Pixel Scroll 8/17 Knock-knock. Who’s there? Noah. Noah Who? Noah Ward

When you copy many sources it’s research – or today’s Scroll.

(1) Exhibit #27,837 that science fiction fandom has gone mainstream:

(2) The renovated Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria, where LASFS once met, reopens September 17.

Clifton's Cafeteria after the remodel.

Clifton’s Cafeteria after the remodel.

In its prime [in the 1930s] the Brookdale served close to 10,000 people a day, and Clinton went on to open ten more cafeterias, among them the Polynesian-themed Pacific Seas, where a two-story waterfall greeted customers at the entrance and every 20 minutes rain fell over the mezzanine. Clinton’s wondrous environments are said to have inspired everyone from Walt Disney to writer Ray Bradbury, animation pioneer Ray Harryhausen, and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, who gathered at the Brookdale for meetings of the newly formed Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society.

“This is a total playground,” Meieran told me, digging into a crumbling box of old metal nameplates he had just discovered in a corner. “When I get into a project, I love to tear it apart. The first night I get a screwdriver and a hammer and I start opening things.”

Linda Dishman, executive director of the Los Angeles Conservancy, consulted with Meieran on how to overhaul the building while being mindful of its history. “You want somebody who respects what it is—you don’t want somebody who is going to strip that away,” she says. “But then you don’t want somebody to go ‘Clifton’s crazy,’ either. Andrew did a fabulous job. He took spaces that had not been included in the restaurant and made them into a Clifton’s for this century.”

(3) And when they weren’t at Clifton’s, Joseph Hawkins has a theory about how some LASFSians were spending their time. This theory has been around for awhile, but Hawkins’ version sounds nicer than Laney’s.

“USC seminar to explore how sci-fan fandom sparked the gay rights movement. Gender Studies 410 will ask students to conduct original research using materials from the largest LGBT archive in the world”

The stories and commentary in these journals served as incubators for ideas that would lead to political organizing decades later. Sci-fi allowed readers to safely engage with thoughts about alien races with mixed genders or finding love despite their differences. In the 1930s, these messages were actually more overt; by the McCarthy era, the culture’s atmosphere had stifled messages about gay or lesbian themes.

“You have to read between the lines,” Hawkins said. Publications like Weird Tales or other “creature magazines” often featured monsters carrying off nude women — and were being illustrated by female artists. The same was true for some illustrations featuring men. Considering the artists’ sexual backgrounds lends a different context to who these clichéd monsters represented — one that says more about life on Earth than anywhere else.

In the days before the Internet, sci-fi magazines also served as an early precursor to discussion forums. Readers traded letters about space exploration as well as changes in society. They even trolled one another, igniting epic arguments about politics and other subjects.

The readers in these circles include a who’s who of classic sci-fi: Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein and the omni-present L. Ron Hubbard were all highly active. So was superfan Forrest Ackerman, publisher of Famous Monsters of Filmland.

But just like Internet forums, most people wrote using nom de plumes, allowing them to express a side of themselves that was often kept hidden. Kepner himself had about 14 different pseudonyms ranging from esoteric references to unprintable humor.

Some gay and lesbian writers had entire alter egos to go with their names. One of those writers was “Lisa Ben” — an anagram of “lesbian” — who worked as a Warner Bros. secretary and used company equipment to print the first lesbian zine in the United States. But she also was known as Tigrina the Devil Doll, a kind of proto-Catwoman with her own handmade costume.

All those pseudonyms make for intensive detective work. Hawkins and others at ONE Archives have had to sleuth out who is who and what the relationships were between everyone. Those skills are vital to archival research, he said, and have helped to uncover unexpected connections between sci-fi and LGBT communities across the country, and even internationally.

(4) Nancy Kress, guest blogging at Women in Science Fiction, talks about the ultimate sources of stories in “Why This? Why There? Why Now? Or Why I Wrote Crossfire. Maybe”.

So what does all this have to do with science fiction, and specifically with my novel Crossfire? SF writers may name the inspiration for their works (AI research, the battle for Iwo Jima, Star Trek, a dream about ghosts), but that only identifies the rocks and beaches on the surface. Most fiction comes from shifting tectonic plates far underground, throwing up fire and lava from everything the writer has ever experienced. This is what gives fiction depth (and scholars something to write about). Sometimes, even the author is surprised by what emerges from his or her keyboard.

(5) Earl Hamner fans have created a Change.org petition calling for him to receive Kennedy Center honors.

