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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 11/20/98 -- Vol. 17, No. 21
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.iplus.zetnet.co.uk. Infinity Plus -
The SF & Fantasy Archive. An archive of fiction and non-fiction by
authors such as Stephen Baxter, Greg Egan, and James Patrick
Kelley. [-ecl]
===================================================================
2. Just a month or so ago we came to the time of year most Jewish
kids used to look forward to when I was growing up. It is that
period just after the holiday season, when we have no more Jewish
holidays we have to pay attention to for about another six months.
I know. That sounds a little crazy, doesn't it? Holidays are
supposed to be something that you look forward to. They are the
bright spots on the calendar. Well, wake up and smell the coffee.
Not all cultures are alike.
For some time I have been acutely aware that disliking holidays is
something that is not as true in other religions. In most
religions holidays are things to look forward to. They are sort of
a reward for the putting up with the daily grind. Frankly I always
preferred the times that were not Jewish holidays. So did most of
the Jewish kids I grew up with. I won't say that Jewish holidays
are all unpleasant--mostly because I have been trained not to say
it and I expect some sort of Divine Retribution. But I will say
this. But no matter how bad things got when I was growing up, I
usually could tell myself at least it wasn't a Jewish holiday.
Jews have two kinds of holidays, the unpleasant ones and the joyous
ones. It takes an expert to tell them apart. The unpleasant ones
we do like we have been doing them 3000 years and must carry on the
tradition. The joyous ones we do with the uncertainty as if they
were really invented some time around the time around the mid-60s
and we still don't quite have the hang of them. Jews are just not
quite sure how to enjoy themselves on the joyous holidays.
I don't know for sure what it is like in other religions, but
Jewish holidays are not really exciting for a kid. Jewish holidays
are more occasions of responsibility. For the serious holidays you
have the responsibility to participate in certain rituals. For the
pleasant holidays you have the responsibility to participate in
certain rituals. But in addition you have the responsibility to
enjoy the holiday. There might be some fun things to do, but
usually they get skipped.
I guess that Christians really enjoy Christmas. Boy, do Christians
enjoy Christmas. They can't wait for things like the lighting of
the Rockefeller Center tree. This is early November and it has
already been lit. That is about a sixth of the year that the thing
is lit. I think by the year 2050 they will not bother ever
shutting the thing down. Then you get to December and you cannot
escape Christmas music just about wherever you go. Chanukah is not
the same sort of thing, somehow. It is okay and it is nice to have
a gift-giving occasion, but it is not like non-Jews think. First,
to lay one myth to rest, you don't get a gift every night of
Chanukah. We didn't anyway. We exchanged gifts the first night
only. Chanukah was always a sort of low-rent version of
Christmas--a sort of a "me too" holiday. Rather than all the
tree-trimming and stocking-hanging and the other razzmatazz, in
theory you celebrate Chanukah by eating potato pancakes and playing
a game where you spin a top called a dreidl. Betwe
So after we got gifts on the first night, Chanukah had already
outstayed its welcome and there were still seven nights to go. The
traditional fun game of Chanukah is dreidl. I can't even tell you
the letters on the side of a dreidl. The traditional Chanukah gift
is money or pieces of chocolate clad in foil to look like money.
Like the myth that Jews are particularly mercenary isn't bad
enough: we give candy money at Chanukah. But believe it or not,
Chanukah was always a very minor festival. It only became
important these days because it was at about the same time as
Christmas and it had some tradition of gift-giving. (More next
week.) [-mrl]
===================================================================
3. GOING HOME AGAIN by Howard Waldrop (Eidolon Publications, ISBN
0-9586864-0-8, 1997, 223pp, A$19.95) (St. Martin's, ISBN 0-
9586864-0-8, 1998, 223pp, US$22.95) (a book review by Evelyn C.
Leeper):
Back in 1979, Baird Searles and friends wrote a book titled A
READER'S GUIDE TO SCIENCE FICTION, the main part of which consisted
of short biographies/descriptions of science fiction writers, each
ending with a paragraph saying, "If you like [this writer], you
should also try [these other writers]." At the end of R. A.
