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                        Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society
                    Club Notice - 1/12/01 -- Vol. 19, No. 28

       Chair/Librarian: Mark Leeper, 732-817-5619, mleeper@avaya.com
       Factotum: Evelyn Leeper, 732-332-6218, eleeper@lucent.com
       Distinguished Heinlein Apologist: Rob Mitchell, robmitchell@avaya.com
       HO Chair Emeritus: John Jetzt, jetzt@avaya.com
       HO Librarian Emeritus: Nick Sauer, njs@lucent.com
       Back issues at http://www.geocities.com/evelynleeper
       All material copyright by author unless otherwise noted.

       The Science Fiction Association of Bergen County meets on the
       second Saturday of every month in Upper Saddle River; call
       201-447-3652 for details.  The Denver Area Science Fiction
       Association meets 7:30 PM on the third Saturday of every month at
       Southwest State Bank, 1380 S. Federal Blvd.

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

       1. The Ten Best Films I Saw  in  2000  (film  comment  by  Mark  R.
       Leeper):

       I am using different procedures for my  top  ten  list  this  year.
       Most  years  for my "Top Ten" list I just take the capsules and the
       article is written already.  This year  maybe  I  am  feeling  more
       gregarious,  but  I will want to give my opinions of these films as
       they have stuck with me.  These are my impressions of  these  films
       at this moment.

       I have couched my title to cover myself a little.  Living as  I  do
       in  the  wilds of New Jersey, I do not have easy access to a lot of
       the films I would have liked to see.   Rather  than  delaying  this
       article in the hopes that a few of the films that have premiered in
       Los Angeles in December will trickle down  to  my  neighborhood,  I
       will  just  go with what I have seen.  Some I will admit, I did not
       see in the wilds.  Four of my top ten films I saw  at  this  year's
       Toronto  International  Film  Festival.  But I did have a chance to
       see them later in New Jersey.  Three films that have  not  come  to
       New  Jersey  yet have been disqualified.  I list them at the end of
       the article.

       Any list of favorites is going to be very subjective.  Usually when
       I put a list together there are one or two films that will surprise
       people that ANYBODY would put on a top ten list.  This year  is  no
       exception.   What  can I say?  First, I have not seen all the great
       films out there and my tastes are very subjective.  I will tell you
       why I liked what I liked and hope nobody thinks I have misled them.
       When I make a list I also generally find a surprise for  me.   That
       there would be two films in Chinese is at least a bit unusual.  But
       that I have a Hindi film made for Indian domestic release is for me
       a  real surprise.  Most Indians who talk to me about film deprecate
       Hindi films.  There are however other Indians who get very angry if
       they  hear  the  same sentiment coming from a non-Indian.  With the
       exception of a few serious films for export, most Hindi  films  are
       more  interesting  for their cultural differences than for the high
       quality of their content.  I found  this  film  one  of  surprising
       complexity  and  intelligence.   But  I am getting ahead of myself.
       Ordered roughly best first:

       THE CONTENDER -- I  am  told  that  the  impact  of  this  film  is
       considerably  less  for  people  who  watch "The West Wing" and for
       political conservatives.  I really  enjoyed  the  writing  and  the
       story.   This  is  a  political  thriller about a Vice Presidential
       confirmation hearing.  The viewer  gets  a  believable  behind-the-
       scenes  look at how the game of politics is played and how pressure
       is put on people to do the wrong and to do the right  thing.   This
       is  a  film  about people with principles and about people who only
       pretend to have principles.  The film is also very timely having  a
       great deal to say about the Clinton administration.  Rod Lurie, who
       wrote and directed, has given me one of the most intelligent  films
       I  have seen in years.  And there is a standout performance by Joan
       Allen.

       TITUS -- I like Shakespeare.  I have seen  a  lot  of  Shakespeare.
       While  the  stories  are different, the experience of seeing one is
       usually much the same.  That is why  I  liked  Branagh's  MUCH  ADO
       ABOUT  NOTHING,  and  why  I chose the 1995 RICHARD III as the best
       film of its year.  TITUS is  a  Shakespeare  experience  like  none
       other  I  have ever had.  It is a brash and gruesome horror/revenge
       tale with visual  design  by  Julie  Taymor,  best  known  for  the
       Broadway  staging of "The Lion King." For once just the Shakespeare
       plot is a jaw-dropper and the staging shows you things  that  would
       be  impossible on the stage.  The whole film is beautiful ugliness.
       Anthony  Hopkins  and  Jessica  Lange  make  for  very   formidable
       opponents.

