#sci-fi saturdays

[pandoramsbox]

Sci-Fi Saturday: Once in a New Moon

Week 14:

Film(s): Once in a New Moon (Dir. Anthony Kimmins, 1935, UK)

Viewing Format: Streaming - Amazon Prime rental

Date Watched: 2021-08-27

Rationale for Inclusion:

For all the influence British authors had in shaping the science fiction literary genre, it's taken 14 weeks of posts to get to a film from the United Kingdom. As with most of the new-to-me films watched thus far, I discovered the existence of Once in a New Moon (Dir. Anthony Kimmins, 1935, UK) via the Wikipedia list of 1930s sci-fi films.

Filmed in black and white and clocking in at an economical 63 minutes, Once in a New Moon was a "quota quickie," or what in the United States would be called a B-movie: a low cost, low quality film that would ideally make more money than it took to produce. In other words, the classification of cinematic works more widely associated with film noir and 1950s sci-fi cinema.

Reactions:

It never occurred to my partner or me that we were watching a "quota quickie" in terms of production quality or effects whilst watching Once in a New Moon. The contrast between its quality versus higher budget sci-fi films of the 1930s is not as apparent as the films of the 1950s.

Narratively, Once in a New Moon is more fantasy than science fiction due to only the loosest of cosmic explanations being put forth to explain why the English village of Shrimpton-on-the-Sea would temporarily break away from the Earth and become a self-contained planetoid. At least Harold Drake (Eliot Makeham) is enough of a man of science to attempt a scientific investigation of the phenomena impacting the village, even if many affluent citizens dismiss his theories, insisting that the surrounding countryside has simply been flooded.

The film, however, is more concerned with being a satire of British class and social structure than a sci-fi or fantasy film, which is fine. As someone who grew up on Twilight Zone reruns, I am a sucker for genre tales as social commentary. The satiric bent took my partner and me by surprise, but it also provided an interesting change of pace from the sci-fi films we had watched thus far, which were more concerned with having a general moral than direct commentary on a specific aspect of humanity.

Although, I doubt that Owen Rutter, the author of the original novel on which it was based, or writer-director Anthony Kimmins expected the satire in Once in a New Moon to age as well as it has. Shrimpton-on-the-Sea eventually reconnects with the Earth, albeit after a civil war nearly breaks out amongst its residents, and normality is restored, with little to no immediate evidence that Drake's theories about the phenomena were correct. One of the last lines of the film is Lady Bravington (Mary Hinton) reiterating to Drake that the phenomena that impacted the town was, "just a flood." The audience knows that the supercilious woman is wrong, and it underscores the refusal to accept facts that are inconvenient to her and her class that had been witnessed throughout the film. The moment is a perfect note to end the satire on.

Watching Lady Bravington needing to get the last word in with her incorrect position stung in 2021 though. Yes, by then most shelter-in-place restrictions around the COVID-19 pandemic had been lifted thanks to the first version of the vaccine being available to the general public, but anti-maskers, anti-vaxxers and people who insisted that the deadly and debilitating virus was "just a cold" remained an ever present reality, as additional variants of the disease continued to be a threat to public health. Lady Bravington turned out to be the archetype of every conservative, science denying, self-assured white lady of recent memory.

Maybe I should not be too shocked by this commentary, as both the author and screenwriter had lived through the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918, and anti-maskers existed then too. Still, it adds to the reality of the satire in Once in a New Moon and makes the film one of my favorite discoveries of this survey.

[70sscifiart]

Happy Sci-Fi Dolphin Saturday. Ron Cobb, for San Francisco Express Times, 1968.

[shaneplays]

One of Ralph McQuarrie's concept designs for the Colonial Viper from the original Battlestar Galactica ended up being used as the starfighter ("Thunderfighter") from Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. McQuarrie's concepts are so good even his rejected designs are winners… on Sci-Fi Saturday!!

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Princess Aura - Flash Gordon (1979)

[juls-art]

Terrance, another beloved oc from yonder years u vu

–  

*✧Tip me for a job well done! ✧*  

[thekristen999]

Inspiration Saturday.

I've had writer's block for a while, and I've felt adrift for some time. RL had been hard. But, I'm finally working on an idea that I've had for two years and have decided to finally take the plunge.

I'm sorry for being MIA. I want to get back to a normal routine soon. *manifests into reality*

Here is the very first words for the Sci-Fi of Doom story. Hopefully, I can find a way to write this without it taking me forever.

