Well, dear readers, you know the mantra: Can you believe it’s Friday already? Where did this week go? Where did all the weeks go? Where have all the flowers gone? Yes, you know the mantra and we can all recite the mantra together on the count of three: One, two, three – SLOW DOWN SO WE CAN STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES OR THE COFFEE OR THE FIVE-DAY DEODORANT PADS! Didn’t that feel good? It always feels good when you know the mantra and then speak it out loud for all the world to hear. Does anyone find the word “mantra” just a wee bit sexist? I do. Why can’t it be womantra? Or, to be politically correct (and you know how we love THAT), a persontra. But, nooooo, it’s got to be all macho and studly – MANTRA. How did I go off on this mantra tangent, that’s what I’d like to know? There I was, writing these here notes and then we suddenly were in the mantra zone. Well, we’re now leaving the mantra zone and getting back to the proper notes zone. Damn them, damn them all to hell. Yesterday was a day. I had to leave early to go the the old pressing plant and get my masters. Now wait just a darned minute. Has anyone noticed how the word “the” in the previous sentence just cloned itself. Look at those two “the’s” just sitting there like so much fish. Where was I? Oh, yes, I picked up my masters, then headed over to the El Portal Theater. We locked down our deal, and have booked their 99 seat space, which we’re all very excited about. There are just a couple of details left to work out, but it’s a done deal or, to put it a different way, a deal done. I then had to go to my booklet designer’s home environment to check on some things. All was well there, and then Miss Tammy Minoff and I lunched and discussed the events of the morning (she couldn’t be at the El Portal meeting, as she had a doctor appointment). I then came back to the home environment and caught up with e-mails and telephone calls. Then our pressing plant gal came by to pick up the masters so that everything will now be with our new pressing plant. We’re still on track with the new releases, and she doesn’t foresee any problems with us having CDs before Labor Day. If I get them in time, I’ll actually ship out as many as I can prior to Labor Day, which is a good two weeks before street date. And you know the mantra – if you haven’t ordered yours yet, please feel free to do so, as we love to see the orders coming in. Speaking of orders, I have just acquired another project, probably for January. I’m quite happy about it, too. I’ll have more details about it in a week or two. Finally, at around five I could do no more, after also having written three pages, so I turned on a DVD and promptly fell asleep for a half-hour. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Last night I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Drunken Angel, an early film of Mr. Akira Kurosawa, one of my favorite directors of motion pictures. Drunken Angel was Mr. Kurosawa’s eighth film but the first which he feels was really bore his personal stamp. It’s quite a downbeat little film, but very well done. It was Mr. Kurosawa’s first experience using the actor who would become a star under his directorial acumen – Mr. Toshiro Mifune. The DVD is a region 2 affair from BFI, but the master that Toho provided is quite poor – contrasty, very worn, but still watchable. I wonder if the negative to the film is lost, since this transfer was obviously made from a print. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Betty. Not Veronica, mind you, no, it was entitled Betty. Betty is un film de Claude Chabrol. A critic who reviewed this recent batch of five Chabrol DVDs called Betty the undiscovered masterpiece of the bunch. I do wish pedantic critics would stop bandying around the use of the word “masterpiece” as if it were so much fish. Betty is an interesting film from Mr. Chabrol’s late period, but a masterpiece it isn’t. It does have very good performances especially by Marie Trintignant as Betty, and by Chabrol regular Stephane Audran, and it’s enjoyable in its own way, but I grew restless and just wanted it to end. It’s hard to tell about the transfer. It looks like the film was shot on video to me – it’s soft and has that look about it. Or, I suppose it could have that look if it had been taken off an old tape master – it’s very peculiar. I’m looking forward to the two other Chabrol films I got in this batch.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Well, you know the mantra – why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we all repeat in unison: YOU KNOW THE MANTRA.
I must actually leave very early in the morning, to Xerox more copies of my play. Tammy and I will be meeting our set designer at the El Portal, and I’ll be giving him a copy of the play. We’re all hoping that his genius will be in full flower so he can tell us how we’re going to make this work in this space. I then will have to ship out several packages, and hopefully even pick up several packages. Then I shall come back to the home environment and write, and then just do whatever I please, which is also how I intend to spend the weekend.
It’s rather interesting to me that by January Kritzerland will already have seven releases. I really hadn’t intended for that to happen, but I’m happy it has. There could even be a couple of more happening right after that. But, we must keep those cards and letters and orders coming in – well, you know the mantra, baby. And if you missed it, we got two more excellent reviews, so check yesterday’s posts.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must Xerox, I must meet with the set designer, and I must do whatever else I must do, which includes writing, driving about in my motor car, and eating various and sundried foodstuffs. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – DVD, coming up the two Chabrol films, plus two Seijun Suzuki films from Criterion. It’s International week at the home environment. CD, a Glenn Miller mini LP from Japan, with many of his great recordings. Your turn. You know the mantra – let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we? Yessireebob, that is a mantra.