/ ¤**********{ e l e c t r o n i c t r a n s c e n d e n c e }-+†‹‡±_ø£'? /*/>>>>>>ø>>« The Electronic Transcendence Website Newsletter »<<ø<<<<<<\* ¥===========ø==« A quasi-parody of corporate newsletters »==ø===========¥ ÷---------------ø--« Issue 2: September-October 2000 »--ø---------------÷ *=========ø==« © 2000 Electronic Transcendence Productions »==ø=========* *\>>>>ø>>« Contact: eltf@hotmail.com, Eliot.Lefebvre@uconn.edu »<<ø<<< Thoughts after a month or so of page maintenance, unprecedented > creative drive, and exactly what the woman of your dreams will do > to you. 2: What's New > We're at UCONN! We're writing anime! We're drinking lots of Diet > Coke! We're spending most of our time away from the computer! We > have a mascot! Things are pretty much what you'd expect... 3: Coming Attractions > The whole "Animé Cycle" of ET stories, the retcon of Beast Wars > Chronicles, and X-Men Take 2 - it's a good time to be a fan of Mr. > Lefebvre's writing. But we've still got stuff for everyone, with > a Dragon Dice RPG and the promise of Thrash becoming GURPS... 4: Reviews > Last issue was primarily a game kick, so now we're on an animé kick > with a cursory review of Master of Mosquiton and the Sailor Moon RPG > & Resource Book. Of course, games still get nods, seeing as how we > already have one RPG and also fit in Threads of Fate. We also get > Hollow Man, Bless the Child, and What Lies Beneath. 5: The Last Section > FYI: This section was actually created just so we had a multiple > of five for section numbers. Go fig. { 1 : Introduction by the Guilty Party } > Eliot takes full responsibility for this document. Which, in truth, > is about all he takes full or even partial responsibility for... I've come to the conclusion that this is the hardest part of the letter to write, because I have nothing to rely upon but myself. The rest I can use real facts and cover them over with a veneer (ahem) of humor, but this intro has to be genuinely funny or it just doesn't fly at all. (Hmm. Flying newsletters. If we had a staff, they would be looking into that now. Rambling.) But then again, the same can be said for Electronic Transcendence, to a large extent. As of right now, and since inception, the page relies upon me. If my material is really any good, then so is the page. If not, then the page tanks as could be expected. And so I have come to another conclusion: maintaining a genuinely worthwhile webspace is hard work and fun at the same time. Do you think it's easy to try and have new material ready to go up on the page every single day? I have to type like crazy to get new stuff ready, and with anything HTML I have to make sure it doesn't screw the whole page structure at the same time. Plus a lot of this gets done at work, so much of what I write is also being done when I'm being surrounded by other things that really should merit a fair bit more attention than the next part of /on20/. The end result, however, is a page that I can be really proud to put my name on, because it is filled with things that I honestly believe are worth reading / running / whatever the heck you choose to do with them. A lot of people run pages without really fitting that bill, and I think it shows in the page operation. One of the primary things that ET strives to do is make itself consistently... itself. If the page doesn't mesh right, I'm doing something wrong. On a subject that is almost entirely different, it's important to have both style and substance. Substance is far more important, that I'll merit. A lot of pages try to cover over an absolute lack of substance with a gratuitous amount of style, which doesn't work very well. But if your site looks horrible, nobody's going to want to go visit it. We're human. We like pretty things. I've tried to make the site, if not perfect, at least consistently easy to navigate and nice to look at. The mascots, style sheets, imagemap, and such are all the manifestations of this philosophy. One of the big debates I had with myself recently was whether or not to include an imagemap from Zy.com as a replacement for the current one. On one hand, the new map looked significantly cooler. On the other, the old map was completely home- grown. It wound up being a moot point, since the script link doesn't seem to work at all, but it did bring me to an important conclusion that needed to be reached at least once: that the goal of Electronic Transcendence, in some small part, has to include remaining a good- looking site, or the whole philosophical core falls apart. Yes, I did mention up on the introduction to the introduction (how the heck does that work?) that I somehow tied all these little bits of page designer wisdom into what being with the woman of your dreams will do to you. How do I manage that? Simple: the glue that holds the whole house of cards together is confidence. If you aren't confident about your page, it does show. If you aren't confident that you can wake up in the morning and have something worth saying, that may or may not need to be said but is still worth hearing, for whatever reason, then your page ultimately serves no purpose. And trust me on this point: you will never feel as confident in your life as when you meet the person you're meant to be with. Why? Because