Well, dear readers, somehow it is already Thursday. I tell you, the time space continuum is continuuming to confound me but good. Of course, July cannot be over soon enough – this has truly been the month of the dog days of summer, and I’m looking forward to the elephant days of winter, let me tell you that. And they’ll be here sooner than soon, what with the time space continuum being what it is these days. You know, I really have no clew as to what the HELL I’m talking about but, as you know, that has never stopped me before. I will say this: This. There, that felt good. I will say blimp: Blimp. There, that felt good. Speaking of good, yesterday was good. It could have been bad so I’ll take good over bad any day of the week, especially Wednesday. I got up at eight, jogged early, then did some writing, and then toddled over to Paramount Studios to lunch. It was a very nice lunch in the Paramount commissary. No stars were there (not that I would have noticed), but I did get to meet ninety-something-year-old producer, A.C. Lyles – that was swellegant. After lunch, I had to pull some music from storage for Miss Susan Egan. That was a lot of lifting and sweating, but I managed to get out of that hellish inferno in a half-hour. I then came home, where I arranged next week’s rehearsals with Miss Linda Purl and Mr. Kevin Spirtas. I then finished the chapter I was on, and did the little thing that follows each chapter and I’m now ready to give the first bit to my muse Margaret. I then returned some telephonic calls and answered some e-mails and that was that. I immediately 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 Thank You, Mr. Moto, starring Mr. Peter Lorre. It’s part of the new four-disc set of Mr. Moto movies from Fox. I’d never seen a Mr. Moto movie before, or even a Mr. Movie Moto before. Maybe they get better, but this first entry in the series wasn’t that great – not nearly as much fun as the Charlie Chan movies. Peter Lorre is amusing as Mr. Moto, but the plot was just plain silly. It’s competently directed by Norman Foster (who did quite a few of the Moto movies). So, I guess you might say I’m not a Moto Rooter. I’m happy to say that the transfer and source material look great. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Goldfinger, starring Mr. Sean Connery. Goldfinger is the perfect Bond film – it has everything and, best of all, it has brevity – unlike the later films which kept getting bigger, more convoluted, and longer, Goldfinger runs a brisk 105 minutes and is crammed with great scenes. I saw Goldfinger at a sneak preview at the Village Theater in Westwood, and I can only tell you that the reaction was so great and so vocal that it literally shook the theater. Goldfinger has been ripped off so many times that it’s hard to imagine the impact it had back then. Happily, it’s just as entertaining now. The new transfer, at least as authored in the UK, is mostly very sharp and nice-looking, but the color is not consistent – in some scenes it looks great, in others it looks drab and brownish. There aren’t any blemishes on view, but I wish they’d get people in there who really understood what Technicolor printing looked like. It doesn’t matter that they’re going from an Eastman negative – they really can match the Technicolor look and saturation, but it’s becoming standard practice now to desaturate the old IB Tech look and for me it’s as bad as putting a film in the wrong aspect ratio. The new menus (if they’re carried over to region 1) are very annoying. The region 1 versions of the new DVDs will have the original mono tracks, which the region 2 DVDs don’t.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because in the time space continuum that’s simply what one must do.
I was sent an e-mail from someone I’ve met once or twice. They’re starting a new business of being a sort of life coach. They’re basically ripping off my friend Barbara Deutsch (the person in question was a client of Ms. Deutsch’s). I visited their website, which was pretty standard issue. In one section, the byline was, and I kid you not – “Leave your behind in the past.” Now, I know what this person meant, but really, isn’t that amusing? I wanted to write the person and say, “I’ve lost twenty-five pounds and I HAVE left my behind in the past.”
Today I have lots of things to do and yet I cannot think of what they are. I do have to go down to LACC in the afternoon for a little tech meeting, but I really must try to remember what the HELL else I’m supposed to be doing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, jog, write, try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh so mellow, and I must try to understand the mysteries of the time space continuum that causes whole weeks to go by like a gazelle throwing a shot put. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Bond movies, and your all-time favorite Bond moments. Also, what are your favorite Bond songs? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as the time space continuum continuums to speed us into August.