Say the word “Amblin” to film fans and instantly they will get a picture in their heads. It’s a picture from the 1980s, of kids, fantasy, wonder, aliens, and more—the tone Stranger Things recently aimed to capture. Now take that feeling and put it in a single room. That’s what you get at Amblin 35.
Amblin 35: An Art Tribute Feature Drew Struzan opens Friday, December 2 at Creature Features in Burbank, CA and will remain on display through December 15. As stated in the title, much of the show features the legendary artwork of Drew Struzan, but the other part is artists who may be the next Struzan, each channelling that piece of their childhood Amblin helped create into their work. Here are just a few examples from the show.
Here’s the soon-to-be Amblin film, Ready Player One, by Studio Murugiah
Jurassic Park by Orlando Arocena
E.T. by Lyndon Willoughby
Gremlins by John Sloboda
War of the Worlds by Colin Morella
A Judge Doom sculpture by Chad Waters
More E.T. by Barrett Biggers
Jurassic Park by Andy Fairhurst
And a few Struzan pieces. This one, also of Jurassic Park
And then his iconic one-sheet for Hook.
For more on Amblin 35, visit Creature Features or Facebook.
DISCUSSION
In theory these ought to be good, they seem to be trying very hard to follow principles of good art. But instead they seem lifelessly deliberate, and carefully crafted without an understanding of why they should work, so they just feel flat. It’s like they read about art from a book.