       SUNSHINE -- There is no proper medium for this story.  The film was
       three  hours long and should have been five.  That made is a little
       superficial.  But nobody wants to release a five-hour movie.   This
       is  a film that covers 140 years of a Jewish family in Hungary with
       Ralph Fiennes playing as three very distinct men:  father, son, and
       grandson.   One  generation  faces  the  anti-Jewish bigotry of the
       Hungarian aristocracy; the next faces the Nazis with  their  racial
       laws;  the  third  generation faces the Soviets and their hatred of
       the Jews.  In each generation of the family there are  members  who
       want to assimilate and those who want to maintain their Jewishness.
       William Hurt has a nice subdued role as a moderate Soviet.

       THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON  --
       I  left  CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON thinking that it had bested
       THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN.  Certainly the two of  them  are  the
       most  enjoyable Chinese films I ever remember seeing and I probably
       would up my rating of the latter to  match  CROUCHING  TIGER's  +3.
       But  right at this moment I would give THE EMPEROR AND THE ASSASSIN
       the edge.  I am going to give it the edge because  I  really  think
       that  it  has  the  better  story  of  the two. THE EMPEROR AND THE
       ASSASSIN  has  genuine  historical  sweep  and  deals   with   real
       historical  figures.   CROUCHING  TIGER  is  a light, or perhaps at
       times heavy, fantasy.  Also I happen to be a fan  of  the  laws  of
       physics and I do not like to see the heroes of a film breaking them
       with the abandon.  The dancing at the ends of wires which are  then
       removed  by  CGI  is  beautifully  done,  but  I  still  prefer the
       historical film with its feet on the  ground.   However,  both  are
       very good.

       GLADIATOR -- An English-language historical epic  is  GLADIATOR,  a
       fictional  story of the conflict between the Roman Emperor Commodus
       and Maximus the former general of his father's  army  in  Germania,
       through  injustice  turned  into a gladiator.  The visuals are very
       nice in most cases though some of  the  computer  effects  mar  the
       realism.   There  are  a  number  of  heavy  ironies in the script.
       Commodus is a villain because he  murdered  the  wife  and  son  of
       Maximus  and  took  the  throne that Marcus Aurelius wanted to give
       Maximus.  Yet Maximus killed in the hundreds or  thousands  at  the
       behest  of  the  peace-loving  Marcus  Aurelius.  Somehow Spartacus
       seems the more worthy hero.  Still, how often do we get a spectacle
       film about Ancient Rome?

       TITAN A.E. -- Okay, let's get it over with.  I know I am one of the
       few admirerers of this film.  For years one of my axes to grind has
       been that animation is a tremendous medium for science fiction  and
       science  fantasy.   But to save a little money we have been given a
       lot of lousy, unimaginative animation and nobody  has  been  really
       serious  about  using  the medium well.  I had a great deal of hope
       for Japanese Anime.  Occasionally the Japanese do a reasonable  job
       with  a  story,  but  mostly  they  do  stories  that allow them to
       showcase fights and explosions, guns and fights.   TITAN  A.E.  has
       some  fights,  but  they are not really what the film is all about.
       It is not great science fiction, but it is on  the  level  of  Alan
       Dean  Foster.   That's  fine  by  me.  And the film has some really
       imaginative spacescapes.  This is a film that has been needed for a
       long  time.  I am just sorry that it did not get much attention and
       that most the attention it did get was negative.

       SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE -- This is a one-joke comedy-horror film, but
       it  is  a  great  pleasure to watch, especially the first half.  As
       most people know, the first film version of Bram  Stoker's  DRACULA
       was  F.   W.  Murnau's 1922 film NOSFERATU featuring a really weird
       performance by Max Schreck as Count Orlock the vampire.  This  film
       suggests  that the actor Schreck might actually have been a vampire
       slowly dining at the expense of the film crew  while  NOSFERATU  is
       shot.   In  about  fifty different ways this contradicts known film
       history, but it is a nice lavish recreation of the period.  I would
       say  that the first third is great, the middle third very good, and
       the last reel is just okay.  But it is certainly worth seeing.

       HEY! RAM -- In the days after the British leave India in  spite  of
       Mahatma Gandhi's policy of non-violence, India seems to be breaking
       apart in  the  chaos  that  followed  India's  independence.   When
       rioting  Muslims  rape  and kill his wife, Saketh Ram blames and is
       determined to kill Mahatma Gandhi.  There is nothing  left  in  the
       heart  of  the  formerly  peaceful  man  but  hatred and a need for
       vengeance.  We follow Ram through his training by  a  covert  group
       intending  to  use his anger to change the course of Indian history
       and politics.  Some really engaging surreal sequences are extremely
       effective.

