THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
04/26/13 -- Vol. 31, No. 43, Whole Number 1751
Green Arrow: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Speedy: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Lectures,
etc. (NJ)
Renovation (Worldcon 2011) Convention Report
Hugo Nominations Comment, Graphic Style
Game of Thrones as Theory
Bill for Compulsory Science Fiction in West Virginia Schools
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in May (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
OBLIVION (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
THE RADIANT SEAS by Catherine Asaro (audiobook review
by Joe Karpierz)
DESPERATE ACTS OF MAGIC (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
Movie Titles (letter of comment by Tim Bateman)
Review of the MT VOID in THE ZINE DUMP (comments
by Guy Lillian III)
This Week's Reading (A HISTORY OF WARFARE and SELECTIONS
FROM THE ESSAYS OF T. H. HUXLEY) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
==================================================================
TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Lectures,
etc. (NJ)
[Note that several dates have changed.]
May 2: THE DISH, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 6:30PM
May 9: eXistenZ, Middletown (NJ) Public Library, 5:30PM; discussion
after the film
May 23: THE STARS MY DESTINATION by Alfred Bester, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 7PM
June 27: FLOATING OPERA by John Barth, Old Bridge (NJ) Public
Library, 7PM
July 25: TRSF by the MIT Technology Review, Old Bridge (NJ) Public
Library, 7PM
August 22: [canceled]
September 26: THE TIME SHIPS by Stephen Baxter, Old Bridge (NJ)
Public Library, 7PM
October 24: THE LANGUAGE INSTINCT by Steven Pinker, Old Bridge
(NJ) Public Library, 7PM
November 21: DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? By Philip
K. Dick, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
December 19: THE MOON AND SIXPENCE by W. Somerset Maugham,
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 7PM
Speculative Fiction Lectures:
May 11: Alaya D. Johnson, "Doing Historical Research",
Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 12N
July 6: Keith DeCandido, Old Bridge (NJ) Public Library, 12N
Northern New Jersey events are listed at:
http://www.sfsnnj.com/news.html
==================================================================
TOPIC: Renovation (Worldcon 2011) Convention Report
Evelyn's report on Renovation (the 2011 Worldcon) can be found at:
http://fanac.org/worldcon/Renovation/x11-rpt.html
==================================================================
TOPIC: Hugo Nominations Comment, Graphic Style
For the comment by one nominee on the Hugo nominations, see
http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date 130419.
==================================================================
TOPIC: GAME OF THRONES as Theory
An article from FOREIGN AFFAIRS magazine on "Game of Thrones as
Theory It's Not as Realist as It Seems--And That's Good" by Charli
Carpenter can be found at http://tinyurl.com/void-got-theory.
==================================================================
TOPIC: Bill for Compulsory Science Fiction in West Virginia Schools
Evelyn writes:
THE GUARDIAN (UK) reports, "A bill calling for science fiction to
be made compulsory reading in schools has been proposed by a
politician in West Virginia in order to 'stimulate interest in the
fields of math and science'. Ray Canterbury, a Republican
delegate, is appealing to the West Virginia board of education to
include science fiction novels on the middle school and high school
curriculums. 'The Legislature finds that promoting interest in and
appreciation for the study of math and science among students is
critical to preparing students to compete in the workforce and to
assure the economic well being of the state and the nation,' he
writes in the pending bill."
The full story is at http://tinyurl.com/void-sf-wv.
[-ecl]
Mark writes:
You may have heard that there is a new bill to make science fiction
teaching mandatory in West Virginia schools.
I am against it for two reasons.
1. It will turn science fiction into that stuff teachers make you
read.
2. IT IS NOT FAIR. When I was in school science fiction was
definitely not allowed. The attitude was, "We all know science
fiction is bad. You should be reading good books." 1984 was
considered good and hence not science fiction, but reading most
science fiction would lead to degradation and Baywatch fandom.
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in May (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)
We have another month coming up on Turner Classic Movies. This is
my monthly guide to the films I would recommend for the month of
May. All times listed are for the easternmost time zone.
Most of what I suggest here I suggest in the name of fun. They are
films that I think are entertaining. Every once in a while I throw
in a film I think is really good. At one time I considered A MAN
FOR ALL SEASONS (1966) to be the best film that I had ever seen.
