THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
06/24/05 -- Vol. 23, No. 52 (Whole Number 1288)
El Presidente: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
The Power Behind El Pres: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
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Topics:
Increasing Interest in Science Fiction
Sailing Starry Seas (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Censorship (letter of comment by Taras Wolansky)
Hugo Nominees (letter of comment by Joe Karpierz)
Merlot (letter of comment by Pete Brady)
H. G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (film review
by Mark R. Leeper)
BATMAN BEGINS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
RIVER OF GODS by Ian McDonald (book review
by Joe Karpierz)
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF NEW JULES VERNE
ADVENTURES, MAMMOTH, and MEN OF MATHEMATICS)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Increasing Interest in Science Fiction
An article on James Gunn's attempts to increase interest in
written science fiction can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/9bmce.
===================================================================
TOPIC: Hobb's End (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
I was watching the film IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS. It has all
sorts of weird and evil things happening in the town of Hobb's
End. It actually the name is an allusion to my choice for the
best science fiction film ever made, QUATERMASS AND THE PIT. (It
is also known as FIVE MILLION YEARS TO EARTH. As an aside, it
used to be that I would bring this film up at science fiction
convention panels because nobody had heard of it and people were
missing a great film. The last time I did that the audience
applauded the film so I guess I can stop flogging this film. It
is no longer obscure.) In it, weird happenings go on at an
underground station called Hobb's End. I told Evelyn I don't
know why Hobb's End sounds so evil. Since the Middle Ages Hobb's
End has been known as a traditional kissing spot. (If you don't
get the joke, perhaps it is just as well.) [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Sailing Starry Seas (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
[Postscript placed at the beginning: As some of you may know,
this attempt ended in failure when the Russian missile
malfunctioned. Hopefully this is only a delay. --mrl]
Early fantasies of space travel envisioned ships pulled by teams
of birds or versions of balloons. Some fantastic accounts of
voyages into space pictured it being on flying ships like the
sailing ships in the seas. They were supposedly being propelled
by winds in space. Of course such things as space ships pulled
by sails would not really work. Not until now. I write this on
Tuesday, June 21, 2005, which may well become a historic date.
Not only is it the day of the year that we get the sunlight the
longest; it is also a day when we launch an elegant spacecraft
that will have a bold new use for that sunlight. Today is the
launch of a new design of spacecraft that has been the subject of
science fiction, but only that, for years.
The Cosmos 1 one hopes will be the first working solar-sail.
That is, it is a craft that uses as its power only the sun on a
giant solar sail. Among other things it does it adds a great
deal of prestige to the concept of Carl Sagan's Planetary
Society. When he was alive, Sagan championed the solar sail and
his widow, Ann Druyan, continues to champion it after his death.
Today is something of a triumph for Sagan. The unmanned craft
weighs in at only about 220 pounds and consists of a central
fuselage and eight triangular sails that will project out of the
core to a length of about fifty feet.
As if that was not dramatic enough, the means of its being placed
in orbit is also spectacular. A Russian Delta III submarine in
the Barents Sea will launch a Volna missile carrying the Cosmos
I. This missile has been converted into a two-stage rocket that
will carry the Cosmos I into space orbit. On Friday, the day of
this notice, the Mylar sails will open up and catch the light of
the sun. Mylar is the light, thin, shiny material that party
balloons are frequently made of. Sunlight may not seem to exert
a whole lot of force, but it is enough to push the Cosmos I.
Force is mass times acceleration. The mass has been kept as
small as possible. Unfortunately the force is not very large
either so the acceleration will be small. But the craft will be
in space, five hundred miles up, where there is no atmosphere to
slow it. It will just sit there in orbit very slowly
accelerating. It will gain about four miles per hour each hour.
After a while that will be enough speed to do something with.
Among the things it will do will be to achieve a higher orbit.
Even there the mission of this craft will be limited. The life
of the struts for the sails is measured in weeks so this little
craft will not go very far. The pressurized gas that keeps
Cosmos 1's ribs in place will probably leak eventually. The
ship's orbit will decay and it will burn up in the atmosphere. A
more durable version might go to Mars or considerably beyond.
