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THE MT VOID
03/27/26 -- Vol. 44, No. 39, Whole Number 2425
Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
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Topics:
Middletown (NJ) Public Library Science Fiction Discussion
Group
Picks for Turner Classic Movies in April (comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Ray Harryhausen Films, Part 07 (MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949),
THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS) (film comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES by Eliezer Yudkowsky
and Nate Soares (comments by Jerry Williams)
Notes on DUNE MESSIAH by Frank Herbert (comments
by Paul S. R. Chisholm)
Dangers of A.I. (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (George Orwell's Essays: "As I Please
10", "The English People") (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Middletown (NJ) Public Library Science Fiction Discussion
Group
April 2, 2026: COUNTDOWN (1967) & THE PILGRIM PROJECT
by Hank Searls
<
https://archive.org/details/pilgrimprojectno00sear/page/n10/>
===================================================================
TOPIC: Picks for Turner Classic Movies in April (comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
[It's getting harder to do this, because Turner isn't posting its
upcoming films as early in the previous month as they used to.
It wasn't until two days ago that they finally posted the full
April listings.]
My obvious recommendation, given I have just finished writing
about Ray Harryhausen-Charles Schneer films, is the Ray
Harryhausen-Charles Schneer festival on April 15 and 16:
8:00 PM The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
10:00 PM The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
12:00 AM Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
2:00 AM The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
4:00 AM Clash of the Titans (1981)
There is also a Roger Corman festival April 3 and 4:
8:00 PM Roger Corman: The Pope of Pop Cinema (2021)
9:00 PM A Bucket of Blood (1959)
10:15 PM The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
11:30 PM Teenage Doll (1957)
1:00 AM Five Guns West (1955)
2:30 AM The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)
There are two Coen Brothers films (does that constitute a
festival?) on April 9 and 10:
10:00 PM No Country for Old Men (2007)
12:45 AM Blood Simple (1984)
Also, seven "Andy Hardy" films on April 6, if that's your cup of
tea, and four "Nancy Drew" films on April 15, a documentary on
William Wyler on April 7, and of course, a bunch of Easter films
on Easter weekend.
Other films of interest:
FRIDAY, April 3
5:30 AM Seven Days in May (1964)
11:45 AM Helen of Troy (1956)
2:00 PM Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
8:00 PM Roger Corman: The Pope of Pop Cinema (2021)
9:00 PM A Bucket of Blood (1959)
10:15 PM The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
11:30 PM Teenage Doll (1957)
SATURDAY, April 4
1:00 AM Five Guns West (1955)
2:30 AM The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)
10:00 AM Tarzan's Hidden Jungle (1955)
12:00 PM Godspell (1973)
2:00 PM The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968)
SUNDAY, April 5
8:00 AM Watership Down (1978)
12:00 PM Ben-Hur (1959)
3:45 PM The Silver Chalice (1954)
6:15 PM The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima (1952)
10:00 PM King of Kings (1961)
MONDAY, April 6
7:00 AM Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever (1939)
8:30 AM Andy Hardy Meets Debutante (1940)
10:00 AM Andy Hardy's Private Secretary (1941)
12:00 PM Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)
2:00 PM Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944)
4:00 PM Love Laughs at Andy Hardy (1946)
6:00 PM Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)
TUESDAY, April 7
5:00 AM William Wyler: Forty Takes Willy (2024)
THURSDAY, April 9
10:00 PM No Country for Old Men (2007)
FRIDAY, April 10
12:45 AM Blood Simple (1984)
SATURDAY, April 11
10:00 AM Tarzan and the Lost Safari (1957)
12:00 PM Kismet (1955)
SUNDAY, April 12
2:00 AM The Bad Seed (1956)
MONDAY, April 13
12:00 AM Ballet m|-canique (1924)
12:30 AM A Trip to the Moon (1902)
TUESDAY, April 14
11:00 AM Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
1:45 PM Lord of the Flies (1963)
3:30 PM The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
WEDNESDAY, April 15
11:15 AM Nancy Drew: Detective (1938)
12:30 PM Nancy Drew... Reporter (1939)
1:45 PM Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter (1939)
3:00 PM Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (1939)
8:00 PM The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
10:00 PM The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)
12:00 AM Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)
2:00 AM The Valley of Gwangi (1969)
4:00 AM Clash of the Titans (1981)
FRIDAY, April 17
8:00 PM Targets (1968)
9:45 PM Piranha (1978)
11:30 PM Queen of Blood (1966)
1:00 AM Dementia 13 (1963)
2:30 AM The Terror (1963)
SATURDAY, April 18
10:00 AM Tarzan's Fight for Life (1958)
TUESDAY, April 21
4:15 PM Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
THURSDAY, April 23
1:15 AM Camelot (1967)
FRIDAY, April 24
8:00 AM The Canterville Ghost (1944)
10:00 AM Beauty and the Beast (1946)
SATURDAY, April 25
1:15 AM Roger Corman: The Pope of Pop Cinema (2021)
3:45 AM Made in England: The Films of Powell and
Pressburger (2024)
10:00 AM Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1959)
3:45 PM The Bad Seed (1956)
8:00 PM Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
MONDAY, April 27
8:00 PM Man of La Mancha (1972)
10:30 PM More Than a Miracle (1967)
TUESDAY, April 28
6:00 AM Man of Aran (1934)
6:15 PM The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Ray Harryhausen Films, Part 07 (film comments by Evelyn
C. Leeper)
Just when you thought the Harryhausen articles were done...
