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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 07/04/97 -- Vol. 16, No. 1
MT Chair/Librarian:
Mark Leeper MT 3E-433 732-957-5619 mleeper@lucent.com
HO Chair: John Jetzt MT 2E-530 732-957-5087 jetzt@lucent.com
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 732-949-7076 njs@lucent.com
Distinguished Heinlein Apologist:
Rob Mitchell MT 2D-536 732-957-6330 rlmitchell1@lucent.com
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 3E-433 732-957-2070 eleeper@lucent.com
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/4824
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the
second Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call
201-933-2724 for details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society
meets on the third Saturday of every month in Belleville; call
201-432-5965 for details. The Denver Area Science Fiction
Association meets 7:30 PM on the third Saturday of every month at
Southwest State Bank, 1380 S. Federal Blvd.
1. URL of the week: http://www.locusmag.com/. LOCUS magazine. [-
ecl]
===================================================================
2. A corrected version of Mark Leeper's review of BATMAN AND ROBIN
appears later in this issue. A paragraph in last week's edition of
the review was accidentally truncated. [-ecl]
===================================================================
3. BABYLON 5 has been renewed, but the fifth season will run on
TNT, not on the PTEN network stations. (In New York, this means it
will not be on WWOR.)
On 4 January 1998, the new BABYLON 5 movie, IN THE BEGINNING, will
be broadcast on TNT at 8PM EST, followed by a broadcast of the
BABYLON 5 pilot, THE GATHERING, at 10PM. They will be rebroadcast
immediately following at 12M and 2AM Sunday.
The next day, TNT will start running the first four seasons every
weekday night at either 6PM or 7PM EST.
The fifth season will start Monday, 19 January, and the episodes
will be broadcast Mondays at 10PM EST and Saturdays at either 6PM
or 7PM EST.
There will also be a "Making of" show sometime in January. [-ecl]
===================================================================
4. It is not often that I write about sports in this column.
Generally I tend to avoid sports on TV, in movies, and just about
anyplace else that avoiding sports is feasible. If I cannot avoid
sports I will do the next best thing, which is to root against the
home team. If the home team wins, it will only encourage them.
Everything else being equal, I want to live in a place far from the
nearest team. If I cannot do that, I want to have losers playing
on any local team. For me baseball on TV is what preempts the
science fiction film scheduled to follow it. I lost my first
viewing of WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE that way. They weren't even
playing. The game was over but they were doing a post-game
analysis for those who sat through the game but were too dumb to
understand what they saw. And it wasn't like it moved too fast to
follow, it was, after all, baseball.
So I usually ignore sports, but then it is not often that sports as
funny as it was this week makes national news. I am talking, of
course, about the usually staid and contemplative Mike Tyson biting
each of Evander Holyfield's ears in a fight last Saturday, in one
case actually biting a piece off so that reconstructive plastic
surgery is called for. I think that prize-fighting makes baseball
look like an intelligent game. Tyson was angry at Holyfield for a
headbutt--headbutt is a particularly apt juxtaposition of words for
the boxing game I think--and he decided to take revenge on those
ears. Tyson initially was going to claim that the ears were just
hanging there in front of him, looking big and tempting, and hence
that constitutes entrapment. I mean, a man as erudite as Tyson
would never think of chomping on somebody's aural appendages on his
own; he had to have been seduced. Tyson was going to fight his
punishment legally in court until he was informed by his lawyer
that it would be a virtual legal impossibility to reassemble the
Simpson jury. Tyson, as you may remember, was convicted of rape a
few years back but is now trying to rehabilitate himself and be a
productive member of society by beating up other people without
biting or eye-gouging. He just had a momentary lapse.
By ear-biting Tyson may have blown any reputation he might have had
as a deep thinker. So now he is taking a more conciliatory stance,
saying basically "oops" and that biting this big sweaty ear hanging
in front of him was the kind of mistake anybody could have made.
Of course, this incident may have caused an unintentional but
precipitous drop in the stock price for Tyson Foods. It looks like
Tyson may lose his license to box. Instead he will probably try
for the role of Turiddu in the opera CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA. (And I
bet there won't be many people who get THAT joke.) [-mrl]
===================================================================
5. REMNANT POPULATION (339pp, hardcover ISBN 0-671-87718-6; there
is also a paperback edition) (a book review by Joseph A. Karpierz):
I didn't know much about Elizabeth Moon when I picked up REMNANT
POPULATION, other than the fact that my wife read a lot of her
books. I was actually quite surprised to see a book by Moon on the
Hugo nominations list, probably mostly because I have this
preconceived notion of the type of book she writes that certainly
doesn't fit my description of Hugo material. While I enjoyed
reading REMNANT POPULATION, it did nothing to change my opinion.