This is not the first solar-sail in space. The Japanese have
already sent up two to test sail deployment, but not to actually
use the propulsion. This is actually the second attempt by the
planetary society. A previous attempt to send up two-sail model
failed to separate from the delivery rocket and crashed in
Kamchatka, Russia. This technology may be somewhat limited. Its
relation to rockets is sort of like the relation an air balloon
has to a powered airplane. It is more graceful, but less
powerful. At least if the sails are strong enough a solar-sail
does not run out of fuel. Ever. But the sail-ships are getting
attention. Both NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration
Agency are working on solar-sail projects. A spokesman for The
Planetary Society says that they will not be able to compete with
NASA for long and that the large scale projects are going to be
NASA's in the future. The competition between the Planetary
Society and NASA could hardly be friendlier since each is hoping
the other will be successful. But being privately funded, the
Planetary Society cannot long compete. The price of this
experiment is about four million dollars.
Because the Cosmos I has an orbit of 78-degree inclination it
should be visible in the sky from most of the earth at one time
or another. There is not much north of 78-degress north or south
of 78-degrees south.
"Solar sailing is really the only known technology that could
potentially take us to the stars one day, because it does not
have to carry fuel with it and because it can keep accelerating--
even at incredible distances," said Amir Alexander of the
Planetary Society. [-mrl]
[Ah, well. Next time. -mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Censorship (letter of comment by Taras Wolansky)
In regard to Mark's comments in the 06/17/04 issue of the MT VOID
regarding AOL censoring the name of the town of Scunthorpe, Taras
Wolansky sent a URL to an article in the RISKS digest,
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/18.07.html#subj3 documenting
this, and added, "Another source explained that AOL had the fellow
use "Sconthorpe" only as a temporary workaround, until the bug was
fixed. But this is one of those "stories too good to let die":
the Plotka page referenced--
http://www.plokta.com/plokta/issue1/aol.htm--is undated. [-tw]
[The info for the page indicates it was updated 22 April 2001,
though of course the main content could be even older. -ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Hugo Nominees (letter of comment by Joe Karpierz)
Joe Karpierz writes:
With regard to Evelyn's comments about the short fiction Hugo
Nominees:
I haven't finished them all yet, but will soon, but I see that
once again her tastes and mine are polar opposites.
In the novelette category, I am currently reading the Flynn, and
am finding it rather drab and slow. The Rosenbaum was an
incomprehensible mess, and I can't possibly understand why *it*
got nominated. It did nothing but put me to sleep on the train.
I do agree with her on the Link, and I liked the Rowe and the
Bacigalupi. In fact, at this point, without finishing the Flynn,
I would say the order would be:
1) Rowe
2) Bacigalupi
3) No Award
4) Link
5) Rosenbaum
In the short category I immediately disagree with Evelyn (of
course--why would this category be any different?) in that there
are at least three stories that deserve to win the award, let
alone be nominated. Resnick's "Travels with Cats" is one of
those--unlike Evelyn, I think it is definitely a high quality
story that stirs the emotions. I thought Burstein's "Decisions",
while fairly formulaic, to be well written and a plain old good
story. The Sawyer is an interesting one. Do I vote for it here,
or do I wait until next year, and, pending the competition, vote
for MINDSCAN for Best Novel, which is the expansion of "Shed
Skin"? As far as the Kelly goes, I think Evelyn misses the
point. I don't think that the invocation of Christmas is story
booster, as it were, but the fact that for many people Christmas
is a happy time of year, and in fact many people remember fondly
their good Christmas seasons of the past. I believe that Kelly
used Christmas to bring the "happy" theme to the forefront. Heck,
if some other holiday would have worked just as well, he could
have used that. I agree with her about the other Resnick (what's
this world coming to?).
As far as the Long Form Dramatic Presentation goes, well, here we
go again. I had and have no inclination to see ETERNAL [SUNSHINE
OF THE SPOTLESS MIND]. It doesn't interest me in the least. If
I get a chance I may rent it just to have seen all five nominees.
SKY CAPTAIN [AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW] was just stunningly
average--so much could have been done with that. The third
"Harry Potter" was much better than the first two--and I disagree
that it should have "added" to the book, as I inferred from
Evelyn's statement. However, it was nothing to write home about.