Lafferty's section, they said, "There is no one who writes like R.
A. Lafferty, so if you like one of his books find some more." If
Howard Waldrop had been included in that volume, that's what they
would have said about him as well.
For example, "El Castillo de la Perseverancia" is about Mexican
masked wrestlers. (Note: It was written three years before Jesse
"The Body" Ventura put wrestling on the front pages.)
"Flatfeet!" has the Keystone Kops careening through the major
events of the twentieth century, perfectly oblivious to them. Even
his "straight" alternate history stories ("You *Could* Go Home
Again," "Household Words; Or, the Powers-That-Be," "The Effects of
Alienation") focus on people like Thomas Wolfe, Charles Dickens, or
Peter Lorre rather than Hirohito or Hitler.
"The Sawing Boys" is Waldrop's retelling of the Grimms' Brementown
Musicians, a story that goes nowhere. "Why Did?" has its source in
the "Little Moron" jokes that used to make the rounds, not exactly
obvious material for a science fiction story. "Occam's Ducks" is
about shooting "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" as a race film. (I
suppose I should say that "race film" here means an all-black film
for black audiences, of the sort produced into 1920s and 1930s, and
not a film about horses. With Waldrop you could never be sure.)
And lastly is "Scientifiction," which I am at a loss to describe.
Waldrop also includes lengthy afterwords for each story, and a
complete bibliography of his work. He writes an introduction which
follows one by Lucius Shepard. Even if you had all the stories
(and given that one appeared in a World Fantasy program book and
another is original to this book, that is unlikely), the book would
be worth it for the supplementary material.
I have no idea why this got its first publication in Australia, but
now that it's available in the United States, Waldrop fans here
have no excuse for not buying it. [-ecl]
===================================================================
4. The 1998 Toronto International Film Festival (film reviews and
commentary by Mark R. Leeper) (part 7 of 10)
THE EXTRAORDINARY VISITOR (Canadian)
CAPSULE: John the Baptist is sent from Heaven to see is the world
is worth saving. He must find some sign of hope in the people of
Newfoundland. This is little more than a TV skit in movie form.
It is watchable and apparently will be released to theaters in
Canada, but it is unlikely to be seen on the international market.
It is diverting but hardly a serious piece of cinema. Rating: 4 (0
to 10), 0 (-4 to +4) Minor spoilers in this review.
- Written and directed by John W. Doyle.
- John the Baptist sent to St. John, Newfoundland. Gets an
invitation to live with a family. That extraordinary
hospitality for some reason does not count as a reason for
hope.
- Script has a lot of holes.
- Friend who adopts John is surprisingly militant and is
planning actions to destabilize Wall Street.
- John does look Middle Eastern, but somehow one expects John
the Baptist to be more dramatic.
- There is a conspiracy in the Vatican riding on the result of
the visit, though that result seems small compared to the end
of the world.
- Big yucks like seeing a nun give the Pope a pedicure and evil
Pope's aid praying to a Mendes goat.
- In large part a satire of life in Newfoundland taking licks at
things like the poor produce. The one good tomato in grocery
(by virtue of a miracle) "must have fallen off the truck to
Toronto."
- Based on a 20-minute short film.
CLAY PIGEONS (United States)
CAPSULE: A non-murderer who broke the law avoiding a possible
murder charge finds himself deeper and deeper in trouble. The plot
is tightly written and reminiscent of Hitchcock's FRENZY. Tightly
paced and well acted. Only the very last sequence rings false.
Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high +2 (-4 to +4)
- Nice vicious murder mystery with a patsy caught in the middle.
- Should appeal to the same audience that liked RED ROCK WEST.
- The viewer (almost always) knows what is going on, but the web
of events becomes tighter and tighter around the neck of Clay
(Joaquin Phoenix).
- Great little suspense thriller set in Montana (though filmed
in Utah). Having caught Clay fooling around with his wife
Amanda (Georgina Cates), one guy commits suicide, framing Clay
for murder. Clay decides to cover up the suicide starting a
bigger and bigger chain of events linking him with other
murders.
