THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
12/31/21 -- Vol. 40, No. 27, Whole Number 2204

Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
Sending Address: 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.

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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
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente (book review
by Joe Karpierz)
FALLING FOR FIGARO (letters of comment by Gary McGath,
Dorothy J. Heydt, and Paul Dormer)
This Week's Reading (James Fenimore Cooper, my family
and books, editions of Bibles, and AUTHORIZED: THE USE
AND MISUSE OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE) (book comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)

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

TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)

Both groups have returned to the B.C. (Before COVID) schedules, and
the films will be shown as part of the Middletown meetings.

The November MTPL meeting was postponed due to scheduling conflicts
with several members.

December 2 (MTPL), 5:30PM: NIGHT OF THE DEMON, short story
"Casting the Runes" by M. R. James
<https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9629>
January 6, 2022 (MTPL), 5:30PM: Stanislaw Lem Centennial:
PILOT PIRX'S INQUEST (1979), short story "The Inquest"
by Stanislaw Lem
<https://tinyurl.com/Pirx-More-Tales>
January 27, 2022 (OBPL), 7:00PM: THE TIME MACHINE by H. G. Wells

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

TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments by
Mark R. Leeper)

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER was released in 1958 and up until 1997 it was
the iconic film telling the story of the sinking of the RMS
Titanic. It was over-shadowed by the 1997 TITANIC and now is
rarely ever seen. The 1997 version had guns blazing and even a bit
of nudity. I still prefer the earlier film. The more recent film
has lots of digital effects work, but the older film has familiar
British actors including Kenneth More, Honor Blackman, Michael
Goodliffe, David McCallum, and Alec McCowen. It was directed by
Roy Ward Baker who later also directed QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.

[A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Monday, January 3, 2002, 12:45PM]

TCM also has a day of horror on January 28:
01/28/2022 11:30 AM Them! (1954)
01/28/2022 01:15 PM The Mummy (1959)
01/28/2022 03:00 PM The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
01/28/2022 04:30 PM The Fly (1958)
01/28/2022 06:15 PM House of Wax (1953)

And finally, TCM will be running the rarely shown Kenju Mizoguchi
epic, THE 47 RONIN, on January 17 at 2:00AM.

[-mrl]

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

TOPIC: CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)

There were many adaptations of classic literary works in 1990, but
for both production quality and pure entertainment value I gave the
edge to that year's CYRANO DE BERGERAC, giving it a +3 (-4 to +4
scale), and said that that was likely to remain the best adaptation
of the story to film we would see in our lifetimes and very likely
the most entertaining, even if we included Steve Martin's popular
modern reframing ROXANNE. I still stand by that.

CYRANO DE BERGERAC, and this year's film of similar title, CYRANO,
are of course adaptations of Edmond Rostand's popular play, first
presented in 1897. (Rostand took some poetic liberty,
incidentally, but Cyrano was a genuine historic figure who was
soldier, expert swordsman, poet, playwright, philosopher, and even
a science fiction writer. His best-known literary work today is A
VOYAGE TO THE MOON, which is why Rostand put so many references to
moon travel in the play. Cyrano suggested several means of extra-
terrestrial propulsion, mostly absurd, but on one he got lucky.
Cyrano de Bergerac was the man who first suggested that space
travel might be possible using rocket propulsion.) The story is of
the noble swordsman who would like to woo his beautiful cousin but
is stigmatized by his own prodigious nose. When it turns out that
an inarticulate but handsome soldier under Cyrano's command also
loves her, Cyrano agrees to help the soldier. The soldier will
provide the good looks and Cyrano will provide the words. The
story packs into a surprisingly small space comedy, tragedy, drama,
action, and adventure.

This year's version, titled simply CYRANO, it does everything it
can to make the nobility repulsive, visually as well as character-
wise. We see the Count De Guise (played by Ben Mendelsohn) giving
instructions and orders to his fiancee, Roxanne (played by Haley
Bennett). De Guiche does not know that he will soon be losing his
safe control over the woman in his own coach. Let De Guise rest in
peace.

Cyrano is played by Peter Dinklage, and as a result, almost all the
nose jokes are dispensed with in favor of remarks about his height.
This means, among other things, that the marvelous scene in which
Cyrano comes up with dozens of insults to his nose. Apparently
screenwriter Erica Schmidt (Dinklage's wife) did not feel she could
do that scene justice with height jokes--or maybe decided that
height jokes were a bit too insulting in real life to put a whole
scene of them on the film. Dinklage is immensely talented but his
singing voice leaves a lot to be desired. (On the other hand, the
same could be said of Rex Harrison in MY FAIR LADY.) Christian is
played by Kelvin Harrison, Jr., with no comment being made about
his race--I'm not sure if we are supposed to acknowledge it or not.
(One reviewer felt that having a Black character be inarticulate
and rescued by what is in some sense a white savior was a bad
choice.)

Kudos for the very detailed sets and production design.

