tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post1453077540536237909..comments2024-03-29T03:05:28.466-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH 1976Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-47609044334693615562020-10-26T14:04:22.595-07:002020-10-26T14:04:22.595-07:00Hi Peter
Oh, dear...seems like we're a bit in ...Hi Peter<br />Oh, dear...seems like we're a bit in the same boat. A few years back I started clearing my life of some of the movie memorabilia I had amassed over the years. I wound up selling that MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH ticket on eBay myself (wish I could remember how much I got for it).<br />I'm sorry I no longer have it for I'd likely just send it to you for no charge, given what it would mean to you. <br />I'm very sorry I can't be of help, but I hope maybe you see one on eBay someday and recalim a bit of your past...which I'm very happy you shared with us (Bill Graham! A SF icon!)<br />I'm glad you came across this post, as well, Only wish I could have fulfilled your nostalgia wish. Take care!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-36579168588602993482020-10-26T04:23:30.881-07:002020-10-26T04:23:30.881-07:00hi Ken. i live in San Francisco. my late Father wa...hi Ken. i live in San Francisco. my late Father was friends w/ Bill Graham, loved music of that era, and got me into stuff like Bowie, who i've been a die hard fan of since 2003 and who i saw live 2x in 2004. my Father happened to have one of those man who fell to earth tickets, and he gave me it about a decade ago. i sold it on ebay a few yrs ago as i was unemployed & needed the money (can verify all this); regretted it ever since. was just wondering if you'd be at all willing to part w/ yours. i'd would be willing to pay any amount. if you'd rather not, thats totally fine. just glad to have come across this. brings back some fond menories. take carepeterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08587930094344624649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-50313111492783963772015-04-02T00:24:58.792-07:002015-04-02T00:24:58.792-07:00Hi Rori
I think when it comes to the arts, there a...Hi Rori<br />I think when it comes to the arts, there always seems to come a moment when the personal life of an artist challenges how we perceive their art, causing us to examine just where we each draw the line. Polanski and Woody Allen are like that for me.<br />Both Bowie and Jackson are true trailblazers, and reading about your appreciation of Bowie's body of work reminds me of how long he's been around and how vast his contribution has been. <br />I really need to make an effort to see some of his other films. I think that gigolo film he made with Marlene Dietrich was the last one I saw.<br />Thanks for sharing more of your thoughts on navigating thee waters of artistic fandom and appreciation. The arts really touch us all is such interesting and personal ways.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-80402491793159442672015-03-31T07:07:26.424-07:002015-03-31T07:07:26.424-07:00Thank you for appreciating my comments!
Bowie has...Thank you for appreciating my comments!<br /><br />Bowie has genuine acting talent, I think, but his powerful presence is what really makes him so intriguing onscreen, and it's what filmmakers responded to. Of course, as new cinema faded out in the 1980s the kind of projects that could fit such a presence -- ones about, as you put it, "ideas and feelings" -- dried up, so...<br /><br />Becoming a Bowie fan was a turning point for my appreciation of art as a teen. Early in the '90s I was a huge Michael Jackson fan, but come late 1993 it suddenly became...difficult to be one. That actually factored into my depression at the time. I remember arguing with my mom over how brilliant and generous and misunderstood he was, and she pointing out that he wasn't THAT deep. <br /><br />I'd actually been fascinated by Bowie since I was 5 and seen some of his music videos on MTV, immediately thinking he was the most handsome man in the world, but most of his work was rather more adult than Jackson's, thus inaccessible to me for a longer time. The key exception to that rule was "Labyrinth", which I saw at a local free kiddie matinee in 1988. I found him similarly captivating in that but couldn't quite verbalize why.<br /><br />Well, years later and a few months after the depressive period had reached its bottom and I was starting to emerge, I caught the movie on cable, felt that old feeling again and actually started researching Bowie and his body of work. It took a deal of legwork being a few years before the Internet went mainstream, but an autistic person can be quite tenacious with their interests, and I loved what I heard/saw, even if some of it I wouldn't fully appreciate until years later. Bowie's world isn't as "nice" and "magical" as Jackson's purported to be, but it's more fulfilling emotionally and intellectually, even if it's often painful. (In particular, I think he's the far superior artist in the music video medium. I think it's awful that the lifetime achievement award that the MTV folks give out each year is named for Jackson, not Bowie...because Bowie was one of the inaugural winners back in 1984, alongside Richard Lester and The Beatles granted. Jackson didn't win until 1988 and its renaming came in 1991, because he was powerful enough to insist upon it as a condition of letting MTV have his newer videos.)<br /><br />Thanks again!Miss Rorinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-77507945260452848302015-03-30T23:24:05.409-07:002015-03-30T23:24:05.409-07:00Hi Rori
