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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 10/16/98 -- Vol. 17, No. 16
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 2E-537 732-957-6330 robmitchell@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
201-447-3652 for details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society
meets irregularly; call 201-652-0534 for details, or check
http://www.interactive.net/~kat/njsfs.html. 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.evolve.com/~drseuss/seuss/seuss.parody.html. Dr. Seuss
Parody Page (including "If Dr. Seuss wrote Shakespeare" and other
classics). [-ecl]
===================================================================
2. Fact: In New Jersey the vast majority of men have an above
average number of arms. [-mrl]
===================================================================
3. Well, it is that time of year again when we are getting ready
for Halloween. This was always my favorite holiday as I was
growing up. Of course it did not get a lot of competition. There
were non-religious holidays and there were religious ones. Non-
religious holidays are usually some sort of political pay-off that
some politician used to get votes. Labor Day was to get American
workers' votes. Memorial Day was the same for veterans. Veterans'
Day was the same target, but a different politician needed votes, I
suppose. Oh, I admit I liked Memorial Day as a kid. That was the
start of summer. Thanksgiving was nice, I suppose because we had a
good meal. Fourth of July brought fireworks. But on the whole
neither gave me anything that I really couldn't have done without.
I know that is a selfish point of view, but I was just a kid,
remember. Kids are supposed to be selfish. It is part of the
whole kid thing. Then there were the religious holidays, and let's
say I was less than fond of those. I may talk about that in a week
coming up.
So when I was a kid, the holiday that I liked the most was
Halloween. Look how Halloween is celebrated for kids. The three
ingredients are monsters, masks, and munchies. Most kids love all
three and I was no exception. One of the dates etched in my memory
was October 31, 1959. That was the one Halloween that I remember
the best. We were in Akron, visiting my grandparents. It was a
Saturday night. A local TV station was advertising that they would
have a monster triple feature. They would have SON OF
FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY'S GHOST, and MAN-MADE MONSTER. This for me
was one of the major events of the year. First of all I had never
seen a Frankenstein movie. I had seen pictures of the Frankenstein
monster in Mad Magazine and had heard about Frankenstein ever since
I was young. For me the Frankenstein monster was like an old
friend. But there never was much opportunity to see the films on
Dayton, Ohio television. It was in the early sixties that TV
stations first could show the old Universal Pictures monster films
and discovered that there was really a market out there. Within
just a few years most cities had one or maybe two TV stations
showing a science fiction or horror movie as the late show on
Saturday night. Things were getting better for fantasy fans.
While Dayton did not get a lot of horror films on TV, some local
town must have. TV Guide would list some stations we did not get
and someplace nearby had a TV station listed in our TV Guide that
would have the most tempting films. I would see films listed like
THE WOLF MAN and I was ready to pack my bags and move. It was
frustrating to know that these horror films were playing so nearby
and I did not get a crack at them.
But here I was, sort of cheating. I was in Akron and here the TV
stations did play horror films. And three were going to be on in
one night. Things were definitely getting better. Four weeks and
a day earlier a new weekly TV series started on CBS and already the
high point of most weeks was when The Twilight Zone was on. A new
fantasy story every week was a real big addition to my
entertainment. But that was new stuff. SON OF FRANKENSTEIN was a
classic from the old days. To put it in perspective, SON OF
FRANKENSTEIN actually then was one year younger than STAR WARS is
today. But at that time anything that was more than twice as old
as I was, was pretty ancient. So I stayed up late. Not just me,
both my parents and both my grandparents watched also. Now even
today I am not sure why everybody was there. It goes without
saying that I was the most enthusiastic about seeing these films.
But whoever was second was a very distant second. I don't know
where I got my love of fantasy, but it certainly was not from my
parents. My mother saw THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN when she was
growing up and right there decided that horror films were just too
stupid to watch. Well, now she was watching the sequel. Or
perhaps she was watching me watching the sequel.
So this is a story with not much of an ending. I watched and
immensely enjoyed the first two films. I can still remember the
plot of the first two films, and though I had seen each multiple
times since, I think I am remembering them from that Saturday
night. SON OF FRANKENSTEIN was the last good Frankenstein film
that Universal made. After that they got a little threadbare. Lon
Chaney Jr. made three mummy movies and I still consider THE MUMMY'S
GHOST to be the best of the three, though that is not a lot of
distinction. And as for MAN-MADE MONSTER, my mother convinced me
at what must have been 2:30 in the morning that it was not the time
to start watching a third film. I obliged her. Then into the 60s
our local station showed SON OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE MUMMY'S GHOST,
but did not get around to showing MAN-MADE MONSTER for many years
to come. Of course these days I could set up the triple feature
and watch it on TV commercial-free any time I want. There is some
question on whether I could keep myself awake, but the films are
all available. But I don't think I could ever reproduce that
night.
