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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 10/27/00 -- Vol. 19, No. 17
Chair/Librarian: Mark Leeper, 732-817-5619, mleeper@avaya.com
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper, 732-332-6218, eleeper@lucent.com
Distinguished Heinlein Apologist: Rob Mitchell, robmitchell@avaya.com
HO Chair Emeritus: John Jetzt, jetzt@avaya.com
HO Librarian Emeritus: Nick Sauer, njs@lucent.com
Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the
second Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call
201-447-3652 for details. The Denver Area Science Fiction
Association meets 7:30 PM on the third Saturday of every month at
Southwest State Bank, 1380 S. Federal Blvd.
===================================================================
1. I read that goldfish have only thirty seconds of memory. This
is why when they swim around in a bowl they can keep swimming the
same path over and over. It is constantly new to them. In general
they are not big fans of cinema, but there are definite advantages
for a goldfish film fan. You could show them the same film over an
over and it would always be fresh. A goldfish would start his
favorite movie with no idea where it was going. He would be amazed
and entertained. The ending would be a complete surprise. "Gee,
the butler did it." But that would be immediately followed by the
question, "Did what?" Then the fish could start the film over and
see the dastardly deed. But then he would immediately wonder who
did it. And so it would go. This might have positive aspects for
humans. Maybe some day we will be able to selectively forget all
about our favorite books or films, just at the moment we are
starting to watch them again. If everybody had a thirty second
memory it would make writing these weekly articles a lot easier for
me.
I read that goldfish have only thirty seconds of memory. This is
why when they swim around in a bowl they can keep swimming the same
path over and over. It is constantly new to them. In general they
are not big fans of cinema, but there are definite advantages for a
goldfish film fan. You could show them the same film over an over
and it would always be fresh. A goldfish would start his favorite
movie with no idea where it was going. He would be amazed and
entertained. The ending would be a complete surprise. "Gee, the
butler did it." But that would be immediately followed by the
question, "Did what?" Then the fish could start the film over and
see the dastardly deed. But then he would immediately wonder who
did it. And so it would go. This might have positive aspects for
humans. Maybe some day we will be able to selectively forget all
about our favorite books or films, just at the moment we are
starting to watch them again. If everybody had a thirty second
memory it would make writing these weekly articles a lot easier for
me.
I read that goldfish have only thirty seconds of memory. This is
why when they swim around in a bowl they can keep swimming the same
path over and over. It is constantly new to them. In general they
are not big fans of cinema, but there are definite advantages for a
goldfish film fan. You could show them the same film over an over
and it would always be fresh. A goldfish would start his favorite
movie with no idea where it was going. He would be amazed and
entertained. The ending would be a complete surprise. "Gee, the
butler did it." But that would be immediately followed by the
question, "Did what?" Then the fish could start the film over and
see the dastardly deed. But then he would immediately wonder who
did it. And so it would go. This might have positive aspects for
humans. Maybe some day we will be able to selectively forget all
about our favorite books or films, just at the moment we are
starting to watch them again. If everybody had a thirty second
memory it would make writing these weekly articles a lot easier for
me.
I read that goldfish have only thirty seconds of memory. This is
why when they swim around in a bowl they can keep swimming the same
path over and over. It is constantly new to them. In general they
are not big fans of cinema, but there are definite advantages for a
goldfish film fan. You could show them the same film over an over
and it would always be fresh. A goldfish would start his favorite
movie with no idea where it was going. He would be amazed and
entertained. The ending would be a complete surprise. "Gee, the
butler did it." But that would be immediately followed by the
question, "Did what?" Then the fish could start the film over and
see the dastardly deed. But then he would immediately wonder who
did it. And so it would go. This might have positive aspects for
humans. Maybe some day we will be able to selectively forget all
about our favorite books or films, just at the moment we are
starting to watch them again. If everybody had a thirty second
memory it would make writing these weekly articles a lot easier for
me. [-mrl]
===================================================================
2. BEDAZZLED (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule: : Harold Ramis writes and directs a
remake of one of the funniest comedies of all
time. At its best it is more of the same sort
of humor that was the first film.
