@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society Club Notice - 3/25/88 -- Vol. 6, No. 39 MEETINGS UPCOMING: Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon. LZ meetings are in LZ 3A-206; MT meetings are in the cafeteria. _D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C 04/13 LZ: THE SKYLARK OF SPACE by E. E. "Doc" Smith (Space Opera) 05/04 LZ: THE WAYFARER TRILOGY by Dennis Schmidt (Symbiotic Life, Alternate History, and Zen Buddhism) 05/25 LZ: THE MAKING OF 2001 by Jerry Abel (The Creative Process) 06/15 LZ: The Oz Books by Frank L. Baum (Oz) _D_A_T_E _E_X_T_E_R_N_A_L _M_E_E_T_I_N_G_S/_C_O_N_V_E_N_T_I_O_N_S/_E_T_C. 04/01 Con: Balticon, Baltimore. GOH: Spider Robinson. -04/03 (Info: Balticon 22, P.O. Box 686, Baltimore, MD 21203) 04/15 Con: I-Con, Stony Brook, Long Island, NY. GoHs: Clement, Ellsion. -04/17 (Info: I-CON 7, POB 550, Stony Brook NY 11794; 516-632-6460 1-5pm 04/09 Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: TBA (phone 201-933-2724 for details) 04/16 New Jersey Science Fiction Society: TBA (phone 201-432-5965 for details) HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 834-1563 mtuxo!jetzt LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell LZ 1B-306 576-6106 mtuxo!jrrt MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3E-433 957-5619 mtgzz!leeper HO Librarian: Tim Schroeder HO 3M-420 949-5866 homxb!tps LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-6142 lzfme!lfl MT Librarian: Will Harmon MT 3C-406 957-5128 mtgzz!wch Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted. 1. Due to popular demand, the Middletown meetings has been postponed indefinitely. 2. This is _t_h_e _o_r_i_g_i_n_a_l James Bond double feature. After the release of _F_r_o_m _R_u_s_s_i_a _w_i_t_h _L_o_v_e but before _G_o_l_d_f_i_n_g_e_r, United Artists had a summer release double feature of _D_r. _N_o and _F_r_o_m _R_u_s_s_i_a _w_i_t_h _L_o_v_e: "James Bond is Back to Back," the poster screamed. Well, this is that double feature. On Thursday, the last evening of March, starting at 7 PM, the Leeperhouse Film THE MT VOID Page 2 Festival will present Sean Connery in his first two James Bond films. Bond Is Back to Back DR. NO (1963) dir. by Terence Young FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963) dir. by Terence Young With the novel _T_h_u_n_d_e_r_b_a_l_l tied up in litigation, the first James Bond movie was the producers' second choice, DR. NO. See the only Bond film where the man with a license to kill actually uses that license rather than just killing in self-defense. Bond is much more the thug he is in the books than he is in any of the other films. This film's main title music has appeared in every other United Artists Bond film. The evil Chinese Dr. No is played by Yiddish theater (what else?) actor Joseph Wiseman. Sean Connery and I agree that FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is the best James Bond film. A complex plot is hatched by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. using the resources of S.M.E.R.S.H. in order to emabrass the British secret service and to get the East and the West fighting each other. The cast includes international stars Lotte Lenya and Robert Shaw. This is really the film that defined the popular screen image of James Bond, ironically based on the book in which Fleming actually killed off James Bond. 3. And by the way, as an added feature for this film festival we have a dog. Yes, I know many people think we usually have two dogs, but this time we have a real dog. People with allergies, take note. [-ecl] 4. Re WATCHMAN, Rob Mitchell reports: "According to the "Publishorial" printed in last month's DC comics (a regular "column" written by the publisher, Jenette Kahn), the WATCHMAN movie has a producer (Joel Silver, known for LETHAL WEAPON, PREDATOR, and 48 HOURS), a studio (20th Century Fox), and a writer (Sam Hamm, who did the BATMAN movie that Jenette [says] "about which I will be telling you more in upcoming weeks"). Jenette claims, not surprisingly, that we will be watching WATCHMAN pretty soon. Mark Leeper MT 3E-433 957-5619 ...mtgzz!leeper 18 AGAIN