THE MT VOID
02/02/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 31, Whole Number 2313

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Topics:
Arno Penzias Obituary
Mark Leeper's Top Ten Films of 2023 (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Awards Announced
QUANTUM SUPREMACY by Michio Kaku (book review
by Gregory Frederick)
This Week's Reading (Howard Waldrop)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

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

TOPIC: Arno Penzias Obituary

"Physicist Arno Penzias, who co-discovered the cosmic microwave
background, helping to confirm the Big Bang theory of the
universe's beginning, died on Monday at age 90.

In the 1960s, Penzias and colleague Robert Woodrow Wilson were
working at Bell Labs in Holmdel, N.J., on a new type of microwave
antenna shaped like a giant horn. They planned to use the
ultrasensitive system to study radio emissions from the Milky Way.
What they eventually found instead was a signal that originated
from outside our galaxy that turned out to be the smoking gun proof
for the Big Bang theory."

Full article at <https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/1226572843/
arno-penzias-obituary-big-bang-theory>.

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

TOPIC: Mark Leeper's Top Ten Films of 2023 (comments by Mark
R. Leeper)

I rated OPPENHEIMER a +3 and the others either a high +2 or just +2
(-4 to +4), so they are listed alphabetically.

OPPENHEIMER: There is a lot of substance to the film, but there is
a lot of style as well (it is after all a Christopher Nolan film),
and the style sometimes gets in the way of the substance.

BARBIE: Everyone has talked about how the movie makes some salient
points about sexism, patriarchy, and consumerism in the real world
in the movie, but it seems to overlook the same issues with the
sexism, matriarchy, and consumerism in Barbieland (which is yet
another parallel world, though unlike most films, in BARBIE we have
characters traveling from the world of the imagination to the real
world, rather than vice versa). While in the real world, we have
scenes of toxic (and non-toxic) masculinity, one can argue that in
Barbieland, we have scenes of toxic (and non-toxic) femininity.
There are two notable monologues: one is Gloria talking about the
problems women face in the real world; the other is Sasha telling
Barbie why she is basically evil.

CLOSE TO VERMEER: This documentary covers the planning of a major
Vermeer exhibition in the Netherlands, including disputed
paintings, the layout of the exhibit, and even merchandising. This
is a documentary art lovers won't want to miss--and it doesn't
require a lot of background knowledge to appreciate it.

DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY:
DESPERATE SOULS, DARK CITY AND THE LEGEND OF MIDNIGHT COWBOY is
more a chronicle of the period of the 1950s and 1960s and is a
history of that period by clips from films, discussion of film
makers, and Warhol-esque art than an analysis of the film MIDNIGHT
COWBOY. There is some discussion of the effect MIDNIGHT COWBOY had
going forward, but writer/director/producer Nancy Biurski
primarily looks at how the film came to be at all.

A HAUNTING IN VENICE: A HAUNTING IN VENICE is based primarily on
Agatha Christie's HALLOWE'EN PARTY, but it also has elements from A
CARIBBEAN MYSTERY and NEMESIS. Somehow Kenneth Branagh does not
come up to David Suchet as Poirot.

THE HOLDOVERS: THE HOLDOVERS is worth watching for the performances
(Paul Giamatti, Dominic Sessa, and Da'Vine Joy Randolph), but
otherwise a fairly standard story.

THE INVENTOR: THE INVENTOR is a combination of stop-motion
animation and hand-drawn animation. It is a biopic of Leonardo da
Vinci, but it concentrates more on his scientific pursuits than on
his artistic ones.

LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND: LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND is similar to a
"Twilight Zone" episode; in fact, the story has not one but three
episodes it has connections to (and a Ray Bradbury story to boot).
But it is original in its approach.

MAFIA MAMMA: 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
vineyard) from a grandfather she never met. Some elements of the
film may remind one of TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL, but with a twist.

THE MONKEY KING: THE MONKEY KING is an animated film that is a
prequel to the classic "Monkey King" legend, "Journey to the West",
or perhaps more accurately, a secret history. Because the film is
a prequel, it requires no prior knowledge of the Monkey King in
viewers, though the final scene assumes some recognition.

[-mrl]

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

TOPIC: Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) Awards Announced

Best Picture: Oppenheimer
Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best Director: Christopher Nolan - Oppenheimer
Best Actor: Paul Giamatti - The Holdovers
Best Actress: Lily Gladstone - Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. - Oppenheimer
Best Supporting Actress: Da'Vine Joy Randolph - The Holdovers
Best Original Screenplay: The Holdovers
Best Adapted Screenplay: Oppenheimer
Best Film Editing: Oppenheimer
Best Cinematography: Oppenheimer
Best Original Score: Oppenheimer
Best Production Design: Barbie
Best Costume Design: Barbie
Best Visual Effects: Oppenheimer
Best Debut Feature: Celine Song - Past Lives
Best Film Not in the English Language: Anatomy of a Fall
Best Documentary Feature: 20 Days in Mariupol

Technical Achievements

Culinary Direction - The Taste of Things
Original Song ("I'm Just Ken") - Barbie
Original Song ("What Was I Made For?") - Barbie
Stunt Coordination - John Wick: Chapter 4
Stunt Coordination - Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part 1

Lifetime Achievement Awards

Jodie Foster (actor)
Gene Hackman (actor)
Gale Anne Hurd (producer)
Hayao Miyazaki (animator/writer/director)
Thelma Schoonmaker (editor)

Special Achievement Awards

Ben Model, for his work in restoring and releasing silent film
classics.

Fran Drescher, president of the Screen Actors Guild, for her
diligent negotiation on behalf of working actors in the 2023
SAG-AFTRA strike.

Members of and President Meredith Stiehm of the Writers Guild of
America for persisting in their strike to ensure that the
rapidly-changing American film industry will remain a viable source
of livelihood for artists

Best Non-US Releases

Bad Living (João Canijo, Portugal)
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry (Elene Naveriani, Georgia)
Close Your Eyes (Victor Erice, Spain)
Dear Jassi (Tarsem Singh Dhandwar, India)
Explanation for Everything (Gábor Reisz, Hungary)
The Girls Are Alright (Itsaso Arana, Spain)
I Love You, Beksman (Perci M. Intalan, Philippines)
The New Boy (Warwick Thornton, Australia)
Samsara (Lois Patino, Spain)

Founded in 1997, the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) is a
professional association for online film journalists, historians,
and scholars with a mission to further the growth of an informed
film audience, to promote awareness of the Internet as a source of
news and commentary, to provide a forum for the OFCS members to
communicate and discuss ideas about journalism and cinema, and to
encourage a high standard of journalism across the online media.
The OFCS consists of nearly 300 members around the world; nearly
one third of the organization’s membership are based outside of the
United States. The Online Film Critics Society explores the nature
of film from historical, sociological, political, emotional,
technical, and other perspectives and appreciates film as a medium
for art and a mode of entertainment. Learn more at www.ofcs.org.

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

TOPIC: QUANTUM SUPREMACY by Michio Kaku (book review by Gregory
Frederick)

In QUANTUM SUPREMACY, Michio Kaku, a leading figure in theoretical
physics and science communication, delves into the groundbreaking
advancements and potential of quantum computing. With his
characteristic clarity and enthusiasm, Kaku takes readers on a
journey through the complex realm of quantum mechanics, explaining
the fundamental principles behind quantum computing and its
revolutionary implications for the future.