Unfortunately Ramis cannot match the hilarious,
literate banter of the original and the remake
has the feel of a dumbed down version. If you
cannot get your hands on the original, this is
at least an above average comedy. Rating: 5 (0
to 10), low +1 (-4 to +4)
I think you can learn a lot about somebody by just knowing what
comedies he finds funny. Within my top three funniest comedies is
the 1967 BEDAZZLED, a film directed by Stanley Donen, but most of
the humor and creativity came from the erudite British comedy team
of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore who with this film were at the top
of their form. The humor of that film could be lampooning
Christopher Marlowe's play DOCTOR FAUSTUS (the inspiration for
BEDAZZLED) one moment and then be drolly slapstick the next. And
perhaps the moment after that it would be presenting some profound
insight on the Bible and religion. Being so eclectic and literate,
the original is a film that gracefully shows its age but never
dates. It is a comedy that does not need to be remade for modern
audiences. If anything, it needs to be annotated. Remaking it is
a project that is hazardous from the first.
In the remake Elliot Richardson (played by Brendan Fraser) works on
a computer help desk. Most of the people in his office would
apparently prefer solitary confinement to having to deal with him.
Elliot has a not so secret crush on the demure Allison (Frances
O'Connor) who has worked in the same office for four years and
never even noticed the obnoxious Elliot was there. Elliot runs
into Allison in a bar and tries to make small talk only to be
snubbed. But wait, the evening is not over. There is an
absolutely stunning woman in the bar who seems more than a little
interested in Elliot. Elliot is skeptical, but no, it turns out
she is not a hooker. She is something a little bit worse. She is
the Devil (Elizabeth Hurley) in human form. And she has a deal for
Elliot. She will give him seven wishes in return for his soul.
With each wish Elliot can become somebody else. He can specify
what he will be like, what other people will be like, anything that
comes into his head. And with each wish, of course, the Devil
finds some nasty way to live up to the letter of the wish but to
completely subvert the spirit. After all, isn't that what the
Devil does?
First, what was done well about this film? Some of the jokes are
fairly clever and some (only some) of those are original. I did
find myself laughing at this film. The credit sequence gives you a
Devil's eye view of the world and the people in it with little tags
to tell you their deep secrets. That is a clever idea. The
premise of the multiple wishes and how the Devil is tricky is done
almost as well as in the earlier film. With each wish Elliot's
appearance changes to fit the wish and at least some of his
appearances are quite funny. The Devil's general mischief is not
as inspired as it is in the first film, but several of the jokes
are funny. If the first film did not exist, this would be at least
a clever, watchable, and enjoyable comedy.
The problem is that there are places where this film is almost as
good as the original, but many other places where it in no way
comes close. Almost all of the banter based on the classics of
literature and religion are gone. In the original the holes in the
main character's wishes made subtle philosophical points. There is
little such intelligence in this screenplay. What this film does
offer that the first film did not is some machine guns, a short
chase involving a helicopter, and a large traffic accident, all
fairly common and by now boring stuff. The ending of the original
was hardly brilliant, but the remake simplifies it and dumbs it
down so that it is maudlin and really betrays the spirit of the
film.
Brendan Fraser's best work was in the serious dramas SCHOOL TIES
and GODS AND MONSTERS, but through practice he is becoming an
accomplished comic actor. He manages a tour de force playing
several externally different characterizations, reminding one of
Alec Guinness in KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS. The film's replacement
of the lackluster Peter Cook with the seductive Elizabeth Hurley as
the Devil may be slightly an improvement, but the lackluster was
part of the joke. One feels that if the Devil could look any way
he/she wanted to, that the choice would be to look like Hurley.
Frances O'Connor needs to do little but be demure and attractive,
and she does little more in her role. It is interesting that
English-born women were chosen as the two stars of this remake of
an English comedy.
For me, this attempt was as misguided as would be an attempt to
remake CITIZEN KANE. The result could have been worse, I suppose,
but naturally my recommendation would be to see the original rather
than the remake. Still this version gets 5 on the 0 to 10 scale
and a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. [-mrl]
===================================================================
3. PAY IT FORWARD (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule: A seventh grade teacher challenges his
students to change the world. Then one
implements a scheme that might just do it.
