Tonight on the TV: Martin Luther

It's been a long day in which I've not accomplished everything I needed to do today. But at 7 o'clock tonight on Peoria's PBS station (WTVP, Channel 47) Martin Luther: The Idea that Changed the World is airing and I'm going to sit back and watch it. This is short notice, but if you are in the Peoria area, it's worth watching. It'll be re-broadcast at midnight tonight and again on Friday (the 15th) at 1 am. Other PBS stations are broadcasting it at other times over the next few weeks.

It was 500 years ago that the Reformation began with Luther's posting of Ninety Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences that October 31st.

Here's a trailer:

My SFnal Day

Carrie Fisher died this morning. I was 18 when she burst indelibly into my eyes as Princess Leia in Stars Wars. She was not-yet 21.

For dinner tonight I had breen. It's a Narn food I learned about on Babylon 5. G'Kar tells us it is one of those universal mysteries, for every known sentient race has a food just like it. On Earth we call it "swedish meatballs."

As the photo might suggest, I saw Rogue One. That's the tub of popcorn I'm holding. In the end it is a satisfying film, much more satisfying than the last film in the Stars Wars franchise, The Force Awakens. But it takes a while to get there. In fact, midway through the film the litany against fear from Dune entered my mind:

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear....

Probably not the best thing to have going through my mind while watching a Star Wars film.

But in the end Rogue One was a satisfying film, with the final word pronounced by Princess Leia herself — hope. Ah, to be 18 again. May Carrie Fisher rest in peace.

It was a nice way to finish the day, even if I didn't finish my popcorn. But that will be very good tomorrow.

---

"SFnal" means "science fictional," from the abbreviation commonly used by readers of science fiction, "SF."

The Day We've Been Waiting For!

The day for what? The day for Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection.


More highlights can be found here. This collection is supposed to have all of The Boys' surviving talkies (shorts and features) produced by the Hal Roach studios -- except for The Devil's Brother, Bonnie Scotland, and Babes in Toyland (which are available in other collections. Here's the producers' press release from last summer:

UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF. – Celebrating the genius of the most beloved comedy team of all time, "Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection" debuts in a stunning 10-disc set on October 25, 2011 from RHI Entertainment and Vivendi Entertainment. With a comedic style that defined an era and created a legacy that is still celebrated today, 58 of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy´s talking shorts and feature films, produced under legendary movie mogul Hal Roach from 1929 through 1940, are now available for the first time in the U.S. all together in one magnificent collection.

Transferred in high definition for the first time and digitally enhanced for home viewing in the finest quality available to date, the set contains favorites that have been enjoyed for generations including "Helpmates," "Hog Wild," "Another Fine Mess," "Sons of the Desert," "Way Out West," and the Academy Award winning film "The Music Box."

"Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection" comes housed in collectible, book-style packaging with an extensive, detailed film guide. The set also boasts over two hours of special features including exclusive, never-before-seen interviews with comedy legends Dick Van Dyke, Jerry Lewis, Tim Conway and more, who discuss the enduring impact and influence of Laurel and Hardy.

Additional features include commentaries by Laurel and Hardy aficionados, along with a virtual location map that allows viewers to take an interactive tour of the iconic places in and around Los Angeles where Laurel and Hardy filmed. Available for the suggested retail price of $99.98, "Laurel & Hardy: The Essential Collection" showcases some of the most cherished and hilarious films in cinema history and is a must-have for comedy fans and collectors everywhere. Run time is 1,941 minutes; SRP is $99.98.

Having grown up on Laurel & Hardy, this is going to be fun!

This is just too fun...

And an excuse to mention the 2-hour marathon of The Boys (that's Laurel & Hardy to the rest of you) on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) beginning at 8 pm, Tuesday, January 11. Of course, one needs to be in the USA (check!) and access to that cable TV channel (nuts!) to view.

A Fashion Statement: Edward vs. Buffy

While I'll be headed to the theater soon to catch the latest installment of Twilight -- yes, I've enjoyed the films and the books -- nevertheless, this t-shirt ad at Jinx makes me smile:

Buffy Staked Edward T-Shirt

Don't you think the vampires-are-people-too thing has gone a little too far? I mean, the whole point of a vampire is that they survive by sucking your blood. I don't care if his skin glows and twinkles and he smells like kittens and fabric softener, he's still just a glorified syringe. Remember the last time you had blood drawn? Yeah, me too, and it sucked! It's time we put an end to this nonsense: Edward, may I treat you to a stake dinner?

Well, black is my color...

Rover Spirit Roves No More

2001: A Space Odyssey is a countdown to tomorrow, a road map to human destiny, a quest for the infinite. It is a dazzling, Academy Award®-winning visual achievement, a compelling drama of man vs. machine, a stunning meld of music and motion. It may be the masterwork of director Stanley Kubrick (who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur C. Clarke)…and it will likely excite, inspire and enthrall for generations.