And that is why I like Halloween. I have given some thought to
what films I would put together if I were to make a Halloween
triple feature. This year I think I am going to do that. I intend
to use the magic of video to show the triple feature I wish I could
have seen at that time. I will show it the Thursday night before
Halloween. Details will be in next week's issue. [-mrl]
===================================================================
4. ETERNAL LOVECRAFT edited by Jim Turner (Golden Gryphon, ISBN 0-
9655901-7-8, 1998, 411pp, US$25.95) (a book review by Evelyn C.
Leeper):
This anthology is divided into three sections. The first is three
stories which either have Lovecraft as a character or are expressly
set in Lovecraft's "universe." The second set is eleven stories
with some allusions to Lovecraft, but no direct connection. The
third is four stories with "implied" Lovecraft connections. Though
called ETERNAL LOVECRAFT, the connections between the stories and
things Lovecraft seems at times tenuous, at least to me. (If you
are more familiar with Lovecraft than I, then the connections may
seem more obvious.)
This is the third book from Golden Gryphon, the first two being
collections by James Patrick Kelly and R. Garcia y Robertson. As
with the previous volumes, this is a well-produced, well-crafted
book with a wonderful wrap-around dust jacket (by Nicholas
Jainschigg). Unfortunately, I found the contents less interesting.
But as I said, if you are a Lovecraft aficionado, your reaction
will probably differ, and I certainly recommend you at least
investigate this.
(This has nothing to do with this book, but I would like to commend
my public library, which has the Kelly and Garcia y Robertson
volumes. It is unusual for a public library to track the small
press arena, and I'm quite pleased that my library does so.) [-
ecl]
===================================================================
5. The 1998 Toronto International Film Festival (film reviews and
commentary by Mark R. Leeper) (part 2 of 6)
09/11/98
I slept late for me, past 8am, but then we don't have a film until
11:30. We went to a restaurant called Fran's and I had steak and
eggs, a rarity for me but there will be no time for lunch.
Evelyn is planning for Kate how she can go to every bookstore in
the area in a sort of biblio-blitz of titanic proportions. It is
not enough that she is seeing 40-some films.
After a walk up Yonge Street, stopping at a bookstore, Evelyn and I
lined up at the Uptown and talked to the couple behind us about
travel. While we were standing there there was a large commotion
in the street. Apparently it is a local tradition is to have the
incoming freshmen parade through the street. It is a raucous
annual event. It takes 15 or 20 minutes for the parade to go by.
It was a huge turnout of college kids.
FLOWERS OF SHANGHAI (Taiwan/Japanese, language: Chinese with
subtitles)
CAPSULE: Static and dull story set in Shanghai brothels of the
1880s. The camerawork of this film is minimal and we basically
have a stage play in which almost all of the action is offstage.
Nice historic recreations of room decor cannot make this film
interesting to audiences. Rating: 3 (0 to 10) -1 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
- 124 minutes, but seems a lot longer.
- Film constructed of long sequences set in beautifully
appointed rooms. Long pauses between dialog. Camera just
shifts to the character speaking so whole scene appears shot
in one take.
- 1880s Shanghai brothels. Character names like Crimson and
Jade. To Western eyes may be hard to tell major characters
apart.
- Music sounds like done on one-string instrument. Very
downbeat.
- Early scenes in heavy sepia tone though later ones seem to use
more natural colors.
- Characters seem to be forever eating, drinking tea, smoking,
and gossiping.
- Every scene ends in slow fade to black.
- Only two scenes have any action beyond talk.
- Very much like a stage play.
- Some sort of numbers game repeatedly played over banquets, but
not clear what the rules are. It looks something like our
Evens and Odds.
- Women seem to be involved with little but jealousy, hatred,
and greed.
- Style reminiscent of Fassbinder's EFFIE BRIEST.
- Shown in a large theater, but many people walking out.
- Better knowledge of Chinese culture might have helped.
Over to the Cumberland for...
APRIL STORY (Japanese with subtitles)
CAPSULE: A pleasant slice-of-life about a woman from Hokkaido
adapting to life at a Tokyo University. Toward the end there is a
twist and the viewer discovers the plot has been developing all
along. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), high +1 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Shunji Iwai
- Young woman leaving Hokkaido to go to Musashino University in
Tokyo.
- Slice-of-life style just shows what life is like adjusting to
her tiny dorm room, her nervousness about meeting new
classmates, We also see her recreation as she goes to a
movie, becomes a regular at a local bookstore, makes a few
friends, joins a school fishing club. Her life seems very
lonely.
