| Author |
Story Title |
Issue Date |
Type |
Comments |
| Ellison, Harlan |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 12: In Which Several Things Are Held Up to the Light ... Not a Brain in Sight |
1985 OCT |
mr |
Rambo: First Blood Part II(1985), based on a David Morrell novel, screenplay by Stallone & dir. James Cameron, stars Sylvester Stallone; briefly, A View to a Kill(1985 UK); The Black Cauldron(1985); Silver Bullet(1985), based on a Stephen King novel |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 13: In Which Numerous Ends (Loose) Are Tied Up; Some in the Configuration of a Noose (Hangman's) |
1985 NOV |
mr |
Ellison wrote teleplay of Stephen King's "Gramma" for The Twilight Zone(1985-89 TV ser.); Return to Oz(1985), Walt Disney movie, why it was "dumped," w. some flashbacks to Dune(1984); Disney studio heads Michael Eisner & Barry Diller; dir. Walter Murch |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 14: In Which We Sail to the Edge of the World and Confront the Abyss, Having Run Out of Steam |
1986 JAN |
mr |
essay: sf/f time travel movies; Back to the Future(1985), dir. Robert Zemeckis, producer Steven Spielberg, stars Michael J. Fox; The Bride(1985), stars Jennifer Beals; Teen Wolf(1985); Fright Night(1985); Kiss of the Spider Woman(1985) |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 14½: In Which the Unheard-Of Is Heard, Kind Of |
1986 FEB |
mr |
essay: why critics, especially himself, can't keep their mouths shut; no movie reviews; see Ellison interview in Pulphouse: A Weekly Magazine, #1 1991 JUN 1 |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 15: In Which a Gourmet Feast Is Prepared of Words a Mere Two Month' Old |
1986 MAR |
mr |
Brazil(1985), "the greatest sf film ever made ... one of the ten greatest films of all time," dir. Terry Gilliam, written by Gilliam, Charles McKeown, & Tom Stoppard, stars Robert De Niro, Jonathan Pryce, Katherine Helmond, Michael Palin, Kim Greist |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 16: In Which a Forest Is Analyzed Without Recourse to Any Description of a Tree |
1986 MAY |
mr |
Enemy Mine(1985), based on the Barry B. Longyear novella in ASI 1979 SEP, dir. Wolfgang Petersen, screenplay by Edward Khmara, stars Dennis Quaid, Louis Gossett Jr; brief update on Brazil(1985) |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 17: In Which We Unflinchingly Look a Gift Horse in the Choppers |
1986 JUL |
mr |
Young Sherlock Holmes(1985), Part 1 of 2, dir. Barry Levinson, producer Steven Spielberg, script by Chris Columbus, stars Nicholas Rowe(as Holmes), Alan Cox(as Watson), Sophie Ward |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 18: In Which Youth Goeth Before a Fall |
1986 AUG |
mr |
Young Sherlock Holmes(1985), Part 2 of 2, with digressions into the "auteur theory" in movies & comic books, & how hommage can "run amuck"; Ellison has anth. Medea: Harlan's World(1985; W-1986 LOC), set on a world that he conceived |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 19: In Which We Long for the Stillness of the Lake, the Smooth Swell of the Sea |
1986 OCT |
mr |
essay: Ellison's definition of maturity, "observations about childish & adult visions of what to make as a motion picture in an era when studios check the growth rings of writers & directors before they commit ..."; Short Circuit(1986), stars Ally Sheedy |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 20: In Which Manifestations of Arrested Adolescence Are Shown to Be Symptoms of a Noncommunicable Dopiness, Thank Goodness |
1986 DEC |
mr |
essay: films made by adults w. the sensibilities of adolescents; Legend(1985), dir. Ridley Scott, stars Tom Cruise; Labyrinth(1986), stars David Bowie, Jennifer Connelly; briefly, Big Trouble in Little China(1986); Lost Horizons(1937; rest. 1973); 1 more |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 21: In Which You and a Large Group of Total Strangers Are Flipped the Finger by the Mad Masters of Anthropomorphism |