Thus begins the official website of a film I was really excited to finally get to see at the Reseda Theater more than a year after its 1968 release. (Films stayed in circulation longer in those days.)

I was indeed excited, inspired, and enthralled -- and also pretty baffled through much of it. Then again it's not really a film for 10-year-old boys, even in the summer Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon. I really need to see it again. Alas, I expect to be disappointed -- though hopefully not so much by the film itself.

The disappointment I expect will be most heartfelt during one particular scene. It's not a particularly exciting scene, except that it's in the Pan Am terminal at the Space Station. Perfectly reasonable to expect in 1968 for 2001 -- but this is the year 2010. There is no more Pan Am. Worse, no one's flying to the space station, except for a few astronauts on Space Shuttles that don't come close to what they were designed to do.

It's no an accident that, in the NASA section of my I Want to Go! web page (which I partially updated a couple of weeks ago), I highlight the classic 1998 quote from Rick Tumlinson, President of the Space Frontier Foundation:

"Thirty-six years after sending John Glenn into orbit, NASA has finally achieved the capability to send John Glenn into orbit."

We should be snippy, for twelve years later NASA's not much closer. If you'd told me when I was 10 that the reason I'd not been in space by now was that we couldn't do it (rather than because it might be too expensive) I would have thought you were flippin' crazy.

So it was good yesterday to read about something that NASA didn't screw up. Spirit and Opportunity are the two Mars Expedition Rovers that landed on Mars in January 2004, six years ago. They were designed to explore for 90 days.

They're both still running. Not necessarily all that well, of course. Yesterdays news was about Spirit, which has been stuck in sand since last May, won't rove any more. And yet, if she survives the upcoming Martian winter, she'll continue her scientific research of the Red Planet as a "stationary research platform." Meanwhile, Opportunity continues to slowly roll across the Martian surface.

Sure, it should be someone like you or me up there rather than a couple of robots on wheels millions of miles from a tow truck. It's 2010, for heaven's sake; we were walking on the Moon 41 years ago!

But for that, short-sighted American leadership (including Presidents and Congresses) are as much to blame as a space agency that lost its vision. But give the folks at NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory a cheer for gettiing this mission righter than anyone could have hoped.

Stay warm this Martian winter, well-named Spirit. And come spring, show us more what you're made of,

Conference Re-scheduled

The Conference on The 50th Anniversary of The Hammer of God that I posted last month has been rescheduled. It will now be held on Tuesday, 14 September 2010 -- one week later than previously announced. All other details are the same. Click here for the corrected announcement.

Conference: The Hammer of God

The International Giertz Society
(English Language Section)
& the Pittsburgh Pastoral Conference honor…

THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF
THE HAMMER OF GOD

with two lectures on Bo Giertz’s beloved and influential novel, which appeared in English for the first time in 1960

 
The Rev. Hans O. Andræ on “Tyranny and the Gospel: Freedom from Temporal and Spiritual Bondage in The Hammer of God”
Pastor H. Andræ translated the final chapter of The Hammer of God for the 2005 edition, for which he also provided a historical and biographical introduction. While a pastor in Sweden, Andræ worked with Bishop Giertz in Kyrklig Samling. He was a parish pastor in the U.S.A. 1979-2007. His translation of Giertz’s first book, Christ’s Church (Kristi Kyrka, 1939), is expected to be published in 2010.

The Rev. Eric R. Andræ on “‘The best treatment of the proper distinction of law and gospel in the history of Lutheran theology:’ A Historical and Systematic Overview”
Pastor E. Andræ completed his S.T.M. thesis on Giertz’s use of the ordo salutis in 2003 (Concordia, St. Louis). He has had several essays on Giertz published in journals and books in the U.S. and in his native Sweden, and has translated numerous short pieces, as well as a booklet: Life by Drowning: Enlightenment through Law and Gospel (2008, from Kyrkofromhet). He is the founder and president of the International Giertz Society.

Tuesday, 14 September 2010
9:00 a.m. — Noon Continental Breakfast, Matins (9:30), Lectures (10:00)
Noon — 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break (lunch is not provided)
1:30 — 3:30 Screening of The Hammer of God — the brand-new feature length FILM based on the entire first novella

First Trinity Lutheran Church
535 N. Neville St.
Pittsburgh, Penn. 15213 U.S.A.
There is no cost, but you must register:
412-683-4121 x2     EricAndrae@gmail.com

Note: Life By Drowning is available in pdf format here.

Star Trek: A Review

Note: This review was written May 16, 2009 via Movies on Facebook, the date that appears on this post. But was actually not posted to Pastor Zip's Blog until May 30, 2012, shortly after I viewed the (first) sequel.

