From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom
THE MT VOID
02/20/26 -- Vol. 44, No. 34, Whole Number 2420
Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
All material is the opinion of the author and is copyrighted by
the author unless otherwise noted.
All comments sent or posted will be assumed authorized for
inclusion unless otherwise noted.
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
The latest issue is at <
http://www.leepers.us/mtvoid/latest.htm>.
An index with links to the issues of the MT VOID since 1986 is at <
http://leepers.us/mtvoid/back_issues.htm>.
Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 07 (SINNERS, GUNS & MOSES, PROBLEMISTA)
(film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Ray Harryhausen Films, Part 02 (20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH,
THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) (film comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
The Case of the Mysterious Bookbinder (comments on
an excursion by Katherine B. Pott)
LITTLE WOMEN Goes Goth (pointer to book review)
China's Dancing Robots (pointer to article)
The American Colonists and Taxation (comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (letter of comment by Dan Kimmel)
CAUTIONARY TALES FOR CHILDREN (letters of comment
by Andre Kuzniarek and Denise Moy)
Hard Science and Hard Science Fiction, Glossaries,
and a Typo (letter of comment by John Hertz)
This Week's Reading (George Orwell's essays:
"Can Socialists Be Happy?", "As I Please 5"
[war and war crimes]) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 07 (film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper)
And three more recent films:
SINNERS (2025): SINNERS now holds the record for most Academy
Award nominations (16). (The previous record was 14, with ALL
ABOUT EVE, TITANIC, and LA LA LAND each receiving that number.)
I would describe SINNERS as "FROM DUSK TO DAWN meets Victor
Lavalle (particularly THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM)". The dance floor
sequence is amazing. Whether the mainstream audience who were not
pleased with THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS getting awards will even go
watch SINNERS is not clear. I'm assuming you know the premise of
SINNERS; I would be curious to know the reaction of those who go
to see it not knowing the premise.
I haven't seen very many of the nominated films from 2025, but I
do recommend this one.
Released theatrically 18 April 2025.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt31193180/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/sinners_2025>
GUNS & MOSES (2025): One thing you can say about Salvador Litvak:
he doesn't repeat himself. Litvak's first film was WHEN DO WE EAT?
a comedy about a dysfunctional family on the first night of
Passover. His second film was SAVING LINCOLN (2013), effectively
the filming of a stage play with highly stylized sets. And now
comes his third, GUNS & MOSES (2024), a crime thriller set in the
high desert.
Litvak is to some extent sui generis, but if I had to compare him
to another filmmaker (or filmmakers) it would the Joel and Ethan
Brothers. If WHEN DO WE EAT? seems in the same genre as RAISING
ARIZONA or THE BIG LEBOWSKI, GUNS & MOISES has echoes of FARGO. (I
will admit that there is nothing in the Coen's oeuvre--or anyone
else's--quite like SAVING LINCOLN.)
Anyway, in GUNS & MOSES, Litvak returns to a Jewish theme, or at
least a story about Jews. Alan (a Jewish man) is shot during a
ceremony celebrating his life. Everyone is sure they know who the
killer is, and are sure it a hate crime, but Rabbi Moses Zaltzman
isn't so sure. Then Tibor (another Jewish man) is shot while
telling the rabbi about reasons why there might be other people
who had reasons to kill Alan. Soon the rabbi is toting a gun and
trying to solve the case.
I don't know much about guns, but it does seem like the rabbi gets
really good at shooting (and at handling guns in general) really
fast. I'm sure his daughter's line when she finishes the rabbi's
gun training will appeal to many: "May God and your Glock protect
you."
As with Litvak's first two films, GUNS & MOSES was co-written with
his wife, Nina (Davidovich) Litvak. And in spite of the very
offbeat nature (and undoubtedly small budgets) of his films,
Litvak does get a few familiar actors. In WHEN DO WE EAT? it was
Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Lerner, and Jack Klugman; in GUNS &
MOSES he has Christopher Lloyd, Dermot Mulroney, Neal McDonough,
and Jake Busey. As with many independent filmmakers, Litvak
attracts actors who want something that is not a cookie-cutter
role. For example, Christopher Lloyd gets a chance to play a
straight dramatic (albeit small) role in GUNS & MOSES, while most
of his films over the last several decades have him in comedic or
villainous roles. And it's good to see him still acting at age 87
years old.
