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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 04/19/91 -- Vol. 9, No. 42
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
04/24 LZ: KNIGHT OF DELUSIONS by Keith Laumer (The Nature of Reality)
05/15 LZ: THE SCREWTAPE LETTERS by C.S. Lewis (Getting to Hell)
06/05 LZ: UBIK by Phillip K. Dick (Death and Hell)
06/26 LZ: ALTERNATE WORLDS by Robert Adams ("What If Things Were Different?")
_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.
04/20 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: David Mattingly
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)
05/11 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: TBA
(phone 201-933-2724 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 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Tim Schroeder HO 3B-301 949-4488 hotsc!tps
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 576-3346 mtunq!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. The next discussion book in Lincroft--Wednesday, April 24--will
be Keith Laumer's _K_n_i_g_h_t _o_f _D_e_l_u_s_i_o_n_s. Since the person who was
assigned the blurb-writing hasn't had a chance yet to read the
book, the cover blurb will have to suffice:
ENTER A DELUSION
Florin's own mental faculties are not in terrific
shape, after what he's been through. So it may not
be such a smart move, becoming bodyguard to a
Senator whose mental state is utter chaos. For the
job entails an excursion into the Dream Machine,
which assaults not merely the senses, but reality
itself.
THE MT VOID Page 2
Plunging into and out of hair-raising adventures,
combating an extra-galactic threat to Earth along
with defending his own sanity, Florin comes to
astonishing discoveries about the universe he lives
in and defends.
2. It was like a throwback to another age. I don't remember when
it was I first saw the coming attraction, but it was like no
trailer I had seen in years. It was a fast-paced, exciting trailer
for a film called _R_o_b_i_n _H_o_o_d: _P_r_i_n_c_e _o_f _T_h_i_e_v_e_s. There were no
plastic monsters, no gore effects, just Kevin Costner running
around, scaling walls, escaping the Sheriff's men--that sort of
thing. Maybe the adventure film that doesn't have a lot of plastic
is coming back. I can dig that.
Now I see an article about the upcoming film in _C_i_n_e_f_a_n_t_a_s_t_i_q_u_e.
It is headed by a quote: "There was no point in retelling the myth
unless it had a different, fresh and novel approach to make sure
'90s audiences would respond. They've had enough of cops, robots
and space." So far so good. Except I am not sure my tastes are
exactly like what a filmmaker thinks a '90s audience wants. Isn't
it they who have the appetite for the cops, the robots, the space
(hey, _I like space!), and all the gooey plastic.
Now I want them to tell the story right and they seem so far to be
doing it. I mean, a lot of the story is the ethnic conflict
between the ruling Normans, who'd conquered England, and the Saxon
populace. That could even have a flair of relevance. Yeah,
relevance! That would be nifty. Then I went on to read, "The new
film's approach to the legend can be [the writer's] description of
the Merrie Men as medieval Hell's Angels. Add to that [the
director's] observation that '[Christian] Slater [as Will Scarlet]
plays a 12th Century James Dean' (complete with Rocker quiff), the
overall opinion that Maid Marian is a 12th Century feminist, and
the fact that this film's humor is of a very contemporary nature."
And the scriptwriters were paid a reported $1.2 million for this
redefinition. The description goes on to say that without King
Richard's good influence, England had reverted to paganism and
human sacrifice and the Sheriff has apparently made a pact with
dark forces. They have written in a part for Robin to have a black
sidekick, played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman says his character "is
more cultured and respectful than the rest of the band, a central
truth about the Moorish race of the time. In the course of events
I introduce Robin to gunpowder, Telescopes, and even a Caesarian
operation." Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is to be Maid Marian.
Both good actors, but Mastrantonio is wrong for Marian and Robin
did not have a black sidekick. Nor did dark supernatural forces of
evil fit into the original story.
This all strikes me as very much a dumbing down of the original
material and a pandering to very '90s tastes. And this looks like
THE MT VOID Page 3
it is supposed to be a quality production. If a multi-star, big-
budget production has so little respect for its original material,
what about the cheap productions. Will they have more. I guess if
you wanted to find productions with respect for their original
material, you'd be watching _M_a_s_t_e_r_p_i_e_c_e _T_h_e_a_t_e_r. Continuing
through the same magazine, I see a quote from Stuart Gordon on his
_P_i_t _a_n_d _t_h_e _P_e_n_d_u_l_u_m: "We focused on the character of Torquemada,
which was not part of Poe's story." For yet another film, director
Tom McLoughlin says, "Stephen King is our modern-day Edgar Allan
Poe." (Bzzzt! Sorry, Tom, but King is no Edgar Allan Poe. But
thank you for playing.) And then there are many pages on the
making of that classic of the screen _T_e_e_n_a_g_e _M_u_t_a_n_t _N_i_n_j_a _T_u_r_t_l_e_s
_I_I. Well, that's why I have a house with 16,000 books, most
faithful to the original because they _a_r_e the original.
