Revved Up for 'Speed Racer' And the Stones
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"Speed Racer," the 1960s animation show, was already in syndication when I watched it back in the Watergate 1970s. It was so then-- even back then. And that was the first time I'd seen Japanese animation -- that pillbox mouth on Speed Racer, and the odd, almost R2-D2 dimensions of his kid brother, Spritle, and the raspy way he said " Speeed." For me, a British schoolboy home for the summer in America, it was an experience two worlds and one time zone apart. So the idea of the Wachowski Brothers, creators of the ultra-cool slo-mo bullet-trajectory-laden "The Matrix," turning their digital, postmodern attention to this relic from my past, well, it's got me juiced.
The Rolling Stones were the greatest rock-and-roll band in the world -- at least for this kid. That bad boy Mick Jagger and his quasi-satanic sidekicks, Keith Richard and Brian Jones? They were the real revolution, not those mop-toppers from Merseyside. They were also the hope of a cool artistic future beyond the iron gates of boarding school. Which is why I can't wait to watch Martin Scorsese's "Shine a Light," the filmmaker's documentary about the group's long, storied and strange career. Given Scorsese's authoritative films about other great musical acts -- the Band in 1978's "The Last Waltz" and Bob Dylan in 2005's "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan" -- it stands to reason he should document the blokes who still play "Satisfaction," even in their 60s.
