Well, dear readers, you would not believe how beautiful it is here in Los Angeles, California. It’s also Friday, a day for short and sweet notes. I feel a sweet note would be a Bb with a Hershey’s Kiss tied to it. Last night I picked up one of those PAL DVDs of Hello, Dolly!, not available here yet, in a very nice anamorphic transfer (although my guess is that a US release will be sharper and have extras). I’ve actually never seen the thing the entire way through and I must say, if one can divorce oneself totally from Mr. Gower Champion, it does have some fun things in it. Mr. Kidd’s dances are energetic in his style and the dancers put them over with aplomb. Miss Barbra Streisand ranges from embarrassing to pretty good, Mr. Walter Matthau is wonderful, Mr. Michael Crawford sounds like a record being played at the wrong speed, and Minnie and Irene are annoying (I like E.J. Peaker, but she’s just grating in this film).
I also picked up a PAL thing on Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker, with Alan Bates and Donald Pleasance, which I’ve never seen. Also, the US release of All About Eve which looks as good as everyone says it does and much better than the previous DVD.
Our Unseemly Interview with Miss Melissa Errico will be up by six o’clock Eastern Mean Time, as Craig is still hunting up some photos to accompany it. I’ve raved on and on about this interview and I hope you find it as much fun as I do/did.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button Below so we can have some more short and sweet notes, like a G tied with a Snickers. Or would that be too nutty?
I am expecting a very important package (VIP, in Internet lingo) today and as soon as I get it I will come and tell you all about it. Other than that, I expect to do nothing but corrections on the book, little fixits on the songs for Nudie (and the script, too) and more writing on the upcoming film.
I got into a nasty little flame war with someone on one of these newsgroups, because I really hate ego-ridden bullies, they just rub me the wrong way, unlike my masseuse, who rubs me the right way. Anyway, I took this idiot on and was applauded publicly and privately for doing so. In fact, one of the readers of the newsgroup sent me a very sweet note – it was an F# tied to a Mars Bar. The note simply said, “Bruce, I love you.” In any case, that is why we will soon be the most popular site on all the Internet, because we have no bullies and upstarts here at haineshisway.com. No on tries to monopolize things and bellow their opinions as if they were more important than anyone else’s. I mean, this fellow has, in the last two years, virtually taken over this particular newsgroup and regulars there have left in droves. He’s an actor who has never really gotten anywhere and one senses he’s a bitter sort. Funnily, he tends to take on people who actually are professional and who have had some success in this business, like me for example. He made the little mistake of calling me a name yesterday and I went in and lambasted him but good. Like most ego-ridden jerks it rolls right off him like water off a duck, but it needed to be done and I’m glad I did it. So there, say I and say I so there.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do and I might even do a few things I don’t, just to be contrary. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD/DVD/video players? I’ll start – CD: Elmer Bernstein’s glorious new score to Far From Heaven, which I recommend strongly, and Jan Akkerman’s Aranjuez album, one of the most sublimely beautiful albums ever made. It’s Mr. Akkerman, a great guitarist, doing classical pieces as arranged and orchestrated by the brilliant Claus Ogermann (who did the same for Bill Evans) – it’s just a beautiful creation and it relaxes me and puts me in a wonderful place whenever I listen to it (which is a lot). DVD player: Tonight will be The Devil at 4 O’Clock and Mr. Truffaut’s The 400 Blows. Your turn.