THE INCREDIBLES has some "interesting ideas"? This movie works
on so many different levels it is incredible, as it were. Yes,
it works very well as a superhero story. It works really well as
a story of repression--the repression of those with power, those
that are different from the norm. It works really well in
portraying what that repression can do to a family and a
marriage--Mr. Incredible going off and leading his secret life,
hiding it from his wife (and in fact, we see what typically
happens when a husband or wife decides to have an affair--the
spouse works out to get in shape, gets a new car, is gone a lot
for work, etc. In fact, the new job for Mr. Incredible *is* his
mistress). And it works really well portraying a family where
everyone has superpowers, and how the parents deal with (or
don't) the kids in normal and not so normal ways. It's no wonder
that this movie is one of the favorites.... And then there's
SPIDERMAN 2. I can't comment on whether Evelyn has ever read
comic books at all, let alone the original "Amazing Spiderman"
books. This works because Peter Parker, in spite of all his
powers, still can't get it right. He can't get the girl, can't
get the job, can't do well at school, and he should be able to
succeed in all of them. We identify with Parker. For those of
us in my generation who grew up reading Spidey, and of course
those who read it now, as written by J. Michael Straczynski of
"Babylon 5" fame (and who is now taking over the Fantastic Four--
yet another book I read growing up and a movie I'm looking
forward to), we are seeing an extremely well done movie with
regard to plot, story, and effects--that lives up to the Spidey
legacy. It is truly a feel good movie. But all that's just my
opinion. :-)
1) THE INCREDIBLES
2) SPIDEY 2
3) No Award
4) SKY CAPTAIN
5) HP.
Can I go read Thomas Covenant now? :-) [-jak]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Merlot (letter of comment by Pete Brady)
In response to Mark's comments about sales of Merlot versus Pinot
Noir in the 06/17/04 issue of the MT VOID, Pete Brady writes,
"Cathy and I were in Italy in late April and had, at dinnertime,
some Marzimino wine, which is made in the Trentino province, just
south of Austria. In Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, the Don is
having his last, luxurious meal and is served this wine, to which
he exclaims (in the opera libretto) "Excellente marzimino." We
purchased some at around $16 a bottle (ie, not expensive) and
brought it home, and a week ago had a dinner party at which five
people shared a bottle. It is not available in America, as nearly
as I can determine, and a few stores around here have never heard
of it. We all thought it was fine. After the bottle was
finished, we produced a bottle of Kendall Estates California
Merlot. It tasted like adequate wine to which sweet corn syrup
had been added. It was nowhere near the quality of the other
wine. [-ptb]
Mark responds, "Okay, so maybe there was something behind his
hatred of Merlot. Of course, I may have missed a lot of what was
going on in the film because I cannot stand the taste of alcohol.
In my whole life I have probably not drunk enough alcohol to make
you drunk. I know about as much about wine as I do about diseases
of the spleen. :-)" [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: H. G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (film review by Mark
R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: This is the first film to do the novel in the period in
which it was intended. The acting is stylized; the photography
is stylized; the special effects are stylized. All this
effectively evokes a period feel on a dime-store budget. This
exceptionally faithful adaptation of the Wells novel, but is a
film that will appeal to only a very narrow audience. Rating: +2
(-4 to +4) or 7/10
The new version of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS seems to be channeling
Karel Zeman. Zeman was a Czech filmmaker who made several
remarkable and heavily stylized movies. Frequently adapting
classic works of science fiction or fantasy, he had a somewhat
tongue-in-cheek style. His special effects were not lavish, but
instead looked like they were done imaginatively on a tiny
budget. If the films were not always highly-polished, they were
done with panache, creativity, and frequently a whimsical feel.
For THE FABULOUS WORLD OF JULES VERNE, Zeman combined live-action
with what appeared to be animated Gustave Dore lithograph
illustrations. They evoked the feel of the classic editions of
Verne that had been illustrated by Dore. Zeman's other films
include THE LOST AIRSHIP, ON THE COMET (both based on Jules
Verne), and THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN.