Released theatrically 12/31/21. Rating: low +2 (-4 to +4), or 7/10.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12889404/reference>

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

[-mrl/ecl]

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

TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente (copyright 2021,
tordotcom, 150pp, hardcover, $20.99, ISBN 978-1-250-30113-0) (book
review by Joe Karpierz)

The world was introduced to Tetley Abednego in the short story "The
Future is Blue", which first appeared in Jonathan Strahan's
anthology DROWNED WORLDS, published in 2016. (Is it that old
already? It's still on my to be read stack.) I'd read it in one
of the "year's best" anthologies, and liked the story enough that
it did stick with me for a period of time (and let's be honest, I
think that it's true for most people that read enough of this stuff
that after a short period of time, most works drop out of memory,
especially short works).

The setting is a Earth devastated by climate change. As implied by
being included in the "Drowned Worlds" anthology, the planet is
essentially entirely covered by water. Tetley lives on a floating
clump of junk called Garbagetown. Tetley is generally happy, given
her plight. However, while she may be happy, no one is happy with
her. "The Future is Blue", included in this volume, not only sets
up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
children get their names--tells the story of just *why* people are
unhappy--check that, *very* unhappy--with her. And while the story
is more than five years old at this point, there may be readers out
there who have not read it, and so I won't spoil then end of the
story, but suffice it to say that she does a thing that is not ...
well-received.

I would not have expected that there was much more to tell about
Tetley, but that is after all why writers write and people read: to
tell and experience stories. "The Past is Red" picks up many years
later. Tetley is still reviled for her deed at the end of "The
Future is Blue". She is 29, lives on a pontoon boat moored to a
port, and doesn't venture on land because of a law enacted--
although given the society she lives in it's unclear how the law
came into being and how it's enforced, but it probably doesn't
matter given the state of the world--back when she did the thing.
She loves her world, just as much as she did when she was young and
just getting her name, and the world hates her just as much as it
did then.

"The Past is Red" opens the wings of Tetley's story more than the
original. She finds technology, love, a friend or two, and
surprisingly, a husband. Her husband is a character from "The Past
is Blue", and I can't say much more than that without spoiling the
thing that Tetley did. Yep, it all comes back to that. But the
technology she finds leads to a surprising discovery that I sure
didn't see coming. It's a discovery that makes the plight of those
on Earth that much more sad, I think, and at the same time makes
whoever is left angry, if they were to find out. Given that I
didn't see it coming, the reveal worked for me, although I can see
why it might take some readers out of the story.

On 1/2/22 11:35 AM, eleeper@optonline.net wrote:
> TOPIC: CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
>
> There were many adaptations of classic literary works in 1990, but
> for both production quality and pure entertainment value I gave the
> edge to that year's CYRANO DE BERGERAC, giving it a +3 (-4 to +4
> scale), and said that that was likely to remain the best adaptation
> of the story to film we would see in our lifetimes and very likely
> the most entertaining, even if we included Steve Martin's popular
> modern reframing ROXANNE. I still stand by that.

I'll stick with the wonderful Ferrer version until I hear there's a
better one. I hated Steve Martin's take on it.
>
> This year's version, titled simply CYRANO, it does everything it
> can to make the nobility repulsive, visually as well as character-
> wise. We see the Count De Guise (played by Ben Mendelsohn) giving
> instructions and orders to his fiancee, Roxanne (played by Haley
> Bennett). De Guiche does not know that he will soon be losing his
> safe control over the woman in his own coach. Let De Guise rest in
> peace.

De Guiche, in the original play, isn't a total villain. He shows courage
as a military leader and recognizes Cyrano's worth in the last act.

> Cyrano is played by Peter Dinklage, and as a result, almost all the
> nose jokes are dispensed with in favor of remarks about his height.
> This means, among other things, that the marvelous scene in which
> Cyrano comes up with dozens of insults to his nose.

What's the point of Cyrano without the nose?

Apparently
> screenwriter Erica Schmidt (Dinklage's wife) did not feel she could
> do that scene justice with height jokes--or maybe decided that
> height jokes were a bit too insulting in real life to put a whole
> scene of them on the film. Dinklage is immensely talented but his
> singing voice leaves a lot to be desired.

I've seen a musical version of Cyrano, with Christopher Plummer in the
title role. It played in Boston in the eighties; I don't know if it made
it to Broadway. It's biggest mistake was rendering the dialogue in
Alexandrine rhyming verse, as in the original French. It sounded
ridiculous to my ears. Christian was poorly characterized, lacking not
only charming words but any desire to be more than a dumb soldier. The
songs mostly didn't work well.

I went with a bunch of friends. The ones who hadn't read Rostand's
Cyrano gave it enthusiastic applause; the ones who had (including me;
I've read it in French and in multiple translations) were unimpressed.

--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

On Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 11:35:32 AM UTC-5, eleeper@optonline.net wrote:
> THE MT VOID
> Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
> 12/31/21 -- Vol. 40, No. 27, Whole Number 2204
>
> Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mle...@optonline.net
> Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, ele...@optonline.net
> Sending Address: evelynchim...@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 ele...@optonline.net
> 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:
> Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
> Lectures, etc. (NJ)
> My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments
> by Mark R. Leeper)
> CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
> THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente (book review
> by Joe Karpierz)
> FALLING FOR FIGARO (letters of comment by Gary McGath,
> Dorothy J. Heydt, and Paul Dormer)
> This Week's Reading (James Fenimore Cooper, my family
> and books, editions of Bibles, and AUTHORIZED: THE USE
> AND MISUSE OF THE KING JAMES BIBLE) (book comments
> by Evelyn C. Leeper)
>
> ===================================================================
>
> TOPIC: Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
> Lectures, etc. (NJ)
>
> Both groups have returned to the B.C. (Before COVID) schedules, and
> the films will be shown as part of the Middletown meetings.
>
> The November MTPL meeting was postponed due to scheduling conflicts
> with several members.
>
> December 2 (MTPL), 5:30PM: NIGHT OF THE DEMON, short story
> "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James
> <https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9629>
> January 6, 2022 (MTPL), 5:30PM: Stanislaw Lem Centennial:
> PILOT PIRX'S INQUEST (1979), short story "The Inquest"
> by Stanislaw Lem
> <https://tinyurl.com/Pirx-More-Tales>
> January 27, 2022 (OBPL), 7:00PM: THE TIME MACHINE by H. G. Wells
>
> ===================================================================
>
> TOPIC: My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in January (comments by
> Mark R. Leeper)
>
> A NIGHT TO REMEMBER was released in 1958 and up until 1997 it was
> the iconic film telling the story of the sinking of the RMS
> Titanic. It was over-shadowed by the 1997 TITANIC and now is
> rarely ever seen. The 1997 version had guns blazing and even a bit
> of nudity. I still prefer the earlier film. The more recent film
> has lots of digital effects work, but the older film has familiar
> British actors including Kenneth More, Honor Blackman, Michael
> Goodliffe, David McCallum, and Alec McCowen. It was directed by
> Roy Ward Baker who later also directed QUATERMASS AND THE PIT.
>
> [A NIGHT TO REMEMBER, Monday, January 3, 2002, 12:45PM]
>
> TCM also has a day of horror on January 28:
> 01/28/2022 11:30 AM Them! (1954)
> 01/28/2022 01:15 PM The Mummy (1959)
> 01/28/2022 03:00 PM The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
> 01/28/2022 04:30 PM The Fly (1958)
> 01/28/2022 06:15 PM House of Wax (1953)
>
> And finally, TCM will be running the rarely shown Kenju Mizoguchi
> epic, THE 47 RONIN, on January 17 at 2:00AM.
>
> [-mrl]
>
> ===================================================================
>
> TOPIC: CYRANO (film review by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
>
> There were many adaptations of classic literary works in 1990, but
> for both production quality and pure entertainment value I gave the
> edge to that year's CYRANO DE BERGERAC, giving it a +3 (-4 to +4
> scale), and said that that was likely to remain the best adaptation
> of the story to film we would see in our lifetimes and very likely
> the most entertaining, even if we included Steve Martin's popular
> modern reframing ROXANNE. I still stand by that.
>
My two favorite Cyranos: Miguel Ferrer and Quincy Magoo.

> Cyrano is played by Peter Dinklage, and as a result, almost all the
> nose jokes are dispensed with in favor of remarks about his height.

Magoo was short, but the nose references stayed in his version.

https://youtu.be/qxUjFets8mQ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Adventures_of_Mr._Magoo
> ===================================================================
>
> TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente

.....
> up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
> children get their names--

I would hope some one so-named didn't end up in hot water. :)

> Our house was also one which did not have the King James Version of
> the Bible like everyone else had,...

Not if they were part of the largest Christian denomination, in which case a
translation from the Vulgate such as Douay-Rheims would have been in order,
prior to Vatican II.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douay%E2%80%93Rheims_Bible

I had to get a Jerusalem Bible for my Sophomore year high school
religion class.

--
Kevin R

Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> wrote:
> On Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 11:35:32 AM UTC-5, eleeper@optonline.net wrote:
>>
>> TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente
>
> ....
>> up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
>> children get their names--
>
> I would hope some one so-named didn't end up in hot water. :)

I'd have thought that just such circumstances would be what it took to
bring out their real strength.

--
Jeff

On Monday, January 3, 2022 at 1:42:55 AM UTC-5, Jeff Urs wrote:
> Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com> wrote:
> > On Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 11:35:32 AM UTC-5, ele...@optonline.net wrote:
> >>
> >> TOPIC: THE PAST IS RED by Catherynne M. Valente
> >
> > ....
> >> up the world that Tetley lives in--including, for example, how
> >> children get their names--
> >
> > I would hope some one so-named didn't end up in hot water. :)
> I'd have thought that just such circumstances would be what it took to
> bring out their real strength.
>
> --

That H2O would have to be just at the boiling point, no?

--
Kevin R