thefourthvine: Two people fucking, rearview: sex is the universal fandom. (Default)
Keep Hoping Machine Running ([personal profile] thefourthvine) wrote2010-01-21 06:31 pm
Entry tags:

Sex Really Is the Universal Fandom, Apparently

Best Beloved recently developed a desire to see a movie about a man with a disturbingly large moustache duking it out with a bald robot in a cowboy hat. Fortunately, there is a movie that meets this need. I was not judging this choice, but she still felt she had to defend it, and one point of her defense was that said movie was nominated for various awards.

This led, as was inevitable, to me browsing the IMDb for other nominees and winners of the Nebula for Best Script (given by your friends and mine, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America). Which led me to discover that in 2000, the winner was The Sixth Sense, which beat out The Matrix, The Iron Giant, The Devil's Arithmetic, and a movie called Private Black Label 7: The Uranus Experiment 2.

Let me just repeat that: Private Black Label 7: The Uranus Experiment 2.

I read it out loud to Best Beloved, and she said, "Sounds like porn."

"It does," I said, "but why would they nominate porn for a screenwriting award?" (In my youth, I sat through several porn movies, and I tell you what: even if there had been a Nebula for Best Script That's at Least 50% "AAH!" and "OH GOD YES!" these movies still would not have won. Somewhere there is good porn, I'm guessing, but none of the guys I knew in high school or college knew about it.) So I checked. It is, in fact, porn. The plot keywords are Hardcore, Orgy, Second Part, Ejaculation, and Spaceship, which - wow, evocative. You can kind of see the story unfolding, can't you? In fact, I think I've read that story. Hmmm.

This obviously leaves me with a burning need to know what the hell is so special about Private Black Label 7: The Uranus Experiment 2. (Also I'm wondering how it got a Nebula nomination, and what exactly the voting process there was, but that, I figure, is a story for a different time. I am betting massive quantities of wank were involved - and, um, not just the kind you do by yourself.) Has anyone out there actually seen this cinematic masterpiece? (Ask your friends! And your parents! And your teachers!) Is it the kind of gripping, brilliant work Ursula Le Guin would have produced if she had ever been inspired to write hardcore spaceship orgy porn? (Ursula! Call me! I have a pitch for you!) What makes it so much better than parts 1 and 3, which were not nominated? (I mean, part 1 apparently had a sex scene filmed in NASA's vomit comet, which shows enormous dedication on the part of the actors and whoever put up the money, but that didn’t make it worthy of consideration.)

I just. I yearn to know. And yet I doubt Netflix carries this undoubtedly excellent title, and also, I really, really don't want to watch it. But someone somewhere must have!

Or, alternatively - somewhere out there, there must be a person who watches a lot of het porn. There is a recapping job just crying out to be done here, person!
bessemerprocess: Elder duckie Ursala Vernon (acid-ink) (Default)

[personal profile] bessemerprocess 2010-01-22 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
You have not only made my day, and caused me to almost choke via laughter but now my husband is busy googling. Sadly, he says it was one of the Russian jets and not NASAs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomit_comet#Russia
melannen: Commander Valentine of Alpha Squad Seven, a red-haired female Nick Fury in space, smoking contemplatively (Default)

[personal profile] melannen 2010-01-22 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
And that wikipedia link eventually gets you to an article about the nebula nomination. It was a joke, apparently.

...I was half hoping it was actually a really good film. I mean, I still say Flesh Gordon was one of the better SF movies of the '70s.

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toft: graphic design for the moon europa (Default)

[personal profile] toft 2010-01-22 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
This made me laugh so much, not least because of the idea that somebody nominated that for the Nebulas and presumably, like, looked everyone in the eye while doing it.
merrily: Mac (Default)

[personal profile] merrily 2010-01-22 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
I could look people in the eye while doing it! I mean, I might not be able to keep a straight face, but I could maintain eye contact.

(All of a sudden I'm thinking of your SGA-as-porn story, where Radek the cinematographer cuts to the shadow of an orchid. Ahahaha. Porn can be art! Radek gets it!)

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ladyvyola: quote: "Just because I'm asexual, you assume I'm not obsessed with sex.  You are so wrong." (I am well-rounded with healthy hobbies)

[personal profile] ladyvyola 2010-01-22 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
Okay, the only defense one needs to mount as justification for Westworld is Yul Brynner. I offer Anastasia as evidence and rest my case.