It is mostly all talk, but Paul Scofield--one of the great actors
of all time--play Sir Thomas More a brilliant lawyer and a close
friend of Henry VIII. But in the name of his religion he cannot
endorse Henry's divorce of Catherine of Aragon and his subsequent
marriage to Anne Boleyn. More wants to be inoffensive and simply
insists on remaining silent on Henry's behavior. And Henry wants
More's endorsement no matter what he must do to get it. The script
is beautifully written with More having almost superhuman self-
possession and clarity of thought and speech. Robert Bolt, who
wrote the play, had previously written the screenplay for the
better-known LAWRENCE OF ARABIA. Sir Thomas More, as created by
Bolt is for me one of the great heroes of cinema. A MAN FOR ALL
SEASONS is directed by Fred Zinneman who directed great films like
HIGH NOON and THE DAY OF THE JACKAL. Those are thrillers, but A
MAN FOR ALL SEASONS is a deep personal story and a great film.
[Friday, May 17, 3:45 AM]
I admit before I introduce this film that I am not a sports fan or
a fan of sports movies. Even sports films considered great like
PRIDE OF THE YANKEES do little for me. Barry Levinson's THE
NATURAL (1984) I make an exception for since it is really a tale of
myth and fantasy told with baseball players. The novel by Bernard
Malamud really tells a very different story. It is about the
corruption of a great baseball player. THE NATURAL is more like an
updating of a King Arthur-like story of how a great player redeems
his life. The director is Barry Levinson who directed films like
DINER, AVALON, WAG THE DOG, and BUGSY. Robert Redford stars with
Barbara Hersey, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Wilford Brimley, and
Richard Farnsworth. The photography is terrific. [Wednesday, May
22, 8 PM]
Somewhere between RIDERS TO THE STARS and THE RIGHT STUFF is the
film COUNTDOWN (1967). Almost forgotten today, it might be
completely lost if it were not one of Robert Altman's first films
as director. It is based on the novel THE PILGRIM PROJECT by Hank
Searls. Searls was sort of the Michael Crichton of his day. He
wrote techno-thrillers comparatively well researched. He
copyrighted THE PILRGRIM PROJECT in 1964 while going to the moon
for real was in the offing. This film tells the story of a
fictional space program and culminates in a mission to put a man on
the moon for a year (!) while the geniuses who sent him figured out
how to bring him back. The film stars James Caan and Robert Duvall
as two astronauts competing to be the first man to set foot on the
moon. This may not be remembered as a sci-fi thriller, but it is
of definite historical interest. [Thursday, May 23, 2:30 AM]
A proto-pop-art crime film serial made in France in 1914 is JUDEX,
directed by Louis Feuillade. The main character is a flamboyant
crime fighter in cape and a hat with a turned down brim. This is
Feuillade's third panache-heavy pulp serial following FANTOMAS and
THE VAMPIRES. It is to be presented three nights (or more
accurately three early mornings). I cannot vouch for the quality,
not having seen it. But I expect it to be fun. JUDEX has not run
on TCM since 2004. The chapters will be assembled and shown in
three parts:
Monday, May 6, 12:30 AM - 2:45 AM
Monday, May 13, 12:30 AM - 2:30 AM
Monday, May 20, 12:00 AM - 2:30 AM
What is my pick for the winner of the month? No question. A MAN
FOR ALL SEASONS may well be, in my opinion, the best film TCM will
show this year. [-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: OBLIVION (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Directed, produced, and co-written by Joseph Kosinski,
OBLIVION is a new film that borrows heavily from other science
fiction films but brings them to the screen with well-crafted
special effects. Sixty years after a costly war with aliens, two
people mop up the Earth before it is to be abandoned. The back-
story is complex but it takes an hour to get going. As usual Tom
Cruise seems carefully to select a role that has more action than
character. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4) or 6/10
In 2077 it has been six decades since humans won a war against
invading aliens, and since that time the after-effects of the war
have left Planet Earth uninhabitable. Most remaining humans are
being moved to a colony on Titan.
Jack Harper (played by Tom Cruise) is one of the few humans left on
the earth. He maintains the drone robots that in turn maintain
what is left of the planet. Where Jack does not have the tools he
needs he improvises with things like chewing gum to keep complex
machinery together. And he defends the security. This involves
protecting his turf from invading Scavs--alien scavengers. But who
they are and what they want, Jack does not know.
