Well, dear readers, can one of you please slow these weeks DOWN? It is outrageous that it is already Thursday. And halfway through Thursday it will be Friday and we must simply stop the madness or stop the world or stop and smell the roses and the coffee and the bilingual suspenders. That was outré, wasn’t it? The bilingual suspenders? What crevice of my cranium did that come out of? The bilingual suspenders – that just takes the cake, doesn’t it? I’ve been outré before, but that gives new meaning to the word outré, doesn’t it? What’s next, the multilingual belt? I gotta tell you. Where was I? Oh, yes, stop the madness of the whizzing days. Speaking of the whizzing days, yesterday was a completely odd day. For example, I woke up. That was odd, but not really. I then had to do a bunch of stuff around the home environment, and then I had to toddle off to rehearsal with Miss Joan Ryan. We’re now playing through the thirteen or fourteen numbers we’ve worked on. We got through five at this session and decided to nix one medley in favor of doing a complete version of one of its songs. But, the five were very good. I made little adjustments to the arrangements, but at least we’re set on those. At the next session we’ll do the rest, and then we’ll choose the rest of the songs and start structuring the act, which is only about eight weeks away now. After rehearsal, I did a bunch of errands in town, and then had an early supper, after which I toddled off to the Monica of Santa and the Aero Theater. I arrived two hours before show time, purchased my ticket, and then took a long walk, from the Aero all the way to the beach and back. That was lovely. I window-shopped all along the way, and it was most pleasantly pleasant. I got back to the theater about fifty minutes before show time only to be told that the DTS unit for the film hadn’t arrived from Hollywood and that the projectionist had driven to get it and that they weren’t letting anyone in until a half-hour before show time. I just hung around. Well, to make a long story long, they didn’t let us in at seven (the film was to start at seven-thirty). They didn’t let us in at seven-fifteen, they didn’t let us in at seven-thirty, because there was some technical problem with their 70mm projector. They finally got it sorted out and let us in at seven-forty and then finally began the film at seven-fifty.
I had never seen Play Time, prior to seeing it on the Criterion DVD (taken from the 70mm restoration negative). It’s one of the only films shot in 70mm that isn’t truly widescreen – it was shot in 70mm to be projected at 1:85. I didn’t know quite what to expect, but the image quality and clarity was beyond astonishing, even with the Aero’s slightly less than optimal projection and screen size. In fact, it was dazzling. We always think how great DVD is, but not when you see a real 70mm film projected in 70mm with perfect color. The detail is just extraordinary, and there is virtually no real grain to speak of. There were about two hundred people in attendance. The film didn’t get any huge laughs, but the audience sat there rapt and very involved. It’s a really odd film, but somehow it just works for me. I find it very beguiling and it’s so bold in its visuals and concepts that its sometimes lack of humor doesn’t bother me at all. It’s all the more amazing when you know that Mr. Tati had all these office buildings and streets BUILT – they’re all sets, every bit of it. After the film, I came home and immediately sat on my couch like so much fish.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because today is a non-stop day and evening and I must finish these here notes and get my beauty rest and have sweet dreams dreaming of such things as bilingual suspenders.
This morning I have a morning meeting, which is the best time to have a morning meeting. I hate having morning meetings in the afternoon. It’s just too too confusing. After the morning meeting, I must come home and work on several projects, then must toddle off to an afternoon meeting in the afternoon. That meeting is in regards to our alumni association and I’ll be meeting with the president of the LACC Foundation to tell him of all my plans and our restructuring. After that, I must hie myself back to the Valley and sup with Mr. Cason Murphy and his ever-lovin’ Heather. In other words, a full day and evening’s worth of stuff.
I’ve tried to keep most of tomorrow open, as I’d like to be able to work with Mr. Grant Geissman, trying out some cover ideas for the new book. We’ll see if he has time. Otherwise, I’ll just be here working on various and sundried things that need working on.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a breakfast meeting, jog, have an afternoon meeting, and then have a dinner. Today’s topic of discussion: What was the first large format film (70mm, Todd-AO, or whatever) you saw? Where did you see it, what was the experience like, and all the rest. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and let’s discuss at length the story of The Randy Vicar and the Bilingual Suspenders.