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August 8, 2005:

EARS OF CORN

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I have had my lovely relaxing weekend and now I am ready to meet the new week head on. Not foot on, mind you, no, I am ready to meet the week head on. I don’t even know what I’m doing this week, although I know it’s a lot. I must type up a sheet with all that is happening, so that I don’t forget anything. But, before I meet this week head on, perhaps I shall tell you about my Sunday. It was a lovely day, filled with doing absolutely nothing, save for writing a couple of pages (actually, adding a couple of pages – something wasn’t right, and I finally figured out what it was and the added pages fixed the problem). I took a nice walk, I visited the Farmer’s Market, I did a nice grocery shopping, and I made my very first ears of corn. I have somehow managed to go my entire life without ever making an ear of corn. Once I made a toe of corn, but that’s another story. I bought three ears of corn, two white and one yellow. I decided to make one white and one yellow to see which I preferred. I wasn’t sure if one should take the husk off or not, so I didn’t. I think next time I shall, as it was way too hot to remove the husks afterwards. The two ears cooked perfectly, I must say, and they were both quite yummilicious, but I definitely preferred the white, which is sweeter. I didn’t overdo the butter, either, and if you don’t overdo the butter then ears of corn are quite low-cal, only 75 calories an ear. I also ate some mini-bagels (only 77 calories per), and some sour cream and onion rice cakes (not great, but also low-cal). It was all quite filling, but it’s lovely to know that if you get hungry there is all this stuff you can continue to eat throughout the day and evening that won’t be harmful.

Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Witness. Witness has, of course, been out on DVD for six years. But, this is a brand spanking new Special Edition. Witness is one of those films that I never tire of. I consider it perfectly perfect and a masterpiece of filmmaking. The fact that it was made in 1985 is amazing to me, as movies had already begun their long slide into the toilet by then. If Witness was made today, one can only shudder to think what it would be like. Gone would be the title sequence (too slow), and we’d start with the murder. Then there would be the wall-to-wall music. Then there would be the hyped-up camerawork and editing and show-off technique. And then there would be the faceless performances of the “stars” and the supporting cast. What works about this marvelous film is the slow opening where we get to see the world of the Amish before any plot kicks in. That’s fifteen minutes right there. Peter Weir’s direction is assured and measured and perfect. Every shot, every decision, just right. Harrison Ford has never been better, and Lukas Haas gives one of the great child performances. You couldn’t ask for a better Rachel than that of then newcomer Kelly McGillis, who is so real in the film you’d swear she really was Amish. Jan Rubes is wonderful as her father, and Alexander Godunov, whose first acting role this is, is excellent. Danny Glover and Josef Sommer do fine, and the rest of the cast is virtually perfect. There are no show-off moments – everything just works like a charm. There are several sequences that just take the breath away, so good are they: The scene where Lukas Haas is wandering around the police station and sees a photo of the bad guy, the barn-raising scene, the brilliant dance that Harrison and Kelly do to What A Wonderful World This Would Be, the comeuppance some obnoxious town kids get – these are all classic movie moments. The score by Maurice Jarre is very peculiar but somehow it just works. And there’s only about thirty minutes of it, and the rest of the film is blessedly sans music, although filled with wondrous natural sounds. The transfer on the original DVD seemed fine, but I’m sure it doesn’t compare to the new DVD, which looks great. There’s a five-part look-back at the film, as usual, done rather artlessly. But, there are some interesting factoids from Weir, Ford, McGillis, Vitto Morgenstern (who had a small role in one of his first jobs), cameraman John Seale, and others. If for some reason you’ve not ever seen Witness, you really owe it to yourself to get the DVD.

Well, this section is already to long. I think we need to do a little dissection on this section, so why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below and I shall sally forth in the next section. Or, perhaps I shall susan forth or even joan forth.

The second motion picture I watched on DVD was entitled The Last Tycoon, starring Mr. Robert De Niro, Mr. Robert Mitchum, Mr. Jack Nicholson, and many others. It was the final directorial effort of Mr. Elia Kazan. The film was pretty much reviled by both critics and public, but it’s an interesting failure. The script by Harold Pinter, adapted from the unfinished F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, is weirdly enigmatic, and strangely structured. The film is too long (over two hours), but looks good, and has really good performances, save for the supremely strange performance of its leading lady, Miss Ingrid Boulting, whose film career basically began and ended with this film. Well, even though she gets an “introducing” credit, she’d actually made several films prior to this under the name Ingrid Brett, going as far back as the mid-60s in such stuff as Hammer’s The Witches, and Michael Winner’s The Jokers. She’s the daughter of John Boulting of the Boulting Brothers filmmaking team. She only did one film after The Last Tycoon (released in 1976) and that was made almost ten years later. The film also introduced Theresa Russell, who is quite fetching. The score is by Maurice Jarre and it’s not a bad effort. Worth a look-see if you like Hollywood stories. Two strange mistakes in the film: One, in Miss Russell’s guest house, the wall is filled with photos of Miss Russell, all of which look like what must have been her current head shots and modeling shots circa 1976. Certainly, they don’t look like 30s photographs, what with her 70s hairstyles and clothes. The other mistake is a long shot on the studio lot where you can see the Hollywood sign in the background (the film was shot on the Paramount lot) – it clearly says “Hollywood” but should have said “Hollywoodland”. Transfer and sound are fine.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Don’t I have things to do, places to go, people to see? Today I’ve got a lot of organizing to do – so many things happening at the same time. Then, tonight I shall be going into the recording studio to record a track with Mr. Kevin Spirtas. I don’t want to reveal what that track is just yet, but we’ll be putting out a website exclusive CD single, something that has something to do with an upcoming Days of Our Lives appearance. Stay tuned.

I want more ears of corn. I have become very enamored of ears of corn. I think I shall make some more ears of corn this very day. Ears Of Corn – that’s the title of my next novel.

Now wait just a darned minute. We’d all better just put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, we’d better break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, we’d better dance the Hora or the Square Dance, because today is our very own der Brucer’s birthday. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to der Brucer. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO DER BRUCER!!!

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must organize, I must write, I must have a few telephonic conversations, I must pick up packages and mail, I must ship packages, and I must do myriad other tasks before being on my way to the recording studio. Today’s topic of discussion: If you could write a book, fiction or non-fiction, on any subject you like, what would it be and why would you choose that subject. Also, if you could write a non-fiction book about any person in history, who would it be and why would you choose them? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we contemplate our collective ears of corn.

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