A very long post on classic scifi novels and novelists, English and otherwise

Is anyone on my flist a fan of the old-school scifi? I mean Bradbury and Asimov era? Those type of books ate my childhood and the post is all about them, so if you aren't interested, you better skip this before your eyes glaze over.


( Very long post on a wide variety of authors )

And because what's a post without a link? Dandelion Girl, by Robert F. Young, a beautiful short story about time travel and love and aging. It's wonderful.

A very long post on classic scifi novels and novelists, English and otherwise

Is anyone on my flist a fan of the old-school scifi? I mean Bradbury and Asimov era? Those type of books ate my childhood and the post is all about them, so if you aren't interested, you better skip this before your eyes glaze over.


( Very long post on a wide variety of authors )

And because what's a post without a link? Dandelion Girl, by Robert F. Young, a beautiful short story about time travel and love and aging. It's wonderful.

A very long post on classic scifi novels and novelists, English and otherwise

Is anyone on my flist a fan of the old-school scifi? I mean Bradbury and Asimov era? Those type of books ate my childhood and the post is all about them, so if you aren't interested, you better skip this before your eyes glaze over.


( Very long post on a wide variety of authors )

And because what's a post without a link? Dandelion Girl, by Robert F. Young, a beautiful short story about time travel and love and aging. It's wonderful.

Movie Rec of the Day: Reality Bites (1994). With a side of Ethan Hawke picspam

Today's movie rec of the day is Reality Bites, a semi-forgotten 1994 gem about being young and love and friendship and dealing with the grown-up world and all sorts of other things. It's also one of those Hollywood rarities: a genuinely romantic film.

RB deals with the "Generation X," as represented by a group of friends graduating from college in 1995, none of them with any good job prospects or much of a future. There is Lelaina (Wynona Ryder, before she went off the rails, in one of her most endearing performances), a valeditorian, and an aspiring documentary filmmaker, whose family's idea of help to her when she is broke is to tell her to be self-reliant, and who is forced to work as an assistant to a narcissistic TV personality. There is Troy (played by Ethan Hawke as this incredibly attractive mess), Lelaina's best friend and someone who 'refuses to buy into consummerist culture' which in practice means he sings in a band, and is intellectually abrasive, and completely broke. There is Vickie (Jeanine Garafalo when she was good), a slutty, straight-forward girl who ends up working at the Gap. And then there is Sammy (Steve Zahn, good as always), a gay guy who has yet to come out to his parents. Lelaina lives with them and films them in her documentary, and gets fed up with them and cannot let them go.

The movie actually centers around Lelaina and Troy and a young executive Michael (played by Ben Stiller before he decided gross-out was the way to go), who ends up dating Lelaina and tries to get her documentary off the ground. Michael seems in a completely different universe: successful, with a career, 'establishment.' Troy, for one, cannot stand him and makes him a subject of his barbs. And where the movie is grown up is that it's Michael who probably turns out the most mature and well-adjusted of the group. Someone like Troy would not be able to stand Michael, but the movie, unlike Troy, doesn't really take sides between them. And, to me, the heart of the story is the relationship between Lelaina and Troy. This is one of those rare movies that convinces me both of them being best friends, uniquely compatible, and of the chemistry between them. I am such a sucker for 'best friends turned lovers' scenario. And it's that undercurrent of jealousy and attraction that gives their scenes (and their fights) the added edge. ( Spoilers of a romantic nature )

These characters can be nasty, and self-absorbed, and they come across as so young to me (they are in their early twenties) but what really gets me is the realness of the dialogue: I remember trying to debate philosophical points at two in the morning, and the importance of figuring yourself out, and the giddy rush of attraction mixed with uncertainty when a relationship starts.

And just to prove how good the script is, here are some sample quotes:

Answering Machine: At the beep, please leave your name, number and a brief justification of the ontological necessity of modern man's existential dilemma and we'll get back to you.

( Other Reality Bites quotes )

And a couple of RB pics.

( Reality Bites pics )

And because I really feel like it now, an Ethan Hawke picspam. He's been in way too many movies I love: Reality Bites, Hamlet, Before Sunset, Gattaca, Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise.



( Picspam here )

Movie Rec of the Day: Reality Bites (1994). With a side of Ethan Hawke picspam

Today's movie rec of the day is Reality Bites, a semi-forgotten 1994 gem about being young and love and friendship and dealing with the grown-up world and all sorts of other things. It's also one of those Hollywood rarities: a genuinely romantic film.

RB deals with the "Generation X," as represented by a group of friends graduating from college in 1995, none of them with any good job prospects or much of a future. There is Lelaina (Wynona Ryder, before she went off the rails, in one of her most endearing performances), a valeditorian, and an aspiring documentary filmmaker, whose family's idea of help to her when she is broke is to tell her to be self-reliant, and who is forced to work as an assistant to a narcissistic TV personality. There is Troy (played by Ethan Hawke as this incredibly attractive mess), Lelaina's best friend and someone who 'refuses to buy into consummerist culture' which in practice means he sings in a band, and is intellectually abrasive, and completely broke. There is Vickie (Jeanine Garafalo when she was good), a slutty, straight-forward girl who ends up working at the Gap. And then there is Sammy (Steve Zahn, good as always), a gay guy who has yet to come out to his parents. Lelaina lives with them and films them in her documentary, and gets fed up with them and cannot let them go.

