Well, dear readers, I must hurry and scurry because I must drive all the way to Torrance, California to direct a shoot. After that, I must hurry and scurry all the way to Arcadia which couldn’t be in a more opposite direction to do another shoot. Then I must hurry and scurry back to the office to drop off the tapes and return the camera equipment. I didn’t think I’d be working this hard on my final week, but at least Thursday and Friday should be very easy days. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Last night I watched a motion picture entertainment entitled A Mighty Wind. What follows is my opinion, so if you love the film that’s wonderful and if you don’t that’s also wonderful. I like Christopher Guest and I enjoyed Waiting for Guffman and I enjoyed Best in Show even a little more. But A Mighty Wind failed for me – oh, it had funny moments and its satire was pretty good, but unlike the other two films I didn’t care a whit about anyone in this film, and therefore I had no emotional investment in anything. That would have been fine if there were so many laughs that I would have forgotten about it. But, for me, there weren’t. The cast was terrific and so were the folk parodies although, that said, the folk parodies don’t really go anywhere. But Mr. Guest creates a strange universe – he wants it to be a mockumentary (I think he wants it to be a mockumentary), but it violates those rules at every turn. It’s part mockumentary, it’s part fiction film and the two work against each other because the lines are not clearly divided. There’s absolutely no dramatic tension in the film – again, if it were funny enough it wouldn’t matter, but when a film isn’t being funny it has to be something. As far out as Guffman and Best in Show are, to me the lines are more clearly drawn and there is something to hang onto in those films. Plus, they’re funnier. Here I felt that the Bob Balaban character was so unremittingly stupid that it just totally took me out of the film (I speak specifically of the scenes at the theater). It’s clear that most of the film is improvised and some of it is very labored – you can see the effort, which was not the case with Guffman or Best in Show. It’s not terrible by any means, but for me it’s definitely a step down from Mr. Guest’s previous work.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must begin the long, long drive to Torrance in hideous rush hour traffic.
Torrance. I couldn’t have a shoot in Studio City or Sherman Oaks or even Woodland Hills, I have to have a shoot in fershluganah Torrance. Arcadia. I couldn’t have a shoot in Beverly Hills or West Hollywood, I have to have a shoot in fershluganah Arcadia. By the way (BTW, in Internet lingo), the network notes on my last two shows came back and they were virtually non-existent. I would hope that tells people something, since the only show that has gotten serious notes is the one I had nothing to do with, but I doubt it will.
I feel very bad having to miss my lunch with dear reader Michael Barnum today, but I hope we’ll be able to catch up while he’s still here.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must drive in heavy traffic to Torrance and then I must drive a long distance to Arcadia. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, but since BK will be gone all day let’s just make it Ask Dear Reader Day, the day in which you get to ask any dear reader any old question you like. If you have a few questions for me, ask them and I’ll try to answer them when I get home this evening. Now, let’s have loads of lovely posts, shall we? I want lots to read when I get home – it will help me relax and I will definitely need to relax.