Well, dear readers, the march of time marches on, and here we are on a Friday, with yet another work week at a close. I wonder if on ever marches time, just for a change of pace? Yes, the march of time marches on, but that’s only appropriate since it’s the time of March. I feel I’m onto something here, although precisely what I’m onto is eluding me like a gazelle in the bushes. Certainly I feel I’m onto something profound and deep or, conversely, deep and profound. Of course, I have no clew as to what the HELL I’m going on about, but that’s par for the course. In any case, today is Friday, and now we have the whole gloriously glorious weekend to look forward to. I’m still overtired, but I won’t have an opportunity to sleep in until Sunday. Speaking of Sunday, yesterday was an interesting day in which interesting things happened. I started off my day by conducting our musical theater workshop (MTW). It was a really fun class – we had the wonderful John Boswell live and in person, playing the piano. Everyone had chosen a new solo song to sing – we had one absence today (health-related) and of the fourteen class members who were present, three of them were not prepared to sing. I was quite strong with them about their lack of preparation, and I will be discussing it with them privately. Others had problems with forgotten lyrics and such, but overall I was very impressed with everyone because they are starting to find some self-assurance and poise. A couple of people who had real trouble on their first song, did quite well, I thought. I took extensive notes, and we’ll be going over those notes on Tuesday, and then, if we can find a pianist for Thursday or even the following Tuesday (John is out of town for two weeks), they’ll sing these songs again, having addressed the notes. In the meantime, everyone is in the process of picking their duets, and we’ll be discussing those on Tuesday and Thursday next. After the class, Tammy, her friend Lauren, and I lunched at Art’s Deli. After that, I attended to a lot of business stuff that I’ve been putting off, and I’m happy to say I got everything done. I didn’t do any writing, but getting all the business stuff out of the way will free me up all day today to do nothing but writing. After doing all that, we had a pick-up rehearsal that went very well, and then I came home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Walk The Line. After hearing so many wonderful things about this film, I was really looking forward to seeing it. Alas, I found it trite, predictable, and typical “today” moviemaking, especially in its photography and sound design. I certainly enjoyed Miss Reese Witherspoon and to a slightly lesser extent Mr. Joaquin Phoenix, but, like the film Ray, I just got bored and then annoyed with its ridiculously long running time (135 minutes). It’s nice that Miss Witherspoon and Mr. Phoenix did their own singing, but again, she comes off better than he does, but only because Johnny Cash has such a distinctive voice and style. The DVD transfer is excellent. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Where The Truth Lies, based on the novel by our very own Mr. Rupert Holmes. I am no fan of Mr. Atom Egoyan, the director, and since he also wrote the screenplay, I didn’t hold out much hope for the film. Sadly, I was right. It’s a muddled mess from start to finish – you never know where you are, what decade you’re in, and the whole thing is complete confusion, and ultimately I just tuned out and didn’t care. It’s also one of the worst cast films ever – Kevin Bacon playing a Jerry Lewis type? Colin Firth playing a Dean Martin type? And if you have actors playing a supposedly famous hilarious comedy duo, you better have actors that can be funny, and some stuff that allows them to be funny. Not the case here. The leading lady, Alison Lohman, is strictly one-notesville throughout. It’s just another shameful adaptation of a good book. I am amused that Ebert and Roeper gave the film two thumbs up – they really have lost their minds. Mr. Egoyan, you see, is an auteur, and his fans just get it in their heads that he can do no wrong. In my opinion, he’s done nothing but wrong, and he’s never had a movie that made money, so why people keep giving him dough is anyone’s guess. This film cost $25 million and grossed under $900,000 worldwide.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? No, I guess I’m not, since I just gave the Egoyan film a thumbs down. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below whilst the March of time marches on to the next section.
My allergies have been bugging me for the last week. Not terribly so, but I’ve had to start taking Actifed once a day.
My goodness, that was a short paragraph, wasn’t it? Today I shall be writing all the livelong day, and may even start a new short story – not sure I need another one for the collection, but I just am in a writing mode and I think this new idea is a good one. And tonight I shall be attending the annual STAGE benefit at the Luckman Theater. I’m looking forward to the show, which celebrates the work of Comden and Green. Of course, I shall have a full report for you upon my return.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, and then dress up for this evening’s show. And the best news is that the STAGE benefit CD which did not exist before Vinnie and I mixed it a week-and-a-half ago, was pressed on time and was actually delivered to the theater yesterday, so they’ll have them for sale tonight and for the other performances. That may well be one of the fastest turnarounds in CD history – from mix to delivery in less than two weeks. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player, and your DVD/video player? I’ll start – CD, two new soundtrack CDs produced by our very own Mr. Nick Redman – Black Widow by Michael Small, and the newly-commissioned score for Major Dundee, by Christopher Caliendo. DVD, Mr. Vittorio de Sica’s delightful film, Miracle in Milan. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we observer the March of time marching on.