Jack asks very few questions. He just knows that he and his
communications officer Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) are what their
superiors call "an effective team." This means that Jack seems to
go through about six nearly fatal brushes with death every day and
somehow always comes through safely. Nobody seems to know or care
the dangers Jack faces. But they do know his team is effective.
As part of his payment Jack lives in an exquisite home high over
the desert that used to be New York City. If it seems surprising
that someone with so menial a responsibility has been given so
beautiful a home, it will seem even more so by the end of the film.
Meanwhile, the humans live in a tetrahedral space station above the
Earth. They hose up seawater that will be used as an energy source
for the distant Titan colony. (Seawater is a source of energy?)
The back-story remains undeveloped for the first half of the film.
But Jack has some more surprises coming that will be revealed in
the fullness of time.
Wearing the hats of the producer, the director, and the co-writer,
Joseph Kosinski helms his second film; the first was TRON: LEGACY.
The CGI here is sumptuously applied making it a film you want to
look at if not necessarily one you will want to sit through a
second time. White seems a dominant color theme in the home
platforms and the flying aircraft. There are many scenes to dazzle
and distract from a script that is really a lot of warmed over sci-
fi devices from other films. OBLIVION is something of a chimera of
a film pieced together from so much that is borrowed. A major part
of the plot seems to be taken from one specific science fiction
film. [Telling you which film would be a spoiler, but it featured
actor Robin Chalk.]
As with most of Tom Cruise's roles he poses fairly dramatically but
has little real acting to do. His dialog (and monologue) is
contrived to make him sound cool and his props like a foldaway
motorcycle make him look nifty. But it really takes more than that
to do more than pose. His strongest emotions are resolve and
occasional bewilderment. To do some much needed humanizing the
script has him decorate his aircraft with a Bobblehead he
imaginatively calls Bob. Needless to say it takes more than that
to create a character.
Morgan Freeman shows up in the second half of the film and with the
science fiction background he had an opportunity to add new
dimensions to his acting. He passes up that opportunity. Freeman
knows the character his fans want him to be and he delivers that
character once again.
OBLIVION is a film with the look being a lot more satisfying than
the thought. Viewers with the option may well want to see the film
in IMAX as the strongest aspects of the film are the its art
direction and its visual effects. It is a pity there is no IMAX
equivalent for too small a concept. I rate OBLIVION a +1 on the -4
to +4 scale or 6/10.
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1483013/combined
What others are saying:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oblivion_2013/
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: THE RADIANT SEAS by Catherine Asaro (copyright 2009, Tor,
Blackstone Audio 2006, 15 hours 32 minutes, narrated by
Anna Fields) (audiobook review by Joe Karpierz)
THE RADIANT SEAS directly follows the events of PRIMARY INVERSION
in Catherine Asaro's Skolian Empire Saga. It continues, in part,
the story of Soz and Jaibriol Cox II, but mostly concerns itself
with the devastating Radiance War between the Skolian and Eubian
Empires. The book is somewhat uneven, but in the end, it finishes
strongly and is immensely satisfying.
A great deal of the first portion of the novel deals with the life
that Soz and Jaibriol lead on the planet Prism during their self-
imposed exile. It is an idyllic lifestyle, with Soz and Jaibriol
raising a family and living off the land. There is, of course, the
constant threat that they will be found, and how to deal with that
eventuality is in their minds. They spend about eighteen years on
the planet, until, well, real life intrudes.
Back in the Skolian Empire, Soz' family is devastated to learn of
her death--well, most of them, anyway; the ones that know she is
still alive are feverishly hoping to keep the secret as best they
can. Soz' brother Althor does eventually find out that she is
still alive, and promised Eldrinson, their father, that he will
keep the secret to his grave. However, Althor is eventually
captured in a battle with the Eubians and is tortured to the point
where he eventually reveals the secret.
And so, the peace that Joz and Jaibriol share is broken. Jaibriol
is "rescued" by his empire, and their home is destroyed. Soz is
able to get off the planet with the children. She takes them to
Earth, leaves them with someone she deeply trusts (no, I'm not
going to tell you), and heads off to the Empire to take her
rightful place as Imperator. It is at this point that the novel
really takes off.
You see, Jaibriol is now the puppet ruler of the Eubians. Althor
is still a prisoner. And Soz is ticked. She will stop at
absolutely nothing to get her husband and family back together.