when you do, you've basically been handed down a sign that whatever you've been doing so far has been good enough to make them want to be with you. I owe a lot to Erin for just that reason. (Well, okay, I owe a lot to her for a lot of reasons that have absolutely squat to do with the running of a webpage, but we're aready at a critical rambling level and there's precious little time until I'm supposed to be wrapping this thing up.) By now you're probably saying pretty much the same thing that most people say by the end of the first ETWN: "Well, that was kind of cool, but what's the point?" The point is this - no matter how thoroughly you might think you understand the situation, there is always one more point for you to understand. And that is a lesson that applies not only to websites, but to pretty much every part of life. -Eliot "Sounds wise and knowing, but actually vague and meaningless" Lefebvre { 2 : What's New } > Everything new going down with Electronic Transcendence, it's > associated little side-projects, and, if we get (un)lucky, with our > good friend Mr. Eliot, too. GIVING IT THE OL' COLLEGE TRY Yeah, guess what this one's about. Eliot is now happily living in his dorm, complete with an awesome sound system, a new computer, a full entertainment system, and a lot of other nice stuff. Suffice to say that he could definitely get very used to this. Oh, yes, and while it takes about the same time to walk to Erin's, they're both on-campus, which is QUITE nice. For him, at least. SONS OF ETHERNET One of the fringe (ahem) benefits to being at UCONN is the fact that we are now jacked into ResNet through a lightning-fast Ethernet connection. It's amazing how fast the thing loads. However, since our personal speed means very little to anyone else, let is be made clear what this does mean: updates can be made whenever something new is completed, and problems can be addressed much faster. That's good. GOD DRAGON MASCOT The results from the mascot poll are in! The response was rather lukewarm to say the least, but Shinryu never lost his early majority vote (although there was some time where it was a little steeper). He will subsequently be officially referred to as THE mascot of Electronic Transcendence, and the others will simply... um... be co-mascots. Not that it makes a huge difference, but hey. MYSTERY RPG THEATER 2000 One of the other benefits to Eliot being at college and the mentioned Ethernet connection is the fact that he now has RPGM2k on his desktop. This means that he'll be hard at work pumping out new RPG masterpieces for his (ahem) devoted fans. It also might mean some new friends on Mascot Theater... TOP O' THE PAGE TO YE As has been easily noted, the current poll... tanked. Utterly. So to make things a little nicer for everyone, Eliot's shifting over to a new polling booth, as well as adding in a new guestbook, possibly a site search feature, and another little goodie he doesn't feel like talking about. The current poll is gone, certainly. These should all show up on the top of the page in the near future, so that all can be easily clicked on from wherever you are on the site. It's a good thing. MECHA THRASHED It's not dead! Really! Mecha Thrash is still being worked on, so do be patient. It's a rather large undertaking, really it is, but we expect to have v0.95 out within this month, in the nice HTML-formatted version. Here's hoping it turns out to be worth the wait. If not... well, live with it and sob in the night. Or not. { 3 : Coming Attractions } > What is Eliot doing when he's supposed to be doing actual work, aside > from writing this? Look inside and see. on20 Description: In a school where everything is bizzare, who needs to hold stock in normalcy? on20 follows the exploits of the students of Crecheb University - the most out-there location on the face of the planet. Status: Again - "Still mad, still pointless, still going". on20 is plugging along fairly smoothly, especially since we know our target audience. ;> GENESIS Description: Humanity, like all organisms, is in a constant state of evolution. What would happen if that evolution were thrust forward, skipping stages of development it was never meant to reach? Would it be a new utopia, or would human ego and divisiveness still be the cause of unhappiness? Status: Every so often (although 'so often' is fairly frequently), I'll do a little more work on Genesis. All told, I find it harder to get into the darker mindset... VALKYRIE LEGION Description: The souls of humanity once more need defense against the dreaded Lower Kingdom, and they turn to their once-defenders, the Valkyries. Except that it's several thousand years since the Valkyries promised their resurrection, and they came back... as men. But that won't stop them from turning into teenage girls... Status: Bizarre though it may be, I'm quite fond of Valkyrie Legion, so it's right up there with on20 in terms of priority. ELEMENT KNIGHTS Description: Horrible things lurk just beyond the edge of human perception, and it will not be long before they break through. Only the Crystal holds them back now, and as they begin to break through, four new champions are found to champion the Crystal itself. Status: Generally worked on in fits and starts, but still trucking