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Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
Club Notice - 06/17/94 -- Vol. 12, No. 51
MEETINGS UPCOMING:
Unless otherwise stated, all meetings are in Middletown 1R-400C
Wednesdays at noon.
_D_A_T_E _T_O_P_I_C
06/22 Hugo-nominated short stories
07/13 GLORY SEASON by David Brin (Hugo Nominee)
08/03 MOVING MARS by Greg Bear (Hugo Nominee)
08/24 VIRTUAL LIGHT by William Gibson (Hugo Nominee)
Outside events:
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 MT 2G-432 908-957-5087 j.j.jetzt@att.com
LZ Chair: Rob Mitchell HO 1C-523 908-834-1267 r.l.mitchell@att.com
MT Chair: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 m.r.leeper@att.com
HO Librarian: Nick Sauer HO 4F-427 908-949-7076 n.j.sauer@att.com
LZ Librarian: Lance Larsen HO 2C-318 908-949-4156 l.f.larsen@att.com
MT Librarian: Mark Leeper MT 3D-441 908-957-5619 m.r.leeper@att.com
Factotum: Evelyn Leeper MT 1F-329 908-957-2070 e.c.leeper@att.com
All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.
1. The upcoming discussion will be of the Hugo-nominated short
stories for this year:
"England Underway" by Terry Bisson (_O_m_n_i, July 1993;
_B_e_a_r_s _D_i_s_c_o_v_e_r _F_i_r_e)
"The Good Pup" by Bridget McKenna (_F&_S_F, March 1993)
"Mwalimu in the Squared Circle" by Mike Resnick (_A_s_i_m_o_v'_s, March 1993;
_A_l_t_e_r_n_a_t_e _W_a_r_r_i_o_r_s)
"The Story So Far" by Martha Soukup (_F_u_l_l _S_p_e_c_t_r_u_m _4)
"Death on the Nile" by Connie Willis (_A_s_i_m_o_v'_s, March 1993)
As in the past we will also be voting for the "Alexanders" (named
after Mr. Bell, of course!). If you cannot attend and want to
vote, please send your rank-ordering of the stories (we don't
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include "no award") to Evelyn Leeper (evelyn.leeper@att.com) before
the meeting (June 23, 12:00 noon EDT, 16:00 GMT).
===================================================================
2. Honest to gosh I saw this. There is a book being sold with the
"Star Trek" emblem and the title was _2_0_t_h _C_e_n_t_u_r_y _C_o_m_p_u_t_e_r_s _a_n_d _H_o_w
_T_h_e_y _W_o_r_k_e_d. The blurb says "The official Starfleet history of
computers." It is about 160 pages in color with pictures of
computer insides and of the Starship Enterprise. The main text is
simply a light introduction to computers with comments on computers
by noted authorities like Deanna Tori and Wesley Crusher. The cost
for this little gem is $18. Now I am not saying that I would mind
chucking over my $18 for the book if it, say, told you about 24th
Century computers, or even compared the principles of 24th Century
computers with those of the 20th Century. But there is little
informative in the book to indicate that Troi or Crusher are even
familiar with the most basic principles of the computers of their
own day. Certainly they don't tell us how and why computers have
changed since the 20th Century.
I do think that this sets a marvelous precedent. Have you written
a book that lacks pizzazz? Say you just finished a book on how to
build your own fallout shelter, then say the Soviet Union double
crosses you by suddenly becoming neither Soviet nor a Union. So
what do you do? Well, you buy a franchise and put out the
_S_t_a_r_f_l_e_e_t _G_u_i_d_e _t_o _T_o_r_p_e_d_o-_P_r_o_o_f _S_h_e_l_t_e_r_s. Or the _S_t_a_r_f_l_e_e_t _G_u_i_d_e
_t_o _2_0_t_h _C_e_n_t_u_r_y _F_a_l_l_o_u_t _S_h_e_l_t_e_r_s. Have suggestions by Jean-Luc
Picard on what canned vegetables to stock up on. Get instructions
from Lt. Worf on how to conserve water and dispose of wastes.
Actually I found it surprising that all the computer experts
happened to come from a single starship. One wonders if Starfleet
is made up only of two kinds of people, Enterprise crewmen and
total boobs with the IQ of clothes-dryer lint.
===================================================================
3. UNCHARTED TERRITORY by Connie Willis (Bantam Spectra, ISBN 0-
553-56294-0, July 1994, 149pp, , US$3.99) (a book review by Evelyn
C. Leeper):
Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus.
Or, for the classically impaired, "Sometimes even good old Homer
nods." [Horace]
Anyone who's read my reviews knows I am a fan of Connie Willis's
writing. So of course I looked forward to this, especially after
hearing the first part read at Boskone last year. Alas, _U_n_c_h_a_r_t_e_d
THE MT VOID Page 3
_T_e_r_r_i_t_o_r_y did not live up to my expectations.
