THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
08/30/19 -- Vol. 38, No. 9, Whole Number 2082
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in September (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
Marist Mindset List (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE MAGNETIC MONSTER and GOLD (Letter of comment
by John Purcell)
This Week's Reading (THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON) (book
comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
September 12, 2019: SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE (1972) and novel by Kurt
Vonnegut, Middletown Public Library, 5:30PM
https://archive.org/details/slaughterhouse_-_five
September 26, 2019: LAGOON by Nnedi Okorafor, Old Bridge Public
Library, 7PM
November 21, 2019: THE SLEEPER AWAKES by H. G. Wells (1910),
Old Bridge Public Library, 7PM
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12163
https://librivox.org/the-sleeper-awakes-by-hg-wells/
(audiobook)
January 23, 2020: TBD from Europe/Latin America/Canada,
Old Bridge Public Library, 7PM
March 26, 2020: TBD by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Old Bridge Public
Library, 7PM
May 28, 2020: TBD from Europe/Latin America/Canada,
Old Bridge Public Library, 7PM
July 23, 2020: CLIPPER OF THE CLOUDS by Jules Verne (a.k.a.
ROBUR THE CONQUEROR, [Fr. title ROBUR LE CONQUERANT],
published by Ace in 1961 in an omnibus titled MASTER OF THE
WORLD, which is the title of the sequel), Old Bridge Public
Library, 7PM
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3808
September 24, 2020: TBD from Europe/Latin America/Canada,
Old Bridge Public Library, 7PM
November 19, 2020: Rudyard Kipling:
"A Matter of Fact" (1892)
"The Ship That Found Herself" (1895)
".007" (1897)
"Wireless" (1902)
"With the Night Mail [Aerial Board of Control 1]" (1905)
"As Easy as A.B.C. [Aerial Board of Control 2]" (1912)
"In the Same Boat" (1911)
Old Bridge Public Library, 7PM
Northern New Jersey events are listed at:
http://www.sfsnnj.com/news.html
===================================================================
TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in September (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
What can I say about the James Bond series? For most of the time I
was growing up this series dominated the popular film market. I
remember back in the 1960s a friend scrambled to have two blank VHS
tapes to get two of the off-airbroadcast Bond movies. In September
one of the themes for TCM's mini-festivals will be James Bond films
and other espionage films inspired by the James Bond phenomenon.
This Bond party will include screening all the Eon Bond films from
DR. NO (1963) to THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999). By my count that
is 19 James Bond films. The popularity of the Bond films jazzed up
other films along the same lines.
The Bond films run Thursday evening into Friday morning each week
in September. To see when some particular title is running see the
monthly listings.
http://www.tcm.com/schedule/monthly.html?tz=est&sdate=2019-9-01
That will take you to the monthly listing. There the films will be
listed consecutively starting, of course, with DR NO. (Or see the
listings below.)
Evelyn has picked out what films rate special attention in
September. (Dates are TCM-based, e.g., 2:00 AM is really the day
after what is listed.)