Karel Zeman is no more, but, intentionally or not, the spirit of
Zeman is very much alive in H. G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS,
directed and co-written by Timothy Hines. It is one of this
year's three versions of that novel and may well end up being my
favorite of the three. With what are occasionally somewhat
playful comic-opera performances Hines gives us an extremely
accurate and faithful adaptation of the H. G. Wells's novel. And
he sets it around 1900, just as Wells intended. Nobody has ever
done that on film before. To make sure that he does not omit any
important plot points from the novel Hines's version is just a
minute or so short of three hours.
To fans of only lavish fantasy filmmaking with completely
convincing special effects, this film may be a disappointment.
And the film has gotten little positive comment. Fans of the
Wells novel, however, will not find a better adaptation to film.
I will not outline the plot. The plot of the Wells novel is the
plot of the film to several decimal places. The only plot point
that I noticed that was lost was that the Martian red weed that
dies off, foreshadowing the fate of the invasion. Because the
film so closely follows the book, the pacing may be slower than
modern audiences might expect. But patience has its rewards.
The film has no familiar actors. The cast is made up of mostly
first-timers. Hines has them parody stuffy British stage
melodramatics of turn-of-the-century Britain. Their acting style
is less that of a 21st century film and more that of a Gilbert
and Sullivan operetta. That is all Hines asks of them. That is
quite possibly all Wells would have wanted. Wells wrote his
novel to complain about British Imperialism in places like
Tasmania and to vent his anger at the indifferent English
populace. The Gilbert-and-Sullivan-style acting is sufficient to
create the feel of empty people, and Wells would have approved
most heartily. The one poor touch in the casting is that all the
major actors appear to be at most in their early thirties.
Somehow that is not the impression I get from the book.
As with the acting, Hines does not give us all that might be
expected in the special effects. As would be true with a
marionette show, it is easy to tell we are not looking at
reality, but the effects are sufficient to do their part to carry
the story. Frequently effects will be botched, and my guess is
that it was done intentionally. When a building is burning,
flames will be superimposed over the windows, but they will be
just enough off-position to remind us that these are effects.
The Martian war machines, this time envisioned with a sort of
arthropod look, do not have much mobility and look flat and
cartoonish.
Perhaps an irritating touch of the film is in its emulation of
very early cinema. The visuals frequently jump and jerk as if an
old film has been repaired many times and frames are missing. It
is an interesting idea, but the effect quickly wears out its
welcome. Fortunately we see a lot less of this touch in the
second half of the film. The score by Jamie Hall, credited in
the IMDB for only one previous film, has some moments, but for
the most part is just adequate.
Personally I would have liked the first period adaptation of WAR
OF THE WORLDS to have been done well and seriously with
believable effects. That would probably have met with more
audience approval. Perhaps such a film will eventually be made.
This is a film that serves the novel and H. G. Wells's intentions
well, without letting the visual effects or even the action steal
the show. The film is just a kinetic illustration of the novel.
But I am happy to settle for that. I rate this version a +2 on
the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10. But I do not expect that there will
be many viewers who will like the film as much as I do. I might
suggest watching the film with the novel in hand and open. As
far as I know this movie is available only on video. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: BATMAN BEGINS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: BATMAN BEGINS re-invents Batman for the screen and still
has time to comment on the story of a certain other recent
blockbuster. Nolan's and Goyler's script is not perfect, but it
has many very interesting ideas and touches. The film sports an
all-star cast led by Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne--soon to be
Batman. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4) or 7/10
The real hero of BATMAN BEGINS is director Christopher Nolan (of
MEMENTO) and story author David Goyler. Together when they wrote
the script they were either just lucky or have pulled off an
amazing coup, trumping George Lucas. Early in BATMAN BEGINS
Bruce Wayne is being trained in a super-powerful fighting order
that combats injustice in its own mystical way. But to protect
the thing he loves he betrays his teacher and the wise old guru
behind his teacher. He goes over to the "other side," where he
dons a black power suit to become a powerful frightening legend.
In short, the origin of Batman is the origin of Darth Vader, but
as seen from the other side. Assuming that was intentional, it
was a bold idea and the timing of the release of the film is just
about perfect.
