Britain’s Lessing wins Nobel for literature

By Sarah Edmonds and Niklas Pollard

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – British novelist Doris Lessing won the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature on Thursday for a body of work that looked unflinchingly at society’s ills and inspired a generation of feminist writers.
Continued…

Lessing is the first writer, who actually wrote and was marketed as science fiction, to win a Nobel Prize.

Very interesting Harvey Blume interview with Lessing where they discuss her career especially her views on science fiction.

Doris Lessing:

My oldest nephew Alex, who will be eleven(!) next month, spent the weekend with me. Although I love all my sister’s kids (Alex plus eight year old twins– a boy Nicholas and a girl Natalie), Alex and I are particularly close. When my ex and I split, I ended up living with my sister, her husband, and the then eight month Alex for about three months. Since at the time I was editing full time for Mojo and therefore working at home, I spent an awful lot of time with the little guy. Matter of fact, my name was his third word, albeit a little bastardized to accommodate the eight month old mouth ("Unca Icky", much to the amusement of my friends and family). During that time we bonded. I introduced him to Godzilla, Batman, action figures, and other geeky things. He was doomed to a life of geekdom.

The irony that my sister loathes geeky things is not lost on me. As children we often fought over the TV. This was back in the 70s when households often had only one TV, five channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and an independent), and no VCR. After school we raced home. Whoever got the TV first could make a claim. Course it didn’t usually stop us from a pitched battle, but every day it was the same. On one channel they showed Looney Tunes. My sister in her insanity hates Looney Tunes. She preferred The Brady Bunch, which showed on another channel. UGH! It was even more crucial for me to get home on those occasions when the Million Dollar Movie had Ape and Godzilla weeks. You never knew when those gems might be shown again. For a while Friday nights were awful when for that brief period Quark ran opposite Donny and Marie. They canceled Quark and I went back to my reading while she watched the Dancin’ Mormon Happy Hour.

Whenever I spend time with Alex, I attempt to introduce him to some new geek element. I took him to his first movie (Iron Giant). I developed Alex’s love for the original 1933 King Kong, overcoming his resistance to b&w movies in the process. After Kong stop motion fascinated him, so we watched The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad together. We’ve seen countless cartoons together and I’m sure much to his mother’s shame, he loves Looney Tunes. He now knows the difference between Linux and Windows and he’s showing a growing interest in comic books.

Before each visit, I carefully plan out possible movie viewings, things I want to share with him. The last I saw him he mentioned how he had never seen the original Star Trek. That’s just criminal. Course I shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s another thing my sister can’t stand. ST:TOS holds a special place for me since my grandmother loved the show. By the time I as eight or nine, I must have seen every episode multiple times with her. The same is true for the Adventures of Superman, another favorite of hers.

When Alex arrived on Saturday, his first question was about Beverly Cleary’s incredible The Mouse and the Motorcycle. I previously told him about the adventure of Ralph S. Mouse. Sadly his school library only had the third book in the series. Luckily for Alex, I had picked up a neat book club hardback. I own another copy, SIGNED by Cleary, that I’ve had since I was eleven. No way he was getting that one yet and hopefully not for a long time. Anyway, he fell sleep Saturday night reading the book.

After going through some books and comics, we decided to watch some Star Trek. The geeks that Brandy and I are, we own the complete ST:TOS seasons one and three. Alex insisted that he wanted to see the first aired episode "The Man Trap." I tried to dissuade him since it’s not exactly the best nor most exciting episode. Alex claimed to enjoy it but didn’t want to watch another episode right then.

After some dinner, I slid Monty Python and The Holy Grail into the DVD player. Alex knew of Monty Python and even thought they were funny, but he had never heard of this movie. Uncle Ricky to the rescue! He was a little dubious about the false beginning but once Arthur clopped onto the scene with Patsy clapping coconut halves, he lost it. Many times, I had to pause the film so he wouldn’t miss anything from laughing so hard. It’s so much fun watching a movie you’ve seen a zillion times from fresh eyes. He thought it was one of the funniest movies he’s ever seen. I hope he quotes Holy Grail bits to my sister for months to come!

