Well, dear rearders, here we are on the Wednesday before the Thursday when Deceit begins it’s performances again. On the Tuesday before the Wednesday that currently is, I worked for three hours with Miss Linda Purl – running her twenty-minute presentation several times. I polished her patter and she was happy with it and learned it right away. The five-song set is very tight and what I wanted to have happen is definitely happening, i.e. we’re getting a lot of Linda and her charm and humor, right from the get-go and also the go-get. She did very little theater music in her act, but that’s changing a bit, and even in the five-song set we get two show songs, a non-show Cy Coleman song, a Kirby Tepper original, and a classic 40s song to close. Other than that, I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. What a nauseating visual that is, when you get right down to it. I did errands, I picked up packages (although I didn’t get around to shipping any), I did banking, and I answered e-mails and telephonic calls. It was actually a very pleasant day – the sun was shining and so was I.
On the Tuesday before the Wednesday of now, I also managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD (which I’d actually started watching on the Monday before the Tuesday before the Wednesday) was entitled The Valachi Papers, starring Mr. Charles Bronson. I somehow had missed the film upon its release, so I was really looking forward to it, given that I like Mr. Bronson and the film’s director, Mr. Terence Young. Unfortunately, they took a terrific little book by Peter Maas and completely made a cheesy, awful little movie. The direction borders on the inept, which is very unusual for Mr. Young (From Russia, With Love, Wait Until Dark), and the film is so shoddy and sloppy that there are two driving scenes that take place in 1931 where you can clearly (and I mean clearly) see about ten late 60s cars driving behind and next to the period cars. The film has no dramatic tension, and just meanders along for its very long 125 minute running time. The transfer probably replicates how the film looked upon release – grainy and ugly. I then watched a motion picture entitled The Constant Gardener. This film has been touted to me by almost everyone I know, so I was looking forward to really enjoying it. I guess I’ll have to be the minority opinion – while I found it mildly entertaining, it was not the brilliant film I was led to believe it was. In fact, after the first ten minutes I wanted to throttle the director and say, “Stop with the hip camera moves and editing and just tell me the story!” I mean, John Le Carre writes a good yarn and a director doesn’t need to tart it up with all the latest and greatest (not) tricks. All those silly hand-held shots, and weird angles for no reason, and jump-cutting and playing with time kept taking me right out of the film. I also sort of resented that they tried to make it seem like it was based on a true story, which, of course, it wasn’t. While I liked the two leading actors, Mr. Fiennes and Miss Weisz, I did not think either of them gave Oscar-worthy performances, at least not what I think of as Oscar-worthy. In fact, I found all their whispering irritating – whatever happened to actors who could actually speak so you could hear and understand them. Many of the supporting actors suffered from the same malady and I had to rewind several times just to understand what they were saying, which is ridiculous when you think about it. I think films like this get the sorts of raves they do because they’re just a step above the rest of the tripe that’s released these days. I wanted to love it, and I wish I had, but I didn’t, and that’s what makes Ye Olde Horse Racing. The transfer was aces, as you’d expect.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because it is, after all, the Wednesday after the Tuesday before the Thursday when Deceit resumes performances.
I also finished watching my bedroom DVD motion picture, which was entitled A Taste of Honey. I’d never seen the film version before, and I must say I thought it pretty poor. Mr. Tony Richardson is so intent on making it a “film” and opening it out, that he sucks the drama and the tension right out of it. The actors are all wonderful, especially Rita Tushingham as Jo and Murray Melvin as Jeff.
Enough with the DVDs already. So, what shall I be doing this very day? Why, I shall be lunching with our very own Miss Tammy Minoff. We shall be dining at Musso and Frank – I haven’t been to lunch there in over twenty years (I usually just do dinner). Prior to that, I shall ship off some packages, mail some mail, do some errands, and write some pages. One simply must, you know.
I have a screening of Brokeback Mountain this evening if I can get up the energy to go to the DGA to see it. Otherwise, I shall stay home and watch a DVD or three.
Now wait just a darned minute. I almost forgot – we must put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, we must break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, we must dance the Hora or the old-fashioned waltz because today is the actual birthday of our very own actual dear reader Pogue. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own actual dear reader Pogue. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN ACTUAL DEAR READER POGUE!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must also do the things I do and take the day, and why shouldn’t I, that’s what I’d like to know? Why shouldn’t I just take the day and do the things I do? I’m taking and doing and if anyone has a problem with it they can just keep their big yaps shut. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like, and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers on this Wednesday after the Tuesday before the Thursday when Deceit resumes performances.