The movie actually centers around Lelaina and Troy and a young executive Michael (played by Ben Stiller before he decided gross-out was the way to go), who ends up dating Lelaina and tries to get her documentary off the ground. Michael seems in a completely different universe: successful, with a career, 'establishment.' Troy, for one, cannot stand him and makes him a subject of his barbs. And where the movie is grown up is that it's Michael who probably turns out the most mature and well-adjusted of the group. Someone like Troy would not be able to stand Michael, but the movie, unlike Troy, doesn't really take sides between them. And, to me, the heart of the story is the relationship between Lelaina and Troy. This is one of those rare movies that convinces me both of them being best friends, uniquely compatible, and of the chemistry between them. I am such a sucker for 'best friends turned lovers' scenario. And it's that undercurrent of jealousy and attraction that gives their scenes (and their fights) the added edge. ( Spoilers of a romantic nature )

These characters can be nasty, and self-absorbed, and they come across as so young to me (they are in their early twenties) but what really gets me is the realness of the dialogue: I remember trying to debate philosophical points at two in the morning, and the importance of figuring yourself out, and the giddy rush of attraction mixed with uncertainty when a relationship starts.

And just to prove how good the script is, here are some sample quotes:

Answering Machine: At the beep, please leave your name, number and a brief justification of the ontological necessity of modern man's existential dilemma and we'll get back to you.

( Other Reality Bites quotes )

And a couple of RB pics.

( Reality Bites pics )

And because I really feel like it now, an Ethan Hawke picspam. He's been in way too many movies I love: Reality Bites, Hamlet, Before Sunset, Gattaca, Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise.



( Picspam here )

Movie Rec of the Day: Reality Bites (1994). With a side of Ethan Hawke picspam

Today's movie rec of the day is Reality Bites, a semi-forgotten 1994 gem about being young and love and friendship and dealing with the grown-up world and all sorts of other things. It's also one of those Hollywood rarities: a genuinely romantic film.

RB deals with the "Generation X," as represented by a group of friends graduating from college in 1995, none of them with any good job prospects or much of a future. There is Lelaina (Wynona Ryder, before she went off the rails, in one of her most endearing performances), a valeditorian, and an aspiring documentary filmmaker, whose family's idea of help to her when she is broke is to tell her to be self-reliant, and who is forced to work as an assistant to a narcissistic TV personality. There is Troy (played by Ethan Hawke as this incredibly attractive mess), Lelaina's best friend and someone who 'refuses to buy into consummerist culture' which in practice means he sings in a band, and is intellectually abrasive, and completely broke. There is Vickie (Jeanine Garafalo when she was good), a slutty, straight-forward girl who ends up working at the Gap. And then there is Sammy (Steve Zahn, good as always), a gay guy who has yet to come out to his parents. Lelaina lives with them and films them in her documentary, and gets fed up with them and cannot let them go.

The movie actually centers around Lelaina and Troy and a young executive Michael (played by Ben Stiller before he decided gross-out was the way to go), who ends up dating Lelaina and tries to get her documentary off the ground. Michael seems in a completely different universe: successful, with a career, 'establishment.' Troy, for one, cannot stand him and makes him a subject of his barbs. And where the movie is grown up is that it's Michael who probably turns out the most mature and well-adjusted of the group. Someone like Troy would not be able to stand Michael, but the movie, unlike Troy, doesn't really take sides between them. And, to me, the heart of the story is the relationship between Lelaina and Troy. This is one of those rare movies that convinces me both of them being best friends, uniquely compatible, and of the chemistry between them. I am such a sucker for 'best friends turned lovers' scenario. And it's that undercurrent of jealousy and attraction that gives their scenes (and their fights) the added edge. ( Spoilers of a romantic nature )

These characters can be nasty, and self-absorbed, and they come across as so young to me (they are in their early twenties) but what really gets me is the realness of the dialogue: I remember trying to debate philosophical points at two in the morning, and the importance of figuring yourself out, and the giddy rush of attraction mixed with uncertainty when a relationship starts.

And just to prove how good the script is, here are some sample quotes:

Answering Machine: At the beep, please leave your name, number and a brief justification of the ontological necessity of modern man's existential dilemma and we'll get back to you.

( Other Reality Bites quotes )

And a couple of RB pics.

( Reality Bites pics )

And because I really feel like it now, an Ethan Hawke picspam. He's been in way too many movies I love: Reality Bites, Hamlet, Before Sunset, Gattaca, Dead Poets Society, Before Sunrise.



( Picspam here )