1 Sunday
10:00 AM Picture of Dorian Gray, The (1945)
3 Tuesday
6:00 AM Tarzan and the Huntress (1947)
7:15 AM Tarzan's Desert Mystery (1943)
8:30 AM Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, The (1953)
10:00 AM Trog (1970)
11:45 AM Giant Behemoth, The (1959)
1:15 PM One Million B.C. (1940)
2:45 PM Willy McBean And His Magic Machine (1965)
4:30 PM Valley of Gwangi, The (1969)
6:15 PM When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1971)
5 Thursday
8:00 PM Dr. No (1963)
10:00 PM From Russia With Love (1964)
12:15 AM Goldfinger (1964)
2:15 AM Thunderball (1965)
4:45 AM You Only Live Twice (1967)
6 Friday
9:00 AM Forever, Darling (1956)
10:45 AM Microscopic Mysteries (1932)
11:00 AM Genocide (1968)
12:30 PM Cosmic Monster, The (1958)
1:45 PM Wasp Woman, The (1960)
3:00 PM Highly Dangerous (1950)
4:30 PM Them! (1954)
6:15 PM Fly, The (1958)
7 Saturday
6:00 AM Incredible Mr. Limpet, The (1964)
2:00 AM House of Usher (1960)
10 Tuesday
12:15 PM Bedlam (1946)
11 Wednesday
8:00 AM Topper Returns (1941)
4:00 PM Great Dictator, The (1940)
6:15 PM Paths of Glory (1958)
8:00 PM 12 Angry Men (1957)
9:45 PM Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
11:30 PM Night of the Hunter, The (1955)
1:15 AM Marty (1955)
3:00 AM Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
12 Thursday
8:00 PM On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
10:30 PM Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
12:45 AM Live and Let Die (1973)
3:00 AM Man with the Golden Gun, The (1974)
13 Friday
4:15 AM Burn, Witch, Burn (1962)
14 Saturday
10:07 AM Hold That Hypnotist (1957)
16 Monday
8:00 PM CinemAbility: The Art of Inclusion (2018)
10:00 PM Freaks (1932)
11:15 PM Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
12:45 AM Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939)
3:00 AM Johnny Belinda (1948)
4:45 AM Unknown, The (1927)
19 Thursday
6:00 PM Angel on My Shoulder (1946)
8:00 PM Spy who Loved Me, The (1977)
10:15 PM Moonraker (1979)
12:30 AM For Your Eyes Only (1981)
3:00 AM Octopussy (1983)
5:15 AM View to a Kill, A (1985)
20 Friday
2:15 AM Eating Raoul (1982)
3:45 AM Private Parts (1972)
22 Sunday
10:15 PM Harvey (1950)
23 Monday
8:00 PM Best Years Of Our Lives, The (1946)
11:00 PM CinemAbility: The Art of Inclusion (2018)
1:00 AM Children of a Lesser God (1986)
3:15 AM Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, The (1968)
26 Thursday
8:00 PM Living Daylights, The (1987)
10:30 PM License to Kill (1984)
1:00 AM Goldeneye (1995)
3:30 AM Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
5:30 AM World Is Not Enough, The (1999)
27 Friday
8:00 AM Valley Of The Kings (1954)
9:30 AM Mummy's Boys (1936)
10:45 AM Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
12:45 PM Caesar And Cleopatra (1945)
3:15 PM Mummy's Shroud, The (1967)
5:00 PM Barbarian, The (1933)
6:30 PM Mummy, The (1959)
28 Saturday
2:00 AM It Came From Outer Space (1953)
3:30 AM Riders To The Stars (1954)
30 Monday
12:00 PM King Solomon's Mines (1950)
[-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Marist Mindset List (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
What used to be the Beloit College Mindset List is now the Marist
Mindset List. I can't say I like its evolution, though some of the
changes pre-dated the move to Marist College. In particular, I
liked the "It has always been true" and "They never" sorts of
phrasings; "Their smart pens may write and record faster than they
can think" does not really have the same effect. And "a Catholic
Pope has always visited a mosque" is grammatically peculiar; one
can as easily say "a Catholic Pope has always been named John
XXIII."
My favorite entries for the Class of 2023 are:
The primary use of a phone has always been to take pictures.
- The nation's mantra has always been: "If you see something, say
something."
- Oklahoma City has always had a national memorial at its center.
- Because of Richard Reid's explosive footwear at 30,000 feet,
passengers have always had to take off their shoes to slide
through security on the ground.
- The Mars Odyssey has always been checking out the water supply
for their future visits to Mars.
- PayPal has always been an online option for purchasers.
- Newfoundland and Labrador has always been, officially,
Newfoundland-and-Labrador.
- There has always been an American Taliban.
- Apple iPods have always been nostalgic.
- It has always been illegal to use a hand-held cell phone while
driving in New York State.
- There have always been "smartwatches."
- Defibrillators have always been so simple to use that they can be
installed at home.
The full list is at https://www.marist.edu/mindset-list.
