Sunday Psalm

Psalm 139

1 O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.

2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.

5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?

8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;

10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.

12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

19 Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.

20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?

22 I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

KJV

Odyssey by Jack McDevitt

Odyssey is the 4th book in Jack McDevitt's Academy (or Priscilla Hutchins) series. I have read several of his novels, including Chindi, Omega and A Talent for War. I like all I've read by him so far, but I do prefer the Academy series to his other series books.

from the back of the book:

To boost waning interest in interstellar travel, a mission is sent into deep space to learn the truth about "moonriders," the strange lights supposedly being seen in nearby systems. But the team soon discovers that their odyssey is no mere public-relations ploy, for the moonriders are not a harmless phenomenon. They are very, very dangerous-in a way that no one could possibly have imagined.

scifi.com prefers his other series and says, "A number of factors conspire to drag down this tale, developing a germ of a good idea into something of a disappointment."

I like it as well as the others in this series, which is quite a bit. I like the space ships, the AI's, the plots and characters and even the unsolved mysteries. I'm assuming all will be explained in time. I look forward to reading the next one.

Colossus: The Forbin Project

Colossus: The Forbin Project is a 1970 science fiction film in which the monster computer takes over the world. I remember seeing this on television back in the 70's but can't remember exactly when.

Watch it below, compliments of googlevideo:


Moria calls it "a quiet but highly effective little film" and "one of the most unassuming and perfect of all lesser-budgeted science-fiction films". The New York Times calls it "an unpretentious science fiction film with a satiric point of view" and says it

is no "Dr. Strangelove," but it's full of surprising moments of humor and intelligence, a practically perfect movie to see when you want to go to a movie and have nothing special in mind.

1000 Misspent Hours says, "This is what all makers of mad computer movies should aspire to," and concludes,

In the final assessment, Colossus: The Forbin Project is just a high-tech dramatization of one of the oldest morals in literature: Be careful what you wish for.

SciFiPedia says that

despite its failure at the box-office and its relative obscurity today, it stands up a generation later as one of the most intelligent, unusual and thought-provoking SF films of the Cold War era.

No Blade of Grass

No Blade of Grass (no wikipedia entry) is a 1970 post-apocalyptic film based on John Christopher's novel The Death of Grass. It is directed by Cornel Wilde and stars Nigel Davenport.

On youtube in 20 (yikes!) parts, here's part 1 at just 5 minutes: [removed]
Each of the 20 segments is about 5 minutes long, except the last one, which is just 2 minutes. Sheesh. Not that I'm not glad it's there, mind you. I'm just surprised to find it divided into segments that short.

8/20/2009 update: all of those videos have been removed, but the first 3:30 of the film can be viewed here:


from the beginning of the film, this voiceover:

By the beginning of the 70's man had brought the destruction of his environment close to the point of no return. Of course there was a great deal of rhetoric about saving the Earth, but, in reality, very little was done.

I keep forgetting how sexist the language was in the 1970's.

I don't see much about this movie online, and I don't remember it being released. It's a depressing piece.

Lifeboat

Lifeboat is a 1944 Alfred Hitchcock film starring Tallulah Bankhead, William Bendix, Walter Slezak, Mary Anderson and Hume Cronyn.

The Younger Son selected this, never having seen it. The Husband and I had never seen it straight through.

Here's the first part:


The rest of the film is in pieces linked here.

Slant Magazine, the New York Times and Films de France have reviews.

5/30/2010: Great Old Movies blog has a review.

Four Hundred Billion Stars

Four Hundred Billion Stars, Paul McAuley's first novel, won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1988. It's currently out of print, but I found it at my favorite local used book store. Amazon lists some copies. It hits me like a breath of fresh air after the obscure, convuluted experience of Jeff Noon's Vurt.

from the back of the book:

A million years ago, a powerful alien species moved a dead planet into the narrow life-support zone of an old, cold class M0 star. Then it gave the world an atmosphere, settled its surface with a bizarre mixture of creatures - some long since vanished from Earth - erected marvelous hivelike cities, and disappeared.

But Hunanity's arrival had apparently set the planet's hidden machinery to working. The dead cities had begun to glow at night and even the animals were undergoing startling transformations.

So Dorthy Yoshida, astronomer and reluctant telepath, was summoned from self-imposed exile near distant Earth and set to search for the mind that moved the world.

Attack of the Crab Monsters

Attack of the Crab Monsters is a 1957 science fiction film directed by Roger Corman. Russell Johnson (The Professor on Gilligan's Island) stars with Mel Welles (The Little Shop of Horrors, The Silver Chalice) and Ed Nelson (Bucket of Blood). I love the art work over the opening credits.