3. It's been a while since we explained the Club, and we've gotten
some new members, so here goes:
Science fiction at AT&T? It seems like a natural, doesn't it?
AT&T are the people who build those impressive bulbous buildings at
World's Fairs and places like the Epcot Center. Bell Laboratories
has a reputation for being the starting point of the future with
the invention of nice little gizmos like the transistor and the
laser and discoveries like the background radiation from the Big
Bang. Well, in 1978 when Mark and Evelyn Leeper (your humble
authors) came to Bell Labs, science fiction activity was a handful
of people who shared a subscription to the Science Fiction Book
Club and traded off books. It wasn't that there was a lack of
interest, but nobody wanted to take on the awesome responsibility
of organizing a club for AT&T employees. It was something of a
struggle to find ten people to say they were interested.
Today the "Holmdel-Lincroft Science Fiction Club" is, as far as we
know, the largest science fiction society in New Jersey (please
hold your applause till the end) with over 200 members. Sponsored
by AT&T, through good times and divestiture, as an unadvertised
fringe benefit for its employees (AT&T, incidentally, contributes
only space--they take no responsibility for the actions of the
Science Fiction Club, just as the Club takes no responsibility for
the actions of AT&T--it's a comfortable relationship), the Club has
members at 30 AT&T locations and activities at two (Lincroft and
Middletown, New Jersey). At those two locations and Holmdel there
is also an active science fiction lending library packed into
whatever spare office space we can muster. There are also tri-
weekly meetings, typically to discuss a book chosen at a previous
meeting, but we also show videotapes, sponsor book exchanges,
listen to radio recordings, and generally do what we can to keep
out of mischief over lunch hour.
The binding thread of the Club is the weekly science fiction notice
(the MT VOID), which features slanted editorials, more slanted book
THE MT VOID Page 4
and film reviews by members, tidbits of juicy gossip gleaned from
members attending science fiction conventions, and arguments
between members. (But you know about that--this is it!)
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper
Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people whom
we personally dislike.
-- Oscar Wilde
ANARCHAOS by Curt Clark
Book reviews by Frank R. Leisti
Copyright 1991 Frank R. Leisti
Imagine a world whose cycle around the its sun matches that of the
rotation of the planet. That world is Anarchaos, and its sun is named
Hell. A world where there are no rules, where anything is legal, where
a brother has died and gone buried with no questions asked.
Rolf Malone, brother to the now-dead Gar Malone, voyages to
Anarchaos with two other gentlemen, a missionary and a businessman
attempting to recover some machinery that was leased, yet never paid
for. The Union Commission, the only representative of the planet to
take an interest in these gentlemen warned them that the odds were such
that only one would survive their stay on Anarchaos. Rolf, just out of
prison for manslaughter, had lost all of his weapons at an earlier
customs check on a planet that he wasn't even staying at. Now, alone,
defenseless, and looking for revenge it was him against the planet.
The plot revolves around Rolf's investigation as to why his brother
was killed on this planet. Even Gar's high position in the Ice company,
with a guard present did not help him stay alive on the planet. Rolf,
in his way creates conditions of lifelessness around himself, and as a
reward, gets taken away as a slave to work in a mine. His changes in
mental attitude, the boring and exhaustive work that he is forced to do
prevents his mission for revenge, until circumstances change and he
looses his hand. With new incentive for revenge, he escapes, get
captured again and -- as he puts it -- loses the battles and wins the
war.
Considering the aspects of an anarchial society living on a planet
that has no night on one side and no day on the other, certain plausible
events would push people in the direction of rugged individualism or
utter despondency or ruthless malevolence towards others. What is
surprising is the longevity of such a world with such a society. Curt
Clark has certainly painted a bleak outlook on such a society, yet does
not touch the other aspects of life on such a planet when it is outside
of Rolf's experience.
I would rate it at a +0 on the Leeper scale, enjoyable and lacking
in the other parts of the implications of such a planet and society.
LA FEMME NIKITA
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1991 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: This is a French sub-titled film
for people who would never go to a French sub-titled
film. That is the up-side. The down-side is that it
does not provide very much for people who would see a
French sub-titled film. This is violent adventure fluff
similar to less respected American films. Rating: +1 (-4
to +4).
This sort of plot has been done many times before in American
films. Most notably, it was done in the film _R_e_m_o _W_i_l_l_i_a_m_s: _T_h_e
_A_d_v_e_n_t_u_r_e _B_e_g_i_n_s based on the "Destroyer" books of Murphy and Sapir.
