.KEYWORD bookmonth0399
.FLYINGHEAD PALMPOWER BOOK-OF-THE-MONTH CLUB
.TITLE The silver screen at 160 pixels: movie fun on your Palm organizer
.DEPT
.SUMMARY Not satisfied with merely covering a single medium, the written word, our daring front line columnists this month decided to join the hallowed halls of the nationally syndicated columnists like Rex Reed, Janet Maslin, and Siskel and Ebert. The results are more like Pinky and the Brain or Dilbert, but as we thought about it some, we were able to see the evil genius lurking behind their nefarious plot. They were hopeful that if they provided some insight into the movie-related resources available for Palm device owners, PalmPower would agree to authorize their travel request to attend the Oscar Award ceremony. We enjoyed this month’s column, but we’re getting more fun out of thinking of the two of them sitting at home, dressed in their rented tuxedos wondering why the limousine hasn’t arrived yet!
.AUTHOR Craig Froehle and John Swain
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
On February 20, 1999, film critic Gene Siskel died at age 53. While a cause of death hasn’t been officially announced, some reports have attributed the death to complications after surgery he had to remove a brain tumor. The editors of PalmPower have long enjoyed the spirited banter between Gene Siskel and his "Siskel and Ebert" partner Roger Ebert. While this column was originally drafted before Mr. Siskel’s death to celebrate the March Oscar Awards, we felt that we’d like to dedicate this issue to a gentleman who helped make one of our favorite passtimes much more rewarding. — DG
.END_SIDEBAR
Not satisfied with merely covering a single medium, the written word, this month we decided to join the hallowed halls of the nationally syndicated columnists like Rex Reed, Janet Maslin, and Siskel and Ebert. The results are more like Pinky and the Brain or Dilbert. However, as you read along, you might be able to see the evil genius lurking behind our nefarious plot.
We hoped that if we provided some insight into the movie-related resources available for Palm organizer owners, PalmPower would agree to authorize our travel request to attend the March 21 Oscar Awards ceremony [Not! –DG]. Unfortunately, the editors said they liked the idea of this month’s column, but would get more fun out of thinking of the two of us sitting at home, dressed in our rented tuxedos, wondering why the limousine hadn’t arrived yet!
.H1 The short story on film
For years, Hollywood has embraced short fiction works as the foundation of numerous films, some successful and some of highly dubious critical and financial success. Palm device owners have a number of resources available to them to enjoy many of the short stories the Hollywood moguls have brought to the silver screen.
.H2 The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
This is perhaps our favorite example of the short story as cinema. One has to be impressed that a true classic of the American short story form could inspire such a sheer variety of film adaptations. By our count there are no less than six versions. The original 1932 version starred Joel McCrea, Fay Wray and Robert Armstrong, but it’s hard to ignore the variations on the theme. These include Surving the Game (1994) with Rap star Ice-T; a martial arts version called Death Ring (1993); and our personal favorite, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity (1987). Connell’s original story revolves around the bored big game hunter, Count Zaroff, who creates the ultimate challenge by arranging to hunt shipwrecked men on his private island. Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity manages, in the way that only Hollywood can, to turn this classic suspense tale into leather bikini clad women on a prison ship who escape by stealing a space ship only to be marooned on a planet with, you guessed it, an evil hunter who likes to use his robot guards to hunt people! [You know, I think I saw that one. — DG] Only in Tinsel Town.
.H2 Leiningen vs. the Ants by Carl Stephenson
"Get your pincers off my plantation, you damned dirty ants!". Right. It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it but if Hollywood history had been a little different, Charleton Heston might have shouted his trademark line from behind a burning ditch rather than when he was trapped in a net whilst being prodded by actors with 50 pounds worth of latex ape lips glued to their faces.
In the 1954 film The Naked Jungle, Heston (who’s real name is John Charlton Carter) stars as Christopher Leiningen alongside Eleanor Parker and William Conrad. The Leiningen’s South American coffee plantation stands directly in the path of a two-mile wide, 20-mile long column of ravenous army ants. The result? Well, if the Red Sea couldn’t stop him, you can be damned sure a few billion ants aren’t gonna make Chuck run!