- Vince Vaughn steals the film as Lester Long. Vaughn is very
natural in front of a camera with an easy charm and grace.
(P.S. He also was good in RETURN TO PARADISE and is going to
play Norman Bates in the new version of PSYCHO.)
- Sarcastic FBI agent played by Janeane Garofalo. "A murder
scene is not crowd-appropriate." (That sounds a lot like
Garofalo's own style of humor and may well have been ad-
libbed.) She makes fun of deputy named Barney.
- Sound editing has loud noises on soundtrack, made this
audience jump.
- Final scene does not make sense logically.
09/16/98
We could sleep in a little more this morning since our first film
was not until 10. We ate at a sit-down restaurant. I had eggs and
toast. We got to the theater and found a line. I guess the show
from last night had not let out. Right.
THE HOLE (Taiwan/French with subtitles)
CAPSULE: A science fiction allegory. At the Millennium a lethal
contagious virus has hit Taiwan. Officials have cut off water and
other services to the center of contagion. Life there devolves and
degenerates. A man in an apartment has a hole in his floor and
with it harasses his downstairs neighbor. A slow but harrowing
film to be missed if possible. Rating: 2 (0 to 10), low -1 (-4 to
+4)
- The Taiwan Virus is ravaging Taiwan and the part of the city
that is the center of the contagion has been evacuated of
anyone who will go. One apartment building still houses
people. A woman, formerly an office worker, (Yang Kuei-mei)
is tormented by her upstairs neighbor (Lee Kang-sheng) who has
a hole cut by a plumber in the floor and is using it as a
drain. Neighbor runs a small failing grocery store.
- To make things more depressing, it is constantly raining hard.
- Upstairs neighbor vomits through, pours water, etc. A small
and almost entirely one-sided war starts. Allegory about
callousness and selfishness.
- Woman is living on a pile of rolls of toilet tissue.
- Incongruous songs added to show downstairs neighbors dreams.
These are the songs of popular Taiwanese singer Grace Chang.
- Apartment is falling apart. Wallpaper is separating from
walls. Plumbing is failing.
- Boredom shown by long cuts in which nothing happens. A lot of
film seems to be used up.
- This story might have been done much better as a ten-minute
animated film.
- Stars are considered to be great dramatic actors by one
reviewer.
- This film seems longer at 95 minutes most two-hour films.
THE GIRAFFE (German/Swiss, In English and German with subtitles)
CAPSULE: An anti-Semitic incident in Germany sparks a murder and
starts events connected with a 50-year old mystery involving the
Holocaust and two people claiming to be the same person. This is a
well-crafted thriller. Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high +2 (-4 to +4)
Minor spoilers in this review.
- Dani Levi directed. He and Maria Schrader co-wrote, and star.
- Two women unknowingly share the same identity. When the
factory of a wealthy Jew in Germany is torched by anti-
Semites, and it appears in a New York newspaper, an American
Holocaust survivor recognizes the victim as her own father
whom she had assumed was killed by the Nazis. She tries to
contact her father only to find out that there is a woman in
Germany who has lived in her father's household since the war
also claiming to be the same daughter. Two elderly women are
each sure they are the same person. When the New Yorker is
mysteriously murdered, her son decides to investigate the
mystery on his own.
- Action takes place in New York and in Germany.
- Daughter of the German woman and the son of the American woman
form an uneasy alliance to try to find out what has happened,
against the recommendation of a Jewish Defense League lawyer
played by Davis Strathairn.
- Some of early action is intentionally mysterious to be
intriguing.
- View of New York Orthodox (but not Hassidic) community.
Includes such stereotypic roles as the matchmaker.
- A complex plot told in a crisp style.
- Director has a real ethnic mix of characters in New York.
Mr. Submarine for lunch. I had a BBQ rib sandwich, but it will be
my last chance to eat before late tonight. At a film festival
there is time to watch film, eat, stand in lines, sit in dark
theaters waiting for films, walk between buildings, sleep
occasionally, hit the john. That is just about everything. I am
surprised I have been able to fit in time to write reviews.