Earl Hamner not only gave us The Waltons but he brought us Falcon Crest and several episodes of The Twilight Zone. He also brought us the animated adaption of Charlotte’s Web (1973 film). He produced great Novels like; Fifty Roads to Town (1953), Spencer’s Mountain (1961), You Can’t Get There From Here (1965), The Homecoming: A Novel About Spencer’s Mountain (1970), and Generous Women: An Appreciation (2006). He also gave us great TV movies like; Heidi (1969), Appalachian Autumn (1969), Aesop’s Fables (1971), The Homecoming (for CBS, 1971), Where the Lilies Bloom (1972), The Gift of Love: A Christmas Story (1983) and more!  These are just some of the reasons Mr. Hamner should be an Honoree.  We the undersigned call on you to honor Mr. Hamner in 2016 with this WAY OVER DUE recognition!

Go to the Kennedy Center Website and submit Earl’s name directly to them for 2016. Do this even if you have already signed the petition and/or if you submitted for 2015.  Look for the button that says “Recommend an Honor“. Click that button and fill out the form.

Join our Facebook Group: Make Earl Hamner Jr a 2016 Kennedy Center Honoree

(6) Keith Kato, President of The Heinlein Society, participated in the latest Take Me To Your Reader Podcast.

Seth was lucky enough to get Keith Kato of the Heinlein Society on the phone to chat about the Society, R.A.H. himself, his work, rumors of future adaptations, and even some tidbits about Predestination, which the Pounders discussed earlier in 2015 and is probably still their favorite episode.

(7) Vox Day in “Negotiation” lists whose skulls “we would be willing to accept in order to bring about a rapprochement in science fiction.”

I believe it is a priori apparent that their skulls would be of far more utility to mankind if they were helping satiate the thirst of the Dark Lord and his guests than any other purpose for which they might be currently used.

Of course you do.

(8) It’s Dave Freer’s turn at Mad Genius Club today – see how you score on “Quizz kid”.

10) Do you believe that comments that disagree with you should be censored, or disemvoweled? a) Yes. We’re protecting the freedom of speech and expressing tolerance. How can we do that if just any old redneck can say what he thinks? We’re looking for a vibrant diversity of opinion just like ours. You won’t get that if you let the scum talk. They need to be deprived of a platform, any platform! b) No. Give them a fair crack of the whip at least. Ask ‘em to be civil, maybe. And if they can’t be they can go and spout it somewhere else.

I believe in quoting exactly what they say. Which is why they can’t stand me.

(9) Have you heard? Someone filed a lawsuit against meal replacement company Soylent because it may contain ingredients it shouldn’t.

(10) What actual science fiction fan can’t think of an answer to this question?

[Thanks to Jamoche, Michael J. Walsh, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Cubist.]

562 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 8/17 Knock-knock. Who’s there? Noah. Noah Who? Noah Ward

  1. “No love for Dead Poets’ Society as Movie About School?”

    Not from me. William’s character is a complete dick.

    The History Boys is a million times better.

  2. We left out a category:

    Best Swashbuckler — For which I submit Pirates of the Caribbean — The Curse of the Black Pearl

  3. @Mike Glyer:

    Favorite Movie No One Else Seems to Like: The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming.

    Sir, I exist! Hmph.

    To this day, I have to make a Saving Throw at -5 to avoid appending “….everybody to get from strits” to any occurrence of the word “Emergency” I encounter.

  4. “….everybody to get from strits”

    I thought it was ‘everyone please to get off of the street’.
    (We got a laugh from the island having cartons of Foremost milk – that was a northern California brand.)

  5. My FAVORITE MOVIE NO ONE ELSE SEEMS TO LIKE is probably HEAD OVER HEELS, starring John Heard, Mary Beth Hurt and Peter Riegert.

    But that’s in part because so few people have seen it — it was re-edited and re-released as CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER, cutting the finale and the best scene and thus everything that makes the rest of the movie lead up to something.

  6. Matt Y @ 11:59 am- I think Butcher had a real chance until Vox Day went toward the Three Body Problem. I think he has influence over several hundred voters, which might not be enough to win a category but is enough to heavily influence things. Once he went against Skin Game as the number 1 pick, I think, on balance, we (the Sad Puppies) lost our best chance of winning Best Novel.

    As a Jim Butcher fan, I don’t have a problem with his stated position as it appears sincere. And I think Jim Butcher still has a shot, despite this unanticipated bump in the road. We’ll see.

    Cat @ 2:28 pm- You’re correct, in that Jim Butcher has not pushed the Hugos among his fan base. In fact, most threads on his 50,000+ person forum/website dealing with the Hugos have been locked as overly controversial. My take is that he appreciates the nomination but isn’t going to be distracted by pissing match about pink vs. blue sci-fi, etc.. So he has not flexed his fan “muscle” in this contest.

