Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example… I know, I know, I thought I’d try to pull a fast one and write the notes backwards, just to see if anyone noticed. Have you ever tried to pull a fast one, and, if so, how did the fast one feel about being pulled by the likes of you? And why do people always try to pull fast ones? Why don’t they ever try to pull slow ones? By the way (BTW, in Internet lingo), if anyone has a clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about, then they should speak right up because I’m quite certain that we’d all like to know. In any case, I tried to pull a fast one and it didn’t work, did it? So, now I shall write the notes in their proper order because we must have order in the universe or there will be chaos and we simply cannot have chaos, can we? No, to have chaos is to be like a gazelle eating its own head, and we all know how chaotic THAT is. Speaking of chaos, I had a perfectly pleasant Sunday. I got a semi-reasonable amount of sleep, and then I went to breakfast with Tammy and her mother, which was fun. I had poached eggs on toast, hashed browns, bacon, and a Diet Coke, not necessarily in that order. I then came home and was true to my word and did not attend the matinee, which I was later told went very well. Instead, I stayed home and wrote four pages of the short story and began planning out the musical theater workshop events. If anyone has any suggestions for things that they might find interesting in a musical theater workshop taught by me, please post them or e-mail me. I want to offer things that I’m good at and that will be helpful. I don’t want to just be arbitrary – so, knowing my background and what I’ve done, any suggestions will be appreciated. After all the writing, I went in the Jacuzzi and lounged about for over a half-hour, at which point I resembled a Jewish prune. I then came in, ate some junk I had around the house, and then sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture was entitled Oliver Twist, the new version directed by Mr. Roman Polanski, and written by Mr. Ronald Harwood. I found the first fifteen minutes slow going, and I was, in fact, ready to shut it off. But, I stuck with it and I’m glad I did – it’s a very good version of the Dickens novel, and is well-directed and well acted, especially the boy who plays Oliver, and an all but unrecognizable Ben Kingsley as Fagin. The photography is beautiful, but the film is almost undone by the wretched musical score by Rachel Portman, who has gone from being an interesting composer to being a totally uninteresting one, and in record time. It’s such a shame that Polanski didn’t get Philippe Sarde to do the score – he’s worked with him several times and a Sarde score would have done wonders. In any case, I enjoyed the film a lot. The transfer is fine but not as fine as a new transfer of a new film should be. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Cisco Pike, a druggie film from 1971. The film was pretty annoying back then and it’s pretty annoying now, although I must say I had fun watching it. It was a very low budget film, shot by Vilis Lapiniecks, who was the cameraman on my very first TV pilot, and, a decade later, the cameraman on The Creature Wasn’t Nice. The film’s writer/director, B.L. Norton, allows for lots of improv, and shows no directing talent whatsoever. Kris Kristofferson is “introduced” in this film, and he does okay. Gene Hackman, as always, is terrific, as is Karen Black in a completely thankless role. Supporting cast members all do fine and they include Andy Warhol’s superstar, Viva, and 70s cutie pie, Joy Bang. While watching Miss Bang, I finally remembered that I’d hung out with her several times, because she briefly dated my friend Michael Burns. The film was shot on location in LA, but Norton is so inept that you frequently don’t know where you are – he never cuts wide so you can actually see the location – very annoying. However, one very cool and sad thing is that the apartment that Kristofferson and Karen Black share was on the old boardwalk right near Pacific Ocean Park. At the time of filming, POP was almost completely demolished, but you can still see the boardwalk shops and the entrance to the park, and saddest of all, you can see the completely empty dirt lots directly across from the entrance – those dirt lots, just months before they shot this film, had been the home of the Hotel St. Regis, where my grandparents lived, and which is featured heavily in all three Kritzer books. Within six months after this film was shot, the rest of POP would be gone, and the two high-rises known as The Shores would be erected. In fact, they’d already put in the little park and drive-through that is still there to this day. And, of course, to bring things full circle, I lived in The Shores for eight years, from 1988 to 1996. The geography in the film is hilarious – one minute they’re mere blocks from where I live now, then they turn a corner and they’re across the street from LACC. That’s quite a turn. The film is a relic of its time, and I was never partial to drug films.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst we all try to pull a fast one, just for the halibut. Of course, if we do that, we might get a haddock. What is it, fish?
I have another long day in the editing room, but I shall have my handy-dandy laptop with me, so I’ll be able to read and post all the livelong day. I’m hoping we can wrap the first spot in an hour or two, and then I’m hoping we can put together the second spot in a couple of hours and then finesse that one for an additional hour. Then, I’m hoping we can spend the rest of the day finessing the longer spot, doing a rough audio mix so it sounds good, and putting in some flips and wipes and stuff to make it spiffy. I also see no reason not to take the half-day on Wednesday, just to nitpick and make the two spots as good as possible. That way, we can turn them in early Wednesday afternoon, a good day-and-a-half prior to their due date. After the session, if all goes according to Hoyle, I’ll be supping with my friend Miss Barbara Deutsch.
Today is, I believe, the day we must decide if we extend for another month, into April. Everyone seems to want to, now that we’re finding our audience, but, as most of you know, I’m on the fence about it (and the decision is ultimately mine) because of my actor problem. There was one other problem as well, but I discussed that with the party involved and we cleared the air and all is well now. So, I just have to decide if I can live with this actor’s erratic performances or if it’s time to try and replace him, which I know will be difficult. Either way, I’m going to have to have a heartfelt chat with him.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example… is anyone having déjà vu or, at the very least, vu deja? I know I am. Today’s topic of discussion: I am fascinated by relationships and marriages and togetherness vs. being single. So, married hainsies/kimlets, tell us why you like marriage and how you’ve made it work all these years. People who are in successful relationships, tell us why you think they’ve worked so well. And non-married, single, and deevorced hainsies/kimlets tell us if you like being on your own, if you like the dating game, and why you think you haven’t found “the one” yet, and if you even think there IS a “one.” Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we all sit and try to pull a fast one, just for the sheer doing of it.