THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
01/17/14 -- Vol. 32, No. 29, Whole Number 1789
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Isaac Asimov's Predictions in 1964 for 2014
The Center
Libertarian Hall of Fame Nominees
Edgar Allan Poe (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
How I Review a Film (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
AD ASTRA (comments by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
HER (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
PROXIMA by Stephen Baxter (book review by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
Mary Poppins and Disney Films (letter of comment by Jim Susky)
BEFORE THE DAWN (letter of comment by Jim Susky)
56 UP (letter of comment by Pete Rubinstein)
This Week's Reading (LOS HOMBRES LOBO EN EL CINE)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Isaac Asimov's Predictions in 1964 for 2014
http://tinyurl.com/void-asimov-2014
==================================================================
TOPIC: The Center
"The medieval philosophers were right. Man is the center of the
universe. We stand in the middle of infinity between outer and
inner space, and there's no limit to either." -- Duval in
FANTASTIC VOYAGE
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap140112.html
==================================================================
TOPIC: Libertarian Hall of Fame Nominees
The Libertarian Futurist Society has announced the short list for
this year's Hall of Fame nominees. Voting for both the Hall of
Fame will take place in July. The award will be presented at
Loncon 3.
"As Easy as A.B.C." by Rudyard Kipling (1912)
"Sam Hall" by Ben Bova (1953)
"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" by Harlan Ellison
(1965)
FALLING FREE by Lois McMaster Bujold (1988)
COURTSHIP RITE by Donald M. Kingsbury (1982)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Edgar Allan Poe (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Poe was a raven lunatic. [-mrl]
[Happy 105th Birthday to Poe on Sunday, January 19.]
==================================================================
TOPIC: How I Review a Film (comments by Mark R. Leeper)
Somebody whom I recently met found out that one of my hobbies is
writing film reviews. I think he looked me up on the Internet and
was surprised that I had (what is today) 1797 reviews in the Rotten
Tomatoes site (though they were all really written for the MT
VOID). It seems he runs programs for teenagers. He thought the
attendees might be interested to write film reviews themselves. He
was thinking he would like me to tell them how I write reviews and
hence train my own competition to replace me with my own
techniques. But I thought it might be of some interest to tell
everyone.
I am not sure I am much of a model reviewer, and certainly there
has been no shortage of people to tell me I was all wrong about
films in my reviews. But I don't mind sharing how I go about
reviewing a film. I thought I would commit the process to words.
First, I would have to say it is good to have seen a lot of films.
The number of films a reviewer has seen is correlated to the
reliability and credibility of his reviews. Little kids come out
of a matinee film claiming it was the best film ever. Rare does a
more experienced critic come out of a film willing to call it even
"the best of the year." Seeing a great body of movies helps one
put a given film into a context and recognize how bad some films
are and how good others are.
I rate films on a -4 to +4 scale, but nearly every film I see gets
a +1 or a +2. I have on occasion seen films worth giving a +4 to,
but that is really rare. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is an example. Every
year I see films worthy of no better rating than 0 or even -1. But
I have also seen films worthy of a -4 (THE CREEPING TERROR), and so
I am not going to give out even -2 ratings very frequently. I need
to protect the lower ratings.
So what is my process for reviewing a film?
For some films I have enough to say that I don't need the notes I
create in the next step. Some films are remarkable enough that my
comments on the film just come tumbling out. And I do not really
know even while I am watching a film if it is a film I will have a
lot to say about. If it does turn out to be the type of reviewing
experience where things to say come out rapid fire I can go
directly to the proofreading stage. But such films are rare so I
do the following.
I am one of those people who incessantly make comments on the film
I am seeing. But I do it silently. I make notes on what I am
noticing about the film. I write down my observations. Then when
I sit down to write about the film I will have my comments right
there. Topics I try to comment on include plot (of course),
writing, insights into the characters, actors, goofs, similar
films, etc. These notes can be done with a piece of paper and a
pencil. My current approach is to use a pocket computer on which
(after long practice) I can touch-type. (Most notes I make in the
dark this way are perfectly readable, but some vsmmpy nr trsd dp
rsdo;. Luckily there are usually not many of the latter type.)