I really liked this film, as I liked Litvak's other two. I will
say, however, that the IMDb ratings don't back me up.
Released theatrically 18 July 2025.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21861086/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/guns_and_moses>
PROBLEMISTA (2023): PROBLEMISTA seems to be both topical and
outdated. Alejandro comes to the United States on a work visa for
a cryogenic company in order to be able to apply for the job he
really wants as a toy designer. When he gets fired, he is
desperate to find a new job within thirty days to avoid being
deported. Obviously, deportation is an issue these days, but it's
also true that having a job and a work visa is no guarantee that
you won't be grabbed off the street and deported anyway.
But it's more complicated than that. He needs money to apply for a
new work visa, but he cannot accept money for a job until he has
the new work visa.
Then he meets up with a woman who was/is the wife of an artist
frozen in the facility where Alejandro worked who can best be
described as manic. Somehow Alejandro makes a connection with her
(or perhaps it's that Alejandro knows how to pretend to have a
connection).
The film is very surreal, with a lot of the visuals representing
Alejandro's interior thoughts (well, of course they're
interior--how could there be exterior thoughts?).
I definitely recommend this one, both for the characters, and the
visual style.
Released theatrically 22 March 2024.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15078804/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/problemista>
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Ray Harryhausen Films, Part 02 (film comments by Evelyn
C. Leeper)
20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH (1957): The posters all say "20 MILLION
MILES TO EARTH", but in FILM FANTASY SCRAPBOOK, Harryhausen calls
it "TWENTY MILLION MILES TO EARTH". (This is not the only
instance; it happens with THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER as well.)
They still have the tacky opening narration. This one adds
stereotypical Italians. Admittedly the worst of them is the young
boy who is fixated on Texas, but the adults speak in that Italian
pidgin one finds in movies but not in real life, even when
speaking to each other. Admittedly, this was well before movies
had characters speaking their own language to each other, with
subtitles provided for the English-speaking audience. But when one
gets used to that (or the other variation, where they speak
perfectly good English, but with an accent), hearing the
equivalence of illiteracy in speech is jarring.
Released theatrically June 1957.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050084/reference>
What others are saying: <
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/20_million_miles_to_earth>
THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1958): With THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD,
Harryhausen has hit his stride. Gone is the black-and-white
photography and the stock footage (though there is still a problem
matching film stocks). Gone are the voice-over introductions to
each of the first three films. Gone is the long wait before the monsters/special effects appear. Appearing for the first time are
what would become standard for a Harryhausen film: the score by
Bernard Herrmann (though he did only four of the scores), the
crayon drawings under the title credit sequence, the use of color,
and the dropping of an opening narration. Continuing though, is
the use of numbers in the titles--with THE 3 WORLDS OF GULLIVER,
Harryhausen will make it three in a row.
And Harryhausen is given free rein to design and animate creatures
that became his trademark.
Presumably Harryhausen also did the special effects of Parisa
shrinking, and of a miniature Parisa interacting with the
full-size world.
It is not clear when (or where) THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD takes
place. Sinbad comes from Baghdad, which was founded in 762, but it
must be considerably later given the magnificence of Baghdad. I
would guess around 900, since after that Baghdad declined and was
conquered by the Mongols in 1258.
Sinbad and others are clearly Muslim, yet his behavior with the
princess is contrary to the laws of modesty (as is her clothing).
Released theatrically 23 December 1958.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051337/reference>
What others are saying: <
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seventh_voyage_of_sinbad>
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: The Case of the Mysterious Bookbinder (comments on an
excursion by Katherine B. Pott)
[Kate sent me this description; it was too good not to share. -ecl]
The day was fair but very cold. Even the crows were silently
huddled on the telephone poles. The weight of my precious worn and
tattered book pressed against my side as I waited for the first
bus of many I would need to take that day. The wind picked up and
began to find every hole in my old scarf as I waited at the bus
shelter which was not really a shelter at all, merely an
indentation in the snow Bank near where the bus might stop if the
driver was kind.
