Well, dear readers, I can hardly believe it and yet I must for it is true. What can I hardly believe and yet I must for it is true? Well, I’ll tell you what I can hardly believe and yet I must for it is true, for why should I keep such things from you dear readers? It is March. Can you believe it? Why, it seems like only yesterday that it was February. Of course, it was only yesterday that it was February, so maybe that’s why. Yes, Virginia, we have marched into March, a brand spanking new month and I, for one, am looking forward to marching through March. I had a lovely last day of February, doing some writing, doing some errands, doing some eating, and doing some Jacuzziing. Oh, I feel March will be a fine month. March is already making me flit about like a gazelle in pantyhose. One very exciting thing that will be happening in March is our New York sojourn to do a reading/signing for Writer’s Block at The Drama Bookshop on the 18th, followed by seeing dear reader PennyO’s Jewish Thighs on Broadway the following evening. I’m so looking forward to seeing all you hainsies/kimlets who will be there for said events. What fun we shall all have. We shall laugh and laugh and just when we think we cannot laugh anymore, we shall laugh again. March will also bring the first half of the Guy Haines album, at least that is the plan. Minimally, several of the tracks will be finished and ready for Mr. Haines’ vocal “stylings”. March will also bring a few other surprises and nice things, about which more at a later date. All in all, March will hopefully be the berries. And the official haineshisway.com March food is Marchmallows. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Last night I watched two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Bambi. Bambi is a marvelously marvelous motion picture from Mr. Walt Disney. It’s quite a simple tale, quite simply told. No bombast, no hitting you over the head forty times with its message (it does have a message, and you do get the point, but it’s not laid on with a trowel), and its power lies in its simplicity and sweetness. I’m sure the only people who really don’t like Bambi are hunters. The transfer is, as you would expect, nothing short of breathtaking. The film has never looked this good on home video. My only quibble is that in removing all the film grain, there is a certain lifelessness to some shots in the film. Other than that, it’s aces. Tons of extras, too. The second motion picture on DVD was entitled Journey Into Fear, a film of Norman Foster, starring Mr. Joseph Cotton, Miss Dolores del Rio, and Mr. Orson Welles. It’s not a great film by any means, but it’s very watchable and moves right along at a steady clip. There is much controversy surrounding this film. Many people say Mr. Orson Welles really directed and wrote most of the film. Mr. Orson Welles repeatedly denied it. I’m somewhere in the middle. Certain scenes are obviously directed by him – there is simply no mistaking it. Others are too ordinary and my guess is that Foster directed those. The ending sequence, a shootout in a torrential downpour, is a highlight, as is the opening scene, which is most assuredly directed by Welles, since he did almost the exact same sequence years later in Touch of Evil. The marvelously marvelous thing about both films is that together they were shorter than Ray. Bambi runs a quick seventy minutes, and Journey into Fear runs an even quicker sixty-eight minutes.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below and March right into the next section.
Have I mentioned that it is March? Have I mentioned that I am flitting about like a gazelle in pantyhose? Have I mentioned that the official food of March is Marchmallows? Since it is a brand spanking new month, perhaps I’ll tell the tale of The Randy Vicar and the Exhaust Pipe. Oh, that’s a good one.
Mr. Grant Geissman tells me that I will at least hear some preliminary tracks this Friday. How entrancing. If that indeed happens you shall have the first report. I should be getting quite a few packages this week. There will be several DVDs from amazon, including the new Warners comedy box set, and some DVDs from amazon France, including the only DVD release of the marvelously marvelous I Wake Up Screaming aka Hot Spot, starring Miss Betty Grable, Mr. Victor Mature, and Mr. Laird Cregar.
Today, the Floor Men are coming yet again to look at the floor. One of these fine days they’ll actually fix it. I’ve made it very clear to one and all and also all and one that whatever work they do cannot disturb my daily writing routine, and that I must be able to sleep in my bedroom and that any work must either be finished in one day, or at least completely covered up after they leave.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write, I must drive about in my motor car, I must pick up packages, I must eat the balance of the tuna pasta salad, and I must pay a bill or three. Today’s topic of discussion: Let’s do our DVD wish list again – since we last did it, many DVDs on our various and sundried wish lists have come out. So, what’s left? What MIA movies would you most like to have right this very minute? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we march into March, our beautiful brand spanking new month.