THE MT VOID
Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
07/30/21 -- Vol. 40, No. 5, Whole Number 2182

Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
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Topics:
Science Fiction (and Other) Discussion Groups, Films,
Lectures, etc. (NJ)
My Picks for Turner Classic Movies in August (comments
by Mark R. Leeper)
Giant Goldfish and Moonfish, As Well As Rogue Oysters
and Acid-Shooting Land Lobsters
GIRL IN THE BASEMENT (2021) (film review by Art Stadlin)
Bond Songs (letters of comment by Lax Madapaty,
Pete Rubinstein, Sam Long, and John Purcell)
Alphabetizing (letters of comment by Paul Dormer
and Lowell Gilbert)
This Week's Reading (WINTER TIDE) (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.

August 5 (MTPL), 5:30PM: A SCANNER DARKLY (2006) & novel
by Philip K. Dick (1977)
movie: DVD MTPL; rent on PrimeVideo, Vudu, YouTube
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKtyfjFcvSA>
book: <https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12325569>
September 23 (OBPL), 7:00PM: THE FOOD OF THE GODS by H. G. Wells

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

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

George Pal made an indelible contribution to the early science
fiction and fantasy films. His DESTINATION MOON really was the
first of the 1950s science fiction films. Then he produced WHEN
WORLDS COLLIDE, a spectacular science fiction film with scenes of
worldwide destruction. Subsequently he produced two films based on
the novels of first the classics of science fiction literature: WAR
OF THE WORLDS and THE TIME MACHINE. Those were the highlights of
his career. Sadly, though he produced several more science fiction
films and fantasy with very different styles none got the attention
it really deserved. One such failed experiment that just failed to
click was the film 7 FACES OF DR. LAO, based on THE CIRCUS OF DR
LAO by Charles G. Finney. Each of the faces is portrayed by Tony
Randall from before his "Odd Couple" days.

7 FACES OF DR. LAO is the centerpiece of Turner Classic Movies'
celebration on August 26 of the 101st anniversary of Tony Randall's
birth.

[7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964), August 26, 8:00PM]

[-mrl]

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

TOPIC: Giant Goldfish and Moonfish, As Well As Rogue Oysters and
Acid-Shooting Land Lobsters

Giant goldfish problem in US lake prompts warning to pet owners

<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-57816922>

"A city in the US state of Minnesota has urged residents not to
release their unwanted pet fish into the wild after finding huge
goldfish in a lake. The common household pets can grow far bigger
in the wild and cause major disruption to ecosystems. ... Large
goldfish have been found in the UK's wild waters as well. In 2010,
a British teenager pulled a 5-lb (2.2-kg), 16-in fish from a lake
in Dorset."

Mark adds:

Did anybody notice the tie-in with 7 FACES OF DR. LAO, discussed
earlier in this issue? [-mrl]

Massive and mysterious, a 100-pound fish washed ashore

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2021/07/18/oregon-opah-
rare-100-pound-fish/>

"Officials at Seaside Aquarium were alerted early Wednesday to a
rare scene on the sands of the northern Oregon coast: A large,
round, glistening opah weighing 100 pounds had stranded ashore."

Rogue oysters threaten to disrupt Tokyo Olympics after officials
shelled out $1 million for repairs

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/07/20/tokyo-
olympics-oyster-repairs/>

"An infestation first came to light during a trial event in 2019,
shortly after the venue was created. Equipment floating in the
water suddenly began to sink, prompting crews to investigate what
was weighing them down."

Acid-shooting 'land lobsters' live in Texas and are being spotted
more after recent rains

<https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/07/19/acid-shooting-land-
lobsters-live-in-texas-and-are-being-spotted-more-after-recent-
rains/>

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

TOPIC: GIRL IN THE BASEMENT (2021) (film review by Art Stadlin)

Thrillers is a category that can be fun and, well, thrilling. So I
watched this one with excitement, anticipating something a little
different and perhaps innovative. I also like documentaries, so I
liked the note in the opening credits about this being based on
true events. [SPOILER ALERT]

Sadly, I cannot recommend this movie. While the acting was
competent, the particulars of the story just didn't seem plausible.
I'm not talking technical flaws; those were covered right down to
the intricacies of the locks on the double-door and the ventilation
system in this basement bomb shelter. What I found flawed was the
idea that a man could hold his teenage daughter captive in a
basement for *twenty* years without getting caught.

Compounding my disbelief: daughter gives birth to four of dad's
children. Two survive to themselves become teenagers growing up
their entire lives in a windowless basement, one is stillborn, and
another is moved upstairs to be raised by the wife who has no idea
what her husband does with all those hours in the basement. I would
think someone would simply snap.

Two escape attempts in twenty years both fail. And they fail in a
way that only dad knows they were attempted, so he doubles down on
his punishments. As if dad is not far enough along in his
delusional state, things are not going well for him at work and he
gets laid off, which triggers the stress of having no money and a
pending foreclosure on the house. He realizes, twenty years too
late, that he made some bad choices in life.

This may have been a made-for-Lifetime movie, based on something
that flew by in the credits. Also, there were periodic "fade-to-
black" cuts that seemed perfect for those commercial interruptions.
The made-for-TV aspect would explain why this came together for the
happiest ending possible, given the circumstances.