_U_n_c_h_a_r_t_e_d _T_e_r_r_i_t_o_r_y is another of Willis's jibes at "PC" (political
correctness, not personal computers). She can do this very well
(as in "Ado"), but here the jokes fall flat, at least for me. It
may be that the make the novella length there had to be a bit too
much padding. Willis can write well at any length, but I suspect
here she had to write at novella length and the story wouldn't
support it. Here her target is those who want to preserve
planetary ecosystems and protect indigenous cultures from
technological contamination--only here the indigenous peoples know
a good thing when they see one.
But around this Willis has added a romantic triangle--well, more
like a pentagon, with three veteran surveyors, a new surveyor, and
an alien. This part seemed unnecessary to the rest of the story.
Of course, I can't be totally negative on this. It has its
moments, and some of the interplay is quite funny.
And after all, one of the main characters _i_s named Evelyn.
===================================================================
4. SPEED (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: What sounds like a silly idea for
an action film actually has some resonance on the
screen. What seems like a bad choice for a lead
actor works out better than expected. This is
basically a _D_i_e _H_a_r_d film with a bus and that isn't
too bad. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4)
Every once in a while what seems like a foolish idea for a film
turns around and surprises you with what a clever idea it really
is. You hear an idea like "H. G. Wells chases Jack the Ripper in a
time machine" and think "No, thank you." Then you see the film and
come out thinking what a great idea it was for a film. I had that
experience with _S_p_e_e_d. A Los Angeles bus is rigged to explode as
it drops below 50 miles per hour. First of all, as much as
vehicles can be, busses are natural buffoons. They seem clumsy and
ungainly. National Lampoon once thought it funny to do an article
on "WWII's Battling Busses." _S_p_e_e_d almost sounded like it could be
a comedy sequel to the very funny _T_h_e _B_i_g _B_u_s. Then on top of it,
the star was Keanu Reeves. What busses are to vehicles, Reeves is
to actors. The combination of the two seemed more like something
someone thought up in _T_h_e _P_l_a_y_e_r than an actual plan for a film.
In fact, what sounded like an unpromising plot turns out to tap
into an experience most of us have had. Who hasn't at some time
THE MT VOID Page 4
been driving and late for an appointment and found there was
traffic in the way or perhaps a piece of unpaved highway. In _S_p_e_e_d
every road hazard that could slow down the bus becomes a deadly
threat.
Dennis Hopper plays Howard Payne, a high-spirited psychotic who is
determined to extort $3.7 million from the city of Los Angeles, one
way or another. His first scheme is foiled by Jack Traven, a
deadpan SWAT officer with unorthodox (and irresponsible) ideas
about how to resolve hostage situations. Payne's second extortion
attempt is the plan to rig a city bus and to at the same time give
Jack (Keanu Reeves) a taste of defeat and perhaps eternity. Reeves
makes his way onto the speeding bus, but not before the driver can
hit 50 on the speedometer and inadvertently arm the bomb. An
expected turn of events leaves the driver incapacitated and he is
replaced by Annie (Sandra Bullock), a volunteer. Annie has the
seemingly impossible task of keeping the speed of the bus up while
Jack has to do the delicate task of disarming a bomb under a
speeding bus and of negotiating with Payne through a cellular
phone. Films have used a similar plot with bombs on planes or
boats (e.g. _J_u_g_g_e_r_n_a_u_t), but then when the bomb is not being
defused the plane or boat can just cruise. Here the situation
calls for constant attention and it makes for a very exciting two
hours.
Keanu Reeves, who has now been directed by people like Kenneth
Branagh, Francis Ford Coppola, Gus Van Sant, and Bernardo
Bertolucci, may be getting to where he actually can act, but he
just has no charisma. Perhaps this is even a virtue--not every
body in life has to be a Gregory Peck. Perhaps not every screen
hero has to be either. Dennis Hopper, however, can act weird in
his sleep and totally steals the film from Reeves.
There may be one or two problems still in the script. On
consideration it is clear that Traven mishandled the situation
disastrously. Pop quiz: how should he have handled the situation?
He should have arranged to pay off Payne and worry about catching
him afterward. Payne does many times his $3.7 million in damage in
the course of the film and Traven's bravado also has its cost in
human life. Also there were clear errors in the filming of the bus
jumping a gap in the highway. The bus jumps a gap between two
level stretches of highway. It seems that a little model work
showing a banked highway and a proper camera angle could have made
the sequence a little more believable. But overall this is an
action film that delivers the goods. I would rate it a low +2 on
the -4 to +4 scale.
===================================================================
THE MT VOID Page 5
5. MAVERICK and THE CROW (two film reviews by Mark R. Leeper):
Capsule review: As two adaptations from other
media, these show that there may be a lot of
potential for adapting comic books to the screen,
but 1950s television is starting to be mined out.
Certainly in this case we have a good adaptation of
a comic book and a much less successful cinematic TV
show. Ratings: _M_a_v_e_r_i_c_k gets a 0, _T_h_e _C_r_o_w a +1 (-4
to +4). However, _M_a_v_e_r_i_c_k may be more appropriate
for a wider audience.