Some super-secret government agency wants to create an assassin without
a background so they start with someone whom the world thinks is dead,
but who is not really. Maybe they even arrange the purported death, and
then they train this "zombie" to be their agent. Nobody misses the
person; nobody can trace the person either. That story told
competently, but without too much in the way of new twists, is the
currently playing French film _L_a _F_e_m_m_e _N_i_k_i_t_a.
The film opens with four French punks breaking into a pharmacy to
steal drugs for one of them, a nineteen-year-old woman who is clearly in
a bad way. The robbery goes wrong for just about everyone involved: the
owner of the pharmacy, the police that he calls, and the would-be
robbers. Three of the punks are killed and only the young addict
survives. She identifies herself to the arresting police as Nikita.
This Nikita is not just bad news--she is deadly to anyone around her.
The record later said that this woman committed suicide by an overdose
of tranquilizers, but she is in fact administered them by injection and
they are not lethal. Then begins the process of turning her from a
sociopathic killer into a controlled weapon.
While _L_a _F_e_m_m_e _N_i_k_i_t_a is playing mostly in art theaters, it is not
an art film any more than _D_i_e _H_a_r_d was. This is a slick, light-weight,
high-violence adventure film. Much like _R_e_m_o _W_i_l_l_i_a_m_s, the story of the
training of the human weapon takes about half of the film and it is by
far the best half. In both films the actual missions that the character
is assigned are rather shallow and silly exercises. One mission seems
to be only a make-work project where the organization has done
everything but actually pull the trigger and sends Nikita (at great
expense) to pull the trigger herself. It is not that Nikita is so great
a marksperson since the shot seems an easy one. Nor is it
professionally done, since she leaves the gun barrel out a window for
about five minutes while she waits for her orders. Nor is it that she
is still untraceable, since by this point she has a reasonably permanent
new identity. The whole sequence is there only to add some comedy and a
little more action to the film.
_L_a _F_e_m_m_e _N_i_k_i_t_a stands as testimony that English-language film
makers do not have the patent on silly action-adventure. This one is a
likable see-once-and-forget sort of film. My rating: +1 on the -4 to +4
scale.
TRIPLANETARY by E. E. "Doc" Smith
A book review by Frank R. Leisti
Copyright 1991 Frank R. Leisti
Delving into history with the old stories that I remember reading
some thirty years ago, I have come across the Lensman series, written by
E. E. Smith. I can still remember climbing into a bookmobile at the
school and checking out the various books that I could buy. I was
intrigued by the _G_r_a_y _L_e_n_s_m_a_n story. After reading that novel, and
discovering that there were other books in the series, I would save my
allowance and venture to the bookstore to buy the first book of the
series, _T_r_i_p_l_a_n_e_t_a_r_y, and then the next and so forth. Looking back into
my collection of science fiction, I remember the most joy I had with the
Lensman in believing that an organization developed as futuristic
policemen were in a war against a superior opposing force.
E. E. "Doc" Smith wrote this series as a historian, knowing the
past from accounts mentioned from the Lensman's Galactic Patrol. Yet,
in the _T_r_i_p_l_a_n_e_t_a_r_y story, the beginning basis of the Lensman, the
opposing forces of Eddore and Arisia are introduced and their original
meeting noted by this historian. Although lacking in continuity, the
idea of two very old races, with totally opposing viewpoints and
backgrounds coming together in our universe to wage an all out war of
immense proportions - using galaxies as their base of operations, seemed
to be quite new to me.
The civilization of Arisia arose from our universe, before the
formation of multi-star systems and galaxies which could support life.
They moved through all of their stages in life's struggle, up the stages
of civilization until they no longer required physical bodies or
physical necessities. These mind beings roamed the universe, thinking
very high order thoughts - such as the total reconstruction of the
history - both past and future of the universe. One such visualization
of the elders of Arisia contained a conflict with another race of
physical beings with great mental abilities, a race of immortals that
were capable of splitting into two grown beings with a complete set of
the parent's memories. This warrior race had completely destroyed their
universe in an very vicious fight against their own kind. After this
destruction, they joined together for their own reasons and moved
themselves and their planet through different universes until they
arrived at our own.
The elders of Arisia, having seen or forecast all of these events
wiped out the memory of the encounter from the minds of the Eddorians.
With their plan in place, Arisia waited many millennium until mankind
had obtained the stars. It is these stages in the history of Earth,
where Arisia worked on various bloodlines, shaping, changing, selecting
the various characteristics of both men and women in their plan to
create the penultimate couple who would bring forth children of immense
Triplanetary April 12, 1991 Page 2
power and abilities. _T_r_i_p_l_a_n_e_t_a_r_y deals with the peoples of Atlantis, a
race doomed to destruction because of the interference by the Eddorians.