Given the premise, this is a surprisingly adult
and moving drama. It does not talk down to the
viewer. There is a lot of pain in the scarred
characters. Kevin Spacey again gives a solid
performance. Rating: 7 (0 to 10), low +2 (-4
to +4)
A reporter's car is destroyed while he is getting a story on a
hostage crisis. As he sadly looks at the wreckage a passing
stranger throws him some car keys, making him the gift of a new
Jaguar. But the benefactor has one condition. The reporter must
do large favors for each of three deserving people of his own
choice. And each of them must do three favors. Intrigued, the
reporter sets out to find the origins of this benevolent pyramid
scheme.
Flash back four months. In a Las Vegas junior high school, a new
teacher, Mr. Simonet (played by Kevin Spacey) gives his seventh
grade social studies class two tough assignments. The first is
just to keep up with all the new vocabulary words he uses in his
conversation. Not easy, but the second assignment is a lot harder.
"Think of an idea that could change the world." Not an assignment
frequently given to a junior high student. (At least not until
high school teachers see PAY IT FORWARD.) Trevor McKinney (Haley
Joel Osment) comes up with a plan more powerful than he realizes.
He will do favors for three people, each of whom will pass the
favor on threefold in an ever growing pyramid. Rather than paying
back the favor they pay it forward. This part of Las Vegas
certainly is a community that could use some altruism. Trevor's
mother Arlene (Helen Hunt) is a recovering alcoholic who is a
waitress in a casino by day and one in a strip joint by night.
Arlene is infuriated when Trevor gives a homeless man the run of
her house, and she goes to complain to Mr. Simonet.
There are several ways this story could have gone wrong. The
people could have been instantly transformed by the power of good.
Or everybody in the chain might have their lives dramatically
changed by the scheme. Or the people might not be properly
developed or only developed as one might expect for a film aimed at
teens. In fact these are people who have had some hellish
experiences and whose lives are not working out. The script could
have pulled its punches in many different ways. The way that story
does go wrong was in a much less offensive manner, thought wrong it
does go at the very end. The filmmakers turn the heretofore
realistic plotline into a slightly syrupy allegory toward the end.
To that point they go out of their way to take a story that was not
pat, and then they give it a pat ending. But then director Mimi
Leder has had previous problems with the final reel of otherwise
good movies. That was her problem with the film DEEP IMPACT. This
screenplay was written by Leslie Dixon who wrote OVERBOARD and MRS.
DOUBTFIRE. The writing is frequently moving and at times takes
chances. I could probably have done without the love story. But
for the ending and perhaps some gratuitous violence at the
beginning the writing is good.
The plotting has been compared with what one might have gotten in a
Frank Capra film and it is an apt analogy, though this screenplay
has some harrowing realism, perhaps along the lines of LEAVING LAS
VEGAS. Speaking of Las Vegas, when this film about a pyramid
scheme shows the skyline of that city, it features the Luxor
pyramid. Was it an intentional comment? Other writers have tried
to do films in the Capra style. Notable particularly is THE
HUDSUCKER PROXY by the Coen Brothers. This is a more successful
attempt.
Helen Hunt seems to be showing up everywhere on the screen these
days. She is in both PAY IT FORWARD and DR. T AND THE WOMEN, both
currently playing in theaters. If that were not enough theaters
are showing a trailer for WHAT WOMEN WANT starring Helen Hunt.
Haley Joel Osment, formerly of THE SIXTH SENSE, seems to have been
born with a face that just seems earnest and intense. But whatever
part luck played, he is already a skillful actor who holds his own
against adults, not with Shirley Temple cuteness, but with genuine
acting intelligence. Kevin Spacey also exhibits acting
intelligence, but then he is all grown up so it not quite the same
feat. All three play scarred people, though Spacey's character's
scars are the most obvious.
