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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 03/02/90 -- Vol. 8, No. 35
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.
LZ meetings are in LZ 2R-158. MT meetings are in the cafeteria.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
03/07 LZ: THRICE UPON A TIME by James Hogan (Affecting the Past)
_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.
03/10 Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: Terry Bisson
(author of WYRLDMAKER and WALKING MAN)
(phone 201-933-2724 for details) (Saturday)
04/21 NJSFS New Jersey Science Fiction Society: Josepha Sherman
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)
HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 834-1563 hocpa!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell LZ 1B-306 576-6106 mtuxo!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 957-5619 mtgzx!leeper
HO Librarian: Tim Schroeder HO 3D-225A 949-5866 homxa!tps
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-3346 lzfme!lfl
MT Librarian: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. Frank Leisti has provided the following description for the
discussion of James P. Hogan's _T_h_r_i_c_e _U_p_o_n _a _T_i_m_e at the next
Lincroft meeting [minor spoilers follow]:
This little story takes place in the near future, in Northern
England. An uncle of an American computer consultant convinces the
nephew and a friend to take the trip to England to view what he has
been tinkering on for the past few years. The uncle shows the
young gentlemen his time invention. From the physics of tau
particles, the uncle has set up a device that will generate tau
particles. These particles have an amazing property: they can go
back in time -- carrying information. The uncle calls the nephew
to put the equipment to the test. Orginally, the equipment is only
capable of sending 6 characters or 48 bits of information into the
past by 10 minutes.
THE MT VOID Page 2
James Hogan shows many instances of paradox in this testing
sequence where the nephew's testing capability is shown to
determine the state of the actual processes. Once convinced of the
reality of the device, the nephew and associate assist the uncle in
increasing the time and capacity of the device to send back
messages through time.
Side events, such as a fusion reactor being run in the nearby
country side bring forth a romantic interest for the nephew. He
has trouble with missing a date, due to the trouble taken to find a
programming bug, relieved by a dated message being sent back to
himself, telling himself to check this function carefully. He
solves the problem and is able to see the girl. Other events of
sickness and strange bugs that eat through animate and inanimate
objects force the trio to use the time information device to save
mankind -- not once, not twice but thrice upon a time.
I truly enjoyed reading this book -- both for the fascinating
concept of passing information across time (rather than physically
moving back through time) and the consequences of the action of the
tau particles and in changing history/destiny. [-frl]
2. Having at various times in my life been short before reaching my
current stature of a _p_e_r_f_e_c_t five feet, six inches tall, I have a
particular sympathy for the vertically disadvantaged. I don't know
if you notice that society tends to favor the tall. It has been
statistically observed that taller people get better service when
standing in lines. Even at a perfect 5' 6" I notice the class of
service I get when I go through the lunch line. A tall person will
be served immediately. I get to the front of the line and the
carver starts looking around for where his next hunk of meat is
coming from and perhaps brings it out; the woman serving the
vegetables decides now is the time to bring a new tray from the
back room and to consolidate. The cashier decides it is the
perfect time to check the tape or to ask, "Gladys, you got any
nickels?" "Uh, I have exact change." "I'll just be a moment.
Hey, Clara, you got any nickels?"
Now here I am reading about the old science fiction clunker
_C_o_l_o_s_s_u_s _o_f _N_e_w _Y_o_r_k. You want to know how they promoted the
thing?
FREE TICKETS TO TALL MEN!
ATTENTION MEN! DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A COLOSSUS?
IF YOU ARE SIX-FEET-FIVE-INCHES TALL, OR MORE, YOU
QUALIFY TO BE A GUEST OF THE _______ THEATRE
(TOGETHER WITH A GUEST OF YOUR OWN) TO SEE
PARAMOUNT'S SCIENCE FICTION THRILLER
"THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK"
Isn't that pathetic? I can think of just about nobody I want less
in a movie theater with me than someone over six-foot-five. Ever
THE MT VOID Page 3
have somebody six-foot-five sit in front of you? That's just the
kind of person you want to be a home-video fan. It's not the six-
foot-fivers you want at a movie, it's the five-foot-sixers. I used
to look for an empty seat to sit behind at the movies. Dumb idea.