Now before the Moon fans out there get all up in arms, I didn't say
that she couldn't develop into that kind of writer; I'm just
saying that right now, I have no reason to believe that she is that
kind of writer.
The novel begins just before the evacuation of a colony on an
unnamed planet by a corporation that, as we find out a later in the
book, didn't do a very good job in choosing a location for the
colony--the weather is just not conducive to long term settlement.
The central character of the story, Ofelia, is an old woman who is
deemed expendable by the corporation as nonproductive and too
expensive to take along, although by law they have to. So when she
decides to stay behind anyway because she prefers her solitude to
the life and family she had, it turns out not to be a bad deal--she
doesn't get on the last shuttle, and they don't look for her.
Everybody is happy.
Ofelia attempts to make a life for herself, and does quite well at
it. She learns how to use the colony control center, which
contains all the hardware for support, such as power, to help keep
herself alive. She uses the weather satellite communications
device to keep track of the storms, the freezer there to store
food, etc. One day on the communications console she hears that
another colony is getting set to land, only to be destroyed by some
strange creatures that no one knew was there.
From there, the story falls to the usual trappings of this kind of
tale: Ofelia meets the creatures, befriends them, becomes accepted
by them, and has to deal with authorities coming to check out what
happened to the destroyed ship.
There is really nothing new here; it's been done so many times
before that we should be used to it by now. That's not to say that
I didn't enjoy reading the book. I think that the story is well
told, and Moon's style is very straightforward, which I enjoyed
encountering directly after reading BLUE MARS. It's a good, light
summer read for a day at the beach, or while you're curled up in a
chair next to a fireplace in the wintertime, but it really isn't
much more than that. But that's okay, because we need books like
that anyway. So enjoy it. [-jak]
===================================================================
6. MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule: Julia Roberts plays a manipulative
woman determined to win back the love of her
former lover and best friend when he announces
he is going to marry someone else. Five
minutes into the film the whole plot becomes
obvious, though there is some fun in seeing the
details filled in. Rating: low +1 (-4 to +4),
5 (0 to 10) [Spoiler warning: I will reveal no
more than was in the trailer of MY BEST
FRIEND'S WEDDING, but that has a large
spoiler.]
New York Critics: 10 positive, 4 negative, 9
mixed
It is not clear what the rules of spoilers are. It may be a
spoiler just to say that a film is predictable. But there is only
one way MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING can go once the premise is known.
And even the trailer tells what the premise is. A conniving woman,
played by Julia Roberts, once had a steamy relationship with a man
who has since remained her best friend. Now he intends to marry
someone else. Roberts determines she will break up the plans and
marry the man herself. The plans are made even more difficult when
she discovers that the wife-to-be is a very sweet woman and would
be a perfect mate. There is only one non-bizarre plot that can
come from that premise and it is obvious ten minutes into the film.
The style of the film, however, is all in the details.
Julia Roberts plays Julianne Potter, a food critic whose has a long
history with now sports writer Michael O'Neal (played by Dermot
Mulroney) as a close friend, confidant, and one-time ardent lover.
Each has held the other as a sort of ideal of the opposite sex.
The two have made a pact that they would marry by the age of 26 if
neither has found someone better. Now at age 26, Michael suddenly
wants to talk to Julianne. She is terrified that she may have to
make good on her pledge. Her fear, however, turns to rage when she
discovers that Michael has found the perfect bride and it is not
her. Kimmy Wallace (Cameron Diaz) could have been computer-
designed to be impossible competition for Michael's affections.
She is beautiful, she is heir to lots and lots of money, and worst
of all she is incredibly nice--especially to Julianne. She also
has the one quality that Julianne could never for herself to have,
she is romantic and Julianne's inability to be romantic is what
broke up her affair with Michael. Now she is desperate to break up
the marriage and snag Michael for herself.
Julianne has another male confidant, her handsome and worldly
publisher George (Rupert Everett). In fact George would also seem
to be a perfect mate for Julianne but for the fact he is gay. With
George's reluctant counseling Julianne sets off to discredit Kimmy
by foul means or fouler. The campaign starts in a karaoke bar
where Julianne contrives to have non-singer Kimmy embarrassed by
having to perform in front of the entire bar. Predictably the plot
backfires as Kimmy more than makes up in style for what she lacks
in voice. Julianne's devices to discredit Kimmy get more and more
desperate and more and more devious, as she is determined not to
have herself defeated by a woman who is merely sweet, sincere, and
romantic.
