Well, dear readers, today is the day of the final dress rehearsal for Mr. Kevin Spirtas’ one-man show. We are having just a handful of folks in to see it, just so he can mostly get a sense of playing to actual people rather than an empty space. It’s at 3:30 this afternoon. Prior to that I’ll be preparing packages of CDs for shipment, and doing other things that need doing. We had quite a nice run-through yesterday, and we were happy to see that the slight cuts we made in act two worked really well, and that that act is now down to a good running time. Earlier in the day, I had tons of errands to do, which I did whilst she of the Evil Eye cleaned the home environment. Having to run around like that does give me a chance to catch up with my CD listening. I’ve been checking out all these Japanese imports I’ve just received, which all look like mini LPs. Right now, for example, I’m listening to Miss Connie Francis sing Bacharach and David. It’s quite a strange album, and I’d love to know who did the completely uncredited charts for the album. Sometimes Miss Francis sounds exactly like Miss Francis, and other times she sounds nothing like Miss Francis. Some of the tracks are nice, and some are quite outré. I also listened to a wonderful early Nelson Riddle album on Capitol, The Tender Touch, my kind of easy listening music. Don’t mock me – I happen to like easy listening. Also listened to a Herbie Mann album from the late fifties, flute and orchestra, also quite nice (he does Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most, one of my favorite songs). Don’t mock me – I happen to like flute and orchestra playing easy listening. Next up, two sixties Sue Raney albums that look quite divine. I also finished listening to the new Guy Haines album, which I hadn’t heard in three weeks, and I’m quite happy with the sound of it. If you haven’t yet ordered your Guy Haines or After the Ball CDs, now is as good a time is any – we’re not going to succeed if we don’t sell CDs, baby.
Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled A Very Long Engagement. I remember the reviews for this film (from the director and star of Amelie) being like it was the second coming. It isn’t. I would say that it was A Very Long Motion Picture, except that it isn’t really all that long – about 130 minutes. It just seems long, because there is so much going on, and it’s so hard to keep everything straight. It all pays off at the end, which is somewhat affecting, but the director can’t help showing off in almost every shot, and the visual style of the film is overwhelming to the story being told. It’s like a hot fudge sundae where there’s so much fudge and whipped cream and cherries and nuts that you never get to the ice cream. Was that an analogy? In any case, the acting is very good (including a surprise appearance by Miss Jodie Foster, who speaks very good French), and the score by Mr. Angelo Badalamenti, is really top-notch. Had this film been done without all the fancy footwork, it might have really been something more. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, an early copy of The High and the Mighty, starring Mr. John Wayne and a plethora of other stars. This film has basically been out of circulation for over thirty-five years, and it’s high (and mighty) on most everyone’s want list. It was the film that made me fall in love with movies – I saw it over twenty times in 1954. The only other times I’ve seen it have been when I owned a beautiful color 16mm print, which was unfortunately pan-and-scan. Watching this film in pan-and-scan is a travesty, however. So, it was a real treat to pop this baby in and sit, glued to the screen (no mean feat) for all 148 minutes of it. I think a lot of younger people will buy this DVD having heard about the film for so long, and I think they will deride it and laugh at it. That is because most (not all) young people have no ability to look beyond their generation, so this film will seem risible, campy, and unintentionally hilarious. In other words, they refuse or have no ability to see things in the context of when they were made. I hate to tell them, but the motion pictures that they so love, these awful, cliché-ridden, CGI-infested crapfests, will be looked upon by future generations in the same way. But, I love The High and the Mighty, no matter how dated, how clichéd, how exposition-ridden (this film actually delights in its exposition), or how silly some of it seems in the era in which we live now. Kids will howl with laughter at the thought of Sidney Blackmer being able to walk on the plane with a handgun (the young boy who’s on the plane has a cowboy holster and gun, too). Or how John Qualen has a knife. But, hate to tell the kiddies, in those days you could board a plane with a handgun – no one checked, there were no metal detectors, there were no terrorists or highjackers – it was a different world (and a better one). So, if you can just have the ability to put yourself back in that time frame, I think you will have a great time. This film is, of course, the granddaddy of all the airplane disaster films – it was the first, and it’s still one of the best. John Wayne, playing a rather interesting character, is terrific (his whistling is done by Muzzy Marcellino). Robert Stack is great in the sort of role he owned back then. And all the passengers are wonderful – from the hammy Sidney Blackmer, to the touching and wonderful Jan Sterling, to David Brian (an actor I’ve always liked) and Caire Trevor, to the very funny John Qualen (his asides to Blackmer are priceless), to newcomers Karin Steele and John Smith, to the very amusing Pedro Gonazales-Gonzales (the Duke saw his infamous appearance on Groucho’s You Bet Your Life), and on and on. And then there is the score by Dimitri Tiomkin (he won an Oscar for it) – the minute those opening chords hit and that that deliriously gorgeous main theme comes up (one of the most glorious main title themes in the history of film), it’s just soundtrack music heaven all the way through. And it’s never sounded so good – they really did a spectacular job on the 5.1 track, and one can only hope that Batjac will license the score to someone for a CD release. I’m happy to report that the transfer is really excellent, with perfect color. It’s very sharp, and the only anomalies are the opticals (dissolves and fades), and that’s what those look like – no way to clean them up. Paramount has done itself proud with this release. The extras, which are blandly produced, are mostly a bore, but there are some interesting things to learn, and it’s great fun seeing some of the surviving cast members alive and well (including Gonzales Gonzales).
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Don’t mock me. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below, because I have packages to prepare and a dress rehearsal to attend.
This is going to be quite a week, what with Kevin’s two shows (it’s a LOOOOOONG drive), getting all the CDs shipped out, transferring the Stages multi-track tape (and then starting to mix it), and rehearsing for the reading of my play, which takes place a week from tomorrow. I also have several meetings and a few meals to do.
I’ve continued to stay on the diet, and I do believe I’m losing more weight – slowly, very slowly at my age, but losing nonetheless. I will have one really good meal at some point during the week – I shall have to ponder exactly where to eat that meal.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must write, I must package CDs, I must rehearse, I must answer e-mails and return phone calls, and I must listen to some more easy listening CDs – don’t mock me – and perhaps even watch a DVD in the evening. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite disaster films, and what disaster films do you consider REAL disasters? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? And don’t mock me.