Thoughts on Pods and Sods Chicago SamePageCast Episode

 

 I may know Craig Smith because of KISS, but today, it’s about Chicago.

Craig Smith is a music connoisseur. The podcast he runs with Eric Miller, Pods and Sods, talk music, often down to the granular level. When Craig teams up with his girlfriend, Megan Stemm-Wade, they produce SamePageCast, a podcast about music and films. Today, they spend 90 glorious minutes talking about Chicago: The Columbia Years.

https://podsodcast.com/2017/04/25/spc18/

Joining them today is Jimmy Pardo, from the Never Not Funny podcast and the Chicago documentary that aired on New Year’s Day.

Craig teased this episode last week and I already told him I was very, very excited about this episode. Nice guy that he is, Craig sent me the link on Tuesday and I’ve already listened to it. You are in for a treat. The episode is chock full of Chicago goodness, but it is tagged as Chicago For Beginners. If you are a deep fan like me, most—but not all—of this information is known. But this is a fantastic way to get a music history of one of my two favorite bands.

So, when I listened to the episode, I started sending comments and feedback to Craig. As the word count grew, I had the idea of compiling my comments into this post, a sort of a side commentary to the episode.

Had I more time, I would have dropped in time markers. I am listening to it now, so I can throw in the marker for the first line item (below). But most of the time, I kept my comments per album and you can easily follow along.

[Comment about relevancy 8:24 mark] Chicago really stopped being relevant when SOS was rejected. That was when they stopped being a rock band and became a nostalgia act. Big Band record is good. Christmas records are wonderful! But really...

Agree that 14 (Columbia) was the natural ending point. For me, the eras are the following:

• Originals - 1967-1977
• Dacus/14 - 1978-1980
• Warner - 1982-1992
• Nostalgia - 1995-present

Regarding the listenability of a podcast devoted to each album of Chicago…ABSOLUTELY it’s worth it. I’ve toyed with it myself. You never know. I still might. If the existence of Pod of Thunder—that examines every studio song by KISS; Every. Song.—is any indication, you can easily do it with Chicago.

CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY

[My full review here. [http://scottdennisparker.com/2017/04/27/music-review-chicago-transit-authority-1969/] It’s an older piece I republished on this blog last night, but it still is accurate.]

Free Form is noisy. I listen infrequently. It's not on my MP3 CD playlist I have in my car.

Someday is wonderful. Especially when the chant becomes the downbeat. And the bombs in the last chorus.

[They didn’t discuss Liberation, a song I put on and just let my mind go. Great song. Would have liked to have had a version of it on the remastered Carnegie Hall CD.]

[Time: 18:55] Agreed that last great tour was 1988 (19) but the 1995 tour (with the acoustic set including Look Away) was pretty darn good. The 1987 set was pretty wide spread in terms of songs, too. Oh, and in terms of "New-to-Me" songs, the 1998 Christmas tour had greater than 50% of never-heard material (Christmas + Back to You).

Chicago 18, and the 1986 version of "25 or 6 to 4" are special to me. It was the first album released after I discovered them and "25" was the first single. Also, in 1987, they opened concerts with the 1986 version and closed with the 1970 version. Thus, the 1986 version was literally the first ever live sound I heard from Chicago. I snuck in a tape recorder to that show (at the Houston Rodeo!) and you can hear my auralgasm. Thirty years ago last month.

CHICAGO II

Other than "25 or 6 to 4" - Likely the distillation of the band's definition of a "rock band with horns" - my fav track is Poem for the People. The complex horn arrangement is wonderful. It Better End Soon I have grown to really, really love, especially the flute solo. Also the sentiment of The Road, especially the lyrics and its Vietnam-era stylings.

CHICAGO III

My fav song from III has become Mother, but I prefer the Carnegie Hall version b/c all horn players play at the same time. Love the ending. Lowdown is another fav. Happy 'Cause I'm Going Home is a great tune. I play along with it. And I dig Approaching Storm mainly because all 5 solos are so distinctive of the players. Also, I've come to appreciate the sax/guitar solo from Sing a Mean Tune.

CARNEGIE HALL

A Song for Richard and His Friends - To me, this is the best way for a "Free Form Guitar" solo to work: as part of something else. I like how Lamm plays his keyboard to sound like machine guns. It took me a long time to come around to this song, but now I enjoy it.

Oh, and in 2003 when the Dixie Chicks got lambasted for criticizing Bush while playing in the UK, Chicago (on Live in Japan) did the same sort of thing. No pushback then...

CHICAGO V

Sat in the Park is pure pop perfection and, honestly, might be the turning point in Chicago's sound. Ironic that Lamm was the writer. Dialogue is also just a quintessential song. Other than those two, Now That You've Gone has become my go-to song. Thing to listen for: tambourine. I actually play air tamourine while driving in my car! Also, Serephine's drumming on this song I particularly appreciate. Goodbye and its trumpet solo is also a highlight.

Robert Lamm’s SKINNY BOY is a good "of its time" record. The vibe of "Love Song" is sooo 1972. And the electric organ I really dig. Whenever I want to mentally go back in time, this is one of the records I use.

DOCUMENTARY...

Yeah, I pretty much knew it all, too, but my wife--who watched with me--enjoyed it and learned. And, yeah, even she commented on Lamm's hair! :-)

CHICAGO VI

At this point in my fandom, I've heard Just You n Me probably too many times. But I still love it. For me, What's This World Coming To is my fav. And I really enjoy Something in This City Changes People. There's a 1973 live recording from Paris (?) where they do these songs and they sound really good. I think this is the tour ('73) when they also did "A Hit by Varese" from V. That's an interesting song live.

CHICAGO VII

Again, the hits I've heard a lot of time, but Call on Me I never tire of. Searchin' So Long as well. But my go-to songs are Aire, Italian from New York, Byblos, and especially Woman Don't Want to Love Me. That last song is one of my fav scripted Kath solos, especially how he interacts with the horns. [This sounds familiar. Did I already write this?] The pathos of Kath singing Byblos is heartbreaking.

Nice point on the Terry sound. I would agree with that. It probably started with Jenny, but with 7 and 8 it's put into stark contrast.

CHICAGO VIII

I had VIII with the iron-on transfer. I traded it in 1995 for a cassette copy of SOS. But I found another one and tried to iron it on. Didn't work.

Brand New Love Affair I love!

Harry Truman is always great. I asked Lamm once about this song and he commented that it was a Merle Miller book...which I went out an bought. I do not think Lamm was being sarcastic. He was being spot on. Granted, Truman died Dec 1972 so, in 1974 (when VIII was being recorded) Nixon resigned. Low point in America to that point. You look back and see Truman and he looks pretty darn good.

Then there's Oh Thank You Great Spirit. More proof of the Kath sound. Blistering is probably an overused adjective, but it fits here.

Old Days is always good.

All in all, VIII was a late discovery for me, so I've come to enjoy it.

CHICAGO in 1982.

There's a great show from Star Sessions. I think it's Champlin's debut. They're hungry again and you can hear it.

CETERA ON BASS:

Yes, Craig, CTA and II are a showcase for Cetera's bass playing. Heck, just Introduction is a good enough example. McCartney-esque. Ditto with Gene Simmons, BTW. And What's This World Coming To from VI is another good one.

CHICAGO X

Love how Once or Twice kicks this album off. You Are On My Mind is wonderful. I have heard IYLMN waaay too many times...but it's still a good tune. But I don't need to hear it again. ARDINYC I have always enjoyed, and the 2001 version (with Lamm singing). Mama Mama is cheesy fun. Scrapbook is a nice culmination of their history.

CHICAGO XI

Of all the Columbia records, for whatever reason, I came to this one last. Still not sure. Maybe I just had to mature for it. But likely it was because I opened my eyes to Kath. He's all over this LP. I LOVE MDCB. I remember being a youth and thinking "why the heck is he laughing?" Now, I know it's b/c Kath knows this tune is great. The guitar, the horns, the voice. "Big Surprise" is ... never listened to anymore. Between this and IYLMN, I'll take the former.

The more I think of this album, the more I get a sense that--although they clearly didn't know what was coming with Kath's death--they put their best on this record. Megan's idea of a distinct Kath sound is full on display here, especially with Uptown. Lamm's all over his politics here--last time until We Can Stop the Hurtin from 17?.

But it is the last two cuts (This Time and Little One) that just makes your heart soar and then crushes it. The scripted guitar solo in This Time is my favorite of Kath. And the bittersweet sentiment of Little One--even though Serephine wrote it--as sung by Kath, the last time we hear his voice on record, is heartbreaking. Like X, Kath opened and closed XI, but his stamp is over everything on this album. Top 10 for me.

ME: Hmmm, what are my top 10? CTA, II, SOS, V, 19, III, XI, 17, VII, and Hot Streets.

CRAIG: That's a very interesting Top 10.

ME: Yeah. It would have been much different 15, 20 years ago. But time has a way of changing what I prefer. Since 19 is the most un-80s record, I tend to like it. (Ironic since I'm a child of the 80s, graduating in 1987). Probably why I like the latter half of 30 so much (because it sounds like 19). It's the "Crazy Nights" of the Chicago catalogue. Ron Nevison producer, BTW. This was the record where Champlin took over. SOS was, like CTA and 16 and to some extent HS, the album Chicago made for themselves. They asked "Who are we in 1992?" and SOS was the result. It was fresh and unique, willing to try different things (rap; heavy rock), and light on ballads.

When the label said, "No," they stopped being a rock band with horns and became a nostalgia act. Dawayne Bailey left soon thereafter. You could probably say the same thing about KISS and Revenge (or COS)...because, as much as I enjoy Psycho Circus/Sonic Boom/Monster, they are all riffs on former sounds.