Then when the film is over I can put the notes in one column of a
spreadsheet and the category of comment in another column and can
sort the comments by category. The pocket computer makes things
convenient, but it is not necessary. I could do the same process
with handwritten notes. If I am composing a paragraph about the
writing of the film I can then see all the comments I made about
the writing and use them as a foundation for a paragraph or two
about the writing of the film. I am not limited to the observations
I made watching the film, but if I do not have any new ideas about
the script I can always fall back on the notes.
Even if it is not in my notes, I try to make some comment about the
film, either insightful observations just how this film stands out
from the crowd of films. Other questions to ask yourself include:
- Does the story have a beginning, a middle, and an end?
- Do you feel you know the characters and did they seem like real
people?
- Did the film make you feel any emotion?
- Can you tell the director's style?
- What were the good scenes?
- What were the bad scenes?
- Were you still thinking about the film after it was over?
When the review is all typed, which I do in Microsoft Word, I then
proofread the review. But even the best proofreader can miss
problems in her/his own writing since the author knows what was
being said and it is easy to miss where a needed word was omitted.
What really helps is to hear the review read out loud by someone
else. At one time that was not so easy. But most or all computers
and Macs come with a text-to-speech feature intended for the sight
impaired. It will read a piece of writing without ever snickering.
And it will read it as many times as is needed. If something
written just does not hit the ear just right, that is the time it
will likely show up.
Now I am going to take this essay and have my computer read it to
me. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: AD ASTRA (comments by Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
This is a short notice to "whom it may concern." I've been writing
for the MT VOID for a long time, and it is a pretty sure bet, that
with the exception of a few articles that appeared in a fanzine the
MSU science fiction society put out a very long time ago, virtually
everything I've written that has been published has appeared in
either the MT VOID or a Leepercon zine. This is excluding a few
professional publications that appeared in the Bell Labs Journal or
an IEEE magazine, of course. I would like to take this occasion to
thank Mark and Evelyn for this opportunity to reach their audience
with my writing.
Lately, I've been publishing somewhere else as well as the MT VOID
(yes, caught in the act!). The "somewhere else" is AD ASTRA, the
official magazine of the National Space Society (NSS). NSS is the
result of the merger of the National Space Institute and the L5
Society, and focuses on promoting space settlement. In any case, I
have an article titled "Summer in New Space 2013" in the winter
2013 issue, which can be found at
http://www.nss.org/adastra/volume25/v25n4.html. Well, to be
exact, you can find the table of contents there. If you want to
actually read the article, you need to join the NSS, something
which I strongly endorse.
If you do join the NSS, you'll find that I have a book review for
"Scatter, Adapt, Remember" in the Spring 2014 AD ASTRA, and I have
just sent to them for a future issue a review of Greg and Jim
Benford's excellent "Starship Century." In any case, if you want
to read any of this, you will need to join the NSS at
http://www.nss.org/. There is a lot of great free stuff on the
NSS web site, including 241 book reviews (including SF reviews) at
http://www.nss.org/resources/books/ (alas, this does not appear
to include any reviews published in AD ASTRA, including my own).
[-dls]
==================================================================
TOPIC: HER (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: The lonely, divorced, and insular Theodore has a new
operating system on his computer that has a very human-like
interface. It is not just like any human, it is Theodore's ideal
woman. He falls in love with a woman whose only drawback is that
she is a computer program. Spike Jonze writing and directing takes
a not very promising premise and creates a many-faceted science
fiction film that nicely covers many different themes.
Rating: +3 (-4 to +4) or 9/10
Iv you could zee her through my eyes ... she vouldn't look zoftvare
at all.
We have come a long way from Mister Paperclip.
At first thought the idea of a human-computer romantic relationship
that is like a human-human relationship is neither a promising nor
an original idea. It was used almost fifty years ago on "The
Twilight Zone" (February 14, 1964) as "From Agnes--With Love."
This is hardly a plot that seems fertile to try once again. Spike
Jonze, who directed some good films like BEING JOHN MALKOVICH and
wrote some lesser works like episodes of the TV show "Jackass"
(which he also created), for the first time directs his own script.
