Well, dear readers, I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, I, BK, feel like I am in the Twilight Zone. This invariably happens when I finish a novel, and it is especially prevalent with this novel I’ve just finished. I am in a fog, I feel like I have a glaze over me, I feel like a zombie. I just look over at the 262 pages sitting on the table and I think, how did that happen? This feeling will last at least through the end of the week if I’m running true to form. Then I’ll have a little post partum depression, then I’ll want to start writing something else. Happily, this is a very busy week, so I won’t have too much time to dwell on such things as being in the Twilight Zone. I am in need of some Tender Loving Care, but who has time for such things? Not me. Speaking of Tender Loving Care, yesterday was a day that was mine all mine. For example, I got up in the morning and didn’t do a dad blasted thing, not even look for a gaily-colored Easter egg. Around noon, I finally opened up the book and read through the sixty-seven pages that I’d done. And I must say, I was pretty pleased with what I read, and only hope that my muse Margaret is as well. The final part of the book, the denouement, was exhilarating to write, but also difficult. I did cut two paragraphs from the ending – I just thought, let’s finish this sucker, I don’t need these two paragraphs. It was the right decision. The final line that I’d finally come up with the night before seemed to do the trick, at least the idea of it is good. I have two alternate versions of the line (just the wording), which I’ll run by Margaret after she’s read the pages. Then I went back into the first part of the book and added a couple of things that I hadn’t gotten around to adding. I still have to go through and fix one style thing, but it’s a global find and should be relatively simple to do. After I finished that, I decided to take a drive – didn’t really go anywhere, but it was nice to just get out and drive aimlessly. I then got some Popeye’s Fried Chicken and after I ate it all up, I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I managed to watch two count them two motion pictures on DVD, both horrid. The first horrid motion picture on DVD was entitled True Confessions. You’d think that a motion picture starring Mr. Robert De Niro and Mr. Robert Duvall would have something going for it. You’d think that a motion picture written by John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion (based on Mr. Dunne’s novel) would have something going for it. You’d think that a film whose backdrop is a fictional telling of The Black Dahlia story would have something going for it, but, no, sadly that is not the case. The film is inert, with no tension, no momentum, no real drama, despite a dramatic plot. The acting is very actorly, and there are a few good moments, but mostly it’s a bust. Ulu Grosbard will never go down in history as a fine filmmaker. Another thing that does the film great harm is the score by Georges Delerue, which seems to be from another film altogether. The transfer is grainy and green, which is exactly what it should look like, given that the cameraman is Mr. Green and Grainy, Owen Roizman. I then watched the second horrid motion picture on DVD, which was entitled Pulp. Pulp was so horrid that it made the first horrid motion picture on DVD seem not so horrid. Pulp was the film that director Mike Hodges and star Michael Caine followed Get Carter with. The magic didn’t happen twice, and Pulp is one of the most excruciatingly bad movies ever, ninety-six minutes of pure torture. I did like the main theme music by George Martin, but that was about it. The transfer is taken from a faded element and is almost completely brown. Interestingly, both these DVDs from MGM/UA and released through Fox don’t have the “anamorphically enhanced” line under the aspect ratio on the box. Since MGM/UA is notorious for not enhancing DVDs I was expecting the worst, but they are, in fact, enhanced, so that’s good. It would be nice, of course, to let the consumer know this.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone and if I continue typing on this page something weird will happen, like I’ll suddenly be in the Civil War or something.
Since I couldn’t Xerox my pages yesterday (Staples was closed), I shall do that first thing this morning, and then deliver the pages to my muse Margaret. After that, I have a two-hour rehearsal with Miss Merissa Haddad, and after that I shall package up CD orders. I will reprint the new list for those who may have been errant and truant over the weekend. It will be on the first page of the posts. Also, if you want anything from the last list, I kept five copies of each title (save for Peter Pan, which is sold out), so you still have time to get some of those if you like. After that, I shall watch a few DVDs.
I have rehearsals every day this week, plus a meeting with the president of LACC tomorrow evening. I gotta tell you. Plus, I’ll be residing in the Twilight Zone, too.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, Xerox, rehearse, package, ship, and do some errands. Today’s topic of discussion: What movie from the last few years did you think could have been a really fine film had it been made in the 50s, 60s, or 70s, but because it was made today, with today’s lame crop of actors, writers and directors, just made the film not work? Tell us what film, but, more importantly, tell us who you would have had direct it, and star in it. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I try to get out of the Twilight Zone earlier than usual.