A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper Capsule review: Slow and predictable comedy about 81-year-old man who finds himself in his grandson's body. If you have seen _V_i_c_e _V_e_r_s_a, I recommend a nice rousing game of Parchesi instead of this. Rating: -1. A couple of weeks ago I reviewed _V_i_c_e _V_e_r_s_a and I said that the plot of personalities trading bodies had been done before often and usually not very memorably. In fact, _F_r_e_a_k_y _F_r_i_d_a_y--an early Jodie Foster film made for Disney--came to mind though I had seen only trailers for it. But I am sure I have seen the theme elsewhere; it is just the films were so forgettable. Now two weeks later I have seen another treatment of the same story and this one is really forgettable. The film is 18 AGAIN and, take my word for it, it is one time too many. David Watson (played by newcomer Charlie Schlatter) has more than his share of problems. He is pledging at a fraternity and is being picked on by his frat brothers. The girl he secretly loves goes with his chief tormentor. David is expected to join the dull business of phonemaking owned by his grandfather Jack Watson (played by George Burns). Jack has only one problem: he wants to be 18 again like David. Through a birthday wish gone wrong, Jack finds himself in his grandson's body. Schlatter spends most of the rest of the film doing a George Burns impression. Jack then brings his own philosophy of self- confidence to straightening out his grandson's life from inside the grandson's body. While _V_i_c_e _V_e_r_s_a brought a fresh eye and a clever sense of humor to the trade-of-personality plot, _1_8 _A_g_a_i_n drags through every predictable cliche at half the pace that Mr. Burns walks. The script totally sidesteps the plot of the boy in the old man's body and shows you only the old man in the boy's body and, even so, it does considerably less with that plot than _V_i_c_e _V_e_r_s_a does with less screen time. The story does virtually nothing new with the idea. There is, however, one good piece of advice in the film. As David's chief tormentor is getting ready for a race with our hero he tells him, "Don't waste your time." Let me pass that advice on to you. Rate _1_8 _A_g_a_i_n a -1 on the -4 to +4 scale. HAIRSPRAY A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper Capsule review: The infamous John Waters may finally have a film that will entertain without grossing its audience out. An enjoyable comedy about teen-age life in 1962 Baltimore. Rating: +1. The world is coming to an end: cracks are forming in the Earth's surface, mountain-sized chunks of ice are falling from the sky, John Waters has made a family film, oceans are boiling over. Well, one out of four is actually true. And I know which one you probably think is true, but you're wrong! No, as unlikely as it seems, John Waters has made a family film. This is the same John Waters who made _P_i_n_k _F_l_a_m_i_n_g_o_s in which super-obese transvestite Divine eats what the doggie leaves behind (and I don't mean leaves behind in the dish). And gang, it wasn't trick photography and a Tootsie Roll. It was done so lucky(?) audiences could tell it was the real thing. Since then and until Divine's recent death, Divine has appeared in most, if not all, of Waters's films, perhaps indicating that Waters has some sort of conscience, though more likely indicating that Waters's gross-out film require the services of someone who will do just about anything for money. Waters's films are mostly about bad taste. Of late Waters has been trying a new formula to make more profitable films. Most of his films have become "cult classics" but have had small audiences because of their subject matter and, in particular, their X rating. But Waters has long known that all bad taste need not be scatological. He made the R-rated _P_o_l_y_e_s_t_e_r and now the PG-rated _H_a_i_r_s_p_r_a_y. As part of the new formula, Waters intentionally picks out acting talent(?) that most of his viewing audience considers to be a joke. _P_o_l_y_e_s_t_e_r featured--along with Divine--Tab Hunter. _H_a_i_r_s_p_r_a_y features Sonny Bono, Pia