The similarities of the two stories actually may be more than
coincidence. George Lucas has long since revealed to fans the
planned origin of his Darth Vader and even the date we would see
that story on the screen. Nolan's and Goyler's clever, audacious
script for BATMAN BEGINS apparently plays off of, reverses, and
comments upon Lucas's myth. This is just one of the script's
interesting accomplishments. Another is to re-envision and
revitalize the entire Batman film series.
Confession time: With the exception of reading "The Dark Knight
Returns" I have not read a Batman story written since the early
1960s. Friends assure me that the two characters of Ducard and
Ra's Al Ghul really do come from the comics even if they are new
to the screen. Still, similarity of the stories and the timing
of the release of BATMAN BEGINS seems just about too good to be
coincidence.
Another nice innovation of this film is how Batman moves. The
film exploits the advantage that cinema has over the comic book
medium for creating the Batman character. In the real world when
I see a bat it is usually just a flash. Bats usually move too
fast for the eye to follow. When we see bats in this film they
also move too fast for the eye to follow a single bat. Christian
Bale's Batman has this same characteristic. Fights seem to be
staged so that it is impossible to keep one's eye on
Wayne/Batman. When Batman strikes there is frequently little to
see. Batman is a nearly unseen presence. He can seemingly be
everywhere and nowhere. The viewer just gets glimpses of him,
just like a real bat. That effect cannot be done in a comic book
where the panels are fixed in time. In the film his speed
elevates Batman beyond being just a crime-fighter in a funny
suit. Combine his abrupt movement with dark, film-noir
photography and the BATMAN BEGINS makes him scary in a way that
even the comic version could not. After two serials, a TV
series, and at least five feature films, Batman is finally the
mysterious force that creator Bob Kane intended him to be. For
the first time Batman is more effective in live-action than he
could be in the comic. In the genre of graphic superhero
adaptations to the screen BATMAN BEGINS is at least a landmark
and may be a high-water mark.
The film begins in what is apparently from the credits Bhutan.
Bruce Wayne (played by Christian Bale) can already fight like a
demon, but he carries a heavy rage from seeing his parents
murdered in front of his eyes. He is adopted by a vigilante
society called the League of Shadows. His teacher is Ducard,
(Liam Neeson) and Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe of THE LAST SAMURAI)
oversees his training. Wayne cannot complete his training
because he is unwilling to be completely unscrupulous in the name
of justice. Instead he returns to his home in Gotham City. In
the city fate gives him an arsenal of personal super-weapons and
allows him to create his vigilante alter-ego, Batman.
The film has a lot of story to tell, and we are better than an
hour into the 141-minute film before we even hear the name
Batman. Many aspects of the script are enigmatic or complete
nonsense. Batman appears to be in his twenties in what seems
like the current day, but he was seven or so when his parents
were killed during the Great Depression. And from the Great
Depression to the time period of modern weapons Alfred, the
faithful butler (Michael Caine), does not appear to age a single
day.
The plot is very complex with at least five different villains
pulling in different directions. Towards the end of the film the
editing is so fast-paced and is shot in such a choppy fashion
that the film really becomes incoherent. But there is quite a
bit of story in its 141-minute length. Why does it seem so many
superheroes get their start from either radiation mutation or
mystical Eastern philosophies? Batman in this film takes the
latter path, like the Shadow, Chandu the Magician, the Green
Lama, and everybody who ever graduated from Shaolin Temple. The
script, which might be a little over-packed in spite of its long
length, has tips of the hat to such divers sources as
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and QUATERMASS
AND THE PIT.
The cast of this film is massive. Included in the cast are
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary
Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan
Freeman. It is quite a powerhouse cast. I suppose it says
something that Morgan Freeman would even consent to do a comic
book adaptation film. One problem with casting Christian Bale as
Batman is that in spite of efforts to disguise his voice, when he
is wearing the Batman suit it is all to easy to recognize that it
is Christian Bale in a Batman suit, though perhaps not as easy as
to tell the Christopher Reeve Clark Kent is the same person as
the Christopher Reeve Superman.
