Well, dear readers, here it is, Wednesday, the middle of the week. Not the middle of the weak, mind you, no, it’s the middle of the week. The middle of the weak, of course, is a good way to describe my stomach these days. I really must begin a new phase and get rid of this unseemly weight I’ve put on. I must be lithe and svelte, with abs and buns of steel. Right now I have abs and buns of Jell-O. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, have abs and buns of Jell-O. Lime Jell-O to be specific. Well, all that’s going to change, by gum and by golly and buy bonds. No more wire Jell-O ever! You can all just start shouting, “You go, girl” because I shall soon be on a mission to retain my former girlish figure. Damn them, damn them all to hell. Am I rambling? I do believe I am rambling. I’m afraid one does begin to ramble when one has the middle of the weak. Speaking of Jell-O, I had a lovely day yesterday. I did some writing, although it was more agony than ecstasy – the reasons for this will become clear when and if you read this here book. I’ve set myself a task and that task isn’t always easy. But, after a day or so, I get back into it full speed ahead and it is once again exhilaratingly exhilarating. I had a fine Mexican lunch with our very own Miss Tammy Minoff, and I had more than one chocolate donut for dessert. Is it any wonder I suffer from the middle of the weak?
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Widow of St. Pierre, un film de, you guessed it, Patrice Leconte. It’s a somber little film, a tragedy, but Monsieur Leconte, as always, tells the story simply and eloquently. In an interview, he says he fought against making the film too classical in style (it’s a period film) – therefore he throws in some modern techniques that I’m not all that fond of, but somehow he makes them work. The acting, as always in his films, is exemplary – the stars are Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche and Emil Kusturica. The fine score is by Pascal Esteve. I wish I could rave about the transfer, but I’m afraid it’s problematic. The titles are in beautiful scope (all of Leconte’s recent films are in scope), but as soon as the credits are over the film goes to 1:85. The strange thing is that every website, including amazon France, lists the ratio as 1:85, but it makes no sense that the credits would be in 2:35. The framing looks consistently tight on the sides and just “off” somehow. Otherwise, the color and sharpness are fine. I’m waiting to see a less-than-wonderful film by Monsieur Leconte.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because frankly this section is starting to get feel a little middle of the weak to me.
I got a call yesterday asking if I could do the ASCAP/Disney panel – one of tonight’s panelists dropped out. Fortunately, they found a fresh replacement, but I’ve decided to go anyway. Tonight is the long-form presentation of one of the musicals I critiqued two weeks ago, and I’m curious to see what they’ve done to it – to see how much of our advice they took.
Our very own Mr. Nick Redman has returned from the UK and I’ll be seeing him tomorrow evening. My pal Dave Strohmaier is showing his marvelously marvelous Cinerama documentary again and Nick and I are journeying to the Ridge of North to see it and to hear Dave’s chat afterwards.
I think these here notes are a little middle of the weak for my taste. They need some sparkle and fizz and also some fizz and sparkle. They need some pep, some pizzazz, some punch. Unfortunately, I have finished writing these here notes, so I’m afraid we’ll just have to wait until tomorrow’s notes for all of the above.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write, I must not eat chocolate donuts, I must do various and sundried errands, I must return some phone calls, and I must eat one reasonable meal after attending the workshop. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any other dear readers any old question you like, and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions, and loads of lovely answers, shall we?