I can't believe my first fic back is going to be a long one. /o\

Maybe this will spark some interest?

First snippet:

Athena clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to move in front of the 118. Her family. Shield them from whatever awaited them on the other side of the door.

Her skin crawled. She didn’t trust Captain Wilkes more than she could throw him. Something about his eyes. "I don’t think so."

Wilkes narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"First responders operate under civilian authority and are not part of the military chain of command. Their primary duty is to protect and serve their communities."

"And the military can override such authorly in response to a national emergency."

Gotcha. Athen quirked an eyebrow. "Is this a national emergency?"

The army officer crossed his arms over his chest. "I need your people to comply."

Bobby stepped in between Athena and Wilkes. "These are my people. They are under my command. And unless you can provide sufficient reason as to why we should submit to your authority then we’ll commence with our search and rescue operations."

Buck was the first to move, followed by Chimney and Hen. Eddie remained a few steps behind, warily watching Wilkes, his eyes darting between him and his team.

His apprehension and look of dread set-off warning bells for Athena.

It only took seconds before her apprehension became reality.

"Captain Nash, I order you and your team to obey my commands. This lab is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army, and therefore, you and everyone here is subject to my authority."

..

Again, very sorry for not being around!

Tagging a few people who might want to share something. @andavs @mellaithwen @homerforsure @ci5mates @eddiebabygirldiaz @the-likesofus @renecdote @thebestbooksaround @tulipfromtheinternet @spotsandsocks @paranoidbean @exhuastedpigeon @letmetellyouaboutmyfeels

[spacetimesally]

Time to rub the sleepies outta yer eyeholes and plop down in front of that warm 'n' fuzzy vacuum cathode ray tube box apparatus, Space Cadets! The Spacetime Sally Animated Adventures are starting!

[atolm]

Getting back to trying to finish old works I did earlier this year.

[thegoodmorningman]

It's gonna be a Hot One!!!

[17isrighthere]

BAD LOVE KEY (2021)

[ashleywritesstuff]

It's Sci-Fi Saturday! Tell me all the genre works you've enjoyed this week. I took in Lisa Frankenstein, Madame Web, and continued to work through my comics backlog. How about you?

[pandoramsbox]

Sci-Fi Saturday: Gold

Week 13:

Film(s): Gold (Dir. Karl Hartl, 1934, Germany)

Viewing Format: Blu-Ray: Kino Lorber

Date Watched: 2021-08-20

Rationale for Inclusion:

Most popular histories of German cinema gush over its silent era and Fritz Lang's early talkies, boils the Nazi era down to propaganda films, and then rapidly moves on to West Germany's New Cinema of the 1960s and 1970s. When touring the Berlin Film Museum in 2006, they had an exhibit acknowledging cinema made under the Nazi regime, but it was plain, matter of fact, and not at all celebratory of any figure or works. The standing international agreement to not give Nazis more credit for anything positive created under their supervision between 1933 and 1945 is one that this lifelong Indiana Jones fan, from a country that has historically been less willing to acknowledge its own history of genocide and white supremacy, cannot argue with.

However, when something is made deliberately withheld or rendered taboo, it risks developing a fetishistic or contrarian following. Curated, contextualized access is preferable to dispel mystique and render a work mundane. However, a work's problematic nature cannot be exercised completely, nor can the stain of its lineage be fully forgotten once known. This mental calculus of having interest in or love for a work despite it or its creator's controversial nature is something each person must work out for themselves.

All that to say, if you're grossed out by the inclusion of a film created under the Nazi regime, that's a completely fair perspective. However, surreptitious curiosity is also valid, and a normal human emotion.

And curiosity is definitely what motivated my inclusion of Gold (Dir. Karl Hartl, 1934, Germany). Partly it was wondering what a Nazi supervised science fiction film was like, period, especially relative to the Weimar Era films previously viewed. Partly it was a more basic curiosity: the prospect of hearing the voice of Brigette Helm, of Metropolis (Dir. Fritz Lang, 1927, Germany) fame. And to be perfectly honest, the simplistic wonder of hearing the voice of a performer whose art focuses on pantomime was the bigger draw.

Reactions:

Brigette Helm has a voice that is consistent with her appearance: elegant and German. The anticlimax of learning that fact is on par with realizing Harold Lloyd has a soft spoken, Midwest accent that matches his aesthetic, as opposed to the surprise of Charles Chaplin's English accent or Buster Keaton's deep baritone voice.

