now I wish I had seen them in concert back in the 1980s and 1990s. I'm happy that I can listen to Dark Side now without any negative side effects, but I do steer clear when I'm feeling a little down. You know, I had to go through those moments in my life, and at least I have great memories of the album to balance the bad memories. And I suppose I knew what I was doing when I tossed the CD in my car player during the bad times. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment.

So I'm not sure how The Endless River will turn out, but it's great that we'll have more Pink Floyd to listen to. Somehow I doubt it'll have the same impact Dark Side had on me, but I'm really hoping it'll be a great listen.

Only one other album imprinted on my mind like Dark Side, but in a much different way--Rush's Moving Pictures. Wow. That album for me is 100% positive, not a bad memory attached to it--all good.  Rush may be my favorite group of all time, but no album had an impact on me throughout my life like Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.

An interesting side note: I'm very good friends with the high school girlfriend and ex-wife I mentioned above, so some good came from it all in the end.

Fine Books Are Not An Endangered Species

At first glance, this post may seem like it should be on the writing portion of the site, but this article is more about reading and owning fine editions of books one loves.

Many people have been declaring print books dead, or at least on the way out due to the rise of e-books over the past several years.  I'm not arguing for or against e-books, there are plenty of articles all over the web about such things. Now, I do own an e-reader, but the majority of my reading is done the old fashioned way.

Books will live on far into the future, and one of the reasons will be specialty presses. Specialty presses take books that have been mass produced and create new editions, turning them into something truly special, works of art.  There is no better example of a specialty press than Subterranean Press, specializing in fantasy, science fiction, and horror, but have strayed into mainstream, mystery, and thriller territory.

Check out this excellent Sub Press edition of Harlan Ellison's wonderful short story collection, Deathbird Stories:

                                                     Dust jacket from Harlan Ellison's Deathbird Stories

What a beautiful dust jacket. The edition I bought also came with a custom slipcase and was signed by Harlan Ellison.  Here is another photo, but of an interior page containing some of the front matter:

      The Shining Slipcase - Subterranean Press

These special editions often sell out--and with good reason--the care and attention to detail given to these books is without peer.

Here is another great example from Subterranean Press, Stephen King's, The Shining. The edition I ordered came with a slipcase, as well as a chapbook of Vincent Chong's sketches for the illustrations within the book.

Chapbook

While the slipcase is beautiful, and the chapbook of Vincent Chong sketches is a wonderful bonus, the glossy dust jacket is amazing, as are the black & white illustrations and full page color illustrations inside the book! This is an edition that won't simply sit on my shelf--this one begs to be read and enjoyed. The pages are thick and the typeset is easy on the eyes. This is such an amazing edition of The Shining to own.

But there is more--Subterranean also has very reasonably priced editions of other books, and they produce not only these ultra-limited editions of books, but also career spanning collections spread across multiple volumes of authors such as Jack Vance, Robert Silverberg, and Philip K. Dick.

Lest you think they only cater to the classics, Subterranean also publishes beautiful editions of new works by a wide range of authors such as Peter V. Brett, Brent Weeks, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Kelley Armstrong, John Scalzi--and the list goes on and on.

Subterranean is simply one example of a specialty publisher--though I may have started you off with the best if you're a fan of genre fiction. They certainly hit it out of the park with their editions, and they're great people as well--a bonus in this day and age.  Subterranean puts out a regular email with release dates of upcoming titles and offers sales fairly regularly. I highly suggest signing up for the newsletter on their main page, here.  These books make wonderful gifts for the lover of fine books in your family.

Do yourself a favor, take a look at their website and browse--you WILL find something you simply must add to your collection.

The Shining Dust Jacket