The Enemy Within

I was really surprised to see the story credited to Richard Matheson. I got my hands on a copy of I Am Legend recently, and am looking forward to reading it.

As per usual, I jotted down some thoughts as I was watching this episode (for the first time, I might add):

• Note: I haven’t seen many episodes from the first season to date.
• The introduction was superb: what a way to end it, with that eerie lighting under the Kirk close-up.
• The freehand camera work and the horns in the score during Kirk’s brandy rampage really left me feeling off-balance; I didn’t know what he was going to do. :-)
• Spock’s insistence that the truth be kept from the crew was very emotional, almost human; it was really jarring for me, coming off the entire second season — I’ll have more to say on this in a moment.
• The alternate Kirk’s outburst in his quarters was fantastic — I had chills running up my spine!
• The confrontation in the bowels of the ship was well choreographed: the doubles weren’t too obvious; that goes for the rest of the episode too — some really great work in the sickbay, actually.
• Spock’s analysis of the situation was typical, if a little emotional (for him), but his justification for a possibly perceived lack of empathy — “That’s the way I am” — was a bit odd; I guess it depends on when this episode aired: how much do we know about Vulcans (and half Vulcans) at this point?
• Re the predicament with Sulu’s team: again, a perfect use for shuttlecraft. I should read up on how they were introduced to the show, and whether it was consist with episodes like this one.
• Spock’s diving in to take over a conversation with Sulu was excellent; Kirk’s slow deterioration in general was superb; you felt the discomfort of those in the know, as they attempted to assess Kirk’s mental state from moment to moment.
• The final debate between Spock and McCoy was brilliant: both sides argued well, and Kirk’s indecision was positively painful to watch! :-)
• Again, however, as a final point: Spock was unusually forceful in that debate (I liked it, don’t get me wrong!); and he described his Vulcan ancestry as “alien”: that’s different, isn’t it? And so was his final comment to the Yeoman, come to think of it; a bit creepy, frankly, seein’ as she was assaulted (ah, the 60s ;-) ).

Definitely, Maybe

I just finished watching the subject movie, and I couldn’t help thinking of Stuff White People Like; it’s a movie written by white people, for white people. :-) There are obvious points, such as the way New York is exalted, the ubiquitous platonic friendships in these romantic comedies, and the white cast, but they’re just the beginning:

• Making it: the ’successful’ April went back to grad school, moved to Brooklyn, and got a job with Amnesty International — no word on whether the recommended life coach had anything to do with the turnaround, but either way, that’s at least three entries right there!
• The jobs: many characters work for political campaigns — Democrats, of course — one is a journalist; one of the two ‘bad’ jobs is working for some corporation.

I’m sure there are others, but I guess it’s that first point that had me laughing; that, and the stuffy feature on the DVD about how great it was shooting in New York — it was like they were reading from a Christian Lander script. :-)

Stuff White People Like

‘K., I’m only up to #40 or so, and I’m lovin’ this:

• The Typical White-person DVD rack is hilarious: I’m gonna say there’s a 75-80% overlap with my taste. (Hilarious, in a “even a broken clock’s right twice a day,” sort of way, of course. ;-) )
• Then there’s the White Annotated Bibliography: a coworker (yup, a white one :-) ) loaned me a copy of Infinite Jest, and I tried to get through it, I really tried. :-)
• I love the way he’s reading a big Simpsons book in the photo under “Not Having A TV.”
• Another coworker (yup, another white one) loaned me a copy of Arrested Development about a month ago; they couldn’t recommend it enough. (And I love Twin Peaks. :-) )

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Hellboy II: The Golden Army — No spoilers

In typical style, I’ll open with a tangent: I propose that movies like Hellboy II will be the Star Wars of their generation; not to the same degree, obviously, since there’s so much more fantastic (in the literal sense of the word) stuff available these days, but as something that will inspire, and continue to inspire, the kids of today as they grow up and choose their way in the world.