Five minutes after the films starts, a six-foot-fiver sits in front
of me. It's got something to do with Einstein's time and space
dilation, but you put that much meat in a person and time contracts
for someone carrying all that mass. That's why they're always
late. So these days rather than sitting behind an empty seat and
ending up behind a six-foot-fiver, I head straight for the first
five-foot-sixer and sit behind him. That's the ticket.
3. WNYC (broadcast channel 31) is going to run another one of those
superb science fiction plays that the BBC does so well. If you get
WNYC, I do recommend _T_h_e _E_d_g_e _o_f _D_a_r_k_n_e_s_s, a very well-acted story
that starts like a murder mystery, then goes in some very
unexpected directions. Before it's over, it will satisfy mystery
fans, James Bond fans, and science fiction fans. That is because
in six one-hour installments, it takes the time to do all _t_h_r_e_e
stories well.
Bob Pack, an excellent English actor in somewhat the same slow-
burning vein as Ray Marsden, stars as Ronald Craven. Craven is a
sort of work-a-day police investigator harried by the bureaucracy
of his organization. Then his political-activist daughter is
murdered right in front of him and he decides to investigate on his
own. What he discovers involves ever-widening circles until the
future of England and perhaps the world hangs in the balance.
Involved are labor unions, radical ecologists, Northern Ireland,
the nuclear power industry, and much more. The cast is a bunch of
faces you may find familiar but you will probably be unable to
name. Bob Peck was (under-used) in _S_l_i_p_s_t_r_e_a_m. His daughter is
played by Joanne Whalley from _S_c_a_n_d_a_l and _W_i_l_l_o_w. Joe Don Baker
plays a bizarre Texan. There are several other familiar faces.
On Sunday, March 11, at 9 PM, WNYC will run parts one and two.
Then Monday to Thursday at 9 PM, they will run the remaining four
parts. Some of the BBC's good stuff is very, very good.
4. Last week's notice erroneously listed the next film festival as
occurring on March 7. In fact, it was _s_u_p_p_o_s_e_d to say March 1,
which would have been the usual three weeks after the last film
festival. The fault really belongs to whoever it was who first
started putting caps at the tops of ones, hence making them
occasionally look like sevens. If you are out there reading this,
shame on you (and congratulations on living so long). In any case,
Wednesday is all wrong for a Leeperhouse Fest so instead we will
hold the fest on March 8 ay 7 PM. Sorry you have to wait one more
week. The notice should have read:
THE MT VOID Page 4
At AT&T we are inventing the future every day. (Can you tell I am
bucking for a job in advertising?) But what does the future hold
for communications devices? Does ISDN really hold all the answers?
Are there new frontiers beyond "call waiting"? Find out in our
next Leeperhouse film festival, 7 PM, March 8, when we will show
you
The Future of Communications
THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955) dir. by Joseph M. Newman
BRAINSTORM (1983) dir. by Douglas Trumbull
Yes, we found two films based around advanced communications
devices. ....
5. I realize there has been a shortage of attachments to the MT
VOID lately. This is in part the fault of Hollywood--there have
been no movies worth seeing, much less reviewing. Also, I have
been involved in reading publications eligible for the Readercon
Small Press Awards (for which I am a judge) and so I haven't had
time to review many books. But this week we have several book
reviews (courtesy of Dale Skran), and several film reviews
(courtesy of you-know-who). Next week we start a three-part
series, my and Mark's Boskone convention report. The drought is
ended! [-ecl]
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 957-5619
...mtgzx!leeper
We are, for example, clever enough to know that a year is
a measure of passage, not permanence; we call the seasons
spring, summer, autumn, and winter, knowing that they are
continually passing one into the other. We are not surprised
at this but when we give to seasons of another sort the names
Rome, Byzantium, Islam, or Mongol Empire we are astonished
to see that each one refuses to remain what it is.