As the film follows its trajectory, the story is fleshed out by
scenes, some of which make sense and some of which that just do not
work. The most enjoyable show Julianne's close friendship with
George. Ronald Bass's screenplay goes in for extremes and makes
George just a wonderful man. His advice is always right on the
mark, but he willingly lets himself be embroiled in one of
Julianne's schemes. One of the scenes that definitely does not
work and even takes a turn for the surreal has George getting an
entire restaurant singing "I Say a Little Prayer for You." (Also
somewhat unbelievable is a mishap at a pre-wedding brunch that
certainly appears to be a physical impossibility.)
Julia Roberts generally plays women with aggressive personalities
and is well-cast here. Cameron Diaz has too few scenes where she
has to be more than Miss Perfect. She gets a better scene or two
later in the film, but like the Cheshire cat what sticks with us is
her smile and the rest fades from memory. Dermot Mulroney plays
the McGuffin--both sides are fighting for him and it is never
really clear why. During the opening credits, while an incredibly
pink girl group sings "Wishing and Hoping," the one optimistic note
was to see that M. Emmet Walsh was in the film. Sadly while the
film gets better, it never really uses Walsh to any advantage.
MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING is a serviceable romantic comedy, for
those who are not fond of surprises. I rate it a low +1 on the -4
to +4 scale. [-mrl]
===================================================================
7. BATMAN AND ROBIN (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
[Sentences in this review were accidentally truncated last week.
here is the corrected version.]
Capsule: BATMAN AND ROBIN combines the pacing
of a Hong Kong action film with the plot depth
of a Hong Kong action film. The current
chapter has some interesting visuals if it
would ever slow down enough to let the audience
appreciate them, but the writing is the worst
of any of the series. Rating: low -1 (-4 to
+4), 2 (0 to 10)
New York Critics: 2 positive, 10 negative, 12
mixed
Someone decided it was time for another Batman film. Note that
this is not the same thing as saying that somebody had a good idea
for a Batman story that they wanted to film. I did not say that
someone was really excited about the possibilities for the Batman
character and the peripheral people in Batman's life. But time has
definitely passed and the cash cow was ready for another squeeze.
Batman (George Clooney) and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) battle
Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) a villain who wants to freeze
the world and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) who can make people love
her, has a poison kiss, and wants to make the world safe for
plants. Batman's butler Alfred (Michael Gough) is dying. Batman
and Robin have a falling out over Ivy. Alfred's British niece
(Alicia Silverstone) becomes Batgirl. And this plot is just one
minor feature of the new BATMAN AND ROBIN! If I seem not to
consider the plot very important, you should see the treatment it
gets from director Joel Schumacher. The script was not ready to
film and Schumacher should have rejected it. Clearly there are
better things to do with the villains than to have them call the
title characters "Batface and Birdbrain." Ivy was turned into a
monster by being buried with some poisons for a few minutes. She
comes back to life and immediately says various parts of her have
been replaced by chemicals and her lips are now poison. How would
she know? One sparkling line in the film has a scientist claiming
to have drilled "three concentric circles" into somebody's skull.
Top-billed as Mr. Freeze is Arnold Schwarzenegger, who may be able
to bench press a Buick but finds it beyond his ability to push a
performance out through thick layers of blue makeup and plastic
suit. The concept of a villain who fell into a freezing vat and
now wants to freeze the world left me cold, and Schwarzenegger's
performance is an absolute zero with none of his natural wit and
far too many lamely unfunny one-liners. Physically, George Clooney
looks the most like the comic book Bruce Wayne of the three actors
who have played him so far, or put another way, this is the first
one who looked at all the part. The problem is that Clooney is not
a very exciting or even interesting actor. And if you cannot be
exciting as Batman, you may just not be destined to be exciting at
all. Chris O'Donnell plays Robin, the Boy Wonder who in my days of
reading the comic was eternally about fourteen years old.
Unfortunately it is hard to find a fourteen-year-old with marquee
value. Putting O'Donnell in the role becomes an increasingly silly
piece of casting each time he shows up. This leaves the BATMAN AND
ROBIN wide open to be stolen by the fourth-billed Uma Thurman. Uma
Thurman! How bad do three actors have to be for a decorative but
dull Uma Thurman to turn in the most interesting performance? Next
comes Alicia Silverstone as Barbara Wilson, soon to be Batgirl.