HOT STREETS

I just friggin' dig Alive Again. The bass falls, the brass. It's all there. And the joy. Perhaps the band's second mission statement song (after Introduction and post Kath's death). The title cut is fantastic. Maybe Top 10 Lamm song for me (I may have to give that some thought). Love that it features both flute and guitar. I put TGLOE as a semi trilogy with IYLMN and BWABS. I like this one the best. It's on that MP3 CD I mentioned earlier. They gave Dacus the keys to the band and, for a 1978 record, it's perfectly in the pocket. Love Was New I love. I is SO of its time. Odd that the 80s albums (16-18) are so of their time and I tend not to listen to them, but so is HS-14 for its time...and I listen to them. Perhaps that tells me I prefer the 70s sound...?

Again, find the live 1978 concert at the Greek. They play with an orchestra. The sentiment of being alive, playing together is palpable.

[I had to take a break from the episode to take a walk around my office building. Here is what I wrote upon getting back to my desk.] Okay, I just took my 10am walk around my office building and I listened to the live version of HS. Such a great song. Cetera's bass playing under the flute solo is just like he did back in 1969. And the Dacus solo is certainly something Kath would have played in 1978.

You know, I have an MP3 CD of my fav stuff from the entire catalogue, but I specifically have a Dacus Era MP3 CD that includes HS, 13, the live 1978 show. I enjoy this era of Chicago and it was good to hear Pardo extol its virtues as well.

CHICAGO 13

Easily my fav cover.

As a band kid in the 1980s, Street Player with Maynard Ferguson I enjoyed immensely. Mama Take is just good clean cheesy fun circa 1979 in the vein of REO Speedwagon's Keep On Lovin' You. The horn come in subtly. I dig it. And I dig that the brass is just all over the place (the brass/guitar interplay on Aloha Mama echoes VII's Woman Don't Want to Love Me). Sure, Cetera's "other" voice is odd (Window Dreamin'), but what the hey. Life is what it is = Love Was New, Cetera version. Plus a trombone solo. What's not to like? As much as I enjoy the Kath/Cetera/Lamm vocals, the Cetera/Lamm/Dacus blends well.

There's a TV special they aired around 13. Cheesy and goofy.

Oh, and Loser with a Broken Heart? Proto Hard to Say I'm Sorry.

CHICAGO XIV

Okay, so yeah, it's probably the nadir, but like I wrote elsewhere, you add in the unreleased cuts (from the reissue) and remove some of the cuts that made the album, it would certainly be better. Song for You is yet another run-up to the ballad-heavy 80s. Even for someone like me, Birthday Boy is just ugh. Side 2 of XIV is better. Doin' Business (from the box set) is a good tune. I enjoy it, but I prefer HS and 13 more.

Talking about Nadir, XIV is the one album that doesn't fit neatly. You have the eras 1967-1977, 1978-79, 1982-85, 86-etc. and all have multiple albums. XIV is the one that is its own era. The guitarist, Chris Pinnick, is pretty darn good, their first attempt to get a "Kath" sound (and that Keith Howland has done for 22 years now). He went on to tour for 16 and 17 but left after Cetera left to make way for DaWayne Bailey, the true 80s rock guitarist.

QUESTIONS

ANY DOUBLE LPS CONDENSED DOWN TO ONE?

Not for me. Even VII. I like the instrumental stuff. Not all the time and not always driving in the car with the windows down, but when I'm in the mood, it's good.

IS THERE A “ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE” OF THE CHICAGO CATALOGUE?

Yup, 25 or 6 to 4.

NEVER WANT TO HEAR AGAIN?

If You Leave Me Now easily. More that than any of the 80s ballads. And yeah, the new live arrangements put the horns in. But even those ballads live starting around 1988 and especially 1992 were punchier and heavier. Of the 80s ballads, You’re the Inspiration is my least favorite. Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away is Cetera's gold standard for Chicago ballads for me. Hard Habit To Break is good for the vocal interplay. Look Away I really enjoy. For Scheff, Will You Still Love Me is probably it although I'm pretty done with that song, too. Just heard it too much. He did it live, acoustically, with just him at piano for a while. That was nice. I now lean more to Scheff's material 19 and beyond because he stopped trying to sound like an obvious Cetera clone. What Kind of Man Would I Be? (remix) is pretty darn good. Twenty-1's Explain it to my Heart is HHTB part 2 but with Scheff. SOS's Better than Elvis is strong because of the history behind it. But even Scheff got too high and whiny. Some of the ballads from 30 are hard to hear...so I don't.

Oh, and Look Away acoustic with just Champlin and Keith on guitars was also great. And the live version is my preferred version. There's a 1993 Live at the Greek (?) that features probably the last time Chicago was a *rock* band with horns. You even get a SOS song thrown in.

DESERT ISLAND LP?

CTA (although I could cop out and say Carnegie so I also could get 25 or 6 to 4)

DESERT ISLAND SINGLE?

Introduction. My Favorite Chicago Song. Period. 25 or 6 to 4 is second.

BEST COMPILATION:

I've basically tuned them out, but Chicago IX - where it all started for me—might be it. You don't get Introduction, but you get basically all you need from Chicago sans the later material. The garden one Pardo mentioned is okay.

Oh, back in 1997/98, here in the states, Chicago put out their own version of a blue and red hits albums (like the Beatles). They threw on 2 new songs each so...I had to buy them. The red one (which came out first) is probably too ballad heavy, but one of the new songs, The Only One, was produced by Lenny Kravitz. He sings on it, too, and it’s pretty good. The blue one, a year later, has stronger uptempo songs, but put on "Love Me Tomorrow" versus...anything else. All Roads Leads to You is one of the two new cuts and features vocals by all three guys. Taken together, "The Heart of Chicago" might be the one I'd choose.

But...in Japan, they put out 4(!) "Heart of Chicago" albums. And they broke the catalogue down to 1967-1981 and 1982-1998. That was the red and blue from Japan but you also got a yellow and a green one. In those days, pre-SOS being officially released, that was the only way to get 3 of those tunes. They filled the rest of the albums with great rarities like pristine mixes of the dance version of Along Comes a Woman, the full HTSIS/GA together, Please Hold On (LP version), Someday, Street Player (dance mix), and more goodies. And, even though my memory can't recall if Introduction is on there, I'll take Heart of Chicago from 1997, 98 (Japanese versions) as my go-to compilations.

And there you have it. I really enjoyed this episode. Being a deep fan, naturally I'd want to dig deep into individual cuts, why I love them, etc. But this was so much fun!

Thanks to Craig, Megan, and Jimmy for the episode. I really dug it.

Now that you, Reader, have gotten this far, here’s the link to the podcast so you don’t have to go back to the top.

Catalyst: a Rogue One Novel by James Luceno

There’s a reason why the original film was not titled Star Drama. Other than an odd combination of words, it just reeks of tedium. By its very nature, the word “wars” implies action, adventure, danger. It is those very qualities that are lacking in Catalyst, the prequel novel to the movie Rogue One.

Having said that, however, the novel is not without its good qualities. A healthy does of backstory is crammed into this 11-hour audiobook narrated by Jonathan Davis, the fantastic actor who voices many of the current crop of Star Wars novels. But the listener has to understand that much of what happens in this book is, by definition, mere prelude to the events in the movie. And there’s not a lot of action. It’s like an episode of House of Cards in the Star Wars universe.

I purposefully didn’t read this book ahead of seeing the movie. I wanted as clean an experience as possible with the film. Now, having seen it twice, I dove into this book. Going in, I expected to get the backstories of all the major players in Rogue One. That’s not the case. The focus of the novel is solely on Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen in the movie), his wife, Lyra (Valene Kane ), and their mutual friend, Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn). Only late in the story does Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera show up. Oh, Grand Moff Tarkin is present, but no one else. I was hoping for some background into the other characters, specifically Donnie Yen’s Chirrut Îmwe, the mystic who is blind and one with the Force. Perhaps future books.

Perhaps the neatest thing author James Luceno accomplishes is put these characters in the context of the prequel movies, specifically Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. You saw those events from their points of view, not always knowing what we viewers know about the Jedi, the Emperor, and Darth Vader. We get a nice scene with the Ersos—Felicity Jones’s Jyn is a mere babe through most of this novel—fleeing Republic droids when Order 66 is instituted. The droids fall dead. The humans don’t know why, but they also don’t care since they’re still alive.

As a huge fan of Ben Mendelsohn, I enjoyed the many scenes with Krennic and his machinations and politics behind the scenes. I’ve just started House of Cards and I can already see a partial parallel. Mendelsohn is a terrific actor who could have been used more in the movie, so it was nice to learn more about his efforts to maintain the production of the Death Star—a term never used in the book—while trying to woo Galen into the Empire’s folds.

Another great part of the book is the discussion of the Kyber crystals. These are the minerals Jedis use to power their lightsabers. Those are small. The ones needed for the Death Star need to be quite a bit larger. Luceno’s discussions of Galen’s attempt to understand the crystals is good. Moreover, his wife, Lyra, respects the Jedis and their ways even though she isn’t a part of their order. It’s a good dip into the greater Star Wars mythology that I, before reading this book, didn’t know.

In the end, however, and boy do I hate to say this, Catalyst reads like a well-written Wookieepedia entry. The material is nice, the drama is real, but none of it amounts to a decent story, at least one that stands on its own. I know it’s not supposed to, so I’m about to embark on the audio of Rogue One itself. I’m wondering how much the two novels will tie into each other. At the very least, however, there will be action.