1987 FEB |
mr |
Flight of the Navigator(1986), from Disney, dir. Randal Kleiser, stars Joey Cramer; The Fly(1986), stars Jeff Goldblum, remake of 1953 movie which had 1959 & 1965 sequels; Peggy Sue Got Married(1986), stars Kathleen Turner |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 22: In Which the Land Echoes to the Sound of an Ox of a Different Color Being Gored |
1987 APR |
mr |
no movies reviewed; essay: colorization from the Hollywood writer's viewpoint; 1st movie colorized, Topper(1937); 1st colorized movie on network TV, The Maltese Falcon(1941), on November 12, 1986 |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 23: In Which Premonitions of the Future Lie in Wait to Swallow Shadows of the Past |
1987 MAY |
mr |
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home(1986), with much on Walter Koenig, who plays Chekov, & is a friend of Ellison, & is a writer of screenplays; essay: how Star Trek has grown since the TV series, & Ellison's part in its history |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 24: In Which Flora and Fauna Come to a Last Minute Rescue, Thereby Preventing the Forlorn From Handing It All Over to the Cockroaches |
1987 JUL |
mr |
essay: Woody Allen's sf/f movies are overlooked for Hugo Awards; Radio Days(1987), stars Mia Farrow; Little Shop of Horrors(1986), stars Rick Moranis; updates on colorization, & dir. David Cronenberg; Bill Warren: Keep Watching the Skies, Vol. 1(1982) |
| |
Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 25: In Which the Specter at the Banquet Takes a Healthy Swig From the Flagon With the Dragon, or Maybe the Chalice From the Palace |
1987 SEP |
mr |
essay: guilty pleasures, in Ken Russell's films; violence in films & the crowds who love it; Gothic(1986 UK), dir. Ken Russell, about Percy Shelley, Mary Godwin & Lord Byron on the night of June 16, 1816, stars Natasha Richardson, Gabriel Byrne |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 26: In Which a Good Time Was Had by All and an Irrevelant Name-Dropping of Fritz Leiber Occurs for No Better Reason Than to Remind Him ... |
1987 OCT |
mr |
... How Much We Love Him and Admire Him; Witches of Eastwick(1987), loosely based on John Updike's 1984 fantasy novel, stars Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon, Michelle Pfeiffer; see Christopher Priest: The Book on the Edge of Forever(1988), on Ellison |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 27: In Which the Fur Is Picked Clean of Nits, Gnats, Nuts, Naggers and Nuhdzes |
1988 JAN |
mr |
essay: replies to the 3 or 4 kinds of complaint letters on his column; Robocop(1987), dir. Paul Verhoeven, stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen; Harry and the Hendersons(1987); 3 poetry books, Pablo Neruda: The Separate Rose, Still Another Day, Winter Garden |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 28: In Which, With Wiles and Winces, We Waft Words Warranting, to Wit, Wonderful Wit |
1988 FEB |
mr |
essay: many sf fans & readers lack a sense of true wit, based on many letters of complaint on his stories & his column; Spaceballs(1987), dir. Mel Brooks, stars Brooks, John Candy, Bill Pullman, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 29: In Which Li'l White Lies Are Revealed to Be at Least Tattletale Gray |
1988 MAY |
mr |
essay: answers question, why are you so angry?; cuz of lies from film industry, movies discussed: The Emerald Forest(1985); Hangar 18(1980); Frankenstein: The True Story(1973); Shark's Treasure(1975); Ladyhawke(1985); The Philadelphia Experiment(1984) |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 30½: In Which 3 Cinematic Variations on "The Whimper of Whipped Dogs" Are Presented |
1988 JUN |
mr |
story discussed was pub. in Thomas M. Disch(ed): Bad Moon Rising(1973), & W-1974 EDG, & is "a fantasy based on the real-life murder of ... Kitty Genovese in Queens in 1964"; 3 variations of a screenplay of a scene based on this story are given |
