Well, dear readers, it’s two days of blessed relaxation for me after a rather hellishly hellish week. Oh, the week had its pleasures, but the annoyances were strong and included the computer problems and the UPS problems and having to rebook the studio we’re using for the recording date next Tuesday, and all that jazz. But today is Saturday, baby, and no one but no one is gonna rain on my parade. Yes, Virginia, no one but no one is gonna rain on my parade, by gum and by golly and by Barbra Streisand. I intend to do a whole lot of nothing is what I intend to do. Oh, I shall jog. Oh, I shall write a little. Oh, I shall eat various and sundried foodstuffs. Oh, I shall watch several Ozu films on DVD. But mostly I shall sit on my couch like so much fish. Yesterday, I did not sit on my couch like so much fish. Yesterday, I woke up early. Matt Ashford came over early and signed the DVD inserts of Deceit. He left at eleven and I then jogged. Then, after shaving and showering, I toddled off to lunch with Miss Penny Peyser who, as always, looked very beautiful. I hadn’t seen her in some time, so it was nice to catch up and also to ketchup. We swapped stories, and we laughed and laughed and just when we thought we could laugh no more, we laughed again. After lunch, I went and picked up the errant and truant UPS package, and there were also three other packages for me, so it was like Christmas in June. I then drove to the post-production place and picked up the Kevin Spirtas DVD to do a final proofing on before sending it to the authoring guy. I finally got home around three. I then signed the Deceit DVD inserts, which took a while. I then had to fix a few computer weirdnesses, and everything seems to be fine now with the exception that all my archived AOL mail isn’t available yet – Mr. Computer Man has to either come over and find the filing cabinet on the external drive, or talk me through finding it and getting it back on the Mac hard drive. Once that happens, all will be well and, conversely, well will be all. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that just too too?
Last night, I watched my eighth Ozu film on DVD, this one entitled Early Summer, made in 1951. I sound like a broken record already, Ozu-wise, but this is yet another film that just moves along at a snail’s pace yet draws you into its world and its characters so that you feel you’re right there with them. There isn’t really much of a plot (as per usual) but it’s all the little things that add up to a wonderfully funny and heartfelt film. And I cannot say enough about the absolutely luminous Setsuko Hara, who stars in many of Ozu’s mid-to-late films. She’s amazing in this film, just as she is in Late Spring and Tokyo Story – interestingly, in all three films she plays a girl named Noriko, even though they are all completely different characters. The rest of the cast are equally as wonderful. As always, there are less than a handful of moving shots, and there is one stunningly simple crane shot at the beach that is exquisite. After watching the recent grimy, gray, muddy transfers of the last few films (from the UK in region 2), the Criterion transfer of Early Summer is welcome relief – sharp, excellent contrast, and pretty great looking.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because even though I never promised you a rose garden, I did promise you an Unseemly Trivia Contest question and I think I’ve come up with something I like to call a doozy.
Nobody, but nobody, is gonna rain on my parade this weekend, and anyone who tries is going to get squashed like a gazelle in a sardine tin.
So, let us get right to the Unseemly Trivia Contest question. If this one doesn’t give you a headache, nothing will. Are you ready? Here we go:
A flop play. A flop musical. They opened within weeks of each other. The flop play was directed by someone who would go on to direct one of the most beloved motion pictures ever made. The flop play starred an actor who’d gotten his start as a child. It also starred a woman who’d been up for an Academy Award for playing a very memorable character. It starred an actor who would go on to win an Academy Award. It featured an actor who would go on to star in an incredibly successful television series. It also featured a young actor who would go on to be nominated for an Academy Award. With me so far? The flop musical would, ten years later, be turned into a non-musical film, starring one of the most popular performers in the world. In the chorus of the flop musical was an actress who would go on to win an Academy Award in the same film that the young featured actor from the flop play was nominated for. Even my head is spinning by now. So –
Name the flop play and the flop musical.
Name the director of the flop play and his beloved film.
Name the actor in the flop play who’d gotten his start as a child.
Name the woman who starred in the flop play, and name the film for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, and name her memorable character.
Name the actor in the flop play who would go on to win an Academy Award.
Name the actor in the flop play who would go on to star in an incredibly successful TV series and name the series.
Name the young actor who went on to be nominated for an Academy Award.
Name the non-musical film and its star which was adapted from the same source material as the flop musical.
Name the chorus member of the flop musical who would go on to win the Academy Award in the same film that the actor in the flop play was nominated for – and name the film.
Remember: DO NOT POST YOUR ANSWERS TO THE SITE. You may e-mail them to me at bruce@haineshisway.com. You have until midnight on Monday to submit your answers, and there will, of course, be a sparkling prize for the High Winner.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do not much of anything, I must sup, I must watch a DVD or three, I may see a friend or two, and I must sit on my couch like so much fish and must make sure that nobody but nobody is gonna rain on my parade. Today’s topic of discussion: If you could live in any country other than the United States, where would it be and why would you want to live there, and where exactly would you live if money were no object? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we?