    That said, there are so many unexpected voters, I don’t know who will win. I believe the Dark Between the Stars will be last place. As to the Skin Game v. Ancillary Sword v. Goblin Emperor v. Three Body Problem contest, I’m not sure. I suspect Jim Butcher would win if it were a simple matter as to who’ll get the most first place votes, but under the cumulative voting system, I don’t know.

    Movies:

    Favorite Musical: Camelot.
    Favorite Science Fiction Movie: Star Wars: A New Hope
    Favorite Fantasy Movie: Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
    Favorite Horror Movie: Jeepers Creepers
    Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Movie: Mad Max: Road Warrior.
    Favorite Cop Movie: Lethal Weapon I.
    Favorite Comedy: Caddyshack.
    Favorite Western: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
    Favorite Courtroom Drama: The Lincoln Lawyer.
    Favorite Movie About School: Ferris Bueler’s Day Off.
    Favorite Super-Hero Movie: The Dark Knight.
    Favorite Animated Movie: Minions.
    Favorite Civil War Movie: Outlaw Josey Wales.
    Favorite World War I Movie: Das Boot.
    Favorite World War II Movie: Sands of Iwo Jima.
    Favorite POW War Movie: The Great Escape.
    Favorite Movie No One Else Seems to Like: Shaolin Soccer.
    Favorite Spy Movie: James Bond- Casino Royale.
    Favorite Bond Movie: James Bond- Casino Royale.
    Favorite Ray Harryhausen Movie: Seven Voyages of Sinbad.
    Favorite Giant Monster Movie: The Dog Soldiers (if werewolves don’t count, King Kong, 1933).
    Favorite King Arthur Related Movie: Tie- Monty Python and the Holy Grail/Sword in the Stone.
    Favorite Movie Adapted from a Book: The Godfather.
    Favorite Christmas Movie: Home Alone I.
    Favorite Low Budget Movie: Evil Dead.
    Favorite Movie of All Time: Maltese Falcon.

  7. @WillR: ever heard the Dead Man soundtrack? An entire album of Neil Young guitar noodling, with occasional spurts of Johnny Depp reading William Blake over the top. Gorgeous.

  8. Too late in the day to spend a lot of time thinking about the movie list, but I do want to mention a few.

    Best Arthurian: Knightriders. Tells the story of Lancelot and Guinevere better than any other film version, I think.

    Best Horror. It was always The Haunting until Don’t Look Now came out. I love Don’t Look Now so much…

    Best SF. Still 2001, which despite the increase in special effects quality in the past near-50 years, still looks great.

    What category does The Bicycle Thief fall under?

    Superhero. The Avengers.

    Best movie-that-other-people-probably-kinda-like-but-probably-not-as-much-as-I-do: Speed.

    Best comedy. Young Frankenstein is in the mix, but mostly I love older ones like Bringing Up Baby and Some Like It Hot and It Happened One Night and the Philadelphia Story and Holiday and Girl Friday and… A newer one I liked a lot was Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day.

    Glad (if surprised) to see a bunch of love for Dead Man, which I liked, but Favorite Jim Jarmusch: Only Lovers Left Alive.

    Best: Casablanca.

    Worst Movie On Multiple Lists: Joe vs. the Volcano (but you knew that)

    Worst Movie on Mike Glyer’s List: Mary Poppins. I recently saw 15-20 minutes of that, and oh dear god.

  9. Mike Glyer:

    Some hate the effective vandalism of the award. Some dislike having their intelligence insulted by the justifications for it. Some are happy to open another front in the culture wars. And don’t forget, there are even some who wouldn’t have objected if all the writers on the slate had given their permission to be on it.

    Don’t forget those who felt that “you guys sound like the Marxist Futurians, except without any of their fun, starry-eyed optimism” was a moderately clever zinger, since in Worldcon legend the Futurians were shunned, whereas now some of you within the walls wouldn’t mind ostracizing the “Puppies,” yet we also agree that even though Brad must be livid about the death threats against his family and the 215,145 Minute Hate, he was completely out of line to rant about “icy wastes” even as a sarcastic metaphor, so speaking out against that kind of rhetoric is also completely reasonable, and meanwhile we are also acutely conscious that our own reactions to all of this are probably biased, or even sometimes inconsistent, so we try to remain open to different perspectives.

  10. You’re correct, in that Jim Butcher has not pushed the Hugos among his fan base. In fact, most threads on his 50,000+ person forum/website dealing with the Hugos have been locked as overly controversial. My take is that he appreciates the nomination but isn’t going to be distracted by pissing match about pink vs. blue sci-fi, etc.. So he has not flexed his fan “muscle” in this contest.

    Not being a Butcher fan, and following all this on File 770 which doesn’t link to Butcher fan sites, I had no idea he’s been put in the position of preferring to lock threads in which his fans talk about wanting to give him a Hugo. On one hand, what a positive gesture on his part, and simultaneously, how sad.