It's online at youtube in 7 parts. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7

1000 Misspent Hours says,

Attack of the Crab Monsters still suffers from uneven acting, irritating comic relief, and a monster origin story consisting of some of the most incomprehensible pseudoscientific gibberish ever uttered, but it’s a remarkably streamlined and fairly effective film— perhaps the earliest to give some indication of what its director would prove himself capable of during the following decade.

The Omega Man

The Omega Man came out in 1971. It's another one I didn't see until it showed up much later on TV. What can I say? I didn't get out much. It is based on Matheson's novel I Am Legend and stars Charlton Heston and Anthony Zerbe (Star Trek: Insurrection). This is the 2nd of 3 (so far) film adaptations of the novel. The 1st is the Vincent Price Last Man on Earth, and the 3rd is the Will Smith movie that keeps the book title.

Ah, the 8-track tape! I sometimes see them for sale in junk shops. There is such a sense of loneliness and isolation as he talks to himself, tears down the pin-up calendar, sits alone in a movie theater watching Woodstock and reciting the lines with the kid onscreen...

SciFi.com says,

The Omega Man, based on Richard Matheson's novel I Am Legend, can legitimately be considered an SF Easter film. Its predominant themes of sin, deliverance, sacrifice and resurrection are high-minded and ambitious, as well as nicely balanced and executed. One of the film's neater ironies is Neville's twin aspects--destroyer and savior.

The New York Times has a review. So does Roger Ebert. Moria calls it "ham-fisted". 1000 Misspent Hours says it's "the only post-(man-made)-apocalyptic Christian allegory ever committed to film."

The Man from Earth

The Man from Earth is a 2007 science fiction written by Jerome Bixby.

There are links here to sites where you can view the film online.

It's certainly not an original concept. I've seen it done several times, including by Star Trek.

Locus Magazine has a review here.

1/20/2009:
SFSignal has a review, which closes, "the exploration of the experience of immortality is what this film is about - and ultimately that makes The Man from Earth is a film worth watching".

R.I.P Ricardo Montalban

From SFScope I see that Ricardo Montalban has died. This is a hard day for me. First I hear about Patrick McGoohan, and now this. So sad. I love him best for his portayal of Khan Noonien Singh in the Star Trek (TOS) episode Space Seed and again in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. SciFiWire has some interesting trivia about Khan.

obits:
Reuters
SFSignal
/film offers "a lamentation for the loss of one of cinema’s all-time greatest villains."
SyFyPortal
TrekWeb
NPR
Edward Copeland
io9
Bad Astronomy
FilmChat
Cinematical

6/1/2009: Out of the Past has an overview of his career.

The photo is from MHJohnston's Flickr photo stream.

The Time Machine (1960)

The Time Machine is a 1960 science fiction film based on the book with the same name by H. G. Wells. Directed by George Pal (When Worlds Collide, War of the Worlds), it stars Rod Taylor, Yvette Mimieux, Alan Young, Sebastian Cabot and Whit Bissell. It won an Academy Award for best visual effects.

It's at youtube in 11 parts, which should autoplay from here:

SFSignal found it in one piece at The Cinemated Man:


I remember how disappointed I was the first time I saw this movie. I was expecting more of the book to be there.

Moria calls it

one of the finest films to emerge from George Pal, who was the single most important contributor to science-fiction in the 1950s

1000 Misspent Hours says the movie,

is a perfectly serviceable movie, and it’s obvious that a lot of thought went into the details of the story.
...
The Time Machine is also well handled from a technical perspective.
...
I can see why The Time Machine gets the respect it does today, even if the message it sends is almost exactly the opposite of the one its creators seem to have intended.

The New York Times has a reviewhere.

DVDJournal's review likes it and calls it

a Boy's Own adventure complete with handsome square-jawed inventor undertaking a journey through the Fourth Dimension to a new world complete with monsters, fisticuffs, rescues, escapes, and a keen awareness of our protagonist's superiority to the poor benighted heathens in his midst.

R.I.P. Patrick McGoohan

I saw the news at NPR that Patrick McGoohan died yesterday. He was 80. I knew and loved him in The Prisoner, which can be seen online.

obits:

io9 calls him "one of genre television's most innovative voices".
BBC

He died in Los Angeles after a short illness, his film producer son-in-law Cleve Landsberg told Associated Press.

The Guardian

EW:

Number Six's famous cry, "I am not a number, I am a free man!" became both a counterculture catchphrase as well as an anguished plea for freedom.