A Year Without David Bowie

One year ago today, David Bowie left this world. Little did we know at the time that his death was merely the beginning of a deluge of death. From David Bowie to Carrie Fisher and everyone in between, the year 2016 witnessed what seemed like an unprecedented number of cultural icons passing away.

But David Bowie was the first. I remember a year and two days ago, I was flush with the music of Backstar, Bowie’s final album. In the days leading up to its release, saxophonist Donny McCaslin was interviewed on NPR about what it was like for him and his band to record with Bowie. The music I had heard in that interview was spellbinding. Hearing the entire album only more so. The CD was released on Friday, 8 January 2016, Bowie’s 69th birthday. By Sunday night, he was gone. The shock I felt was palpable, as it was for folks the world over. I wrote about my thoughts back then. You can read it here. Today, I’m talking about the year since.

I’ll freely admit that I went into a Bowie-only place a year ago this week. I played his songs constantly, not just Backstar, but his entire discography. Later in the spring, I contributed a review of the album. That’s here.

Then…nothing. For the longest time, I discovered I couldn’t listen to any of his music. The emotions I felt remained raw. That may sound maudlin, but the older I get, the more emotional I’ve become. In early summer, I was cleaning out my garage, the radio station tuned to the local classic rock station. “Changes” came on. I held it together until Bowie sang “Turn around and face the strange.” That was it. Waterworks flowed. I sat down on the floor and just listened. It had been months since I had heard his voice, and now it spoke to me from beyond the grave.

He was always just there. Even during his decade-long absence from recording music—or even the media—from 2004 to 2013, it didn’t really matter because somewhere, probably in New York, Bowie was alive. Now, he’s not. Now, he’s had his final say. And damn if Backstar isn’t just the perfect send-off.

When the fall rolls around each year, I tend to get in a Bowie mood, especially his later catalogue. I love his post 1995 oeuvre and I contend that some of those songs can stand head and shoulders with “Ziggy Stardust,” “Heroes,” and “Scary Monsters.” But I refrained. Not sure why. The David Bowie vacuum persisted.

Christmas was going to be sad, too. His version of Little Drummer Boy with Bing Crosby is one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs. Now, they’re both gone. One night, I watched the video before heading out to pick up some take-out food. Tears came to my eyes, but they weren’t deep. In retrospect, that moment was the turning point.

On the always excellent New Yorker Radio Hour, Donny McCaslin was interviewed. What was it like to be Bowie’s last band? What has this year been like for him and his band since? There’s this moment, about the 35-minute mark, when the interviewer asks McCaslin about the time Bowie came to hear the McCaslin band play. “So, one night, you were playing, and David Bowie walked in,” the interviewer says. Right then, both of them paused a second or two, just marveling at the gravity of her sentence. They both kinda laughed, sighed at what a moment that must have been for McCaslin. He goes on to tell the interviewer about the process of meeting Bowie and, ultimately, recording with him. You get the palpable sense that McCaslin is truly humbled to have worked with Bowie. Hearing him reminisce about the recording sessions, how Bowie was still pushing the boundaries of his music, helped me remember all the reasons I enjoy Bowie’s music.

And I had not listened in awhile.

Time to change.

That was just last week.

The more I considered McCaslin’s thoughts on the Backstar project, how Bowie was always looking forward, I looked back on 2016 and the music I discovered. I found a lot of music I loved, more than any year in recent memory. A few weeks after Blackstar, I found The Struts and their Everybody Wants album, my favorite of the year. Listened to those songs almost nonstop last year, and you could hear Bowie’s influence on their sound. I went on to enjoy albums by Reagan Browne, Wolfmother, The Heavy, Robert Ellis, The Eccentrics, Survive, Twenty One Pilots to say nothing of veteran performers who also released stellar albums last year: Sting, Ace Frehley, Santana, The Monkees, KISS, Michael Buble, and Lady Gaga. Come to think of it, I did what Bowie always did: find new things, move beyond the things to which I constantly listened.

In these past few days, it’s like a veil has lifted. Perhaps a moratorium, maybe even a mourning period. Not sure, but I’ve been spinning Bowie classics with great frequency. Just yesterday, on the way home from work, I cranked up “Hallo Spaceboy” and sang at the top of my lungs, giving way to the softer “Everyone Says Hi” and the 2000 live version of “Absolute Beginners,” perhaps my all-time favorite.

So, yesterday, I listened to the four-song EP No Plan. These are the last songs Bowie ever recorded. I haven’t done a deep dive into the songs yet, but on this initial listen, one thing come to mind: this guy still had it. “No Plan” is an ethereal gem where Bowie got to throw his soaring voice one last time. His lyrics of “This is not quite yet” a poignant reminder of what this EP actually is. There's a nice video for it. “Killing a Little Time” is a crunchy rock song, visceral in its drum beat, the McCaslin band adding that special little extra spice to really propel this song forward. The pianist channels Mike Garson a la “Aladdin Sane” and it’s wonderful.

Then there is “When I Met You,” the last song, and the last new song we’ll ever hear from David Bowie. I’ll admit something: there was a part of me that didn’t want to listen to it. I wanted there always to be just one more song out there, still something new to help me imagine Bowie was still with us. Then I shook my head. The thought, no matter how genuine, was, in the end, silly. I pushed play and the song washed over me. Bowie’s voice was still strong, clear, and direct. A little over four minutes later, the song faded away. And that was it.

Yes, it’s a somber thought to realize that you’ll never again hear new music from an artist with whom you’ve grown from young teenager to middle aged man. But, damn, is his body of work simply stunning. All the countless hours listening to his songs, part of the soundtrack of my life. All those times seeing Bowie in concert, watching him perform and displaying his God-given gifts to the audience. All the memories. All the feelings. All of it. It’s breathtaking.

And there’s one last thing, too. His example. When it came to music and art, he acknowledged the past, but kept his eyes on the future. Where some rock stars settle into a comfortable existence making hardly any new music, David Bowie pushed forward. He always wanted to hear the next great thing, the new singer, the new band. By one definition, the new could also be characterized as the strange. That’s the kind of example we can all get behind. Yes, cherish and nourish our long-time favorites, but make room for the new. I certainly did that in 2016.

And I’ve continued into this new year. NPR Music has a Tiny Desk Concert with Donny McCaslin. It was my first time to hear his ensemble. In just these songs, I could easily hear what caught Bowie’s ear. As I wrote on Facebook, “Holy cow this is some incredible music. Donny McCaslin and his band backed David Bowie on his final album last year. Here, you get 2 originals plus their version of "Lazarus." McCaslin's tenor drips with emotion, both strident and somber, but it is keyboardist Jason Lindner and drummer Mark Giuliana that really make these pieces shine. I'll definitely be getting their new album....Today?”

Today marks a full year since David Bowie passed away. To commemorate his life, his music, and his example, I bought McCaslin’s latest CD, Beyond Now. It's fantastic. But of course it is. David Bowie knew good music when he heard it. He always made room for the new.

To put it simply, I’m following David Bowie’s example. I’ve turned and faced the strange.

Now, it's your turn.

Albums of My Early Years

I've enjoyed seeing everyone's list of formative albums, so here's mine. For those who only want to know the list, they're at the top. The reasons are below.
KISS - Double Platinum

Star Wars Soundtrack

James Bond - Cassette of title songs (through "All Time High")

Amadeus - Official soundtrack

Queen - Greatest Hits

Chicago IX

Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles

Genesis - Invisible Touch

"We Are the World" - single

Paul Simon - Graceland

KISS - Double Platinum

I can't exactly recall how KISS landed on my radar. Perhaps it was because they were everywhere in 1977. Another possibility was the 1977 Marvel comic book (printed in real KISS blood!) Nevertheless, sometime after April 1978 when this two-LP, 20-song package of KISS Klassics was released, I bought it. That was all she wrote. I was enthralled, and, except for a few years in the 80s, have never looked back. KISS is my first, favorite rock band.

Star Wars - Official soundtrack

I'm an only child and much of the music I learned I discovered on my own. The music of Star Wars was a natural thing for me to get because it was Star Wars! I'd try and get anything related to the movie. Little did I know that the music of John Williams would lay the groundwork for much of the music that came after it. With this soundtrack, I was introduced to long-form instrumental music. I could "see" the movie in my head. I learned about themes and motifs (although I didn't know the terms yet). The Cantina Band song was arguably my introduction to jazz and the primary reason I selected the alto sax as my instrument in 6th grade band. Over the years, Williams has scored some of my favorite films and added numerous themes, but this original soundtrack with its original track listing remains foundational for my love of music.

James Bond - Cassette of title songs (through "All Time High")

Whenever I drove in a car with my dad, he'd almost always have the car radio tuned to KPRC-AM, talk radio. My mom's musical tastes while driving was KODA, i.e., elevator music. Most of the albums I had were actual albums and I had no means of transferring them to a cassette. Somewhere along the line, we got a compilation of James Bond theme songs from Dr. No's instrumental opener to "All Time High" from 1983's Octopussy. This was common ground for all three of us. My parents loved the movies--they also had the novels--and this was my introduction to singers beyond KISS. It was here my love of Tom Jones began. It was with these songs I heard how the same titular character could be conveyed in various musical styles. You had it all with these songs: 60s pop (Jones), early 70s rock (McCartney), mid-70s proto-disco (LuLu), and early 80s pop (Sheena Easton), all as filtered through the Bond sound. 

Amadeus - Official soundtrack

If Star Wars was my introduction to instrumental music, then this soundtrack full of Mozart's music was my bridge into the world of classical music. This 2-LP soundtrack was a greatest hits collection of Mozart's music, starting off with the thrilling opening movement of the 25th Symphony. Moreover, Mozart himself, as played by Tom Hulce, educated me in how to listen to classical music. In the film, he describes the third movement of the Serenade for Winds in B flat major, K. 361. That scene in the film was eye opening.