along. SCREAMERS Description: It has been said that our technology is currently at a level where it surpasses our humanity. What if that technology could think for itself - and decided that was something it didn't want to surpass? Screamers is a near-future, high-tech tale that takes six pilots of the highly-powerful AHMPCAs to the absolute edge of what is and is not human. Status: Worked on whenever possible - a lot of this was written pen- and-paper, so it all has to be transeferred over onto text files. BATTLE HELIX Description: The world is wrapped in war, as two powerful groups - the UCE and the DCE - clash head-on with the full force of their military. And one young woman, piloting one of the UCE's newest Tavs - gigantic robots built for combat - is about to become embroiled in the heart of the conflict and war, whether she wants to or not. Status: Much like the other three "second string" anime titles, being worked on in fits and starts, but decidedly worked on. BEAST WARS CHRONICLES RETCON Description: Most stuff doesn't come out quite right the first time around. BWCr is the effort to edit almost all of the stories from the BWC series to make them all tighter, better paced, and overall a more enjoyable series. Status: Being kicked around at odd moments. A lot of things are being planned, but not too much is being done right this instant. X-MEN TAKE 2 Description: Chris Claremont gave us a six-month gap in the X-Mythos - a period of time when things changed irrevocably. The entire "Revolution" arc gave a scenario of what had happened to the team in thos six months. Here's another. Status: Still heavily in the planning stages, although there's an increasing chance of seeing this in the near future. DRAGON DICE RPG Description: The world of Esfah is at war. The forces of Nature and Entropy, as well as those who join the conflict for personal gain, are engaged in fierce conflict that crosses all lines of species and creed. The prize at stake? The ability to shape a world into whatever one desires. Status: The system itself is getting kinks worked out - it's a little unusual, but workable. Afterwards comes the hard part, settings. THRASH CONVERSIONS Description: Thrash is fighting games and anime, right? Of course. And maybe cyberpunk, too. And fantasy. And horror, and modern tales of supernatural perversions, and science fiction... Status: Conversions to and from a lot of major systems are getting tossed around when I have a spare moment. Which, granted, is almost never... ;> OTHER STUFF Description: Oh, there's ALWAYS more crap that I'm busy with. And now that I have my new computer, that list just gets even longer. I have heard wonderful stories about this thing called "sleep"... ;> The List: Now that I have RPGM2k, stuff is getting tossed around on the excrutiatingly spectacular engine. (I love that system...) I'm always throwing some degree of poetry around, it's just a question of how much actually gets to execution. More RPG materials are being thrown into execution from time to time, although a lot of it turns out to sound better before execution. The Continuing Campaing Against Ignorance (or CCAI) might get off the ground soon. And then there's other stuff that might just spontaneously manifest along the line. That's life. ;> { 4 : Reviews } > You might be asking, "Why does this newsletter need a review section? > I can't figure it out." > Well, we can't either. But it's got one, so let's all play along. > So you can understand the rating, this little document rates on a > scale of brackets, from 0 sets (lousy) to 5 sets (excellent). So, > a rating of {}{}{}{}{} would be something you should buy or go to > see ASAP, a rating of { would mean that you shouldn't waste your time > and money, and a rating of {}{}{ is average. Make sense? Video Game: { Threads of Fate } Tech Stats: Adventure-RPG from Squaresoft for the Sony Playstation. 1 disc. Players take the role of either the mysterious boy Rue or the dethroned Princess Mint as they seek the legendary Relic - each for very different reasons and with very different methods. Review: Although the demo and the advertisements might bring any number of thoughts to mind, Threads of Fate could also be thought of as "Brave Fencer Musashi 2" in nearly every respect. No, the game doesn't take place in the same universe, but it features a very similar play style, a continued emphasis on subtle humor mixed with obvious sight gags, and diverse environs. Threads of Fate pretty much does everything Brave Fencer Musashi did, just does it better and with a better handle on what it's doing. Play style is part platform, part RPG. There's usual platform running, jumping, and ferocious pounding on the attack button to kill things. There are definite RPG elements, though, and those are very important. HP and MP (familiar stats, really) are both increased by lowering them - that is, take a lot of damage and watch your max HP start to grow. It's a system that requires little concious effort and pretty much caters to your play style, rewarding those who get hit a lot with higher HP - which they need. Other stats are simply improved by buying bonuses at stores in town, or by resurrecting yourself with a Platinum Coin. There's not much depth in that - the really in-depth