Well, dear readers, I just typed the letter “d” forty-eight times. Don’t ask me why, I just got on a “d” jag and I couldn’t stop myself. It was quite amusing in a non-amusing way. Just “d” over and over again. I wonder if there was some deep hidden point to it, some psychological underpinning that when revealed would explain the universe or at least my psyche. Isn’t it interesting that there is only a one-letter difference between psyche and psycho? Could the repeaded “d”s be a missing piece in a larger puzzle? “Repeaded”? See, there’s a “d” where there should be a “t” – something is clearly going on here and it’s d-lightful and d-licious, and d-lovely. What the HELL am I talking about? Let’s talk about “c” for a while or hell, even “a”. Speaking of “a”, yesterday was a mostly nice day with only one annoyance that I’ll have to deal with today. I got up, did a bunch of stuff in the morning, then did an interview with the Core Media Group, which I gather services a lot of smaller newspapers in LA. After that, I had to do quite a few errands and then I had to answer quite a few e-mails and have several conversations on the telephonic device. I’m also structuring the show, which is really hard. I’ve placed eight of the twenty-eight numbers, but I can already see that two of them may have to move. Ordering this show is going to be the single hardest thing, I think. Each number must be in its perfect place, but figuring out that perfect place is the hard part. I sort of have to look at the list, get ideas, and then sing the songs in the order I’m thinking about. If they feel good, I lock them; if not, I switch things around. I have the feeling this is going to take three or four days. I got some food to eat, met up with dear reader Cason briefly, found we sold about twenty tickets today, and then finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Shining, a film of Stanley Kubrick from Stephen King’s novel, starring Mr. Jack Nicholson and Miss Shelly Duvall. Since I watch this film somewhat regularly, I know I’ve written about it several times. As an adaptation of Mr. King’s wonderful novel, it’s a failure. I finished the book ten minutes before I saw the film on its opening performance. Since I loved the book, I was very disappointed in the film and thought it quite bad on that first viewing. Subsequent to that viewing, Mr. Kubrick had all the prints recalled over that opening weekend, and cut the penultimate scene – a little scene with Anne Jackson, Shelly Duvall, and the boy who plays Danny. All the scene did was tell us that Danny was going to be all right – it was unnecessary, added nothing, and just stalled the film before its ending coda (the dolly-in to the photo on the wall). I then didn’t see the film until it hit cable and I was surprised to find that with a couple of year’s distance the film had grown on me and I was able to accept it as its own thing. I’ve seen it some thirty times since and I’ve grown to really like it – it’s one of those films that once you start it up you can’t stop watching, which is interesting given how slow the first third of the film is. I find it mesmerizing, and Mr. Kubrick’s direction is fluid and fascinating and unique. Mr. Nicholson overdoes the beginning scenes – it’s really clear from the get-go that he’s still a little crazy, but otherwise has a field day with Jack Torrence. This is the third DVD release of this film, and the third Kubrick box set. The first set were just full-frame recycled laserdisc masters, and didn’t look good. The second set was also full-frame (except for Barry Lyndon and A Clockwork Orange which were matted to 1:66 but not anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs) – the image looked a little better, but it was clear they were going from elements that were several generations from the original camera negative. Sadly, this third time out is more of the same – now the films are finally, at long last, presented in their original theatrical ratios and they are enhanced (the films are Eyes Wide Shut, Full Metal Jacket, 2001, The Shining, and A Clockwork Orange), but they are still clearly not from the camera negatives – and hence they are generations away and just don’t look nearly as good as they could or should. I checked out the image on all films and feel the same about all of them – they’re okay, but not sufficiently better than the last set, image-wise, and certainly I was expecting more this third time around. A Clockwork Orange especially doesn’t look that good. They still don’t have their original mono tracks, which is shameful. And, in a major screwup, the Eyes Wide Shut box clearly states that both the R-rated and unrated versions of the film are on the DVD – however, only the unrated version is actually on the DVD. People on certain sites have, of course, been raving about the HD and/or Blu-Ray version of 2001, but these people tend to rave about any HD or Blu-Ray version of anything. I’m sure it’s sharper than the standard DVD, but since the standard DVD is not reference quality, how good can it be? And I’m convinced that 2001 is just one of those films that will never feel right on home video, and I don’t care how big the home theater screen is or what the projector is or what the player is – 2001 is a film that just works as it should when shown on a huge screen in large format FILM. I loved the film when I first saw it at the Warners Cinerama Theater (well, it was the Pacific’s by then) on that huge curved screen – it was magnificent. I probably saw it ten times there. Having seen it many times since on home vid, I can barely get through watching it – it just doesn’t have any impact in the home environment, at least for me.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below before I have a sudden urge to type the letter “d” forty-eight times.
The Forty-Eight D’s – that sounds like the sequel to The Thirty-Nine Steps. I hope today will be a d-lightful d-ay. I have much to do – mostly organizing things and working on the show order.
Tomorrow, the afternoon is filled with rehearsals, and then I’m finally seeing Wicked at the Pantages – I haven’t seen the show since the second reading. I’m really looking forward to it. Friday, the afternoon is filled with rehearsals and then we have an ensemble rehearsal at six that will last into the evening.
Since someone asked yesterday, tickets for our event can be purchased directly from the Alex Theater box-office online – www.alextheater.com. You can also visit our website at lacctaa.com, where you’ll find a link that will take you to the Alex site. Our complete list of performers now includes: Christina Saffran Ashford, Matthew Ashford, David Burnham, Patrick Cassidy, Kirsten Benton Chandler, Kevin Earley, Zach Huett, Gregory Jbara, Chad Kimball, Vicki Lewis, Beth Malone, Michelle Nicastro, Valarie Pettiford, Linda Purl, Alice Ripley, Sara Rue, Rex Smith, Kevin Spirtas, Alet Taylor, Andy Taylor, Terry Trotter, Bruce Vilanch, Jennifer Leigh Warren, and Julie Reiber and Emily Rozek from the LA company of Wicked. Quite a group, if you ask me.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, organize, structure, and hopefully not have any annoyances. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I begin work on my new novel – The Forty-Eight D’s, a story of shattering suspense set in the world of 1960s LA strip joints.