- Story could have taken place in England, US, Canada, etc.
- Dorms in Japan seem very depressing. Tiny rooms, rundown
walls, rust on metal.
- Appears to be snowing when she leaves Hokkaido and when she
arrives in Tokyo. You realize in Tokyo it is actually not
snow but apple blossoms falling. There is a pleasant musical
theme as the score. It seems to be played on a single piano.
- Film is short, about 67 minutes. Seems like it could be an
afternoon TV program for high school girls.
We had dinner at a place called FORKCHOPS that offered Japanese
style bowls of soup. It seemed to go with the film and soup is a
filling dinner.
AFTER LIFE (Japanese with subtitles)
CAPSULE: The recently dead must each choose the most memorable
moment of their lives to have them filmed. Once this process is
complete they can continue on to heaven. The film combines
documentary footage with interviews with dramatic storytelling. A
little slow at times, but worthwhile over all. Rating: 6 (0 to
10), high +1 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Hirokazu Kore-Eda.
- When one dies, according to the premise of this film, each
person must choose the best moment of his life to have it
recreated on film, then to live it for eternity. One gets a
week complete with advisors to get this accomplished. This is
the story of one week in this odd purgatory.
- The building used for this purpose seems to be some sort of
old school building. It is one much in needing of a
repainting. There is a staff of advisors, many with their own
problems, trying to help the dead in their task by counseling
them on what moment to choose and then helping them to get it
filmed.
- Much of the film is real documentary footage of people
choosing and talking about the most significant moment in
their lives. Actors hired for the film and when possible they
talked about moments from their lives. Only the actors who
had scripted key moments were those who were needed for the
story. This use of interview material reminiscent of some
Aardman animated films.
- Not clear why the moments chosen by the dead had to be filmed
by them except that the director had the facilities. Only one
or two moments are seen being filmed.
VERY BAD THINGS (United States)
CAPSULE: Five friends at a stag party are involved in the
accidental killing of a prostitute. The cover-up attempt becomes a
monster that eats up the friends, two wives and several innocent
bystanders. This was a real audience pleaser at Toronto, but it
did not do much for me. Rating: 4 (0 to 10), low 0 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Peter Berg who acted in THE LAST SEDUCTION and
COPLAND.
- Five buddies go on a stag outing to Las Vegas while Cameron
Diaz works through the logistics of her upcoming wedding to
one of them. One of the buddies accidentally kills a
prostitute.
- Several people with no moral compass. They started out with a
simple, innocent little cocaine party (!) and by accident look
what happened. They have one moral person among them (Daniel
Stern), and one totally amoral person (Christian Slater). It
is more selfish to let the amoral lead, so they do.
- This film is strange, but not really funny or biting. Black
comedy should actually be funny as well as strange. There
should be some element of satire. The satire is missing here.
I did not find myself laughing here either. What we have is a
strange crime tale.
- One just does not care what happens to these people.
- The same idea of people just getting themselves in deeper and
deeper has been done frequently. If this film is popular it
is just bringing a familiar plot to a new generation.
- It begins like DINER (particularly with Daniel Stern) and ends
up like an extended horror/crime comic book.
- There are several logical holes in script. If a security man
goes to investigate a complaint and disappears, wouldn't the
guests he was investigating be the first suspects? Someone
framed for a crime in the way shown would be judged innocent
after minimal forensic detective work. (I am desperately
trying to avoid making this a spoiler.)
- Popular and situation ethics get a real slamming.
- Some acting of grief is hammy and overdone. More yelling than
humor.
I left the theater by the back way since I was late to line up for
the next film. There were a bunch of limousines waiting for
celebrities. The limousines were all decorated with "Just Married"
to fool people. How many people you know have a fancy marriage
with limousines at 10:00 at night?
PERDITA DURANGO (Spanish, in English and Spanish with subtitles)
CAPSULE: Lots of gunplay, some humor. The further adventures from
one of the characters from WILD AT HEART. The title character runs
into a sexy Mexican Santeria priest and they decide to kidnap some
bland Americans and eat them. Pretty weird stuff. Rating: 4 (0 to
10), 0 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Alex de la Iglesia.
- Rosie Perez in an obviously very counter-culture film. Javier
Bardem also stars as the killer and Santeria priest Romeo
Doloroso. Screamin' Jay Hawkins also appears. Perez plays
Perdita Durango, the same character played by Isabella
Rossellini in David Lynch's WILD AT HEART.
- No characters to identify with. Main character wants to
kidnap and eat people to make a statement.
- Lots of running gags, explosions, gunplay, running gags, cars
hitting people, and running gags.
- A little of John Waters-like take on American culture.