This is a good film worth seeing as I think the other half dozen or
so people who saw it in the theater with me would agree. It is a
pity it is not getting larger audiences. Perhaps people are
underestimating the maturity of the storytelling. I rate it a 7 on
the 0 to 10 scale and a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
A comment for people who have seen the film: The chronology does
not quite work in this film. The birthday party is maybe one day
before the end of the film, but the invitation to the birthday
party happened before the whole parallel sequence. Simply too much
had to have happened in that interval of time. [-mrl]
===================================================================
4. DR. T AND THE WOMEN (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule: Robert Altman looks at the superficial
lives of the wealthy and frequently not too
bright in Dallas upper class. His points are
less subtle and just a bit more vulgar than
usual. The film takes a long time to make its
point, which turns out to be disappointingly
trite. This is a film that at least
superficially seems to verge on misogyny but
perhaps is really anti-rich. Rating: 4 (0 to
10), low 0 (-4 to +4)
DR. T AND THE WOMEN is about a fabulously handsome and successful
gynecologist living and working in the Dallas area. Dr. Sullivan
Travis, (played by Richard Gere) lives the good life. He has a
beautiful wife Karen (Farrah Fawcett) and two nice children. In
his practice he treats many attractive women, yet he remains
totally faithful to his wife and family. In typical Altman fashion
we follow several strands of plot in the lives of T's family, his
patients, and T's relationship with an intriguing woman golf
professional at T's country club. Problems start to creep into T's
world as Karen Travis childishly takes off her clothes and takes a
swim in the fountain in from of a Godiva chocolate shop in an
upscale mall. Her doctor diagnoses her case as something called a
Hestia Complex, a mental disease of the wealthy. Meanwhile as one
daughter plans her upcoming wedding, another seems intent on
disrupting the wedding plans. And several other plot strands work
themselves out.
Director Robert Altman is a surprisingly erratic filmmaker even
after all these years and after having made several classics.
There is a great deal of similarity in all his films--each will
have a large number of familiar actors and a lot of plot strands
that all make a sort of mosaic of life in some part of the country.
Yet each film will be trying to make some point and the quality of
the film tends to hang on that point and sort of people he is
portraying. Last year this gave us the charming COOKIE'S FORTUNE.
Considerably less charming and in the final analysis more than a
little fatuous is this film. What we get is a not very flattering
portrait of the nouveau riche, with women going through women's
pursuits of spending large sums of money, planning weddings, and
turning visits to the gynecologist into one more popular form of
entertainment. It is hard to imagine women so excited about
getting an intimate examination that they cluster like pigeons
turning the doctor's office into real chaos just for the excitement
of being examined. Somehow even with someone with Richard Gere's
looks doing the examining, this really stretches the imagination.
Meanwhile the receptionist snorts like a horse and patients plan
accidents for other patients. While the women are doing this, the
guys are doing really masculine and only marginally more believable
pursuits like shooting skeets (well, golf balls) and going duck
hunting.
Altman has done more interesting work. This film only really
engages the viewer if one is fascinated with this sector of
society. The film generally hovers no further than arm's length
from being sexually titillating. We see locker room scenes, and
gynecological examinations. People take off their clothing out
behind desks. We see Farrah Fawcett nude in a fountain once it is
clear she is not mentally competent. Altman can do better things
than tantalize the audience. Most of these patients are treated in
a superficial and not very sympathetic manner. Many we never see
outside the chaos of the waiting room. Like MAGNOLIA the story
builds to a sort of a strange climax, though what happens here is
much less likely than what happens in MAGNOLIA. This is all in
service to making a point that has been made many times before in
film. Altman is no more intelligent about making that point in
this film. Nor do his characters have the interest value they had
in COOKIE'S FORTUNE. If one neither enjoys the theme nor the
characters, there is not much left.
Altman probably cannot make a film that is totally bad. His famous
relaxed style of shooting a film attracts too many good people.
But with a really mediocre script he can waste talent on a film
worth only a 4 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low 0 on the -4 to +4
scale. [-mrl]
===================================================================
5. GINGER SNAPS (a film review in bullet list form by Mark R.
Leeper from the Toronto International Film Festival):
Capsule: A new take on the werewolf story.
