LISTSERV mailing list manager LISTSERV 16.0

Help for SF-LIT Archives


SF-LIT Archives

SF-LIT Archives


[email protected]


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

SF-LIT Home

SF-LIT Home

SF-LIT  March 1997

SF-LIT March 1997

Subject:

Mars Attacks! and a few other things

From:

Nicola Gebendinger <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Science Fiction and Fantasy Listserv <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Tue, 11 Mar 1997 13:57:43 -0800

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (194 lines)

From:         Michael Marc Levy <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Miscellanea

> Nicola asked about early female sf writers other than
> Brackett, Moore, and Norton.  The obvious person to mention
> is Judith Merril. Better remembered today as a great
> anthologist, she also produced some classic short stories
> and several fine novels. She's still alive, by the way--gave
> an amazing talk on, among other things, her many lovers in
> the sf community of the 40s and 50s at WisCon last year.

        Never read anything by Judith Merril, but now that the you've
mentioned her I remember she's been alive and in the comunity for quite a
long time. I think that in one of his autoboigraphies, Asimov, with his
usual humour, described her as a woman that if patted in the behind by a
man was able to pat him back in the same place. (Hmm, looks like there is
still hope for the US! <G>)

> Most of the best female fantasy and science fiction writers
> who came up in the late 40s or early 50s ended up being
> associated with Anthony Boucher's Magazine of Fantasy and
> Science Fiction. These include Zenna Henderson (who wrote
> the People stories), Margaret St. Claire (aka Idris
> Seabright), Katherine MacLean, and Mildred Clingerman.

        And I have even begun to read the People stories! I wasn't
impressed, so this may be why I have forgotten about her. As for Margaret
St. Claire I just barely remember the name - I may have begun a book by
her, when I was younger - and K. MacLean and M. Clingerman don't ring any
bell...

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

From:         Joe Debeauchamp <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Book reviews .... where to locate.

>        I wonder if anyone knows of a place for SF book
> reviews? I face the dilemma of choosing between Twelve
> Quarters by le Guin or Scanner Darkly by Dick. I thought,
> that if I read a few reviews, I might make up my mind. A
> source for book reviews helps in the greater understanding
> of the novel. This enrichment might occur on the net
> somewhere?  Any ideas?

        So *that*'s your method, Joe? Mine is to enter a bookstore and
browse around. In any case, I'd suggest you to check both books.

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

From:         Mike Resnick <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Miscellanea

> Northwest Smith didn't grow up with Mercurians; he grew up
> with cowboys. Really. He was the hero of an epic Western
> poem that Catherine Moore wrote as a teenager, before she
> decided to put him in a spaceman's uniform instead. The
> opening lines, as I recall, were:

>        Northwest Smith was a hard-bitten guy,
>        With nerves of steel and a roving eye.

> Probably just as well she put him on Mars. <g>

(snip)

        Mr. Resnick, I was referring about Eric John Stark. :::very
straight face:::

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

From:         Teramis <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      TSR (Re: Nicola's Miscellanea)

>Nicola asked:
>>   What's TSR, please?

> TSR originally stood for Tactical Studies Research. These
> days it is only an acronym, and the name of the publishing
> company that introduced Dungeons & Dragons (TM) and role-
>playing games (RPGs)  to the world in 1974.  (I used to write
> for them, as well as other RPG publishers.)  For a time in
> the '80s they published a series of adventure books wherein
> the reader comes to a plot juncture and gets to choose what
> action the hero takes next, thus following the story down
> different branching paths of plot development, to its
> ultimate conclusion.

        I didn't know that, Deborah, thank you. :) But I've heard of
these curious kind of interactive books.

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

From:         Edward James <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Re: Mars Attacks!

>> Went to see Mars Attacks, yesterday evening...

>I went to see it three days ago...