| |
Eidolons (dedicated to the memory of Mike Hodel) |
1988 JUL |
ss |
W-1989 LOC, short story; has used ps. Cordwainer Bird since 1957, but after 1964 has used it to designate material he partially disclaimed, esp. through conflicts with TV producers; for example the TV series The Starlost(1973-1974, 16 ep.) |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 30: In Which the Li'l White Lies Thesis (Part Two) Takes Us By the Snout and Drags Us Unwillingly Toward a Door We Fear to Open |
1988 AUG |
mr |
Part 2 of film industry lies; white lies & plagiarism; film mentioned, Ladyhawke(1985), stars Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, Michelle Pfeiffer; Part 1 in 1988 MAY(#5832), Part 3 in 1988 SEP(#5886); Ellison story "The Human Factor," 1995 Outer Limits ep. |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 31: In Which the Li'l White Lies (Part Three) Approaches a Nascent State, Approaches the Dreadful Door, and En Route Questions Meat ... |
1988 SEP |
mr |
... Industry; The Running Man(1987), supposedly based on Stephen King's(as Richard Bachman) 1982 novel, but is actually a rewrite of Robert Sheckley's story "The Prize of Peril" in F&SF 1958 MAY; The Hidden(1987), ripoff of Clement's novel Needle(1950) |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 31½: In Which Mea Culpas Fall Like Gentle Rain Upon the Place Beneath |
1988 DEC |
mr |
essay: an apology for not being able to have this column run regularly due to prior obligations & a busy schedule; Ellison's movie reviews coll. in Harlan Ellison's Watching(1989; W-1990 STO; N-1990 HUG, LOC, WFA); screenplay Harlan Ellison's Movie(1991) |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 32: In Which the Switch Is Thrown |
1989 JAN |
mr |
essay: "Oh, fer chrissakes, gimme a break!," when filmmakers try to make us believe the impossible, & our "Common Sense Switch" gets thrown; Willow(1988), dir. Ron Howard; Who Framed Roger Rabbit(1988), dir. Robert Zemeckis |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 33: In Which the Canine of Vacuity Is Wagged by the Far More Interesting Tale of O'Bannon |
1989 MAR |
mr |
essay: personal reminiscence of his 1st Big Break in Hollywood; the career of Rockne O'Bannon; Alien Nation(1988), written by O'Bannon, dir. Graham Baker, stars James Caan, Mandy Patinkin, followed by a TV series, & a series of made-for-TV movies |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 34: In Which We Praise Those Whose Pants're On Fire, Noses Long As a Telephone Wire |
1989 MAY |
mr |
essay: the writer as "Paid Liar"; The Adventures of Baron Munchausen(1989), based on the 1785 book by Rudolf Erich Raspe, which was in turn based on the real life of Baron Karl Friedrich Hieronymous(1720-1797), remake of 1943 film, dir. by Terry Gilliam |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 35: In Which the Phantasmagorical Pales Before the Joys of the Mimetic |
1989 JUL |
mr |
essay: the ghost story as done by Hollywood, the best; Topper(1937; colorized 1985); Kwaidan(1964); Here Comes Mr. Jordan(1941); The Haunting(1963); I Married a Witch(1942); The Ghost and Mrs. Muir(1947), etc; reviews High Spirits(1988) |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 36: In Which, Darkly and Deliciously, We Travel From Metropolis to Metropolis, Two Different Cities, Both Ominous |
1989 OCT |
mr |
Batman(1989), based on characters created by Bob Kane & Bill Finger in 1939, dir. Tim Burton, stars Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger; to illus. that movie executives are stupid, says they considered Bill Murray as Batman, Eddie Murphy as Robin |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 37: In Which Not Only Is No Answer Given, But No One Seems to Know the Question to Ask |
1989 NOV |
mr |
