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THE MT VOID
05/16/25 -- Vol. 43, No. 46, Whole Number 2380

Editor: Evelyn Leeper, evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 12 (MONOLITH, THE MOON, SEVERANCE)
(film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper)
This Week's Reading (HENRY VI, PARTS 1 and 2)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)

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

TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 12 (film reviews by Evelyn C. Leeper)

Three science fiction films or series:

MONOLITH (2024): There are mysterious bricks that just appear.
They have strange inscriptions inside them. The people who get
them feel strangely affected by them. However, although the
ending tries to be enigmatic, it seems fairly clear early on what
caused these bricks to appear to whom they do, even if the
mechanism and the explanation for the monolith are never
explained. We see the monolith only once, apparently to justify
the title (and poster), since "Monolith" has more box-office
appeal than "Black Brick".

Released theatrically 16 February 2024.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt18298588/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/monolith_2023>


THE MOON (DEO MUN) (2023): THE MOON is a South Korean science
fiction film heavily influenced by APOLLO 13, THE MARTIAN, and
films of the actual Apollo 11 landing. Oh, and a slight reference
to STAR TREK V. There's an astronaut stranded in space, the goal
is to get him home safely, and he has to overcome a series of
dangers. Okay, it's a meteor storm, not a sandstorm, but the idea
is the same.

Released theatrically 18 August 2023.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27688034/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_moon_2023>


SEVERANCE (2022): SEVERANCE has an interesting science fiction
idea, but I probably would not have watched it had they not filmed
parts of it at Bell Labs Holmdel (now known as BellWorks). The
first episode has scenes in the atrium, a scene at the base of the
stairs from the center of the atrium down to the first floor, a
couple of shots of the exterior (especially the parking lots), and
even one of the water tower shaped like a Martian war machine--oh,
sorry, I mean a transistor.

But the premise is why most people watch it. The idea sort of
comes out of L. Bob Rife's complaint in SNOW CRASH that people
work on all sort of proprietary things at work, and then take them
all home in the head every night. "Severance" is a procedure that
splits a person brain/memories into two parts: one that is
dominant in the work environment, and one that is dominant outside
of work. And not just dominant, but exclusive: at work, someone
severed cannot remember anything of their outside life, and
outside, they cannot remember anything of their work life.

If it worked perfectly it would be bad enough, but there are
apparently some glitches that cause unexpected problems. I
suppose this gives the writers more to fill the series out with,
but they strike me as unnecessary complications, especially when
there are more interesting ideas that get short shrift. For
example, once a person is "severed", apparently the personality
outside of work is considered the "real" person in the sense that
they make all the decisions, including whether the personality
inside of work can quit their job. So effectively they have
created a slave, who shares their body, but not their
consciousness. (There was a somewhat similar idea in David Brin's
KILN PEOPLE, although there is was a separate body.) There are
also echoes of THE SUBSTANCE, although there it is more like one
person inhabiting two bodies. At any rate, this aspect is touched
upon, but never explored. Instead there is more time spent on the
main character's dead wife and a mystery surrounding her.

Released streaming 18 February 2022; also now available on DVD.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11280740/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/severance>


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

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

I am listening to a history of the Plantagenets and the War of the
Roses and so decided to re-watch THE HOLLOW CROWN. RICHARD II is
excellent, and one has a good idea of the characters even without
being as familiar with them as a 16th century English audience
would have been. But HENRY VI, PART 1, is a puzzlement. Prince
Hal is a carouser who condones theft, ridicules those who cannot
return the insult, and is in general a wastrel. It's no wonder
his father loses patience with him. Falstaff is the same, only
worse. Hotspur is totally obnoxious, constantly insulting people
for no reason. None of them seem to have any redeeming
characteristics.

And far too much of the play is devoted to the "antics" of
Falstaff and his companions (including Prince Hal as one of them).
I'm sure it was popular with the audience in the pit, but to me,
it just is the pits.

HENRY IV, PART 2 is somewhat better, since there is less (well, it
seemed like less) of Falstaff's antics, and Henry V does redeem
himself at the end, at least in my opinion. I'm sure some would
think he should have remained loyal to his scumbag friends and
given them all positions at court. [-ecl]

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

Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com


Books are like imprisoned souls till someone takes
them down from a shelf and frees them.
--Samuel Butler

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