Well, dear readers, I am getting a very late start on these here notes. I awoke this morning at six-thirty, and I got so annoyed that I refused to get up. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I refused to get up. I lay in bed like so much fish. Or is it, I lied in bed like so much fish? Or is it, I lie in bed like so much fish? First of all, I never lie in bed, I only tell the truth in bed. Second of all, do fish lie? I’ve never heard a fish tell a lie, frankly or even williamly. Fishes are one of the most honest species, especially the scrod. Always trust a scrod is what I say – in fact, let’s make that the motto of today’s notes: In Scrod We Trust.
Well, these here notes are off to a fine start, aren’t they? Given the lateness of the hour what else can one expect. We must simply write, write, write, and whatever comes out will simply have to be right, right, right, it will simply have to do. I presume that everyone had a wonderful day yesterday eating heart-shaped cheese slices and ham chunks and being all romantic and gushy and kissing and fondling and dancing the Carioca. I, for one, danced the tap-tap-Tapioca (from Thoroughly Modern Millie) and then I ate some Rice Pudding. Perhaps I should have danced the r-r-Rice Pudding and then eaten some tapioca pudding. That might have been a nice change of pudding pace. And just who, pray tell, invented the word “pudding”? Just look at it. “Pudding”. Somebody somewhere was boiling up some chocolate glop, looked at it and said, “Hey, wait, I know, I’ll call this chocolate glop “pudding”.
I like whipped cream on my pudding, don’t you? Of course, what the cream did to deserve the whipping is another story. Well, I’ll tell you, the cream was being sour and it simply had to be whipped, if only to teach it a lesson, sour cream-wise. What the hell am I talking about? I do believe I have gone off on a tangent. In any case, I am presuming everyone had a wonderful Valentine’s Day because they certainly weren’t posting. Yes, Virginia, we had very few posts yesterday. Let’s have lots more today.
Last night I finally sat down to watch a movie I have been avoiding like the plague. Hedwig and the Angry Inch. I’d never seen the stage show, which everyone told me was most excellent. I’d heard the album and thought it was okay. I could just never get up the energy to go see the thing, either in New York or here. Then I heard all the raves for the film, and how brilliantly directed it was and I saw how it made several ten best lists. So, I bought the DVD and finally plopped it in the machine. What did I think? Well, let’s all click the Unseemly Button and find out, shall we?
I wanted to love it, I really did. I want to love everything I see, film-wise. But I’m afraid I didn’t love it. I just couldn’t get with the thing, no matter how hard I tried. I, of course, admire anyone with a vision who has the courage and strength to get the thing done. And John Cameron Mitchell does a fine job as Hedwig. But the “story” never grabbed me as I was hoping it would. The songs seem fine, and the recording of them is top notch. The direction (by Mr. Mitchell) was okay, but not a whole lot more. I liked the animation by, I think, Elizabeth Hubley. I do know I’m in the minority about Hedwig – both show and film have rabid admirers. I will give it one more shot and watch it again, perhaps even this weekend.
Don’t forget that tomorrow is our handy-dandy Unseemly Trivia Contest. We’re having, I’m told, a long weekend, because Monday is President’s Day. Isn’t that exciting?
I was lucky enough to score a DVD of my favorite film of last year, A.I. (three weeks early!). Unfortunately, they’re doing two releases, one full frame and one enhanced for widescreen tvs. This was the full frame, so I won’t watch the movie disc, but I did watch the entire four hours worth of supplements, and they’re very interesting indeed. The effects in A.I. are seamless and subtle and brilliant, and it’s great fun to see how they did them. Some of the effects I didn’t even know were effects, that’s how good they are. There are interviews with just about everyone, including Spielberg, the cameraman, the art director, sound person, John Williams, Haley Joel Osment and Jude Law, and many others. One thing that was fairly astonishing to me, is that the lady who plays Haley’s “mom” is a Brit. Another interesting thing is that the mechas at the end, which confused more than a few people (some folks thought they were ETs because they resembled the ET at the end of Close Encounters), were based on designs by someone Kubrick had hired, and had very little to do with Spielberg at all. In fact, Spielberg was quite true to these designs that Kubrick had commissioned and apparently approved.
Since I didn’t offer up any of my favorite opening numbers (yesterday’s discussion topic), here are a few that tickle my fancy: Comedy Tonight (which I agree is about as perfect an opening as you could ask for); It’s A Typical Day (from Li’l Abner – another perfect opening that perfectly sets the tone for what follows); Company (from Company); The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea (from Pacific Overtures; Wilkommen (from Cabaret – brilliant); All That Jazz (from Chicago); Magic to Do (from Pippin); those are all opening numbers which fulfill the job of what an opening should do – be exciting, clever, set the tone for the show, and tell us, the audience, what type of evening we’re in for. Funnily, one of the most perfect musicals ever written doesn’t really have a strong opening number – it has a strong opening scene and song, and somehow that gets the show off with a bang anyway, and that’s Gypsy. Let’s still have this be the topic of discussion for Unseemly Comments, since we had so few yesterday on account of people being all romantic and gushy and dancing pudding dances.
Well, dear readers, it is time to get these notes up and for me to do the things I do. And do remember – you can always trust a fish. A fish will never steer you wrong. A tuna is truthful, a halibut is honest, Lott doesn’t lie. Don’t forget our today’s motto: In Scrod We Trust.