Lycanthropy and puberty come to a teenage girl
at about the same time and that only increases
the confusion. In spite of some immature
teen-film trappings this film touches
sufficiently on psychology to make it stand out
and deserve to be seen. Rating: low +2
- Title is a pun
- Very similar premise to story "Boobs" by Suzy McKee Charnas
- Takes place in Bailey Downs (safe and caring)
- Bridgett and Ginger, sisters, are odd kids of school
- Both years late into puberty
- Some strange animal hunts night
- Ginger bitten by night creature which is then killed in WOLF
MAN fashion
- Younger sister knows
- Lycanthropy and puberty come to Ginger at the same time
- All adults are out of touch with reality
- Bridget is sullen
- Ginger growing fangs and tail, nobody but Bridget notices
- Ginger shapely very quickly, becomes popular with boys
- "Do you think I want to go back to being nobody?" Ginger asks.
- Bridget and friend have to stop killings
- Puberty or lycanthropy: which changes come from which
- Buffy-inspired
- All adults out of it
- Tense finale
- Directed by John Fawcett
- Lots of stage blood
- Werewolf done well on budget. No good view till late in film,
then looks a little plastic
- Werewolf noise loud and chilling
- Good actors for lack of experience
- Ginger grew breasts too fast for late puberty
- Mimi Rogers is one name actor, good comic performance
[-mrl]
===================================================================
6. THE GODDESS OF 1967 (a film review in bullet list form by Mark
R. Leeper from the Toronto International Film Festival):
Capsule: A young Japanese yuppie with odd
tastes travels to Australia to buy a rare 1967
Citroen Goddess. He finds to buy it he must
drive cross-country with a blind woman.
Through flashbacks we piece together her story
and some of his. One the story is
reconstructed it is cliched and melodramatic.
Style is more unusual than the content.
Rating: 0
- Strange Japanese man on road trip with enigmatic, blind,
Australian woman
- Starts with Japanese man on PC typing "I want to buy a
Goddess." Turns out to be a Citroen Goddess.
- Man likes snakes, feeds then mice
- Dickering price on Internet
- In Australia strange owner, blind, claims must take a 5-day
trip to get owner to sell car
- Road movie with flashbacks telling woman's story
- Remembering sexual abuse by grandfather
- Grandfather living isolated thought he could make own rules
- Distorted colors, orange washed out
- When in car backgrounds through window are impressionist
- Aussie dusty vistas vs. memories of Japanese crowded city
- At first seems pointless but bits of stories collect in puzzle
to put together
- Parental sexual abuse (overused theme)
- One powerful scene at end
- Long, slow, and often not of much interest
- Filmed in Australia and Japan
- Dialog style like early Jim Jarmusch films, long pauses
between lines
[-mrl]
===================================================================
7. HOLDUP (a film review in bullet list form by Mark R. Leeper from
the Toronto International Film Festival):
Capsule: When a robbery goes wrong the robber
and his two hostages spend an afternoon
together waiting for the safety of night and
forming two-on-one alliances. Based on loosely
a real incident, this film offers a nice mix of
comedy and drama. Rating: low +2
German language
- Vienna
- Andreas is unemployed and badly needs money
- Tries but cannot get up the courage to rob grocery
- Hides I tailor shop, then decides to rob it
- Takes two prisoners, tailor (Boegel) and sick man (Kopper)
- Blindfolds and ties prisoners while searching for more money
- Unrelated police barricade across the street, but Andreas
cannot leave
- Andreas goes into rages
- Prisoners at first cooperate, but start to get on each others
nerves
- Sick man accidentally locked in bathroom
- The three talking about private lives
- Robber reveals details foolishly
- Trying to be compassionate
- Humor
- What director calls typical Austrian denial, but one refers to
serving in "the war against Hitler."
- Most of film one shop
- Loosely based on real incident
- Robber played by standup comedian
[-mrl]
Mark Leeper
HO 1K-644 732-817-5619
mleeper@avaya.com
You are free, and that is why you are lost.
-- Franz Kafka