She is even willing to start a war to accomplish her goals.
As I stated earlier, the book starts out very slowly, but once Soz
returns to take the reins of the Skolian Empire the story is non-
stop. The story takes place on multiple fronts with the point of
view shifting constantly. And there is a huge number of characters
that are involved, and all of them play an important part of
bringing the storyline to a close. And there is quite a closing
here, as both Empires are changed dramatically by the end of the
story. The war may be over, but there are some far-reaching
consequences for both sides that I'm sure will feed later novels in
the Skolian universe.
Kudos go to Anna Fields, the narrator of this book. I'm finally
warming up to her style, after I was at first jarred by her taking
over the series a few books in. She does a terrific job handling
the huge number of characters in the book, and she seems very
comfortable with these stories now.
All in all, a highly recommended work.
On a side note: Yes, I will be reviewing the Hugo-nominated novels
this year, as I do every year. It turns out that I was in progress
with this book, as well as John Scalzi's episodic THE HUMAN
DIVISION, when the nominees were announced. So, next time I'll be
reviewing THE HUMAN DIVISION. The good news is that I've already
read and reviewed three of this year's Hugo-nominated novels, so I
only have two to go: Mira Grant's BLACKOUT (next up after THE HUMAN
DIVISION), and Saladin Ahmed's THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON.
[-jak]
==================================================================
TOPIC: DESPERATE ACTS OF MAGIC (film review by Mark R. Leeper)
CAPSULE: Fun. Inventive. This is a comedy set against a backdrop
of the world of competing stage magicians. Combination
writer/producer/director/star Joe Tyler Gold tells an engaging
story of magicians in international competition. Gold plays Jason,
who loses his job and devotes himself to becoming a stage magician.
His life is complicated by the attentions of a beautiful street
magician who cannot be trusted. What makes this film impressive is
an unending parade of magic tricks performed by experts and filmed
without editing tricks or special effects. The subculture of the
magic community, based on Gold's experiences, has a very real feel.
Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4) or 8/10
Jason (Joe Tyler Gold) dreams of being a professional magician and
seems to have what it would take. When his magic gets in the way
of his job he is fired or as his boss puts it is given a
"firetunity." His life is almost immediately complicated by
repeatedly running into a beautiful woman, Stacy (Valerie Dillman)
who is part grifter and part street magician. She gets involved in
Jason's plans to compete in professional magic competitions
starting in San Diego. Jason's best friend is Steve (Jonathan
Levit), and with a new friend Ellen (Sascha Alexander) the four--in
varying pairings--go off to become famous.
The film GETTYSBURG was made with real historical re-enactors who
among them knew just about everything there was to know about the
battle. It had a lot of weekend soldiers who worked cheaply
because they believed in the film. The result was an excellent and
accurate historical film with a lot of people contributing. There
are not a lot of fields where you can get a bunch of true believers
to contribute to a film because they believe in the film being
made. One other field that has such people is stage magic.
DESPERATE ACTS OF MAGIC seems to be the net result of the work of a
lot of stage magicians. The film is really something of a non-stop
magic show with a story going on in the background. What you will
see here is not real magic, of course, but it is real stage magic
performed by professionals. All the nonstop parade of tricks are
performed in front of camera that is doing no more than revealing
what it sees. There are no special effects to make the magic work.
What makes this a particularly brave production for its
contributors is that on DVD, the legerdemain can be observed in
slow motion over and over. That is one reason why some magicians
will not appear on television where their acts can be recorded and
studied. But the magic show itself is worth the price of
admission, and the story is almost a bonus.
Joe Tyler Gold is a professional magician who performed in fifty
children's parties before competing professionally. He based
DESPERATE ACTS OF MAGIC on his experiences. Beyond writing the
film he co-directed it, co-produced it, co-edited it and played the
main character. Where he cooperated in these tasks it was with
Tammy Caplan who also plays in the film. I would say the
production has not quite the polish of a studio film, but Gold and
Caplan manage to pull off turning a just OK plot into a film that
is a lot of fun.
It has been noted that stand-up comics frequently make good actors.
