E.R. Torre's Blog, page 174

Why Do Mirrors Flip Horizontally (but not Vertically)?

Fascinating and very informative video asking a question that I hadn’t thought of before: Why do mirrors flip images horizontally but not vertically?

“See” for yourself…

I found this video in Slate.com.  You should check it out:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/02/17/physics-girl-mirrors-flipping-images.html

And, totally gratuitously and incredibly tangentially, the song “Ghost In You” by the Psychedelic furs, from their album Mirror Moves…

Predestination (2014) a (mildly) belated review

There is nothing more frustrating, in my opinion, than a very, very good film that falls just short of being a great film.

That, in a nutshell, is what I feel regarding Predestination, the / time travel film.

Based on All You Zombies, a justifiably famous (and crazy) Robert A. Heinlein short story, Predestination adheres to that story’s plot faithfully, though it does add elements, particularly those involving a mysterious bomber, to the story to expand it to the feature’s length while providing some action/suspense.  This expansion didn’t bother me at all and, when the film ended, proved to cleverly form a “loop” to all that we had seen up to that point.

But as I said before, the film left something to be desired, and it is frustrating how close it was to being a great work.  In the early going the film spends, in my opinion, waaaay too much time on Sarah Snook’s (who is absolutely terrific) Jane character.  While much of the information is pertinent to what follows, other parts could, and should, have been trimmed down (just off the top of my head: Did we need to see the child Jane spying her orphanage handlers having sex?  Did we need to see the character getting into so many fights?)

Toward the end (and I’m trying to avoid spoilers here), when the revelations started coming as to who is who, it became too obvious where we were going with the added story elements.  Again, brevity might have been better here as well.  Also, some of the dialogue, while clever in the opening bits at the bar (the chicken/egg joke clues you in well with what’s coming), became so obvious in the later parts of the film, especially when John talks to a woman about a typewriter, that I felt I was being hit over the head with “meaningful” lines.

Having said all that, Predestination is nonetheless a good film worthy of your time.  It offers a faithful take on Robert A Heinlein mind-altering story yet adds its own decent elements to the mix.  While the film does dwell a little too much on details that might have been better cut and some of the dialogue towards the end is way too obvious, the film is nonetheless still worth seeing.

Back to the future…

This story made me smile, and given the barrage of negative news one reads each day, isn’t it worth smiling about something now and again?

Photographer Irena Werning started a fascinating project.  She takes old pictures of individuals and recreates them in the present.  The results, as I said before, make me smile.  Check them out:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/15/living/cnnphotos-back-to-the-future/index.html

 

The Saint in New York (1938) a (mind-bogglingly) belated review

Though probably not as well known today as it was for much of the twentieth century, author Leslie Charteris’ character Simon Templar aka The Saint was a fixture of the entertainment media for many decades.  From his first appearance in 1928, Mr. Charteris would pen novels featuring the character until 1963, when he allowed others to ghost write the character’s adventures.  The Saint would subsequently appear in movies, comic books, and the radio during that time.  He was perhaps most famously featured in a TV show starring soon-to-become 007 Roger Moore between 1962-69.

The series showed how much of an influence The Saint had on James Bond and vice-versa and I wouldn’t be surprised if this series proved an extended audition for Mr. Moore as Bond.

For in The Saint you had many of the elements that would appear in the James Bond series.  Simon Templar, like James Bond, is a suave, sophisticated yet deadly man who the police and society at large view as a criminal yet who works against the criminal underworld from within (a spy, you might say).  While he doesn’t have a “license to kill”, he is not at all adverse to knocking out villains with extreme prejudice.  His adventures, like James Bond, would take him to exotic locales where he would confront at times garrish villains.  He would also meet intriguing women who he’d seduce or who would, alternately, try to seduce him.

Way, waaaaay back in 1938, a mere decade from The Saint’s first appearance in print, the character would make his first theatrical appearance in The Saint in New York.   would be the first actor to portray the character, though this proved his one and only time doing so.

The plot of the movie goes as follows: New York is in the middle of a deadly crime wave.  A council of high level functionaries meet to discuss what can be done.  A (presumably) high up inspector in the police department is the last to arrive at this meeting and shows his incredible frustration in the current situation.  He states that the police have no problems arresting the criminals out there but these same criminals walk within a day or two after being arrested thanks to the courts. (Sounds familiar?)

After the chief of police leaves, the remaining members of the council mull what to do.  One of them notes the actions of The Saint and the members resolve to find and hire him to take out the trash.