Alex then showed me the card game he designed. We talked about game play, rights, and some strategy. Not your typical eleven year old conversation.

Sunday started with another Star Trek selection, but this time I chose. While not necessarily the finest, "The Arena" may be the most typical and certainly one of the more action oriented episodes. Besides it’s based on one of the Fredric Brown‘s best short stories. Lots of lovable Shatner overacting with one of the stupidest-looking Star Trek humanoids. Spock is logical. McCoy emotional. Scotty worries about the engines. Like I said, had it all. And actually it was better than I remembered. Course the fact that Alex was enjoying it, may have colored my perceptions.

We ended the geek weekend with Alex’s first ever Jackie Chan film. Alex and I do differ on some geek subjects. One of Alex’s favorite funny movies Kung Pow: Enter the Fist is a decidedly unfunny mish-mash parody of kung fu movies. With Jackie Chan, I hoped to show him a truly funny martial arts film. We watched The Legend of Drunken Master. Alex was amazed by Jackie’s stunt work (who isn’t), especially after I told him all the stunts were real with no computer work. Again like Holy Grail, he laughed himself sick. The drunken fighting scenes remain some of my favorite martial arts bits.

My sister picked up Alex soon after and they headed home to Houston. I’m already planning his next visit.

The DCU in its current deplorable state takes itself way too seriously. Heroes and villains dying for absolutely no reason save titillation and sales. The revamps of characters just for the sake of change with no discernible purpose. This whole mess started before Infinite Crisis and falls squarely at the feet of Brad Meltzer and Identity Crisis . Talk about your retcons. [SPOILERS BEGIN] Suddenly the moralistic Zatanna alters memories. Sue Dibny dies for no reason least of all as a hero. The mental breakdown of Jean Loring serves no purpose but to create a new supervillain. [SPOILERS END]

Since the murky events of the recent Crisis, we’ve seen the rise of the dark Mary Marvel (an unforgivable sin in my book), a new Atom, loads of confusion surrounding Wonder Woman, and the death of the Ted Kord Blue Beetle who was immediately replaced by a new Blue Beetle. Not only was Kord, a perfectly fine and under utilized character, killed, but his buddy Booster Gold, an inane concept from the start, was thrust back into the limelight. The whole purpose of these revamps and restarts was to attract new readers to the confusing DC Universe. The project failed. The new series are either poorly crafted or so involved in current DCU wide plotlines to be unintelligible to all but the most versed fan. And sometimes both. After reading Countdown to Mystery #1, I found myself surfing the net trying to catch up on the storylines. In the Dr. Fate segment, the vagueness was a storytelling device, but with all the recent confusion, I could not be sure until after I did some checking. The research did help with the Eclipso tale. That’s way too much work to enjoy a comic.

I’m just barely touching on the problems. I haven’t even mentioned The Legion of Super-Heroes, Uncle Sam (and the other Quality characters), and many others. The biggest issue is that DC forgot how to have fun. Or so I thought until I picked up this intriguing piece of metafiction: Doctor 13: Architecture & Mortality.

Using Doctor Thirteen, the world’s foremost skeptic who denies that anything supernatural or unexplainable exists, as the centerpiece of a quasi-team of truly forgotten and often forgettable DC characters, Brian Azzarello scripts a surprisingly amusing and insightful treatise into the world of contemporary comics. Genius Jones (created by Alfred Bester!), I…Vampire, Anthro, the Primate Patrol (a team of intelligent Nazi gorillas!), Infectious Lass (of Legion of Substitute Heroes fame), the ghost of 19th-century Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart (from The Haunted Tank), and Thirteen’s magic-wielding daughter Traci join Thirteen as he challenges the mysterious Architects–the shapers of the universe–, who wish to retcon him and the others out of existence. Azzarello employs no subtlety or diversion here as events unfold quickly.