At last, I was on board and beginning to thaw as we arrived at the
first transfer point. The second bus actually arrived early, but
with the determined illogic of the The RULES OF BUS TRANSIT, no
one could board until departure time. no matter the Alpine
temperatures. The only reason I could make of this, was to give
the driver time to smoke and socialize with other waiting drivers.
Perhaps it's in their contract.
Eventually we departed and I pulled out my phone to review the
next stage of my journey. Several weeks ago, my brother had sent
me an old collection of fairy tales which had been in the family
since my great grandfather received it as a child. I hadn't seen
it in many years and was saddened by its very deteriorated
condition. No other children would ever again enjoy its magic
without immediate and drastic restoration. Thus, I began the
search for a bookbinder who specialized in antiquarian
restoration. I found one two towns over who would be glad to
examine it and give an opinion on what would be possible. This was
kind of him, since I doubted the book was intrinsically valuable
to anyone except family, and he was very busy with wealthy
collectors. An appointment was arranged.
Now as the bus pulled into Easthampton, I reviewed his
instructions:
"The bindery is at the end of Cottage St. You will need to find a
large brick building in the shape of an L. You must enter through
the rear. You will cross a courtyard, after which you will come to
a small alleyway. Enter and you will find two large steel doors at
the end. Open them but DO NOT RING THE BELL! Once you enter, you
will find a large hallway, follow it until you come to a small old
fashioned elevator. Open the metal grill to enter it. Once inside,
press the up button and count four floors. I will be waiting for
you in room 24."
So with some slight trepidation, I dismounted the bus at the end
of Cottage St. and searched for a large brick building. Not
finding any in view from the bus stop, I pulled up Google maps and
asked it to find number 1 Cottage St. The answer was that I was at
No. 1 Cottage St. This did not seem to be the case, so I asked for
an image of the bindery with the result of a large brick building
in the shape of an L.
Being forced to improvise at this point, I had no choice but to
continue walking towards the extreme end of Cottage St. Still no
brick buildings in sight and by now, I was walking into gusts of
below zero wind. In a desperate move, I removed my gloves and
dialed the number provided by the bindery website but received no
answer. The last of the shops and restaurants had vanished several
blocks ago, my hands were so numb, putting the gloves back on was
very difficult. Google was proving to be useless even if I had
been able to hold the phone.
The choice was turn back and give up on a day's worth of effort or
apply logic to the problem and determine what could make a large
brick building invisible? If Google GPS could see it, why couldn't
I? Then I had it. The satellite would see the area from overhead,
while I was limited to one elevation. The building must be in a
depression below my line of sight. Now retracing my steps in the
direction of the bus stop, I looked for any possible evidence of
this. Near to where I had started, a long steep flight of concrete
steps appeared, hiding in shadow and covered in snow. Determined
and freezing, I clung to the rusty handrail and started down.
Finally reaching the bottom, I looked over an expanse of deserted
parking lot. No cars or people in sight, but yes, in the distance,
I could see a large brick building! As I approached, the building
resolved into an L shape with an interior courtyard. A short dark
alley led to a set of double metal doors. Beside them stood an
ancient clapper alarm bell such as one would see in old movie
depictions of fire houses. Carefully avoiding it, I entered into a
poorly lit hallway with uneven worn flooring. Finding no listing
of tenants or businesses, I continued walking down one dark
hallway after another, until finding a tiny elevator. As I pulled
open the metal grill, a screech like a dying rabbit echoed
throughout the halls. Apparently, maintenance had stopped sometime
in the last century.
Remembering every foolish thing I had ever seen characters do in
horror movies, I put my faith in the good intentions of
bookbinders, pressed up and counted to 4.
Room number 24 was halfway down the hall and distinguished by a
large brass door knocker shaped like a scroll of papyrus. When I
knocked a cheerful voice called for me to come in. A tall thin man
wearing a full length dusty apron, introduced himself as Peter,
the proprietor of the bindery. I apologized for being late,
explaining that while he was indeed near the bus stop, he was
actually invisible from it. He laughingly explained that this
would never occur to anyone arriving by car, not walking from the
center of town. HUMPF!