essay: why was 1988 the year of kid/grown-up swap movies?; Like Father, Like Son(1987); Dream a Little Dream(1989); Vice Versa(1988); 18 Again!(1988); why is anyone over-thirty usually unemployed in the film industry? |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching: Installment 38: In Which, Though Manipulated, We Acknowledge That Which All Men Seek |
1990 JAN |
mr |
Field of Dreams(1989), based on W.P. Kinsella novel Shoeless Joe(1982), stars Kevin Costner; essay: on what this movie is about, an introspective review; book David Holland: From Out of the Past: A Pictorial History of the Lone Ranger |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 39: In Which We Hum a Merry Tune While Waiting for New Horrors, New Horrors |
1990 MAR |
mr |
book reviews - Tim Powers: The Stress of Her Regard(1989); Floyd Gottfredson: Mickey Mouse in Color(1988); Tullio Pericoli: Woody, Freud and Others(1989); Peter Sutton: Dreamings: The Art of Aboriginal Australia; J.P. Telotte: Dreams of Darkness; 1 more |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 40: In Which We Scrutinize the Sedulousness to Their Hippocratic Oath of Troglodytic, Blue, Alien Proctologists |
1990 MAY |
mr |
Communion(1989), based on the 1987 "true" book & screenplay by Whitley Streiber, dir. Philippe Mora, stars Christopher Walken, Lindsay Crouse, Frances Sternhagen; Ellison has short story chapbook Footsteps(Gallery 1980 DEC; 1989) |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 41: In Which an Extremely Nervous Fool With His Credentials Taped to His Forehead Tacks Trepidatiously Between Scylla and Charybdis, ... |
1990 JUL |
mr |
... Knowing That Angels and Wise Men Would Fear Even to Dog-Paddle This Route; The Handmaid's Tale(1990), based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 novel, stars Robert Duvall, Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Aidan Quinn, Elizabeth McGovern; 2 books reviewed |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 42: In Which It Waddles Like a Duck, Sheds Water Like a Duck, and Goes Steady With Ducks, But Turns Out to Be a Tortoise |
1990 SEP |
mr |
essay: "money is a cheap way to gauge success or ultimate value"; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles(1990), based on comic book characters created by Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird(from Sharon, CT), & how they came up with them, dir. by Steve Barron |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 43: In Which We Lament, "There Goes the Neighborhood!" |
1990 OCT |
mr |
Robocop(1987), dir. Paul Verhoeven, scrnply by Ed Neumeier & Michael Miner; Robocop 2(1990), dir. Irvin Kershner, scrnply by Walon Green & comic book writer Frank Miller; both star Peter Weller & Nancy Allen; Ellison has nf coll. The H. E. Hornbook(1991) |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 44: In Which the Good Ship Coat-Tail-Ride Sinks, Abandoning Hundreds in Treacherous Waters |
1991 JAN |
mr |
essay: predicts "the utter vanishment of the horror genre within two years"; Arachnophobia(1990), stars Jeff Daniels, Harley Jane Kozak; Darkman(1990); Martians Go Home!(1990), based on Fredric Brown's novel; Millenium(1989); Dick Tracy(1990) |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 45: In Which Tempus Fidgets, Fugits, and Inevitably Omnia Revelats |
1991 MAR |
mr |
essay: responsibility, in our world "the villains may be us only & simply because we didn't think about tomorrow"; Back to the Future trilogy, I(1985), II(1989), III(1990); all dir. Robert Zemeckis, stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 46: In Which We Bend So Far Over Backwards to Be Unbiased That You Can See the Nose Hairs Quiver With Righteousness |
1991 OCT/NOV |
mr |
essay: when your favorite unsung becomes popular, it's tough to stay unbiased; The Rocketeer(1991), based on graphic novel by Dave Stevens, stars Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly; he welcomes Kris Rusch(new F&SF editor) & Kathi Maio(new film reviewer) |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 47: In Which Artful Vamping Saves the Publisher $94.98 |
