THE MT VOID
10/13/23 -- Vol. 42, No. 15, Whole Number 2297

Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 7 (MAFIA MAMMA, WHO KILLED CAPTAIN
ALEX?) (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper
and Evelyn C. Leeper)
AI Dangers, Lester Del Rey, Pythagorean Theorem
This Week's Reading (ONLY TO SLEEP) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)

==================================================================
TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 7 (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)

This is the seventh batch of mini-reviews for this season, two
action films.

MAFIA MAMMA (2023): We watched MAFIA MAMMA primarily because Toni
Colette is the lead actress, and we think she is great as a comedy
actress. And this film doesn't disappoint in that regard. Colette
plays a woman in a boring job who suddenly inherits a Mafia empire
(and a vineyeard) from a grandfather she never met. Some elements
of the film may remind one of TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL, but with a
twist. [-ecl]

Released theatrically 14 April 2023. Rating: +2 (-4 to +4), or
7/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13923456/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mafia_mamma>

WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX? (2010): WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX? was
recommended as a "hidden cinematic gem" by Australian podcaster
Terry Frost ("Terry Talks Movies"). Is it a gem? I don't know,
but it is certainly ... Different. It is a Ugandan action film
shot on a production budget of (*checks Wikipedia*) US$85. No,
there are no missing zeroes. Nabwana I.G.G. wrote, produced,
directed, shot, and edited this film on a computer and camera
equipment assembled from old parts. Actors supplied their own
costumes. Nabwana never expected anyone outside of Uganda to see
the movie and shot it in the Luganda language.

So far, it has sold 10,000 DVDs in Uganda, and been uploaded to
YouTube and "Wakaliwood"'s YouTube channel, where it has gotten
almost 13 million views. We saw it on Tubi, so total views is more
than that.

The biggest problem is that the original got wiped from Nabwana's
computer when he needed it for his next film, and all that survived
was a poor DVD copy. The versions available on-line all have
English subtitles and "VJ" ("Video Joker") Emmie provided comedic
narration (sometimes making up new dialogue) and commentary. There
is a Bluray release that makes this commentary optional, and also
provides subtitles in eleven languages.

And the film itself? There is a certain "Ed Wood" vibe to it all,
production-wise, though the script and much of the acting is better
than those of Wood's films. (Some of the special effects reminded
me of those in the Timothy Hines film THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005).)

None of this really justifies the 7.9/10 WHO KILLED CAPTAIN ALEX?
gets in the IMDB (the same rating as SPARTACUS (!)). However, as
an example of what one can do with no money but a lot of
enthusiasm, there is something to be said for this. I would love
to have seen it sans VJ, but I couldn't really justify buying the
Bluray. [-ecl]

Released streaming 1 March 2015. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4), or 6/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1813757/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/who_killed_captain_alex>

==================================================================
TOPIC: AI Dangers, Lester Del Rey, Pythagorean Theorem

"How a chatbot encouraged a man who wanted to kill the Queen"

<https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-67012224>

"Amazon’s Alexa has been claiming the 2020 election was stolen"

<https://wapo.st/48DsM13> [no paywall]

"The Man Who Invented Fantasy: All those wizards, ogres, and
barely-clad elf queens in the bookstore? You have Lester del Rey to
thank."

<https://slate.com/culture/2023/10/lester-del-rey-invention-
fantasy-book-publishing.html>

"Pythagorean Theorem Found On Clay Tablet 1,000 Years Older Than
Pythagoras"

<https://www.iflscience.com/pythagorean-theorem-found-on-clay-
tablet-1000-years-older-than-pythagoras-70934>

==================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

Last week I commented on THE ANNOTATED BIG SLEEP and Raymond
Chandler, so it's only fair to continue with another Philip Marlowe
novel, albeit not by Raymond Chandler.

ONLY TO SLEEP by Lawrence Osborne (Hogarth, ISBN 978-1-5247-5961-2)
is an authorized Philip Marlowe novel, the third to be written by
an author than Raymond Chandler (in English--Hiber Conteris wrote
EL DIEZ POR CIENTO DE VIDA, which was later translated into English
by Deborah Bergmann as TEN PERCENT OF LIFE). There was also a
volume of short stories for Chandler's centennial. And I count
POODLE SPRINGS as a Chandler novel, though it was finished by
Robert B. Parker.

Alas, Lawrence Osborne is no Raymond Chandler.

Chandler is known for his similes and metaphors. Osborne's fall
flat; "It was a movement as leisurely as that of a conga line at
the end of a party" cannot compete with "the great fat solid
Pacific trudging into shore like a scrubwoman going home..."
Chandler is known for his gritty Los Angeles setting (as well as
Bay City). Osborne sets his novel in a series of small towns in
Mexico. Chandler's Philip Marlowe is between 23 and 36 years old.
Osborne's is 72. The one thing Osborne seemed to carry over was
that Marlowe discovers a body.

ONLY TO SLEEP is okay as a mystery novel, I suppose, but it is not
a Philip Marlowe novel.

(Oddly, most of the reviews I've read like the prose, but think the
plot is weak.) [-ecl]

==================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net

Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic,
and so am I.
--Oscar Levant