  11. Jeff Smith: What difference does it make to you what movies are on my list. A spoonful of something besides sugar for you!

  12. Movies:

    Favorite Musical: Shock Treatment
    Favorite Science Fiction Movie: Forbidden Planet
    Favorite Fantasy Movie: TLR Trilogy
    Favorite Horror Movie: Doctor Phibes Rises Again!
    Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Movie: Southland Tales (during maybe?)
    Favorite Cop Movie/TV Show: True Detective Series 1
    Favorite Comedy: Some Like It Hot
    Favorite Western: Blazing Saddles.
    Favorite Courtroom Drama: To Kill A Mockingbird
    Favorite Movie About School: Back To The Future (bit of a cheat)
    Favorite Super-Hero Movie: Iron Man
    Favorite Animated Movie: Rock & Rule
    Favorite Civil War Movie: Witchfinder General (Our civil war!)
    Favorite World War I Movie: Oh! What A Lovely War
    Favorite World War II Movie: Sherlock Holmes & The Secret Weapon.
    Favorite POW War Movie: The Great Escape.
    Favorite Movie No One Else Seems to Like: The Spirit
    Favorite Spy Movie: Casino Royale (With David Niven)
    Favorite Bond Movie: James Bond- Moonraker
    Favorite Ray Harryhausen Movie: Seven Voyages of Sinbad.
    Favorite Giant Monster Movie: Monsters!.
    Favorite King Arthur Related Movie: Tie- Monty Python and the Holy Grail
    Favorite Movie adapted from a Book: Great Expectations
    Favorite Christmas Movie: White Christmas/It’s A Wonderful Life.
    Favorite Low Budget Movie: Dead Shadows.
    Favorite Movie of All Time: The Call Of Cthulhu (HPLHS B&W Version)

  13. Ann Somerville:

    “Best Swashbuckler: Captain Blood. The Three Musketeers (1948)

    I knew that was what you meant to write, Hampus”

    For some reason, I associated swashbuckling with pirates. After checking it up in the dictionary, I’ll change my choice to Three Musketeers (1973). But I’ll still go for Captain Blood as best pirate movie. Followed by The Crimson Pirate.?

  14. Btw, really happy about this thread. I have started to arrange movie marathons every other month or so, so this is just perfect to remind me of movies to add to the showing list.

  15. I still think of Captain Blood as a swashbuckler, and it was my immediate thought. Adventures of Robin Hood would also be in the running for me. Errol Flynn for playing cavalier so wonderfully. Though it’s fun to consider Peter O’Toole in My Favorite Year playing off of Flynn’s persona.

  16. Question for anybody who’s neither a pathological liar nor an overt Pup: When did anybody send any death threats to Torgersen, or Torgersen’s family?

  17. If we’re doing swashbucklers, surely The Court Jester has to be in there somewhere.

    The pellet with the poison’s in the flagon with the dragon; the vessel with the pestle has the brew that is true…

  18. Cubist:

    “Question for anybody who’s neither a pathological liar nor an overt Pup: When did anybody send any death threats to Torgersen, or Torgersen’s family?”

    To be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if someone did. There was an extreme amount of anger the first month after the results of the nominations were published and that is when the threats were supposedly sent.

    I’ve had enough with the puppies like Correia who talk about all death threats in gamergate as if they were fake. Lets not start with the same thing.

  19. Fantasy films. I’m going to hit the same problem in the 80’s that I did with science fiction films, aren’t I?

    The 1920’s goes to THE THIEF OF BAGDAD. Not a perfect film by any means, but Douglas Fairbanks is pretty spectacular in it.

    For the 1930’s, Lost Horizon stood a chance, but once again I have to give it to THE WIZARD OF OZ. And Capra will be back in …

    The 1940’s brings a lot of very strong contenders, including the enchanting Fantasia, the memorable A Matter of Life and Death, and the classic excellence of Miracle of 34th Street. But I’m going to give it to the reach, scope, and persistence of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. A great director at his finest with a great actor at his finest.

    The 1950’s seem a little lacking in great fantasy. There are some decent entries like Peter Pan, Kismet, and Carousel. But the only one that stood out as truly brilliant to me that I could remember was THE SEVENTH SEAL. Bergman does good film.

    The 1960’s again don’t net a lot. I considered The Sword in the Stone, and even Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. But I’m going to go a bit out of the box here and give it to YELLOW SUBMARINE. Dazzling and bizarre.

    The 1970’s, still light. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was good, and I have reasonably fond memories of Pete’s Dragon if it hasn’t been visited by the suck fairy. But neither of them can compare to the supreme excellence of MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL. One of the most quotable movies of all time. Even the credits are quotable.