Queen - Greatest Hits

Most folks my age can remember taping a penny to the card of a Columbia Music service postcard and getting 13 cassettes in the mail. This album was one of them. I had known who Queen was since 1978 and even had the Flash Gordon soundtrack, but this collection of songs did two things for me. One, it gave me a taste of a band competant enough to change style on almost every song. From rockabilly to theater to disco, this band could do anything. Secondly, and most importantly for me, was the inclusion of "Under Pressure" with this other guy named David Bowie. I liked Bowie's voice and sought out his records. Let's Dance was first, then two compilations--ChangesTwoBowie and Golden Years. After that, a radio broadcast on 101 KLOL-FM in Houston (which I taped) was enough to send me on a Bowie trajectory that I never left. And it all started with Queen.

Chicago IX

The summer of 1985 was THE summer for me. First car, first girlfriend, and glorious music on the radio. A fellow friend of mine in band loaned me a cassette of this band called Chicago. He said I'd probably know a few songs, but love them all. Chicago IX was the band's first hits collection. Not knowing a thing, I slipped the cassette into my Walkman, got the leash on the the dog, and starting walking. I pushed play. Track 1 was "25 or 6 to 4." In my headphones came the sound of Terry Kath's opening guitar riff, then the in-your-face horns, then Peter Cetera's clear vocals, then the incredible guitar solo, and finally the ending. To say I was blown away would be an understatement. Track 2 was "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is" and it delivered a completely different sound and voice in Robert Lamm. But those horns were still there! Third came "Colour My World," followed by "Just You n' Me" with its soprano sax solo. I literally ran home and called my friend. As low-key as every teenager is, I declared this music the best ever. Quickly, I started collecting all the other albums, never realizing I already owned--but never played--Chicago 17. I can't even remember how I got 17 but I was hooked. Still am.

Sting - The Dream of the Blue Turtles

I owned Synchronicity (who didn't?) but few of the other Police records. So when Sting left the band to make a record with jazz musicians, I was intrigued. Frankly, I expected Police-like songs with...I didn't know what. The first single was "If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free," a great tune of which I've never grown weary. But it was the rest of the album that helped introduce me to the then-contemporary world of jazz. Branford Marsalis's sax, Kenny Kirkland's piano were wonderful. All of that, filtered through Sting's songs really paved the way for my love of jazz.

Genesis - Invisible Touch

If you were a kid in the 80s, Phil Collins was EVERYwhere. If it wasn't a solo tune, it was a Genesis song or a one-off soundtrack song. Being a sheltered person, all of Genesis's music sailed under my radar until 1986 and this album. Here was Phil with this other band (?). What the heck? But this led me to learn more about this band that played, in "Domino," long songs. Little did I know at the time that this other guy (Peter Gabriel) who had a hit song called "Sledgehammer" used to be in Genesis. I can still remember my astonishment. I like the older material better now--"Supper's Ready," the 24-minute song, is my favorite--but it all started here with the bright sheen of 80s Genesis. 

"We Are the World" - single

Not a record--although there was one--but a phenomenon, a cultural milestone. The song is a near-perfect snapshot of 1985 in music. All those artists singing together in a song that, for me, has held up. I distinctly remember that song playing on multiple radio stations at the same time, including KLEF, Houston's defunct classical station. It showed me that celebrities can do things besides sell records and tickets. As an interesting experiment, listen to the original then the 2010 version recorded for relief in Haiti. Note how in 1985, you had multiple voices that sounded different, then note in 2010 there was a homogeneaty to the sound.

Paul Simon - Graceland

I'm not alone in confessing that this 1986 album opened my ears and mind to the wonders of world music. Before this, I knew little if any world music. Afterwards, I fell in love with it and sought it out. The beats of the world still pulse in my ears.

New Year's Day 2017 - Resolutions and Goals

Happy New Year’s Day 2017!

I suppose many of us make resolutions on the first of January every year. I know I do, and have for awhile. For many of us, resolutions often zero in on health. My weight management plan involves limiting my intake of sugar and weighing myself only on the first day of each month. That allows me to have splurge days and not go crazy with every half pound gained or lost. It’s worked for me for going on a year and a half now. So I’ll keep on doing that.

Cooking
Another thing about myself I want to improve on is my cooking. My wife is a fantastic cook. Just last night, we had chicken and sausage gumbo. Her Louisiana heritage always shines through when gumbo is made. But I’m not nearly as good as she is. We have a great system: she cooks and I wash the dishes! There are a few things that fall under my bailiwick—grilling is the primary one—but I’d like to develop a few things I can whip up with little notice. My wife can look in the pantry, assess what we have, and, in about an hour, has a great meal ready for us. Me? I can easily do a recipe, but I can’t do that. I’d like to beef up (as it were) my ability to cook on the fly and expand my current repertoire of recipes.

Reading
Put simply, I’d like to read more books in 2017 than I did in 2016. I can’t recall the exact number—and don’t feel like looking it up—but to read at least one physical book a month. For me, physical also equals my Kindle. Throw in another audiobook a month and I should safely be able to handle 24 books this year.

Professional
Those are resolutions. But on the professional side, I think of them as goals. What do I want to accomplish in my fiction writing life? The obvious: more sales. But, here’s the catch: I cannot control that aspect of the business. What I can control is productivity, output, and marketing. As far as marketing is concerned, I’ll be starting the third year of my professional fictioneer life come February. I would like to sell more. That means I need to market better. That’s my long-term goal for 2017.
But the main aspect of this fiction life is productivity and output. That is something that is 100% in my control. I plan to write more. A lot more. I’m hesitant to divulge the number I’m aiming for, but it’s a big one. And I’ll be tracking the numbers and speed rates and time taken to write.
Word count isn’t the only metric I’ll be using, although it will be my daily one. Products—books and short stories—will also be a metric by which I measure 2017.
The good news is that, as of today’s writing session, I’m 5217 words into the first brand-new western novel of 2017. Not a bad day’s mark by any stretch.
Happy New Year indeed.

So what are y’all’s resolutions and goals?

Favorite TV Shows of 2016

The year 2016 saw the end of my favorite TV show for the past seven years, the renewal of my now current favorite TV show, the discovery of two shows nowhere near my radar but loved them, and a television event for the ages.

CASTLE

For eight seasons, this show ruled Monday nights at 9pm. Yeah, I’m still an appointment television viewer. From the initial trailer for the show, Castle had me. The show was right up my alley. Geeky writer solving crimes with beautiful woman detective and her squad. That they successfully kept the Will They/Won’t They chemistry going for four seasons, then successfully together for the next three. Yes, there was an eighth season, and I’m mostly glad for it, but the writer messed with the chemistry and the show wasn’t the same after that. There’s a part of me that still latches on to the finale of Season Seven as the true series finale. Be that as it may, Castle was cancelled and that was that. Still one of my favorite all-time TV shows.

THE FLASH

This is the show that replaced Castle as my favorite. Its second season coincided with Castle’s eighth and I realized I often smiled more, laughed more, and cried more watching The Flash than any other show. Greg Berlanti, the creator and executive producer, grew up immersed in DC Comics lore and it plays out remarkably well in The Flash. He has a saying on set that each episode needs Heart, Humor, and Spectacle. This show has it in spades. When you have a villain like King Shark—humanoid with a shark’s head—on network television, something is going great. And Flash’s guest appearance on “Supergirl” this past spring (back when Supergirl was on CBS) was probably the most charming thing on TV all year. Absolutely love this show.

ELEMENTARY

Yes, the fourth “season” of Sherlock is about to air Sunday night, but I’ve already got over 100 episodes and into the fifth season of what many consider the other Sherlock Holmes TV show. What makes this show shine is the chemistry between Sherlock’s Johnny Lee Miller and Watson’s Lucy Liu. Because they have had over five years together on screen, the subtlety and nuances of their performances have evolved into a deep and rich relationship that is based on friendship, respect, and agape love, but not romantic. (Well, I’m a few episodes behind since the show kept getting pushed later into the nights because of football, but I don’t think the writers changed anything.) Miller’s version of Sherlock is brilliant, modern, flawed, but capable of change. He still has one of my all-time favorite Sherlock Holmes scenes from any medium. It’s from 2015 and an old flame has asked Sherlock to be the father to her child. For the entire episode, he contemplates her request. Finally, he gives her his answer. That part starts at the 28:33 mark of this video.

STRANGER THINGS

Sometimes, the images you see in a trailer, the sounds, too, latch onto you in such a way that you are compelled to watch. That’s what the trailer to summer’s biggest TV hit did. Like the DC Comics, Marvel movies, and the newest Star Wars films, the folks behind Stranger Things have grown up and turned around and made a TV in which everything they loved as kids now shows up in their work. Stranger Things pays homage to Spielberg films, John Carpenter scores, and the rest of the early 80s in such a way that it’s a love letter to childhood without being hampered by nostalgia. The story, the writing, made sure of that, and I eagerly await the next season. Here's what I wrote back in the summer.

BLOODLINE

The out-of-left-field show that completely blew me away this past week. I even named it the most compelling thing I watched on TV in 2016. Read my complete review here.