Thank you sharing with such candor your fe...Hi Rori<br />Thank you sharing with such candor your feelings about this film and what it meant to you. Films like this seem rather timeless to me when I watch them now. The approach Roeg took in telling this tale is every bit as otherworldly as its flawed hero.<br />I don't know that I've ever responded to Bowie as strongly in any of his rare screen appearances, but as a musician and presence, he's impressive as hell. Fabulous that you have a Bowie tattoo, but i think I like so much that you tapped into the sadness at the core of this film. I think it's a movie of ideas and feelings more than a straight narrative.<br />I must write a piece about films that are painful to revisit. I have a few of my own. Thanks for the wonderful comment! Like many of the folks I'm so gratified to have visit this blog, you relate to film in ways that go beyond merely hoping to be entertained.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-13089126183350755612015-03-29T12:39:49.197-07:002015-03-29T12:39:49.197-07:00I saw this film on VHS just after I turned 17. (T...I saw this film on VHS just after I turned 17. (This was the mid-1990s.) I watched it several times, but beautiful as it is, it was so devastatingly sad I've never been able to revisit it in full since -- though I've since "read" the novel via audiobook. Actually, the first time I watched it I had to take breaks every so often to process it properly. I'm sure part of it stems from my being a high-functioning autistic person -- it wasn't hard to identify with Thomas, particularly in the scenes where he gets overwhelmed by the multiple TV sets or the awful climax (of sorts) when he gets X-rayed.<br /><br />I love David Bowie in all his forms. Exploring his work in the mid-'90s helped me recover I think at least a bit from an awful bout of teenage depression, and then a few years ago I got back into the habit of collecting/enjoying his work. He's the basis of the only tattoo I will ever have (his name in beautiful cursive, on my right ankle). I caught the "David Bowie Is" museum retrospective in Toronto and Chicago and kept going back to it to bask in all those costumes, sketches, clips, etc. They had one of his suits from this film as part of the exhibit, complete with the hat! Miss Rorinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-63573849562184496302013-08-08T21:32:10.208-07:002013-08-08T21:32:10.208-07:00Hi Marcia
I agree, it is an very well-cast movie. ...Hi Marcia<br />I agree, it is an very well-cast movie. They are all so vividly human that Bowie does indeed seem like an alien in their presence. I hope you enjoy revisiting the film. And thanks very much for taking the time to comment! Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-78656201386883001512013-08-08T18:06:18.220-07:002013-08-08T18:06:18.220-07:00I saw it also when it was released and again soon ...I saw it also when it was released and again soon after (i live in Toronto - Canada)... a huge Bowie fan - Been long enough now i must see it again !! I always thought the supporting cast were ideal for this movie.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01927571384487415192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-64079216493773849402012-07-06T00:15:43.785-07:002012-07-06T00:15:43.785-07:00Hi Lady Eve
What do you know...we both saw it at t...Hi Lady Eve<br />What do you know...we both saw it at the same theater at the same time! I'm a huge Bowie fan myself and this early (first?) screen outing was a must see for many. In some ways it can appear heavy-handed and thus more attractive to a young sensibility, but I think it has aged surprisingly well. Thanks for commenting!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-71940729232621674522012-07-05T23:23:35.493-07:002012-07-05T23:23:35.493-07:00Ken, Well-observed take on a film I haven't se...Ken, Well-observed take on a film I haven't seen since it was first in release. In those days I was a great Bowie fan and rushed (with a group of friends) to see a matinee screening of TMWFTE at the Vogue Theatre in SF soon after the film opened.The Lady Evehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11963115499930520653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-91631065793943623852012-03-13T00:23:54.188-07:002012-03-13T00:23:54.188-07:00If you enjoyed the film that much, you should chec...If you enjoyed the film that much, you should check out the novel by Walter Tevis. Although I think the film is the rare examples of a movie adaptation significantly enhancing the book, it's a terrific read, nonetheless. Thanks for visiting my blog!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-19331994413341989372012-03-12T22:12:20.898-07:002012-03-12T22:12:20.898-07:00Seeing this film for the first time it makes me wo...Seeing this film for the first time it makes me wonder if it could changed my life back in the day...such is the power of film. It is sci-fi at it's most ambitious, and a marvelous film way ahead of it's time; and relevant even now. And yes, kudos to Netflix for providing it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-59178337198491514662012-03-10T15:01:40.458-08:002012-03-10T15:01:40.458-08:00Much appreciated! Didn't know the film was on ...Much appreciated! Didn't know the film was on Netfilx stream. Maybe more people will give a look. It's certainly a fascinating film.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-37600575586528987942012-03-10T10:29:07.071-08:002012-03-10T10:29:07.071-08:00Very cool article I just happened to stumble on, g...Very cool article I just happened to stumble on, great having TMWFTE on Netflix stream...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-18830588145190163382011-03-27T15:08:10.663-07:002011-03-27T15:08:10.663-07:00Thanks for stopping by and giving the article a re...Thanks for stopping by and giving the article a read!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-75656307732896543652011-03-26T08:23:09.005-07:002011-03-26T08:23:09.005-07:00Great article on a great film.Great article on a great film.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00960994277944239753noreply@blogger.com