THE MT VOID
01/26/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 30, Whole Number 2312

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Topics:
Middletown (NJ) Public Library Science Fiction Discussion
Group
Mark's Picks for Turner Classic Movies in February
(comments by Mark R. Leeper)
THESE FRAGILE GRACES, THIS FUGITIVE HEART
by Izzy Wasserstein (book review by Joe Karpierz)
This Week's Reading (LIVES OF THE WIVES: FIVE LITERARY
MARRIAGES) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

===================================================================

TOPIC: Middletown (NJ) Public Library Science Fiction Discussion
Group

The only local meetings left are in Middletown, and they are
in-person. The best way to get the latest information is to be on
the mailing list for it.

[Note that the February meeting has been changed since the last
announcement.)

Feb 1, 2024 WIR (1982) & novel "We" (1924) by Yevgeny Zamyatian
<https://www.hoopladigital.com/artist/25564238>

===================================================================

TOPIC: Mark's Picks for Turner Classic Movies in February (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)

There is one great science fiction film which is being shown for
the first time on TCM. That is ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS
MIND. In 2004, Mark wrote, "This is quite probably the best new
science fiction film since MINORITY REPORT and well before. A
medical device allows for the removal of painful memories by
erasing them. The hitch is that the memories must be opened and
partially relived as they are being erased. Charlie Kaufman's
script is demanding, but it is delightfully engaging, intelligent,
and even profound. Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman formerly came to
public attention with the creative BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. He
followed it up with the nearly as good ADAPTATION. Now he is
showing that he has not yet reached his peak. ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF
THE SPOTLESS MIND is his best script by a surprising margin.
Hopefully this is a movie that will show the film industry that
good writing can do more for a film than good special effects."

And apparently it's a Charlie Kaufman month, because they are also
showing (for the first time) his film ADAPTATION, of which mark
wrote in 2002, "This is Spike Jonze's and Charlie Kaufman's
follow-up film to BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. I think that Charlie
Kaufman has in one stroke made his the most recognizable
screenwriter's name in the country. His new film is a meditation
on the forces that make films successful; it is also a
philosopher's chestnut and a marvelous mental toy. This is the
kind of film that viewers can discuss for hours."

(Alas, they are not showing BEING JOHN MALKOVICH.)

[ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004), Tuesday, February
13, 9:30 PM]
[ADAPTATION (2002), Sunday, February 18, 10:15 PM]

Also this month, you can get a dose of (almost) history. The
mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty (28 April 1789) and Captain William
Bligh's amazing feat of seamanship in sailing a 23-foot open
launch, overloaded with 19 men, 3500 nautical miles (4000 miles),
has become a nautical legend. Five films have been made about it,
in 1916 (THE MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY), 1933 (IN THE WAKE OF THE
BOUNTY, with Errol Flynn in his film debut), 1935 (MUTINY ON THE
BOUNTY), 1962 (MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY), and 1984 (THE BOUNTY). The
first is a now-lost Australian film. The second, also an
Australian film, was quickly forgotten when the third, with Charles
Laughton and Clark Gable, was released. The fourth had Trevor
Howard and Marlon Brando, and the last--the one TCM is
showing--starred Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. (The 1935 and
1962 films were based on the novel by Charles Nordhoff and Hames
Norman Hall. The 1984 version was based on Richard Hough's book
CAPTAIN BLIGH AND MR CHRISTIAN). The IMDb ratings seem to support
the notion that remakes are not as good as the originals; if one
considers the later films (of the three major versions) remakes,
the ratings decrease for each subsequent film. However, the 1962
and 1984 versions do benefit from shooting on location, while the
1935 version merely had some second unit photography shot there.
And the 1984 version is considered the most accurate of the three.

[MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1935), Thursday, February 1, 8:00 AM]
[MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (1962), Monday, February 26, 11:30 AM]

(If you're willing to endure ads, ThE BOUNTY (1984) can be seen
free on Tubi.)

[-mrl]

And some comments on some other films:

THE CHINA SYNDROME (1979) and NETWORK (1976): Two prescient films;
The latter gets a lot more attention, because its dystopia is still
going on.

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011): An interesting time travel story, a bit
different than the usual sort.