LATimes
Reason Online
EOnline
CNN
TimesOnline:

He won two Emmy Awards for his work on detective drama Colombo with long-term friend Peter Falk, and appeared in the 1995 Mel Gibson film Braveheart as King Edward Longshanks. Fansites across the internet paid tribute to the cult star today.

SFSignal
SFScope
Edward Copeland
The Independent opens with this:

As the star of Danger Man and The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan was the face of British cult television in the 1960s and the highest paid TV actor of his time. Orson Welles once said of McGoohan that he could have been one of the major stars of his generation: he had the looks and the intensity and painted most of the roles he played with a wryness and a satirical edge that made him a compelling actor to watch. Yet this complicated man, highly-strung, unpredictable and irascibly enigmatic, seemingly threw away his career while at the height of his fame and influence and was never again to fully recapture it.

The picture at the top of the post is one I saw at several sites online. None had information on who to credit.

Przekładaniec

Przekładaniec ("Roly Poly" or "Layer Cake" or "Hodge Podge" in English) is a 1968 Polish made-for-tv short film based on a work by Stanislaw Lem. It is directed by Andrzej Wajda.

It's at youtube in 4 parts. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4

Film Journal describes it this way:

this is set in the 21st century. Racing car driver Richard Fox is ‘reconstructed’ by transplants after an accident and his lawyer helps him solve the mystery of whether he is himself or his brother, killed in the crash.

English subtitles would help a lot; but they are not provided in these videos, and I can't find a transcript or text subtitles online. The film was still interesting to watch.

The Pier

The Pier (or the Jetty) is the English name given La Jetée, a 1962 French science fiction short film directed by Chris Marker. It is the inspiration for the 1995 film Twelve Monkeys. The music is Trevor Duncan's. The scenes, the narration and the music work together perfectly to form a coherent whole.

See it compliments of GoogleVideo: [This has been removed, and I cannot find even a trailer with English subtitles.]

Criterion has an essay which opens

However you define Chris Marker's 1963 short La Jetée—philosophical fiction, genre exercise, treatise on cinematic time—one fact is unavoidable: it resembles few other films. In fact, La Jetée does not define itself as a film at all

Senses of Cinema has an analysis here, which begins with this:

Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée (1962) is probably best known today as the inspiration for Terry Gilliam's 1995 film 12 Monkeys. Some also consider it an influence on other popular time-travel films such as the Terminator series. Most serious critics acknowledge that Marker's film is vastly superior to any of its imitators in its brilliant use of still images and sparse narration to construct a story which is both compelling and haunting.

Slant Magazine says,

A half-hour sci-fi short, Marker's clinical poem on time and memory and nuclear holocaust recounts (or recalls) the story of "a man marked by an image of his childhood," a man whose "vision of peacetime happiness" (i.e. a pretty girl deep in thought he glimpsed years ago) is so obsessive, he is thought to be the only soul in humanity's post-apocalyptic underground hideout whose mind can retain the sort of focus necessary to travel back in time without going insane

FilmsDeFrance calls it

arguably one of the most distinctive and memorable of the films which emerged from the French New Wave filmmakers of the early 1960s.

Moria calls it "highly experimental" and says

Director Chris Marker’s unique method is the telling of the entire film in a series of stills. This is most unusual as a narrative device. The effect is that of captured moments, of partial glimpses – something that suits the film’s theme perfectly.

DVDTalk says it is "perhaps more influential than effective - at least for audiences four decades removed from its startling originality."

DVDJournal thinks it's

easily one of the best shorts ever created. Indelible, elegant, and haunting, it is a complete and brilliant experiment delivered in the exact amount of time required for this narrative. And the central force of its cinema — told entirely in black-and-white stills — is not simple gimmickry, but Marker's commentary on memory and how we place things.

10/16/2009: 1001 Flicks has a review.

The Andromeda Strain

I saw The Andromeda Strain in 1971 when it was released. I had read the book, which doesn't always mean anything, but The Andromeda Strain was a good adaptation of Michael Crichton's book. I remember that this was my first exposure to the effects that flashing lights can have on some people. The movie is directed by Robert Wise.