-- Russell Hoban, PILGERMANN
Cable in March
Film comment by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
_B_e_d_l_a_m (1946) (American Movie Classics)
_C_o_m_p_u_l_s_i_o_n (1959) (Cinemax)
_T_h_e _C_h_o_c_o_l_a_t_e _W_a_r (1988) (Showtime)
_T_h_e _I_n_n_o_c_e_n_t_s (1961) (American Movie Classics)
_M_a_d _L_o_v_e (1935) (Showtime)
_T_h_e _M_a_n _W_h_o _W_o_u_l_d _B_e _K_i_n_g (1975) (Cinemax)
_N_o_r_t_h _b_y _N_o_r_t_h_w_e_s_t (1959) (Disney, HBO)
_Q_B _V_I_I (1974) (HBO)
_S_t_a_n_d _a_n_d _D_e_l_i_v_e_r (1988) (Cinemax)
_T_h_i_n_g_s _C_h_a_n_g_e (1988) (HBO)
_T_h_i_n_g_s _t_o _C_o_m_e (1936) (American Movie Classics)
Several of this month's films probably do not belong on this list
because they are sufficiently well-known that most people do not need
recommendations for them. _T_h_e _M_a_n _W_h_o _W_o_u_l_d _B_e _K_i_n_g was recently
recommended on national television. Most people have probably seen
_N_o_r_t_h _b_y _N_o_r_t_h_w_e_s_t and _T_h_i_n_g_s _t_o _C_o_m_e. Let me start at the other end of
the spectrum. Probably few people have heard of _T_h_e _C_h_o_c_o_l_a_t_e _W_a_r.
There are several films about the high school and the forces to get
students to conform. In this film these forces take on a particularly
sinister edge. I have seen the film only once but I found it quite a
satisfyingly original treatment. A view of a very different high school
experience is offered by _S_t_a_n_d _a_n_d _D_e_l_i_v_e_r, which is like _H_o_o_s_i_e_r_s and
just as satisfying but the game isn't basketball, it's calculus. This
is the true story of the barrio teacher who took some of the toughest
kids in school and made mathematicians of them.
_C_o_m_p_u_l_s_i_o_n is a film account of the notorious Leopold-Loeb murder,
which was also the basis of Hitchcock's _R_o_p_e. But _C_o_m_p_u_l_s_i_o_n is the
better film version. Two college students commit kidnapping and murder
for the mental exercise. A great deal is made of Orson Welles's
contribution to this film as the great American lawyer Clarence Darrow.
It is a good role for Welles, but he does not appear until the last
third of the film if I remember rightly, so it's hardly his picture.
But Bradford Dillman and Dean Stockwell are good as the killers.
Speaking of crime films, there are major crime figures if little
actual crime in the story of _T_h_i_n_g_s _C_h_a_n_g_e, a gentle pleasant film about
an Italian immigrant shoemaker who agrees to play the fall-guy for a
crime he did not commit. In return for his being so obliging the
syndicate will pay him well for the time he spends in prison. A small-
time hood agrees to babysit and coach the convict-to-be, but instead
takes him for a good time at a resort. David Mamet (_H_o_u_s_e _o_f _G_a_m_e_s, _T_h_e
_U_n_t_o_u_c_h_a_b_l_e_s) wrote the story and directed. Don Ameche and Joe Mantegna
star.
Cable in March February 28, 1990 Page 2
The crimes are considerably more serious in _Q_B _V_I_I. The made-for-
television film takes a while to get going, but it remains the best and
most harrowing dramatic film about the horrors of Nazi concentration
camps. In part this is because it does not try to visualize life in the
camps but recreates it by courtroom testimony. Without starving actors
to near-death, I seriously doubt if life in the death camps can ever be
realistically shown on film.
As for more fanciful horror, there is Val Lewton's _B_e_d_l_a_m. Almost
all of Val Lewton's horror films are worth watching. This one is not up
to his best mood piece, a nihilistic film called _T_h_e _S_e_v_e_n_t_h _V_i_c_t_i_m, but
it is a tidy little historical horror film.
_M_a_d _L_o_v_e is arguably Peter Lorre's weirdest film. This is a
strange version of the oft-filmed horror story "The Hands of Orlak."
Lorre plays the mad surgeon Dr. Gogol, who quite understandably wants to
get the heroine, played by attractive Frances Drake.
The most eerie horror film of the month is _T_h_e _I_n_n_o_c_e_n_t_s, Jack
Clayton's adaptation of Henry James's _A _T_u_r_n _o_f _t_h_e _S_c_r_e_w.
Atmospherically photographed by Freddie Francis, it retains all the
ambiguity of the novel.
"Gee Whizz - Rockets and Stuff"
Yet Another Batch of Miscellaneous Reviews
by Dale L. Skran Jr.
Copyright 1990 Dale L. Skran Jr.