He gives us an intelligent story that feels not just believable but
almost inevitable. Themes included in the story are what will
happen to a society when the need for human relationships can be
fulfilled by machine. The story is both pessimistic--we are losing
our humanity when we can now relate to machines like we used to
relate to humans--and optimistic--people who have a hard time
relating to humans can now fill those gaps in their lives with
electronic surrogates. These are almost opposite points of view
and like a piece of fine crystal, this story shows the world
differently depending on from what angle you look at it.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore. Though this is a very near-future
story, Theodore is in an occupation that does not exist yet. For
people who want to live with traditional values, or at least make
it appear like they do, he writes emotional letters for his
customers, appearing like they are in the handwriting style of the
customer. If you want to send a nice message to your mother on
Mother's Day, Theodore will compose and create the letter making it
look like you wrote it yourself with beautiful words and
sentiments. Theodore has a very good feel for other people's
emotions, but since he separated from is wife he is emotionally
detached and no longer seems be able to find a girl that he wants a
relationship with. He is to the point when he prefers playing
videogames to dating. In spite of a great looking apartment and
greater looking women, he cannot bring himself to be romantic with
them.
But then Theodore puts a new operating system on his computer. It
has a complete human personality for its interface and it is
designed to meet the customer's needs, even if it means building a
whole personality, superbly compliant, ready to do as much as
software can possibly do. It calls itself Samantha and speaks with
the voice of Scarlett Johansson. Jonze takes us through the
Theodore-Samantha relationship's best and worst moments.
Theodore's best human friend is Amy (Amy Adams) a confidant who is
married to a friend of Theodore's. Another time they could have
been good together.
The film is both sad and funny. As with race, some people are
quickly tolerant of the "software-ness" of their friends and
friends' friends; others have a hard time accepting it. There are
some nice touches. Theodore's big beautiful apartment building's
elevator casts tree shadows on its back wall to give a feeling that
it is right there in nature. However, when we look out Theodore's
windows there is nothing natural to be seen outside the window.
There is just skyscrapers, man-made things that have taken the
place of anything natural.
Jonze seems to be of the opinion that flesh and blood is better
than software, but he stacks the deck. There are multiple women,
intelligent, pretty, and sympathetic. If Theodore had been ugly
(as it is he is no winner) and nobody was interested in a
relationship with him, a program like Samantha might be a real
boon. For such a person who does not have Theodore's advantages,
the message that he should have a real human relationship is
rubbing salt in a wound.
The film gives a nice little cameo role for Brian Cox.
There are two problems I have with the film. It is hard to believe
that in Theodore's line of work he would have such a fabulous
apartment. Jonze may be saying that there is nothing left of the
city but huge skyscrapers and all apartments get great views, but I
do not buy that. An event occurs toward the end of the film that
if it really happened would have a heavy and worldwide impact. But
nothing like that is ever mentioned. There is only so much that
can be done with what is basically a "Twilight Zone" plot. Through
some sort of alchemy Jonze surpasses that barrier again and again
and again.
I rate HER a +3 on the -4 to +4 scale or 9/10.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1798709/combined
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/search/?search=her
[-mrl]
[This is a 2013 film, hence eligible for the Hugos which are now in
their nomination stage. -ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: PROXIMA by Stephen Baxter (Gollancz UK 2013) (book review by
Dale L. Skran, Jr.)
Stephen Baxter ("Xeelee" series, ARK, FLOOD) has returned with a
monumental SF novel in PROXIMA. Weighing in at 455 pages, PROXIMA
is long enough to contain a lot. Baxter tells the tale of the
settlement of Proxima Centura via a long list of characters,
including both humans and AIs. The interactions between the humans
and the AIs are done especially well, and the reader feels as much
sympathy for the machines by the end of the story as for the
humans.
Proxima's planets, especially Per Arudua, the target of
colonization, are marvels of SF world building, fresh and original.
The medium term extrapolation of a solar system split between a US
led UN and a Chinese Empire feels real, as does their differing
technology paths and their ruthless struggle to both settle Per
Arudua and control the home solar system. The technology
extrapolation, with one exception I'll describe in a bit, is
excellent, and includes a very nice envisioning of Robert Forward's
Starwisp interstellar solar sail.
This is not a tale of characterization, as we don't have that much
time to get to know each of the many people and AIs that dance
across the stage. With a survival percentage similar to Jamestown
and Plymouth Rock, with a side of Roanoke and the Donner Party
thrown in, most of the people you meet are, shall we say, "short
timers." The main thing that many may find off-putting is a British
tendency toward the macabre. Baxter tells a brutal "Botany Bay"
style tale of the colonization of Per Arudua, replete with the
grotesque.
