Hendrix and The Martian

          Riding the bus home from work recently, the radio happened to playing the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along The Watchtower", one of my all time favorite sixties songs. Every time I hear that song, I just want to dance with complete abandon, and sometimes I do when I'm home alone in my living room.

          I did some research about the song itself and what it actually meant. It was originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan, in a wholly different style than that of Hendrix. Wikipedia stated that “Several reviewers have pointed out that the lyrics in 'All Along the Watchtower' echo lines in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 21, verses 5-9"

          So I got out my bible, and went back and read the passage and I kind of agree. Others, seem to think the song was some kind of apocalyptic prediction. To me, it seems to characterize the unrest of the sixties with its rebellion against the establishment, the civil rights movement, and the protests against the military draft, and the Vietnam War. But, to me, in Hendrix version the combination of his guitar, the base guitar and percussion are diametrically opposite of the lyrics.

          Where the words seem to portend apocalypse, I hear pure joy in the guitar rifts. Now that I have some sense of the meaning behind it, it still doesn't change the way I will always feel about it.

When the song finished playing, the radio announcer happened to mention that one of the trailers for the new movie "The Martian" used the Hendrix version in the background. It took me awhile, but I searched through the station's face book page and found the trailer complete with a song in the background. However, when I went to see the movie this past week at the Spotlight Theater in Warsaw, I was disappointed that the song was not included in the movie.

          Aside from the obscene amount of salt on the popcorn, that was my only disappointment in my movie experience at the Spotlight theater. This is the first time I had been back to the theater since before it became Spotlight Theater.

          Ever since I heard they were putting three screens into the theater I wasn't sure how they could make that happen. There is still evidence of ongoing construction in the hall ways to the screen rooms, but the screen rooms seem to be pretty well finished. With the stadium seating, I was able to take a seat that put me right in the middle with a spectacular view of the entire screen. The new seating is much more roomy and comfortable than the original seating.

          Finding that the song "All Along the Watchtower" was not actually part of the movie was my only disappointment in the movie itself. The visuals of "The Martian" we're just spectacular and the script and the acting were totally believable. I also read that the science of the book on which it was based was right on the mark. It made the possibility of travel and colonization of Mars seem completely doable.

          If you like movies that are true to science and space travel, I can sincerely recommend "The Martian", and I would watch it again.