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: THE MAGNETIC MONSTER and GOLD (letter of comment by John
Purcell)
In response to Mark's comments on THE MAGNETIC MONSTER and GOLD in
the 08/23/19 issue of the MT VOID, John Purcell writes:
[Something] that caught my eye in the latest issue (#2081) are
Mark's comments about THE MAGNETIC MONSTER, that marvelous
cinematic tour de farce from 1953. Curt Siodmak was clearly in his
prime skiffy mode when writing these screenplays, and I think
that's what makes movies like THE MAGNETIC MONSTER, THE MONOLITH
MONSTERS, and other 50s science fiction flicks so much fun, hokey
dialog and all. These are definitely great heckling movies for
convention movie rooms, that's for sure. I love this kind of movie
silliness. Great job including a capsule review of GOLD (1934), of
which THE MAGNETIC MONSTER utilized vast swaths. I haven't seen
GOLD, and frankly, I may not want to based on Mark's review, but
someday I probably will just because it's an early science fiction
movie. [-jp]
Mark responds:
THE MAGNETIC MONSTER is very strange. It starts with special
effects from cheap wire work and ends with huge tubes of light.
[-mrl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON by H. G. Wells (ISBN 978-0-486-43978-5 in
a Dover Thrift edition boxed set), along with the movie based on
it, was the August selection for our book-and-movie group. I
thought that a lot of the description of the Selenite society was
based on Plato's Republic, with strong stratification of society,
and everyone trained for the tasks they are destined for. A more
modern example would be Aldous Huxley's BRAVE NEW WORLD, with its
Alphas, Betas, and so on, cultivated since before birth for their
fixed place in society. THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON, of course,
predates BRAVE NEW WORLD by thirty years, but I suspect Huxley was
more influenced by Plato than by Wells.
Oddly, though Bedford is horrified by the pragmatic, utilitarian
Selenites, he also displays a strong sense of class when he just
shrugs off the (presumed) death of the boy in Littlestone who
accidentally launches himself into space in the sphere. Bedford is
far more concerned about the loss of the sphere (and the Cavorite)
than the death of the boy, and says:
"It was fairly evident that he would gravitate with my bales to
somewhere near the middle of the sphere and remain there, and so
cease to be a legitimate terrestrial interest, however remarkable
he might seem to the inhabitants of some remote quarter of space.
I very speedily convinced myself on that point. And as for any
responsibility I might have in the matter, the more I reflected
upon that, the clearer it became that if only I kept quiet about
things, I need not trouble myself about that. If I was faced by
sorrowing parents demanding their lost boy, I had merely to demand
my lost sphere--or ask them what they meant. At first I had a
vision of weeping parents and guardians and all sorts of
complications, but now I saw that I simply had to keep my mouth
shut, and nothing in that way could arise."
One is reminded of the famous exchange in THE ADVENTURES OF
HUCKLEBERRY FINN:
[Huck:] "We blowed out a cylinder-head."
[Aunt Sally:] "Good gracious! anybody hurt?"
[Huck:] "No'm. Killed a n****r."
[Aunt Sally:] "Well, it's lucky, because sometimes people do get
hurt."
The film kept a fair amount of the novel, even including such
details as the blue river, though it eliminated most of the
information about Selenite society, as well as most of the wild
variations in their phenotypes. However, it felt obliged to make
some concessions to then-current scientific knowledge, and so could
not give the lunar surface an atmosphere, even during the day. So
Cavor and Bedford wear "spacesuits"--really just diving suits with
no pressurization and no gloves! The film also added it a smidge
of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS, and a dash of THE TIME MACHINE, not
surprising given that both those movies had been very popular in
their time.
THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON is one of the novels included in the
canonical collections of Wells's novels, along with FOOD OF THE
GODS, IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE ISLAND OF
DR. MOREAU, THE TIME MACHINE, and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS. (Cut-rate
collections often omit IN THE DAYS OF THE COMET. Dover Thrift
editions has a boxed set of five, dropping THE FOOD OF THE GODS as
well.) All of these hold up remarkably well. [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish
together as fools.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.