I guess its a sign of my aging, but these early scenes, frankly, struck me as chilling.  These high level members of society effectively decide that the only solution to their criminal problems lies in hiring an outside vigilante, a man the world thinks is a criminal himself, to (let’s not mince words here) murder the criminals plaguing New York.

To that end, one of the members of the meeting flies off to various countries in search of Simon Templar, eventually finding him in South America, where he is about to start some kind of revolution.

Simon Templar is exactly as described above: Suave, sophisticated, well dressed and well versed.  He hears the offer and decides traveling to New York isn’t such a bad idea.  Once there he gets a lay of the land and a list of five or so criminals he needs to take out.  In short order he takes the first of them out just before the criminal shoots the high level police inspector who walked out of the initial meeting at the start of the film.

As Templar continues his “work”, he acquaints himself with that inspector (who is more than willing to look the other way) and a mysterious and beautiful woman who is somehow in the middle of this criminal lot but who is more than willing to help Simon take them out.  As things move along, Simon realizes there is one big man above them all, and that once he takes that master villain out, New York will be “free”.

For a 75 plus year old “B” film, The Saint in New York isn’t all that bad though, again, the implications of the story are alarming.  One would hope the highest levels of governmental official would have some confidence in their justice system rather than bringing in an outside gunman to clean up their mess.  But if you can overlook this rather startling concept, the movie proves a decent enough distraction.

The movie’s age and pace will probably be difficult for some modern audiences to take.  We’re very far down the road from the action-fests that populate modern cinema.  Yet there is a fascination in seeing a prototype of a James Bond-like character, minus the gadgets, on screen.

A curiosity, for sure, yet an interesting one.

Is the Star Trek Economy a Welfare State?

Interesting Q & A found on Quora.com regarding the above question:

http://www.quora.com/Is-the-Star-Trek-economy-essentially-a-welfare-state-feeding-lazy-parasites-given-that-nobody-needs-to-work-for-a-living-and-money-anymore/

Its been many years since Star Trek: The Next Generation came and went, but way, waaaay back in 1987 when the very first episode of it appeared and the concept of a “Holodeck” was revealed (a neat digression: What came first, the Holodeck or the X-Men’s Danger Room?), for the first time I, a HUGE fan of the original Star Trek series, found myself questioning the whole concept of Star Trek’s society’s viability.

The question linked to at the top, whether the Star Trek economy is essentially a welfare state, is a -ahem- logical one to consider.  If this society has moved beyond the use of money and all your survival needs are given to you for free (food, lodging, medical care, etc.) then one wonders: Wouldn’t that result in a society of worthless, useless beings who sit around all day playing their music or video games or movies, etc., while doing nothing else that is worthwhile?

And if you add to this society a Holodeck, essentially the ultimate “mind” playground where you immerse yourself into your own movie/video game/wish fulfillment arena, then whatever could make you want to leave it?

These questions have stayed with me for a while.  So much so I wrote a short story called “Virtual” a few years back (shameless plug: it can be found in my Shadows at Dawn short story collection) that tackled the issue of getting so involved in a virtual world that you don’t want to face the real one.  The key to making this scenario/story work for me was this line:

The virtual world could go on, but only when paid for with real world cash.

The author of the first link states that a Star Trek society could work and isn’t a “welfare one” in the classic sense.  But I suspect that it is one that couldn’t work.  Mind you, I’m not an Ayn Randian proponent, but I do feel that you have to have a motivation to progress.

Whether you’re literally or figuratively hungry to improve yourself in some way, to find a reward for your actions/work, whether they be monetary solely to keep your alive or more figurative in the sense that you wish to create some work that might be admired by others, money rewards be damned, there has to be some kind of motivation.

And I’m afraid the universe of Star Trek, at least as presented starting with Star Trek: The Next Generation, lacks that concept.  In my mind, every one of the adventures presented in all the series could well be on set on a Holodeck, and the entire human race never bothered to leave their living rooms.

Coherence (2013) a (mildly) belated review

There’s something intellectually satisfying in seeing a film that challenges your imagination in all the right ways.  If dome well, you leave the experience with a sense of wonder.  You admire There’s something intellectually satisfying in seeing a film that challenges your imagination in all the right ways.  If dome well, you leave the experience with a sense of wonder.  You admire the fact that the creators of this particular movie have done something truly new and (hopefully) unique.  Something that keeps the gears in your brain moving as you sort out the pieces in this particular jigsaw puzzle…

Which is a very nice way of saying the James Ward Byrkit written/directed Coherence is one hell of a mind-fuck of a film.

