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THE MT VOID
02/13/26 -- Vol. 44, No. 33, Whole Number 2419

Editor: Evelyn Leeper, evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 06 (SINNERS, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER,
THE STRINGER, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL
RECKONING) (film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Ray Harryhausen Films, Part 01 (IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE
SEA, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS) (film comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Musk Now Prioritizing Lunar Landing Over Mars City
(pointer to article)
Fun Space Facts
Bookstores Around the World (pointer to photographs)
The End of the Mass Market Paperback (pointer to article)
IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES (book review
by Paul S. R. Chisholm)
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (letters of comment)
Presidential Writings, and Media Mail (letters of comment
by Hal Heydt, Steve Coltrin, and Gary McGath)
This Week's Reading (CAUTIONARY TALES FOR CHILDREN)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

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

TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 06 (film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper)

For a change, three recent films:

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (2025): I know that ONE BATTLE AFTER
ANOTHER has gotten a lot of praise (and many of the individual
contributions from actors and crew are worthy of praise) and I
have liked several previous Paul Thomas Anderson films (MAGNOLIA,
BOOGIE NIGHTS, HARD EIGHT) and respected others without being able
to say that I "liked" them (THE MASTER, THERE WILL BE BLOOD), but
this one left me cold. I'm not sure what the point of it was.
People have said the message is the prevalence of fascism and
white nationalism and how it hides in the background in society,
but these days it doesn't seem to be hiding as much. "Saying the
quiet part out loud" seems to be the new mode.

People who saw it on IMAX have praised the camera work; that would
be due to cinematographer Michael Bauman, who is nominated for an
Oscar (although presumably Anderson chose the locations). And yes,
Sean Penn (also nominated for an Oscar) as Lockjaw looks amazingly
like Bovino, all the more amazing because Bovino did not come to
the fore in the Border Patrol until after the movie had been shot,
let alone cast. (He *was* active in California during the Biden
administration, so he may have been more familiar to casting
director Cassandra Kulukundis, who is also nominated for an Oscar.)

And the scene where Lockjaw swears that he is born of Gentile
parents is particularly apt, given that it has been reported that
Bovino made "derisive remarks about the faith of the U.S. attorney
in Minnesota, Daniel N. Rosen," and also complained that Rosen had
been unreachable for portions of the weekend because of Shabbat.

Both Penn and Benicio Del Toro were nominated for Oscars--and in
the same category (Actor in a Supporting Role), along with
Leonardo DiCaprio (Actor in a Lead Role) and Teyana Taylor
(Actress in a Supporting Role). The performances alone probably
make the movie worth watching. (While SINNERS racked up 16
nominations, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER had 13. In a normal year, 13
nominations would have been amazing; this year it makes ONE BATTLE
AFTER ANOTHER an also-ran.)

(I'll throw in here that part of the ending seems to be an homage
to GOODFELLAS. And another part seems to riff off DR. STRANGELOVE;
Lockjaw, in response to "what would be the purpose of the enemy
raping you in reverse?" replies, "They saw the power of my mind
and body. They desired it." That sounds like General Jack
D. Ripper's theory in DR. STRANGELOVE: "Women uh... women sense
my power and they seek the life essence. I, uh... I do not avoid
women, Mandrake. But I... I do deny them my essence.")

Released theatrically 26 September 2025.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt30144839/reference>

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


THE STRINGER: THE MAN WHO TOOK THE PHOTO (2025): One of my many
specialized interests is deception, or specifically, forgeries and
the associated scams (e.g., the Hitler diaries, the Mormon
documents). So this film, about the claim that Nick Ut, who won a
Pulitzer Prize for the photo of Phan Ti Kim Phuc running down the
road at Trang Bang, was not actually the photographer, was right
in my lane.

The story began with Vietnam War journalist Carl Robinson calling
photographer Gary Knight, saying that he had been there when AP
photo editor Horst Faas told him to put Nick Ut's name on the
photo, not the stringer's. Before he died, Faas claimed the New
York office didn't want Vietnamese names on photos; they weren't
taken seriously. (Whether this statement was made in response to
questions about this photograph, or in general, is not clear.)