The other flaw in what is otherwise a very strong hard SF book is
the reliance on a powerful alien technology, the "kernels" which
enable speed of light starships and even speed of light teleport
gates. There is nothing wrong with Baxter's treatment of this
topic, which could be viewed as very advanced hard SF, but the
presence of this hyper-advanced technology becomes the axle around
which the plot revolves and thus detracts from the tale of
settlement and exploration.
A final problem is that PROXIMA ends rather like the STARGATE
series, with some of the main (surviving) characters popping
through a teleport gate to parts unknown, and other parties setting
out on a major voyage in a kernel drive starship. Clearly a sequel
is in the offing. This complaint aside, Baxter does play fairer
than many authors, and the lays down the answer, albeit in a subtle
fashion, to a central mystery in the book, the identity of Yuri
Eden, one of the more important characters.
I read PROXIMA in a British edition I bought off Amazon (people see
the value in bringing a large number of British editions to the US
and selling them locally, allowing US fans to get an early look at
British SF) and I expect that this 2013 book will be a contender
for the 2014 Hugo, especially with the Worldcon in London for 2014.
Recommended for fans of Baxter and British SF in general, but be
warned that this is a dark sense of wonder novel. [-dls]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Mary Poppins and Disney Films (letter of comment by Jim
Susky)
In response to Mark's review of SAVING MR. BANKS in the 12/20/13
issue of the MT VOID, Jim Susky writes:
Your review of SAVING MR. BANKS triggers in me a reminiscence of
Disney's MARY POPPINS film.
I first saw MARY POPPINS at a drive-in movie in the middle of the
Alaskan summer--I recall fireworks and the detritus therefrom so I
think it may have been July 4 (with 19 hours' daylight).
We sang many of the songs in school and I suppose we saw reruns of
the film on Sunday nights' "Wonderful World of Disney".
To this day, I've never read MARY POPPINS, nor THE JUNGLE BOOK,
(nor THE WIZARD OF OZ)--but of course have seen the movies--not the
least on TV (and we wore out our copy of the "Jungle Book" LP).
After a twenty-odd year hiatus I saw (ca. 1990) MARY POPPINS again-
-played by a young Julie Andrews. As an adult I "appreciated" Miss
Poppins in a way I never imagined as a child.
Since THE LOVE BUG (actually, I saw an interminable sequel thereto
as a teenager) I have made a clean break with most Disney fare--
especially that smug, self-aware, self-consciously witty, animated
crap (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST excepted--and I can't recall why I saw
that).
Anyone who would put a happy ending on HUNCHBACK is undeserving of
my money and (especially) my time. [-js]
Mark responds:
I will say that you left Disney at the very lowest point in their
history. (Well, the lowest point was probably SUPER-DAD.) I was
pretty much gob-smacked when I saw their NEVER CRY WOLF and shortly
after that THE JOURNEY OF NATTY GANN shortly after you quit. Both
of which are very good and I would still recommend to you today.
Then they started making their Touchstone films and many of their
comedies were actually very funny. That was their resurrection.
This year they made one of their better animated films, FROZEN.
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: BEFORE THE DAWN (letter of comment by Jim Susky)
In response to Dale's review of BEFORE THE DAWN in the 01/03/14
issue of the MT VOID, Jim Susky writes:
Thank you for an excellent review of a most excellent book, indeed
(BEFORE THE DAWN). I read it myself not long after its 2006
publication and did a very short "book report" on it as the topic
of a Toastmasters Club speech.
One test of an excellent non-fiction book is that it whets the
appetite--leaving the reader wanting more. Wade describes the
result of inferences made using human DNA. All of humanity is
descended from a single Chromosomal Adam who lived in Central
Africa about 58,000 (+/- 20000)years ago. Likewise, the similar
matriarchal lineage traces back to a Mitochondrial Eve some 150,000
years ago--with a much greater error range.
Wade reports that the domestication of dogs dates back about 13,000
years in Mongolia--based on the relative lack of canine genetic
diversity in that area.
So far nothing that runs afoul of the PC-reflex.