I dream of a world where we discover that there is a thriving fandom for PBL7:TUE. There are cons with masquerades! There are epic AU fics -- with no porn! And the flamewars between TUE1 and TUE2 fans are awesome. (The 1's call themselves Peanut Butter and Jellies. The 2's call themselves Fruity Pebbles. The rest of the internet posts about them in Fandom_Wank.)
Edited 2010-01-22 03:35 (UTC)
meigui: original: mountain witch (spectator sports)

[personal profile] meigui 2010-01-22 06:10 am (UTC)(link)
...OT, but I adore your icon.

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aris_tgd: Personal avatar Phumiko (Default)

[personal profile] aris_tgd 2010-01-22 04:18 am (UTC)(link)
I was going to say, IF EVER there was rationale to torrent hardcore pornography over the internet, this would be it.

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merrily: Mac (Default)

[personal profile] merrily 2010-01-22 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
I'm now downloading, and will report back. I may entice my own Sort Of Beloved to sit with me through it, though he is skeptical of the stuff I claim I am doing For The Lulz, Honey!

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lilyleia78: Close up of one topless man pulling down pants of another man (Boylove)

[personal profile] lilyleia78 2010-01-22 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
I have a porn addict brother in law who works in a porn shop. I will interrogate him at next opportunity.
minxy: bra'tac is awesome by elfcat255 (bra'tac is awesome by elfcat255)

[personal profile] minxy 2010-01-22 02:05 pm (UTC)(link)
In fact, I think I've read that story.

It's like one of those trailers that tells you the whole story of a not-yet-released movie before you pay your $10! Sometimes, that's a gift. Sometimes, you delusionally miss out on a film because you *think* you've already seen it! Like my Dad, f'instance, who is terrified of clowns and hobbits for some reason, tried to convince us that he'd totally seen Lord of the Rings because he knew there were hobbits! Who went on a quest with a wizard and an elf! (The dwarf was too frightening to mention, but he wasn't scared of the elf, which was interesting to me...) Since my brother had only just discovered a bizarre fear of monkeys, and I was becoming concerned about latent phobias in my genetic deal as well, we let that one go.

Part 1 apparently had a sex scene filmed in NASA's vomit comet,

Wow, that's commitment, right there. Also, I don't need to see it, but people are welcome to their kinks.
feanna: The cover of an old German children's book I inherited from my mother (Default)

[personal profile] feanna 2010-01-22 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I feel that watching that ZERO GRAVITY SEX SCENE (I can't believe that somebody ACTUALLY TRIED TO FILM THAT, but I probably shouldn't be) should fall under required watching for all in SF-fanfic-fandom, because ZERO GRAVITY SEX! (I am still trying to talk myself out of downloading...)

Also, this is totally LOLZ! and cracked me up.
feanna: The cover of an old German children's book I inherited from my mother (Default)

[personal profile] feanna 2010-01-22 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Also, I totally found the cover to part 2. The first gang bang in space! How could I miss it? (Ehm easily, but)
http://www.adultfilmcentral.com/display_product.jhtml?id=47073&src=afd

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ext_3740: the libertines > carl barât (Default)

[identity profile] disprove.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:04 am (UTC)(link)
Not to curtail the heroic search for this gem of a film, but perhaps it's included in the list because of something more mundane like an error in IMDb?

[identity profile] ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
Nothing so mundane (http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Nebula2000.html).

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[identity profile] sequinedfairy.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:15 am (UTC)(link)
i am staring in awe. and kind of horror, but mostly awe.

also, i am having terrible flashbacks to a porn movie me and my friend stumbled on in our youth (i'm pretty sure we weren't teenagers at the time, though we were close to it), and were too disgustingly fascinated (not turned on. not at all. SCIENTIFIC CURIOUSITY. and horror. like, train wreck) to turn it off, and then my MOTHER called and my phone was VIBRATING in her LAP, and then we paused and i had to TALK TO MY MOTHER while there was TERRIBLE THINGS ON THE SCREEN and -- ah. it was not a good time, i will just say.

in payment for that HORRIFYING MEMORY, i think you should watch this movie, and recap it. because, seriously. NO ONE ELSE WOULD BE HALF AS AMAZING AT IT.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
I've told this story before, but when I was in high school, my sister and her boyfriend and me and a guy rented porn. Which we watched in the TV room at my parents' house. My father wandered in in the middle, looking for dirty laundry, and my sister elected to PAUSE rather than STOP, right on a close up of oral sex. My father looked at the screen and said, "Oh, how nice. She's giving that man mouth-to-genital resuscitation."