NIGHT AND DAY (1946): An example of the sort of really inaccurate
biopics Hollywood used to make. It is dramatized in the more
accurate biopic about Cole Porter, DE-LOVELY.

TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003): Creative animation from France.
There is little dialogue (though there are songs); much of the film
is told through pantomime.

WOMAN IN THE DUNES (1964): A classic Japanese thriller/horror film.

TCM is also running several Hitchcock films, with a half dozen of
the lesser-known films running February 5 and 6, and a couple more
later in the month.

[-ecl]

Other films of interest include:

THURSDAY, February 1
8:00 PM The Power of Film Episode 5: The Power of Paradox (2023)

MONDAY, February 5
8:00 PM Notorious (1946)
10:00 PM The Wrong Man (1956)
12:00 AM I Confess (1953)
2:00 AM The 39 Steps (1935)
3:30 AM The Lady Vanishes (1938)
5:15 AM The Girl Was Young (Young and Innocent) (1937)

WEDNESDAY, February 7
12:00 AM Modern Times (1936)
8:45 AM The Enchanted Cottage (1945)

THURSDAY, February 8
2:15 AM The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
8:30 AM Helen of Troy (1956)
10:45 AM Atlas (1961)
12:15 PM Atlantis, the Lost Continent (1960)
2:00 PM Hercules, Samson & Ulysses (1963)
3:30 PM Clash of the Titans (1981)
5:45 PM The Colossus of Rhodes (1961)
8:00 PM The Power of Film Episode 6: Love and Meaning (2023)

SATURDAY, February 10
2:45 AM Camelot (1967)
4:00 PM Harvey (1950)

MONDAY, February 12
2:00 PM Brigadoon (1954)
6:00 PM Knights of the Round Table (1953)

TUESDAY, February 13
5:30 AM The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
5:45 PM The China Syndrome (1979)
9:30 PM Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

WEDNESDAY, February 14
2:00 AM Network (1976)
4:15 AM Princess O'Rourke (1943)
3:45 PM Rebecca (1940)

THURSDAY, February 15
4:00 PM A Guy Named Joe (1943)
6:15 PM Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

FRIDAY, February 16
9:15 AM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)

SATURDAY, February 17
12:30 AM Raging Bull (1980)
2:30 AM Being There (1979)

SUNDAY, February 18
10:15 PM Adaptation (2002)

MONDAY, February 19
12:00 PM Triplets of Belleville (2003)

TUESDAY, February 20
9:00 AM Night and Day (1946)
11:15 AM The Enchanted Cottage (1945)
10:30 PM Spellbound (1945)

WEDNESDAY, February 21
3:00 PM For All Mankind (1989)

THURSDAY, February 22
12:00 PM Kismet (1944)
4:00 PM Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book (1942)
6:00 PM King Solomon's Mines (1950)

FRIDAY, February 23
12:00 AM Phantom of the Opera (1943)
2:00 AM The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)
4:00 AM Cries and Whispers (1972)

MONDAY, February 26
2:45 PM Forbidden Planet (1956)
4:30 PM Topper Returns (1941)
6:15 PM Them! (1954)
8:00 PM Fantastic Voyage (1966)
10:00 PM Blithe Spirit (1945)
11:45 PM 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

TUESDAY, February 27
2:30 AM Destination Moon (1950)
4:15 AM Tom Thumb (1958)
6:00 AM Woman In The Dunes (1964)

WEDNESDAY, February 28
11:00 AM The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)

THURSDAY, February 29
6:15 PM Midnight in Paris (2011)

===================================================================

TOPIC: THESE FRAGILE GRACES, THIS FUGITIVE HEART by Izzy
Wasserstein (publication date March 12, 2024, Tachyon Publications,
ASIN: B0CRK848SH) (book review by Joe Karpierz)

There have been numerous stories throughout the history of science
fiction that take place in locations that are in the remains of
once prosperous and populous cities. The reasons these cities are
a shambles, shadows of their former selves, are irrelevant to the
story. THESE FRAGILE GRACES, THIS FUGITIVE HEART is a novella that
takes place in a portion of Kansas City that has been abandoned by
the city government. There is little or no police presence, no
supported infrastructure, everything is rundown. There is a
portion of Kansas City that is well protected and taken care of,
but the location of the story here has been left on its own.