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From: "Evelyn C. Leeper" <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com>
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Subject: MT VOID, 06/14/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 50, Whole Number 2332
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THE MT VOID
06/14/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 50, Whole Number 2332

Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net
Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net
Sending Address: evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
All material is the opinion of the author and is copyrighted by
the
author unless otherwise noted.
All comments sent or posted will be assumed authorized for
inclusion unless otherwise noted.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to eleeper@optonline.net
The latest issue is at <http://www.leepers.us/mtvoid/latest.htm>.
An index with links to the issues of the MT VOID since 1986 is at
<http://leepers.us/mtvoid/back_issues.htm>.

Topics:
         Mini Reviews, Part 26 (MOEBIUS, S1M0NE,
                 STRAWBERRY MANSION) (film reviews
                 by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper)
         Word Use and Mis-Use (letters of comment by Jim Susky
                 and Larry Kaniut)
         This Week's Reading (FAMILIAR LETTERS OF JOHN ADAMS AND
                 HIS WIFE ABIGAIL ADAMS) (book comments
                 by Evelyn C. Leeper)

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

TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 26 (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and
Evelyn C. Leeper)

This is the twenty-sixth batch of mini-reviews, all films of the
fantastic.

MOEBIUS (1996): I watched MOEBIUS the other day, albeit under less
than ideal conditions.  First of all, it was on YouTube, so was
interrupted for commercials every fifteen minutes or so.  And
second, it was in Spanish.  It did have subtitles (well, closed
captions), but they were also in Spanish and apparently
auto-generated, since some words were missing, particularly proper
names which were not always recognized as words.  The also seemed
to be strange abbreviations, such as "hbe" (if I remember
correctly) for "hombre".  Let's just say if I didn't already know
the story, I probably still would not know the story.

The story is, of course, "A Subway Named Mobius" by A. J. Deutsch.
This may have achieved its greatest fame when it was included in
Martin Gardner's FANTASIA MATHEMATICA, although Groff Conklin's
OMNIBUS OF SCIENCE FICTION was also widely read.

The original story was set on the Boston MTA; the film MOEBIUS,
being an Argentinian film, is set on the Buenos Aires Underground
(Subterraneo).  (In 2014, murals commemorating the film were
installed on the wall of the San Jose Station.)

The film is fairly accurate for most of the time, but in order to
make it feature length, the screenwriters added a long
mathematical/philosophical discussion between two topologists.
Somehow the subway is outside of time, and travels at the speed of
thought, and so on.  I cannot claim to have understood everything
said, but what I did understand seemed like the usual cliches.

There are six screenwriters; this was a film made by a group of
film students and their professor.  This also explains the cheap
budget--US$250,000.  The budget necessitating filming in the
actual tunnels, which ended up giving the film a great atmosphere.
The Catedral station was renamed "Borges" in honor of Jorge Luis
Borges, the famous writer from Buenos Aires whose works included
many references to mazes and labyrinths.

One language note: "sin fin" sounds a whole lot cooler (to me,
anyway) than just plain "endless".

I would recommend this to anyone who likes mathematical science
fiction and can at least somewhat follow the Spanish.  It was
shown in New York at one point with English subtitles, but I have
no idea if that is available anywhere.

Released theatrically in Argentina 17 October 1996.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117069/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/moebius_1996>

S1M0NE (2002): S1M0NE is even more topical now than when it came
out in 2002.  Then the idea of a computer-generated actor who
passed as human was science fiction; now it is more like one of
those "day-after-tomorrow" stories (if even that far in the
future).  Actually, the visual technology of S1m0ne is what is
today's technology; her conversation is all produced by someone
else speaking in her voice.  Today, Viktor would have used A.I. to
have S1m0ne carry on her own conversations.

But Viktor nailed the current situation in a single line: "Our
ability to manufacture fraud now exceeds our ability to detect it."

Released theatrically 23 August 2002.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0258153/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/simone_2002>

STRAWBERRY MANSION (2021): STRAWBERRY MANSION could have been
written by Frederik Pohl or Cyril M. Kornbluth, posibly with a
dash of Philip K. Dick.  In the future, dreams are taxed, but
also, ads are inserted in dreams.  (This is not a spoiler--you
realize this early on.)  But Bella and her husband(?) have
invented ... well ... AdBlocker.  This is revealed to the taxman
who comes to collect the back taxes on Bella's dreams.

Because so much of the film shows the dreams of Preble and Bella,
there are a lot of surrealistic video effects and situations, and
the whole is frequently disorienting (with what appear to be nods
to THE FLY and RESURRECTION).  The poster makes it look like a
children's film, but I would probably call it PG-13 because of
some frightening images.

Appropriately enough, I watched this on Tubi, an ad-supported
streaming service.

I'm going out now to buy a Feckle freezer.

Released theatrically 18 February 2022.

Film Credits:
<https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11398346/reference>

What others are saying:
<https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/strawberry_mansion>

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

TOPIC: Word Use and Mis-Use (letters of comment by Jim Susky and
Larry Kaniut)

In response to Evelyn's comments on word use and mis-use in the
05/04/24 issue of the MT VOID, Jim Suskey writes:

Sometime last century I read a New Year's review in which certain
non-standard (mis-) usages were cited.  One I remember--to NOT use
"impact" as a verb. This "innovation" has an advantage--often it
is a succinct way to replace a multi-syllabic phrase.

FORTUITOUS

Your opener (2024MAY05) caused me to seek out Merriam-Webster

<https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fortuitous>

As "dictionarians" must (eventually) do, M-W has bent to fashion,
in that they (it?) have (has?) added "fortunate" to Definition
#2--stating that this usage as been used in a standard if not
elevated fashion since you (and I) were born (!)

M-W is NOT OED--only the primary "By chance" sense was documented
as "first used" in the mid-17th century.

Few of us, I suspect, "read the dictionary"--instead absorbing
words by context.  70 years of misuse has firmly implanted the
"fortunate" meaning between my ears.

DIFFERENCE - ANCESTOR/DESCENDANT

At first this "got me going".  Then realized that context solves
the problem--one (most of us?) would not misuse one for the other
in a phrase, sentence, etc. (parent/child anyone?)

I am fond of using successor and predecessor but will often pause
to get it right.

USING PLURAL PRONOUNS IN ALL CONTEXTS

This one still ties a knot in my brain.  So far I still use the
"Queen's English" (now, of course, the King's) to the extent that
the leader of a committee is not a piece of furniture.

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