    Aaaaand …. the 1980’s. A bunch here that might have won in other decades. First, there’s a bunch that are almost at the top but flawed in some way or another, whether significant or small … but a small flaw is enough to cut you out of the running here: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Beetlejuice, Highlander, Time Bandits, The Dark Crystal, All of Me, Gremlins, Ladyhawke, The Purple Rose of Cairo. Then we get to movies that are almost perfect. Kiki’s Delivery Service. Labyrinth. The Princess Bride. Wings of Desire. But I think I must hand this one to the 80’s defining brilliance that is GHOSTBUSTERS.

    As with science fiction movies, the 1990’s gives us a smaller but extremely high quality set. Army of Darkness was fun. Miyazake gave us both Porco Rosso and Princess Mononoke here. Edward Scissorhands was a serious contender, as was The Nightmare Before Christmas. Groundhog Day is one of those near-perfect movies that would have won in a number of other decades. But this one belongs to the literal head trip that is BEING JOHN MALKOVITCH.

    The 2000’s, another hard decade, and I’m going to throw in movies up to 2015 here. All three Lord of the Rings movies, plus Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Against them, some interesting longshots like Stranger than Fiction, Night Watch, Enchanted, and Hellboy. But also some truly great animated fantasy, with Corpse Bride showing Burton still had it, How to Train Your Dragon, and Monsters Inc. But I’m going to give this one to SPIRITED AWAY, a masterpiece from a wonderworker.

    So, that gives me The Thief of Bagdad, The Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Seventh Seal, Yellow Submarine, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Ghostbusters, Being John Malkovitch, and Spirited Away. Holy crap I have to cut that down? OK, um. Top half is, er, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Ghostbusters, Being John Malkovitch, and Spirited Away. Take that down to Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Spirited Away. And I’m going to give it to …

    SPIRITED AWAY

  20. Favorite Musical: The Nightmare Before Christmas
    Favorite Science Fiction Movie: What kind of question is that? OK Star Wars. From before it started getting called ‘A New Hope’.
    Favorite Fantasy Movie: The Return of the King (Cinema release)
    Favorite Horror Movie: Alien
    Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Movie: Twelve Monkeys
    Favorite Cop Movie/TV Show: We’re allowed TV shows all of a sudden? Hill Street Blues
    Favorite Comedy: Arsenic and Old Lace
    Favorite Western: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
    Favorite Courtroom Drama: 12 Angry Men
    Favorite Movie About School: The Belles of St Trinian’s
    Favorite Super-Hero Movie: Iron Man
    Favorite Animated Movie: Princess Mononoke.
    Favorite Civil War Movie: Not that there are many… OK, The Four Musketeers. Not our civil war, but still fun.
    Favorite World War I Movie: Wings
    Favorite World War II Movie: Memphis Belle
    Favorite POW War Movie: The Wooden Horse
    Favorite Movie No One Else Seems to Like: First Knight
    Favorite Spy Movie: North By Northwest
    Favorite Bond Movie: Thunderball
    Favorite Ray Harryhausen Movie: First Men in the Moon
    Favorite Giant Monster Movie: Pacific Rim
    Favorite King Arthur Related Movie: Excalibur
    Favorite Movie adapted from a Book: The Princess Bride
    Favorite Christmas Movie: Are we allowed repeats? The Nightmare Before Christmas again.
    Favorite Low Budget Movie: In The Bleak Midwinter (aka A Midwinter’s Tale)
    Favorite Movie of All Time: Don’t be silly.

  21. @Kyra, it remains a treat to see your thought-process decade-by-decade favorite movie ruminations. So many good movies!

  22. @Mike Glyer:

    I apologize for making a hash of my posting about the Camelot musical. I ought to have thought more when I didn’t even get a visible-to-me-but-invisible-to-everyone-else “your post is awaiting moderation” post.

  23. John C. Wright:

    “No, to avoid the legal implications, I suggest we, the comicbook-loving community, merely appear at the offices of DC comics, and stage a riot, have the level of violence spiral out of control, drag the editors and owners bodily out of the building, and hang them from lampposts, and laugh and tell Monty Python jokes while their legs kick, dancing with spasms, in the air, inches from the ground. Then we can scratch their car paint with keys.

    I agree, this might cast a pall over the comicbook-loving community, and folk may look down upon us as barbaric—which is why we should all dress in headscarves and Bedouin robes for the bloody event, whereupon the news media and all righthinking people will take great care to present our side of the story in the most sympathetic possible light, and any one who points out, truthfully, that our barbaric act of vigilante multiple murder over an issue of trivial comicbook geekdom nerdification was, well, barbaric, any such feckless abecedarian naif can be silenced and ostracized by being called a racist.”

