Canavan’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Canavan’s comments from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.

Lena said: I dislike the varied accents of the close knit Fremen, and who the hell is Lady Margot? Well, it will still be worth a watch. I enjoy all the versions of Dune like I have enjoyed all the versions of The Joker.

Thanks to J. for posting the link to the trailer. I enjoyed Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 first half of Dune, so I’m certain to watch Part 2 (maybe even on the big screen). Lena, Lady Margot was one of the many supporting characters in Dune — wife of Count Fenring, who was in turn an ally of the Padishah Emperor Shaddam IV. I gather that she also appeared in some of the books subsequently written by Frank Herbert’s son, Brian, along with co-author Kevin J. Anderson (none of which I have read).

Am I to understand, Lena, that you liked David Lynch’s 1984 stab at adapting Herbert’s book? I coincidentally gave this one a re-watch a few days ago. As on previous viewings, I found it a truly frustrating experience. On the plus side, it often looks incredibly cool and interesting, especially for the time. But I don’t think the film does a particularly good job of capturing the complex mix of cultural, political, environmental, and religious ideas that concerned Herbert. Maybe that’s a consequence of trying to cram too much material into a comparatively short running time (a four-hour rough cut was edited down to about 140 minutes); the ending in particular comes off as terribly rushed. The acting ranges from good to okay to laughably bad. Finally, I was reminded during this latest re-watch that Lynch’s characterization of the Harkonnens embodies a rather creepy homophobia, most notably in the case of Kenneth McMillan. I don’t want to hit that last point too hard given that (a) we’re talking about a film that’s nearly 40 years old, and (b) that characterization mirrors what’s found in the book and, by most accounts, Herbert’s own views on homosexuality. Sorry to drone on.

Lena wrote: Dracula sets sail this august

I dimly recall that sequence as being one of the more compelling ones found in Stoker’s novel. The fact that the ending is pretty much pre-determined might serve to rob the movie of some suspense.

J. noted: This might go either way.
Fool's Paradise

My initial thought is that this seems to cover a lot of the same territory as 1979’s Being There, a satire with Peter Sellers that I thought was over-rated by the critics.

Lena said: I keep telling myself there are only three Indians Jones. Like I tell myself there are only four Star Wars.

As far as the Star Wars franchise is concerned, if Lucas had stopped after the first one, I would have been okay with that decision. Yes, The Empire Strikes Back is a fine sequel, but every SW film thereafter has struck me as ranging in quality from mediocre to disastrously bad.

My feelings about the Indiana Jones films are kinda similar. The first one is, I think, a remarkably good film that has largely withstood the test of time. The rest could be tossed into the dumpster (yes, even the one with Connery) and I wouldn’t really miss them.

Of course, ymmv.

J. asked: What do y'all think?

Could be okay. I’ll withhold judgement at this point. I’ll probably see it in a theatre.

A few things seen on the screen in the last week...

Monster from Green Hell, Kenneth G. Crane (1957) ✭½
Skin Game, Paul Bogart & Gordon Douglas (1971) ✭✭½
The Big Red One, Samuel Fuller (1980) ✭✭✭½
The Making of Tootsie, Rocky Lang (1982) ✭✭✭
Doctor Detroit, Michael Pressman (1983) ✭✭
Exit to Eden, Garry Marshall (1994) ✭
The Princess Diaries, Garry Marshall (2001) ✭✭✭½
The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Garry Marshall (2004) ✭✭½
Poker Face, Season 1 (2023) ✭✭✭✭

Some theatre stuff seen recently:

Camelot, Alan Jay Lerner (Lyric & Book), Frederick Loewe (Music), Aaron Sorkin (2023 Revised Book), & Bartlett Sher (Director) (1960/2023) ✭✭✭✭
Dancin’, Wayne Cilento (Director) (1978/2023) ✭✭✭
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Stephen Sondheim (Music & Lyrics), Hugh Wheeler (Book), & Thomas Kail (Director) (1979/2023) ✭✭✭✭½
Parade, Jason Robert Brown (Music & Lyrics), Alfred Uhry (Book), & Michael Arden (Director) (1998/2023) ✭✭✭✭
Pretty Woman, Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance (Music & Lyrics), Garry Marshall & J. F. Lawton (Book), & Jerry Mitchell (Director) (2018/2021) ✭✭
Life of Pi, Lolita Chakrabarti (Adaptor) & Max Webster (Director) (2019/2023) ✭✭✭✭

Lena said: The new Little Mermaid preview came up, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be

Another live-action remake, I presume. There must be a market for these or else Disney would stop making them, but I’ve never seen a one that I thought came close to measuring up to its animated counterpart.

“Bergamot and Vetiver”, Lavanya Lakshminarayan

(view spoiler)[Morally bankrupt time travelers from the future plunder natural resources from the past using the story’s protagonist as a catspaw. An okay story, but I didn’t quite buy the premise. Nor did I find the relationship between Oru and Enre all that convincing. (hide spoiler)]

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J. said: Panama was the song playing on the radio when a state trooper clocked me at 98 mph in a 65.

Wow! That was kinda appropriate. 😂

Stuff I’ve watched in the last coupla weeks...

The More the Merrier, George Stevens (1943) ✭✭✭✭
Pillow Talk, Michael Gordon (1959) ✭✭✭
The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, Roger Corman (1967) ✭✭✭
Christine, John Carpenter (1983) ✭✭✭
Body Double, Brian De Palma (1984) ✭✭
A Soldier’s Story, Norman Jewison (1984) ✭✭✭
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, John Hughes (1986) ✭✭✭✭
Planes, Trains & Automobiles, John Hughes (1987) ✭✭✭✭
The Accused, Jonathan Kaplan (1988) ✭✭✭
Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Robert Zemeckis (1988) ✭✭✭½
Reversal of Fortune, Barbet Schroeder (1990) ✭✭✭✭
The Crying Game, Neil Jordan (1992) ✭✭✭✭
The People vs. Larry Flynt, Milos Foreman (1996) ✭✭✭✭½
Red Dragon, Brett Ratner (2002) ✭✭✭
The Mist, Frank Darabont (2007) ✭✭✭
1408, Frank Darabont (2008) ✭✭✭✭
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher (2011) ✭✭✭✭½
The Menu, Mark Mylod (2022) ✭✭✭✭½

Stuff I have been listening to in the last week or so...

The Cool School, June Christy (1960) ✭✭✭½
Make Way for Dionne Warwick, Dionne Warwick (1964) ✭✭✭✭½
America, America (1971) ✭✭✭
Homecoming, America (1972) ✭✭✭
Honky Château, Elton John (1972) ✭✭✭✭½
Goodnight Vienna, Ringo Starr (1974) ✭✭✭½
Holiday, America (1974) ✭✭✭
Blast from Your Past, Ringo Starr (1975) ✭✭✭✭
Rock of the Westies, Elton John (1975) ✭✭✭✭
Aja, Steely Dan (1977) ✭✭✭✭✭
Empty Glass, Pete Townshend (1980) ✭✭✭✭
Mistaken Identity, Kim Carnes (1981) ✭✭✭½
Toto IV, Toto (1984) ✭✭✭✭
Solid Colors, Liz Story (1983) ✭✭✭½
Synchronicity, The Police (1983) ✭✭✭✭½
Diamond Life, Sade (1984) ✭✭✭✭
1984, Van Halen (1984) ✭✭✭✭½
White City: A Novel, Peter Townshend (1985) ✭✭✭✭✭
Different Light, The Bangles (1986) ✭✭✭½
Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 • Piano Quintet, Beaux Arts Trio, Eugene Drucker (violin), & Lawrence Dutton (viola) (1989) ✭✭✭½
Greatest Hits, The Lovin’ Spoonful (1990) ✭✭✭½
Gould: Fall River Legend • Jekyll and Hyde Variation, Kenneth Schermerhorn & the Nashville Symphony Orchestra (2005) ✭✭✭✭½
Night Sky Essays, Liz Story (2005) ✭✭✭
Music from the Front Room, Larry Goldings, Jay Bellerose, & David Piltch (2014) ✭✭✭
The Offense of the Drum, Arturo O’Ferrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (2014), ✭✭✭½
Visions of Prokofiev, Lisa Batiashvili (violin), Yannick Nézet-Séguin & Chamber Orchestra of Europe (2018) ✭✭✭✭½
Four Questions, Arturo O’Ferrill & the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (2020), ✭✭✭½
Your Mother Should Know: Brad Mehldau Plays The Beatles, Brad Mehldau (2023) ✭✭✭½

“Kronia”, Elizabeth Hand

(view spoiler)[I had a difficult time grasping exactly what was going on here. It might be a fractured account of the possible paths taken by a relationship. Honestly, I’m not sure whether this is about time travel or about the nature of reality and our mutable memories of reality. The fact that Hand at one point references Philip K. Dick’s Time Out of Joint makes me tilt more towards the latter explanation, but that’s just a guess. (hide spoiler)]

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“The Lichens”, Nina Allan

(view spoiler)[Scientists from the future travel back through time trying to establish the existence of a derelict alien spacecraft. There are some interesting ideas here, but the story construction seems somehow haphazard, as though this was originally meant to be a novella or novel. And the relationship between Helen and Joe never worked for me; maybe because their conversation seemed to me so stilted and unrealistic. (hide spoiler)]

✭✭

“The Golden Hour”, Jeffrey Ford

I think I’ve said before that I tend to like Ford more than others in the group. (view spoiler)[I thought this particular Ford tale was beautifully written, but almost unbearably sad. The author uses time travel as a metaphor for the dissolution of a marriage as one of the partners succumbs to the inevitable ravages of the aging process. (hide spoiler)]

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“First Aid”, Seanan McGuire

(view spoiler)[A time traveler is sent to the wrong time/destination and finds her true love. There’s really not that much more to this entry. A sweet ending, but not a lot of substance. (hide spoiler)]

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“I Remember Satellites”, Sarah Gailey

(view spoiler)[I found reading this one a frustrating exercise. In Gailey’s story, time travelers are sent back from the future in order to affect the course of history (a fairly standard, but sturdy sf plot). Our primary protagonist is charged with playing a Wallis Simpson-like character who will seduce a prince in order to prevent his ascension to the throne. I found it odd that the author plays so coy with the identity of the actors, to the point where she changes their names as though this is some sort of alternate universe. Am I missing something obvious here?

The other plot strand introduces a second time traveler who happens to the great love of the initial traveler. I kept hoping that Gailey was going to do something interesting or clever with this plot development (perhaps engineer some way in which it might meaningfully intersect with the Simpson-prince plot), but that hope was more or less in vain. (hide spoiler)]

✭✭

“The Past Life Reconstruction Service” Zen Cho

(view spoiler)[The details differ, of course, but thematically I thought that Cho’s tale was remarkably similar to Harrow’s. Cho’s protagonist, much like Harrow’s, uses time travel in a fruitless attempt to avoid/ignore his soulmate. (hide spoiler)]

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“Roadside Attraction”, Alix E. Harrow

(view spoiler)[Time travel often serves as a MacGuffin in scifi tales, allowing protagonists to more or less magically navigate from ordinary to extraordinary circumstances, or, as summarized by one of the protagonists in Harrow’s tale, to find one’s “destiny”. “Roadside Attrction” is a bit of corrective measure; Harrow shows us that the deep desire to escape may blind us to the possibility of destinies that are more ordinary, but just as (or more) fulfilling. (hide spoiler)]

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J. wrote: This looks really good!
Luther: The Fallen Sun

It looks like it could be okay. I never watched any episodes from the series on which this film is based. Anyone here?