Steven Pinker (in THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE) has recently and
extensively addressed the fairy tale of the Noble Savage (which is
little more than modern disapproval of modern civilization).
In this book and in some lecture notes here...
http://edge.org/conversation/mc2011-history-violence-pinker
... Pinker gathers and processes evidence that "Non-state
Societies" were far more violent than civilized societies--by more
than an order-of-magnitude.
No doubt Pinker and Wade drew on similar archeological efforts.
Wade, with seeming trepidation, given the Thought Police that
populate the halls of his employer, reported on another PC notion--
namely that races are artificial cultural constructs. I am
personally sympathetic with this idea but had to acknowledge Wade's
point that even today, with relatively widespread and extensive
human movement, one's DNA correlates very strongly with the
continent of one's birth and/or very recent ancestors. [-js]
Dale responds:
Glad you enjoyed it. If you know of other books in their vein, I
would be interested in your recommendations. [-dls]
Evelyn adds:
Regarding race, DNA studies show that race as a DNA concept is not
well-correlated with race as a social construct. According to one
study, for example, a Swede and a Maori are closer in their DNA
than a Masai and a Khoisan (both Africans). [-ecl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: 56 UP (letter of comment by Pete Rubinstein)
In response to Mark's Top Ten Films" list in the 01/10/14 issue of
the MT VOID, Pete Rubinstein writes:
[Mark wrote,] "Every seven years since he made 7 PLUS SEVEN in
1970, Michael Apted visits (essentially) the same set of people and
he documents how their lives have changed since the last film in
the series. They were all 7 years old in 1964, and they are all the
same age as each other now."
I'd be really surprised if they were all 7 in 1964 and weren't all
the same age now! [-pr]
Mark responds:
Rhetoric. I use rhetoric. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
I found a copy of LOS HOMBRES LOBO EN EL CINE by Carlos Diaz Maroto
(ISBN 978-84-95537-83-4) in Nashville, Tennessee, of all places.
Published in Madrid, its coverage of the werewolf film concentrates
primarily on English-language films, probably because they form the
bulk of the well-known werewolf films.
It is divided into five parts. The first ("Introduction") covers
the mythology of werewolves, and werewolves in literature. The
second (Chapter I) is a series of short essays about the key films
in the genre. Chapter II covers the rest of the werewolf films
with only a paragraph or two for each, divided into "Silent Howls".
"Howls Are Heard", "Anglo-Saxon Howls", "Werewolves South of the
Rio Grande", and so on. Chapter III covers other shape-changer
movies (e.g., ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU, CAT PEOPLE, THE FLY). Then
there is a filmography of werewolf and other shape-changer films,
and then a bibliography.
Most of what is in this book is known to fans of the genre. But
every once in a while Maroto comes up with a surprise. For
example, in CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF, the beggar at the beginning was
originally intended to be more wolf-like in appearance, but the
British censor said, "He must not have fangs. He can have fangs,
or relations with the girl, but not both." (Censors seem to have
had it in for werewolf films; the Spanish censor seemed to object
to anything in a werewolf film that would connect it to Spain:
names, locations, descriptions.)
Of course, the main drawback for this book is that it is in
Spanish. Still, the reading level is probably similar to that of a
newspaper rather than an esoteric literary novel. For example,
after listing all the classic films done by the creative team
behind THE BOY WHO CRIED WEREWOLF, Maroto says, "El film que nos
ocupa, por el contrario, es un absoluto desastre." You don't need
much Spanish to figure that one out. And some of the Spanish
neologisms are wonderful: the two friends in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF
IN LONDON are described as arriving in a "pueblecito de innegable
tono hammeriano" ("a village of undeniably Hammeresque tone").
On the other hand, occasionally one finds a word not recognizable
by context and not even in the typical paperback Spanish-English
dictionaries. For example, when Maroto talks about "el tono
gamberro-yanqui" in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, I had to pull
out my 1500-page doorstop of a dictionary (Spanish only) from the
Real Academia Espanola to find that "gamberro" means "libertino,
disoluto". Those I could translate without a dictionary, and then
Maroto's additional reference to Landis's NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL
HOUSE made more sense as well. [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Thus, the more succinctly a train of thought
was expounded, and the more comprehensive the
unity of its basic idea, the closer it would
approximate to the prerequisites of the
mathematical way of thinking.
--Max Bill