Ever since Ziggy Stardust left Earth in January, 2016, there’s been a David Bowie-shaped hole in the world. Let’s face it: Things have been going downhill ever since. You can get a recharge of that Thin White Duke energy at the Malco Summer Drive-In Saturday night as the monthly Time Warp Drive-In celebrates Bowie’s film career.
From the beginning, Bowie’s music and persona were tied up with acting. He trained as a mime, which heavily influenced his stage presentation; “Cracked Actor” is a standout track on his 1973 record Aladdin Sane. When Bowie got in front of a camera, the results were spectacular. He’s almost always the most interesting thing on the screen. Watch him effortlessly dominate Tony Award winner Hugh Jackman in this scene from The Prestige.
Christopher Nolan’s best film is not on the Time Warp marquee this week, but you won’t be disappointed with the selections. First up is a cult masterpiece from 1986, Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. I recently revisited the dark fairy tale with actor and Black Nerd Power podcaster Markus Seaberry as part of my Never Seen It series, and it’s a highly entertaining read. The best part is our back and forth about the prominent Bowie package, which is actually thematically relevant in this story about pubescent ennui. Here’s Jennifer Connelly facing her greatest fear: David Bowie’s sexuality.
Speaking of David Bowie’s sexuality, the next film is a steamy goth horror classic from the late director Tony Scott. Released three years prior to Labyrinth, the same year as Bowie’s epochal Let’s Dance album, The Hunger stars Bowie and Catherine Deneuve as incredibly sexy vampires who take a shine to a doctor, played by Susan Sarandon. Here’s the classic opening sequence featuring Bauhaus performing “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” that made a million black roses bloom.
The final movie in the Time Warp is another celebrated cult oddity. First gaining attention with the documentary about the rise of The Sex Pistols, The Great Rock ’n’ Roll Swindle, Julien Temple was one of the hottest music video directors of the 1980s, creating classic clips for Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Rolling Stones, and, of course, Bowie. Absolute Beginners was his high ’80s musical about the birth of rock-and-roll in England. It’s a fascinating mixture of eye-popping visuals and extremely questionable decisions. It spawned one of Bowie’s biggest hits, the theme song “Absolute Beginners,” which he does not perform in the movie. Watch the money burn in this incredibly over-the-top musical number.
The Time Warp Drive-In starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 24, at the Malco Summer Drive-In.