- Colorful but overly long.
- Obviously a film that got a budget but it is not clear the
intended audience besides hip midnight crowds.
- Possibly lost on Canadian or American audience: Romeo robs a
bank disguised as Santo, a Mexican movie hero and professional
wrestler.
- Simon Boswell's musical score is very dramatic.
The film got over about 2:20 and got back to the room about 2:50
and we were asleep by 3:10, enough time to get some sleep before
our 9 AM film. But not enough.
09/12/98
Up early and rushing to our first film. I buy a bottle of fruit
juice. I will drink it in line and watching the first movie. Also
I have stuffed in the pockets of my photovest an individual serving
box of cereal. We got a variety pack before we left home for just
this purpose.
JEANNE AND THE PERFECT GUY (French with English Subtitles)
CAPSULE: How do you tell a now fairly familiar love story set in
the time of AIDS? The French do it by turning it into a light
musical. Virginie Ledoyen is charming as a young woman who finds
her new lover is HIV-positive. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), low +2 (-4 to
+4)
- Directed by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau
- The musical is not my favorite genre of film. Musicals got
too big with ornate production numbers in the US and fell
apart of their own weight. Woody Allen tried his own hand at
the musical with EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU. It just did not
work for me. The French have a better approach. They do not
build the story around huge production numbers. They just
tell their story and at various moments a character will sing
a simple song. Perhaps there will be a few dance steps.
- Virginie LeDoyen plays a switchboard operator who rarely is
lacking a bed-partner. But Jeanne is anxious to find a
perfect lover. She finds one, Olivier LaGrange (Mathieu
Demy), on the underground, only to find he is HIV positive.
Without her realizing it they have a mutual friend, a gay
school professor who knows Olivier from ACT-UP, the AIDS
activist group.
- Hard to imagine Jeanne is this promiscuous and this is the
first time she has been touched by AIDS.
- Musical numbers seem to start up very naturally. Often they
are on unexpected subjects like Tsing-tao Beer or foreign
workers singing how they cannot get naturalization papers.
- Most of the plot twists are predictable.
- Last scene of film very different that what we would have in
an American film.
After the movie we went to find a place to sit down. A cafe had
some chairs they had chained up and they were using so we sat and
wrote. Unfortunately I sat under an overhang and a local pigeon
used me for target practice. Good shot, dammit.
LAST NIGHT (Canadian)
CAPSULE: The world will come to an end at midnight. Everyone knows
it and must make a final peace with the last hours of their lives.
This is an intelligent science fiction film with no special
effects, just personalities and ideas. Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high
+2 (-4 to +4)
- It is the last night of the planet and several different
people are reacting each in their own way to the end. The
film covers 6 PM to midnight. The main character is Patrick
played by David McKellan who also wrote and directed.
- Reminiscent of ON THE BEACH. But much more so of a story
Richard Matheson wrote, "The Last Day." (P.S. On rereading
the 1953 Matheson, this film is almost a loose adaptation of
that story. The similarities may be mere coincidence, but
they are numerous and they are very striking.)
- US release may be problematical. The title is lackluster and
non-memorable, though very appropriate when you know about the
film. Also provincial Americans may not care about the end of
the world coming to Toronto. They probably would feel it
would not affect them. Perhaps a PBS release would be
possible.
- Patrick's family has declared it Christmas and are hurt that
the (adult) children will not spend the whole evening with
them.
- Grocery stores mostly looted. It seems though that one of
everything is left.
- Some people continue business as usual, some want sex, some
react with religion, some riot. Some people are in total
denial.
- Much comedy, much drama.
- Very Canadian cast.
- It does not get dark. It is just always daytime.
- Radio playing "Last Night I Didn't Get to Sleep At All." How
appropriate.
- David Cronenberg as a kind of bland functionary manager at the
gas company. Genvieve Bujold as French teacher visiting
former student.
- Science fiction film with no special effects, cost about two
million dollars.
- The person you have been thrown together with by chance
becomes the most important person to you for the rest of your
life.
- Why would it be so precisely at midnight? What about other
time zones? What is the nature of what is destroying the
world?
We had lunch at an Indian restaurant Mr. Mahaaraja. I had a thali
that featured calimari. The sauce was much better than at most
Indian restaurants in the US. We talked to two women in a
restaurant who were asking about our palmtops.
[to be continued] [-mrl]
Mark Leeper
MT 3E-433 732-957-5619
mleeper@lucent.com
Transcendental numbers occupy a position in the
field of real or complex numbers much like that of
insects in the kingdom of animals. Everybody knows
they are, by a large margin, the most abundant class,
but few know more than one or two of them by name.
-- Donald R. Newman