It's available on youtube is 13 parts. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13

The New York Times has a negative review here. Roger Ebert says, "Sometimes movies come along with buried levels, and I think this is one." Variety says it "is a high-budget 'science-fact' melodrama, marked by superb production, an excellent score, an intriguing story premise and an exciting conclusion" but is too "talky". Moria says,

The Andromeda Strain is one of the few science-fiction films that takes a great deal of effort to make sure its’ science is correct down to the nth detail. This is also one hard science film that never talks down to its audience and works all the better for it. It is also one of the few science-fiction films that actually portrays the mundane process of real science. The characters in the film are deliberately made blank – indeed the real stars of the film are the monitors, twirling mechanical arms, lab rats and sanitary procedures.

1000 Misspent Hours says the book

was one of Crichton’s best novels, and the movie adapted from it by screenwriter Nelson Gidding and director Robert Wise is one of the more impressive science fiction films of its decade, even if it does seem just a little bit dated today.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1954 made-for-tv production of the BBC. Nigel Kneale (Quatermass II, Quatermass and the Pit, First Men in the Moon) wrote the script. It is based on George Orwell's novel with the same name, one of several filmed adaptations. This version stars Peter Cushing as Winston. Donald Pleasence is in this one as well as the 1956 film. I watched the John Hurt/Richard Burton version a couple of months ago.

This BBC presentation is online at youtube in separate segments that are about 7 minutes each. Embedding is disabled, but here are links to the parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14, part 15

It's also available in its entirety at googlevideo:

though at 1:47:30 it appears to be 15 minutes short of the 2-hour release time I see posted for it.

BFI ScreenOnline has a page devoted to it that discusses some of the controversy.

The Man in the White Suit

The Man in the White Suit is a 1951 dark science fiction British satire starring Alec Guinness with Ernest Thesiger and Cecil Parker. The screenplay is by Roger MacDougal, who also wrote the screenplay for The Mouse That Roared. We have it as part of this DVD set.

trailer:


"There are one or two laws in the country...."

DVD Journal calls it "hands down, the best science fiction film Alec Guinness ever starred in" which, all things considered, is an interesting comment. Film Fanatic calls it a "must see" "as one of Ealing Studios’ finest works." The New York Times review says it's a "deft and sardonic little satire on the working of modern industry".

Films de France says,

The film succeeds both as an enjoyable knockabout farce and as a wonderfully effective satire on the conflict between scientific endeavour and the interests of big business (which still has great relevance today).

The City Review says the film

combines Guinness's great mirthful character with a sensational plot that transcended comedy and bore into the heart of capitalism and politics, to say nothing of the morality of science.

It's fascinating to see Alec Guinness so young. He's perfect as the inventor -earnest, driven, innocent of the consequences.

The Baptism of the Lord

Mark 1:4-11

4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

6 And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

7 And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

8 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan.

10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:

11 And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

KJV

The picture at the top of the post is of Fra Angelico's Baptism of Christ.

Vurt

Vurt by Jeff Noon is a science fiction novel that won the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1994. There's nothing on the book's cover to give the slightest hint as to what it's about. It was an easy read as long as I didn't think about it along the way. I'd be hard-pressed to explain the book to someone else.

SFSite has a review that says,

Its biggest selling point is probably its fundamental oddness. It's almost like cyberpunk as written by someone who has never heard of computers. Though set in the near future, vaguely dystopic setting and lowlife, it is a long way from Gibson and Co

Steven Wu gives this plot summary:

Scribble scatters thither and yon in search of his sister, hooking up with various characters whose lives hardly matter to the reader, only to succeed (or fail?) in his quest in a bizarre conclusion that saps whatever life was left of the novel in the last few pages.

Virus (1980)

I don't guess my life is this bad, though at least some of the people in this movie try to help each other and work together and treat each other with kindness and respect. Outside my own family, examples of that are pretty rare these days. There seem to be an amazing number of people who don't care who gets hurt as long as they get what they want. Those kinds of people play a prominent role in this film.

Virus is a 1980 Japanese post-apocalyptic film. It stars some names familiar to me: George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn, Chuck Connors, Olivia Hussey, Edward James Olmos, Glenn Ford.

Suitably depressing. The music is lame, so I'm sorry to see Janis Ian's name attached to it.

Midnight Eye has a lengthy review, saying this:

There are some nice performances all round, and the internal dramas which erupt between the various cast members make for some compellingly solid, if somewhat artificial drama. It's a highly watchable piece of early 80s excess, silly perhaps, but undeniably fun

Spinning Image says,

I'll say this for this determinedly miserable film, it doesn't do anything by halves

The Man Who Could Work Miracles

H.G. Wells' The Man Who Could Work Miracles is a 1936 British fantasy/comedy movie with George Sanders (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Rebecca, The Jungle Book), Joan Hickson (Miss Marple), Roland Young (Topper), Ralph Richardson, Ernest Thesiger (Bride of Frankenstein) and George Zucco (Mad Monster, Fog Island). The film is based on a story with the same name by H.G. Wells. That story can be read here.