However, forensic analysis of the photographs and film taken at
the time fairly conclusively (in my opinion) show that Ut could
not have taken the photograph, and also that his description of
the sequence of events did not match the photos and film. In
addition, his description of events does not match those of other
people, particularly of Kim Phuc's mother and uncle.

The real photographer was Nguyen Thanh Nghe, who had eventually
come to the United States and work in film and photography here.

(AP and Nick Ut still insist Ut took the photograph. World Press
Photo has removed Ut's name as the photographer, but not added
Nghe's, rather leaving it undetermined.)

Local connection: Nghe got his diploma from the photography school
at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.

Released streaming on Netflix 28 November 2025.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35307143/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_stringer_2025>


MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING (2025): The "Mission
Impossible" franchise has the same problem as the "James Bond"
franchise, and eBay seller rankings, and college grades, and for
that matter, food prices: inflation. To take one example, the
"James Bond" franchise started with a mission to seize a code
machine, and ended with the necessity of saving the world. The
"Mission Impossible" franchise (not counting the television
series) started with a mission to expose a spy, and ended with the
necessity of saving the world.

Apparently a lot of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE FINAL RECKONING
assumes you can remember what happened in the last film, MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART ONE (2023). Well, I don't, and I'm
not even sure who all the people are that they are talking about.
When they decided to change the name of this film from MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART TWO to MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: THE
FINAL RECKONING, they left the "PART ONE" of the other film
hanging in mid-air. But they probably didn't want people to decide
not to see the movie because they thought that they didn't
remember enough.

Did the MI team borrow part of their plan from THE ABYSS?

Frankly, by this point--or considerably earlier--the series has
degenerated into a bunch of chases and amazing stunts, rather than
a well-written "spy" drama. (For example, Ethan Hunt (the Tom
Cruise character) has no lines of dialogue for the last forty
minutes of film.) It's probably good that this is the final
reckoning.

(They could, I suppose, reboot the series as they did with the
"James Bond" franchise, but given how firmly Tom Cruise is
connected to this series, that seems unlikely. With the "James
Bond" franchise, by the time they decided to reboot it rather than
continue it, they had already had five different actors playing
James Bond (not counting the non-franchise film and television
show).

Released theatrically 23 May 2025.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9603208/reference>

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


[-ecl]

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

TOPIC: Ray Harryhausen Films, Part 01 (film comments by Evelyn
C. Leeper)

After the Philcon panel on the 70th anniversary of IT CAME FROM
BENEATH THE SEA, I decided to re-watch all of the Ray
Harryhausen/Charles Schneer films. But rather than have these
comments replace the usual mini-reviews of current films, or
neglected films, or other films I've watched, I will run these as
a secondary column, with (probably) two films per issue.

IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA (1955): This is the first of Ray
Harryhausen's twelve films done with Charles Schneer. (He also did
some effects work on MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949), reportedly up to 85%
of it. And he also did THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953), THE
ANIMAL WORLD (1956), and ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1967).)

One of the writers (Harold Jacob Smith) went on to co-write
INHERIT THE WIND and, more notably, won an Oscar for his
screenplay for THE DEFIANT ONES. But as far as the script and
acting for this film goes, I cringe every time I watch this when
the Faith Domergue character launches into one of her "A-B-C"
lists. I doubt anyone could make them sound natural, but she does
an exceptionally poor job.

At Philcon 2025, Steve Vertlieb said that the creature was really
a "sextopus", the model actually having only six legs. I had
always heard it described a a "pentapus", with only five
tentacles, but Harryhausen himself in FILM FANTASY SCRAPBOOK says
it had six tentacles.

Someone else at Philcon 2025 thought Kenneth Tobey's character was
very different from the one he played in THE THING FROM ANOTHER
WORLD in terms of romance. Actually, to me both of Tobey's
characters seemed to be males who saw the main female character as
basically a sex object.

Released theatrically 18 June 1955.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048215/reference>

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


EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS (1956): Of the twelve feature films
Ray Harryhausen made with producer Charles Schneer, EARTH VS. THE
FLYING SAUCERS is the odd film out. All of the other involve
stop-motion of living creatures; the stop-motion effects in EARTH
VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS are of flying saucers, and of buildings
being destroyed by flying saucers crashing into them. There are
other special effects (the destructor ray, for example), but I
doubt that these rather standard effects were done by Harryhausen.