At any rate, the meeting went well. He said the work would be
possible at a reasonable price.
Preparing to leave, I couldn't help but mention how empty the
building seemed. "Yes", he said. "I am the last tenant. The
building is scheduled for demolition soon and the whole area for re-development."
"So, you will be moving?", I said.
"Yes, in about two months", replied Peter. "But fortunately, I
found new larger accommodations in a brand new building in the
downtown area of a nearby town."
"That sounds great," I said. "But I better get going as I want to
hit one of my favorite bookstores just down and up the street from
you! Hopefully, I can catch the bus for home before it's dark."
"Where's home?", he asked.
"Amherst", I said.
"What a coincidence!", he said. "That's where I'm moving in the
Spring, downtown Amherst!"
[-kbp]
===================================================================
TOPIC: LITTLE WOMEN Goes Goth (pointer to book review)
<
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/books/review/
little-women-retellings.html>
This review covers "Maire RocherCOs middle-grade fantasy, LITTLE
MONSTERS (Aladdin, 288 pp., $17.99, ages 8 to 12), due out in
August, in which the four March sisters, now contemporary kids
living in Salem, lead double lives as, respectively, a vampire, a
werewolf, a bat-winged creature and a sea monster," and "BETH IS
DEAD (Sarah Barley/Simon & Schuster, 400 pp., $19.99, ages 12 and
up), in which Katie Bernet reimagines LITTLE WOMEN as a
young-adult murder mystery."
The review references the Jane Austen pastiches PRIDE AND
PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES and DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY, the first most
similar to LITTLE MONSTERS and the second a murder mystery like
BETH IS DEAD. (There is also SENSE AND SENSIBILITY AND SEA
MONSTERS.)
It's notable that the Alcott pastiches are aimed at teenagers,
while the Austen ones are for the adult market. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: China's Dancing Robots (pointer to article)
<
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/18/ china-dancing-humanoid-robots-festival-show>
The article includes a one-minute video. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: The American Colonists and Taxation (comments by Evelyn
C. Leeper)
In AMERICAN IDEALS: FOUNDING A "REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE" (from the
Great Courses), the Professor Daniel N. Robinson claims that if
one looks at what was written and at the timeline, the colonists
did not object to taxation when it was supporting their protection
or regulating commerce. It was only when taxation was used
primarily as a revenue-producing source that they rose up against
it. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER (letter of comment by Dan Kimmel)
In response to Evelyn's comments on ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER in
the 02/13/26 issue of the MT VOID, Dan Kimmel writes:
I agree with your take on ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. The film made
no lasting impression on me and I don't get what the fuss is
about. After more than forty years as a film critic I'm finding
that the movies that I like and the ones my colleagues and the
Academy praise are becoming polar opposites. Several of this
year's Oscar nominees for Best Picture would be on my Ten Worst
list. ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER would not be, but neither did it
make my Ten Best list either. [-dmk]
===================================================================
TOPIC: CAUTIONARY TALES FOR CHILDREN (letters of comment by Andre
Kuzniarek and Denise Moy)
In response to Evelyn's comments on CAUTIONARY TALES FOR CHILDREN
in the 02/13/26 issue of the MT VOID, Andre Kuzniarek writes:
I grew up with having German immigrant parents, and this
over-the-top artifact was simply considered children's book fare.
Might explain my passion for weird and fantastical media:
<
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struwwelpeter>
[-ak]
Evelyn notes:
Great illustrations in the Wikipedia article! [-ecl]
Denise Moy adds another link in the chain of influences:
I was not familiar with Belloc's CAUTIONARY TALES so I read
Project Gutenberg's copy just now. Did you know that Maurice
Sendak rewrote and illustrated Jim's story as PIERRE: A CAUTIONARY
TALE? It was also put to music by Carole King for their musical
"Really Rosie". My then-nine-year-old sister played the soundtrack
record so many times!
<
https://youtu.be/50TwbKh0Za8>
[-dm]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Hard Science and Hard Science Fiction, Glossaries, and a
Typo (letter of comment by John Hertz)
In response to Evelyn's comments on John Hertz's comments on hard
science fiction in the 01/16/26 issue of the MT VOID, John writes:
[Evelyn wrote,] "You seem to move back and forth between talking
about 'hard science fiction' and 'hard science'." [-ecl]
Indeed I question both "hard science" and "hard science fiction".
