Well, dear readers, it’s Friday, a day for short notes following the endless notes of Thursday. I have to do an early morning work session with Mr. Grant Geissman, so I shall hurry and then scurry.
Last night I watched a motion picture entitled La Dolce Vita. I have purchased two count them two DVDs of this film in the past and both were mis-framed at the wrong ratio (which should be the full Cinemascope ratio) and both were terrible transfers taken from the old mis-framed laserdisc. In other words, this marvelous film has never had a proper widescreen homevideo release. Well, if you have an all-region player and you love this film, your prayers have been answer because from out of Italy comes a new two-DVD set, with a transfer that is so stunning I drooled the entire time I watched it (close to three hours of drool, for those who wish to know such things). Suffice it to say, the film is terrific, with unforgettable images, and is still potent today. It’s portrayal of the paparazzi is, sadly, still dead on. In fact, the name “paparazzi” was invented in this film – it’s the name of one of the characters (Paparazzo). Marcello Mastroianni is great, as is the rest of the extremely large cast. And the blonde waitress he meets at a restaurant is so angelically beautiful it’s heartbreaking (it’s a short scene but she’s unforgettable), and the film’s final image is a close-up of her face that is incredibly haunting. It’s long, but it’s worth it.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below so I can hurry and then scurry.
Have I mentioned that I must hurry and then scurry? I must, and I shall, not necessarily in that order. And then, in a mere two weeks I shall be on the East Coast, which I’ll talk more about this coming week when I’m not hurrying and scurrying about like a jackrabbit in the valley of the dolls.
Well, dear readers, I cannot dally nor tarry further, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must do an early morning work session, I must do afternoon errands, I must write and phone and run the gamut (no mean feat) from A to Z – oh, a Stephen Sondheim reference. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD and DVD/video players? I’ll start – DVD, La Dolce Vita (the second disc of extras) and a strange Japanese Lesbian movie from 1964 entitled Manji. One simply must watch a Japanese Lesbian Drama at least once every ten years and this Japanese Lesbian Drama fits the bill handily. CD, a new release of Mr. Pino Donaggio’s score to Mr. Brian de Palma’s film, Blow Out. Your turn.