part of the game comes with the different talents of Mint and Rue. Rue turns into defeated monsters, which allows him access to special attacks (for small amounts of MP) and different movement modes (Gargoyles fly, allowing you to avoid floor damage, etc). Mint uses seven different colors and effects of magic, most of which can be combined in order to make multiple effects. Each caters to a different play style - Rue is for those who enjoy getting in close and slugging it out, while Mint is either a long-range or hit-and-run character, depending on how you play her. The critical part of any RPG is the storyline, however, and Threads of Fate does not disappoint. Mint's is an understandably selfish tale, and she gets some of the best lines in the game through her simple refusal to grow out of her self-centered mindset. Rue, on the other hand, is a selfless, heroic young man, who seeks the Relic for purely kindhearted reasons. The storylines are different enough so that you don't find the game boring either time through, but similar enough so you recognize major plot points. Both feature plenty of humor mixed in with the more serious points - Rue has moments of comic relief, while Mint rarely fails to be hilarious. Although short, the plot does feel very filling and dynamic - similar in feel to an OAV more than anything else. Overall, Threads of Fate is a fun little game that will probably at least briefly satiate the appetites of gamers everywhere, though it will not last forever. The biggest two failings are the fact that it is not long - about 20 hours for both Rue and Mint combined - or hard. But it you need a fun little game to play for a while, Threads of Fate could be just what you're looking for. Rating: {}{}{}{} Brave Fencer Musashi wasn't groundbreaking, and neither is this spiritual sequel, but it was an enjoyable game. Threads of Fate is a good game with solid play, and the characters are engaging and well-developed. The only weaknesses are its short length and relatvely low difficulty level. RPG Material: { The Sailor Moon RPG & Resource Book } Tech Stats: Core game book for the Sailor Moon RPG from Gaurdians of Order. Uses the Tri-Stat System. Players take the roles of characters from or inspired by the Bishojo Senshi Sailormoon / Sailor Moon anime series. Review: Teenage girls being given immensely destructive powers to fight legions of evil. Disgusting abominations of nature sent from the nether regions of existence to suck out the life force of human beings. Magic, technology, and other assorted weirdness. Lots of cute animals and cute people. There isn't much middle ground when it comes to the mahou shojo genre - you either love it or you can't stand it. Or, in the third camp, you vacillate between being enraptured and absolutely despising the whole premise. You can't ignore it, whatever you do - if anything has brought anime to America, it's been the magical girls, and if anything brought that to America, it would be ruthless corporate... I mean, it would be Sailor Moon. Having rambled on for an entire paragraph now, don't worry, I have not forgotten what I'm reviewing. The SMRPG is the logical extension of the Sailor Moon fan base's continued spread. In what was an extremely good move business-wise, this book splits its attention between the game system, and providing resources that any fan of the series should enjoy, such as an episode guide, character data, etc. Of course, what's a good marketing move is also a crippling weakness of the book's design - it can't decide if it's a game or a Perfect Memory, and winds up falling a little in the middle. From a gaming perspective, it should have given a few more resources a miss in favor of expanded game information. (Do we really need the English theme song lyrics more than actual stats for the Outer Senshi?) The system... well, there's precious little that can be said about the system, because there's precious little to the system itself. The rules are relatively few and far between, with pretty much everything getting resolved with simple 2d6 roll. This is actually a virtue for the game, since it allows more focus on cinema than rules, making it a game much more accessible for non-gaming fans. Characters are built on an extensive point-based system that has a few points which should be clarified (Power Points should be spendable on other attributes), but nothing that can't be resolved by simple quick rulings. It also allows creation of fairly divergent characters that have little to nothing in common with the standard scouts. All told, you probably wouldn't go into this book expecting to find anything revolutionary or terribly complex, so you really can't feign shock when you don't. But you would expect something entertaining, and this book does deliver. Not the greatest product to ever come out, but if you're in the "I love Sailor Moon" cycle of the heavens, do go check it out. (Although the high price tag is something of a deterrent again.) Rating: {}{}{}{ Pretty much what you would expect from something based directly off of Sailor Moon. The rules are simple but functional (which means that they're fairly brief), and the resources are all very extensive. It's certainly not Call of Cthulhu (which we will review sooner or later, we