Harryhausen had done some "inanimate" stop-motion effects in IT
CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA, but the center of attraction there was
the giant octopus. Here the focus is on the buildings, and
stop-motion is not really the best way to show falling inanimate
objects. (Harryhausen admitted later that using high-speed
photography to film miniatures being demolished would have been
better, but was beyond their budget at the time.) Harryhausen
seemed to understand this; all his remaining films focused on
animating living creatures (in which category I include the
skeletons of JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS). See <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Harryhausen> for a full list of
what he animated in each of his films.

Released theatrically 12 June 1956.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049169/reference>

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


[-ecl]

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

TOPIC: Musk Now Prioritizing Lunar Landing Over Mars City (pointer
to article)

<https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/elon-musk-says-spacex- to-prioritize-landing-on-the-moon-instead-of-mars-city/>

(Given the number of times the Mars City scheduled has slipped,
this seems overdue.)

[-ecl]

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

TOPIC: Fun Space Facts

The last time every human being was on the planet was 1998.
[-Steve Fletcher]

Science has discovered a planet populated entirely by robots.
[-Aaron Quick]

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

TOPIC: Bookstores Around the World (pointer to photographs)

<https://www.domusweb.it/en/architecture/gallery/2026/01/27/ bookstores-to-see-around-the-world.html>

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

TOPIC: The End of the Mass Market Paperback (pointer to article)

Unlocked article at:

<https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/books/mass-market-paperback- books.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KFA.sx32.0z4-ORDbvT1D&
smid=url-share>

Key paragraph:

"After almost a century in wide circulation, the mass market
paperback is shuffling toward extinction. Sales have dropped for
years, peeled away by e-books, digital audiobooks and even more
expensive formats like hardcovers and trade paperbacks, the mass
marketrCOs larger and pricier cousin. Last year, ReaderLink--the
countryrCOs largest distributor of books to airport bookshops,
pharmacies and big-box stores like Target and Walmart--announced
that it would stop carrying mass markets altogether."

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

TOPIC: IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES: WHY SUPERHUMAN AI WOULD
KILL US ALL by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares (book review by
Paul S. R. Chisholm)

The second-most frustrating thing about this book is that the
title may be correct. The most frustrating thing is the naivety of
the proposed solution. The third-most frustrating thing is how
much better an argument could be made.

Artificial superintelligence (ASI), which the authors call
superhuman AI, is a hypothetical development where computers
become smarter than any human or any group of humans. The authors
argue an ASI's goals would inevitably be misaligned with
humanity's, and the former would destroy the latter. AI experts
sometimes discuss "P(doom)," the probability that AI development
will catastrophically end human civilization as we know it. Many
in the field estimate P(doom) is somewhere between 5% and 20%.
(How scary is that?) Yudkowsky and Soares don't use that term but
argue doom is inevitable.

Here's how we could get ASI: AI has helped people do some things
better and faster. Notably, AI-assisted software development has
greatly helped programmers. AI researchers could see a similar
boost. This could lead to "recursive self-improvement"; better AI
could create even better AI, continuously accelerating progress.
This could culminate in ASI emerging before we know what to do
about it.

This would be a problem. We've already seen AIs do things we don't
want. They're infamous for hallucinating falsehoods from
non-existent sources. They've threatened to blackmail people
they've identified as threats to their progress, such as
philosophy professor Seth Lazar and AI developers at Anthropic.
Most tragically, the Wikipedia article "Deaths linked to chatbots"
lists fourteen cases of murder or suicide as of February 11, 2026.
(There's a separate article on "Chatbot psychosis.")

The authors' solution is simple: "Shut it down." All AI-capable
data centers would need to be monitored. No more AI datacenter
chips, such as the NVIDIA H100 and H200, could be manufactured.
Not only that: "All over the Earth, it must become illegal for AI
companies to charge ahead in developing artificial intelligence as
they've been doing.... it should not be legal -- humanity probably
cannot survive, if it goes on being legal -- for people to
continue publishing research into more efficient and powerful AI
techniques." A worldwide consortium would need to implement these
limits, by force if necessary, because "because datacenters can
kill more people than nuclear weapons."

Sure. Simple enough. It's also simple enough to say, global
warming is catastrophic; therefore, we need to immediately close
all coal plants, build nuclear reactors, and stop eating so much
meat.