Star Trek (2009)

4 stars of 5

Okay. Star Trek is really a low-budget TV show, while the re-boot is high-budget for the Big Screen. So in this film one can expect an exchange of quality story for splashy FX. As an sf film and as a franchise re-boot, it's a really good show and I'm looking forward to sequels.

It should have been better. The score is straight out of Star Wars, not Star Trek. Nero's ship looks too much like a darkened Vorlon craft from Babylon 5. The adventures of our heroes and the violations of known physics are, quite frankly, well over the top. Especially egregious is the "orbital skydive" into Vulcan's atmosphere, which should have burned Kirk, Sulu, and Olson to a crisp long before they reached the mid-sky drilling platform.

But for all the whiz bang, Star Trek is not only about the promise and hope of the New Frontier, vicariously taking us where we should already be going in 2009 (40 years after landing on the Moon). It's about characters we've grown to care about -- and this film is about re-introducing them for the 21st century.

Kirk, Spock, Uhuru, Sulu, Bones, Scotty, and Chekov have a lot of growing to do as the Star Trek franchise grows in a new direction. This film sets us all off in the right direction. And so we endure, maybe even overlook, flaws that would be fatal to any other film.

The best Star Trek film yet? Not a chance. But it leaves me wanting more. And that's good cinema.

"It's a documentary, not a musical."

You have probably seen the Twilight Zone episode or, if you are like me, you caught it first via the original short story by Damon Knight. The blurb on my edition of The Best of Damon Knight describes it like this:

The aliens looked something like pigs and something like people—not a very attractive combination. Maybe that's why Earthmen were still so horrified when the Kanamit, as they called themselves, landed in their great spaceships and offered lasting prosperity. It wasn't easy to willingly accept gifts from monsters, but in time the human race adjusted and began to live opulently thanks to the Kanamit credo—"To Serve Man." An admirable motto to be sure . . . or was it?

You know the punch line: "It's a cookbook."

Near the end of yesterday's Chaos Manor Mail comes this line from one of Jerry Pournelle's correspondents:

Suggestion: Watch "Cabaret!" (It's a documentary, not a musical; a portrait of the end-game of a decadent culture.)

Granted, I've not seen the Academy Award winning film since I was 13. (Thirteen?) I've only seen clips on PBS specials since. But that sounds right to me.

And, perhaps, not just about 1931 Berlin, either.

Happy 2008!

The Wonder of It All

All alone in the movie theater, I sat on the edge of my seat transfixed for much of the nearly 2-hour film. Documentaries rarely do that, but In the Shadow of the Moon easily brought me back into that sense of awe and wonder and optimism I had as a boy watching the Apollo astronauts go to the Moon, land there, explore a bit, and come back. I was 10 years old again, except this time it was in color and on the big screen, rather than the black-and-white TV we had in the den.

For a couple of reviews of this film that give a good flavor of my own experience, see the Hollywood Reporter:

"In the Shadow of the Moon" unites 10 of the 12 astronauts who flew on nine Apollo missions and descended to the moon between 1968 and 1972 along with remastered archival footage from NASA, much never seen before. The value of this film, not just to moviegoers today but to future generations, is simply enormous.

Documentaries these days tend toward doom and gloom, so "Moon" is a welcome relief. The movie is about an uncontrovertibly glorious moment in U.S. history. ThinkFilm should see a nice run in art houses and perhaps beyond. The Discovery Films and Film 4 production is sure-fire TV and a collector's item on DVD for any space and history buff. If anything, when the film ends, you feel a bit like Olivier Twist, the boy who cried out for "more."

and Ad Astra at Space.com:

Not only do we get to see this Apollo footage as it has never been seen, and get to hear the astronauts express themselves as never before, but they have gone one step further by marrying the sound and film from Mission Control. We are all so familiar with the words spoken by Neil Armstrong as he stepped onto the dusty lunar surface, and the voice from Mission Control that answers him (Charlie Duke), so it may come as a surprise that all film footage inside Mission Control was silent. The producers found the audio loops and painstakingly matched the voices to film for the first time ever. This is a memorable feat that may go unnoticed by many viewers, but from a historical perspective, it is a welcome show of the diligence of the filmmakers of "In the Shadow of the Moon."

"It was a time when we made bold moves," observes JIm Lovell of Apollo 8 and 13, the only man to go to the Moon twice, neither time able to land. Indeed, as one of the astronauts described feeling the dance of the engines keeping the mighty Saturn V rocket pointed up during the launch it struck me just how bold the whole enterprise was. Especially compared to how risk-averse a society we have become today.

Look here to find out if In the Shadow of the Moon is showing on a Big Screen near you. Listen to astronauts reflect upon having gone to another world, re-live (or, for you young whippersnappers, see for the first time) the excitement of a great excitement, and get a good look at the American spirit at its best.