1992 JAN |
mr |
non-review of Edward Scissorhands(1990), dir. Tim Burton, stars Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder; up-date on Installment #44, that horror genre was dead; notice Ted Geiser, Dr. Seuss, died 1991 SEP; Freddy's Dead(1991); Bill & Ted's Bogus Adventure(1991) |
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Isaac Asimov: 2 January 1920 - 6 April 1992 |
1992 AUG |
obit |
a tribute to Isaac Asimov; see long article "Isaac Asimov: 1920-1992" by Frank M. Robinson & Charles N. Brown; & "Isaac Asimov Appreciations," by many people in the sf/f field, in LOC 1992 MAY(#376), & 1992 JUN(#377); 1992 JUN has special photo section |
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Susan |
1993 DEC |
vi |
written as a tribute to his wife, Susan, story inspired by cover painting by Polish artist Jacek Jerka; Ellison writes 30 stories around 30 of Jerka's paintings, & pub. in Mind Fields(1994); Susan had 'Through the Lens' mr's in ABO beginning in 1989 |
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Sensible City |
1994 OCT/NOV |
ss |
has colls. Deathbird Stories(1975; W-1979 BSF; N-1976 LOC, WFA), Strange Wine(1978; N-1979 BRG, LOC), Shatterday(1980; N-1991 LOC, WFA), Stalking the Nightmare(1982; N-1983 BRG, LOC), Angry Candy(1988; W-1989 LOC, WFA; N-1989 STO) |
| |
Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 48: In Which the Wee Child's Icons Are Demeaned |
1994 DEC |
mr |
essay: "Woof woof a goldfish, that which forms us, unconsciously, as children, informs our opinions ... thru the years to adulthood"; Part 1 of 2, The Shadow(1994), based on the character created by Walter B. Gibson, pulp mag. The Shadow 1931 APR-1949 SUM |
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Keyboard |
1995 JAN |
ss |
story written in the window of Booksmith in San Francisco, based on Robin William's idea, "Computer Vampire, or, the Byte that Bites"; Ellison uses a typewriter, hates computers; he's a conceptual consultant on Babylon 5, & sf commentator on Sci-Fi Buzz |
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Films: Harlan Ellison's Watching, Installment 49: In Which the Old Man of the Sea Bites the Head Off Yet Another Chicken |
1995 FEB |
mr |
Part 2 of 2, The Shadow(1994), also based on the old-time radio show(July 31, 1930-Dec. 26, 1954), also rvw. by Kathi Maio, 1995 JAN; The Mask(1994), inspired by the black & white comic book, followed by an animated TV series, movie stars Jim Carrey |
| |
Pulling Hard Time |
1995 OCT/NOV |
ss |
N-1996 HUG; has tv essay colls. The Glass Teat(1970), The Other Glass Teat(1975); essay colls. Sleepless Nights in the Procrustean Bed(1984; W-1985 LOC; N- HUG), An Edge in My Voice(1985; N-1986 HUG, LOC); see Preiss: The Illustrated Harlan Ellison(1979) |
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Go Toward the Light |
1996 JAN |
ss |
story orig. written, here heavily revised, for a National Public Radio ser., 1st aired in 1994 DEC; has coll. Lamont, Delap & Dowling(ed): The Essential Ellison(1987; W-1988 STO; N-1988 HUG, LOC); graphic novel Demon with a Glass Hand(1986, w. M. Rogers) |
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Midnight in the Sunken Cathedral |
1996 MAR |
ss |
1st pub. in Eidolon 1995 WIN; has composed much short fiction lately for his comic book series, Ellison's Dream Corridor, produced by Dark Horse Comics; has graphic novels Night and the Enemy(1987, w. Ken Steacy), Vic and Blood(1989, w. Richard Corben) |
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Chatting With Anubis |
1996 JUL |
ss |
W-1996 STO, ss; 1st pub. in Lore 1995 SUM; story was written around a pre-existing painting for the 5th issue of the Dark Horse comic, Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor; has comic book story adaptation coll. Harlan Ellison's Dream Corridor Special(1995) |