That question out of the way, what about the film itself? Nothing especially anti-semitic or fascist in visuals or content makes its production origin glaringly obvious. Given that like F.P.1 [AKA F.P. 1 Doesn't Answer] (F.P.1 antwortet nicht, Dir. Karl Hartl, 1932, Germany) an additional French language version was produced with export in mind, and the Nazis had just come to power and purchased UFA in 1933, and would not begin explicit international aggressions until 1938, it follows that they would not want to compromise cinematic commerce in 1934. 

Instead, Gold is about the relationship between scientific progress and capitalist greed. A German scientist (Friedrich Kayßler) is about to succeed in the dreams of the alchemists and create a machine that can transform lead into gold, when sabotage destroys the machine and its creator with it. His engineer Werner Holk (Hans Alber) swears vengeance for his friend, and takes a job with industrialist John Wills (Michael Bohnen), who arranged the sabotage in order to corner the market on the technology. Holk proceeds to take down the usurper from the inside and the film ends with lots of satisfying explosions.  

Amid the straightforward wrong scientist seeks revenge narrative are some incredible set pieces. Giant electrodes and machines with tunnel trains connecting the underground laboratory to the mainland. The sets and props were so impressive that footage of them was later reused in The Magnetic Monster (Dir. Curt Siodmak, 1953, USA). However, UFA did not make additional science fiction films during the Nazi era, so the sets and props were not reused in other movies by the studio.

Gold is interesting and ultimately competent but unremarkable, compared to the genre films that came before it. 

And if you are interested in learning more about German cinema during the Nazi era, I recommend the documentaries Hitler's Hollywood (Dir. Rüdiger Suchsland, 2017, Germany) (which features Gold briefly) and Forbidden Films (Verbotene Filme, Dir. Felix Moeller, 2014, Germany).

[70sscifiart]

For Sci-Fi Dolphin Saturday, here's an uncredited cover to MicroComputer magazine, 1983

[shaneplays]

According to some sources, the Battlestar Galactica from the original 1978 series was over 500 years old when the series began. The battlestars served as faster-than-light capable battle cruisers, fighter carriers, and mobile command centers for the fleet of the Twelve Colonies. In addition to the protection provided by its viper squadrons, the Galactica had turbolasers, fusion missiles, and shields. Series creators said the Galactica was about one mile long, and fan estimations based on the scale model put it around 4,741 feet. A big battlestar for a big job… on Sci-Fi Saturday!!

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Jason of Star Command (1978)

[animenostalgia]

The Anime Nostalgia Podcast - ep 121: ReView: Project A-ko Versus

This month’s episode is another short ReView! What is a “ReView” episode, you might ask? Well, it’s my highly-clever (ok not really) name for episodes where I go back and revisit an older title I haven’t seen in a long time, and see if what I remember (and what my opinions on it) are still the same now that some time’s gone by. This month, I’m going back in time to revisit a Saturday Anime title that I only ever watched once before, and never again, until now--it’s Project A-ko VERSUS! ....y’know, that official Project A-ko AU? Where A-ko & B-ko are bounty hunters? And they live together?.........no, really, that actually happened! I’m serious!! THEY WERE ROOMMATES!!! 

Stream the episode above or [Direct Download] Subscribe on apple podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify

Relevant links:

Buy the out-of-print Project A-ko: Uncivil Wars DVD on Amazon

Buy the original Project A-ko on bluray at Rightstuf or Amazon

Visit Project A-ko.com, probably the biggest Project A-ko fansite still active!

Other anime mentioned in this episode: Dirty Pair, Bubblegum Crisis, Maris the Chojo, Fight! Iczer One, Dangaioh, Queen Emeraldas

Big thanks to the Shoujo Sundae Podcast for sponsoring this episode! They just recently celebrated their podcast anniversary this month, so if you love shoujo or want to learn more about it, check them out!

My theme song music was done by Kerobit! You can find more about them on their website!

Support the work I do on this podcast by leaving me a tip on Ko-fi! Want to have your name read in the special thanks segment on the next episode? All you need to do is buy me 2 or more “coffees” on Ko-fi!As always, feel free to leave me your thoughts on this episode or ideas for future episodes here—or email me directly at AnimeNostalgiaPodcast@gmail.com.

Thanks for listening!