You can watch the film, except the last 5 minutes or so, from googlevideo:


I do wonder what happened to the ending. Sad.

That preacher seems to be no help at all, but he does offer words of caution towards the end. I loved the argument that those in power want no change, but he gives no thought to what wholesale change does in people's lives. "People remain people."

The New York Times review calls it,

a delightfully humorous fantasy with an undertone of sober Wellsian philosophy

Moria calls it "a spiritual follow-up of sorts to Things to Come that "comes out likably".

You can see Things to Come online, too.

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House is a 1948 comedy starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. I remember the book on which this film is based being on the bookshelf at home when I was little.

The movie is at youtube in 11 sections. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11

The New York Times review says,

As the gullible New York cliff-dweller who buys a hunk of Connecticut real estate and thereby resigns himself to pirates, Mr. Grant is a humanist's delight. And Myrna Loy is equally disarming as his charmingly whimsical wife who is just as impractical as he is about bathrooms and closet space.

It is #72 on the AfI list of top 100 comedies. The DVD was a Christmas present for The Husband from The Younger Son, and it fit the bill perfectly: a funny movie with a happy ending.

Aelita: Queen of Mars

Aelita: The Queen of Mars is a 1924 silent Russian film based on a novella by Alexei Tolstoy.

It's available at youtube in 9 parts. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9

There are foreign and English inter-titles.

Silents are Golden has quotes from some contemporary reviews. Images Journal has an article on the film.

I love the Martian costumes. Those hats! The Martian sets are fun, too. Not at all what I expected, they remind me a bit of some of the German expressionist films I've seen. The Mars scenes alternate with long scenes of Russia from the early 1920's, which are not nearly as interesting as Mars. Most of the film is life in Russia, a jealous husband, a detective on the trail of a murderer... The resolution is a huge let-down that I hadn't expected.

The Thief of Baghdad

The Thief of Baghdad (1924) stars Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Anna May Wong. It is directed by Raoul Walsh.

It's online at youtube in 14 pieces. Part 1:

part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7, part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13, part 14

Or Kino Video has a beautiful edition.

1000 Misspent Hours doesn't like Fairbanks' performance. There was a remake in 1940 starring Sabu (one of Roger Ebert's "great movies": "This 1940 movie is one of the great entertainments. It lifts up the heart.") and another in 1961 starring Steve Reeves. Hey! Don't laugh! I like Steve Reeves.

Kevin Kline's Cyrano de Bergerac

We just happened to see this come on the tv tonight after the news, so we watched it. Kevin Kline is great as Cyrano de Bergerac in this made-for-tv filming of a Broadway revival.

Playbill has a report. The New York Times has a review praising Kline's performance in the role. The PBS site should have information here, but I've been getting "server error" each time I try to go there. There are clips linked at googlevideo, including an excerpt from an interview with Kline in which he discusses audience interruptions during the play.

I enjoyed this. I like the story, and I like the Jose Ferrer version from 1950. Theatre Memphis is hosting a performance of the play in February.

I found the photo at the top of the post on several different web sites.

The War Game

The War Game is a 1965 made-for-tv documentary of the future. It is directed by Peter Watkins and explores the beginnings of nuclear war and the aftermath of a Soviet attack on Britain. It won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 1966. You can read more about it at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

It's online here:


Slant Magazine comments on the film's timeliness:

Could it be that his scathing indictment of England's lack of awareness of what would happen during a nuclear attack in The War Game mirrors a global lack of awareness today?

SciFi.com admits it is dated but says that

in a time when punditry plays an ever-increasing part in people's understanding of policy and there's still uncertainty about the state of the world's arsenals, The War Game, as a think piece, can still move audiences to think. And shudder.

Independent Film Quarterly explains some of the film's history:

Despite winning an Academy Award, two BAFTA awards and a prize at the Venice Film Festival, The War Game was suppressed from general viewing in Britain for decades and was rarely viewed in other countries as well. This mainly stems from the horrifying realistic portrayal of the initial damage and aftereffects of a nuclear attack on Great Britain.

The statements of Church officials are sickening. As I watch the movie my stomach tightens and tears come to my eyes. Frightening. No wonder they were afraid to show this film.

Song for Three Soldiers

By

Stephen Vincent Benét

Oh, where are you coming from, soldier, fine soldier,
In your dandy new uniform, all spick and span,
With your helmeted head and the gun on your shoulder,
Where are you coming from, gallant young man?

