as there ever been a musical instrument that sparked more devotion than the whimiscal, quixotic, half-daft theremin? Sure, guitars and violins and pianos all have their aficionados, and over the centuries have accumulated plenty of lore and fascination. But for an ugly box you don't even touch to play, and which was invented less than a century ago (in 1919 by the Russian physicist Leon Theremin), the theremin takes top honors for the fanatical allegiance it inspires among its quirky fans and users. To partake of all things thereminic, you must visit Theremin World. Here you will be inundated with a wealth of material on this spooky, ethereal-sounding musical instrument, which by its very nature reeks of science fiction, in the same way as all those illustrations of "yesterday's tomorrows" from 1930s issues of Popular Science.
The range of activities for the visitor to this site is awesome. You can participate in the forum, parsing the schematics of a theremin, prior to attempting to build one yourself. You can get the full backstory on Leon Theremin and his invention, as well as links to a large number of related web pages. There are plenty of audio samples available for download. Hours can be spent examining the catalog of 500-plus bands whose recordings employ the theremin. Shopping opportunities abound: shirts, mugs and bags with the Theremin World logo, CDs and movies, theremin kits and more. But my favorite feature of this site is the photo gallery. Here theremin players send in pix of their customized rigs. Theremins incorporated into flying saucer bodies and "flab-reduction" machines, and reconfigured as occult-looking triangles pierced by laser beams. It's a wavery, wavery, wavery world out there!
— Paul Di Filippo
Site of the Week—December 1, 2003
llwatchers is a film database with a difference, an offbeat attempt to categorize movies by their story structure. Instead of focusing on actors, directors and other creative talents involved in a movie, Allwatchers analyzes films based on their plot points, the type of characters they contain, or specific themes or story elements. Looking to see every movie ever made that features clones as characters? Allwatchers can provide a list in mere seconds.
First and foremost, this is a Web page for people who know just what they like ... and who want even more. One-click plot searches allow users to bring up listings of, for example, superhero movies or films with giant monsters. The statistics on films are sparely delivered and frequently make for hilarious reading, as Allwatchers' reviewers rate film protagonists from the Terminator to Marty McFly on their physique, smarts, sense of humor and emotional sensitivity.
Allwatchers covers all genres of film, but site visitors can move directly to a specialized section of the site to perform SF searches. The site also has a sister page that breaks down novel and television plots in exactly the same way for other fans.
This site will never form any serious competition for a straightforward movie database like the Internet Movie Database, but it does offer hard data for researchers seeking out shared themes in movies, for writers looking to compare their stories against standard narrative themes (or cliches), and, of course, for fans seeking movies of a type they particularly enjoy.
— A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—November 24, 2003
ans of the SF classic film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) owe much of their enjoyment, whether they realize it or not, to the work of one Bernard Herrmann (1911-1975). It was the eminent composer Herrmann who scored that film's evocative music, of course, just as he did for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958) and Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959); for numerous Twilight Zone episodes; and, most famously, for several Alfred Hitchcock films, including Psycho (1960). But this list hardly exhausts Herrmann's extensive credits, as you will see for yourself if you visit the homepage of The Bernard Herrmann Society.
Here you'll encounter interviews with the composer, as well as critical appreciations of his work. The reminiscences of his friend Elmer Bernstein, "the last active film composer from Hollywood's Golden Age," are particularly illuminating. You'll be apprised of the latest recordings available, be able to view photos of the man and learn about upcoming Society plans for promoting the work of the artist some deem the world's greatest "composer for films." (Herrmann disliked the term "film composer.") And there's a lively forum for online discussion of the music as well. About the only thing missing from this well-designed and easy-to-navigate site are sound files so that you might sample the music itself. But I suppose copyright issues preclude such tasty snippets. You'll just have to rent one of the many films Herrmann scored, sit back and enjoy!
— Paul Di Filippo
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