_L_a_b_y_r_i_n_t_h by Dennis Schmidt
This book has a couple of strikes against it right off - it opens
with a pretentious quote from Soren Kierkegaard (old fear and trembling
himself), and is clearly labeled "Book One of the Questioner Trilogy."
Neither of these things were sufficient to drive me off, since I was
interesting in sampling an unfamiliar, and fairly little known author.
As I read, I discovered that Schmidt alternated two stories, one
occurring well after the other throughout the book. Unfortunately, the
"prequel" was both less interesting and more difficult to follow than
the main story, so I skipped parts of it.
_L_a_b_y_r_i_n_t_h follows a large, bear-like alien as he attempts to find
enlightenment on "Labyrinth," a living planet with a yen to kill the
curious. His companions are a living computer, an elephant-like
warrior, a reptilian coward, and an insectile philosopher. They are
constantly lectured by a humanoid "teacher" who may - or may not - be an
extension of the living planet.
This works out to a fairly typical conclusion as the explorers are
picked off, each after encountering their greatest fears. Interesting,
but not high on my recommended list.
_C_o_n_t_a_c_t _a_n_d _C_o_m_m_u_n_e by L. Neil Smith
On the surface, this tale has a lot going for it. Sometime in our
future, when the USA has become part of the USSR and socialism has
triumphed, some space shuttles are sent out to mine an asteroid. On it,
they find a weird collection of inter-dimensional travelers, including
intelligent birds, crab-like warriors, talking dogs, ordinary humans,
and immense, ancient mollusks.
Unfortunately, Mr. Smith is much more interested in promulgating
libertarian propaganda than in telling an interesting story. The
"murder mystery" drags, the martial arts are fanciful (basic "magic"
kung fu), and the conclusion unbelievable. Worse still, the reader must
plow through interminable lectures by the giant mollusks on libertarian
philosophy. NOT recommended.
Mini-Reviews February 26, 1990 Page 2
_A_n_g_e_l _S_t_a_t_i_o_n by Walter Jon Williams
In the 50s Heinlein wrote good, wholesome adventure stories with
super-smart, tough heroes and heroines, stories like _B_e_t_w_e_e_n _P_l_a_n_e_t_s,
_T_h_e _R_o_l_l_i_n_g _S_t_o_n_e_s, _C_i_t_i_z_e_n _o_f _t_h_e _G_a_l_a_x_y, and so on. Later he added a
dollop of sex and gave us _T_h_e _M_o_o_n _i_s _a _H_a_r_s_h _M_i_s_t_r_e_s_s and "Stranger in
a Strange Land." Now, Walter Jon Williams, cyberpunk copycat, has
written what amounts to a Heinlein juvenile viewed through a cyberpunk
lens.
Ubu Roy, a four-armed genetically engineered kid with an eidetic
memory and his sister, Beautiful Maria, a cybernetic witch, take the
universe by storm, struggling to survive in a dog-eat-dog future world
of black hole drives and immense O'Neil-style colonies. They are less
brother and sister than most, since their father made them up from
various sources, and in the far reaches of space no taboo inhibits their
frolics.
They are down on their luck when they make the biggest score of all
- first contact. Williams provides us with a pretty alien set of
aliens, and a plausible series of adventures. Heinlein would be proud,
I think. Recommended. I'm planning on nominating this for the 1990
Hugo.
NECROSCOPE by Brian Lumley
Volume I: Necroscope, 505 pages
Volume II: Vamphyri!, 470 pages
Volume III: The Source, 505 pages
by Dale L. Skran Jr.
Copyright 1990 Dale L. Skran Jr.
* Warning - Spoilers *
Mr. Lumley has created an awesome pastiche here, combining a wide
variety of styles and ideas into a pretty impressive horror/SF series.
It is almost pointless to summarize over 1500 pages of plot, so a focus
on Lumley's style seems more appropriate. First, there is an element of
Lovecraftian Horror here, with nameless ancient mysteries and leprous
tentacles reaching up from bubbling pits. Second, Lumley has a dash of
Clive Barker and Friday the 13th here, with just enough intestine
dripping scenes to suggest that 13-year-olds should not be reading these
books. Third, Lumley has added the spy thriller, with a James-bond
style character fighting KGB minions. Beneath this is the fourth
element, a classic John W. Campbell ESP adventure story, complete with
many ESPers having unusual powers, such as spotters (who can detect
other ESPers), a death-dealing evil eye, telepaths, pre-cogs, selective
invulnerability of various sorts, etc. Most unusual of all are the
necromancers, who can steal the secrets of the dead by destroying their
bodies, and the singular Necroscope, Harry Keogh, who can speak to the
dead, and raise them to do this bidding. This list just scratches the
surface. Additional elements include Vampires (with a fairly detailed,
non-supernatural life-cycle), mathematics (*with numerous diagrams*), E.