I come from the war that was yesterday’s trouble,
I come with the bullet still blunt in my breast;
Though long was the battle and bitter the struggle,
Yet I fought with the bravest, I fought with the best.

Oh, where are you coming from, soldier, tall, soldier,
With ray-gun and sun-bomb and everything new,
And a face that might well have been carved from a boulder,
Where are you coming from, now tell me true!

My harness is novel, my uniform other
Than any gay uniform people have seen,
Yet I am your future and I am your brother
And I am the battle that has not yet been.

Oh, where are you coming from, soldier, gaunt soldier,
With weapons beyond any reach of my mind,
With weapons so deadly the world must grow older
And die in its tracks, if it does not turn kind?

Stand out of my way and be silent before me!
For none shall come after me, foeman or friend,
Since the seed of your seed called me out to employ me,
And that was the longest, and that was the end.

Watch The Prisoner

What a treat! SFSignal tells me I can watch The Prisoner tv series online at amctv. Hooray! The videos can even be embedded. Here's Episode 1, Arrival:



The others are linked here.

I was the only person I knew who watched this series at the time. I can't remember how old I was when I saw them, but I was fascinated by it all.

Larque on the Wing

Larque on the Wing by Nancy Springer is a fantasy novel that spends its time telling us to embrace our inner child. Well, at least that's what it felt like to me.

from the back of the book:

A "dopplganger" she unconsciously created out of thin air turns out to be herself at age ten -a scabby-kneed accuser who entices the forty-year-old wife, mother, and successful crafter of home decoration products out into the adult night in search of lost dreams. But Larque's bizarre nocturnal journey is leading her farther from home and hearth than she has ever strayed - and there might be no way back. For the road ends at Popular street, where life is exciting and gay. And there, beneath the talented fingers of a beautiful,tormented cowboy, Larque is to be remade - becoming a new "Lark," younger, stronger, more courageous...and male.

It sounds fascinating, but I find it too heavy on the preachy psycho-babble of accepting separated and repressed segments of ourselves into a coherent whole. The idea that her ego has to be male to be portrayed as strong, that the "mother" within her is repressive and judgmental and frumpy, that she is the only one whose other self had a different gender... I don't know... Why couldn't her strong, youthful, rebellious self just as easily be female? I think it buys into some of the very stereotypes it is obviously trying to confront. This just feels dated to me.

I also disagree with the author's theology, but that's another subject entirely. I believe Jesus was conceived in Mary and born of 2 parents and wasn't "tidily tucked" into Mary by God.

The book won the 1994 Tiptree award. It appears to be out of print, so I consider myself fortunate to have found it at half price at my local used book store.

Constantine

Constantine is a 2005 fantasy film inspired by the Vertigo Hellblazer comic books. The film begins with the discovery of the Spear of Destiny in Mexico. It stars Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz and Shia LaBeouf.

trailer:


Rolling Stone reviews it here. Roger Ebert has some rambling reflections here. Variety provides "damnation with faint praise". Moria doesn't like it either.

The Elder Son got this DVD as a Christmas present and was watching it late last night for the third time. The other 2 kids and I had never seen it before. We liked it. It was fun, even though it had less action than we expected. I won't mind at all seeing it again sometime, and I'd look forward to a sequel if it looked like there was a possibility of that.

The Epiphany

My post for 2007 is here, and last year's post is here. There is a ritual for an Epiphany blessing here.

I realize that the revelation of Christ must be noticed to be seen. I pray I'm one who will always recognize presence of Christ.

Collect of the Day:

O God, who by the leading of a star manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The picture at the top of the post is of Sandro Botticelli's 1475 painting Adoration of the Magi. The figures in the painting are identified here. The National Gallery of Art, WebMuseum and the Web Gallery each has information.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Actually, it's been lookin' a lot like Christmas around here since the beginning of Advent, and we'll be putting up the Epiphany decorations tomorrow.

This version of It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas is by Perry Como.

The Case of the Christmas Pudding

The Case of the Christmas Pudding is a 1955 episode of the Sherlock Holmes television series that starred Ronald Howard (son of Leslie Howard, yes the Leslie Howard) as Sherlock Holmes:

12/1/2009: I've removed the video from veoh because I couldn't figure out how to disable their autoplay feature. Hulu has it. (11/26/2016 edit: Well, Hulu may still have it, but they seem to have put everything behind a paywall. Sad.)

Try here:

I had never heard of this until I saw it in this list of online Christmas videos.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas is a 1953 Christmas song sung by Gayla Peevey.