[-jh]
John also noted a typo:
[Evelyn wrote,] "On a recent trip to the public library, a friend
and I noticed that a substantial percentage of books filed in the
"Fiction" section were actually fantasy: time travel (with any
science fiction basis), ghosts, magical realism, etc." [-ecl]
Evelyn responds:
Obviously I meant "time travel (*without* any science fiction
basis)". [-ecl]
In response to Evelyn's comments on THE HISTORY OF TIME: A VERY
SHORT INTRODUCTION in the 01/30/26 issue, John writes:
[Evelyn wrote,] "There's a two-page glossary of several dozen
words such as embolism, feria, luna, and indiction, that are used
liberally in the text." [-ecl]
Hooray for glossaries! [-jh]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
More from ORWELL'S ESSAYS by George Orwell (Everyman,
ISBN 978-0-375-41503-6):
"Can Socialists Be Happy?" (Tribune, 31 December 1943) begins with
Orwell observing that in Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" the
Cratchits seem to be happy and enjoying life. He writes, "The
Cratchits are able to enjoy their Christmas precisely because
Christmas only comes once a year. Their happiness is convincing
just because it is described as incomplete." He then goes on to
write, "All efforts to describe *permanent* happiness, on the
other hand, have been failures, from earliest history onwards.
Utopias ... have been common in the literature of the past three
or four hundred years, but the 'favourable' ones are invariably
unappetising, and usually lacking in vitality as well." Later he
elaborates: "All 'favourable' Utopias seem to be alike in
postulating perfection while being unable to suggest happiness."
Of GULLIVER'S TRAVELS he writes, "The earlier parts of GULLIVER'S
TRAVELS are probably the most devastating attack on human society
that has ever been written. Every word of them is relevant to-day;
in places they contain quite detailed prophecies of the political
horrors of our own time. Where Swift fails, however, is in trying
to describe a race of beings whom he *does* admire." Even Heaven
fails: "Attempts at describing a definitely other-worldly
happiness have been no more successful. ... It is a commonplace
that the Christian Heaven, as usually portrayed, would attract
nobody." Somehow vague references to "gold, precious stones, and
hymns" don't really sound inviting to most people. When Tertullian
(an early Church father) wrote in "De spectaculis" ("The Shows")
that the greatest joy from those in heaven is watching the
tortures of the damned, he may have been trying to make Heaven
more appealing.
(Or as Mark Twain said, "Heaven for climate, hell for society.")
Basically, Orwell is saying that we need contrast. Just as we
don't appreciate health unless we have experienced illness, or
satiety until we have known hunger, a life with no difficulties
would not result in happiness. (Elements of this appear in the
probably apocryphal early life of Siddhartha Gautama (the
Buddha). So Orwell concludes, "[The] real objective of Socialism
is not happiness. Happiness has hitherto been a by-product, and
for all we know it may always remain so. The real objective of
Socialism is human brotherhood."
"As I Please 5" (Tribune, 31 December 1943) Orwell talks about war
and war crimes. He points out that waging war is not in itself
crime, and that Hitler never personally did anything that we label
as a war crime. "So far as it goes, the distinction between an
atrocity and an act of war is valid. An atrocity means an act of
terrorism which has no genuine military purpose. One must accept
such distinctions if one accepts war at all, which in practice
everyone does. Nevertheless, a world in which it is wrong to
murder an individual civilian and right to drop a thousand tons of
high explosive on a residential area does sometimes make me wonder
whether this earth of ours is not a looney-bin made use of by some
other planet."
Orwell is no predictor, though; he writes, "[Hitler] has merely
precipitated a world war which will perhaps have cost twenty
million lives before it ends." The latest estimates I have seen
are sixty to eighty million lives, with about two-thirds directly
caused by the war and the other third from war-related disease and
famine. (China alone had twenty million deaths.) [-ecl]
===================================================================
Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
Happiness isn't something you experience;
it's something you remember.
--Oscar Levant
--- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2