Silverstone is a cute blonde who gets most of her personality by
making funny expressions with her mouth: biting her lower lip,
pouting, so forth. The script apparently calls for her to be
British, but she made no attempt to sound British and nobody cared.
Michael Gough, who has been in ALL FOUR Batman films turns in the
most touching performance and may well be the best actor in the
film.
With each new Batman film Gotham City becomes more deeply engulfed
by the inevitable and all-consuming advance of Art Nouveau. The
art style appears to be chewing up all the more normal-looking
buildings and spitting out titanic geometric formations and baroque
reliefs and statues of colossal human figures. Gotham seems unable
to stem the tide, but apparently Batman has not been called. The
city has gone from resembling Helsinki in the first film to being
an incredible architectural nightmare in BATMAN AND ROBIN. Perhaps
the one saving grace of the film is that it does bring this
abstract art-form to the masses. But this combines with Stephen
Goldblatt's dark photography and Dennis Virkler's fast editing.
The result is a film that might be entertaining to look at if it
were just a little more sparse and if the pace were cut down just a
bit. But there were many scenes in which I had to ask myself what
it was that I just saw.
BATMAN AND ROBIN is a sloppy and slapdash film that gets a low -1
on the -4 to +4 scale. [-mrl]
===================================================================
8. FREMDER by Russell Hoban (Jonathan Cape, ISBN 0-224-04370-6,
1996, 184pp, L14.99) (a book review by Evelyn C. Leeper):
In the 21st century (a very different 21st century than that of
Greg Egan's DISTRESS, though they take place in only three years
apart), Fremder Gorn is found floating in space sans space suit,
sans helmet, sans everything--everything but life that is. This is
considered strange, even in Gorn's universe of spaceports with
robot sweepers under noctolux lamps cleaning up under signs saying
"Mikhail's Quiksnak" and "Q-Bo Sleep." Fremder Gorn's quest to
find out how he came to be floating in space also involves finding
out what happened to his mother, a famous inventor, and the almost
predictable interaction with mysterious government agencies et al.
But Hoban is not so much a novelist as a poet. His classic RIDDLEY
WALKER proves he has an eye for language and sounds rarely found in
science fiction, and even his narratives written in more standard
language (KLEINZEIT, THE LION OF BOAZ-JACHIN AND JACHIN-BOAZ, THE
MEDUSA FREQUENCY, PILGERMANN, and TURTLE DIARY are the ones I know
of) are more novel-length free verse than prose. I'm sure some
lit-crit major will explain that there are strict rules for free
verse that this doesn't meet. But to my untutored ear, a sentence
like "I've always considered sleep after lovemaking more intimate
than the lovemaking: getting through the night together, lying
embraced until an arm becomes numb, then lying together like two
spoons until sleep doesn't come that way, then turning backs and
reverting to aloneness together and the snores, farts, and sleep
seemed to have no rest: she mumbled laughed, cursed, quoted from
the Bible, sometimes in a voice that seemed different from her
own." This is a book that cries out for a reading by the author.
Anyone who has read any of Russell Hoban's works will immediately
want to know how to get a copy of this, his latest and perhaps most
traditional science fiction book. (This is not to say that it is
traditional by any normal definition of the term, of course.)
Unfortunately for us USans, this is available only in a British
edition, and it will probably be a while before it crosses the
Atlantic--assuming it ever does. (Why do I latch on to authors who
are impossible to find here?) Of his other works I mentioned, only
RIDDLEY WALKER (a post-holocaust novel) and PILGERMANN (a first-
person story by a Jew during the Crusades, perhaps best described
as magical realism) have been published in the United States, where
Hoban is known primarily as an author of children's books. His
others--KLEINZEIT (an eventful and mysterious day in the life of
its eponymous hero), THE LION OF BOAZ-JACHIN AND JACHIN-BOAZ (a
quest for lions in a country that *seems* to be modern England),
THE MEDUSA FREQUENCY (involving the talking head of Orpheus and a
Vermeer portrait), and TURTLE DIARY are the ones I know of--seem to
be available only in British editions from Picador.
(And now that I've pulled his other books off the shelf to refer to
them, I want to go back and re-read them all.) [-ecl]
Mark Leeper
MT 3E-433 732-957-5619
mleeper@lucent.com
Man is a dog's ideal of what God should be.
-- Holbrook Jackson