E. Smith super-science, contact with other dimensions, and Edgar-Rice-
Burroughs-style adventure in a fantastic land of weird animals and
people.
The one line plot summary might be "Zombie Master vs. Vampires,"
but this trivializes the scope of Lumley's effort, which walks a line
between horror, fantasy, and SF. Lumley's control over this vast,
swirling mass is not always perfect, but improves as the series moves
along. Unfortunately, it seems the final battle is yet to come at the
end of the third book, and Lumley's explication of the origin of the
Roumanian language more than a tad dubious.
The packaging of the novels deserves mention. A two part cover,
with the outer art done by Bob Eggleton and an inner painting by Dennis
Nolan makes the books especially striking (and disturbing!).
Lumley may have made the mistake of making his major hero, Harry
Keogh, too powerful (in addition to be able to speak to and raise the
dead, he learns teleportation as well), but in the third volume, it
appears that Harry`s son (who has Harry's powers!) has become a
vampire, setting the stage for a battle royal in some later volume. In
a recent "Weird Tales" interview Lumley mentioned something about
"armageddon" in Volume V or VII, so be forewarned. This series could
serve as the basis for one more than one fairly interesting movie, and
appears intended for the screen at times.
Recommended to those who like this sort of stuff.
ENEMIES, A LOVE STORY
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: A very substantial film with strong
elements of both comedy and drama. A film with a strong
period feel and a story worth telling and told on an
adult level. Rating: +2.
The Holocaust is over and Herman Broder survived. Now he is
haunted only by nightmares of the night the Nazis took his wife, Tamara,
and children. All three had been killed in the death camps, he'd been
told. Now Broder is married to Yadwiga, the Polish servant whose family
saved his life. Off and on he teaches Yadwiga to be Jewish, though she
seems more earnest about it than he is. He has an okay job as a ghost
writer for a famous rabbi and he has a good-looking mistress on the
side. That's Masha, a fiery Jewish woman who also survived the death
camps. For now Broder is getting by, but soon his mistress will be
pregnant and wanting to be married, and to make matters worse, Broder's
first wife survived after all and this will leave Broder with two wives
more than he can handle.
Paul Mazursky's _E_n_e_m_i_e_s, _A _L_o_v_e _S_t_o_r_y, based on a story by Isaac
Bashevis Singer, is a surprisingly well-realized comedy-drama with four
characters, one husband and his three wives, all believable and three-
dimensional. And the fifth character is the post-war Jewish community
in New York, very authentically recreated on the screen--authentic
enough that it brought back memories of when I was very young, not long
after this film is set.
Broder's three wives are very different types, each with her own
strengths. Margaret Sophie Stein plays stolid, sincere, and homely
Yadwiga, still half living in the Poland in which she grew up. She
knows her husband has some hanky-panky going on, but ignores it while
she can, thinking that if she can make herself Jewish enough she can
hold on to him. The bewitching Lena Olin (of _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) plays Masha, burning out her life as quickly as she can. Then
there is Anjelica Huston as Tamara, at first bitterly bent on reclaiming
her husband but eventually transforming herself into a healing force.
And at the center of these women is Herman himself (played by Ron
Silver), confused and indecisive, with a need to feel he is in control
of things, most of which are beyond him.
There is a lot of film here. For a film with both comedy and
drama, there is surprisingly much of each. The comedy does not feel at
all forced and is all very human. The drama is also very human and at
times very painful. Maurice Jarre understood the film very well and
provided a score with light klezmer music to underscore the comedy and
with sad clarinet music to underscore the more serious moments. _E_n_e_m_i_e_s
is one of the better films of 1989, a year that had more than its share
of good films. I rate it a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale. For those
who worry about such things, there is explicit sex and indistinct
dialogue. I didn't mind the former, but lamented the latter.