The story starts out simple enough: A group of disparate friends get together for a dinner.  Though they are all friendly enough, there are noticeable tensions here and there between them, though nothing Earth shattering or soap opera level outrageous.

That same night a comet is scheduled to pass close to Earth and, as it does, the electricity in the household -and neighborhood- is knocked out.

But the friends in the house realize that another home some two blocks down still has light.  Two of the guests decide they should go there and investigate…

What follows from that point on is quite the journey.

Before I get to the very good of this film, first let me point out the not so good.  To begin with, Coherence is a very, very low budget feature and it shows.  The direction/lighting/editing, while not terrible, isn’t as sharp as one would like and at times, especially toward the beginning, it feels as if you’re watching home movies of a not so interesting party.

But if you get past these opening scenes (about fifteen minutes or so worth of them), the film suddenly takes off and finds its voice and pace.  By then you understand the individual characters (the cast consists of only eight people) and are as fearful for their situation as you are curious about what will happen next.

For that’s when all the really trippy stuff begins.

I’m tempted to not go any farther than that for fear of spoilers, but offer this much: The movie involves split realities and the interactions between alternate versions of these eight characters.  There are many surprises, both subtle and not so subtle, and an ending that kicks you in the teeth (pay attention to protagonist Em’s story of the Norwegian comet early in the movie…it clarifies what happens toward the end).

Though low on budget, this movie’s story is incredibly, deliciously high in concept and very smart.  The best way to describe Coherence is that it is like a really great extended Twilight Zone episode.  Considering how much I admire The Twilight Zone, this is very high praise.

If you like your science fiction to be challenging and intellectual, Coherence is a (pardon the pun) no-brainer.

Highly recommended.

Planet of the Vampires (1965) a (ridiculously) belated review

Way back in 1965 cult Italian movie director  directed Planet of the Vampires, a stylish sci-fi horror movie that would inspire (some would argue be shamelessly copied by) 1979’s Alien.  Though the creators behind Alien may deny it, it is hard to argue Planet of the Vampires didn’t do just that.

The movie begins with two spaceships chasing down an emergency signal originating from an unexplored planet.  The ships head in to investigate and that’s when all hell breaks loose.  One of the ships is temporarily lost, the other nearly crash lands and, afterwards, the crew loses their minds and starts viciously fighting each other.  It’s as if they’re no longer in control of themselves.

The crew manages to recover before anyone is killed and, eventually, they find their lost sister ship and go investigating.  Later still, they find another, more ancient vessel that comes complete with giant skeletons of that ancient crew.

And did I mention our hero’s horseshoe shaped ships and the foggy, eerie planet they’ve landed on?

There is simply no denying it: Watching Planet of the Vampires is like seeing the visual -and to some degree writing- inspiration for Alien.  But does that make this now fifty year old film worth checking out?

Let’s be blunt here: The acting is for the most part quite wooden.  The dialogue has been dubbed (the film was likely made in some Italian/English combination -the movie’s lead is played by American actor ).  The effects are decent enough…for a very low budget film made in 1965, but anyone looking at them today will find them varying from ok to deficient.

But what makes the movie worth watching besides its obvious inspiration to Alien, is the eerie environment and the visuals it presents.  Planet of Vampires is essentially a “haunted house in space” movie, where our protagonists are presented with a fearsome and deadly set of circumstances and try to beat them…all the while members of their group slowly are picked off.

While the story may ultimately not be as memorable as the visuals it presents (I saw the film before, maybe five or so years ago, and was surprised by how little I recalled of the actual story), in some cases this is arguably enough to get you to see a film.

In the case of Planet of the Vampires, despite the wooden acting and some less than great special effects, any fan of Alien or science fiction films in general should get a kick out of seeing this work.  I most certainly did.

Recommended.

(Watch the below original trailer for the film at your own peril…first because it is so grainy.  The film, especially on BluRay, looks quite beautiful, but secondly and more importantly the trailer gives away pretty much all the movie’s mysteries!)

Upcoming/Already Released BluRays…

After a pretty dry period, movie-release wise, I’m suddenly finding myself with a full slate of films I’m considering or have already ordered/pre-ordered.

While only a few of the ones mentioned below are considered “classics”, they all hold memories for me.  Some, like the already frequently mentioned (and already bought) Supernova are not for everyone.  But if you’re like me, you may find these fascinating.  I certainly do.

The big question is, if I get all these films, when the hell will I have the time to see them?!?

To be released on March 17: The Lady From Shanghai.  Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth in an intriguing noir that features a terrific climax…

Already released: Sorcerer.  Director William Friedkin followed up his dual hits of The Exorcist and The French Connection with this Roy Schneider-starring vehicle, a remake of the French film The Wages of Fear.  I haven’t seen it in a while but never forgot the terrifying crossing of the bridge scene.