promise), but it's not bad. Anime: { Master of Mosquiton } Tech Stats: Three videos, approximately 60 minutes each. Inaho, a young girl from a long line of gypsies and witches, drags the immortal half- human vampire Mosquiton along for her quest for the legendary O-Part, said to grant immortality. Review: First things first - this is not Masterpiece Theatre. It is not Akira. It is not Neo Genesis Evangelion. It is not even Ranma 1/2. If you are looking for a major departure from the standard elements of anime, or even a stylistic masterpiece, you may as well ignore Mosquiton entirely. This is a short little departure that turns out to be a lot of fun in the process. If you can accept that fact without gagging on your own vomit, then you will probably be in for a fun side-trip in anime. That having been said, Mosquiton is an interesting case study. It vacillates between two extremes for nearly the entirety of the series. On one end, there's the deeply angst-filled vampire mindset - the price of immortality, the damnation of being undead, and so on. If you've read Anne Rice or played in a single VtM chronicle, you know exactly what this is all about, but Mosquiton does earn the dubious distinction of being one of the few series that doesn't overload on the "woe are the vampires" ideal. On the other side, it does have an obvious comic side, with most of the characters being relatively shallow, self- centered, and immune to normal human failings like compassion or rational thought. The result is a series that vacillates between overwhelming darkness and stock humor - often at the same time. (See the scene near the end with Rasputin and Inaho...) In its defense, Mosquiton has its source material down pat. It does tie all of the characters together sufficiently (though some, such as Hono and Yuki, aren't exactly masterfully woven), and it also makes a serious effort to stay entertaining on both the humor and drama side of the fence. On the other hand, there are some rather big things that aren't explored. For understandable reasons, there isn't much character development, but some of the dynamics that do evolve don't seem to be prompted by much of anything. In addition, the overall darkness of the ending seems somewhat out of place with what is otherwise an evenly- split tale of lightheartedness and darkness. Lastly, both for and against the series is the fact that it is thoroughly crouched in the clichés of the anime genre. Although it does pull them off fairly well, it does hurt the orginality of the series as a whole. All told, Mosquiton does leave certain things to be desired as a series, and it's not much of a revolution in anime storytelling. The big thing it does have going for it, however, is the fact that it does tell a story without too much pretention, and it manages to do so in a method that is simultaneously entertaining and riveting. If you can live through its faults (some of them easily ignorable, others less so), you can probably enjoy a nice few hours of blissful ignorance - but you won't be changing your life. Rating: {}{}{}{ Very much ridden in anime clichés, Master of Mosquiton still is an enjoyable ride. There's some definite gaps in plot and in characterization, but nothing that could be unexpected from a 3-hour series. Worth a look, although it may not be for everyone. Movie: { Bless the Child } Tech Stats: Stars Kim Basinger. The war between heaven and hell comes to a head with a young girl who seems autistic on some levels but is able to perform incredible miracles. Review: Did you ever watch Millenium? You know, the first series that Chris Carter brought onto Fox and had to ditch because everyone had wanted an X-Files clone. It was supposed to be a series about the war between good and evil coming to Earth. The main problem with the series (aside from not being the X-Files) was that, when you got down to it, it was just plain bad. Bless the Child has the same idea - the war between heaven and hell comes to a head amongst the human sphere. The core difference is that Bless the Child is spectacular, not bad. Okay, admittedly, the story might sound trite, but it isn't. It's at once a tale of moving human drama and of the war for a spectacularly important child between two fundamental forces. The characters are all very well-drawn - you can feel definite anger towards the villains, sympathy towards the heroes, and you wonder who will ultimately be the victor in the movie. (I'm not saying.) More than anything else, the film makes the characters feel real, and that is a critical factor in any successful story. Perhaps the most striking feature of the movie is the incredible imagery. The stage is decorated with a very Romantic feel (that is, the environment changes to reflect human conditions), and light and darkness get played with to a degree not usually seen outside of black-and-white films. The film does have special effects, most notably the extremely disturbing demons that appear in places of evil. However, they are used spectacularly, and they do not take the focus away from the people in the scene. Some of the last few special effects are incredible, but all simply accent the events rather than serving as an impetus. They also look macabre in their realism - you aren't likely to see