Well, dear readers, it is 2007. Why, it seems like only yesterday that it was 2006. Of course, it was only yesterday that it was 2006 so that might explain it. In any case, welcome to 2007! We welcome 2007 with open arms, a heart filled with hope, and we pray that this will be an exciting creative healthy wealthy year filled with good work, good friends, good relationships, good health, good wealth, good food, good spirit, and everything else that makes life worth living. I, for one, am looking forward to this New Year and I will do my best to grow, be creative, and be a fine fellow. And I’m happy to be beginning the New Year with a nice directing job, with mixing the cast album of The Brain From Planet X, and getting back to writing both a novel and finishing the play I’ve been working on, along with a few other projects. Speaking of projects, yesterday I worked on no projects at all, with the following exceptions: I got up. That was a project unto itself. I jogged. That was a project. I did some projects around the home environment, then went and got some food from Jerry’s Deli for my meal o’ the day. That, too, was a project. And, of course, I attended our annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve bash, which, I must say, was spectacularly spectacular. We had our third best posting day in the history of this discussion board, and not only that, but December was our third best posting month in the history of this discussion board. We beat previous December postings by close to 2,000 posts – pretty amazing. All in all, it was the perfect way to go out with the old and ring in the new with merriment and mirth and laughter and legs.
Yesterday, I did manage to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled The Illustrated Man, starring Mr. Rod Steiger, Miss Claire Bloom, and Mr. Robert Drivas and his bare backside (we also see Mr. Steiger’s bare backside). The movie was a critical and box-office disaster and it’s easy to see why. It simply doesn’t work in any way. It’s so convoluted and takes forever to get to its point – that there are three stories that are going to be told. The writing is not so hot, and Jack Smight, normally a director I like, is completely at sea given the material. The actors do the best they can with what they have, but its 103 minutes seemed like three hours. The one thing about the movie that’s great, however, is its masterful score by Jerry Goldsmith. It’s just a wonderful piece of work, and much better than the film itself. I then watched the second motion picture on DVD, which was entitled The Comedians. No, it’s not a picture about Jackie Mason and George Burns and Henny Youngman. It’s about the Papa Doc Haiti of the 60s, written by Grahame Greene, directed by Peter Glenville, and with a powerhouse cast including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Alec Guiness, Peter Ustinov, Raymond St. Jacques, Roscoe Lee Browne, James Earl Jones and many others. With that pedigree, one wishes it were a better film. It actually would be a better film if shorn of thirty minutes (it runs just over two-and-a-half hours). All the actors are terrific save for Miss Taylor, whose accent changes from scene to scene, and whose Hair by Alexandre of Paris and gowns by whoever are ridiculous for this particular motion picture. I’m a fan of Mr. Glenville (especially his film of Becket), but he really needed some editorial guidance here and he obviously didn’t get it). The transfer from Warners is faded – all it needed was someone in the telecine room with a brain and a “blue” knob, which would have done wonders. The camera work by Henri Decae is great – it’s a pity that the color is off so badly.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button for the very first time in the year I like to call 2007.
I’m already having a good time in 2007. Today, I will try to sleep in, I will watch DVDs, and then Mr. Nick Redman will be coming by and we’ll be going to neighbors Tony Slide and Bob Gitt’s home environment for their annual New Year’s Day Do. That’s always a lot of fun, and I will, of course, have a full report for you.
Can you believe it’s already January 1st? January is flying by like a gazelle in hot pants go-go boots and a shag haircut.
My goodness, that paragraph had brevity, oh, yes, that paragraph had brevity, and as we all know, brevity is the soul of wit. However, did you also know that wit is the brevity of soul? For that matter, soul is both the wit and brevity of wit and brevity. If anyone has a clew as to what the HELL I’m talking about, do let us know.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have the first jog of 2007, I must watch DVDs, and I must attend a New Year’s Day Do. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your favorite music discoveries of the past year? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we welcome in 2007 with open arms and a big, fat heart.