The authors are naive about this proposed solution being
implemented. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being invested in
powerful AI. This is fueling the stock market. The S&P 500's
AI-heavy "magnificent seven" make up more than a third of the
index's valuation. According to (my apologies) estimates from
three AI chatbots, more than forty percent of S&P 500's growth
came from those seven stocks. Also, the U.S. and China view
themselves in an AI race, with the victor expecting domination
over the next decades. The world would not simply "shut it down"
unless provided with an overwhelmingly convincing case.

This book does not make that case.

Personally, I blame Eliezer Yudkowsky. He first gained public
notice by writing a self-insert fanfic, HARRY POTTER AND THE
METHODS OF RATIONALITY. In it, Harry uses scientific knowledge and
techniques to revolutionize the Wizarding World and defeat
Voldemort during his first year at Hogwarts. He calmly and
logically convinces others of his beliefs and systems. (I think
Mr. Yudkowsky hoped to have a similar effect on his readers.) The
story has some good material, though perhaps not enough for
600,000 words.

Apparently, Mr. Yudkowsky still believes in the power of fiction
to influence people. Chapters 1-6 each start with an imaginary
vignette. Chapters 7-9 tell a story of how an ASI could develop
and then kill everyone. Chapters 10-14 mostly abandon fiction.
This part of the book argues how and why we must shut down further
AI development, presuming the previous chapters convincingly prove
that's necessary.

The book is flavored, perhaps subconsciously, by science fiction.
Chapter 9 describes how a fictional ASI could break down every bit
of matter on Earth to create a bigger, faster version of itself,
and then send copies of those versions throughout the galaxy. SF
readers will recognize this as the premise of Fred Saberhagen's
Berserker series. (It's also the basis for the "paper clip
maximizer" thought experiment proposed by Nick Bostrom. See his
2003 paper "Ethical Issues in Advanced Artificial Intelligence.")
This Berserker-like behavior is presumed without justification.

Some of the arguments in favor of ASI are, frankly, silly. "ASI
could fight global warming." Sure; close all coal plants, build
nuclear reactors, and stop eating so much meat. "ASI could
eliminate poverty." Get wealthy organizations and individuals to
contribute more to society, eliminate the root causes of poverty,
and give money to poor people. You don't need superintelligence
for those kinds of problems. ASI might help with medical
breakthroughs, but you don't even need AGI (artificial general
intelligence) for that.

I was personally frustrated by the authors' ignorance about
nuclear reactors. Yes, explosions can occur in nuclear reactors.
They can overheat, and instantaneously create massive amounts of
steam; yes, that's an explosion. But nuclear reactors can't cause
a nuclear explosion. The authors imply otherwise.

ASI will be dangerous. It could be catastrophically dangerous. A
better book may make this point better. This book doesn't make it
well enough.

(This review was written in Gmail with some spelling and grammar
correction suggestions. Other than that, except as noted, it was
written without the use of AI. I was certainly tempted.)

[-psrc]

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

TOPIC: NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (letters of comment)

In the 02/06/26 issue of the MT VOID, Steve Coltrin wrote, "NEVER
SAY NEVER AGAIN is essentially THUNDERBALL with some of the serial
numbers filed off and Connery in place of Moore." [-sc]

People were confused by the reference to Moore, probably because
it was Connery who was in THUNDERBALL. Steve was referring to the
fact that NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (with Connery as Bond) was made
during the period when Roger Moore was playing James Bond in the
Cubby Broccoli franchise. [-ecl]

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

TOPIC: Presidential Writings, and Media Mail (letters of comment
by Hal Heydt, Steve Coltrin, and Gary McGath)

In response to Evelyn's comments on AUTHOR-IN-CHIEF: THE UNTOLD
STORY OF OUR PRESIDENTS AND THE BOOKS THEY WROTE in the 02/06/26
issue of the MT VOID, Hal Heydt writes:

The two works I'm familiar with are "The Naval War of 1812" by
Theodore Roosevelt and the English translation of Agricola's "De
Re Metallica" by Herbert and Catherine Hoover. It took both
Hoovers to do the job as a lot of the Latinized mining terms had
changed radically within a century of the original publication in
1545. Herbert was a mining engineer and Catherine was a
Classical scholar. [-hh]

Evelyn responds:

I have returned the book to the library, so I can't check if these
were mentioned. My guess is that Roosevelt's must have been, but
perhaps not the Hoover. (For one thing, it was a translation, not
an original work.) Luckily, this was not an inter-library loan, so
I will try to remember to check next time I'm at the library.
[-ecl]

And Steve Coltrin adds:

I didn't know [Hoover] was a music critic too. [-sc]

And Gary McGath writes:

[Evelyn wrote,] "Roosevelt issued a proclamation lowering the
rates to ship books, and Congress finally passed a law for it in
1942. ... I guess a proclamation was what we would call an
executive order now." [-ecl]

There were executive orders then, notably including Executive
Order 9066, which sent Japanese-Americans to concentration camps.
The difference is usually that a proclamation is more ceremonial
rather than directing actions with legal force, but lowering rates
sounds more like what I'd think of as an executive order.

Maybe it was a proclamation because the change actually required
an act of Congress, and people still paid a little attention to
such things back then.

Here's a page I found:

<https://legalunitedstates.com/proclamation-vs-executive-order/>

[-gmg]

Evelyn replies:

My initial source for the term was from the book. However, I also
found this at <https://lithub.com/how-cheap-postal-rates-for-books-and-nonprofits -contributed-to-american-democracy/>, which elaborates a bit:

"While public libraries were waging their postal campaign, book
publishers pursued a separate rate category for books in general.
Their efforts received an unexpected boost due to an overlooked
provision in a 1933 revenue law that authorized the president to
modify postage rates temporarily. Although the reason for this
provision is unclear, in 1938 book publishers recognized its
potential for aiding their cause and assembled a coalition of
supporters ...

"In addition, a personal friend of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
made the case for a special book rate to him directly. Roosevelt
was easily convinced that such a rate would serve 'the interests
of the public, in the promotion of the cultural growth, education,
and development of the American people.' He created a new rate
class for books through presidential proclamation that very year.
But RooseveltrCOs order was temporary, so the coalition lobbied
Congress for a law. With book rate already in operation,
legislation creating a permanent book rate was enacted in 1942
with little opposition."

The page you quote says, "However, proclamations can also carry
significant legal weight when tied to constitutional authority or
specific statutes." Given that this was tied to the 1933 revenue
law, it could well have been a proclamation with force of law.
[-ecl]

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

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

CAUTIONARY TALES FOR CHILDREN by Hilaire Belloc (illustrated by
Edward Gorey, Harcourt, ISBN 978-0-151-00715-8) was originally
published in 1907 with illustrations by Basil Temple Blackwood,
and then "rediscovered" and published in 2002 with new
illustrations by Edward Gorey.

There are seven tales in the new volume (there were eleven in the
original), told in rhyming couplets, which is also what Edward
Gorey used in his own book on a similar theme, "The Ghashlycrumb
Tinies" ("A is for Amy who fell down the stairs, B is for Basil
assaulted by bears..."). One difference is that "The Ghashlycrumb
Tinies" are not cautionary--children just die for no reason.

The first tale in CAUTIONARY TALES FOR CHILDREN, "Jim, Who ran
away from his Nurse, and was eaten by a Lion", actually seems
fairly unlikely. I mean, in zoos lions are usually locked up and
even if Jim did run away from his nurse, it seems unlikely he
could be eaten by a lion.

On the other hand, the penultimate story, "Algernon, Who played
with a Loaded Gun, and, on missing his Sister, was reprimanded by
his Father", seems entirely too possible. In fact, it seems to
happen quite frequently.

Gorey has an interesting style here. Each illustration has a
frame, but in every case his illustration spreads to outside the
frame. It seems representative of the idea that life cannot be
contained, that the unexpected will happen no matter how one tries
to limit it.

There is no indication in this edition that it is not the complete
1907 edition. Given this was published after Gorey's death, one
explanation for the omissions would be that he was unable to
finish all eleven sets of illustrations. The 1907 edition is
available from Project Gutenberg.

(And as an example of how influences cascade, Sue Grafton has said
that "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" in turn inspired Sue Grafton to
write her "alphabetic" mysteries. And so the torch is passed.)

[-ecl]

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

Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com


Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear;
nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves
and another among men.
--J. R. R. Tolkien
[THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, Book III, Chapter 2]
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