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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 04/30/93 -- Vol. 11, No. 44

MEETINGS UPCOMING:

Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Holmdel 4N-509
Wednesdays at noon.

_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C

05/12 THOMAS THE RHYMER by Ellen Kushner (Fantasy in a Modern Vein)
06/02 RED MARS by Kim Stanley Robinson
(Politics in Space Colonization)
06/23 CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG by Maureen McHugh
(Non-European Futures)
07/14 SIGHT OF PROTEUS by Charles Sheffield (Human Metamorphosis)
08/04 Hugo Short Story Nominees
08/25 CONSIDER PHLEBAS by Iain Banks
(Space Opera with a Knife Twist)
09/15 WORLD AT THE END OF TIME by Frederik Pohl
(Modern Stapledonian Fiction)

Outside events:
07/31 Deadline for Hugo Ballots to be postmarked
The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the second
Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call 201-933-2724 for
details. The New Jersey Science Fiction Society meets on the third
Saturday of every month in Belleville; call 201-432-5965 for details.

HO Chair: John Jetzt HO 1E-525 908-834-1563 holly!jetzt
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1C-523 908-834-1267 holly!jrrt
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 homxc!11366ns
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen LZ 3L-312 908-576-3346 quartet!lfl
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 mtgzfs3!leeper
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 mtgpfs1!ecl
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.

1. Hugo Factoid of the Week: Two hundred people have been nominated
for the Hugo in the fiction categories, and sixty-one people have
won (not counting this year). Next week: who has been nominated
the most times in the fiction categories? [-ecl]

THE MT VOID Page 2

2.
David Richmont
Financial Director
St. Louis International Airport
April 23, 1993
Dear MR. LEEPER,

Our records show that October 3, 1992, you took TWA flight 863
which landed at St. Louis International Airport at 11:53 AM and
connected to TWA flight 392 which departed at 2:17 PM that same
day. This afforded you more than two hours to avail yourself of
the hospitality of the St. Louis International Airport's clean
restrooms, delightful snack bars, and courteous staff. We
sincerely hope that your two-hour layover at our airport will be
one of your happiest memories, MR. LEEPER.

But I have to tell you that the running of a major international
airport such as ours is an extremely costly undertaking. And let
me assure you that behind every servile person you met are dozens
of others, all dedicated to making sure your trip and every
customer's trip is as pleasant as possible. Now it is time for you
to show your gratitude. Your generous contribution will help us to
provide top-quality service to you and to other travelers like
yourself. Please use the handy coupon below to show your support.

And we hope to be meeting your travel needs again in the near
future because, MR. LEEPER, it is the support of people like you
that makes our work a pleasure.
Sincerely,

David Richmont
Financial Director
St. Louis International Airport

---------------------------------------------------------

Yes! Of course I have fond memories of St. Louis
International Airport. Please accept my contribution
for:
___$50 ___$100 ___$150 ___$250

MR. LEEPER
AT&T--3D-441
MIDDLETOWN NJ 07748

Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
...mtgzfs3!leeper

Capsule review: Can one schizophrenic find love
with another? _B_e_n_n_y & _J_o_o_n says yes if the world of
normal people does not tear them apart. This is a
film that will click with you or it won't. I did not
click for me. Rating: 0 (-4 to +4).

There is a sort of film that works really well for a very
narrow audience and will leave almost everybody else wondering,
"What was that all about?" It is a film with a narrow band of
powerful appeal. One of the films that I thought really spoke to me
was _H_a_r_o_l_d _a_n_d _M_a_u_d_e (1972). Other were _J_o_h_n_n_y _G_o_t _H_i_s _G_u_n (1971)
and _K_n_i_g_h_t_r_i_d_e_r_s (1981). One that missed me entirely was _B_i_r_d_y
(1984). I think I can see what others like about _B_i_r_d_y, but the
film does not work very well for me. Another film that just does
not do it for me is _B_e_n_n_y & _J_o_o_n.

Benny (played by Aidan Quinn) has no time for a life of his
own. Benny's life is split between his auto repair business and
taking care of his sister Joon (played by Mary Stuart Masterson).
Joon is ... well, Joon is somewhat different. Perhaps writer Barry
Berman intended Joon to be schizophrenic, though it is never
actually said that is the case. Whatever her problem is, she spends
her table passionately painting, setting things on fire, placing
emergency calls to Benny to pick up peanut butter, directing traffic
with ping-pong paddles and snorkel--that sort of thing.

Then Joon loses a poker game and for Benny to pay off, he has
to take in a second person whose mental processes are different from
the norm, Sam, the cousin of a friend. Sam (played by Johnny Depp)
is barely literate but has patterned himself on Buster Keaton and
Charlie Chaplin. He dresses like Keaton and can even mimic Keaton's
inventive style of seeing unconventional uses for everyday objects.
The tension of the story comes from Joon's doctor wanting to
institutionalize Joon, Benny wanting to keep Joon around, Joon
wanting to keep Sam around, and Benny wanting to be rid of Sam.

Where the story does not work for me is on the contrivance and
in the view of mental illness. With the exception of short bouts of
panic, Joon appears to be on a perpetual high. Sam's illness
appears to make him a comic genius--though most, and for all I know,
all, of his routines are borrowed from silent films. Sam's illness
increases his creativity and the film arranges for the right props
to be at the right place and time to be used. The film says that
mental illness has its positive side and that like in _M_a_n_h_u_n_t_e_r and
_T_h_e _S_i_l_e_n_c_e _o_f _t_h_e _L_a_m_b_s, only the mentally ill can understand the
mentally ill. The film is an interesting attempt but I rate it only
a 0 on the -4 to +4 scale.

[Viewed at the Hazlet Multiplex Cinemas, Hazlet, NJ.]

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