CURE (Japanese with subtitles)
CAPSULE: A series of killings, each by a different killer seems to
have elements in common. One killer may be using mind control to
avoid being caught. A Japanese film with an effective concept for
a serial killer who would rival Hannibal Lector. Rating: 6 (0 to
10), high +1 (-4 to +4) Spoiler warning: nearly any description of
the premise will be something of a spoiler.
- Director is Kiyoshi Kurosawa has done many films in Japan,
mostly crime films, but this is first international film. It
is a different idea and one that is likely to be copied, or
would be if it were used in a film that got seen in this
country.
- There are a series of almost identical crimes, which would
point to one killer, but in each case the killer is caught and
it is a different person each time.
- Atmospheric horror-mystery. Reminiscent of FALLEN.
- Subdued color which creates a mood as effectively as black and
white.
- Pace is a little slow at times due to some long and lingering
camera shots.
- Detective trying to piece thing together in spite of personal
problems with a disturbed wife.
- Complex film with many things going on at once.
- Slow but effective horror film with deeper meanings about mind
control. Themes similar to THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.
LOVERS OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE (Spanish with subtitles)
CAPSULE: A tender love about love, fate, and the power of
coincidence. This is the story of Ana and Otto who love each other
from childhood, become foster brother and sister, lovers, and
finally have linked fates within the Arctic Circle. Rating: 7 (0
to 10), low +2 (-4 to +4)
- Written and directed by Julio Medem.
- Arctic plane crash under the credits, a teaser for what will
happen in the final reel.
- Story is told in chapters, usually alternating between "Otto"
and "Ana."
- Otto as a child loves paper airplanes. He flies dozens over
the school playground setting several plot lines in motion.
Otto's father meets Ana's mother and leaves Otto's mother for
her. Otto and Ana fall in love even though they are living
like brother and sister. They have a secret love affair in
their parents' house.
- Stories and flashbacks keep interconnecting with each other.
- Otto who has left his mother's house to live with his father
and Ana then blames himself for his mother's death. Theme of
guilt and shame.
- There is some nudity in some nicely filmed love scenes.
Spanish films usually seem to have interesting approaches to
their frequent nude scenes.
- Supposedly story is told from one character's point of view or
the other's. Yet scenes in which they come close but do not
see each other cannot be from either's point of view, or how
would they have known?
- Characters believe very heavily in power of coincidence and
coincidence is what drives the story. Some of the
coincidences are extremely far-fetched.
- End of film seems very contrived.
Following that we joined the crowds waiting to see APT PUPIL. I
sat next to a woman who was enthralled by Stephen King and horror
writers in general. I asked her if she liked Richard Matheson and
she had not heard of him. I told her something about him.
APT PUPIL (United States)
CAPSULE: A boy fascinated by the Holocaust finds a fugitive war
criminal living in his neighborhood. What follows is a battle for
power of each over the other. The theme of the Holocaust seems
misused. Good performance from Ian McKellan (so what else is
new?). Rating: 6 (0 to 10), 1 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Bryan Singer though APT PUPIL is not nearly as
good as his THE USUAL SUSPECTS.
- Todd Bowden (Brad Renfro) is fascinated by the Holocaust and
has memorized pictures of all the principles so he recognizes
Kurt Dussander "the Butcher of Treblinka" (Ian McKellan) when
he sees him on a cross-town bus. With photographs and
fingerprints he gets evidence that this Arthur Denker really
is the Kurt Dussander whom he thinks he has found, then
follows a game of power between the two. Initially Todd just
wants to hear an eyewitness account. But the game between the
two becomes more serious.
- We never find out why Todd is so interested or what his point
of view is. In the final analysis APT PUPIL has little to do
with the Holocaust. It is just there as an excuse why Todd
knows something that had can blackmail Denker with. In fact,
it ruins some of the credibility. Denker tries to blackmail
Todd by threatening going public. A war criminal would never
do that.
- Some shocking scenes where Todd uses Denker as a puppet.
- Todd wants to understand the Holocaust better than he can from
books but the script does not have anything for Dussander to
reveal about the Holocaust that is not already common
knowledge.