       O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? -- This year's Coen Brothers film  is  a
       picaresque  of  three convicts escaped from a chain gang and trying
       to find a treasure before a dam inundates it.  The setting is  1937
       Mississippi  and  the  period feel is just about everything in this
       film.  As a whole it is not that great a story, but the  individual
       episodes  are  a  lot  of fun and the script comments on everything
       Southern from politics to music to  cooking.   George  Clooney  and
       John  Turturro  star  with  several  Coen  Brother  films  veterans
       including Holly Hunter, John Goodman and Charles Durning.  While it
       seems to have little to do with the Preston-Sturges-inspired title,
       it does humorously adapt sequences from Homer's ODYSSEY.

       I saw the following at the Toronto International Film Festival  and
       they  would  have  made  this  list if released here: SHADOW MAGIC,
       LIAM, and THE DISH.  SHADOW MAGIC and THE DISH will  probably  have
       2001 releases in the United States.  [-mrl]

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

       2. TRAFFIC (a film review by Mark R. Leeper):

                 Capsule: This film is lot like SHORT CUTS,  but
                 the  individual  stories  woven together have a
                 common  thread.   Each  thread   involves   the
                 illegal  traffic  in  drugs  coming from Mexico
                 into the United States.  As such  the  film  is
                 something  of  an  education  about  the War on
                 Drugs.  TRAFFIC has the sort of  all-star  cast
                 an  occasional  film can get when the statement
                 the film  is  making  is  to  the  actors  more
                 important  than  the  salary they will be paid.
                 Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high +2 (-4 to +4)

       In TRAFFIC the audience is given three story lines.   In  Mexico  a
       local policeman (Benicio Del Toro) finds himself caught between two
       drug families and at the same time between the  United  States  and
       Mexico.  In San Diego a woman (Catherine Zeta-Jones) discovers that
       her  arrested  husband  whom  she  thought  to  be   a   successful
       businessman  is  really  more a successful drug runner.  His job is
       now affecting his family.  In Ohio, a  newly  appointed  government
       drug  czar finds his own family more heavily involved with the drug
       traffic than he could have imagined.  TRAFFIC  uses  the  style  of
       storytelling  now familiar from films like SHORT CUTS and MAGNOLIA.
       The three stories involving drug traffic from Mexico to the  United
       States  give  the  viewer a holographic view of many aspects of the
       problem and why the two countries are losing the war.  This is  one
       of the best possible uses of cinema, educating while it entertains.

       The story in Mexico seems to have a distinctly different style from
       the  rest  of  the  film.   Visually California and Ohio scenes are
       filmed with somewhat subtly different hues, and both are filmed  in
       softer  colors.   Ohio  is  filmed in blues and California in earth
       tones.  The scenes in Mexico, on the  other  hand,  are  filmed  in
       harsh reds and yellows in what looks like a cruder and grainer film
       stock.  This gives the impression of heat  and  tackiness,  perhaps
       something  of  a  cheap  shot.   On  the  other  hand the subtitles
       somewhat tone down the story.  There are a lot of "chinga"s in  the
       dialog  that  go  un-translated  in  the  subtitles.  A few make it
       through, but roughness of the language does not entirely make it to
       the  subtitles.  In addition, the story in Mexico seems a different
       breed from the other two, with more complexity making it  a  little
       harder  to follow.  It also has some torture scenes that the viewer
       should be prepared for.

       TRAFFIC has the kind of cast that speaks of major actors willing to
       work  for  less  to  be in a project that inspires them.  Certainly
       with the toll that drugs have taken on  the  film  industry  it  is
       quite  possible.   The  cast includes Michael Douglas, Don Cheadle,
       Benicio Del Toro, Luis Guzman, Dennis Quaid, Catherine  Zeta-Jones,
       Steven Bauer, Miguel Ferrer, Amy Irving and Peter Riegart.  Several
       of these people are in roles somewhat below their stature.

       TRAFFIC is a powerful film that suggests our illegal  drug  problem
       results  from  our  own  demand  for  and  tolerance of drug usage.
       Americans use illegal drugs like cocaine and, as the film  implies,
       abuse  drugs  that  are  legal  like  alcohol  and  nicotine.   The
       government has few new ideas left for fighting the problem and  too
       often its blundering does more harm than good.
       Where TRAFFIC does a good job is not in leaving the viewer  with  a
       deep  understanding  of  the drug problem but more with a panoramic
       view showing the path from  supply  to  demand.   And  it  is  that
       continuity  from supplier to user that causes the value of the film
       to rise above that of the sum of its parts.  I rate TRAFFIC an 8 on
       the 0 to 10 scale and a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.  [-mrl]

                                          Mark Leeper
                                          HO 1K-644 732-817-5619
                                          mleeper@avaya.com

           America: The only country in the world where failing to
           promote yourself is regarded as being arrogant. 					  -- Garry Trudeau