It is now no longer much of a novelty to see either a 1950s
television show like "Maverick" or a comic like "The Crow" adapted
into a film version. One would expect that of the two, it would be
easier to be faithful to the style of the dramatic medium on the
screen. However, even speaking as someone who has not read "The
Crow," I can say that at least in this instance the comic book form
seems to have been better represented on the screen than the TV
show.
_T_h_e _C_r_o_w seems set in a world where it is constantly a rainy night
in Hell. Everything seems a little rain-drenched in the world of
_T_h_e _C_r_o_w, but somehow the villainous Top Dollar (played by Michael
Wincott) manages to get buildings to burn every year on October 30-
--Devil's Night--for clients who are willing to pay Top Dollar for
the service. His thugs torch a building, raping a woman and
murdering her and her husband-to-be, Eric (Brandon Lee). As myth
would have it a crow transports their souls to the after-world, but
returns Eric's soul one year later for him to exact terrible
revenge on the evil gang. (One has to ask oneself if the indignant
dead do sometimes return, why were there not armies of indignant
dead chasing after Stalin and Hitler. Even murder and arson are
crimes less deserving of the Crow-treatment.)
Visually this film is a powerful adaptation of the comic book form
to the screen. Alex Proyas directs with many short cuts highly
evocative of comic book panels. Every once in a while he will
dwell on one majestic image, like the figure of Eric standing in a
huge circular, broken window. He pauses on this image just about
as long as a reader of the comic would pause on that panel. The
screenplay takes little time to humanize any of its characters
beyond perhaps making a little girl seem likable. This is one more
story full of sound and fury and striking visual images, but it has
little core and no characters of any emotional interest. Still it
is bound to be remembered as a signpost showing the way to
translate effectively the characteristics of a comic book to the
screen. It deserves a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. Extreme violence
makes this a film for a narrow audience but it is a far more
interesting transition to the screen than is _M_a_v_e_r_i_c_k.
THE MT VOID Page 6
Though more acceptable for a wider audience, _M_a_v_e_r_i_c_k is a film
that also lacked core--but here it was needed far more. The TV
show covered the adventures of two brothers, Bret and Bart
Maverick, two likable gamblers. Bret was played by James Garner.
When Warner Brothers needed someone to play Pappy Maverick, father
of Bret and Bart, he too was played by James Garner. (There was a
third brother, Brent, introduced after Garner walked off the
series.) "Maverick" was played straight for a couple of seasons,
then a humorous description in one of the scripts gave Garner the
idea to play that scene tongue-in-cheek, a style that remained with
him the rest of his career. But even with his good-humored acting,
the stories usually were fairly well-written and well-thought-out.
They were a lot better than the string of gag scenes that William
Goldman wrote into the screenplay of the new adaptation. Mel
Gibson as the new Bret Maverick goes from one minor adventure to
another trying to get together the money to be in a giant high
stakes poker game. There was no real plot complication in this
film until the last 40 minutes. Writer William Goldman has some
good fun, and some that works not quite so well, doing to Western
cliches what he did to adventure cliches with _T_h_e _P_r_i_n_c_e_s_s _B_r_i_d_e,
though they work only occasionally here. (Perhaps the best scene
of the film is done in an Indian language and subtitled, lampooning
Indian acting in so many bad films.) Far too many gags fall flat
and plot devices fall flatter. Most of the film is told in
flashback by a Bret with a noose around his neck. When this threat
is resolved Bret has cheated the hangman not nearly so badly as
Goldman has cheated the audience. James Garner is also on-hand and
playing a major character, perhaps to keep an eye on what his Bret
is up to. Playing lawman Zane Cooper, Garner is pretty much the
laconic character he has always played. Jodie Foster plays
Annabelle Bransford, as capable of the double-cross as any of the
men. There is certainly some fun here and some nice nature
photography not really characteristic of the series. But with so
little story this one gets no better than a 0 on the -4 to +4
===================================================================
6. [from alt.fandom.cons]:
Shorecon '94
September 9-11, 1994
Sheraton Eatontown Conference Center
Eatontown, New Jersey
The Jersey Shore's First Multi-Genre convention
Activities include a Friday night rave, a Saturday night techo-
dance, an auction of collectible games and comic books, and a
dealers room of comic, gaming, science fiction and other
merchandise.
THE MT VOID Page 7
Guests include many well-known comics and gaming personalities.
There will also be live-action role-playing, anime, movies, and
videos.
The First of Foote (The Royal Scots), a Revolutionary War
reenactment group, will present a marching drill. and the 12th
Virginia Cavalry, a Civil War reenactment group, will be present.
TimJim/Prism Games and Backstage Press will demonstrate their
latest games. Starfleet Region 7 will be represented, as well as
Integrity and other Star Trek clubs.
Contact Multigenre, Inc., 142 South Street, Unit 9C, Red Bank, NJ
07701-2502, 908-530-5211, acd@hotld.att.com or Multigenre@aol.com.
Mark Leeper
MT 3D-441 908-957-5619
m.r.leeper@att.com
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