Also while I was in high school, I was at a party at a house occupied by a friend and some of her friends, and we sent one of the guys who lived there to rent a movie. He came back with a real movie and four porn movies (as guys always did in those days), and the party (overwhelmingly male) decided to watch the porn first. It got hotter and hotter in the house, and eventually every woman in the place migrated to the kitchen, where we had the door wide open, wondering how long it would take the guys to notice they were boiling. We eventually discovered that the thermostat had broken; the temperature was over 90 by the time the movie ended. Every single guy assumed it wasn't hot in there, it was just him. The movie in question? An x-rated version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where she fucks the caterpillar.

My point: I HAVE DONE MY TIME IN THE PORN MINES. NO MORE. Some other brave soul will have to recap it.

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jamethiel: A majestic orange cat sits on a post in front of a beautiful green landscape. Text: I approve of this post (ApprovalCat)

[personal profile] jamethiel 2010-01-22 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
... I want to see that movie SO BADLY. It's a burning void in my soul which I NEVER KNEW EXISTED before.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 05:08 am (UTC)(link)
Doooooooo iiiiiiiiit. And then recap it so I can know! OMG DO IT!
ext_3673: Manny, from black books (Default)

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/ 2010-01-22 03:25 am (UTC)(link)
OH MY GOD. i think i need to see this movie. Srsly. My life will not be complete until I see it.
jamethiel: Two glasses with red wine (Wine)

[personal profile] jamethiel 2010-01-22 03:40 am (UTC)(link)
DUDE. Porn watching party at your place if we can get our hands on it? Provided we can both get really really drunk and find a form of alcohol that doesn't hurt when it's snorted out your nose.

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ext_3673: Manny, from black books (Default)

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_bounce_/ 2010-01-22 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
...there are dozens of them.

I was tempted for oh, half a second before I realised that that's about three times my monthly download quota.

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[identity profile] marthawells.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
It only takes ten nominations to get a work on the preliminary Nebula ballot, and any member can nominate. The preliminary ballot is voted on by all the members, and the top five works in each category move to the final ballot. But if there were only five films in that category on the preliminary ballot, all of them would automatically be placed on the final ballot. (If I'm remembering the rules right; it's been a long time since I've looked at them.)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 06:07 am (UTC)(link)
...So ten members got together and said, hey, it'd be great to put porn on the ballot? They did it for the LULZ? It's nice to know some things are constants.
ext_1740: (Default)

[identity profile] stillane.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
I had a bet with myself that someone would produce a link to the movie within the first 10 comments. Hee. Fandom is awesome.

I kind of want to watch it, just for curiosity's sake, but I don't feel like it's an experience that should be undertaken either A) alone or B) sober. This naturally means that I'm now wondering who I could call on to suffer with me and whether there is enough alcohol in my apartment... You'd be surprised at how few people won't hang up on you when you ring on a Thursday night to request that they come over and get sloshed while watching award-nominated porn. *sad headshake*

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Let me just point out that today is Friday. Surely you can get some folks together for porn and alcohol tonight! Who DOESN'T want to spend Shabbat that way?

Seriously, I would think vet student honor would REQUIRE a thorough study of this scientific document. *stares at you*

[identity profile] odditycollector.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:34 am (UTC)(link)
Well. I know what I am watching tonight.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 02:49 pm (UTC)(link)
A landmark in cinematic history! Take good notes. You never know when something like this is going to be on the test.
ext_2351: (Default)

[identity profile] lunabee34.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:35 am (UTC)(link)
*claps hands*

I wonder if it will be anything like 2060: A Sex Odyssey?
ariadne83: cropped from official schematics (o hai dad)

[personal profile] ariadne83 2010-01-22 04:33 am (UTC)(link)
We can only live in hope!

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(Anonymous) 2010-01-22 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
Fortunately, there is a movie that meets this need.