(snip)
> Now _that's_ where I disagree with you. I think it's main
> probvlem was that it was simply not very funny: or, rather,
> the jokes were far too thin on the ground. It could have
> been a MUCH better parody if there had been MUCH less time
> devoted to explosions and assorted mayhem. I really don't
> think Tim Burton knew what he was rtrying to do.

> And, if you think about it, INDEPENDENCE DAY was a much more
> effective parody of most of those things you mention...

        Me, I want my money back for ID4! In my opinion it failed not
only as a skiffy movie, but also as a parody. :::bleak expression on my
face...:::
        Not that MARS ATTACKS! is much better than ID4, but at least it
seems to me that it works as such. Within ample limits, I admit.

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

From:         Umberto Rossi <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:      Twins, Re: Miscellanea

>> 2. nicola - did the romans think twins were cool because
>> twins founded the city, or did the legend arise from the
>> fact that romans thought twins were cool?

> We have at least two cases of brothers founding a city, and
> usually one of them is killed.  They are Cain and Abel, the
> Romolus and Remus (I wonder if these are their names in
> English, I am only sure of their Italian names).

        Remus is OK as it is, but Romolus is Romulus, or so it is
reported by my dictionary. :)

        But as for Cain and Abel, I knew that Cain killed Abele while
still in Terrestrial Paradise, and that he founded Kabul only *after* he
got chased out.

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

From:    Kathleen Miller <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Mars Attacks!

> Thanks everyone, for the renewed interest in this horrible
> movie. I've seen many spoofs, but this one fell far from the
> mark. The only scene that was anywhere near funny was the
> grandmother. The rest of it was so predictable! I have never
> seen a worse spoof in my life. (Although Airplane! 2 comes
> close.)

> Kath

        As a matter of fact, I've never really seen an american spoof
that worked, with the only exception of "Big Trouble In Chinatown" with
Kurt Russell. It looks as if they're all recycling the same pitifully
small repertoire of jokes, with no hope to escape. (With the risk to be
called a campanilist, I frankly prefer italian spoofs. At least it's *my*
kind of spoofs.)

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

Date:    Mon, 10 Mar 1997 14:46:20 -0700
From:    Richard Collier <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Mars Attacks!

(snip)

> And a parody?  Give me o' break.  I've been immersed in
> things science fictional for nearly thrity years, and most
> of what supposedly was being mocked in M.A. about the
> film/pulp cliches of the early history of our genre escaped
> me.  There probably aren't more than a handful of SF
> scholars in the world who bellylaughed their way through
> such an historically rarefied lampoon.  In effect, then, one
> layer of the film was inaccessible, while the other was just
> plain dumb.

        I might not have said clearly enough what I think MARS ATTACKS!
is a parody of, but I still think that this movie is a parody. It
attacked, in my opinion, the following sacred cows of the american
culture: the President of the US, the military, the TV talk shows, the
comics, and the scientific establishment. How successfully is open to
debate, obviously. But with the Pope next door, it grated my nerves to
see the President of the US displayed as the best of bests, the champion
of the goods and unable to make mistakes, and I enjoyed to see a movie
that unpitifully mocked him in all ways it was able.

--
Nicola Gebendinger
Address: Via San Quirichino 12/b, I-50124, Firenze, Italia
Phone: +39-55-2336289, Fax: +39-55-2309030
email: [log in to unmask]

The scorpion is sister to the snake.

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997
August 1997
July 1997
June 1997
May 1997
April 1997
March 1997
February 1997
January 1997
December 1996
November 1996
October 1996
September 1996
August 1996
July 1996
June 1996
May 1996
April 1996
March 1996
February 1996
January 1996
December 1995
November 1995
October 1995
September 1995
August 1995
July 1995
June 1995
May 1995
April 1995
March 1995
February 1995
June 1996
May 1996
April 1996
March 1996
February 1996
January 1996
December 1995
November 1995
October 1995
September 1995
August 1995
July 1995
June 1995
May 1995
April 1995
March 1995
February 1995

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LISTSERV.LOC.GOV

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager