Jovial Jay’s amazing time-travel blog chronicles the future of today, then.
Jovial Jay is a prolific sort of fellow. He’s no stranger to the Star Wars community, and has been writing blogs and hosting podcasts for years. He can make databases like it ain’t no thing. Basically, the guy is a national treasure when it comes to pop culture. So, when I found out he’s been writing a blog chronicling and reviewing time-travel films, I had to check it out. If you want a fantastic look back at the future of yesteryear, or, if this is the first time hearing about these films. It’s worth a look.
Jay sat down with RetroZap! to talk about the blog and what we have to look forward to (looking back to) in 2015.
RZ: Besides 2015 being the Back to the Future II year, was there any other impetus to start this blog, specifically?
JJ: It started as a lark. Having seen two time travel films back to back at the beginning of the year, I suddenly realized that we were living in the future of Back To The Future which had a huge impact on me as a teen in the mid-80’s. I thought it was a cool gimmick, but would also give the opportunity to practice my writing skills on a genre of film that I really enjoy. People seemed to be taken with the idea on my Facebook page, so I opened a blog so that I could do some longer form writing and preserve the experience for others.
RZ: Do you plan to review through the entire year? If so, do you have a “road map” of all the films you wish to cover?
JJ: I do plan to review films throughout the year. Not one-a-day or anything, but I’d like to review a majority of the time travel films out there. My road map at this point is just a list I’ve gathered of films that I recall, suggestions from friends and results from some internet searches. The order I choose is based on what I feel like at the moment, but also attempts to take the good with the bad. Can’t do all the best ones right off the bat! I’m also trying to watch some topical films around the time they occur. For example, I recently reviewed Groundhog Day for February 2.
RZ: I like your five time-travel categories. Are there any films that defy that classification that you are covering?
JJ: Thanks. Those categories are Inventor, Accidental, Intended, Single Timeline and Multiple Timeline. I haven’t seen anything that defies this categorization, yet. After I see some more films, I’m going to try to plot out the films on a grid using some of these categories vs Destined/Free Will, and see what we get!
RZ: While revisiting old movies, has anything surprised you as being prescient about the future?
JJ: Well, Freejack had the government/police force using para-military vehicles for crowd control. And I don’t recommend watching this film, since its version of 2009 was way out there!
RZ: What has been the most whacked-out time travel premise you’ve seen on film?
JJ: I guess it depends on what you mean by “whacked-out”? There’s been some films that feature paradoxes, and are really hard to grasp, such as Predestination and Primer. But then there are other premises like Trancers where travellers can travel into the bodies of one of their ancestors. Or “magical” time travel like About Time or The Lake House, which are almost not-real time travel films at all. I think I’d have to go with Donnie Darko, which is sort of a paradoxical film, but also requires the protagonist to make a sacrifice. Something that is not very common in modern American film.
RZ: Why do you think time-travel movies continue to capture our imagination?
JJ: Time travel films are the ultimate in escapism. People have always gone to movies to escape the problems of their lives. But these sorts of films allow them to really go somewhere else. Audiences are always facing varying anxieties about life, so having movies about travelling back to a simpler time are easy fare, while creating dire warnings of the future, with successful resolutions, can help relieve some of these anxieties. These films are also part wish fulfillment and nostalgia (past travel), part wishful hoping (forward travel) or part cautionary tale (the unknown future). Everybody wishes that they could do something different in their past; or wants to see what the future holds for themselves, and these possibilities are what easily capture the imaginations of viewers.
RZ: Do you think time-travel movies will ever go out of style?
JJ: Not any time soon. There appear to be more being made now than ever before.
RZ: Are there time-travel rule-sets you specifically enjoy (i.e., Primer-style time travel, Back to the Fuure multiverse, etc?)
JJ: I like the films that appear to be setup as paradoxes, but the protagonist somehow manages to weave themselves thru what has previously happened. Much like Marty McFly did the second time he went to 1955. You swear that there’s no way this will work, but everything that the “new” character does, leads to the events we’ve already seen. A great puzzle and a fun game for the audience!
RZ: If possible, would you time travel? Where would you go in the past? How far would you go into the future? What would you like to see?
JJ: I would probably not voluntarily travel. I am confident that the choices and events of my life have led me to where I’m at; and I’m happy there! But, I’d love to be able to witness some historical events form the past (a la Peabody and Sherman) like seeing how the pyramids were built, or who shot Kennedy, or even experiencing something else unknowable from history. And much like the protagonist of The Time Machine, I’d love to jump far into the future to see what the effects of our modern live have wrought.
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For more of Jay, find him monthly on Jedi Journals at Forcecast.net. Also, Listen to Green Justice, Scarlet Velocity, and Agents of SHIELD: Case Files weekly on Random Chatter. Additionally, find him at Rebel Scum, Washington DC Star Wars Collecting Club, and RogueDesigner.net.
-JT
Joseph Tavano is the owner and editor in chief of RetroZap. Born just months before Luke found out who his father was, he has been fortunate to have had Star Wars in his life as long as he can remember. Growing up just outside of Boston, Massachusetts, he can remember substituting sticks for lightsabers and BMX bikes for speeders. He loves comics, retro games, vintage sci-fi paperbacks, and maps. Though an accomplished drummer, he doesn’t crave adventure (as much) any more, and prefers his old haunts north of Boston, Massachusetts, where he resides with his family. Buy him a glass of whiskey and he’ll return it in kind.