There is something about getting up in front of live audiences that
trains comics to hold the viewer's attention. There is nothing
tentative in their acting. The same principle probably works for
stage magicians also. In DESPERATE ACTS OF MAGIC much of the cast
is played by real stage magicians who have experience in front of
live audiences. They know what to do in front of a camera and give
a professional polish to this festival of newcomers. The one
really veteran actor is the competition master of ceremonies Don
(John Getz). He is a veteran of films going back to BLOOD SIMPLE,
Cronenberg's THE FLY, and more recently THE SOCIAL NETWORK.
For Gold and Caplan's first film, this is a solidly entertaining
production. While the story itself is not monumental, the film has
more than enough inventive charm to hold the viewer. I rate
DESPERATE ACTS OF MAGIC a labor of love and a high +2 on the -4 to
+4 scale or 8/10. (Somebody should have cut the "Jumping Ring"
though. That one is a little too obvious.)
Film Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2401007/combined
[-mrl]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Movie Titles (letter of comment by Tim Bateman)
In response to Evelyn's response to John Hertz's comments on THE
LIFE OF PI in the 04/19/13 issue of the MT VOID, Tim Bateman
writes:
[Evelyn says,] "Every time I heard about the movie CONSTANTINE I
had an instant of thinking it was about the Roman Empire."
I am glad that I am not the only one. [-tb]
[Evelyn also says,] "And Mark said when he first heard the
title 'Autumn in New York', he heard it as 'Ottoman New York' and
thought it was an alternate history."
I've never heard of "Autumn in New York", but would be interested
in seeing "Ottoman New York". [-tb]
==================================================================
TOPIC: Review of the MT VOID in THE ZINE DUMP (comments by Guy
Lillian III)
In THE ZINE DUMP, Guy Lillian III's fanzine review zine, Guy
writes:
"Ever-enjoyable e-zine from Evelyn and Mark Leeper. As you can
tell from that issue number [1748], they've been at it next-to-
forever, and have yet to run out of topics. Here, for instance,
Mark Leeper discusses the transition of '60s spy TV to the big
screen (the Philip Seymour Hoffman Mission: Impossible seemed
improvised as it went along), Dale L. Skran meditates on "the
Transhuman Condition" as seen in The Hydrogen Sonata and TV's
Vampire Diaries (don't scoff; he makes sense), and Jim Susky puts
in his two cents on gun control, a subject intruding everywhere.
Not to be outflanked, Evelyn takes on the real "good old stuff" ...
Aeschylus's Oresteia. And they list the Hugo nominees. Not drawn
to the above topics? Wait a week; others will come up. The
Leepers cover the world(s). [-gl3]
==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
A HISTORY OF WARFARE by John Keegan (ISBN 0-679-73082-6) was
recommended in the first lesson of the Teaching Company's "War and
History (Prof. Jonathan P. Koth). Keegan does not provide a
history of the world through its wars, as one might expect, but a
history of the philosophy and practice of warfare. The "philosophy
of warfare" may sound odd, but that seems to be the best term.
Keegan describes various modes of warfare, such as "face-to-face
traditional combat", "Aztec flower battles" (for the purpose of
taking captives), "phalanx warfare", combat in which there was no
dishonor in retreating to fight again another day, and so on. Some
of the most costly battles are those in which one side is fighting
according to one set of rules, and the other is using a different
mode entirely.
Keegan divides warfare into four stages: stone, bronze, iron, and
fire. In addition to these main categories, he also has shorter
sections on logistics and other orthogonal aspects of warfare.
I picked up SELECTIONS FROM THE ESSAYS OF T. H. HUXLEY by Thomas
Henry Huxley (no ISBN) at the Cranbury Bookworm moving sale.
Almost immediately on starting it, I ran across this delightful
description of the origins of the Royal Society: "And it is a
strange evidence of the taste for knowledge which the most
obviously worthless of the Stuarts shared with his father and
grandfather, that Charles the Second was not content with saying
witty things about his philosophers, but did wise things with
regard to them. For he not only bestowed upon them such attention
as he could spare from his poodles and his mistresses, but being in
his usual state of impecuniosity, begged for them of the Duke of
Ormond; and, that step being without effect, gave them Chelsea
College, a charter, and a mace: crowning his favours in the best
way they could be crowned, by burdening them no further with royal
patronage or state interference." [-ecl]
==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
You can't really succeed with a novel anyway;
they're too big. It's like city planning.
You can't plan a perfect city because there's
too much going on that you can't take into
account. You can, however, write a perfect
sentence now and then. I have.
--Gore Vidal