CGI of this caliber outside of Squaresoft cutscenes. Unfortunately, Bless the Child does have a major failing: this is not a non-denominational film. You don't have to have a working knowledge of Christianity, but the film is rooted in Christian myths and beliefs. The stark imagery is also sharply Gothic in many areas (see the last couple of scenes especially), and you can't go very far without a Christian message. It's not a preaching film, but the symbolism might weigh rather heavy on some people. The other side is the fact that the film is genuinely disturbing and makes no effort to pull any punches. There are things in this movie that can truly shake your faith down to the very foundations, and can stir some very deep aversions to what the characters do in the film (in some part a flip-side to the realism that the characters are given). This movie is quite an experience if you are really watching it in all seriousness. If you think you're up for it, do see it. If not, maybe you should give it a miss. Rating: {}{}{}{} Bless the Child is disturbing, and the heavy gothic imagery is not for everyone. But if you can take the whole film in (not an easy task), you'll find a complex tale that stirs serious thought on the issues of belief, good and evil, and the nature of existence. Movie: { Hollow Man } Tech Stats: Stars Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Shue. Scientists researching a formula to grant invisibility inject one of their own with the formula before testing it thoroughly, resulting in the now-invisible scientist becoming insane and dangerous. Review: It's impossible to avoid seeing the previews for this film, and the first words out of your lips are probably, "Wow, great special effects". Under no circumstances should you allow that knee-jerk response to convince you to actually see this film. Few films are undebatably, utterly, and thoroughly bad, but Hollow Man manages to be exactly that, throwing in every pointless movie cliché known to mankind and then some. In fact, although the movie is supposed to be a high-tech showcase, it comes off a lot like the old, low-budget monster movies from so long ago, because the atmosphere of the movie never seems to grow out of that sort of sophmoric mindset. To their credit, they do try to establish a (bad) pseudoscience explanation about why those who are injected with the formula go insane, but that still doesn't explain nine-tenths of the film's maniacal assaults by Kevin Bacon. Nobody gets that disturbed, that fast. Ironicaly enough, though, by the end you're rooting for the psycho invisible man - at least, I was, considering that the "hero" and "heroine" weren't really a lot better in terms of likability. At least the hollow man was developed a little. The plot doesn't get any better than the characters. It's obvious from very early on that the writers (yes, there are multiple writers) decided to skip any actual research / logic and hope that nobody in the audience had more of a clue than they did. Parts of the movie just do not make any logical sense. If a location is of vital - and we do mean vital - importance to the Pentagon, there is no way that they are not going to know every single thing that's going on in there at any given moment. So why is the facility the characters use out-of-the-way, cut off from all government contact, and conveniently easy to cut off from any outside contact whatsoever? Because otherwise, you wouldn't get to see a half-invisible Kevin Bacon killing people. (Which is another point of irritation - every few minutes he gets something thrown on him, poured on him, etc. Not so invisible after all, I see.) Such a film can be summarized in two ways. The short way would be to say that it was bad. The long way boils down to saying that it was bad. The only thing I found even vaguely interesting about the film was its eerie similarity to so many things in this world - things without any real substance that we try to cover over with bells and whistles, make them look better without actually doing much of anything to the real problems at the heart of things. But that's not coming from the plot of the movie, it's coming from the movie itself - something with no real substance... you get the point. Please, if there is a god, let us never see a sequel to this film. Rating: { Hollow Man does have spectacular special effects, but it's not worth sitting through two hours for. If you have absolutely nothing better to do with your time except see this film, find something. This movie is seriously scary, but not in terms of shock value. Movie: { What Lies Beneath } Tech Stats: Stars Michelle Pfieffer and Harrison Ford. When a daughter leaves for college, the wife of a college professor encounters a ghostly presence that throws the very basis of her life into question. Review: Irony is reviewing one horror movie that induces vomit and another that gives you goosebumps. It's difficult to know much going in to this movie about what it's going to be about, but it turns out to be pure, building, suspenseful terror of the first order. Minor flaws do spot it, but this is a film of unequaled quality, and should not be ignored by any serious moviegoer. Contrary to Hollow Man's technological paradise and special effects wonderland, What