It is difficult to rate a film with such virtues and which also
has such glaring faults. On balance it does enough that is
impressive that I would give BATMAN BEGINS an affectionate +2 on
the -4 to +4 scale or 7/10. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: RIVER OF GODS by Ian McDonald (copyright 2004, Pocket
Books, 583pp, ISBN 0-7434-0400-9) (book review by Joe Karpierz)
So the country is being taken over by a virtual soap opera?????
That's what this mess boils down to, and I didn't even realize it
until one of the characters thought it to himself--or was it
herself? I'm not sure any more
RIVER OF GODS is a slow-moving, complex, tedious, overwrought,
slow, padded novel that made me wonder what people thought of it
to make it a Hugo nominee (with apologies to Evelyn for swiping
her comment from her recent remarks about the short Hugo
nominees). Recently in LOCUS, Charlie Brown (I think it was him)
said "we need more stories set in India). RIVER OF GODS is the
prime example of why we *don't* need a story set in India.
The story basically centers around nine people whose lives will
converge over the course of the novel. This means we've
basically taken the ensemble cast of any of the "Star Trek"s, for
example, and given them all equal and substantial screen time in
the story to show the unfolding events as they lead up to the
climax. It just can't be done without slowing the story down to
a crawl, as well as obscuring the interesting story points with
all the irrelevant and unnecessary fluff.
Okay, by now you get the idea that I hated the book.
I didn't hate it because it was set in India, although the
attempt to weave multiculturalism into the story certainly didn't
help matters any here. I hated it because it took a very
interesting premise and bogged it down with so much, uh, "stuff"
that it got lost along the way.
Let me try to boil it down into something reasonably simple. The
overall, arching point is that aeais (AIs, get it?) are getting
out of control, and thus need to be licensed and regulated.
However, later generation AIs, er, aeais, are so powerful and
intelligent that they cannot be controlled. These are the 3rd
Generation aeais, er, AIs. The story centers around the one that
is trying to take over, or at least go someplace where it can be
left alone along with the rest of the high powered aeais.
The idea is an interesting one, but one that is lost amid all the
labyrinthine machinations that go on throughout this novel. The
interesting bits are well and tightly written, but when McDonald
goes off into overblown character sequences that have little or
nothing to do with the plot, the wheels come off.
Nope. Don't get it. Wish I hadn't read it. I could have better
spent the commute to work on the train sleeping.
That concludes my survey of the Hugo-nominated novels for this
year. Since China Mieville's work has never done anything for
me, I will not read that one. So, in the spirit of Evelyn's
voting lists, here's mine for the Hugo Novels.
1) THE ALGEBRAIST
2) IRON SUNRISE
3) No Award
4) JONATHAN STRANGE AND MR NORRELL
5) RIVER OF GODS
[-jak]
===================================================================
TOPIC: MARCH OF THE PENGUINS (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Prepare to have your mind boggled. It seems almost
impossible that any animal could live this way. The mating cycle
of the Emperor Penguin of Antarctica involves incredible
dedication, courage, and effort. So I am sure did making this
documentary. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
If I were to tell you the story of the mating cycle of the
Emperor Penguin of Antarctica you probably would not believe me.
If you did believe me you probably would want to see it for
yourself. And now you can. Explorers had observed and described
the mating cycle of the Emperor Penguin of Antarctica and it
sounded like an incredible fantasy until it was filmed as MARCH
OF THE PENGUINS for National Geographic and for Warner
Independent Pictures.
Of course, the mating cycle of the Emperor Penguin is public
knowledge, and if I were describe it here it might well increase
your desire to see the film. But I will restrain myself because
to learn of it for the first time while actually seeing it is a
jaw-dropping experience.
The method that these penguins follow to reproduce involves
incredible dedication, effort, hardship, and danger. The filming
of this documentary must have involved much the same. The
narration, by Morgan Freeman, says that the penguins do it for
love. I suppose that sounds a little corny to me. But whether
the force is love or instinct to reproduce or whatever, the
resolve in these penguins must be incredible.
This is a powerful, impressive documentary. It is well filmed
with beautiful detailed photography. The penguins are
immediately likeable, like plump men waddling like Charlie
Chaplin. They trek in long line narrow queues reminiscent of old
photographs of gold miners climbing mountains in the Klondike.
