From rec.arts.sf.reviews Mon Mar 2 20:34:10 1992 Xref: herkules.sssab.se rec.arts.movies.reviews:550 rec.arts.sf.reviews:53 Path: herkules.sssab.se!isy!liuida!sunic!news.funet.fi!fuug!mcsun!uunet!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!att!cbnewsj!ecl From: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU (Thomas E. Billings) Newsgroups: rec.arts.movies.reviews,rec.arts.sf.reviews Subject: REVIEW: WAX, OR THE DISCOVERY OF TELEVISION AMONG THE BEES Summary: r.a.m.r. #01261 Keywords: author=Billings Message-ID: <1992Feb27.182813.28444@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> Date: 27 Feb 92 18:28:13 GMT Sender: ecl@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (Evelyn C. Leeper) Reply-To: teb@stat.Berkeley.EDU Followup-To: rec.arts.movies Organization: Department of Statistics, University of California, Berkeley Lines: 63 Approved: ecl@cbnewsj.att.com [Followups directed to rec.arts.movies. -Moderator] WAX, OR THE DISCOVERY OF TELEVISION AMONG THE BEES A film review by Thomas E. Billings Copyright 1992 Thomas E. Billings Synopsis: A computer programmer and part-time beekeeper who lives in Alamogordo, New Mexico is introduced to an alternative, electronic reality by his bees. The bees are really the souls of the future dead, and communicate with the beekeeper via "bee television", projected telepathic images. An inventive and innovative video that includes striking computer graphics and special video effects. Although the effects are repetitive at times, the video should appeal to those with an interest in computer graphics. However, it's probably too weird for a general audience. U.S.A., video, color, 1991, 85 minutes. Director/Writer: David Blair. The video begins with the story of Jacob "Hive" Maker, who went to Mesopotamia (Iraq) early in this century, and brought "Mesopotamian" bees to England. Later he moved to the U.S., and brought along his bees. The story then jumps to the present, with Jacob Maker's grandson living and working in Alamogordo, New Mexico. The grandson is a computer programmer, working on flight weapons simulators. He is currently working on a helicopter simulator for the U.S. Army. In his spare time the grandson, also named Jacob Maker, takes care of a number of hives of Mesopotamian bees, descendents of the bees his grandfather brought back from Iraq. He is mesmerized by the bees. Slowly they open a communications link, "bee television", to their world, which is another dimension, an alternate electronic reality. Set against a backdrop of missile shots and (beautiful!) computer graphics from a flight simulator, the bees explain that weapons have souls too. Eventually the bees lead Jacob to a secret cave, under the Trinity Atom Bomb test site in New Mexico. To the physical eye, it is just a cave. But for the bees, it is a major center of their alternate dimension or reality. The story continues as Jacob seeks to accomplish the task the bees have assigned him.... The plot outline above is only a brief simplification; the complete plot is rather more complicated. The story frequently shifts from past to present to future, from physical reality to the electronic reality of the bees, and back again. Despite the frequent shifts, the story unfolds smoothly. I found the video to be enjoyable and interesting, and particularly appreciated the extensive use of computer graphics and special effects. The graphics are not as flashy as in TERMINATOR 2, but they are interesting anyway. Some of the special video effects are used to excess, but this does not detract from the video too much. Some viewers may be overcome by the total weirdness of the video. However, it is not a campy weirdness, and appears to be integral to the story line. The frequent time shifts may bother a few viewers, particularly the shifts into the past, the relevancy of which is not fully realized until the latter part of the video. I would recommend the video to people interested in computer graphics and video art. May also be of interest to some fans of science fiction and fantasy. Not recommended for a general audience.