Site of the Week -- June 14, 1999
eru Lars may only have a few moments onscreen in Star Wars, but
that's enough to grant her an immortality of sorts on the Web. Aunt Beru's Place chronicles the life and death of Luke
Skywalker's kind and reassuring "aunt." The site captures all of Beru's
idiosyncrasies, from pride in her cabbage stew to her frustration at losing
an annual bake off to Huff Darklighter's wife.
The Carol Brady of the Star Wars universe introduces visitors to her
family, including her grumpy-but-lovable husband Owen and her whiny,
rambunctious nephew. She explains why Tatooine milk is blue (clue: Banthas
aren't just for riding) and drops hints about her love life with Mos Eisely
bartender Wuher.
But what has to be one of the best parts of the site is Beru's very own
action figure--a very limited release (complete with blue milk) from
Kenner. The only question remaining is, does she have a kung-fu grip?
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- June 7, 1999
tanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey was a
landmark for science fiction filmmaking. Likewise, Underman's 2001,
an exhaustive, independent Web page devoted to the movie, is an evolution beyond the typical film site. Underman's is saturated with little-known and often fascinating explanations and anecdotes about 2001's planning, production, and promotion, and it also includes rare images of pre-production artwork, programs, and even long-lost scenes cut from the film by Kubrick himself.
Even Underman's data shortfalls add to the 2001 ethos. For example, the attempt to augment comprehensive cast bios with where-are-they-nows ran into odd roadblocks, such as the unwillingness of Douglas Rain--the voice of HAL--to discuss the film at all. There's also a complete transcript of all of HAL's dialogue, an analysis of the Soviet "answer" film (Solaris), and a rundown of key 2001 events since 1968. Extensive essays explore the film's legacy.
Underman's 2001 has so much to offer that even 2001's most ardent fans are bound to find something new.
-- Mark Wilson
Site of the Week -- June 1, 1999
f time travel will exist, it does exist now. And if it does exist, it's a
sure bet that the folks from the future will be paying The Time Travel
Institute a visit.
The Institute--equal parts spoof and serious time travel discussion--is run by the brilliant and "quite mad" Dr. VonSchnelling. He conducts (has
conducted, will conduct?) time travel experiments with the help of his tame
vampire penguins. Based on these experiments, he's come up with several
time travel theories, which the site illustrates using shows like Quantum
Leap and The Terminator.
The site doesn't take itself or its speculations too seriously, though. After explaining one theory, VonSchnelling says: "You have just exploded zee
universe. Zat is not good."
Meanwhile, over on the discussion board, fans thrash out their own time
travel theories while hobnobbing with alleged visitors from the 22nd
century. The Institute could stand to expand its horizons--reviews of
temporal paradoxes would be nice, as would references to time travel in
books--but overall this is a great site to spend some time visiting.
-- Kenneth Newquist
