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April 17, 2005:

I.E.

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I believe today we shall have short notes. I don’t know why, really, but I just feel like writing short notes. Perhaps it’s because all week I’ve written long notes and now I think we need a change of pace, i.e. short notes. I wonder why it’s always “i.e.”. Couldn’t it once by “e.i.”? Or “u.z”? But, no, it always has to be “i.e.” because that’s just the way things are and we simply have to grin and bear it or, at the very least, grin and elephant it, i.e. take it. In any case, I shall get right to the meat of things or, for our vegetarians, right to the vegetable of things. Yesterday, I relaxed most of the livelong day. I did not do a spot of work, so today perhaps I’ll do a spot of work. I did some errands, I swam, I lazed about like a gazelle making lazy circles in the sky, and I ate this and that and also that and this. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?

You see, I’m keeping these here notes short, i.e. I’m moving right along. Last night, I had a change of plans – I had to meet someone at six, so I could not go to the silent movie as planned. Instead, I had a quick meeting, and then went to see Fever Pitch after it was over. I do not like the Farrelly brothers. I do not find them funny. However, they curb their usual awfulness to some extent in Fever Pitch, so when they let the movie play, it all moves along quite reasonably. The screenplay by Babalu Mandel and Lowell Ganz is their usual sort of screenplay – by now, they do this type of thing in their sleep. The book, by Nick Hornby, is, of course, set in the UK and is about soccer. The film is set in the US and is about baseball. Drew Barrymore does a respectable job, but there’s just something about her that grates (she’s also one of the film’s producers). I’ve never seen Jimmy Fallon before. I gather he’s one of the endless parade of Saturday Night Live people who end up starring in movies. I found him not to my liking – very little screen charisma in my opinion. He’s not awful or anything, but he’s the lead in the film and he should be better. The Farrellys do throw in some of their patented low humor, all of which harms the movie in irreparable ways. Sorry, boys, you can’t have it every which way – that’s not how it works. Frankly, I think they’re more interested in the songs than they are in the film. The soundtrack is a relentless garbage heap of songs, one after another, with some droning Craig Armstrong score as relief every now and then. The film has its moments, has some charm, a few laughs, and then it’s over. I didn’t hate it, which is about the best I can say. I also finished watching Miss Doris Day and Mr. Kirk Douglas in Young Man with a Horn. The first half of the film is quite wonderful. The second half turns weird with the entrance of Miss Lauren Bacall, and we have the tiresome downward spiral business and ultimate redemption. Miss Day and Mr. Douglas are terrific, and Miss Bacall is fine as the slightly unbalanced woman who woos Mr. Douglas away from Miss Day. Hoagy Carmichael is wonderful in his supporting role, but the film’s best performance is given by Juano Hernandez as the young man with a horn’s mentor and friend. He is quite touching and very real. I’d just seen and admired him in an episode of Staccato and wondered who he was and what he’d done. The transfer is impeccable.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, i.e. move to the next section.

I also watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Dam Busters. It’s one of those British war movies that has a great reputation (George Lucas says it was his inspiration for some of the wing attack sequences in Star Wars). It’s too long, and takes forever to get where it’s going, but once it gets there, it’s quite watchable (the low-flying attack on the dams of the title) and even exciting, save for some of the worst special effects I’ve ever seen in my life. The film has very good performances by Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd, along with many recognizable Brit actors in support. There is a rousing theme by Eric Coates – it’s the best thing in the film. Transfer is soft and muddy.

Don’t forget, Donald should have a new radio show up this afternoon for your listening pleasure, so check it out, i.e. give it a listen.

There are far too many “i.e.”s in these here notes, don’t you think? They are starting to nauseate me, i.e. I’m sick of the sight of the fershluganah things.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, i.e. I must try to do a bit of work, I must try to do some errands, I must return a call or three, and I must eat reasonable amounts of reasonable food. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to make with the snappy repartee and responses. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics, and loads of lovely postings, i.e. let’s keep the jernt jumpin’.

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