Really? What is it? I am a lot more interested in that than in the doubtless immortal epic Black Label one... though a review of this Black Label masterpiece or failing that, an explanation as to how it made it to the list of nominations I would indeed read with a lot of interest.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 02:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Westworld, made in 1973, when men attempted to grow curtains of hair from their upper lips.

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[identity profile] tavella.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
The Nebula shortlist is pretty famous for being game-able, if I recall, especially in the less-known categories. I think James Nicoll has snarked about it a few times. Small group of nominators, easy to get a bunch to go along either with a joke or by sucking up.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I just hope that voters aren't required to see all the works on the ballot. I mean, I am sure that Private Black Label 7: The Uranus Experiment 2 is a work of grand and glorious art. But some people just do not like art. You know how it is.

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[identity profile] hyrkanian.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
Well now. Hrmmm.

Should someone do a recap, I'd be interested. Not sure I'm brave enough to go there myself. At least not tonight.

Hrmmm.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 02:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I totally agree that someone should do a recap, and it should be someone ELSE. I have hopes, though! Viewing parties are apparently being formed!

[identity profile] kindkit.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
I believe the answer to how this film ended up on the Nebula final ballot is right here in the Nebula rules (http://www.nebulaawards.com/index.php/guest_blogs/new_nebula_rules/):
b. In the event that less than six (6) works are nominated in a given category, then all works will be listed on the FINAL BALLOT.


Somebody probably nominated the thing as a joke, or to stir up trouble, and then because there were fewer than six nominations total (there really were--I checked the nominees list (http://www.sfwa.org/archive/awards/2000/1999prelim.htm) for that year) it went on to the final ballot.

The rules I quoted are revised ones from 2009, but I would imagine the same rule was in effect 10 years ago.
Edited 2010-01-22 03:58 (UTC)

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-23 08:04 pm (UTC)(link)
You are entirely right, according to an article (http://www.space.com/sciencefiction/movies/uranus_experiment_000516.html) found by [livejournal.com profile] droolfangrrl. Apparently it was a protest type thing. It's nice to see that the SFWA hasn't changed at all!

[identity profile] jarrow.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
I have no idea what this film is, but good goddamn, it sounds frickin MADE FOR [livejournal.com profile] strangefandom. SOMEBODY VID IT. PLEASE.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-23 08:05 pm (UTC)(link)
JOHN, I BELIEVE YOU OWE IT TO FANDOM TO GET YOUR VID ON WITH THIS THING. You can set it to the theme from 2010: A Space Odyssey! It would be TIMELY and RELEVANT. It is caaaaaaalling your name!

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[identity profile] malnpudl.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
My world is now enriched. For which I thank you. I think.

Also: You and BB watched Westworld, didn't you? Wow. I think I just had a flashback.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-23 08:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, come on. Like you aren't a little bit happier just KNOWING that there was a porn movie called The Uranus Experiment 2 that was nominated for a Nebula. Of COURSE you should thank me!

And yes, BB watched Westworld. I did not, on account of I was likely to root for the robots, which would have interfered with her ability to enjoy the movie.

[identity profile] liddle-oldman.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 04:22 am (UTC)(link)
I'm wondering, A) what movie with a mustache and a bald robot? And, B) did they discover the essential problem with sex in zero G, to wit, you bounce off of each other and go spinning in opposite directions?

Also, where did they get the budget to rent the damn thing? I didn't think that porn had that much of a budget.

[identity profile] thefourthvine.livejournal.com 2010-01-23 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
A) Westworld! A very old movie starring Yul Brynner as a robot cowboy. (If only they had also managed to include a robot pirate and a robot ninja, it would have been PERFECT.)

B) I have no idea! You could download it and find out, though.

C) Apparently there was a porn auteur who had a vision. Because, really, I didn't think porn had that much of a budget, either.

[identity profile] best-beloved.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 04:27 am (UTC)(link)
In my defense, Westworld is a classic that was nominated for a Hugo as well as the suspect Nebula and it stars Yul Brynner who has a completely terrifying saunter.

[identity profile] malnpudl.livejournal.com 2010-01-22 04:34 am (UTC)(link)
HAH! I guessed right!

I remember that movie most clearly for the incredibly gorgeous horse that Yul Brynner rode. Heh.

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