The next downfall is that of Rome, with the almost insignificant events
around a fracas at a party of Nero's. Other stories deals with events
around World War I, World War II, and the upcoming World War III.
Finally, with the destruction of the earth well in hand, the Eddorian
altering the plans of the earth leaves and Arisia steps in to clean up
the debris in anticipation of the arrival of the First Lensman, Virgil
Samms.
However, before Virgil Samms can create his Galactic Patrol, the
earth must be subjected to the search for iron as a nuclear material by
a water world. These fish creatures, with the beginnings of an
"inertialess" field plunder and destroy the combined forces of Gray's
pirates and the Triplanetary patrol. The adventures of the involved
players brings out the beginnings of the Galactic Patrol and their
duties which are to be expanded across the universe, now that mankind
can journey so quickly to distant worlds.
A powerful setting for a great series, with the ultimate goal being
the creation of the Lensmen - a group of aliens and humans alike who
have only the good of the common universe as their goal. A wonderful
story, which brings forth the long range planning and the history of the
universe all into one long story.
As can be determined, I found the series wonderful, even when it
was emphasizing the dominant characteristics of a democratic society
over that of a dictatorial, or business hierarchy as presented in the
line of the pirates that fight the Galactic Patrol at every turn. I may
be biased from this series being my first incursion into science
fiction, yet I would rate this first story in the history of the
Galactic Patrol a +2 on the Leeper scale.
WARLOCK
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1991 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Three years after the coming
attractions ran, _W_a_r_l_o_c_k is finally getting a release,
albeit spotty. A prestigious producer, a good director,
and a distinguished cast turn out a good drive-in horror
movie made with care and imagination. The one flaw is a
rather obvious borrowing from the plot of _T_e_r_m_i_n_a_t_o_r.
Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4).
One of the odd mysteries of cinema of late has been "whatever
happened to _W_a_r_l_o_c_k?" Three years ago there were coming attractions
that promised a horror film with a nice look. From what we saw it
could have been decent or it could have been another special effects and
gore film. But for three years it did not seem to get released either
to theaters or to cassette. Finally, in 1991, the film is getting a
spotty, here-and-there release and while nothing great, it is certainly
closer to my best hopes than to my worst fears. Only on reading
material about the film afterwards do I discover that the film had a
pedigree that should have raised my expectations--perhaps to the point
that I would have been disappointed when I actually saw the film. It is
produced by Arnold Kopelson, who also produced _P_l_a_t_o_o_n. It is directed
by Steve Miner, whose _H_o_u_s_e did have some good moments. It stars Julian
Sands of _A _R_o_o_m _w_i_t_h _a _V_i_e_w and Richard Grant of _W_i_t_h_n_a_i_l _a_n_d _I. The
film has a very nice look. It is clear this was not intended to be a
film dominated by special effects. There is a little gore, about the
amount you might find in a Hammer Films horror piece of the early 1960s.
Most of the other effects are nicely orchestrated, and occasionally done
with the subtlety to leave the viewer not quote sure what has just been
seen.
The worst touch is that the basic plot is very similar to
_T_e_r_m_i_n_a_t_o_r. The film opens near Boston, Massachusetts, in the year
1691. A rather unappealing witchfinder, Giles Redferne (played by
Richard Grant) has sentenced to death a rather charismatic sorcerer
(played by Julian Sands). Our warlock escapes with a spell that
catapults both him and the witchfinder into modern-day Los Angeles.
There the warlock begins a mission to re-unite three separated sections
of the Devil's Grimoire. When brought together they will tell the
warlock God's most secret name. (This aspect sounds more as if it came
from the Kaballah than from 17th Century European tradition.) Reciting
that name backwards will uncreate the world which then presumably Satan
can recreate by his rules. The warlock kills one of the two housemates
who care for him after a somewhat rocky arrival. The other housemate he
curses. Each morning she will find herself aged twenty years over the
day before. This rapidly aging woman (played by Lori Singer) and the
witchfinder set out to find and stop the warlock.
Warlock April 11, 1991 Page 2
This is an oddly sexless film and that works in its favor. The
plot is never stopped nor is its mood sabotaged for gratuitous scenes of
titillation. Nor is the film padded out with long chase scenes. The
film is 102 minutes long because there was just about 102 minutes of
story to tell. Most of those 102 minutes show some imagination. Don't
get me wrong: _W_a_r_l_o_c_k is a drive-in sort of movie, not great cinema. It
is not a ground-breaker even as a horror film. It is a drive-in movie
that delivers the goods just about every moment it is on the screen. I
give it a low +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.