Artist Cliff Chiang’s clean lines and emoting faces further enhance the story. Chang clearly had fun here. What artist would not when drawing yetis, pirates, and apes? I’d have fun and I can’t draw a lick.

Thanks to Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang, and editor Bob Schreck for putting some fun back into the moribund DCU. Maybe there is hope.

[  Currently: Watching Cubs-Diamondbacks game ]

RevSF editor and good pal Mark Finn mentioned it in his blog. RevSF Books editor Peggy Hailey and my sometimes co-writer Paul O. Miles both talked about it at our last Dark Forces Book Group meeting. Today, I signed up for goodreads.

Essentially a social networking site for book lovers, members are encouraged to share their love of reading with others by postings previously read, currently read, and plan to read titles along with a five star rating. The information can be shared through a network of friends, co-workers, and fellow junkies. It’s all quite easy and fun. And it’s pure evil.

I created my account early this afternoon. After posting 366 books along with ratings and often reviews, I realized my entire day was gone. Beyond a few phone calls, I accomplished nothing worthwhile. Yet, even now I find myself returning to the site, remembering a book that I want to review.

Goodreads spreads the joy of reading and books with others, simulating one of my favorite past times: recommending books to others. I encourage my fellow book junkies out there to sign up.

Just be warned: It’s pure evil.

[  Mood: Happy ]
I decided that tonight I would watch a movie that I did not have to review… something for my very own enjoyment. I rarely have time to read a book or watch a DVD that I’m not planning on reviewing.

Having not seen this film in probably 20 some odd years, I checked out the Criterion version of Akira Kurosawa’s legendary The Hidden Fortress from my neighborhood library. I settled in on the couch, hoping it was as good as I remembered.

It was even better. The interplay between the gold-seeking peasants Tahei and Matashichi left me in stitches, often laughing out loud. Misa Uehara sparkled as the proud Princess Yuki. Do they get much cooler and more engaging than Toshirô Mifune as the famous General Rokurota Makabe? War.. strife.. honor.. this one has it all.

Kurosawa’s use of imagery tragically related the beauty and savagery of 16th century Japan. His masterful blending of action and comedy created an exciting 139 minutes.

On top of all that, the origins of R2-D2 and C-3PO lay within the relationship of Tahei and Matashichi. There is no doubt that this film profoundly influenced George Lucas.

The method of ranking the movies by using both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB ratings created an interesting and fairly thorough list. While I have some quibbles with some of the rankings, overall it’s fascinating reading. (Minority Report should NOT be on any best of lists and of course Planet of the Apes should be in the top ten.)

(Thanks to Bill Crider and his amazing Pop Culture Magazine)

Chris Mautner in his Everyone’s A Critic blog issued this challenge:

He goes on to say that he will "link to any and all who decide to rise to the challenge." There are no prizes. Just "the satisfaction that comes with providing the Internet with some intelligent critical discourse." Though Mautner does hint at the possibility of some sort of small prize.

His whole impetus:

What a great idea. So everyone start thinking…

Expect my entry sometime this month.

The Fantastic Fest Award winners were announced. Not surprisingly, Nacho Vigalondo’s Timecrimes (Cronoscrimines) took top honors, winning the “Best Feature” award in the AMD Next Wave Competition. Vigalondo was awarded a $3500 editing system from AMD/Dell and a $1000 cash prize. The best part is that by winning this award, Timecrimes might actually get US distribution and a DVD release, meaning that everyone can see this amazing film.

In other awards, the Chilean martial arts picture Mirageman won the Audience Award. The creepy Offscreen won the Fantastic Film Award. Exte: The Hair Extensions won the Horror Feature Award. Several short film competitions were awarded as well. Go here for full details about all the awards.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Like many Gen X’rs, I watched the new Bionic Woman. Things looked promising for the premiere since the same folk who brought us the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica were the brains behind this incarnation.

