THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
11/15/02 -- Vol. 21, No. 20
Big Cheese: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Little Cheese: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
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Topics:
Goodbye, Old Friend (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
More on Tuber Intelligence (letter of comment by Tom Russell)
bmwfilms.com (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
THE RING (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
ALIVE (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
ARARAT (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Goodbye, Old Friend (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
(Am I the only one who thinks about these things?) I was
discussing the film THE WIZARD OF OZ with a correspondent. These
days it is Toto I think about. It has been observed that
throughout the film Dorothy lucks into her good fortune and Toto
is the real hero. Dorothy kills the two evil witches each
unintentionally. Her house falls on one and the other one just
gets into the way. The real hero of the film is Toto. Toto is
the one who figures how to escape from the witch's castle. He
jumps from the closing drawbridge to the rocks below. "Run, Toto,
Run!" Toto returns to the dangerous Haunted Forest to get the
Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Cowardly Lion. The Scarecrow says
"He's come to take us to Dorothy!" That is just what Toto does.
It is Toto who gets suspicious of the wizard and unveils what is
really going on. The truth is that there are five characters in
the heroic party, but four of them just let events happen to them.
They get out of difficulties by chance. They are all indebted,
unstated, to Toto. At the end Dorothy is going to be fine with
all she has learned. Toto on the other hand is still living under
a death sentence for supposedly biting Elvira Gulch and Dorothy no
longer seems to be concerned the dog whose heart, whose courage,
and whose brains came in so handy. If such indifference and gross
ingratitude is what Oz taught Dorothy was it really worth the
trip? [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: More on Tuber Intelligence (letter of comment by Tom Russell)
I enjoyed your "Tuber Intelligence" (11/1/02 MT VOID).
Have you read the little book "A Guide for the Perplexed" by
E. F. Schumacher? He categorizes "levels of being:"
M = minerals;
M+x = plants, where x ~ "life;"
M+x+y = animals, where y ~ "consciousness;"
M+x+y+z = humans, where z ~ "self awareness."
(I'm condensing his ideas a lot.)
What's interesting is
(1) the difficulty in making such a categorization, and
(2) the problem of certain cases, such as potatoes which seem
to be "conscious" of their environment.
So perhaps potatoes are not just inert globs waiting to be fried or
covered with gravy. After all, they have eyes, don't they?
It is interesting to ponder why Schumacher used x/y/z instead of
a/b/c. Using "z" for the defining attribute of humans implies
humans are the ultimate level of life. But "Beast Master," ESP
and God are all, perhaps, some possible higher levels of life, to
say nothing of all those ETs, brain implants, Frankenstein
monsters, robots, and John Malkovich beings. These ideas
notwithstanding, there is no more way for us to contemplate truly
higher life forms than there is for a potato to conceive of us.
The cosmos is very, very big. Somewhere in a galaxy not too far
away there is a race of higher-order spuds. They have mounted
their own SETI program (search for extra-tubular intelligence)
and have been horrified at Earth's couch-potato fare (especially
"Ranch" potato chips). They are on their way here to make amends.
We are in for an Attack of the Killer Potatoes. That is, once they
are victorious in their defense against Darth Turnip. But to be
safe I would stay away from Maine and Idaho. [-tr]
===================================================================
TOPIC: bmwfilms.com (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Some really interesting car ads are showing up, but I am afraid
these short films may be a very bad symptom for cinema. I hope
they are not too much of a harbinger of things that are coming.
You wouldn't think it to look at it, but the story starts with
rationing in Britain in World War II. Things were very short in
Britain and the Brits learned to do without some very common
things. It was things like meat, eggs, butter, sugar, petrol,
jelly, and I don't know what all else. The United States had
the same problem, but we were an industrial giant and at least
when the war was over things became available much more quickly.
Housing took a while since the demand did not really increase
until the war was over and all those men who previously had been
housed by Uncle Sammy started looking for new places to live and
start a baby boom. Britain was not as resilient and it took a
fair chunk of time before life got comfortable again.