There were five Harryhausen feature films that Harryhausen did not
do with Charles H. Schneer:
- MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949)
- THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953)
- THE ANIMAL WORLD (1956)
- THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X (COSMIC MONSTERS) (1958)
- ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966)
And since I commented on the twelve he did with Schneer, I suppose
I should include these for completeness as well.
MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949): Harryhausen was listed as "First
Technician" while Willis O'Brien was "Technical Creator". I think
this may reflect that O'Brien may have designed Mighty Joe Young
and other effects, but Harryhausen actually executed them.
Terry Moore said when she made the film, she figured it would be
one of her lesser-known films. Little did she know--it is probably
her only film that most people know. This is a common story. Jack
Arnold was surprised to discover he had become an auteur figure in
science fiction film. And many of the leading ladies in 1950s
science fiction films discovered that they had a profitable second
career selling autographed photos and as guests of science fiction
and film conventions.
The nightclub destruction scene is truly amazing: incredibly
complicated, with not just one or two creatures to animate, but
many levels of animation, including large amount of falling
material which also needed to be animated frame by frame.
Unlike later films of Harryhausen, there were not even drawings in
the actors' scripts to help them visualize their scenes.
Released theatrically 27 July 1949.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041650/reference>
What others are saying: <
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1013884-mighty_joe_young>
THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS (1953): THE BEAST FROM 20,000
FATHOMS was Ray Harryhausen's first solo feature film effort. (He
did most of the stop motion work on MIGHTY JOE YOUNG (1949), but
Willis O'Brien got the official credit.) One can quibble about the
construction of the Beast--though it is called a dinosaur, its
legs come out from its sides rather than extending directly down.
The latter is one of the defining features of a dinosaur.
The opening talks about "X-Day" and H-Hour"; I guess "D-Day" was
taken. Luckily movies got rid of those annoying opening
narrations, or at least changed them to written scrolls, which
were famously used in the "Star Wars" films.
George says he can't move and something is wrong with his legs,
and then immediately after, he moves around, including his legs.
Released theatrically 13 June 1953.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045546/reference>
What others are saying: <
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/beast_from_20000_fathoms>
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES by Eliezer Yudkowsky and
Nate Soares (comments by Jerry Williams)
I have not read this book [IF ANYONE BUILDS IT, EVERYONE DIES: WHY
SUPERHUMAN AI WOULD KILL US ALL], although when I hear folks
getting paranoid about how AI could kill us all, I feel compelled
to point out one crucial fact:
If you think that this *can* happen, you need to assume that it
already *did* happen. It's a big universe. Maybe that's the
missing factor in the Drake equation. It's not enough to stop it
on our planet, you'd need to go back in time and make sure that no
other civilization ever did it. Or you need to figure out how to
defend yourself against it before it comes for you.
In *that* context, what could possibly defend us from an AI intent
on conquering/destroying/replacing all organic life in the
universe? Ultimately you'll need some sort of AI defenders,
presumably. So the key isn't how to block AI from going forward,
it's building one correctly and in time to protect against
something like that. I'm not saying that this defender necessarily
needs to be ASI or even AGI, but it's going to need to be (and
learn) smart and fast.
Fortunately (or not depending on how close you believe the DARK
FOREST may be), we're nowhere near truly self-aware AI, although
the cat is already out of the bag to the degree that rogue
governments and individuals are using generative AI for evil
purposes, and that can't be stopped easily without some sort of AI
defense.