Already released: The Swimmer.  Fascinating symbolic movie.  Burt Lancaster stars as your “ordinary” man who, for whatever reason, decides to “swim” back to his home, passing through one neighbor’s pool after the other.  During the trip, he effectively relives his life and its many, many failures.

Already released: Capricorn One.  When I was younger, I absolutely loved this conspiracy film.  Astronauts are sent to Mars and it turns out the whole thing is a hoax.  When the empty Mars probe destructs on its way back to Earth, the shadowy government men behind the hoax have to kill the still very much alive astronauts to keep the public from knowing what really went on…

To be released April 28th: The White Buffalo.  Absolutely bizarre film (I reviewed it here) about the quest for a White Buffalo.  A mix of Jaws and Moby Dick set in the wild west!  Like many of the films mentioned, I’m curious to see it in high definition and, I’m assuming, at the proper aspect ratio.

To be released March 10: Firepower.  I saw this film way, waaaay back when it was originally released and I’m really curious to see it again.  I don’t know what to expect…for all I know it could be a total dud although any film with both James Coburn and Sophia Loren in it can’t be all that bad, right?  Right?!  Then again, O.J. Simpson is in the film as well…

To be released April 7: A pair of Burt Reynold’s post Smokey and the Bandit films, Sharky’s Machine and Hooper.  I hope both films are cleaned up and presented in their proper aspect ratio.  Sharky’s Machine is a more serious detective drama while Hooper falls into Mr. Reynold’s “good ol’ boy” realm.  I haven’t seen Hooper all the way through since it was originally released and I’m equally curious to check out Sharky’s Machine.  They are both on sale for the ridiculously low price of $9.99 each at Amazon so this pre-order was a no-brainer.

  

Now, if I can only find the free time…

The ultimate barnyard find…?

Count me among those fascinated with the so-called “barnyard” finds, ie old/classic cars left behind and almost completely forgotten in some barnyard or garage only to re-emerge years later.

This has to be the ultimate such find, where a whopping 60 (!) antique luxury cars were uncovered in France.  Estimated value?  At least 20 million…

Having said this, and at the risk of following a positive with a negative, I can’t help but wonder if the antique car market might be nearing a supersaturation level.  Like all collectables, from artwork to books to albums to comic books to coins to stamps, there comes a point where the upper ceiling of value has been reached and from there you can only, inevitably, go down.

Maybe at that point I’ll finally be able to afford my dreamcars…Either a ’61 vette…

Or a mid to late 1960’s era Mustang…

Do I ask too much?!

Of course, if someone out there is willing to donate either vehicle to me, I’m available 24/7 at…

About the coming Apple Watch…

A disclaimer: I’m not one of those huge fans of Apple and its products, though -paradoxically I know- I use at least three of them.  For my more serious computer related interests, ie writing and work, I use Windows based computer(s) and Microsoft Office.

I have an iPad which I find very enjoyable to use and a now discontinued iPod in my car to listen to music now and again.  I recently bought a new cell phone and, regretfully, I chose to get the iPhone 6.  While it is essentially a small version of the iPad from which you can call from, so far I’ve found the cell phone functions lacking.  Particularly, the quality of sound coming from the phone (or is it my tired, old ears?) is not all that great.

Anyway, one thing you can count on that tech companies like Apple and Samsung and Microsoft are desperate to do is find and exploit new and potentially lucrative technologies.  In more recent times, it seems there has been a great rush (although now it appears to have cooled down a little) toward developing a “tech watch”-type gadget.  Even as the first reports of such a gadget were released and the attempts to create interest in it were at their heights, I wasn’t all that impressed.  Cell phones, though a little bigger than a watch and not as “easy” to carry around as something strapped to your wrist, nonetheless aren’t all that much bigger or harder to carry around, either.

The big question is would I -or for that matter most people- be inclined to buy and use something with a screen as small as a wrist watch to do anything other than check the time?

Author David Goldman at CNN Money has some thoughts and predictions regarding the device, and they’re pretty negative.:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/04/technology/apple-watch-flop/index.html

I think the biggest problem outlined by Mr. Goldman that would hurt anyone’s desire to get the Apple Watch is the battery life.  Even if you don’t mind using its very small screen, the fact that the watch can only run for some 10 hours, not even a full day, is troublesome.

Perhaps one day a tech wristwatch will be developed that will truly eclipse the cell phone.  That day, I feel, is still a long way off.