As one tiny facet of this situation, British novelist Ian
Fleming characterized his main character, James Bond, as someone
who had a cultured taste for opulent living and the finer things
in life. These were things the public dreamed about but could
not get. Fleming used recognizable brand names to characterize
his secret agent. That characterization carried over to the
films made from his books. At some point not long after,
somebody noticed that these tastes of Bond's amounted to
testimonials that were really valuable for advertising purposes.
The Bond films got into exploiting product placements, and of
course they were not alone in this. Many films had product
placements as a form of advertising. This was sort of a win-
win-lose situation. The people with products to advertise found
an effective medium. Unscrupulous film producers found a new
line of revenue to increase profits. Audiences lost because
they were buying a film and instead getting an advertisement.
Product placements were bad in many films not in the Bond
series, but still the Bond films led the way. MOONRAKER, one of
the worst of the Bond films in many ways, was very blatant about
the placements. In MOONRAKER each of four products somehow fit
into the script and *in addition*, during one scene Bond is
traveling down the road and passes one billboard for each of the
four products. There was very little subtlety.
Advertising directors started making TV ads that mimicked action
films. They might give you a minute-long scene that looked like
it came from an action film featuring a product like a car.
BMW, the car manufacturer, has gone a step further, as I have
just recently discovered. They are now making films
indistinguishable from Hollywood action films. They basically
are Hollywood action films and they are giving them away free on
their web site. These are action films with plots that have a
beginning, middle, and an end. Some seem to even have
director's commentaries. The only difference is that they are
six to nine minutes long including credit sequences. And they
have credits to advertise. They have directors like Ang Lee,
John Woo, and John Frankenheimer. The cast frequently has
familiar character actors in supporting roles: actors like Don
Cheadle, Maury Chaykin, Gary Oldman, and F. Murray Abraham.
The films all fit into a single series. They each have a chase
sequence in which a BMW car gets pretty badly beaten up and
apparently repaired or replaced before the next film. And the
same goes for the main character, known only as "The Driver."
The Driver is a Bond-like action hero played by English actor
Clive Owen. The downside is the Owen constantly looks like he
is auditioning to be picked for the role of James Bond. The
upside is that he probably would make a better Bond than Roger
Moore, Pierce Brosnan, or George Lazenby. He has an air of
confidence but with no sign of a smirk. Everything I think
would be good in a James Bond I think Owen could do. Owen has
been in a long list of films, but he is probably best known as
the lead in CROUPIER.
I learned about BMW films from a TV ad and did not expect much.
After all, they are basically just ads. Well, that is not true.
They are fairly entertaining films. As works of art, I suppose
that I am a little bothered that they camerawork is clearly
designed to show off the BMW in the car chase that is
predictably in each film. But I pay full theatrical admission
to films that do that. And many of those do not deliver
appreciably more of value than this film does. If BMW films are
being made on BMW's nickel I can easily overlook a product
placement. This is the tail wagging the dog. It is the product
placement that is the whole reason these films exist.
In the 1950s TV comedies would often have the commercial worked
into the format of the program. Character would stand around
commenting on the action of the program and somehow the
conversation would invariably get around to the brand of
cigarette they were smoking and why it was so popular. That was
made illegal at that time. Now filmmakers are getting around
that law. BMW Films are good ads that may set bad precedent.
Those interested in seeing these short action films may do so at
{http://usa.bmwfilms.com}. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: THE RING (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Investigating a strange urban legend that seems to have
come true enough to bring about a death, a news reporter finds a
strange path of sinister clues involving a bizarre surrealistic
videotape. This is a remake of a very strange Japanese horror
film. This is a somber and cold piece of eerie horror that has
more edge than most American horror the public gets these days.