- When Todd's grades suffer, the guidance counselor makes an
offer to Todd that no high school would ever offer. It is
convenient for the plot, but makes no sense.
- Denker is fighting to defend a meaningless existence of
drinking whiskey and watching cartoons.
- It was not six million people killed in the Holocaust, it was
six million *Jews*. There were ten to twelve million *people*
killed. And a pie graph on the board seems to show only about
a third where it was really a much higher proportion.
- A simple documentary about the Holocaust like "Night and Fog"
is far more chilling than anything that Singer managed to get
on the screen. What is a single murder next to ten million
murders?
Back at the room I had some fruit juice and a candy bar.
09/17/98
Well, we can get a late start this morning with our first film not
on until 10 AM. Breakfast was at the Coach House. I realized
afterward that I had been overcharged. I will be more careful in
the future.
THE MAN WITH RAIN IN HIS SHOES (United Kingdom)
CAPSULE: The woman Victor loves is marrying another guy and his job
is going down the tubes. Then two magical junkmen give Victor a
chance to relive the last eight months again and he tries to avoid
the same mistakes. The characters are tiresome and familiar.
Rating: 4 (0 to 10), 0 (-4 to +4)
- First feature film by Maria Ripoll.
- Plot concept similar to GROUNDHOG DAY or upcoming TV series
SEVEN DAYS. Victor (Douglas Henshall) has really screwed up
the last eight months of his life. But he has been given
another chance not to lose Sylvia (Lena Headey) the woman he
loves. He finds things harder than he expected and requiring
more than just good intentions.
- Two mysterious Spanish junk men have the ability to send him
back in time and allow Vic to relive the past eight months and
not to hurt Sylvia.
- Elizabeth McGovern in a small role as a bartender whose wisdom
inspires Vic.
- All these young romantic films seem to have some nudity to
keep the audience titillated. It is unnecessary for this
story, but expected.
- Vic is not very smart in how he uses his memories of the first
time around. He says things that would make no sense to
anyone but himself and the audience, convincing people that he
is not all there.
- This film makes London look really, really ugly. The capper
is walls with signs saying "Please do not piss here."
- Title chosen to be intriguing, but has to be forced into the
film.
- Interesting in what can be changed and what cannot.
- Vic is not very likeable. He slashes tires and in general is
just not very appealing. It makes the audience not care if he
gets the woman he wants or not.
ANOTHER DAY IN PARADISE (United States)
CAPSULE: The overly familiar story of a gang of criminals hitting
the road. After initial success mistakes and internal tensions
take their toll. The moral is, of course, that crime does not pay.
What makes this one worthwhile is the fact that James Woods just
sizzles. Also starring Melanie Griffith. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), low
+2 (-4 to +4)
- Larry Clark, director of KIDS directs a script by Christopher
Landon and Stephen Chin, based on the book by Eddie Little.
- There is little variation in James Woods's screen persona, but
he does it so well.
- Mel (James Woods), Sid (Melanie Griffith), Bobby (Vincent
Kartheiser) and Rosie (Natasha Gregson Wagner). Uncredited
role for Lou Diamond Philips as Jules.
- Bobby and Rosie are junkies. Bobby supports them with
smalltime crime like robbing cigarette machines. When Bobby
is almost killed Mel saves his life, then realizes he would be
useful for an upcoming robbery. Mel decides to mentor Bobby
and Rosie. He tells Bobby that a professional thief does not
have risks. He has everything planned out.
- Melanie Griffith plays a likeable gun moll.
- Echoes of THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and of THEY LIVE BY NIGHT, among
others.
- Opens with bloody robbery. Some scenes are very, very
violent.
- Mel is dictatorial and gets angry fast. Also can be winning.
- Mel sets up drug deals with uneven results.
- Early on the gang is successful and the times are good, but it
cannot last, and it quickly becomes clear that this is not
much of a life anyone would want.
- Woods has a very powerful screen presence.
- This sort of story is very familiar. It has been done many
times before.
[to be continued] [-mrl]