eddvick

Now is your lucky day.

David Weber posts an insightful essay about what can be gotten away with in fiction. He's right that plenty of bad decisions in real life couldn't be dramatized without the reader losing faith in the story. I'm reminded of Hitler invading Russia. He's determined not to make the same mistakes as Napoleon, who lost so many troops on the retreat from Moscow. Yet what does he do? He overstays, he doesn't have his soldiers issued winter uniforms, he loses almost a quarter of his Eastern Army in the first five months of Operation Barbarossa.

I can, though, think of two possible defenses, places where you can have characters make disastrous mistakes. The first is trivial. When time travel is a part of the story, writers can have their characters go back to correct mistakes. The error exists essentially to be corrected.

Defense number two - well, frankly, it's also of limited use, but it's got a noble heritage. This is for the character to acknowledge that they are acting out of character. The most famous usage of this defense was in Casablanca, where Senor Ferrari (Sidney Greenstreet) says to Laszlo, about the letters of credit:

I observe that in one respect you are a very fortunate man, Monsieur. I am moved to make one more suggestion, why, I do not know, because it cannot possibly profit me, but, have you heard about Signor Ugarte and the letters of credit?

This man, who has been portrayed as unrelentingly greedy, even going so far as to offer to 'buy' Sam from Rick, goes on to volunteer the information that Rick is the man for them to see !

The plot revolves around Laszlo and Ilsa finding out where to get the letters of credit (a silly contrivance, letters that the Nazis would 'have' to honor) so they can get away. Ugarte is dead by this point; there's nobody else to point them in Rick's direction. I like that one of the most-honored movies of all time has this lapse of character not just acknowledged, but touted. So the next time you write yourself into a corner, just pull that deus ex machina out of your butt and have said deus say "I don't know why I'm doing this, it's entirely against my nature, but what the hey, you look like a nice kid".

I tape movies from Turner Classic Movies and watch them piecemeal during lunch breaks. I just finished watching Thunder Rock, a 1942 drama starring Michael Redgrave. He plays David Charleston, an author who foresaw the rise of fascism, tried in vain to convince people of its evil, and finally retired in defeat to be a lighthouse keeper on the Great Lakes.

Once there, he reads a plaque commemorating the sinking of a ship in 1849, and re-creates a half-dozen passengers and the ship's captain as completely as possible in his mind, so real that he has conversations with them. Only the captain knows he's a figment. Charleston interviews the others, all immigrants, and finds they have all run away from untenable situations (a doctor trying to introduce the use of anesthetic, a woman who wants a career instead of a married life, etc). Gradually he comes to understand their fault is his own, running away instead of confronting what he finds abominable.

Despite its anti-fascist stance, the movie takes a strong position against war altogether. Charleston believes it will mean the end of civilization, and we're left with the impression he means to campaign against all warmongering. It's odd to find even this much anti-war sentiment in a British production (Charter Films) during WWII.

The movie reminds me of nothing so much as a bit longer episode of The Twilight Zone, primarily due to the matter-of-fact way the ghosts are played by real actors.

Be sure to always travel through time in a washing machine.

First off, "Nemesis", a student film about a would-be superhero, recommended by pgdf.


Then, lucius_t mentions there may be a Deep Space 9 movie.

Mark Evanier has repeatedly raved about Frank Ferrante's impersonation of Groucho Marx. I noticed that the Seattle Public Library had a copy of Groucho: A Life in Revue", and checked it out. Mark is right; he's excellent in this bio, repeatedly changing his costume and makeup on stage as Groucho ages. He's obviously giving his all to make us understand Marx - he hits the highest highs and lowest lows. I'm glad I got to see it.

Here is a dated but thoroughly delightful article about maintaining continuity in sprawling, multiple-creator-written series.

With Robert Downey, Jr., coming in November.

Popdose has posted the soundtrack of a wonderful surreal movie I watched over and over during the 80s, Better Off Dead. It's a farce on coming-of-age flicks about a suicidal teen played by John Cusack who falls for the French transfer student who moves in across the street.

Recycle, (nee Resiklo) the movie.

Katie went off for a sleepover on Saturday, and we noticed in the google movie times that The Golden Compass had one showing at a theatre downtown. The movie's not supposed to be out til tomorrow so this was likely to be a preview and thus only for those who'd gotten passes. But we'd gotten a bit of snow, and Seattlites are notoriously wimpy about getting out in snow, so we chanced it. And lo and behold we got to see it!

Amy had read and loved the first book (tho she said everything else by Pullman didn't match up), and I'd gotten about halfway through, and was enjoying it. The movie is very accurate to the book (as far as I'd read it, and allowing for a movie's necessary compacting of the plotline). The CGI is wonderful through most of the movie (really the only bad spot for me was in some of the running-across-the-ice scenes), and everything is lovingly baroque -- love the flying ships, the mechanical insects, and of course the compass itself. Being the first in a trilogy, there's the inevitable letdown that the ending isn't definitive, but I'm looking forward to the other two movies.

Turner Classic Movies is playing Ed Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959) this month (September 23rd at 1:30 PM Pacific Time). I think the irony might make my television explode. I haven't seen the movie since the early 80s at Mark & Lea Hernandez's house back when they lived in Dallas. I'll be busy, er, vacuuming the cat then.

TCM also has The Satan Bug and Freaks showing that day. Maybe they're gearing up for Halloween?

There's going to be a new movie based on the Ronald Searle books. Must remember to mention this to Amy.

Chris Gore serves up a lovefest to fake movies. Mildly NSFW.

Katie had a sleepover last night, so Amy and I finally got to see a movie. We chose Spider-Man 3 because it's about to close and because it's available in IMAX. Yay! Enormous screen and earblasting sound, what's not to like? We both enjoyed it. I'd been keeping my distance from reviews, but what I'd heard was that critics thought it was too long at 2.5 hours, and that three villains was one too many. To the first, I say thee nay (whoops, it wasn't a Mighty Thor movie), but I can see the latter being a point. I'm not a fan of Venom, so would have likely enjoyed it more if they'd kept the villains to Sandman (loved how they handled him!) and Goblin Jr. But, what the hey, it was an enjoyable flick.

And they had a theremin in the lobby. Not many theatres can claim that.

to Star Wars.

Katie's school is out for the day because of a bunch of white stuff on the ground. We went sledding this morning.

Then we watched Gene Kelly in An American in Paris, and now it's Frank Sinatra in The Kissing Bandit.

The sun's out, so enough ice may melt that I can go to work.

The Halloween scene from the movie is on now. Whew, were they hooligans in those days!

...in the comedy Crazy House, pretty much the original that Mel Brooks' Silent Movie used as a template. Full of sight gags and hilarious bit players.

Why yes, I am watching a lot of movies while my wife's out of town. Tonight it's The Tall Target, a noir story about a discredited New York police detective trying to get to Baltimore in time to prevent an assassination attempt on President-elect Abraham Lincoln. Anthony Mann, the director, had a varied career, crafting westerns, biopics, musicals, comedies, and later big budget blockbusters. David Boxwell's overview of his career doesn't even mention The Tall Target. It's hardly a major film in his oeuvre, but it's filled with excellent plot twists and period details. Early on in the film the protagonist is searching for a gun to replace the one stolen from him. It seems everyone on board the train has one! Then, later, the train is stopped at the Baltimore city limits, where the engine is doused. Horses pull the train through the city so engine smoke won't dirty it.

Amy comes home day after tomorrow from Budapest. Hooray!