Aucbvax.1975
fa.sf-lovers
utzoo!duke!decvax!ucbvax!MDP@MIT-AI
Sat Jun 27 20:50:06 1981
SF-LOVERS Digest V3 #160
SF-LOVERS AM Digest Saturday, 27 Jun 1981 Volume 3 : Issue 160
Today's Topics:
SF Books - Timescape & Lord Valentine's Castle,
SF Movies - 2001 Parodies & Excalibur & Dragonslayer
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 27 Jun 81 2:24-PDT
From: mclure at SRI-Unix
Subject: Timescape
I'm surprised there hasn't been more discussion about Benford's
Timescape on this forum. It is by far the best hard science SF I've
read, vastly superior to Hogan's books or Dragon's Egg. And there's a
simple reason. The reader CARES about the characters. Benford is an
unusual character himself; he seems adept at excellent characteriza-
tion as well as believable science. Although the plot is somewhat
tame and not terribly original, the book lives through its incredibly
detailed description of the scientific method, academic communities,
research centers, and the like; and yet, it never becomes dry as
Hogan's books do. The characters do NOT introduce themselves to each
other by reciting their resumes, and there are actually some
believable women. Benford has drawn very heavily from his own
experience in the Physics community.
------------------------------
Date: 21 Jun 1981 1344-PDT
From: ICL.REDFORD at SU-SCORE
Subject: Book Reviews
In "Timescape" by Gregory Benford, the world has gone to hell as
early as 1998. Political upheaval and ecological disaster are
decimating the world's population. People speak of "diebacks" in the
poorer parts of the third world as necessary to get the population
down to supportable levels (I might note that this is already
happening in the Sahel and Ethiopia). In the largely abandoned
buildings of the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge University, a last
group of physicists desperately try to send a message into the past to
warn people of the impending catastrophes. They have found that
tachyons (the faster-than-light particles) can interact with matter
under certain experimental conditions that were being investigated in
the early sixties. By projecting a beam of tachyons modulated in
Morse code at the position of the earth in 1962 they hope to get
through. The action moves from one time to the other, from the
efforts of one group to keep transmitting to the other group trying to
convince someone of what they have received.
As sf plots go this is unremarkable, but what makes this book
stand out is its capturing of the workings of science. Every detail
rings true. You feel that this must be the way it is done. The
characters live and breathe; in fact you read on more to find out what
happens to them than to find out what happens in the plot, a rare
thing in sf. Some real people are included; Freeman Dyson is in here,
and there's an unflattering picture of Carl Sagan under another name.
And Benford takes the theme of time travel seriously. It's not
just a gimmick for meeting Christ or hunting dinosaurs, it's handled
as a real philosophical problem. Benford is a physicist and so
presumably knows what he's talking about when he says that the basic
equations of physics show no preference for the direction of time. I
found his means of resolving paradoxes unsatisfying, but at least he's
done some thinking about it. Here's the counter-example to the
complaints about the lack of science in science fiction.
"Lord Valentine's Castle" by Robert Silverberg has also just come
out in paperback. It might make a good short novel, but for some
reason Silverberg bloated it to 450+ pages. The emperor of the planet
Majipoor is kidnapped and transferred into another body. He is left
to wander a distant land as an amnesiac, while the kidnappers rule in
his stead with his face. He falls in with a troupe of jugglers and
finds that he has innate talent as a juggler, part of the aura of
natural grace that still clings to him from the emperorship. He tours
the continent with them, slowly coming to realize his true identity.
Finally he sets out on a quest to regain the throne, first by
contacting his mother, the Lady of the Isle of Sleep, then by meeting
the Pontifex, the law-giver for all Majipoor, and finally by storming
the thirty mile high mountain on which resides his seat of power, Lord
Valentine's Castle.
All well enough. But Silverberg seems to lose interest after a
while. The characters that he introduces early on seem much richer
and more developed than the ones brought in later, and eventually they
all become a gang of faces on their way to this mountain. He says
some interesting things about the philosophy of juggling at the
beginning, and then doesn't develop them. At one point the jugglers
rescue an alien captured by the shape-changing natives, and then he's
hardly heard from again. So all in all a disappointment.
------------------------------
Date: 26-Jun-81 11:42:35 PDT
From: tou.pa @ PARC-MAXC
Subject: 2001 Parodies
I remember "The Groove Tube" containing a parody of the 2001 dawn
scene. I think "Being There" showed Peter Sellers walking down a
street with the 2001 theme playing in the background, though that's
not really a parody of the dawn scene.
[Thanks also to First at SUMEX-AIM for reporting the 2001 parody in
"The Groove Tube". -- MDP]
------------------------------
Date: 26 Jun 1981 17:10:18-PDT
From: ihnss!karn at Berkeley
Subject: Re: Parodies of 2001
I remember one in Mad magazine. A page from it was reprinted in the
paperback "The Making of 2001".
Phil
------------------------------
Date: 06/26/81 23:21:34
From: ELLEN@MIT-MC
Subject: Parodies of 2001
Sesame Street has a Parody of 2001, same theme song. I think it is a
commercial for the letter I, but I may be wrong, it has been many
years since my (now 13) year old son watched Sesame Street. Anyway,
little "glob-characters" (cartoon humanoids) gathered around the
"monolith" to the theme of 2001, and then recited "I I I" (I think...
at least they recited in unison the name of the letter, but I think it
was "I").
------------------------------
Date: 27 Jun 1981 1538-PDT
From: Richard Pattis <REP SU-AI AT>
Subject: 2001-like Ape Scenes (take II)
The movie "Simon" also had Alan Arkin doing an ontogeny recapitulates
phylogeny. When he got to apes, he did a good parody of moon-watcher
discovering a bone/club to be an extension of his arm. I think this
whole scene played sans-music, so it might have been a bit subtle.
Rich
------------------------------
Date: 06/24/81 01:06:49
From: DP@MIT-ML
Subject: Excalibur on the downhill side?
I just got the schedule from my local cult film house. They will
show Excalibur next month. It must not have done all that well for
them to get it so soon.
Jeff
------------------------------
Date: 23 Jun 1981 0352-PDT
From: Jim McGrath <JPM SU-AI AT>
Subject: Dragonslayer
BOB THOMAS
Associated Press Writer
DRAGONSLAYER is another return to boyhood pleasures by young
filmmakers. This time Matthew Robbins (director-writer) and Hal
Barwood (producer-writer) seek to recreate the fantasy adventure - as
epitomized by the Disney animated features - which they enjoyed in
their recent youth. The result is a well-made, sometimes inspired
flight of imagination that employs the latest cinematic wizardry.
Peter MacNicol, apprentice to sorceror Ralph Richardson, uses his
newfound powers to save a kingdom - and his love, Caitlin Clarke, from
an evil-tempered dragon. The young players are engaging, and
Richardson contributes believability to the fantastic happenings.
Robbins-Barwood have captured the feeling of the Dark Ages; their
climax proves a drawback, being overly mystical and extended. Rated
PG, with ample scares for young children.
------------------------------
Date: 06/25/81 01:12:54
From: DP@MIT-ML
Subject: Dragonslayer. Micro review.
Dragonslayer is a typical wizards quest story. A Paramount/Disney
production with a little help from some real wizards (the people at
industrial light and magic).
A rather atypical production from Disney. There is a fair amount
of gore in spots, and one brief display of nudity (skinny dipping).
However many of the obvious sexy lead-ins got left flat (I suppose
they must hold slight standards).
The story was supposedly set in 6'th century Saxon England. They
did manage to get some of the religious symbols and architecture
correct, but the garb, music, and dance used were solid 14th century.
In addition, the garb worn by the peasants was far richer than people
of their station could afford. The costumers did not restrain their
technique sufficiently. There were darts in some of the women's
clothing, (instead of the more typical laced bodice; darts aren't even
14th century) and yokes and separate sleeves on some of the tunics. I
suppose they don't know how to not use them.
General idea of film - there is this dragon living in a cave. To
prevent him from ravaging the local populace, every equinox a fresh
virgin chosen by lot gets offered up as a pacifier. A group of
disgruntled locals upset about the drain on the marriageable pool,
travels 100 leagues to recruit a great sorcerer. Due to some rather
bizarre circumstances they wind up with the master's egotistical
apprentice. The apprentice manages to upset the dragon, who flies
around toasting the countryside. As expected, they get the dragon in
the end, and the apprentice and the blacksmith's daughter ride out
across the moors into the setting sun.
The program was amusing, 1/3 of a page of acting credits, and 1 2/3
page of technical credits.. with close to a page being effex credits.
This was a preview showing, the theater management invited members
of the local Society for Creative Anachronism to the opening. Tickets
contingent on appearing in garb, and conducting a demo outside to
attract attention to things. We staged a fighting demo/practice, the
jongleurs played, people danced, the jugglers did their thing, and all
the rest passed out propaganda, and answered infinite questions.
The movie is reasonable, not up to Raiders, but certainly better
than Excalibur or CloT.
Jeff
(The SCA is a group interested in learning about the middle ages. The
technique used is to act the part. At regular gatherings, members
dress in period clothing, eat traditional food, listen and dance to
early music, and a small number fight with padded rattan swords and
body armor. Groups exist around most universities.)
------------------------------
Date: 25 Jun 1981 11:10:02-EDT
From: cjh at CCA-UNIX (Chip Hitchcock)
Subject: DRAGONSLAYER ("sneak" preview)
Nano-review: not great, but pretty good.
Summary: an apprentice sorcerer is called upon to kill a dragon
over the opposition of the rulers, who prefer a quiet sacrifice every
solstice to the general destruction from somebody's unsuccessful
attempt to kill the beast.
Comments: a bit too much attempt at political relevance, some
magnificent monsters, good bits of magic, lots of gore, acting mostly
good with some notable weak spots (particularly the king's daughter)
and some annoyances in diction (why does everyone say prinCESS rather
than PRINcess), good camera work, excellent scenery including period
castles. On the whole, probably the best fantasy film since Cocteau's
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.
------------------------------
Date: 25-JUN-1981 12:57
From: KERMIT::PARMENTER
Subject: sf movie
Sneek prevue last nite of "Dragonslayer": the best damn
kill-the-monster movie I ever saw, and certainly the best monster I
ever saw.
"Dragonslayer" is a joint Disney/Paramount production and Disney did
the dragon.
Plot is that dragon is ravaging the land. Must be placated with
virgins. People seek help from sorcerer, but sorcerer dies and must
be replaced by sorcerer's apprentice. Dragon must die.
Movie has the authentic sword-and-sorcery feel with hardly any of the
usual sword-and-sorcery bits. That is, no brass breastplates or
barbarians, but plenty of misty mountains and mystery moves by the
sorcerer.
I can say no more, but if you like that kind of thing, "Dragonslayer"
is that kind of thing.
------------------------------
Date: 26 June 1981 08:01-EDT (Friday)
From: Winston Edmond <EDMOND BBND AT>
To: Malis at BBNS, WMilliken at BBNE, RClifford at BBNC
Subject: Movie Review: Dragonslayer
My rating: * * 1/2 I consider the film to be a worthwhile evening's
entertainment, but not a great film. It contains a couple scenes of a
dragon eating human flesh that may be unsuitable for young children.
I did not recognize the names of anyone associated with film, except
Walt Disney Productions.
The film is a sword and sorcery adventure. The story begins with a
weary group of travelers who have come 100 leagues to see Ulrich, one
of the last surviving magicians. In the olden days, the skies were
filled with dragons, but most of them had been slain by the sorcerers.
There is, however, one aging dragon left, Vermithrax. Only human
sacrifice twice a year, at the equinoxes, keeps it from ravaging the
nearby kingdom. The film is the story of the travel to the kingdom,
the initial "sizing up" of the dragon, and the final battle.
Intermixed is some occasional satire about religion and politics in
general.
I found the beginning of the film to be very uneven. Scene
transitions were abrupt and, coupled with equally abrupt costume
changes in the principal character, I found it very difficult to
follow. Fortunately, transitions become much smoother as the film
progresses. Also, for about the first two thirds of the film, I was
unimpressed (though not unhappy) with the story. However, the last
third brought together lots of things that had looked like
irrelevancies, the dragon makes its first real appearance (I had begun
to wonder if we would ever see the whole dragon), and the battle
begins to take shape. I believe this last part "makes" the film.
I liked the special effects. The dragon was pretty good. It isn't
a speaking dragon, but it does have some character. Stop-action
photography has its limitations, of course, but I think they did it
well. The lighting in the flying scenes might have wanted to be a bit
brighter. They were careful with their magic, too, using appropriate
colors for traditional meanings. I can't say more about that without
giving away part of the story.
"Excalibur", the legend of a great sword of power, undertook too
much for the time available to tell the story. This film, not as
complex or with as detailed a history to draw upon, presents a world
of sorcery, feudalism, and dragons that is less realistic but more
appropriate to adventure and imagination.
Incidentally, I challenge you to guess which character gains the
name "Dragonslayer".
-Winston
------------------------------
End of SF-LOVERS Digest
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