.H2 The Point of Honor by Joseph Conrad
This is truly an example of how a great short story in the right Hollywood hands can produce brilliant results. Conrad’s works are in no short supply in Hollywood. Many of his classics have been adapted to cinema including the critically acclaimed adaptation of Heart of Darkness by Francis Ford Coppola as Apocalypse Now (1979). The film adaptation of The Point of Honor is a remarkable work, worthy of the original story and a must see for Conrad fans and film lovers alike.
Duellists (1977) takes The Point of Honor and turns it into a dazzling visual feast. Directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harvey Keitel, Keith Carradine and Albert Finney, Duellists tells Conrad’s tale of obsession and vainglory. Amidst the backdrop of the carnage of the Napoleonic wars, two career soldiers fight their own private battle for honor that outlasts the war, reason, and perhaps sanity. Also of note, this film contains perhaps the most accurate dramatization of period sword work of any film this columnist has seen. Legendary British expert William Hobbs choreographed the fighting.
.H1 Movie-related Palm device references
The silver screen has generated a lot of material for Palm organizers, with no fewer than ten compilations of movies spanning different genres, timeframes, and qualitative criteria. For example, if you find yourself at the video store, staring at an entire wall of nothing but Rugrats videos, whip out your Palm connected organizer and take a look at Siskel and Ebert’s Top 10 Picks since 1969 (in MobileDB format).
Or, if the mainstream doesn’t suit your tastes, Jason Perlow, created a massive and comprehensive review of all Japanese Monster Movies (in Doc format), listing year, featured creatures, and a 4-star rating system. If quality is what you’re after, grab a list of the American Film Institute’s Top 100 (or Top 400) Movies spanning the last 100 years. This is available in a variety of text and database formats (and I don’t think Kevin Bacon is in a single one of them). However, he might be somewhere in J. de Beauchamp’s list of the Most Popular Humorous Movies. You’ll definitely understand why if you’ve watched Footloose recently.
If you’re a real movie buff, there’s nothing like catching a flick while travelling abroad. Thankfully, a variety of cities have had their movie theatres catalogued for downloading onto your Palm device. For example, Dan Reed provided such a list for Philadelphia (well, if you’re from Paris, Philly is considered abroad); Thomas Murphy covered Hong Kong’s theatres, and David Chan assembled information on all of Singapore’s cinemas (say that five times quickly). In addition, Kevin Buckholtz has crafted up MovieFone listings (a phone-based theatre directory service) for Chicago and San Francisco. And fortunately, if you’re faced with seeing yet another playing of Flubber on the airplane to one of these destinations, you can use your Palm organizer to club yourself into unconsciousness. [Ah, we really don’t recommend this use of Palm devices. –DG]
Finally, if historical information intrigues you, check out the American Film Institute’s Cinema Timeline. This document presents a rather interesting history of film, including technical achievements, influential personalities, and the rise and fall (and rise again) of Hollywood’s major motion picture studios.
Without a doubt, there are many handy, interesting, and unique (to say the least) movie-related documents and databases available for your Palm device. And with the ever-increasing number and variety of film and TV awards being handed out, it’s a sure bet that someone will soon catalog all the winners of the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, and so forth for easy browsing on your Palm organizer.
Whether your tastes run from the bizarre (like Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity or Godzilla vs. Mothra) to the brilliant (like Duellists or Citizen Kane), or from the factual to the fictional, as a Palm connected organizer owner, you can have the best of both the film and the literature worlds in your pocket.
All of the above documents can be found at either MemoWare or The Lending Library. Or, take a tour around the PalmPilot E-text Web-Ring. You may be surprised to find exactly what you’re looking for!
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
Visit MemoWare, maintained by Craig Froehle, at http://www.memoware.com.
Visit The Lending Library, maintained by John Swain, at http://www.macduff.net.
Tour the PalmPilot E-text Web-Ring at http://www.pilotlibrary.org/webring.html.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Craig Froehle is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Administration, but secretly longs for the carefree days he spent as a semi-professional clog dancer. John Swain is hoping that Mr. Blackwell approves of his lime green tuxedo with ruff. After all he went all out and spent an extra $34.95 to rent the matching top hat and cane.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@@.ee6cbe8