DARK MATTER

Again, I watched this on Netflix so I consumed seasons 1 and 2 in short order. The story of six people who awake from stasis on a spaceship with no memory of how they got there or who they are. They assume names based on the order in which they awoke, thus One, Two, etc. The gradual peeling away of the mysteries surrounding their predicament easily propels the show forward—each character gets an episode or two to focus on their past like any good ensemble show does—but it is the seventh individual on the ship that is my favorite. It’s an android, named Android, and she’s female. Frankly, I’m not aware of another example of an android, played by an actress, in the mold of Star Trek’s Data, that is, an artificial life form who longs to be more human. Zoie Palmer plays Android (far right in the image) with so many nuances that I started to zero in on her scenes most of all. One of the great things she does is with her eyes as Android processes information or executes orders from the crew. Her voice is like that of a questioning child, trying to learn about human behavior and all of its inconsistencies. Her facial expressions show the conflicting of emotions even though, in reality, the Android is only processing information. Android may not be the lead in this show, but she is my favorite. Oh, and when she has to fight, she kicks serious ass without so much as batting an eyelash. Of the humans, Three is tops for me (second from the left in the image). His story arc is fantastic, especially considering his character type. Heck, they're all great characters, and I'm eagerly awaiting season three...which I'll be watching in real time!

SCRUBS

Rarely watching this show when on the air, but I have been watching the various seasons on DVD. I always liked the occasional daydreams of lead character, Zach Braff’s JD, especially considering it was farcical and what he was really thinking. Even when the show was airing, I knew about that. But long-term viewing of this show revealed it to be not only a laugh-out-loud show, but one that could turn on a dime and sting your eyes with tears. The family typically watched the show during dinner, and there were a few times when my wife and I would be wiping away tears with the napkins we had just used to wipe our mouths. Two runs stand out. One is with Brendon Frasier and series regular—and funniest guy on the show?—John C. McGinley. Another is with JD and Kathryn Joosten (Mrs. Landingham from “The West Wing”) when she chooses death over dialysis. That this episode was the fourth of season 1 and that the producers played Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” over the final scenes ripped my heart out and prepared me for…well, anything from this wonderful show.

SUPERGIRL

Few shows consistently put a big goofy grin on my face quite like Supergirl. Taking the Super-family mythos and bringing it to network television is a feat in and of itself, but that they do it with such a charming actress like Melissa Benoist makes it all the better. She’s got just the right amount of learning about the world through the eyes of her alter ego, Kara Danvers, as well the fierce determination it takes to kick the butts of the bad guys. That John Jones, the Martian Manhunter, is a character is such a great thing and draws deep from the well. But the coup de grace has got to be the second season’s premiere where we get to see the Berlanti-verse’s version of Superman. Gone is the grimdark visage from the modern DC movies. Here, we get Superman, frankly, like he’s supposed to be: charming, happy, but still strong enough to defeat the enemy or help land a damaged plane. This episode is my happiest hour hour of superhero television in 2016.

TELEVISION EVENT: The DC Comics TV Crossover

Like what I wrote about The Flash, Greg Berlanti and crew now have four TV shows, 7pm CST, Monday through Thursday. I don’t watch Arrow on Wednesday, but I watch Supergirl on Mondays and Legends of Tomorrow on Thursdays along with The Flash on Tuesdays. As soon as Supergirl landed on The CW, everyone was wondering if all four shows would crossover. They did. And it was so good. Heck, the Arrow episode might have been the best, and the Flash episode really brought home the damage Barry Allen’s choices made on other people. The Legends hour, however, had the burden of finishing up the story, but it also had the images of all those heroes fighting aliens. That Berlanti was confident enough to have the heroes’s training facility resemble the Hall of Justice from the old “Super Friends” TV show will give you a taste of how he and his team are honoring the legacy of DC Comics. I'm just so happy we live in an age where this kind of thing is a reality on television.

Favorite Songs of 2016

 

The year 2016 produced some fantastic albums and songs. Here are my Top 10 favorite songs of the year, presented in random order…except the first one. That is my favorite song of 2016.

“Put Your Money On Me” by The Struts

 

The Struts put out my favorite album of 2016. They are my favorite new discovery of the year. I listened to this album far and away more than any other album released this year. I first discovered the band via an article in Rolling Stone. The article name dropped “glam rock” and that’s pretty much all I need. I then went to Spotify to give the record a virtual spin. The first three cuts (can’t remember them because I have the free version of Spotify and it shuffled the songs) were great, but “Put Your Money on Me” sold me this album with the first chord. Not kidding. It is the sound of summer, a Mountain Dew commercial, unabashedly fun music, with an infectious chorus. The words, as sung by Freddie Mercury’s musical descendant, Luke Spiller, is all about winning over his girl. That this song includes brass is icing on the cake. The MVP of this song—other than the person playing the tambourine—is guitarist Adam Slack. His ferocious solo grounds this song in the rock world so it’s not always just a shiny pop song. And the song ends with a final chord, not a fadeout. By far my favorite song of 2016. “Uptown Funk” was already my favorite song of the decade. We now have another contender. Video.

“Going All the Way is Just the Start (A song in 6 movements)” by Meat Loaf

 

This song comes from Meat Loaf’s new album, Braver Than We Are, a collection of songs all written by Jim Steinman, the man behind the songs from Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell. To be perfectly honest, this album is a mishmash of styles and influences. Meat’s singing voice is all but shot, but there’s still an earnestness behind it. Much like other long-time singers, Meat singing less powerfully than he used to gives the songs here a unique quality. This song is special as it features both female co-singers from his Bat Out of Hell Days, Ellen Foley and Karla DeVito (vocalists from the studio and live versions "Paradise by the Dashboard Light", respectively). I’m a sucker for Broadway-like rock songs and Meat Loaf is perhaps the best example. This song clocks in at nearly eleven minutes, and it is excellent. The two ladies certainly carry the song, but when they both sing together, it’s magic. To give you an idea of the type of song this is, were this song part of a Broadway play, it closes the show. It builds and builds to a magnificent ending, especially when the counter melody kicks. When I first listened to this album at work, this song captivated me. It made me want to hurry up and finish the record so I could come back to this song. Video.

“Still That Boy From Texas” by Reagan Browne

 

The discovery of this album, Rhapsodic Roar, is proof that words can still sell albums. I was sitting at a convention in Austin, Texas, and I read a Waterloo Records ad that mentioned Browne’s new album was a great example of melodic rock. I got to the store and listened to a few cuts…and bought the album. He’s new to me, but this is his fourth album. The songs range in heaviness from the opener, “Accelerate to the Straightaways,” to terrific cuts like “The Universe Gives Me What I Want” (my other favorite song) and “Gypsy Woman’s Got the Groove,” featuring Texas guitar wizard, Eric Johnson. “Still That Boy From Texas” is the song I kept returning to. Browne’s powerful, deep baritone voice soars over this song about a guy who longs to be back in Texas even though he’s plying his trade in California. Browne was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country so the song comes from the heart. It’s evident on the song. Here’s a link to his website’s video page where you can listen to the song and hear some other cuts.

“Victorious” by Wolfmother

 

Sometimes, albums can be sold merely by the cover. Wolfmother’s new album, Victorious, got my attention with a cover that evoked those great painted rock covers from the 1970s. Heck, all their covers have that in common. Well, that’s not all that the band, formed in Australia in 2000, draws from. This entire record is chock full of influences from 70s rock, prog rock, and even metal. It’s a fun listen, especially when  you try and guess the song Wolfmother was listening to when they wrote their songs. When I got/persuaded/trapped her in a car and played the record, she said it was good, but that she liked it better the first time. No matter. The entire record is good, but “Victorious” is my favorite cut. A fast, adrenaline-fueled driving rocker that is best listened to when driving, windows down, and singing along at the top of your lungs. Here is the tripp video.

“Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake

 

I can’t say exactly how/when I first heard this delightful pop song, but my son—who discovered music this year—had it on his iPod. He played it more than once and I latched onto it. I don’t have any of Timberlake’s albums, but then again, everything I heard from him I like. He’s immensely talented, and this song is an effervescent slice of pop goodness. The bass line during the break is funky and dirty. This is the aural equivalent of a smile on a summer’s day. And the video is charming as just about anything I saw this year. Video

“Go Big or Go Home” by American Authors

 

Speaking of my son finding music I like, this is another one. This band takes a slice out of the Mumford and Sons jangling pseudo folk playbook with mandolins spicing up this song. Its all-ensemble sung verses lead into a fist-pumping-in-the-air chorus. This song played a lot in the car in our various commutes so much that I started really to like it. Video

“You Bring the Summer” by The Monkees

 

Imagine a radar, the old-school kind with the rotating green line that would blip whenever something was within range. Got that? Well, The Monkees was beyond my radar. Frankly, I basically knew who they were…and that was it. Then their new LP, Good Times, dropped this year and this song was the lead single. Talk about starting off the summer of 2016 with a slice of pop goodness. I ended up buying this album and loving it. This cut wraps up what I know of the Monkees and produces a song that at once could have been a hit in 1967 but sounds fresh and modern. The video is out-of-this-world great, made to look like an animated segment from their TV show. I was ThisClose to picking “Me and Magdalena” (an achingly beautiful song) as my favorite song from this album, but “You Bring the Summer” was the tune I listened to most. Video

“Today is Yesterday’s Tomorrow” by Michael Buble

 

Michael Buble is a modern anachronism. He’s got a voice that could have been heard in the 1940s or 1950s but he can write wonderful modern pop songs. Buble’s song “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” is one of my favorite songs of this decade. He can write a pop song that earworms itself into your brain that you’ll be humming it all day long. To be honest, some of the cuts off this new album, Nobody But Me, tries to replicate the vibe of that song. The title track is the obvious contender. He gives you two versions, one with a rap interlude (yeah, it really works) and the other with a trumpet solo in the same spot. “Someday” is a beautifully infectious duet with Meghan Trainor that is reminiscent of  “Lucky” by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat as mixed by Train. Their harmonies on the chorus nearly got in this list. But it is “Today is Yesterday’s Tomorrow” gets the nod. It is the most obvious kin to “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” in musicality and style. The verbal wordplay, with its rapidly spoken verses, are rap-like, but still musical. The chorus is another aural smile (see a theme of these songs?) that’ll make you tap  your foot, even if you’re at your desk. Video