    He’s so sweet.

    (yes, I posted this in the wrong thread, but it is a good answer to Steve Moss thoughts about Wright being a loving person)

  24. Horror movie. Oh, that’s going to be a LOT easier. It’s not my favorite genre, so I haven’t seen nearly as much. Of the ones I want to see, there are a lot I haven’t gotten around to (from Psycho to The Cabin in the Woods) because there tends to be stuff higher on my list. And a lot of the horror I have seen has been at Bad Movie Festivals, and most of those aren’t going to make this list. Somewhat of a relief at this point, really. I’m going to include horror-comedy, though, because otherwise sometimes I won’t have many choices.

    For the 1920’s, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari would be a solid choice, but I’m going to go with NOSFERATU. Creepy and innovative.

    In the 1930’s, once again THE INVISIBLE MAN takes it. Claude Rains is a great actor.

    For the 1940’s. Um. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN. Because why not.

    In the 1950’s there are some interesting choices. House of Wax wasn’t bad. I really should give this to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. But I’m not. I’m giving it to BRIDE OF THE MONSTER. That’s right, Bride of the Monster. I have gotten *endless* enjoyment from that movie, albeit not for the reasons the director intended.

    The 1960’s has a bunch of classics I haven’t seen. Oh, well. I rather liked Corman’s Little Shop of Horrors. But Bergman’s going to run away with it again for HOUR OF THE WOLF

    From the 1970’s I’ve seen The Wicker Man and The Amityville Horror, neither of which is going to win here, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which stood a shot, and, well, ALIEN.

    The 1980’s were supposed to be the golden age of horror, right? And indeed there’s some nice films here, a lot of good horror comedies like Gremlins and Once Bitten, and arguably Evil Dead II and The Lost Boys. But they’re not taking it. I thought about giving it to The Thing, but ultimately ended up deciding on THE SHINING.

    In the 1990’s, I liked Scream, and I loved Jacob’s Ladder, which I think is actually a better film than the one I decided to give it to. But THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is a better horror movie.

    The 2000’s may be my favorite period for this genre, with quirky, oddball entries that suit my taste well. Brotherhood of the Wolf, Bubba Ho-Tep, Grindhouse, and Drag Me to Hell are all movies I enjoyed, but the winner for me is GINGER SNAPS.

    And for Recent Films, I’m giving it to THE BABADOOK.

    So, that gives me Nosferatu, The Invisible Man, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Bride of the Monster, Hour of the Wolf, Alien, The Shining, The Blair Witch Project, Ginger Snaps, and The Babadook. Actually pretty easy to cut that in half — Hour of the Wolf, Alien, The Shining, Ginger Snaps, The Babadook. I can pare that one down again to a three-way match between Alien, The Shining, and Ginger Snaps. Now it gets hard.

    Really hard.

    Hmm.

    I’m gonna give it to the underdog:

    GINGER SNAPS

  25. I did enjoy “The Russians are Coming ” However no one has mentioned “Labyrinth ” Really liked that one and it is fantasy.

  26. There was a double-bill of Labyrinth and Dark Crystal in my local cinema recently, but I wasn’t able to go sadly.

  27. I liked Labyrinth. A lot of good muppetry, but a borderline skeevy sexual undertone (Jennifer Connelly was only fifteen, and David Bowie’s trousers were a character all in themselves).

  28. I’m not well-enough versed in movies to make an informed list. But I’ll make a few comments. Kyra, I watched Thief of Bagdad and I now know why he was such a hearthrob. He wore very tight pants. So tight, you can tell he dressed left. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure it would have passed the Hays Code….

    On horror. I hate horror films, and don’t go to them, because NIGHTMARES. But I went to Pan’s Labyrinth with a group of friends. Now, normally, when we leave a theater, we’re chattering and dissecting and quoting and dissing and generally having a great time. When we left after Pan’s Labyrinth, it was in dead silence. Eventually, one of our party said, “I need a drink.” We all agreed… and I don’t drink! (We found a place that served drinks AND ice-cream sundaes, so we were all happy.) We all agreed it was a terrifically well-done movie, and we Never Wanted To See It Again….

    On swashbuckers — when I want to buckle my swashes, I turn to “Scaramouche.” I took just enough fencing to tell a well-done fight from a “Hollywood” fight… and the fights in this movie are well-done.

  29. No time for a long movie list, but Best Swashbuckler? THE CRIMSON PIRATE, hands down. Nick Cravat* is wonderful as the speechless Odo. And where else can you see Burt Lancaster in a dress?