Lies Beneath focuses on the far more important element of storyline first. There is very little overtly supernatural in the film, which actually adds to the terror. We naturally feel disconnected when a snarling demon comes out of the darkness all of a sudden - that stuff just doesn't happen (to most of us). But doors opening and closing for no apparent reason, strange glitches in computers, and other assorted things happening that you don't expect to but can't really be chalked up to the unnatural is something we're used to. The sounds of the house settling is something you never quite get used to, and this plays off of that simultaneously normal yet unsettling symptom. Of course, the film is masterfully scripted as well. It lays the world out in a realistic, believable way, mixing in plenty of elements of normal New England life. The cast feels realistic and human enough to be identifiable, and the events unfold by a naturalistic course that can only be derided because it is rife with coincidences. (Lots of Romantic ideals in these movies, don't you think?) There's also little interconnection between events in the right places - that is, what gets Ms. Pfieffer thinking about things is accordingly unconnected to the actual events, as real life often works. Best of all is that the writer knows what they're writing. The buildup of suspense followed by a sudden occurence comes naturally, as does creeping dread and sheer fear for the main characters. This is a truly scary movie, not a Wes Craven bloodbath. Unfortunately, this normally spectacular movie does feature some minor flaws that pull it down from true perfection. Certain plot elements are picked up and dropped almost immediately, which is realistic but does not really make the film experience any more recommendable. In addition, some of the parts of characterization seem jarringly out of character (most notable towards the end). It's a great film, no argument, but in any film, you want the characters to act within the personality set forth for them. In a film as character-driven as this, it really seems like a bit of sloppy work to break out of the character's personality, and it is probably the biggest flaw of the film. Overall, if you think you can take the fear, then by all means, watch this movie - you owe it to yourself. It's worth the time to view it. Rating: {}{}{}{}{ Classic, Hitchcock-esque psychological terror blended with a wonderfully real setting and dramatic characterization creates a spectacularly frightening and dramatic film. Only minor flaws in the story that seem jarringly out of place prevent this film from being an even 10. { 5 : The Last Section } ELECTRONIC TRANSCENDENCE ENVIRONMENT WINDOW: Eve6 on sound system. Various shades of green window colors, titles in Visitation font, menus in Comic Sans MS. Starcraft and Macross cursors, Brood War and FF7 sounds, the SDF-01 is on my desktop. Thoughts of Chrono Cross, easily slammed-*out college work, and Erin (as always). THE FINAL WORD: "Your site is so good... it's almost scary." -Tom of the Tomunist Empire ELECTRONIC TRANSCENDENCE WEBSITE NEWSLETTER STATEMENT: The ETWN is published (sorta) six times a year (hopefully) by Electronic Transcendence (duh). Its express purpose is threefold: to keep a running tally of what is on Electronic Transcendence, to give people an idea of what will be coming in the near future from the site, and to continue to futher Electronic Transcendence by being an easily-distributable read. It also exists to give Eliot something to do from time to time. Electronic Transcendence Productions cannot be held responsible for accidental pregnancy, intentional pregnancy, rightful death, rightful life, large breasts, small breasts, weight gain, weight loss, turning invisible and suddenly turning into a heartless jerk, nausea, rabid antelope, meteors sudden oblitherating every trace of life on Earth, the continued existence of the Republicans, or anything else that might involve somehow having to fix a problem. We can, however, be held accountable for the relative dryness of a turkey sandwich. Send us the sandwich, 1 cent in processing fees, and 1,000,000 cents for shipping and handling charges. No animals were killed in the making of this newsletter. We did, however, kick two squirrels and possibly caused irreprable psychological damage to a labrador retriever by calling it fat. Many meat-bearing animals have been killed in the making of this editor, because Eliot likes hamburgers. That site again: http://members.fortunecity.com/lostfactor The name Electroninc Transcendence, the "Transens" logo, and the Electronic Transcendence ASCII Text Bracket Design are all ® Electronic Transcendence Productions. All rights reserved. © 2000 Electronic Transcendence Productions. All rights reserved. Any copyrighted material mentioned within this (ahem) publication is owned by its respective author. This document in no way challenges that ownership and is written with the utmost respect for the original authors and owners of such material. Electronic Transcendence is owned by Eliot P. Lefebvre. Permission is granted to freely distribute this document so long as no money is charged for it and no part of it is changed in any way. Are you still here? It's over. Go home.