For a week they never stop, hiking to where the ice is thick and
they feel it is safe to mate. When they get tired they flop on
their bellies like boys on sleds and push themselves along on
hands and feet.
I will compromise and reveal one phase of the process. At one
point the males who have not eaten for two months. They now have
to stand in cold winds of up to 150 miles per hour. The
temperature is 71 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. They can barely
move because they have tucked between their legs, balanced on
their feet, an egg half as wide as they are. If the egg touches
the ground it will freeze, killing the chick inside. If they
even put their feet flat on the ground it destroy the egg. So
they stand barely moving balanced on their heels in these
unimaginably and violent conditions, through horrendous whiteout
blizzards, without eating, FOR TWO MORE MONTHS. If any animal
can be said to have paid its dues for reproducing, it is the
Emperor Penguin.
Late in the film you have seen these animals through the best
part of a year and have seen the sacrifices they have endured to
create the chicks. To see the chicks dive into the water and
swim away is a tremendous note of triumph and relief made all the
more poignant because the parents in all probability will never
again see the chicks they fought so hard to give life to.
The photography is beautiful and captures the majesty of the
Antarctic landscape. But once the story of the penguins starts,
it is not where the real interest is. This is a story of a
conflict and the viewer really is in there hoping that enough
baby penguins survive so that not many of these brave birds are
disappointed. They have paid the price for success.
Just seeing MARCH OF THE PENGUINS is a remarkable experience. I
rate the film a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale or 8/10. I hope to
be reminded at Academy Award time what a good film it is and just
how engrossing a nature documentary can be. [-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
[As this is a mammoth edition of the Void, we have appropriate
book reviews -mrl]
THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF NEW JULES VERNE ADVENTURES edited by Mike
Ashley (ISBN 0-7867-1495-6) is twenty-one new stories and two
reprints based on the writings or life of Jules Verne. They are
arranged chronologically by their connection to Verne's life,
though Ashley does find reason to spread out the Captain Nemo
stories rather than have them consecutive. (One serious flaw of
the book is that there is no chronological bibliography of
Verne's works. They are mentioned in the introductions, but
there's no way to get the "big picture".) For each reader, the
stories that will be most appealing or enjoyable will probably be
those which are based on the works familiar to that reader. So
for me, stories based on "Maitre Zacharius" or THE CASTLE OF THE
CARPATHIANS are harder to appreciate than those centering on THE
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND or JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH. I
probably should admit that while as a teen I read and re-read THE
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND until it literally fell apart, my knowledge of
most of the other works is more through the movies. (Even for
those for which I read the books, I have seen the movies many
more times.) As with most Ashley anthologies, there is a good
assortment here: some straight sequels, some alternate histories,
some works which include other authors' creations as well (to say
which ones would be to spoil some of the stories), and some which
are a bit of this and a bit of that. Recommended, but obviously
more for people familiar with Verne's work.
John Varley's MAMMOTH (ISBN 0-441-01281-7) is an okay science
fiction novel, but more in the line of techo-thriller in its very
current setting. There is a time machine, but it's a "one-off"
with no other new technology cluttering up the background. The
Howard Christian character seems very much Bill Gates crossed
with the early Howard Hughes, the mammoths provide a connection
to "Jurassic Park" and its ilk, and there are also the obligatory
sinister government agents. While it's competent enough, one
wonders what happened to the Varley who got fifteen Hugo
nominations (and three wins) in the late 1970s and early 1980s
for such works as TITAN, WIZARD, MILLENIUM, STEEL BEACH, or
eleven shorter stories. Alas, I suppose that a more mainstream
novel sells better than a visionary science fiction novel, and I
note that none of the categories in the cataloging data given on
the copyright page are "Science fiction." Instead we have five
fiction sub-categories: woolly mammoths, billionaires, cloning,
mummies, and Nunavut. Anyone expecting the older, more edgy John
Varley will be disappointed. [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Radio news is bearable. This is due to
the fact that while the news is being
broadcast the disc jockey is not allowed
to talk.
-- Fran Lebowitz