Zadora, Jerry Stiller, and Debbie Harry. In 1962 Baltimore, nearly everybody watches _T_h_e _C_o_r_n_y _C_o_l_l_i_n_s _S_h_o_w, a sort of locally produced version of American Bandstand. The politics of choosing what teenagers will be dancing on the show reflects the politics of the time. There is a power structure determining who will show up as a dancing teenager on the program and making sure that blacks show up only on the once-a-month blacks-only show. The story is about two teens vying for the Number One spot and about the people trying to keep the show segregated against those trying to integrate the show. And it is all done with a bizarre but not all that exaggerated view of the fashions and hair styles of 1962. Waters finally has a film that could have mass appeal. Rate it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING A film review by Mark R. Leeper Copyright 1988 Mark R. Leeper Capsule review: _T_h_e _U_n_b_e_a_r_a_b_l_e _L_i_g_h_t_n_e_s_s _o_f _B_e_i_n_g is not a light film, but it is by no means unbearable either. Philip Kaufman, who makes very entertaining films, makes one that only sounds like an exception. 171 minutes of solid entertainment with a title you can use to impress your friends. Rating: +3. It certainly sounded light it was going to be a drag: _T_h_e _U_n_b_e_a_r_a_b_l_e _L_i_g_h_t_n_e_s_s _o_f _B_e_i_n_g. You can expect a bad time from a film whose title is sort of verbal fruit cocktail. It sounds like an obscure contemplate-your-navel sort of film. But on the other hand, it is directed by Philip Kaufman. He put together _T_h_e _O_u_t_l_a_w _J_o_s_e_y _W_a_l_e_s, though Clint Eastwood took over direction from him. He did direct _T_h_e _R_i_g_h_t _S_t_u_f_f. He directed the remake of _I_n_v_a_s_i_o_n _o_f _t_h_e _B_o_d_y _S_n_a_t_c_h_e_r_s and co-wrote _R_a_i_d_e_r_s _o_f _t_h_e _L_o_s_t _A_r_k. These are _n_o_t contemplate-your- navel films. These are really entertaining pieces. On the other hand, more than one good director has gone bad trying to produce his or her personal vision of what is art. Reluctantly, I went to our local art theater and saw the best film I have seen yet this year. _T_h_e _U_n_b_e_a_r_a_b_l_e _L_i_g_h_t_n_e_s_s _o_f _B_e_i_n_g bears no small resemblance to _D_o_c_t_o_r _Z_h_i_v_a_g_o. Tomas is a young successful doctor who gets a wife and a mistress, finds his life upset by political events, and eventually finds a new equilibrium in spite of the political events. Where it differs is that the political event is the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia instead of the Russian Revolution and that in some ways the women are equally attracted to each other, so that the triangle really is a triangle rather than a "V". Attractive Czech surgeon Tomas (played by Daniel Day-Lewis) seems to collect lovers like stamps. His favorite phrase in both business and pleasure is "take off your clothes" and with remarkable regularity business turns into pleasure. In a trip to a nearby spa town, he tries to seduce a barmaid (Tereza, played by Juliette Binoche) only to find that she follows him back to his apartment in Prague. She enjoys sex with Tomas but is jealous of his other lovers, including an artist Sabina (attractive Lena Olin). There are hints throughout the film that Tereza may be a repressed lesbian who finds herself attracted to Sabina. On the other hand, Lena is a bisexual who does not repress anything but the will to make some sort of commitment. This triangle could have made for very high-level soap opera, but the Soviet invasion casts a new light on everything and forces each of the three to come to a better understanding of themselves, and also tests their character. The eroticism of the film--if that is really what was intended--is little more than amusing. But you know that when you feel yourself actually missing a character whom you haven't seen on the screen for a while, you are watching a well-made film. And once again Kaufman has made a long film (171 minutes) that seems much shorter. Rate this film a +3 on the -4 to +4 scale. THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT ALMOST BLANK