THE MT VOID
06/28/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 52, Whole Number 2334
Co-Editor: Mark Leeper,
mleeper@optonline.netCo-Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
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Topics:
Middletown (NJ) Science Fiction Discussion Group
Mark's Picks for Turner Classic Movies in July (comments
by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
Dilacerated (letter of comment by Paul Dormer)
This Week's Reading (ROME: SEASON ONE: HISTORY MAKES
TELEVISION) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Middletown (NJ) Science Fiction Discussion Group
July 11 (not July 4) THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) & two
short stories:
"The Flowering of the Strange Orchid" by H.G. Wells (1894)
<
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12750>
hoopla: <
https://tinyurl.com/WellsOrchid>
"The Reluctant Orchid" by Arthur C. Clarke: (1956)
<
https://archive.org/details/talesfromwhiteha0000clar_g2a5/>
===================================================================
TOPIC: Mark's Picks for Turner Classic Movies in July (comments
by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
I am a big fan of Alan Arkin. Most people think of him as a comic
actor based on comedies such THE IN-LAWS and THE RUSSIANS ARE
COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING. Even in films that are not
strictly comedies such as ARGO and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE Arkin adds
a comedic element.
But he can also be a hard-boiled detective (GATTACA), a
down-on-his-luck actor (CITY ISLAND), a desperate salesman
(GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS), Sigmund Freud (THE 7% SOLUTION), a Jewish
magician (THE MAGICIAN OF LUBLIN), and even a psychotic killer
(WAIT UNTIL DARK).
In July TCM features him in two films: THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING,
THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, and THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER. In
the latter, Arkin again shows his versatility by playing John
Singer, a deaf-mute who does his best to help other people, but
invariably runs into difficulties. The role earned Arkin his
only Academy Award nomination. Also notable in the role of
Singer's friend Spiros Antonapoulos is Chuck McCann, known
primarily as a TV actor.
[THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, Sunday, July 14, 6:00 AM]
[THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING, Thursday, July
25, 8:00 PM]
Someone has recommended to us THE AUTOMAT, a 2021 documentary
about the Automat (duh!) with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Colin
Powell, among others. New Yorkers probably want to catch this.
[THE AUTOMAT, Sunday, July 14, 8:15 AM]
TCM is also doing a Roger Corman tribute on Wednesday, July 3, and
Wednesday, July 10 (both running into early the next day; 'nuff
said (except you should also look for HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD, a
satire based on Roger Corman style of filmmaking):
WEDNESDAY, July 3
8:00 PM X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)
9:30 PM A Bucket of Blood (1959)
10:45 PM The Wasp Woman (1960)
THURSDAY, July 4
12:15 AM The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
1:45 AM Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)
3:00 AM Atlas (1961)
4:30 AM Tower of London (1962)
WEDNESDAY, July 10
8:00 PM House of Usher (1960)
9:30 PM The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
11:00 PM The Raven (1963)
THURSDAY, July 11
12:45 AM The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
2:30 AM Bloody Mama (1970)
4:15 AM The Wild Angels (1966)
[-mrl/ecl]
Other films of interest include:
SATURDAY, July 6
4:15 PM Kisses for My President (1964)
8:00 PM Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
SUNDAY, July 7
1:15 PM What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
3:45 PM Psycho (1960)
MONDAY, July 8
11:30 AM So Long at the Fair (1950)
1:00 PM The 39 Steps (1935)
4:30 PM Green For Danger (1946)
6:30 PM Gaslight (1940)
TUESDAY, July 9
6:00 AM From Hell It Came (1957)
7:15 AM The Black Scorpion (1957)
12:00 PM Queen of Outer Space (1958)
1:30 PM Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell (1968)
3:00 PM Moon Zero Two (1969)
4:45 PM The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
6:15 PM Them! (1954)
8:00 PM A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
10:00 PM For a Few Dollars More (1965)
WEDNESDAY, July 10
12:30 AM The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1968)