In an attempt to remove as much of the nostalgic factor as possible, Jaime Summers (Michelle Ryan) looks nothing like Lindsay Wagner, the original Bionic Woman, and further more works as a bartender in a large ritzy nightspot (in the original Jaime was a tennis player). Her mother dead and her father missing, Jaime takes care of her younger sister Becca (Lucy Kate Hale), who apparently is some kind of computer whiz having been court-ordered to not use a computer.

A truck crashes into Jaime and her boyfriend Will Anthros (Chris Bowers) severely injuring Jaime, destroying both legs, right arm, and right eye. Luckily Will, an expert on nanotechnology, works for a top secret government project. Using cutting technology, Will successfully grows new limbs and eye, though dramatically enhanced.

The popular Katee Sackoff plays the mysterious Sara Corvus with ties to the original Bionic Woman project and Will’s father. Corvus quickly establishes herself as Jaime’s arch-villain and the duo engage in a typical super-hero confrontation on a building roof in the pouring rain.

Ryan lacks the screen presence to compete with Sackoff, who as Battlestar Galactica‘s Starbuck showed she can hold her own with veteran actors the likes of James Edward Olmos and Mary McDonnell. While on screen Sackoff commands all the attention and when off, I kept wondering when we’d see more of her.

Perhaps a little campy in places, The Bionic Woman‘s more interesting bits left me curious and for now wanting more. If the camp and stereotypical superhero crap escalates or continues, I’ll find something else to fill my Wednesday nights.

[  Mood: Very Sad ]
Sadly due to health issues, this will be my last report from Fantastic Fest 3. I’ve throughly enjoyed the Festival, and am saddened by my inability to attend the remainder.

On to my Day 6 thoughts.

Any similarities between Larry Fessenden’s The Last Winter and John Carpenter’s The Thing ends with the Arctic setting. No monster. Little action. The Last Winter at its heart is a taut, well scripted, superiorly directed eco-thriller, perhaps the best of the recent spate of global warming frightfests.

The North Oil Company sends an advance team of technicians doing prep work for the first oil drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. As the permafrost melts and temperatures rise due to the environmental changes brought on by global warming, eerie and unexplainable events happen at the encampment: mechanical malfunctions, crew disappearances and reappearances, unusual weather phenomena, and odd smelling vapors emerging from the melting ice.

Stocked with workmanlike actors including Ron Perlman, James LeGros and Connie Britton, The Last Winter entertains and thrills. Larry Fessenden proves once again that he is among some of the finest and most exciting low budget horror artists working today.

Moebius Redux: A Life in Pictures, my second documentary of the Festival, beautifully recounts the career of the legendary Jean Giraud. Director Hasko Baumann, who was in attendance, introduced the film, but only after an Alamo Draft House employee informed the audience that Baumann sang the best karaoke version ever of "Werewolves of London" at a party the previous night.

The soaring Karl Bartos (of the famed Kraftwerk) soundtrack and the gratuitous use of Moebius images help Baumann establish from the start the proper tone and tenor to this excellent film. Through the extensive use of interviews with Moebius, H. R. Giger, Mike Mignola, Jim Lee, Philippe Druillet, Enki Bilal, Stan Lee, Dan O’Bannon, and especially Alejandro Jodorowsky, the film recounts the career of Jean Giraud from his Blueberry to Metal Hurlant to Incal and his film work from the failed Dune experience to Alien to Tron. The movie successfully touches on most aspects of his long career. Perhaps the most startling piece is the lengthy admittance by Moebius of his not widely known time with the Jean-Paul Appel-Guery cultists in Tahiti.

Upon the movie conclusion, Baumann answered questions.

When asked what inspired the project, Baumann said a German-French company commissioned the piece. "I’ve always been a big American comic fan and I didn’t know anything about [Moebius] when the project began."

Baumann encountered problems with interviewing the moody Moebius who would often change his stories. Also, as it is with most artists, Moebius’ wife was very protective and they often had to work out the interviews around her.

Keep an eye on this space because starting on Friday, this blog metamorphoses into my home for general observations from around the geek world. While waiting, be sure to check out my Dark Forces Book Group blog for other interesting oddities.