RED LIGHT BYTES: Red Light Roundup (7-17-2024)

Classics, Deep Cuts & All-New Killers in Art & Entertainment...

Given that our own Kickstarter ambitions are fast materializing on the horizon, I figure its only fair that we return the favor (and overcompensate for the previous dearth of indie recommendations) by throwing a bone to a few campaigns and some other cool releases live and in the wild. No B.S., no hype, just giving you a taste of what’s cooking in the field. The Macy’s Miracle on 34th Street method.

COMIC: A Saga of Sunsets by

A. C. Pritchard

& Luke Stone

“This 72+ page full-color epic follows the story of Himinn Hoarfist, an icy Orc Jarl who was promised the succession by his king. Along with the crown and title comes the mighty flying longship known as "Evening Star," a one-of-a-kind vessel capable of escaping their winter homeland for greener pastures across the Endless Water. All he must do is escort King Taivas to a final resting place of his choosing—on his own terms, far from the polar homeland of the Orcs.”

A Fantasy Adventure, Written by A.C. Pritchard with Art by Luke Stone

NOVEL: Wild Stars: The Gold Exigency by Michael Tierney

“Thousands of years ago, Mankind was led on an exodus to the stars by an immortal warlord from beyond our galaxy to save them from an alien-caused cataclysm. Those who remained and survived the attack became the ancestors of modern humans; those who went into space became the Wild Stars…with the price of gold crashing, the Artomiques find a new backing for Earth's currency: gems harvested from an endangered alien race!”

The 7th installment in the long-running sci-fi series, and just in time for its 40th anniversary no less! A tale of dastardly corporate greed, jeweled-encrusted aliens, space pirates, lizard people and the race to stop this genocidal slaughter. From the mind and pen of Michael Tierney, and Cirsova Publishing.

SINGLE: “Odyssey” by Starfarer

"To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit." – Stephen Hawking

Been following Starfarer for years and can never get enough of their incredible brand of sci-fi slanted synthwave. Nothing else to say really, just that this latest track is a hypnotic charmer to help pass the lightyears away…

“Ellen Aim” (Diane Lane) lighting up the stage in Streets of Fire (1984, Hill)

REVIEW: Streets of Fire (1984)

Yup, we’re squeaking a classic in here!

Having eyed it across the way for years now, I finally took a gamble on Walter Hill’s rock-n-roll fable Streets of Fire, a 1984 action flick meant to satisfy the veteran filmmaker’s juvenile fantasies, and don’t mistake that as a back-handed compliment! After all, that’s pretty much 365 Infantry in a nutshell: take everything that’s awesome, and chuck it in a blender.

That said, I'm not gonna lie...I don't quite get it. The action's awesome, the cast is wonderful (shout-outs to Willem Dafoe, an against-type Rick Moranis, and the lovely Diane Lane), the rock-n-roll 50s meeting the neon 80s yields plenty of stylish sets, cool cars, colorful lighting, and an AMAZING soundtrack (kudos to Jim “Bat Out Of Hell” Steinman), but man...there was nothing to this script. And the only reason I noticed is because Walter Hill does not commit to going the full-mile with an over-stylized fantasia (A Rock & Roll Fable if you will).

The action is cut to switchblade-sharp perfection (that sledgehammer fight, man!), but the cinematography still films the world as-is instead of elevating it to a level of fantasy where this simplicity of plot can take off (Dario Argento's Suspiria being the gold standard). Because the city's dereliction is not relayed thru further color or sharper lighting, but through purebred realism, with scores of flatly angled shots and natural light (an extension of how he approached his 1979 classic The Warriors), I begin to focus more on the story than the electric rush I’m supposed to feel, and I get lost.

Now, Walter Hill wanted to make a comic book film, and people’s idea of comic book action in a pre-cape flick era (often used as a pejorative) meant wild, over-the-top set pieces, but with some foothold in reality. George A. Romero described Dawn of the Dead as a comic picture, and you can sense that. The difference is that Romero made sure to back his funnybook action up with characters that have heft to their motivations, personalities, and dynamics. There’s tension, conflicting goals, but you get a sense that there are lives beyond the screen.

I found none of that in Streets of Fire.

Everyone feels written solely to fill a trope without much regard for how to make them all lock together, or to amp up the style to supplement the substance. I don't buy any of the relationships, everyone being at each other's throats doesn't feel earned, and it feels like it's all over before anything has even started, paced way too fast for its own good. The romances are all cold, the bickering becomes tedious, and Rick Moranis as arrogant manager Billy Fish REALLY tests your patience towards the end. He plays the part to perfection, but there's way too much of it than this script needs.

Streets of Fire clearly has some classical adventure element in this "we're off to save the rock-n-roll princess" thing, but then counterweights it with a kitchen-sink level of drama where lovers have moved on, become jaded and cynical, and I'm not quite sure if I'm supposed to be having fun, or if I'm supposed to be engaging with this as some subtle commentary on rock-n-roll life. Girlfriends trading boyfriends, boyfriends not getting over girlfriends, the bitching and so on.

I think about the last song, which was also used as a tagline: "Tonight Is What It Means To Be Young." What DOES it mean to be young in the context of Streets of Fire? Is it a sly jab at grown adults acting like hormonal teenagers who can't help getting on each other's nerves? Is its blink-and-you'll-miss-it pace a reflection of the live-fast-die-young motto so many delinquents lived by?

Either way, I'm a little bummed that I didn't enjoy Streets of Fire as much as I had hoped, but I am happy to say I still enjoyed it. When you are catering THIS much to my own love of neon 80s action and rock-n-roll era worship, you were always going to win my heart regardless. It's just a shame that it really went nowhere fast.

If you know, you know.

Keep digging for gold, soldiers! Godspeed.

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