While this may have been based on true events, I certainly hope the
real story was not nearly as long and horrific as this movie.
[-as]

[Yes, it was a made-for-Lifetime movie. And though it may seem
implausible, it is a true story; see
<https://decider.com/2021/03/02/lifetime-girl-in-the-basement-true-
story/> for details. -ecl]

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

TOPIC: Bond Songs (letters of comment by Lax Madapaty, Pete
Rubinstein, Sam Long, and John Purcell)

In response to Mark's comments on James Bond songs in the 07/23/21
issue of the MT VOID, Lax Madapaty writes:

The Connery Bond pictures have aged badly and the songs sound like
s**t. Horrible, horrible set of early Bond pictures. The first
legitimate Bond picture is ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE and I
may be in the minority opinion that if Sean Connery was cast in it,
it'd have been a horrible misfire. Lazenby brought a wonderful
sense of vulnerability to the role and Diana Rigg truly was the
first strong Bond woman. John Barry's score to this day (leave out
that stupid Xmas song by the kids) raises goosebumps in me and it
is quite a head-spinning song by Armstrong.

The Moore films were silly but entertaining and the worst are the
Brosnan pictures trying to be and do everything to everyone.

Dalton and Craig are the *best* Bonds, the *only* true Bonds.
Every one of their pictures is astonishing. I am eagerly awaiting
Oct 7th night when I can say goodbye to Craig's Bond with tear-
filled eyes in my local IMAX theater at the Bullock Museum. [-lm]

Mark replies:

I agree about the aging. The whole plot of THUNDERBALL is driven
by luck and coincidence. One can say much the same of GOLDFINGER.
The atmosphere of the early Bond films is still fun, but the films
do not really work. But I wanted to discuss the early Bond films
more.

Re ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE: It depends on what you mean by
"legitimate". A legit James Bond could be a small mousy man who
could fade into a crowd. He would look like Hoagy Charmichael. He
could be frightened.

You say, "Dalton and Craig are the *best* Bonds the *only* true
Bonds." Agreed. Possible exception: Hoagy Carmichael [-mrl]

In article <097daec8-0ef9-4dd8-9914-bc3b763693d0n@googlegroups.com>,
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com () wrote:

> [Yes, it was a made-for-Lifetime movie. And though it may seem
> implausible, it is a true story; see

Yes, I remember the Fritzl case when it hit the headlines. Quite creepy.

Not long after, English National Opera in London did a staging of
Bartok's Duke Bluebeard's Castle that obviously had echoes of this story.
(I mean the staging had echoes, not the original story.) For those that
don't know the opera, Bluebeard brings home his new bride, Judith. She
finds the castle so dark, she persuades him to open up seven doors.
Behind each door is a secret - a torture chamber and an armoury among the
- each covered in blood. Finally he opens the seventh door to reveal
three previous wives, all still alive. Judith goes to join them...

eleeper@optonline.net <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:
> TOPIC: GIRL IN THE BASEMENT (2021) (film review by Art Stadlin)

> .... What I found flawed was the idea that a man could hold his
> teenage daughter captive in a basement for *twenty* years without
> getting caught.

> Compounding my disbelief: daughter gives birth to four of dad's
> children. Two survive to themselves become teenagers growing up
> their entire lives in a windowless basement, ...

> While this may have been based on true events, I certainly hope the
> real story was not nearly as long and horrific as this movie.

> [Yes, it was a made-for-Lifetime movie. And though it may seem
> implausible, it is a true story; see
> <https://decider.com/2021/03/02/lifetime-girl-in-the-basement-true-story/>
> for details. -ecl]

That also reminds me of the man who kidnapped three women and kept
them locked up in his house in Cleveland for more than ten years. One
of them gave birth and that child spent the first six years of her
life locked in that house. Perhaps the most tragic part of the story
was that one of the women watched, on TV, her mother consulting a
psychic who falsely told the mother that her daughter was dead. The
mother soon died of grief. The good news is that all three women
and the child survived in good health, and that the perpetrator pled
guilty to 937 counts of rape, kidnapping, and aggravated murder (for
induced miscarriages), and was sentenced to life plus 1000 years
in prison without the possibility of parole. He hanged himself in
prison. See

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Castro_kidnappings

All manner of unlikely-sounding things really happen. For instance,
as I've mentioned on rasff before, 44 years ago I was falsely
convicted of burglarizing an office and sentenced to six years in
prison, only to be hired sight unseen directly out of prison by the
firm I allegedly burglarized, as its president knew and could prove I
was innocent. Unfortunately the proof was legally irrelevant due to
time limits, so I'm still legally guilty. My record remains otherwise
perfectly clean before and since. I later got a security clearance
and was trusted with America's nuclear secrets, but am still not
allowed to possess a gun.

As for deliberate errors in movies based on true events, see this
well-written thread by Amanda Knox, who is not happy about the new
movie Stillwater, "based on the Amanda Knox saga."

https://twitter.com/amandaknox/status/1420871392266911746

I recently watched The Life of Emile Zola, which is largely about the
Dreyfus case. The movie was full of deliberate errors, including
having no mention of antisemitism. I learned that the non-mention of
antisemitism was so as to not offend Nazis. (The movie was released in
1937, when Nazis were still considered just another political party.)
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

In article <se6m92$nh$1@reader1.panix.com>, kfl@KeithLynch.net (Keith F.
Lynch) wrote:

>
> I recently watched The Life of Emile Zola, which is largely about the
> Dreyfus case. The movie was full of deliberate errors, including
> having no mention of antisemitism. I learned that the non-mention of
> antisemitism was so as to not offend Nazis. (The movie was released
> in
> 1937, when Nazis were still considered just another political party.)

I remember watching that film on TV when I was at university in the early
seventies.