    *Cravat’s best known in the SF genre for portraying the thing-on-the-wing in “Nightmare At 20,000 Feet” (Twilight Zone). He tended to play mute or wordless characters because of an impenetrably thick N’Yawk accent.

  30. I wanna play!

    Favorite Musical: Singing in the Rain
    Favorite Science Fiction Movie: Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
    Favorite Fantasy Movie: The Wizard of Oz
    Favorite Horror Movie: Carrie (1976)
    Favorite Post-Apocalyptic Movie: Hunger Games
    Favorite Cop Movie/TV Show: Die Hard/The Wire
    Favorite Comedy: tie — Blazing Saddles and Caddyshack
    Favorite Western: Silverado
    Favorite Courtroom Drama: 12 Angry Men
    Favorite Movie About School: Heaven Help Us
    Favorite Super-Hero Movie: tie — Iron Man and the first Avengers movie
    Favorite Animated Movie: Beauty and the Beast
    Favorite Civil War Movie: Glory
    Favorite World War I Movie: Does The African Queen count?
    Favorite World War II Movie: Atonement
    Favorite POW War Movie: Stalag 17
    Favorite Movie No One Else Seems to Like: Daredevil (It’s not a favorite movie overall, but I’m the only person I know who doesn’t despise it…)
    Favorite Spy Movie: Charade
    Favorite Bond Movie: Doctor No
    Favorite Ray Harryhausen Movie: Jason and the Argonauts (for the skeleton sword fight scene!)
    Favorite Giant Monster Movie: Godzilla (the original one)
    Favorite King Arthur Related Movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail
    Favorite Movie adapted from a Book: Stand by Me
    Favorite Christmas Movie: A Christmas Story
    Favorite Low Budget Movie: The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love (the movie isn’t that great, but it was the movie I saw on my first date with my partner in 1995)
    Favorite Movie of All Time: The Sound of Music

  31. I’m no cinemaphile, but one movie that’s an all-time favorite of mine is Kenji Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff (1954). Roger Ebert’s Great Movies review has spoilers, but is as always incisive.

    Sansho the Bailiff

  32. Peace Is My Middle Name

    I liked Labyrinth. A lot of good muppetry, but a borderline skeevy sexual undertone (Jennifer Connelly was only fifteen, and David Bowie’s trousers were a character all in themselves).

    I was a girl of the age group for that movie when it came out and I have to say I…didn’t mind.

    The protagonist rejects the skeevy villain at the end, after all. And IMO, a warning to flee temptation is less effective if you don’t acknowledge that it is genuinely tempting.

    This seems pertinent…also funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gljA6KlhLko

  33. @Steve Moss

    I would have said Vox Day controlled about 200 votes, until the Gallo affair, when it became apparent that he is the de facto leader of the Sads as well, so make that 350 votes.

    5,950 people voted on the Hugos. About 1,600 of them nominated honestly and are probably a lost cause for Puppy conversion. The question will be how many of the other 4,000 are going to break for the Puppies and or for Jim Butcher and how many for the other excellent books on offer. Since I am not a Puppy, naturally I imagine these 4,000 non-nominating voters as sharing my opinions on slating or at least my taste in books, which means I’m not the most reliable judge of which way they will go. But my first estimate is they would not only need to vote Puppy, they would need to do so sufficiently emphatically to overcome a 1,250 vote nonPuppy lead. If 2,425 of that 4,000 vote Puppy you’ll have a 50-50 split of Puppies and nonPuppies and a very close race indeed, but that requires that nearly 5/8 of them be Puppies. I…don’t think that’s very likely.

    But we’ll know Sunday (or I will; the Hugo ceremony doesn’t even *start* until an hour past my bedtime, and I’m not the night owl I used to be.)

  34. Another top notch Swashbuckler movie is the french Le Bossu. It is a real gem of a fencing movie, even if some parts are a bit icky by modern standards (the book was written aroung 1850). I highly recommend it.

  35. Among many female friends of my generation, one need only say “Labyrinth” to usher in a vague, glazed expression and beatific smile.

    I was at a mead festival the other day and some vaguely Ren-Faire-ish vendors hat set up shop. One had a sign in her booth that said “Unattended Children Will Be Given To The Goblins” with a picture of Jareth.

    “So!” I said. “How many women come up and say ‘I’m an unattended child!’?”

    “A lot more than I expected when I made the sign,” she said grimly.

  36. Favorite non-Anglophone film: Yojimbo, no Ran
    Favorite swashbuckler: The Princess Bride, though having used that one before, the Depardieu version of Cyrano de Bergerac.
    Favorite Sports movie: Lagaan,
    Favorite Remake: Let Me In

    Is anyone curating a full list of extra categories?

  37. a borderline skeevy sexual undertone (Jennifer Connelly was only fifteen, and David Bowie’s trousers were a character all in themselves).

