It’s Wednesday night here at BCB After Dark: the hippest hangout for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re so glad you stopped by. Come in out of the chill. Let us check your
coat for you. There’s no cover charge and the dress code is casual. The hostess will seat you now. Bring you own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
I’m kind of going crazy with no baseball. Whose idea was it to have such a long gap between the Championship Series and the World Series? Oh yeah. It was Fox Sports’ idea.
Last night I asked you if you had a preference on which upcoming free agent starting pitcher that the Cubs should pursue. There were four choices and you could go off the board with your own, but 46 percent of you think the Cubs should bring Dylan Cease back to the organization. Michael King and Ranger Suárez were tied for second, both with 14 percent of the vote.
Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You can skip ahead if you want.
We have more Halloween jazz for tonight as we feature saxophonist Jackie McLean playing one of his signature tunes “Frankenstein,” from his 1964 album One Step Beyond. In addition to McLean on alto sax, Grachan Moncur III plays the trombone, Eddie Khan in on bass, the great Bobby Hutcherson is the vibraphonist and the legendary Tony Williams is the drummer.
I’m getting ready to start the BCB Winter Science Fiction classic and I’ve been watching an insane number of films trying to get ready for it. Well, maybe not that insane, but it feels like it.
I finally finished watching Stalker and . . . hoo boy. That’s quite a film. I don’t really know what to make of it yet. The critical consensus of it is strong and the most recent BFI Sight and Sound poll of the greatest films of all time ranked it as the 43rd-best film ever made. That’s of all films, not all science fiction films of the 20th Century. I’m not convinced yet. I’m not not convinced. It’s not the type of film that you fully understand by the time the final credits roll. It takes a lot of thinking and I’m still in the ruminating stage.
Like director Andrei Tarkovsky’s other famous science fiction film Solaris, it’s slow, meditative and philosophical. Stalker also kind of makes the arty and esoteric Solaris look like Star Wars. It’s long, slow and almost three hours long. It took me three nights to finish it.
So I’m debating whether to keep Stalker in the tournament. Don’t get me wrong—I didn’t dislike it. I might even come to love it after thinking about it for a while. But it’s a difficult slog for any of you wanting to follow along in the tournament by watching the movies. I’m also wondering if we need two Tarkovsky films in the tournament, and the more famous and accessible Solaris should definitely be in, especially since it’s kind of a Soviet answer to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
On the other hand, Stalker has a big advantage in that it is readily available. It’s on HBO Max, Criterion and available for free to rent with a library card from Kanopy. There’s also a copy on YouTube, posted from what appears to be the official Mosfilm account.
Were I to replace Stalker, I definitely would not pick a big Hollywood studio film. We have enough of those. The one I have in mind is the cult classic Liquid Sky (1982), which also has a Russian director but after he emigrated to America and the film is in English. To be clear, Liquid Sky is even more avant-garde than Stalker, but it’s shorter and flashier and in English. It’s not as meditative and philosophical. It’s a story about aliens coming to earth and feeding on punks having sex and getting high. It’s probably more accessible. It also has an actress playing two parts, one female and one male, so it’s definitely not something you’d see out of a Hollywood studio in 1982.
Liquid Sky isn’t on any major streaming service, but there is a copy on YouTube.
I’m still leaning towards keeping Stalker because the critical consensus on it is so strong. I get it. But I wanted to offer my thoughts and get some feedback before I finalize the brackets over the weekend.
As far as what film goes into the final spot of the “classic—pre-1961” bracket, I’ve watched several films in that category and The Incredible Shrinking Man is by far the best. I still have to finish re-watching Them! which some of you recommended. (I’ve started it. I think I saw it last as a kid on a Friday night horror movie show.) But I’m strongly leaning towards The Incredible Shrinking Man.
So I’m just looking for your feedback on Stalker and The Incredible Shrinking Man if you have any. Or Liquid Sky. I’ll finish the brackets over the weekend.
As a bonus and a thank you for reading this, here’s the Smashing Pumpkins video for “Tonight, Tonight” which is a tribute to A Trip to the Moon, the oldest film of our upcoming tournament.
Welcome back to everyone who skipped the music and movies.
There’s nothing fancy tonight. I’m just asking you to make your World Series predictions. Do you like the favored Dodgers to repeat, or do you think the World Series trophy is going north of the border for the first time since 1993? And in how many games?
I’m assuming that most of you here are cheering for the Blue Jays, but I know that at least some are cheering for the Dodgers. I don’t hate the Dodgers and I know a few Dodgers fans who are good people. But I’m definitely singing “Oh, Canada!” this week.
So as a bonus question, why don’t you tell us who you are rooting for?
Thanks for stopping in. A special thanks goes out to everyone who voted and especially to everyone who commented this week. Please get home safely. Tell your friends about us. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next week for more BCB After Dark.