So maybe let's focus on building that instead. [-gw]
Evelyn notes:
That all civilizations are eventually destroyed by AI has been
given as a possible solution to the Fermi Paradox. See, for
example
<
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ most-aliens-may-be-artificial-intelligence-not-life-as-we-know-it/>
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Notes on DUNE MESSIAH by Frank Herbert (comments by Paul
S. R. Chisholm)
The first chapter is a historical overview. Each of the next
sixteen chapters depicts a meeting, usually a conspiracy; often, a
single sentence of dialogue is followed by multiple chapters of
introspection: "What did he really mean by that?" (Really, could
none of these meetings have been an email?) Finally, in chapter 18
(of 24), something happens. More actions and more meetings lead to
the book's finale.
Herbert introduces some "technologies" that seem more like fantasy
than science fiction. Functional artificial eyes made of steel.
Radiation that produces a very specific, peculiar damage. Cloning,
or something like it. Human shapeshifters.
The novel advances the story of the Atreides family. Despite my
tone, I think I enjoyed it. Onto the third book. [-psrc]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Dangers of A.I. (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Apparently, one danger is dancing robots going rogue:
<
https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/ viral-dancing-robot-haidilao-22088101.php>
(Though apparently in this case the problem was error on the part
of the humans who placed the robot too close to the dining table.)
[-ecl]
===================================================================
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):
"As I Please 10" (Tribune, 4 February 1944): In this essay we see
the beginnings of that aspect of 1984 where the government
re-writes history. He writes, "Up to a fairly recent date, the
major events recorded in the history books probably happened. It
is probably true that the battle of Hastings was fought in 1066,
that Columbus discovered America, that Henry VIII had six wives,
and so on. A certain degree of truthfulness was possible so long
as it was admitted that a fact may be true even if you don't like
it."
He then gives an example of how history books are written by the
winners: "This kind of thing is happening all the time. Out of the
millions of instances which must be available, I will choose one
which happens to be verifiable. During part of 1941 and 1942, when
the Luftwaffe was busy in Russia, the German radio regaled its
home audiences with stories of devastating air raids on London.
Now, we are aware that those raids did not happen. But what use
would our knowledge be if the Germans conquered Britain? For the
purposes of a future historian, did those raids happen, or didn't
they? The answer is: If Hitler survives, they happened, and if he
falls they didn't happen. So with innumerable other events of the
past ten or twenty years. Is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion a
genuine document? Did Trotsky plot with the Nazis? How many German
aeroplanes were shot down in the Battle of Britain? Does Europe
welcome the New Order? In no case do you get one answer which is
universally accepted because it is true: in each case you get a
number of totally incompatible answers, one of which is finally
adopted as the result of a physical struggle. History is written
by the winners."
Admittedly this addresses only a single re-write, but there is no
reason not to extend this to constantly changing the "truth", as
we have been seeing even now. Orwell at least has some optimism:
"There is some hope ... that the liberal habit of mind, which
thinks of truth as something outside yourself, something to be
discovered, and not as something you can make up as you go along,
will survive."
"The English People" (written in 1944, published in 1947): This
long essay (40 pages in the Everyman edition) was commissioned by
Orwell's editor on request from the Ministry of Information.
Orwell disliked it, described it as "silly" and "propaganda" and
refused to allow it to be reprinted in his lifetime. (Given that
he lists the national characteristics as "suspicion of foreigners, sentimentality about animals, hypocrisy, exaggerated class
distinctions and an obsession with sport," I'm not sure who he was propagandizing for.) Now it is available in this Everyman
collection, as well as in ORWELL'S ENGLAND from Penguin.
The six sections are "England at First Glance", "The Moral Outlook
of the English People", "The Political Outlook of the English
People", "The English Class System", "The English Language", and
"The Future of the English People". While many of his claims (and
predictions) are questionable, the section on the English class
system is certainly worth reading (especially for those who didn't
grow up in it), and I found the section on the English language of
great interest. On the other hand, the section on the future of
the English people suffers from the same problems as Orwell's
other predictions--or anyone's, come to that. For example, he
thinks that England "will remain on good terms with Russia and
Europe, will keep its special links with America and the
Dominions, and will solve the problem of India in some amicable
way." [-ecl]
===================================================================
Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
Have you noticed the way people's intelligence
capabilities decline sharply the minute they start
waving guns around?
--Dr. Who
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