@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @@@@@@@ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @ @ @ @ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society 03/21/25 -- Vol. 43, No. 38, Whole Number 2372
Table of Contents
(Very) Slight Schedule Change:
Starting with this issue, the MT VOID will be sent out at 8AM instead of 9AM, because 8AM is the default time for scheduled gmail, and it's a nuisance to have to keep typing in the time every week. [-ecl]
Mini Reviews, Part 7 (film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper):
Three science fiction films:
THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT (2024): In THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT, two sibling bank robbers hear about a "safe house" where they can hide out for a couple of weeks in the past, or the future, or a parallel timeline, or somewhere out of time, or something... There is a voice that may be an alien, or someone from the future, or someone from the past, or an parallel timeline, , or somewhere out of time, or something... And they are stuck there until they perform a task set by the voice that will eventually happen.
If you thought PRIMER was confusing, wait until you watch this. [-ecl]
Released theatrically and streaming 04 October 2024.
Film Credits: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27491225/reference
What others are saying: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/things_will_be_different
A QUIET PLACE--DAY ONE (2024): A QUIET PLACE--DAY ONE is the prequel to the 2018 film A QUIET PLACE (which had a sequel A QUIET PLACE II in 2020). This is the film in which the aliens with super-sensitive hearing arrive on Earth.
(Side note: Why does "Earth" sound right and "Terra" sound wrong? Is it because "Terra" only used when humanity has become interplanetary?)
It is not clear how the authorities have figured out the "super-sensitive hearing" part, or how they have managed to tell make announcements telling everyone that.
For someone dying of cancer, Sam is awfully strong. [-ecl]
Released theatrically 28 June 2024.
Film Credits: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13433802/reference
What others are saying: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_quiet_place_day_one
JULES (2023): The elevator pitch for JULES would be "E.T. with senior citizens." Milton (Ben Kingsley) is starting to show signs of dementia, so when a spaceship lands in his backyard and he starts telling people there is an alien in his house, after they go through the "You mean an illegal alien?" routine they are convinced this is just another symptom. But Milton and his two friends Joyce (Jane Curtin) and Sandy (Harriet Sansom Harris) are determined to help the alien, and in the process to help each other.
Clearly this is aimed at an older audience (such as like COCOON) while not abandoning its science fiction roots. (My favorite COCOON anecdote: a relative about my age said she didn't like any science fiction films. I said, "What about COCOON?" "Oh, that's not science fiction." "Aliens come to Earth and give a bunch of people immorality, and that's not science fiction?" She did have to acknowledge that okay, COCOON may be science fiction.)
Jade Quon does an excellent job as the alien, although a lot of credit goes to the make-up department. (There is no GCI used.)
We watched this on Hoopla; there's probably a DVD as well. [-ecl]
Released theatrically 11 August 2023.
Film Credits: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15428940/reference
What others are saying: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jules
Commercials (letter of comment by Paul Dormer):
In response to Gary McGath's comments on commercials in the 03/14/25 issue of the MT VOID, Paul Dormer writes:
Actually, that reminds me. Channel 5 which showed the games in the UK overnight did show commercials, but never during the games. Somebody on raseff at the time explained that channels could not show more than a certain number of minutes an hour, but this was averaged over the entire day. Not showing commercials overnight meant they could show more during the day. [-pd]
This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper):
I will interrupt my comments on books with my annual commentary on the Bryn Mawr-Wellesley Annual Book Sale (formerly the Bryn Mawr Annual Book Sale). This is the first time since 2019 that I was able to go, and I have to report that it is a pale shadow of its former self.
There are several reasons. First, they apparently started with about 50,000 books, as opposed to their peak size of 90,000 books. Second, according to someone who had a friend who was a volunteer, the dealers on the preview day cleaned out a lot of stuff. All I know is that there were no boxes under the tables, and lots of empty space on the tables, which they tried to fill by having a lot of books face-up rather than spine-up.
Also, the prices went up--no surprise there, but not as much as one might expect. Trade paperbacks were $3--they used to be $2. Hardbacks were $4--I think they also used to be $2. DVDs were still only $1 each--they've become old technology. In 2019, we picked up two seasons of FOYLE'S WAR, and all of THE SOPRANOS except Season 5, for $1/season. (We later filled in THE SOPRANOS for only $5 on eBay.) But the DVD section was much smaller now than in the past. I suspect that in the past few years, people had already gotten rid of most of their DVDs. I did pick up a couple of Teaching Company/Great Courses: "The Holy Land Revealed" and "The Shape of Nature", both 36 lectures long on DVD (but unfortunately missing the guidebooks that come with the TTC/GC courses).
And while I am trying to downsize, I found a few books I wanted. There was THE COMPLETE WORKS OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, or more accurately, OBRAS COMPLETAS DE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, since this was a Spanish translation. Yes. I know people will say it's Shakespeare's use of language that sets him apart, but for $4 I couldn't pass this up. I will not be reading the 1000+ pages cover-to-cover, or even entire plays, but I will probably sample some of the famous soliloquies.
Another offbeat purchase was a graphic novel of Marcel Proust's REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST--well, just "Combray", really. It was adapted by Stephane Heuet, to give due credit, and is 72 9-inch by 12-inch pages. I guess I'll shelve it next to the Lovecraft works done in the style of Dr. Seuss.
In a more normal vein, I got George C. Brauer, Jr.'s THE DECADENT EMPERORS, Sara Anson Vaux's THE ETHICAL VISION OF CLINT EASTWOOD, and Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi's FREUD'S MOSES (an analysis of Freud's MOSES AND MONOTHEISM, which I reviewed in the 06/18/10 issue of the MT VOID).
I also almost bought two books about Herman Melville and MOBY-DICK, but when I checked my catalog, I discovered that not only had I already read them, I actually already *owned* them. And that's why one needs a catalog. [-ecl]
Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
Quote of the Week:
F. Scott Fitzgerald is the first of the last generation.
--Gertrude Stein
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