Rating: 7 (0 to 10), +2 (-4 to +4)
It is said that in technology that the new ideas come from the
United States, but that Japan is more clever about marketing
them. An example is the VCR, which was developed in the United
States. The Japanese, however, took over the market and made it
their own far more effectively than the Americans did. In the
field of films, and particularly horror films, the sides soon
may well be reversed. The American and even the European horror
film tends to fall into ruts doing many of the same plots over
and over with variations mostly in style. How many films have a
vampire resurrected, he threatens people, and then he is killed
by some trick? How many films have a stalker, human or
supernatural, killing people in sequence? There are certainly
some variations in style, but the same basic stories get
repeated all too frequently. These days if you want bizarre and
fresh ideas in horror films, not always ones that work, but at
least they are new, my recommendation would be to look at the
Japanese horror film. Japanese horror filmmakers--once content
to make endless versions of THE GHOST OF YOTSUYA--now seem to be
making the most original horror films. American filmmakers may
well in the future find themselves borrowing ideas from Japanese
horror film.
In THE RING there is a popular story, apparently an urban
legend. The legend says that if you watch a particular
videotape with strange surreal visual images, then as soon as
you finish it you get a phone call telling you that you have
just seven days to live. Sure enough, just seven days later you
really do die. A teenager who sees the tape is skeptical, but
in fact dies just 168 hours later. This brings newspaper
reporter Rachel Keller (played by Naomi Watts) in to investigate
the strange tape and clear up the mystery of the tape's origin.
Rather than clearing things up, she finds herself in a deeper
and deeper mystery involving the images on the tape.
We go along with the investigation with the sometime too-
convenient clues fitting together in ways that seem not to make
sense. For once we have a story that works with the weird and
unexpected rather than with gore. This is a horror film with
ideas but with little gore beyond nosebleeds. As Keller's
investigation continues, we find a lot of what is on the tape
making more sense, but there is a lot that is not explained in
the film. Perhaps we understand the images on the tape, but
there is a lot that still does not make sense about the very
existence of the tape and why it has its powers. We are given
enough to believe everything is explicable, but there is still a
lot that never gets explained. It is expecting too much that
all will be clear in the end. Odd details are added too quickly
and with too much abandon for that to be true. Easy answers do
not fit into this strange spirit world of the ring.
Gore Verbinski directs THE RING with a cold but effective style.
Somewhat like SIGNS of earlier this year, tension is created
over the unknown and the unexpected. The fear is not so much of
physical danger, but of just the impenetrability of the mystery.
Every outdoor scene seems to take place in mist or rain. The
viewer feels a palpable and tangible physical chill. The quick
eye catches Verbinski throwing in subliminal images,
particularly of the ring itself.
In supporting roles are Jane Alexander of TESTAMENT and the
creepy Scotish actor Brian Cox, the screen's first Hannibal
Lector (curiously spelled "Lecktor" in RED DRAGON). THE RING is
a real departure from the usual fare of American horror films.
While I personally find it very difficult to really be
frightened by any horror film, this film certainly caught me
with an air of tension. I rate it a 7 on the 0 to 10 scale and
a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: ALIVE (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: This is a live-action Japanese science fiction film
heavily influenced by manga comic books. A prisoner survives
his electric-chair execution only to be used in a weird
experimental test involving aliens and witchcraft. This should
have been intriguing material but the characters are one-
dimensional and the style over-dramatic. This is a film with a
lot of sound and fury on a very small stage. Rating: 4 (0 to
10), low 0 (-4 to +4)
Last year Ryuhei Kitamura brought his premier film, VERSUS, to
the Toronto Festival. He had co-written and directed it. This
year he brings his second film, ALIVE. This film, like that
one, is based on a Japanese manga comic book. ALIVE is a film
for an action audience shot on a minimal budget, an unusual
combination. The film takes place mostly on three small
claustrophobic sets. A man survives electric-chair execution.
Though the State and all who knew him think he is dead, he
actually has been moved to a strange hyper-tech cell and is
taking part in a weird experiment. The prisoners can ask for
whatever they want as long as they stay is the cell, which is
forever apparently. The experiment has something to do with a
strange alien organism that attacks a body like a disease and
slowly takes over so that it is in control. Once in control the
victim becomes an ideal killing machine for all those pesky
government administrative tasks that really need ideal killing
machines. This film has ideas. Probably it has too many ideas
for its own good. Witchcraft enters into the story and aliens.
