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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 09/04/92 -- Vol. 11, No. 10

MEETINGS UPCOMING:

Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are on Wednesdays at noon.

_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C

09/16 HO: THE SILMARILLION by J.R.R. Tolkien (Alternate Mythologies)
(HO 4N-509)
10/07 HO: THE FORGE OF GOD and THE ANVIL OF STARS by Greg Bear
(The Fermi Paradox) (HO 4N-509)
10/28 HO: Book Swap (HO 4N-509)
11/18 HO: DOOMSDAY BOOK by Connie Willis (Plagues) (HO 4N-509)
12/09 HO: A FIRE ON THE DEEP by Vernor Vinge (HO 4N-509)

_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.
09/12 SFABC: Science Fiction Association of Bergen County: Michael
Kandel (author) (phone 201-933-2724 for details)
(Saturday)
09/19 NJSFS: New Jersey Science Fiction Society: TBA
(phone 201-432-5965 for details) (Saturday)

HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 hocpb!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1D-505A 908-834-1267 hocpb!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 mtfme!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzy!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgzy!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.

1. Sorry, you are not an instant winner, but thank you for playing.

2. I think we have all heard that there currently is a crisis in
Blood City. Yes, the American Red Cross tells us that right now--
RIGHT NOW--the stockpile of blood is critically low. There was
more than enough plasma to meet the need but nobody realized the
Kaiser was going to attack France, and since then we have had a
critical shortage at the old blood bank. In fact, at least three
times in the 1980s there were rumors that the blood bank was going
to fail and investors mobbed it wanting to get their blood back.

THE MT VOID Page 2

I dunno. I used to really believe in giving blood. I kind of like
anything that will make me a pound lighter in half an hour. But
they give you these stickers to wear on your shirt that say, "Be
nice to me, I gave blood today." And you know they never work. I
got one once, got back to my desk, and discovered they were taking
away my corporate AmEx card to save a dollar or so a year. I am
having my own damn stickers printed that say, "I gave blood today.
If you didn't, I get to spit on you." I think that would be more
effective anyway.

Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
...mtgzy!leeper

What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists
is not that they are extreme, but that they are
intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their
cause, but what they say about their opponents.
-- Robert F. Kennedy

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS: THE DISCOVERY
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper

Capsule review: The Salkinds know exactly how
to market a turkey film to get what profit they can
from it. What they did not seem to know is that
their _C_h_r_i_s_t_o_p_h_e_r _C_o_l_u_m_b_u_s: _T_h_e _D_i_s_c_o_v_e_r_y is not a
turkey, but a reasonably intelligent and enjoyable
historical film. It is not a great film but a
pleasant surprise. Rating: high +1 (-4 to +4).

One never quite knows what to expect from the Salkind brothers.
Early films one associates with the Salkind name include a ponderous
adaptation of Kakfa's _T_r_i_a_l and a not very engaging adventure, _T_h_e
_L_i_g_h_t _a_t _t_h_e _E_n_d _o_f _t_h_e _W_o_r_l_d. The brothers hit pay dirt and made a
name for themselves with a terrific double film adaptation of _T_h_e
_T_h_r_e_e _M_u_s_k_e_t_e_e_r_s. _S_u_p_e_r_m_a_n was extremely uneven in style and
quality, but it had its moments and was an audience pleaser. Its
sequels and spin-offs went rapidly downhill and their image became
one of flesh without substance. Their announcement of a film about
Santa Claus more than enhanced that opinion. Substance and Santa
Claus just do not go together. And then they announced _C_h_r_i_s_t_o_p_h_e_r
_C_o_l_u_m_b_u_s and it sounded only marginally better. A film about
Captain Cook might be interesting. the Burton and Speke expedition
had real dramatic possibilities and the film Bob Rafelson made did
realize some of them. But Columbus seems like an elementary school
hero and too corny to make into a real hero. This was a film that
everybody knew would not be good and then on top of that there were
no screenings for critics. This is a sure sign that the Salkinds
expected a poor reception from the critics. They were wrong. This
is certainly the best film the Salkinds have done since _T_h_e _T_h_r_e_e
_M_u_s_k_e_t_e_e_r_s and, while flawed, is getting a generally positive
critical reception.

While the film rarely rises to the point of excitement (odd,
because it is directed by James Bond director John Glen), the film
does offer historical spectacle and some adventure. In the late
1480's Colon (yes, they get his name right in the film even if not
in the title) is trying to convince the Portuguese court that the
great Ocean Sea can be crossed by a mariner, particularly one who
knows a secret. The Portuguese have sent explorers who do not know
Colon's "secret" and they returned in failure. The theme of the
secret is very nicely handled, incidentally. It is a little hard
for the audience to realize for itself what Colon's secret could be.
When the secret is actually revealed, it turns out to be something
non-obvious, something that perhaps a few mariners of Colon's day
might have known, and something that certainly could have made the
difference between success and failure. Of course, Colon (played by

Christopher Columbus August 30, 1992 Page 2

George Corraface of _T_h_e _M_a_h_a_b_a_r_a_t_a) goes to Spain and in spite of
his original inclinations asks a laid-back Ferdinand (played by Tom
Selleck in a bizarre piece of casting) and pretty perky Isabella
(played by Rachel Ward), looking a decade or two under her 41 years.
(Is this really the same woman who refused to change her petticoat
until her husband drove the Moors from Spain?)

