Well, dear readers, I must hurry through these here notes because there was a screw up regarding where one of our upcoming CD packages for a singer went and I have to go to the post office immediately to express mail another so he has it in time to learn it prior to the session. Someone is going to get bitch-slapped for this when I arrive in New York, for I do not like having to run around like a maniac and stand in line at the Post Office on a Saturday. But I shall put on a happy face – oh, a Strouse and Adams reference – and do it anyway.
Last night I managed to watch three count them three motion pictures on DVD. The first was the cable biopic It’s Always Something, based on Gilda Radner’s life. I thought Jamie Gertz did a nice job, but the whole thing was so bathetic that you just become numb after awhile. It’s this business of overscoring with maudlin music just to make certain we know how sad everything is. I don’t think Ms. Radner would have cared for the film at all, but then again, I might be wrong. It’s filled with actors playing other actors we’re too familiar with – although I must say the fellow playing Gene Wilder has his voice down pat. I then watched Mr. Brian De Palma’s latest, Femme Fatale, which could, in fact, be retitled Brian’s Greatest Hits. It is deliriously bad and yet very watchable, just because he doesn’t resort to CGI – he actually makes his shots without computer assistance, a real filmmaker. No shots that suddenly speed up for no reason whatsoever, no shots that suddenly slow down for no reason whatsoever (oh, he uses slow motion, but not the step-printed kind – the kind where you do it by changing the speed of the camera). On one of the documentaries, Mr. De Palma says that this is a film people are going to watch over and over again. I think that was his wish, but I don’t think his wish is going to come true. Still, his films, no matter how over-the-top or wrong, are always fun to watch and I will admit to enjoying it in a guilty pleasure sort of way. The score by Ryuchi Sakamoto was terrific. I then watched another Studio Ghible anime entitled Whisper of the Heart, produced but not directed by Mr. Hayao Miyazaki. What a wonderful and heartfelt film it is – just perfection. The characters, the minimal story, the score – I’m telling you, when you finally tire of me talking about these films and get around to buying them just to shut me up, you will thank me. Thankfully, this DVD is only Japanese with English subtitles which is the only way to watch these films. The marvelous thing about them is even though they are animated, they are adult in nature (I mean adult in a nice way) and they really are character pieces, and they are not big, bombastic, overblown and contrived. In other words, I loved every second of its 110 minute running time. This one will probably never make the States because it is definitely Japanese and you can’t change it in the dubbing – the lead character, a middle school girl, is an aspiring poet and writer, and one of the running bits is her translation of Country Roads into Japanese. I have never liked that song until this movie – the various arrangements of it throughout are magical and haunting. By the way (BTW, in Internet lingo), there are many all-region (anyone can play them) DVDs of these films and you can find them on eBay as cheaply as eight bucks, so do take a chance.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Don’t I have to go to the post office and stand in line? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’ve got to get crackin’.
Don’t forget, our Unseemly Live Chat is tomorrow night and I think we should have a big turnout because I feel wild and wooly and also wooly and wild and we will dish the dirt and also dirt the dish until the cows come home. It’s at our usual time of six o’clock Pacific Mean Daylight Savings Time.
Tonight I shall be seeing Down with Love and will, of course, have a full report for you tomorrow. Oh, I also finally picked up a couple of the Warner/MGM musical DVDs – High Society and Kiss Me Kate. Both look excellent and Kiss Me Kate sounds amazing – great stereo sound. I’ll be watching them over the weekend (I’m going to try to catch up on my DVD viewing – or perhaps I’ll ketchup on my DVD viewing).
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must stand in line at the Post Office, I must do errands and I must even try to write a page or two. Today’s topic of discussion: What is one of your favorite jokes? You know, jokes are a big part of American life, so share with us one of your favorites – a joke or funny story you love to tell. My favorite joke is contained in Benjamin Kritzer and involves a banana in the ear. I want lots and lots of jokes for these here long weekend notes should be filled with merriment and mirth and laughter and legs. Post away, my pretties and I shall be checking in often.