Technicolor in January

Probably in reaction to the grey, dismal days of January, everything went a bit Technicolor round here last night. We had a double bill of fifties science fiction movies and it was great fun. I love all that pulsating, vibrant colour from the 1950s. We watched the George Pal 'War of the Worlds', which I've seen many times before, but not for years. And it made me realise it was this that the Spielberg movie was based on, rather than H G Wells. The scenes in the cellar with the snakey probe and the Martian dashing about are replicated shot by shot. But what a dull and grey film that Spielberg effort was. Just noisy crashing about. He used to have such lovely scripts, didn't he? 'Jaws' and 'ET' and 'Close Encounters' were so witty and gentle in their scripting - you really believed in those people. What's happened with Spielberg?

Anyway, the scripts in these double-feature films last night were no great shakes, of course, but that's not the point. It's the dazzle and the spectacle and the sense of impending chaos. I love the fact that these films are only 80 minutes long. For someone prone to falling asleep every twenty minutes during a film on TV, this is great news.

I thought I'd seen 'This Island Earth' before - but it was all very new to me. Maybe all I'd seen was the photo in the 1977 'Star Wars' magazine special, which had pictures from classic movies influencing George Lucas. I looked at that brain-headed, goggle-eyed beast in the boob tube and invented a whole mental movie around it, without ever actually watching the thing. But it's a lovely film - best in the final section and the visit to the alien world that's crashing down around the aliens' ears. But also great in the middle bit when our scientist heroes are being held in a research facility by dome-headed boffins who won't let them go. It's a bit like The Prisoner, that bit.

It struck me, watching these, that everyone in them gets very excited about science, about space travel, gadgets and nuclear bombs. The scientist heroes are young and virile - they wear bomber jackets and become the love interest. One of the female love interests is a scientist herself, all pointy-breasted and armed with the secrets of the universe. It seems that the usual tale about fifties sf in the movies is that it was to do with paranoia and the Soviets, etc etc. And obviously the Cold War is there... but it seems that the movie makers were very worked up and optimistic, too. Over-excited as they invented new toys to mess around with. These are quite cheery films, really.

With my B-movies in the post yesterday also came the Steampunk anthology edited by the Vandermeers I've been looking forward to. So it'll be interesting to see where we're up to now, with literary sf.

Yes, it was a parcel of books. I'm off the wagon. But Gene suggeted the Lev Grossman, and we're doing Cormac McCarthy for Book Club... and then Nick at Pile of Leaves was talking about Jenny Nimmo - and then I saw that the 'Snow Spider' trilogy was out in one volume and.. and... All excuses, really, I know. I LOVE NEW BOOKS. I love old books, too. I'm just addicted to having heaps of this stuff about the place.