I’m a big fan of Star Wars. I had to see them on television, but still, few were more pumped than me to see the theatrical releases of the remastered versions in the late 90s. Seeing The Phantom Menace at the old Somerset Theatre is a memory I will cherish for the rest of my days. However, having said all that, I understand why many of the kids of today are underwhelmed (to quote Sloan, although my spellchecker seems fine with it — strange) with the series. I imagine it’s tough to get past the limitations of the day to see the adventure beneath. Add to that that as an adult I’ve come to realize that you don’t want to look too closely under the hood of these movies, and you can hardly fault these kids.

Then you see Hellboy II, with beautiful creatures like the elemental, and terrifying ones like the angel of death, and you think, outside of Jim Henson’s mind, where are you going to find that much creative genius packed into two hours? And then you add in lots of adventure, camaraderie, sympathatic villians, and, wow, you’ve got one heck of a ride. (Especially when it’s all about moving the story along; so many great effects ruin the moment because they’re clearly about the production team showing off; none of that here.)

Which is all well and good, but I’m sure you’re wondering what in the world made me think of Star Wars: I think it started with the troll market. It’s the Mos Eisley Lucas dreamed off. (I think I even heard a sound similar to a Wookie cry as the scene opened, but that could’ve been my imagination.) Then you have the shrouded princess in desperate need. And who can honestly say that Abe Sapien’s mannerisms (in this movie, anyway — don’t remember the first one that well) don’t reek of C3-PO’s? :-)

I just loved this movie. I could go on about the dichotomy of the barbaric Mr. Wink, and that awesome goblin amputee, but you get the idea.

A final note on the Death Race trailer: I hadn’t seen it before, and let me just say my confused grin turned to peals of laughter when they got to the part with the female convicts. :-D It was a parody of itself. I’m telling you, it would’ve fit perfectly between Tarantino’s Planet Terror and Death Proof. I don’t know if I’ve ever laughed so long or hard at a trailer.

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Alice Munro’s The Children Stay and Eyes Wide Shut

The Children Stay reminded me of the pot-smokin’, bedroom scene in Eyes Wide Shut.  That scene really disturbed me.  For months — and even years — afterward, I found myself wondering whether a mother could really feel that way: the immediate, almost undeniable, urge to leave everything — even her young children — for a stranger.  I even asked a few women in my life for their opinions; those that I didn’t feel too sheepish asking, that is, as even then I was aware of my implied naivety.

I was skeptical of Kubrick’s, and co-screenwriter Frederic Raphael’s, ability to truly know any woman.  (While I did read Eyes Wide Open by Raphael — partly in an attempt to glean a better sense of whether this understanding was there, no doubt — I did not read the work the script was adapted from — Arthur Schnitzler’s Traumnovelle — for some reason.)  Now, finally, Munro offers a compelling, female perspective on the subject.

The story cast the novel Anna Karenina in a similar light, so now I’m curious about it again (even though I don’t feel up to tackling Tolstoy right now).

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Thoughts on Heinlein and Card

I made some notes as I read Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and Orson Scott Card’s The Worthing Saga:

• Heinlein as Jubal Harshaw on the compulsive reading of news or Gossip Gone Wild: most neuroses can be traced to worrying about the troubles of five million strangers; and
• Card: the premise that civilization requires the institution of marriage (presumably the monogamous sort); setting aside whether a population can be successfully seeded from a relatively small number of couples, does this stand to reason?

The Mormon mind-set is prevalent, but this isn’t a criticism of Card. First, I don’t think I could’ve picked two more diametrically opposed views of the perfect society than in SIASL and TWS. Second, if I’m honest with myself, Heinlein’s mind-set was probably no less prevalent in SIASL; it just so happens that his is closer to mine than Card’s is.

On telepathy and lying: in TWS, Martin tells his daughter, Faith, that she can’t lie to him. I don’t think this stands to reason. Children experiment with lying from a very early age, and, as they get older, successfully lie to their parents, partly because their parents assume they know them so well. Even in the case of a telepathic parent and child, each of whom can block the other’s thoughts, I can see this working. Experimenting with familiar thought patterns, with a reasonable level of privacy during adolescence, etc. I believe a child could convince a parent that they were being truthful, by exhibiting a familiar, if highly complex, facade.