“I Can’t Stop Thinking About You” by Sting

 

Sting is back with a rock record! That was the headline this year. Yeah, kinda. Sting is a pop star who dabbles in rock (and just about everything else). But this is his first album of new pop/rock music since 2003’s Sacred Love. If there is a theme of this list, it’s that light, poppy music seems to be where my head was this year. By that standard, “One Fine Day” off this new LP would fit on this list. It is right in that poppy groove. Heck, Michael Buble could cover it and you’d never know Sting wrote it. But the lead single, “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You” gets the nod. This is Sting at his pop/rock best. A tight band, a song that will get your head nodding up and down, and Sting singing about the often melancholy aspects of love. Is he the best one ever for that aspect of love? Video

“I Can’t Give Everything Away” by David Bowie

 

The elephant in this year’s list is David Bowie. He was one of my four pillars of rock for me. Here is my essay from January about his death. But we’re here to talk about my favorite Bowie song from Backstar, his last album. In the days leading up to the release on 8 January (his birthday), I was so excited. Bowie had recruited saxophonist Danny McCaslin’s jazz ensemble. He was going to make a jazz record! And it is so good. Repeated listenings reveal added layers of emotion and musicality. And then Bowie died two days after the record was released, and Backstair took on a different shade. To be honest, after a certain point, I stopped listening to the album. The emotions were too great. Heck, I even bought the Lazarus soundtrack, with three new Bowie songs, but I haven’t listened to them yet. I’m waiting for 8 January 2017, his 70th birthday, to play them.

Any of the songs from the record could be on this list, but I’m going with the last song. I wrote a review of Blackstar back in March, so I’ll just quote the paragraph about this song. “‘I Can’t Give Everything Away’ starts before “Dollar Days” is even over. Bowie’s voice is very “close” in the mix, especially in headphones. It gives the listener the distinct impression that he’s singing directly to each one of us. Which, of course, he is. The harmonica flourishes harken back to 1987’s “Never Let Me Down” while McCaslin’s sax does its own thing, almost as if the song belongs to it and Bowie is merely the guest singer. Death lances through the last words Bowie sang. They sting, but there’s joyous defiance in his voice and delivery. Yes, death will take me, Bowie seems to say, but I still possess the gifts God gave me and I’m going out on the top of my game. Fittingly, “I Can’t Give Everything Away” ends with a guitar flourish that at once would gracefully end a concert but also directly echo the guitar work on “Look Back in Anger” and “Heroes.” Guitar and strings and drums end triumphantly what is effectively David Bowie’s last will and testament.” Video

Honorable Mentions

“Since You Been Gone” by The Heavy. Dirty rock, soulful singing, and in-your-face brass. Right up my alley. Video

“Parasite” by Ace Frehley. The original writer of this KISS classic put his own, modern spin on this song. Heavier than the original and still pile-driving into your head. The solo is a clinic of Ace-isms. Video

“Love Makes the World Go Round” by Santana, featuring Ronald Isley. Santana has always had that great latin/rock vibe. It’s the aural equivalent of smoking a joint, especially in the song “Fillmore East.” This new record reunited the original band, and Ronald Isley sings on a couple of tunes. Having his soulful voice mixed with Santana’s vibe is eclectic, but ultimately rewarding. Video

“Stranger Things” by S U R V I V E. Even though I came of age in the 80s, I don’t always revisit that time in my music, especially the very 80s synths. So imagine my surprise when the TV show “Stranger Things” tapped into that perfect vein of 80s nostalgia not only with the visuals and the story but with the John Carpenter-esque soundtrack. Survive is another new-to-me Texas band (ironically, they were in the same ad that featured Reagan Browne; Thanks Waterloo Music!) that makes synth soundscapes music using old technology. It really shows, and I’ve already bought the soundtrack and Survive’s new LP. Video

Rogue One soundtrack by Michael Giacchino. I’m still processing the new Rogue One soundtrack so I cannot give definitive song yet. Giacchino is an excellent composer, a true heir to John Williams. His music for TV’s Lost, a number of Pixar films, and the new Star Trek movies show his range and ability to create a soundtrack that can be heard on its own as well as in the movie. If the movie Rogue One contained a lot of visual Easter eggs, Giacchino’s score does the same for the music. He interweaves old Williams melodies and instrumentations that hearkens back to the other seven movies. For longtime listeners of the Star Wars soundtracks, Rogue One is great listening experience.

Bloodline: Season 1 - The Most Compelling TV Show of 2016?

By sheer coincidence I watched Rogue One and the first episode of Netflix’s “Bloodline” on the same day. After my wife and I had finished watching “Dark Matter” seasons 1 and 2—highly recommended, by the way—she scoured Netflix for a new show. She found Bloodline and started watching. Somewhere in the week leading up to the release of Rogue One, she commented that the bad guy in the Star Wars movie is in this TV show she was watching. I asked her which character and she said “Darth Vader?” My eyebrows raised, thinking “Wow, the guy in the suit must be good outside of the suit.” I must have said something to the fact, because in the next few moments, she pulled up a photograph of the actor in question. Ben Mendelsohn. Oh, he’s not Vader, he’s….well, I didn’t know the character’s name yet. I hadn’t seen the movie. Come to think of it, I didn’t know Mendelsohn either.

But holy cow do I now.

And not only because of Rogue One.

Bloodline is a mystery/drama series produced by Netflix. Two seasons have been produced, but we’ve only seen the first, having concluded just last night. On the day Rogue One was released, my wife attended the show with me. Later that night, having already consumed the entire first season herself, she asked me to watch the first episode. Just the first one, mind you, to see if I’d like it. Now, I was more than willing to go along. I was curious about Mendelsohn as he, unfortunately, didn’t get a lot of screen time in Rogue One. So we cued up the show.

And I was hooked.

Bloodline has a terrific tag line: “We’re not bad people…but we did a bad thing.” The tale involves a family who owns an inn in the Florida Keys. Sam Shepherd plays the father, Sissy Spacek the mother. Three of their adult children live in the area: John (played by Kyle Chandler) is a cop, Kevin (Norbert Leo Butz) is a blue-collar man who works on boats, and Meg (Linda Cardellini) is a lawyer. As the show opens, black sheep son Danny (Mendelsohn) is returning to the Keys. There was a bad event back in the day—not spoiling it here for the gradual revelation is part of this show’s wonderful pacing—and Danny went off on his own. But he wants to come back to the family. He’s even got the words he wants to say to his family written on folded yellow notebook paper.

As you might expect, not everyone is thrilled that Danny’s back. And it is in the interactions with the other cast members where Mendelsohn just shines. When he talks with his cop brother, Danny acts a certain way. If it’s with his sister, it’s another. The nuances in Mendelsohn’s performance and in the performances of the other actors that make this slow burn show so dang compelling to watch.

Typically while engrossed in a show, I don’t usually notice how the story is put together. Not so, here, but that’s a perfectly fine compliment. As a writer, I was amazed at how the show runners were able to craft such an elegantly sculpted piece of storytelling art. Throughout most episodes, you get flashbacks to the bad event in the past, but you also get glimpses of another event in the future. The openings of each episode have the policeman, John, doing a voiceover that so engrosses you in the show that it all but compels you to keep watching.

The twists and turns of the plot are enough to keep your attention engaged, and the payoffs surprising and satisfying, but the performances are what truly sell this show. Mendelsohn is the scene stealer. He's like Heath Ledger's Joker: whenever Mendelsohn's on screen, you are riveted. He transforms Danny throughout the course of the 13-episode first season via words, actions, and even body language. Kyle Chandler’s John plays the straight arrow cop like he was born to play it. (I never say Friday Night Lights so this was the first time I saw Chandler act.) Norbert Leo Butz, who I literally just discovered is a two-time Tony winner, plays Kevin as the down-and-out man who needs just one more break, not unlike Danny himself. When I saw Cardellini, I thought “Velma!” since she played that character in the live action Scooby Doo movies, but she plays Meg as a combination of small-town charm with a haunted darkness underneath her eyes. All the performances are fantastic.

And then I learned Mendelsohn won an Emmy for his role as Danny (I purposefully didn’t research too much into the show while watching it for fear of reading a spoiler). Well deserved.

For eight seasons, my favorite show on TV was “Castle.” Now it’s “The Flash.” That’ll give you a sample of where my interests typically lie. But I’m going to split hairs here. I’ll still contend that “The Flash” is my favorite show on network TV. But giving “Stranger Things” its props for what it did and how well it accomplished its goals, “Bloodline” season 1 might be the most compelling thing I’ve watched on TV in 2016.

Now, on to season 2!’

P.S., Having seen this first season with Mendelsohn as Danny, two things come to mind. One, there are certain actors that I enjoy so much, I’ll watch anything they’re in. Mendelsohn is now on that list. Heck, his mere inclusion in “The Dark Knight Rises” is now going to make me have to watch that movie again. (I haven’t since the day I walked out of the theater in 2012 despite it being a Batman movie.) Two, I know Rogue One was chock full of characters—and I immensely enjoyed seeing the movie a second time having watched half of Bloodline by that time—but boy would I have liked to have seen more of Mendelsohn’s Orson Krennic.

Thoughts on Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

I saw the movie today at 10am in a theater populated by about ten folks. The downside to that is that there wasn’t a rapid theater full of Star Wars geeks who cheered at every single Easter egg thrown in the mix. And let me tell you: the Easter eggs were numerous and fun. I’ll actually have to wait for someone to catalog them all to determine if I caught them all. I don’t think I did, but I caught most of’em.

One of the reasons I was looking forward to Rogue One was that it wasn’t a saga movie, i.e., one with a number. As great as the Star Wars movies have been up to now, basically, they’re all about the same family and their friends. Finally, we’d get a film that wasn’t about a Skywalker or a daddy issue. We went one for two there. It’s not about a Skywalker—although there is one in here; the one who dresses in black—but there is a daddy issue. As much as you might groan that this will be the 8th Star Wars film (i.e., all of them) to deal with familial issues, you also have to know that this is a pattern. Plus, it’s a Disney film, so there you go.

Felicity Jones plays Jyn Erso, a young woman whose dad, played by Mads Mikkelsen, is an Imperial engineer in charge of building the structure known as the Death Star. At the start of the film, a young Jyn sees her mom killed and her dad recaptured. She escapes, but, by the time Jones fills the character’s shoes, she’s a twentysomething in an Imperial prison camp.

And she’s rescued by the new group calling itself the Rebellion. There’s a character, played by Forest Whitiker, who is an estranged member of the Rebel Alliance but now needs to be joined if the Rebels are going to take on the Empire. Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera is a veteran of the Clone Wars, but he’s also the man who raised young Jyn after her parents were taken from her. To the Rebels, Jyn’s their key to get in the door with being killed. For Jyn, it’s a chance to not be in jail.

Naturally, plans go asunder. And a Star Wars movie unfolds.

There is lots to like about this film. I stayed away from all written content about this film and have only dipped a toe in it now, but the vibe you get from this film is gritty, street-level realism—or as real as a Star Wars film can get. In this movie, you see Stormtroopers who can shoot straight and they kill people. You have opponents of the Empire likewise shooting and killing. One way to look at this film is as one who has earned the word “Wars” in its title. In many respects, this is a World War II film masquerading in the Star Wars universe.

And that is not a bad thing. At all. I quite enjoyed it.

There is a gloominess to this film, much as there was with Episode III, the last of the prequel films that led into the original Star Wars film, but there had to be. The first film’s subsequent subtitle is “A New Hope,” but for there to be the need for a new hope, you have to get rid of the old hope. And you have to lead into the urgency that opens the original 1977 Star Wars film. The ending gives you that, but not before introducing you to new characters, new worlds, and new experiences.

There’s a certain action figure quality to this movie. Have we seen Star Wars on the beach? Nope. Then let’s do a beach set piece. Have we seen Star Wars in the rain? Nope. Then let’s do something there. Nothing wrong with that. Lucas did it in every movie he made, and I quite liked the beach battles. There’s also yet another desert planet in this movie, and the set piece here is a claustrophobic ambush/assault. It worked very well. Most of the ideas and concepts you may have seen before, but as seen through the Star Wars lens and in the Star Wars universe managed to make them fresh again.

I’m about to get into spoiler territory, but I wanted to leave this thought up here, so most readers can read it. I’m so glad that folks my age who saw the original Star Wars film in 1977 and became steeped in this universe have now become the filmmakers of today. They can now take their devotion and passion for this material and throw in the Easter eggs and winks and nods for the long-time fans. Ditto Marvel movies and DC TV shows. It’s a great time to have all of these wonderful movies made for us.

And, with that, I’ll go ahead and end the spoiler-free part of the review and say I enjoyed Rogue One quite a bit, actually felt the bite of tears in a couple of places (yeah, yeah, I know) and delighted in the Easter eggs. A worthy addition to the canon.

Now, on to the spoilers. Proceed at your own risk.

Still giving you a chance to turn away.

Jyn running into Walrus Man and the other guy who eventually accosts Luke. Love it!

Seeing more of the Yavin base. So, so good.

Seeing many of the male cast members having grown 1970s mustaches.

The namedropping of “Whills” in regards to what the blind mystic and his bodyguard are doing on the desert planet. The term Whills is from the opening quote from the original Star Wars novelization.

The Kaiburr crystal! Those were first seen in Alan Dean Foster’s Splinter of the Mind’s Eye novel that came out in 1978. Talk about taking something from out of the blue.

Oh, and blue milk.

Speaking of Splinter, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: as much as I’m loving all the films that have come since, arguably the best time ever to be a Star Wars fan was 1977-1980. The universe was vast, the mysteries were great, and Vader wasn’t Luke’s father.

Speaking of Vader, going in, I wanted one thing more than anything: I wanted him to be bad. Evil. The guy who chokes various Imperial officers if they get on his bad side. Evil Vader was here. In spades. And it was so, so good! Loved it. We got to see Prequel saber stuff in the older trilogy.

Threepio and Artoo. Wasn’t really expecting it, but it was nice.

Mon Motha in the Yavin base. Nicely done.

Tarkin. I had heard he was in the film, but I expected him not to be on screen. It was a little odd, I’ll admit, in the same way The Polar Express is odd, seeing the CGI version of Peter Cushing talking and interacting. It wasn’t quite all there, but I’m really glad they tried.

And I’m really glad they did it with Leia, too. Got goosebumps and happy tears. But hers was a little more odd than Tarkin’s.

Nice to see Jimmy Smits back.

Really loved K-2SO and Alan Tudyk’s performance. His jokes were great, but I actually groaned at the “I have a bad feeling about this” but, then again, it’s now a Star Wars tradition.

Really, really love the blind mystic Chirrut Îmwe. I loved that his was not a Jedi but could feel the Force. From a religious standpoint, not ashamed to say that when Chirrut Îmwe started chanting "I am with the Force and the Force is with me" and walked across the battlefield to turn on the master switch, I teared up. I loved his faith in the Force. And then his mercenary friend took up the mantle and chant. Very powerful stuff.

Jyn’s pendant. That was a Kaiburr crystal, right?

Oh, and the music. Enjoyed it. I like Michael Giacchino’s work on Star Trek and the Pixar films, but his music on Doctor Strange (save the end credits piece) sounded a bit like Star Trek to me. But I was very pleased with his work with John Williams’ themes. Giacchino’s delicate use of old themes to go along with new ones was well done.

I’ve probably forgotten a few, but those are the ones that stand out.

Y’all’s thoughts?

ULTERIOR OBJECTIVES: A Lillian Saxton Thriller - Chapter 1

ULTERIOR OBJECTIVES: A Lillian Saxton Thriller will be published in November 2016. What follows is Chapter 1.

Chapter 1
Tuesday, 23 April 1940

“Sergeant Saxton, what do you think of when you hear the word ‘treason’?”
Lillian Saxton stood at attention and frowned. She wore her assigned brown uniform, belted at the waist, tie neatly knotted, with a skirt that hung just at the knees. Since she was inside Houston’s Rice Hotel, her garrison cap was folded over the belt. Her red hair was pulled up behind her ears.
“I’m sorry, sir, I don’t I understand what you mean.” Her voice was curious but deferential.
“Treason, Sergeant. It’s a simple concept. What does it mean to you?”
The man who snapped at her she didn’t know, but his brown uniform displayed the rank of colonel. He stood to the side of a table in one of the upper suites of the famous Rice Hotel. The man who sat at the table, littered with stacks of paper and a typewriter, she knew. He was Captain Ernest Donnelly, her commanding officer. She looked at him for clarification.
“I’m the one speaking to you, Sergeant,” the colonel spat. “If there’s ever a situation where you think you need to look elsewhere for help, then we’ve got a bigger problem than I imagined.”
Donnelly, dressed in his brown uniform but with the tie loosened around his collar, leaned back in his chair. “Honeywell, why don’t you just…”
“Don’t tell me what I should do, Captain,” Honeywell blurted. “I’ve asked the sergeant a question. I expect an answer directly from her and not from her superior officer or anyone else she thinks can help her.”
A little fire burst into existence deep within Lillian’s gut. She hated what many of the men in the United States Army thought of her: weak, not as good as a man, only good for typing up reports. She was none of that, and she strove every day to prove wrong that kind of thinking.
“Treason,” Lillian began, speaking evenly but with force, “is the active betrayal of one’s country. In most cases, especially in war time, it is punishable by death.”
Honeywell regarded her for a moment. His short-cropped hair was receding across the top of his head. The gray flecks caught the lamp light and seemed to glow.
“That is pretty much the letter of the law, Sergeant. Now, even though we’re not at war, what do you think should be done about someone who may commit treason?”
“May commit, colonel?”
A small twitch along the corner of his mouth might have grown into a smile, but Honeywell didn’t give it the chance. “Yes, Sergeant. Would you trust anyone whom you suspect of committing treason?”
Lillian pondered the question for a few heartbeats. “It would depend on the circumstances, Colonel. If the person was only suspected, I would seek out additional information, either to clear the individual or convict him.”
Another twitch, this time along Honeywell’s eyebrows. Lillian had to admire a person like the colonel who could so easily contain his outward emotions. She made a note never to play the colonel in poker although that likelihood would probably never come to pass.
“So you would investigate?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Undercover?”
“If necessary, yes.”
“What if you knew the person? Would that cloud your judgement?”
Another few heartbeats. “No, sir. This is the United States of America. All citizens, military or civilian, are assumed innocent until proven guilty. Same goes with someone suspected of treason. You investigate, gather evidence, and, if the evidence points to treason, you arrest the individual. You bring him to trial and, if he is found guilty, you inflict punishment.”
“Back to my second question: what if you knew the person? Would you hide evidence, alter testimony, or do anything to sway the arresting officer or jury?”
“No, sir. Treason is treason, and if the evidence indicates that, there is no other recourse.” She glanced to Donnelly, then back up to Honeywell. “I would, of course, be upset, but that’s a personal matter, not a military one.”
In the intervening silence, Donnelly spoke. “Well, Colonel, I think that should satisfy you.”
Honeywell narrowed his eyes. “I’ll let you know when I’m satisfied.”
“Of course.” To Lillian, Donnelly asked, “Have you contacted Wade to get his report on your brother?”
Donnelly was referring to the assignment recently completed. Samuel Saxton, Lillian’s brother, was lost in Europe. She feared the worst, especially with the Nazi army threatening to strike. A reporter, Wendell Rosenblatt, had information about Samuel. He was due to land in Houston, but vanished. Lillian hired private investigator Benjamin Wade to locate Rosenblatt. He did, but it was too late. Rosenblatt was dead, but Wade found the reporter’s notes complete with all the details about Samuel’s whereabouts.
Lillian had been waiting for Wade to deliver his report when Donnelly summoned her to his room in the Rice Hotel.
“No, sir.”
Donnelly gestured with his head to the next room. “Why don’t you give him a call?”
Lillian nodded once and left the room.

***

“I think she passes your muster, Colonel,” Donnelly said.
“You’re just too close to her and the rest of your little squad.” Honeywell walked over to a bureau where a single bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey rested. He poured himself a couple of fingers and downed half in one gulp. He held the glass in his hands and mulled over something in his head. “But the communique was to her personally. Do you think Monroe is trying to recruit her?”
“Don’t be silly,” Donnelly blurted. He realized he was addressing a senior officer and stood. He poured his own glass of whiskey. “As far as I know, Frank Monroe is only an investment banker. His job takes him all over the U.S. and Europe. He has contacts everywhere. Sure, he’s been over to Germany since they invaded Poland last year, but there’s no cause to think he’s turned traitor.”
“Why else would he insist on seeing her? You think he knows she works for the Army?”
“Lillian Saxton’s job is no secret. What she does for the Army is. Look, they’re old friends from back when they attended college in Europe in the ‘30s. He says he has vital information about the war, but will only talk to her. And the meet’s in D.C. They’re not even leaving American soil. What’s to lose?”
“I don’t trust anyone who has business dealings with the Nazis and then turns around and asks to meet with one of my soldiers.”
Donnelly did not have time to respond. The adjoining door opened and Lillian Saxton walked in the room. She must have tried to mask her emotions, but Donnelly noticed the red rimming her eyes.
“Is everything okay, Sergeant?” Donnelly asked.
Saxton merely nodded.
“You find out about your brother?”
“He’s dead.”
The two senior officers gave the revelation a few moments of silence. “I’m sorry,” Donnelly said. He reached into his pocket and held out a handkerchief. She walked over and took it.
“Thank you, sir.” She dabbed at her eyes. She stood straighter and pulled herself together. She handed the handkerchief back to the captain. “What’s the next assignment? It’s why you brought me here, isn’t it?”
Donnelly said, “Sergeant, this is Colonel Clive Honeywell. He will explain the situation.”
Honeywell stepped forward. “Sergeant, do you know a Frank Monroe?”
Donnelly watched the emotions cross Saxton’s face. He prided himself on not just being a commanding officer to his squad, but to know his officers as real people. Saxton had a circuitous route to the United States Army, but she had acquitted herself beyond even his expectations. The name “Frank Monroe” hit a nerve.
After a moment, Saxton said, “Yes, sir. He’s from a prominent family in Boston. He and I went to the university back in 1934. He’s some sort of banker now, I think.”
Honeywell narrowed his eyes. “You hesitated. Why?”
“The name came out of left field, Colonel. We haven’t even seen each other in years. It just wasn’t a name I expected you to say.”
Pursing his lips, Honeywell said, “He’s asked to meet you.”
For the second time, Donnelly noted Saxton’s surprise.
“Me?”
“Yes. Personally.”
“Where?”
“Washington.”
Saxton frowned. “Why?”
Honeywell raised his glass and pointed a finger at her. “That’s what you’re going to find out.”

Thoughts on Suicide Squad

I won’t bury the lede: I liked this movie. But, like all three of DC’s movies, Suicide Squad seemed to be a collection of great scenes mashed into a serviceable plot. I’ll start with things I liked. And there will be spoilers.

Batman Doing Batman Things

Since 1989, Cinematic Batman is one who kills. Most of that deals with the need for a movie to blow stuff up and the coolest way possible. Michael Keaton’s Batman killed some of Joker’s goons in the factory. I’m pretty sure Val Kilmer killed some folks in the car chase. Ditto George Clooney. I’m trying to remember if Christian Bale did or not. Ben Affleck in Batman v Superman definitely did. But in Suicide Squad, Batman doesn’t kill. In fact, in a flashback, we see him rescue Harley Quinn after the Joker drove his car into the water. Batman, complete with Rebreather (!), dives in a saves Harley. That’s Batman. He even saves the criminals

Also, the visuals of Batman coming down from above to capture Deadshot? Loved it.

All in all, Batman/Bruce Wayne in Suicide Squad was pretty darn good. Ironic considering so many reviled against his casting. Just goes to show you that you shouldn’t make an opinion until you’ve seen the movie.

Introductions

I loved the early scene when Amada Waller (Viola Davis) introduces all the main characters. We get nice, short, bite-sized origins and background…and that’s all we need. Period. We didn’t need an entire movie to describe Deadshot or Boomerang. Well, Deadshot maybe, but still, we get what we need and then we move on. And it was presented like splash pages in a comic book. Loved it.

Humor

People make jokes that are situational jokes. I laughed. The other members of the audience laughed. That’s what is supposed to happen in movies of this kind. We’re supposed to have a good time. BvS had, what, two jokes, one of which was in the trailer.

Magic!

Finally, we have a villain that has magical powers. Not quite sure what they were, exactly, but I loved it.

Will Smith

The man oozes charisma from his pores. I haven’t watched everything he’s done, but in terms of being a likable movie star, he’s great. I like portrayals of heroes who are badasses but have the one humanizing flaw. Plus, he’s funny. And the ending where he has to make the choice he does? Nicely done.

Margot Robbie

Up until now, with me not being a player of any of the Batman video games, Harley Quinn was Joker’s sidekick from Batman: The Animated Series as voiced by Arleen Sorkin. Also up until Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie was best known as Jane from The Legend of Tarzan. But she inhabits the role of Harley. She played crazy, sane, and sad very well. The backstory wasn’t as good as it could have been, but hey. It’s a first-time live-action version. I’ll settle. Plus, in the flashback, you get a live action shot of one of the famous Joker/Herley images.

Viola Davis as Amanda Waller

Wow. To be one of the best villains the cinematic DC has put on screen and not be a supervillain is a real treat. Davis knocked it out of the park. But, at the end, during the mid-credits sequence, I liked that she was a little off her game. Nicely done. And then at the end, what she does? Pretty dang surprising.

Characters That Weren’t Batman or Superman

Finally, we get some DC characters that isn’t the big two and their associated supporting cast. Captain Boomerang is in a real, live movie. Let that sink into your brain. And Diablo. And Deadshot. Did you think we’d ever get characters like that in a movie? Me, neither. Loved that.

Diablo

I’m a comic reader, but know little of him, so the movie version is my first real taste of this character. I liked him quite a bit. I’m guessing his powers came from the same source as Enchantress’s brother?

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

They weren’t recruited for THIS job

In the trailers, you get the impression that the big villain was so bad that the squad needed to be formed to defeat that villain. Not the only case. Waller tries to get the team together and fails. Only when Enchantress goes rogue does the team come back and get the gig. I would’ve liked it better if Waller came with the Task Force X idea as a result of Enchantress versus a take two.

Katana

Why was she in the movie? Don’t get me wrong. I loved her look at lot, I liked that she wasn’t a bad guy, and her slim backstory was somewhat good. But you take her out and, say, give Boomerang the moves she made, it would be just fine. And it would have given him more to do.

Enchantress

What was she really doing in Midway City? It would be one thing if she was, say, channeling in inner earth core to assemble a thing that would make all human subservient. But it looked like she was trying to kill everyone. I could have sworn that she liked it when the humans worshipped her and her brother. Then why kill everyone? So her big plan and the plan to stay in one place was baffling.

THING I BOTH LIKED AND DISLIKED

Joker

There were 19 years between Jack Nicholson’s Joker and Heath Ledger’s. That’s a generation. Time enough to let Jack’s version fade into history. Not so Ledger’s. Only eight years ago this summer, Ledger’s take on the Joker was playing on the screens. You can help but compare.

And Jared Leto’s version suffers in comparison.

I really liked Joker as a mobster. It reminded me of Joker by Brian Azzarello from 2008 when Joker wasn’t the Joker as we know him. Heck, Ledger’s Joker is more down-to-earth, but he’s still master of all he surveys. And Ledger’s Joker commands the screen when he’s on it. He sucks you in with his vocal delivery, his cadence, and his unpredictability. He made you watch.

Leto’s Joker, in the trailers, looked like a fiendish man who would do despicable things for the mere thrill of it. He looked scary, and if the cinematic DC is known for anything, it’s making comic book things “real” and “scary.” But he wasn’t. In fact, strangely enough, Joker is a romantic lead. The only thing he seems to be after is to get Harley out of Arkham Asylum.

And that’s perfectly okay. Heck, it’s a fresh take on Joker. But that’s not the impression the trailers gave. Perhaps Joker should have been held back a little in the marketing to be present as this lovelorn man. Needless to say, I was expecting one Joker, but got another. Again, the more I think on it, romantic Joker is one I’d like to see more of, and I hope we get to in later films.

All in all, a fun two hours. I enjoyed the film, but I wanted to love it. To date, my favorite comic book film of the year is Captain America: Civil War.