"Boyhood"

Back to the movies. Finally saw "Boyhood" last night. It's something I've been putting off for awhile for a number of reasons. Rick Linklater is, well, an interesting filmmaker to me. I like some of his stuff, love some of his stuff, and detest some of his stuff. I could not finish "Waking Life," for instance, but I think "School of Rock" is one of the best examples of how to make a studio-financed comedy. "Dazed and Confused" was such an accurate portrayal of my high school years, that I had tears in my eyes the first time I saw it at the theater. And I didn't even like my high school years.

"Boyhood" tells the story of a boy growing up in Texas with his older sister and their parents divorced early on. He and his sister live with the mom and see their dad rather sporadically. As you probably know, the movie was filmed over a period of 11 years, so that natural changes in the actors' appearance could be utilized, along with input from the child actors as they grew. The sister character was played by Linklater's daughter, while the title "boy" was played by a newcomer (whose dad, incidentally, I know through the music scene).

This is a tough movie to write about. It is very definitely one of these coming-of-age, slice-of-life films, modeled after something like "The 400 Blows." Not a lot happens in terms of dramatic plot points, and yet there are some. The mother, in particular, goes through drama, namely a couple of husbands she has no business being with but are clear opposites to the father of the kids. Neither of these relationships end well. And the father has his own sort of transformation, based on a change in his attitude and lifestyle. That one's almost more jarring. Still, I thought all of these changes, etc. are handled well and most importantly, believably.

Going to keep this short, before I get into spoiler territory; in a nutshell, I thought this was terrific. Bill Wise, another musician friend, has a scene-stealing small part toward the end of the movie; it was a joy seeing him.

It took awhile to see (also literally, it's around 2 and 3/4 hours), but it was worth it. As you were....

Questions

As you get to the second half (hell, maybe the final third) of your life, more questions arise about how actually to spend the time. Keep on the same course, achieve something substantial, watch more TV.....?? That's where I find myself at more and more. Lately, I've been getting back into music more. Anyone reading this who knows my history at all might be surprised by that statement, but for several years, I wouldn't call music a priority. I kept playing in the bands I'm in and had a good time doing it, but the creative spark just wasn't there. And that can happen if you're playing in a couple of bands where you don't have much creative involvement. Most of the bands I've been in in my life have been ones where I was, if not exactly a songwriter, at least a primary instigator of song material and arrangement. But the two (possibly three) I'm in now have strong songwriters/visionaries, and I'm a latecomer to the party. I just play, work my role, and go home. And I'm thinking it's time for more.

Am I capable of starting one more band in my life? Do I have the juice to see it through as I approach my 57th year? Maybe. I'd really like to start a band based on film soundtrack music from the 70s, in particular Italian movies. Several years ago, I received as a gift a CD compilation of music from Italian crime films of the 70s, and I was surprised at how much I enjoy it. It's something I put on at least once a month. Talk about something that gets the blood pumping, without resorting to deafening volume. I wonder if I could get some people together who would not only be into the idea but could instrumentally pull it off. It would require an adept keyboardist for sure, and possibly a couple of horns. Another drummer/percussionist would be ideal, too. I don't think vocals would even be a necessity, unless they were sort of those chanted vocals you hear in some of these movie themes. Projection might even be a good thing to have at gigs as well.

A band I was always admired was Karma to Burn, from West Virginia. Those guys, even as a guitar/bass/drums three-piece with no vocals, were one of the most hypnotic I've ever seen. Their music, although not used for soundtracks (to my knowledge) was cinematic in the best sense. Listening to them conjured images in your head. I'd like to do that with this band.....if it happens. Can I get this together? Just writing in this blog might be the first step. I talked with Bill Anderson about this (he's the only one outside my current bandmates I've mentioned it to), and he thought it was a good idea. I didn't ask Bill to become involved, simply due to his busy schedule. And that's a problem there. I can think of people I'd like to ask to do this, but most are very busy with bands, touring bands, etc. It's tough to find people good enough to pull off something special without their being too busy to actually do it. One of those Catch-22s.

Maybe I'll make a move on this in the next week. More to come......