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October 23, 2002:

FOR A CHANGE OF PACE

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, the spurting water heater is fixed and working just fine and all is well with the world, and the world is also well with all. I picked up a few new DVDs today, but those bad, bad, bad (that is three bads, and that ain’t good) people at Anchor Bay screwed up and many stores did not get the Carry On box today. Well, the Carry On box was supposed to be at the store today and I wanted it and didn’t get it and now I am hopping mad at Anchor Bay. I am hopping mad, do you hear me, damn them, damn them all to hell. I did pick up ET, the three-disc Special Edition, and I checked out the original version of the film, which looks splendid, and then checked out the 2002 redo, which also looks splendid but which is of no interest to me. I do not like revisionism. Sure, you can enhance effects, you can do this and you can do that, but why? Why, I say, and say I why. Part of what made ET so beloved back in 1982 was that it was basically a low-budget film, made with love and care. The effects were wonderful and worked perfectly. It captured the heart and was funny and then emotionally powerful. In the documentary, they compare the old with the new, and I just don’t like the new. I know why Spielberg did it, and I know he had the best of intentions, and I know he had those “gee, if I’d only had a bit more time” feelings about certain shots, but you know what? If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. I’m slogging my way through the extras, which are fun. I do love this movie a lot, but only in its original form. I don’t need any additional icing on my ET cake.

I also picked up the new DVD of The Grifters, a movie that I enjoyed. There was a previous DVD, but it was quite a bad and dark transfer. This looks much better. Also got the new Criterion DVD of The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, a film of Powell and Pressburger. If you don’t know their work you should. They have made some of my all-time favorite films, including The Red Shoes, Stairway to Heaven, Peeping Tom (well, that’s Powell without Pressburger), Colonel Blimp, and my favorite favorite, Black Narcissus. Blimp is a wonderful movie, so in love with being a movie you just feel good watching it. I cannot recommend it enough. Finally (until the fershluganah Carry On box comes in) I picked up a nifty little horror film from Italy/France, called Castle of Blood (originally Danse Macabre). Very atmospheric, and it has the divoon Barbara Steele. The weird score is by Riz Ortolani, credited here as Ritz Ortolani. Ritz Ortolani, of course, invented the Ritz cracker and has nothing to do with Riz Ortolani who didn’t. Nice enhanced transfer, a bit worn and soft, but much better than anything that’s ever been available on video of this film.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, for a change of pace, let’s all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can regale you with my Eileen and Chet Atkins weight loss report.

Thus far, I have been on the Eileen and Chet Atkins diet for twelve days and I have lost six count them six pounds. Somewhere in there, I actually gained a pound and a half back, which is most annoying, but I guess that’s the way this thing works. I shall stick to it, however, and hope the weight keeps disappearing so I can once again be svelte and lithe, with abs and buns of steel. After all, I will be appearing in my new film and the camera does put on ten pounds. I am craving sweets something awful, but I’ll endure and abide.

The work day today actually passed rather quickly, which was nice for a change of pace, and there was very little traffic on the way home, which was also nice for a change of pace. Oh, well, there’s probably just six more weeks of it, then it’s on to the other projects, which will be nice for a change of pace.

I thought I’d start a new paragraph, too, which is nice for a change of pace. Has anyone noticed that I’m in a kind of change of pace mode? I’m enjoying my change of pace mode because frankly it’s a nice change of pace. What the hell am I talking about?

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must get in my automobile and make tracks to Woodland Hills, a city in which there is wood, land and hills. Tomorrow I will have a very interesting story for a change of pace. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask all of your excellent questions. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too? So, I shall check in in a bit and peruse all of your excellent questions, and of course feel free to post anything else you like, too.

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