While much of the story is familiar there is a fascination in
seeing Spain in its most momentous--albeit regrettable--year. There
is some reference made to the expulsion of Jews, including a moving
scene of Jews leaving Spain at the same time Colon is, though there
is little reference to how much of Colon's crew was Jewish or to the
belief at the Spanish court that Colon was himself a Jew. Colon is
called before Torquemada (played by Marlon Brando in this film) not
on a question of his religion, but rather Colon's contradiction of
the teachings of St. Augustine, who said there are no lands before
the great Ocean Sea and for whom a city was named in Florida. Colon
proves himself to be a man who knows his audience and what sort of
argument will work. When he argues his case to the Church he uses
scripture; when arguing to tough businessmen he uses clever
analogies and the visual aid of a watermelon and a sharp blade.

Eventually Colon does get to sea in what by rights should have
been the most exciting chapter but which is, in fact, the least
original segment. Ships at sea looking for land, having to avoid
sabotage, mutiny, trying to find wind--all are fairly familiar plot
elements of sea films. There is even a sequence involving a bet
that seems very unlikely to have had any basis in fact. Eventually
landfall is made--I hope this is not a spoiler. Then comes a most
interesting dilemma in filmmaking: should the film portray Colon as
a hero or be politically correct and make him a tyrant? The
solution is to make Colon a man of his time--a time that called for
gold, glory, gospel, and slaves as the indicators of success.
Colon's ambitions are those of a man from the 15th instead of the
20th Century.

This is a film of great earnestness with humor only in its
ironies, including a very interesting comment by Torquemada toward
the end of the film. It does generate interest in a very daring
expedition that most of us take for granted. In spite of some
distortion of history, it does give the viewer some unconventional
insights into the great historical event. Not great but easily a
high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.

Capsule review: The writer of _T_h_e _I_n-_L_a_w_s and
_T_h_e _F_r_e_s_h_m_a_n tells the story of a love triangle of a
neurotic New York private detective trying to marry
his girlfriend while a big-time gambler tries to win
her away. Much of the story takes place in a Las
Vegas infested with Elvis lookalikes. Lots of little
pieces that only sometimes hang together well.
Rating: +1 (-4 to +4).

Andrew Bergman has been around making comedies for a long time,
but in _H_o_n_e_y_m_o_o_n _i_n _V_e_g_a_s he seems more like a new and talented
amateur than a seasoned professional. Bergman wrote and directed _S_o
_F_i_n_e and _T_h_e _F_r_e_s_h_m_a_n, both of which jabbed at bad taste in American
popular culture. With _H_o_n_e_y_m_o_o_n _i_n _V_e_g_a_s he has stopped his little
jabs and pulled out a meat slicer to go after the cult of Elvis
worshippers. Not that his basic plot has anything at all to do with
Elvis: he uses Elvis just to create a comic background for his real
story.

Jack Singer (played by likably goofy Nicholas Cage) has been a
diffident lover to Betsy (played by Sarah Jessica Parker) due to a
deathbed promise to his mother (played by Anne Bancroft in cameo)
that he would never marry. Finally Betsy overcomes the promise and
the two head for Las Vegas for a quick marriage. That is where
Betsy is seen by tough gambler Tommy Korman (played by James Caan).
Betsy has a very strong resemblance to the wife Korman lost to skin
cancer, and Korman decides to snare Betsy for himself. He lures
Jack into a high-stakes poker game, takes him to the tune of
$65,000, and then makes a deal with Jack: Jack's debt will be
forgiven if Betsy will be Korman's platonic companion for the
weekend. Korman wants to use charm and his rather comfortable
lifestyle to win Betsy. Meanwhile, Jack is becoming increasingly
frantic to break up the pair as Korman spirits Betsy off to Maui.

What does all this have to do with Elvis? Nothing really. But
the background of the story is a Las Vegas having a convention of
Elvis impersonators. Bergman constantly comments on the story with
carefully chosen Elvis songs and shows us an army of gaudy Elvis
lookalikes, Elvises of many races and sizes. The film is just two
Elvises short of pushing the gag too far.

The usually reserved James Caan and the never reserved Nicholas
Cage each seem to have a field day chewing up the scenery. It is
very rare to see Caan putting this much expression in a role and
clearly enjoying himself. Smaller roles go to the always enjoyable

Honeymoon in Vegas September 1, 1992 Page 2

Pat Morita and Peter Boyle as an unnatural naturalized Hawaiian.

The photography is surprisingly spotty. At least two scenes
appeared totally washed out in the print we saw. Some scenes of
natural beauty in Maui and natural beauty (?) in Vegas owe more to
William Fraker's camerawork. The cartoon credits were amusing and
usually made sense. Overall this is an amiable but unexceptional
comedy. I rate it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.