That is a combination that I do not remember ever seeing before.
But the characters are flat and never developed beyond the point
of being icons. Without characters the plot becomes dry and
uninteresting in spite of the ideas explosive if confined
action. For an action film the plot progresses at a snail's
pace. That is because the action scenes are handled in the slow
operatic and hyper-dramatic manner pioneered by Sergio Leone.
Many of the visuals are now almost cliche. We have the big
back-lit fans that cast constantly moving beams of light. Sets
are decorated with unfathomable electronic gizmos on the wall.
The film is just a tangle of video game-style fights without
much reason for the viewer to care who will win. I rate ALIVE a
4 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low 0 on the -4 to +4 scale. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: ARARAT (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Atom Egoyan tries to make a film that is both one of
his puzzle films and at the same time is about the Armenian
holocaust. The film simply doesn't work. It is incoherent,
confusing, and in places absurd. This is a real disappointment
from a good filmmaker. Rating: 4 (0 to 10), 0 (-4 to +4)
Atom Egoyan's ARARAT is a film aimed at reminding the world of
atrocities against Armenians in pre-Ataturk Turkey. Let me say
at the outset that I am not knowledgeable enough to meaningfully
endorse either side's point of view on this chapter of history.
I like both peoples and will not take sides. I will not
consider the degree of truth of the political statement this
film makes in my review. I will say however that somewhere
buried in ARARAT is a heartfelt statement, but it does not do
much good for either side of the conflict. I very much liked
Egoyan's EXOTICA, THE SWEET HEREAFTER, and FELICIA'S JOURNEY and
am much surprised to find Egoyan's film on a subject so near to
his heart so jumbled and confused.
In ARARAT, a film is being shot about the Turkish offensive in
an Armenian province in 1915. Meanwhile one man, Raffi, goes to
Turkey to shoot some footage for the film. He is in love with
his unrelated stepsister. The stepsister has serious issues
with their mutual mother, who is a historical advisor on the
film. A customs officer (Christopher Plummer) stops Raffi on
the way back to Toronto. The customs officer has his own
problems with his son and his son's male lover. Raffi tells the
customs officer the story of the movie, which we see recreated
as both the original incidents and scenes in the movie being
shot. A half-Turk in the film playing a Turkish officer has
doubts about the film's lean toward the Armenian side. By an
odd coincidence, he is the lover of the customs officer's son.
The customs officer also had previously hassled the film's
director. This is just too much coincidence interconnecting
characters lives.
This is easily the most convoluted and complex plot I have seen
in a film for many years. One can only speculate why Egoyan
would embed his story of the Armenian resistance so deeply in
this plate of story-line spaghetti. If the individual plot
lines added substantially to the tale of the holocaust it would
be more understandable, but beyond saying that the past still
hangs over present-day Armenians, this part of the story is more
distraction.
The telling is muddled and makes it far to difficult to piece
together what is happening. This story is pulling in so many
directions that Egoyan blunts his real point. Most of this plot
is just a distraction from what Egoyan wanted most to say. He
would have done far better to make the internal story rather
than simply claiming some other fictional director is making it.
That just contradicts his (false) statement that the Armenian
Holocaust is forgotten. There is no explanation why a Canadian
customs officer would interrogate a man entering the country
about the Armenian Holocaust, nor why he would argue for the
Turkish side. It is just about the most artificial and least
believable way to present the history and to present much of it
as arguments by "talking heads."
Simply put, ARARAT is a film that does not succeed where a less
talented filmmaker could have easily made a film that worked far
better. In an introduction Egoyan said that this film was
inspired by Istvan Szabo's recent SUNSHINE. That film, however,
much more effectively made its points. I think Egoyan
experimented with a different style, but the experiment failed.
This is a rare instance of a film about the making of a film,
where the interior film looks better than the outer one. I rate
this ARARAT a 4 on the 0 to 10 scale and a 0 on the -4 to +4
scale. [-mrl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Jews don't go camping. Life is hard enough
as it is.
--Carol Siskind
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