    I have always liked that it’s a movie about sexual awakening and growing up, where the victory is the heroine refusing to do it on anyone else’s terms.

    And second the love for Ginger Snaps. If I kept going on my all-horror list, it would easily have taken Best Werewolf Movie.

  38. jayn on August 19, 2015 at 6:21 am said:

    Peace Is My Middle Name

    I liked Labyrinth. A lot of good muppetry, but a borderline skeevy sexual undertone (Jennifer Connelly was only fifteen, and David Bowie’s trousers were a character all in themselves).

    I was a girl of the age group for that movie when it came out and I have to say I…didn’t mind.

    The protagonist rejects the skeevy villain at the end, after all. And IMO, a warning to flee temptation is less effective if you don’t acknowledge that it is genuinely tempting.

    Labyrinth is very much a coming of age story, and I felt the Goblin King at least partially represented teenage infatuation as opposed to mature relationships.

  39. Favorite movie everyone hates: “Silent Running” although, really, I wish I could find a cut that eliminates the interminable Joan Baez.

    Movie I hate that everyone else loves: “The Princess Bride.” I utterly adore the book. I abhor and abjure the movie. I can rant at length on the topic, but no one really wants me to.

  40. Peace: Not to worry about your Camelot post. If I had more time to sort them out instead of just approve them all I would have done it. But that was late last night….

  41. Whether Labyrinth is skeevy depends, IMO, on who the viewpoint character is and whose inner life the movie is about. If the protagonist is Jareth, the story is Lolita. As a culture, we tend to view sexual situations as if the man is always the protagonist, so it’s easy to see where that vibe comes from. But Sarah is actually the protagonist and viewpoint character in Labyrinth, and the movie is so strongly about Sarah’s inner life that it almost explicitly says that the labyrinth and everything in it, including Jareth, were created directly out of her fantasies. (I’d bet money that her bedroom has a Teen Beat poster of Bowie as pop-star or something. That’s how everything else in the labyrinth is grounded.)

    It’s that rare movie that uses a default female gaze (which is, I suspect, one of the reasons it’s so legendary with girls who were tweens at the time), and he’s quite literally a teenager’s seductive fantasy. Not just “as seen through her eyes,” but a seductive fantasy come to life. I think there is some (intentional) skeeviness about the darker side of sexuality and temptation and manipulation, but I don’t see an adult preying on teens. Quite the reverse, I think it was unusually on point about the inner life of pre-teen girls.

  42. Oh, absolutely it was intentional on Jim Henson’s part. I saw in the DVD extras an interview with him discussing the ballroom waltz sequence (which is pretty explicitly a temptatiion scene). He said they deliberately left out any puppets and staged it as a ball of decadent aristocrats – a party which the protagonist is really too young to be at, which both attracts and repels her. I think he meant it just as you described it. And if there’s any filmmaker I trust not to be exploitative aabout it, it’s the man who was Kermit the Frog…

  43. Favorite Animated Super-Hero Movie: Iron Giant (this one also takes the top rank in Movies that Make Me Cry Dammit).
    Favorite Animated Movie: Brave (my best friend is from the same part of Scotland, and thus the favorite line is “It’s no’ fair!”)

    Favorite Movie to Dissect Afterwards: Jurassic Park (saw this with a bunch of graduate students, and boy did we ever tear this apart. Great fun.)

    Favorite Horror Movie: not a fan of horror, but Alien and Aliens captured this right away.

    Favorite Movie Soundtrack: Young Sherlock Holmes — interesting movie, neat music, especially the ending, titled “The Riddle’s Solved” (and the bonus scene at the end!)

  44. @Hampus Eckerman at 6:34 am:
    Another top notch Swashbuckler movie is the french Le Bossu

    Oooh! Oooh!! I never heard of this, and I looked it up. Director Phillippe de Broca, star Daniel Auteil, supporting part by the great Phillippe Noiret late in his life.

    Must have!! Must see!!! USA title was “On Guard.”

    (In case it’s not obvious, I have a real soft spot for French movies.)

    Thank you!!!!!

  45. Oh, here’s one:

    Favorite Cop Movie: Bon Cop, Bad Cop. It’s funnier if you know how much the Anglo- and French-Canadians dislike each other.

  46. Interesting to compare Mary Robinette Kowal’s “Please stop with the death threats and the hate mail” to Lou Antonelli’s “OK, if anyone out there is contacting Carrie Cuinn and castigating her for her decision not to publish my story, knock it off.”

    I neither believe nor disbelieve Torgersen’s claims. His track record on verifiable statements is dismally low. If I can’t verify his “facts” I’m not believing them. Maybe if he’d stop crying wolf…

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