The Three Little Pigs' Christmas Surprise

No comment.

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 147

1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.

2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.

3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.

6 The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground.

7 Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God:

8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.

9 He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.

10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.

11 The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.

13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee.

14 He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.

16 He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes.

17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold?

18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.

19 He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel.

20 He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.

KJV

Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

Or listen to it while you watch a fake fire. Odd.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono's protest song Happy Christmas (War Is Over) has held up well. As long as there's war there'll be a place for this song.

The Year Without a Santa Claus

The Year Without a Santa Claus is a Rankin/Bass animated television special from 1974. Mickey Rooney and Shirley Booth provide the voices for Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

The Year Without Santa Claus by atsau

This was re-made in 2006, but the re-make was not well-received.

WALL-E

The Husband likes funny movies with happy endings and I had heard good things about WALL-E, so I bought if for him as an anniversary present. We watched it over Friday pizza tonight, and, except for that roach, the film was a great success. Some of us will never forgive them for making a roach one of the main characters...

trailer:


The New York Times has a review, as do Salon.com, Variety and Rolling Stone.

Roger Ebert says,

Pixar’s “WALL-E” succeeds at being three things at once: an enthralling animated film, a visual wonderment and a decent science-fiction story.

The Deep Blue Good-by

The Deep Blue Good-by introduces us to private detective Travis McGee, John D. MacDonald's protagonist through 21 mystery novels spanning 20 years of publication. MacDonald died in 1986. This one is from 1964 and shows it. The women are young, needy, dysfunctional and weak, and they all want to go to bed with "Trav" and apparently any other man who slows down within reach.

from the publisher:

Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages and television. He only works when his cash runs out and his rule is simple--he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.

It's on this list of 100 favorite mysteries of the century, which is how I found it.

The Christmas Song: Mel Torme and Judy Garland

Mel Torme, who wrote the song, and Judy Garland do a fun version of The Christmas Song. This is from 1963.

The Smurfs Christmas Special

The Smurfs Christmas Special is a 1982 Hanna Barbera show, featuring the Smurfs from the 1980's television series. Rene Auberjonois (of Star Trek fame) does one of the voices.

The Smurfs' Christmas Special & 'Tis the Season... by Sidney_Tucker

Mort

Mort is the 4th book in newly knighted Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. This one is another in what I'm coming to depend on to be a reliably enjoyable and funny series. I'm looking forward to the next one.

from the back of the book:

In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse -- especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory.As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life.

SFReviews called it an "irresistibly goofy bit of fluff". Steven Wu opens his review with this:

Mort is the first Discworld novel I have read that lives up to the series' overwhelming popularity. It is a charming tale, cleverly told, and--at last!--often hilarious.

People Look East

This version of People Look East is sung by the Southern Methodist University Seminary Singers.

Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 Rankin/Bass animated television special loosely based on the song by the same name. There's a short segment from the beginning of the show here:


It's not my favorite holiday show. It's too pointlessly silly and really bears little resemblance to the song that inspired it, so I wonder why they didn't either come up with a whole 'nother story or be more true to their inspiration piece. I have the same complaint about the Disney fairy tale movies. I don't have much company in this opinion, I know.

Auld Lang Syne: Leon Redbone

Leon Redbone sings Auld Lang Syne with a little help from Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson.

The Little Match Girl

The Little Match Girl is a 1937 animated cartoon short that is part of the Color Rhapsodies series. Nominated for an Academy Award, it lost to a Disney cartoon.



This film includes the sad ending without sugar-coating the original Hans Christian Andersen tale as so often happens with his work. I remember crying the first time I read this story. It's online on one short page here.

There is a 1977 Japanese animated version at youtube here. It takes place on Christmas Eve rather than New Year's Eve as in the other one. This ending is also true to the original story.

While You Were Sleeping

This is another delightful romantic comedy that The Daughter introduced me to. While You Were Sleeping is perfect. It's a feel-good movie from start to finish, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The film was released in 1995 and has Peter Boyle, Jack Warden and Glynis Johns and stars Sandra Bullock, Bill Pullman and Peter Gallagher.

trailer:


EW didn't much like it. The New York Times review says,

This is a formula film, but it has the kind of good cheer and fine tuning that occasionally give slickness a good name.

Variety says,

Its success is a true testament to its cast and to Turteltaub's keen sense of balance.

Roger Ebert closes his review with this:

It's a feel-good film, warm and good-hearted, and as it was heading for its happy ending, I was still a little astonished how much I was enjoying it.