3:45 AM Hang 'Em High (1968)
6:00 AM Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)
THURSDAY, July 11
6:00 PM The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)
SUNDAY, July 14
6:00 AM The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
4:45 PM Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
MONDAY, July 15
6:30 AM Brigadoon (1954)
8:30 AM Dial M for Murder (1954)
4:15 PM Gojira (1954)
WEDNESDAY, July 17
11:30 PM Dementia 13 (1963)
THURSDAY, July 18
2:30 AM Piranha (1978)
5:15 AM A Carol for Another Christmas (1964)
SUNDAY, July 21
6:45 AM I Married an Angel (1942)
8:15 AM The Heavenly Body (1943)
MONDAY, July 22
11:30 PM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
TUESDAY, July 23
1:15 AM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
6:00 AM The Woman in Green (1945)
7:30 AM The Hypnotic Eye (1960)
9:00 AM The Sorcerers (1967)
2:45 PM Svengali (1931)
4:15 PM The Seventh Veil (1945)
WEDNESDAY, July 24
11:15 PM A Clockwork Orange (1971)
FRIDAY, July 26
4:30 PM Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
TUESDAY, July 30
2:45 AM Tarzan and His Mate (1934)
4:45 AM Tarzan Escapes (1936)
12:15 PM Foreign Correspondent (1940)
WEDNESDAY, July 31
8:00 PM The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
THURSDAY, August 1
4:45 AM Devil's Island (1940)
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Dilacerated (letter of comment by Paul Dormer)
In response to Evelyn's comments on translations in the 06/21/24
issue of the MT VOID, Paul Dormer writes:
[Evelyn wrote,] "I have no idea where Irby found the word
"dilacerated"."
From a dictionary? It's in the latest edition of Chambers:
dilacerate /di-las'?r-at/ transitive verb
To rend or tear asunder
ORIGIN: L di- asunder, and lacerate
Though saying it's in Chambers doesn't mean it's a common word
found in the general vocabulary. Chambers is the recommended
dictionary for the Azed crossword in The Observer, a Sunday paper.
The answers to last week's puzzle have just been published.
Included were: CUSK, another name for the torsk; STROOKE, an
archaic form of strike; and HOGH,
Spenser's spelling of hoe, a promontory. [-pd]
Evelyn responds:
Precisely. Borges once said, "I do not believe that the entire
dictionary is fit for literary treatment. We can take (for
example) three words: 'azulado', 'azulino' and 'azuloso', [all
meaning 'bluish']. I believe that 'azulado' can be used in
writing because it is in our oral usage. 'Azulino' and 'azuloso',
on the other hand, are words that are in the dictionary, but not
in our mouths. Thus it is better not to use 'azulino' or
'azuloso', stumbling blocks to the reader and small surprises that
the writer gives.") [my translation, pages 155-156, "Borges ante
el espejo"]
I'm not sure how common "dilacerar" is in Spanish, but in English
"dilacerate" is definitely a stumbling block to the reader.
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
We recently finished re-watching the HBO series ROME, and I
decided to see if there were any books looking at how historically
accurate it was. I ended up with two books, ROME: SEASON ONE:
HISTORY MAKES TELEVISION edited by Monica S. Cyrino (Blackwell,
ISBN 978-1-4051-6775-8), and BIG SCREEN ROME by Monica S. Cyrino
(Blackwell, ISBN 978-1-4051-1684-8). The latter ends up covering
familiar territory in its write-ups of a selection of films set in
ancient Rome. For someone who hasn't already read a lot of books
about historical films, war films, and epic films, it is probably
a good introduction to films about ancient Rome (although it is of
necessity selective in what films are included(.
But ROME: SEASON ONE: HISTORY MAKES TELEVISION does provide more
insight into the history behind the HBO series. It consists of
articles (chapters) written by different people on different
topics: gender, the army, the education of Octavian, and so on, as
well as how the requirements of television affected what liberties
were taken with historical fact. I found pretty much all the
essays interesting, but the fact that there are clear topical
divisions as well as differing writing styles means that the
reader can pick and choose: if you are not captivated by one
chapter, you can skip it and go on to the next.
I definitely recommend this book for fans of the series, with the
caveat that you really need to have seen the series first to
appreciate it. [-ecl]
===================================================================
Mark Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater.
--William Hazlitt
MT VOID, 06/28/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 52, Whole Number 2334