Jethro Tull: A Christmas Song

I remember driving down the road a few years ago listening to Christmas music on the radio. Then there was this flute that sounded so familiar, and I realized that Jethro Tull must have a Christmas CD out. I bought it soon after that and have enjoyed it every year.

It's a Wonderful Life

Definitely one of my least favorite of the traditional holiday films, It's a Wonderful Life is much-loved by The Husband. There's no accounting for taste, but he's not alone is his feelings about this film. It's directed by Frank Capra and stars Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers and Charles Lane.

trailer:



BBC says the film

achieves a fine balancing act between pathos and feel-good that is delivered by an outstanding cast.

Roger Ebert says, "What is remarkable about "It's a Wonderful Life" is how well it holds up over the years," and that it is "not just a heart-warming "message picture.""

I agree more with the New York Times review as it states

the weakness of this picture, from this reviewer's point of view, is the sentimentality of it—its illusory concept of life. Mr. Capra's nice people are charming, his small town is a quite beguiling place and his pattern for solving problems is most optimistic and facile. But somehow they all resemble theatrical attitudes rather than average realities.

The New York Times says the film is

a terrifying, asphyxiating story about growing up and relinquishing your dreams, of seeing your father driven to the grave before his time, of living among bitter, small-minded people. It is a story of being trapped, of compromising, of watching others move ahead and away, of becoming so filled with rage that you verbally abuse your children, their teacher and your oppressively perfect wife. (HT: GreenCineDaily)

I agree wholeheartedly with that reviewer.

Here's the lost ending, introduced by William Shatner:

Christina Rossetti

Today is the anniversary of the death in 1894 of Christina Rossetti, English poet. There is more about her at Victorian Web and at PSU's site on Pre-Raphaelite Women. LiteraryHistory.com has numerous links to further articles and resources.

In the Bleak Midwinter

Her poem In the Bleak Midwinter is a popular Christmas song set to a tune by Holst. See more about the song here. Listen to the tune here.

Mannheim Steamroller: Joy To the World

Mannheim Steamroller's live performance of Joy to the World:

The Husband and The Daughter went to the Orpheum to see Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas concert this year. The Daughter was quite disappointed that Chip Davis was not there (he was recovering from throat surgery, and we hope he has recovered completely). They had a great time and are glad to have had the chance to go.

The Night Before Christmas

This version of The Night Before Christmas is one of the Silly Symphony cartoons from 1933.

Watch it here:


This is the same jolly Santa as appeared in Santa's Workshop. In this story Santa delivers toys. There are a couple of Mickey Mouse toys, but otherwise it doesn't have a very Disney look to it. The Husband thought it was a Fleischer cartoon when he first saw it.

Equal Rites

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett is the 3rd book in the Discworld series. This one is lots of fun, better than the first 2, and inspires me to keep reading them. I love Granny Weatherwax.

from the back of the book:

In Equal Rites, a dying wizard tries to pass on his powers to an eighth son of an eighth son, who is just at that moment being born. The fact that the son is actually a daughter is discovered just a little too late...

SFReviews.net says

As always, a trip to Terry Pratchett's Discworld provides a reliably silly holiday from mundane reality, by way of pure reading magic.

SFSignal calls it "mediocre".

Dave Langford's Ansible review says,

Pratchett's ultimate secret lies in the fact that without betraying earth-shaking literary genius, his writing is unpretentious and likeable.

Christmas Gospel

Luke 2: 22-40

22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;

23 (As it is written in the law of the LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)

24 And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,

28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

33 And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him.

34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

35(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

36 And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;

37 And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.

38 And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

39 And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.

40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

KJV

A Taste for Death

A Taste for Death is another -the 7th- in P.D. James' Adam Dalgliesh mystery novels. It won the Silver Dagger award in 1986. In this one the murders take place in the church vestry, and religious experience figures prominently in the case.

from the back of the book:

When the vestry of St. Matthew's Church becomes the blood-soaked scene of a double murder, Scotland Yard Commander Adam Dalgliesh faces an intriguing conundrum: How did an upper-crust Minister come to die next to a neighborhood derelict of the lowest order? Challenged with the investigation of a crime that appears to have endless motives, Dalgliesh explores the sinister web spun around a half-burnt diary and a violet-eyed widow who is pregnant and full of malice - all the while hoping to fill the gap of logic that joined these two disparate men in bright red death...

Theology Today has a review.

I've read a couple of these, including the first one, and have enjoyed them. I will continue to pick them up and add them to my tbr stack, but I may start trying to read them in order.