Well, dear readers, it is the day before the day of our Rockin’ New Year’s Eve partay and I am gearing up for a wonderful time with all my favorite folks. For example, I’m now in first gear, and later I may be in reverse, then neutral, just for a change of pace, and then I may even go directly to third gear. I’m actually getting to these here notes quite late because I’ve just returned for a very long night of movie watching at the DGA. But, before I tell you about that, let me just say that yesterday was a perfectly pleasant day in which I did perfectly pleasant things. For example, I got up. That was perfectly pleasant. I then had to leave because she of the Evil Eye arrived bright and early and was having none of the likes of me. I drove over the hill (after shipping one small package), and went to 1018 Fairfax, which was the address of a building clearly seen in one of the Mod Squad episodes – a dental building. And there it was, and it’s still a dental building and looks exactly the same. I then drove to La Cienega and 4th (where San Vicente intersects both) and found 410 S. San Vicente, the former home of The Murphy House restaurant. It was almost exactly where I imagined it, on the northeast corner – it’s now a little mini strip mall. I then drove to West LA and drove around there until it was time to come back home. Once home, I did some work on the computer, did some errands, and then went over to Amoeba, where I traded in some stuff and got a very generous credit. I didn’t really find anything, so I’ll just hang onto it for a later date. I then drove over to the DGA, got my favorite seat and waited for the movie to begin. I’d already decided to stay for both films, as I’d read several reviews that told me There Will Be Blood was a masterpiece, and its director’s Citizen Kane.
Last night, I saw two count them two motion pictures at the DGA, where projection and sound are as good as it gets, and yes, Virginia, they show FILM. The first motion picture was entitled Sweeney Todd. I saw the original Broadway production with Mr. Len Cariou and Miss Angela Lansbury (they were IN it, I didn’t see it WITH them), and thought it was one of the greatest evenings of theater I’d ever seen. I’ve read many reports about the film, both very yay and very nay, but I went in with an open mind and here’s what I thought: First of all, it’s a real movie musical, not one of these things that’s afraid of its musical origins. That’s a big plus. Second of all, it’s directed by a real director who has a real command of film language. That’s a big plus. I thought the pacing was terrific, and the basic look and design of the film was pleasing, save for some dreadful CGI at the very top that had me quite worried. So – the good: Even though Mr. Depp’s interpretation of the demon barber of fleet street is miles from Len Cariou, I bought it and went with it, and I didn’t mind his singing at all – in fact, I felt it worked for his interpretation, save for just a couple of minor instances. However, he is not the genius casting of the film – that honor goes to the boy who plays Toby, who’s just terrific. When he makes his entrance and sings his part of Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir, it’s a wonderful and real movie musical moment. Alan Rickman makes an excellent Judge Turpin and I also liked Timothy Spall’s Beadle Bamford. As I said, I thought the pacing was great, the look of the film was solid, and the orchestrations and conducting of Jonathan Tunick and Paul Gemignani respectively, was top-notch. The sound, while loud, had good dimension. The not quite bad but not quite good: Helena Bonham Carter. While I had no problem accepting her rather laid back interpretation of Mrs. Lovett, her teeny-tiny singing voice is at odds with the way Mrs. Lovett’s music is written, and that was my biggest problem with the film. There’s a real energy in the writing of The Worst Pies In London and A Little Priest and when you play those songs without vocal energy they just die, at least for me they did. There wasn’t one laugh in either song from the audience, which as a little over half full. The ONLY thing they laughed at in Pies were the cockroaches, but never the lyric, because she doesn’t know how to get the jokes across, and that song is filled with wonderful lyrics. The same happens with the much-truncated A Little Priest – what was a laugh riot in the theater gets no reaction at all here, again because neither Depp nor Carter seem to understand the humor of the song. Again, I have no problem accepting her take on the character, but when the music comes in, she completely lost me. The bad: The boy who plays Anthony. It’s not his fault, really, it’s just terrible casting. Why Anthony has a pageboy hairdo is anyone’s guess, and he is so fey and female-looking that it’s just off-putting and doesn’t work at all. I didn’t mind his vocal on Johanna – just his look. The ugly: I’m sorry to say it, but I just cannot stand Sacha Baron Cohen, who everyone seems to do cartwheels over. I thought he was terrible. But the real ugly award goes to Miss Carter’s whispering. I’m sorry, but this generation of actors have all fallen prey to this form of “acting” and I just loathe it. If I were in a room with Mrs. Lovett and she was talking to me like that, my response would be, “Speak up, I can’t understand a bloody word you’re saying.” Depp doesn’t do it as much, and it’s mostly in the scenes with her. When Toby is on screen, the kid’s a pro – you can hear every fershluganah word that comes out of his mouth, and it’s such a pleasure! For me, the highlights of the film, where everything gels and becomes magical were Pretty Women, the slash-fest Johanna (not Anthony’s solo version, the version with the throat-cutting montage), and Toby’s part of Not While I’m Around. Curiously, after all the hyperbole about By The Sea, I guess I was just expecting the second coming – I liked the conception of it, but it was not the “amazing” number I’d been led to believe it was. The violence is very stylized and didn’t bother me one or even two whits. I wouldn’t call the film a masterpiece or even a near-masterpiece, but it’s a solid adaptation and I enjoyed most of it very much, with the caveats above. I do think that opening this film for Christmas was one of the most inept marketing decisions ever, and I feel it’s basically killed the film, although I’m sure the fact that the print ads literally hide the fact that it’s a musical is backfiring for them, because while they may sucker some kids into going, the word of mouth from those kids is going to be deadly. All in all, I certainly recommend the film, and I had no problems with any of the cuts made to the material. Finally, since there were not theater fanatics in the audience, nothing received applause – the only places that’s happened are showings where Sondheads or theater freaks lead it, and believe me, it’s only them, no one else.
I then saw the second motion picture, which was entitled There Will Be Blood. Talk about a film that’s being proclaimed a masterpiece – if I read one more quote that uses the title Citizen Kane in it, I shall vomit on the ground. Let’s get one thing straight – whatever one may think about There Will Be Blood, it’s not a patch on the butt cheeks of Citizen Kane, and the comparisons or even the invoking of that film are specious and inane. Films like this are why I don’t read critics anymore – I don’t know what film they’re seeing, but it’s certainly not the one I saw, but then again, I wasn’t a sucker for Magnolia and I certainly hated Punch Drunk Love. It’s long, but not as long as the critics are saying – they’re saying it’s close to three hours, and the film clocks in at just below two-and-a-half and that’s with the long end credits. I will say, however, that unlike Sweeney Todd, I felt every single one of those one hundred and forty-five minutes. Yes, there are occasionally good scenes in the film. Yes, the acting is excellent, especially Daniel Day Lewis, who is as good as you’ve heard and who is the man to beat come Oscar time. But the film just didn’t grab me and one of the reasons for that, and it’s a big one, is the completely awful musical score. Talk about being taken out of the film every time it blared forth. Yes, it’s odd. Yes, it’s quirky, and yes, it does not work at all. The other thing about the critics is their saying that the final scene is hugely and sickeningly violent. I almost didn’t see it for that reason. Well, this hugely and sickeningly violent final scene is NOTHING – you see NOTHING – it all happens out of camera range, and the throat slashings in Sweeney Todd are one hundred times more violent. I swear, these critics are just off in their own drug-induced world, I’m convinced of it. The film looks good, and Mr. Anderson’s direction is fluid and excellent, but, for me, it was all to no purpose ultimately. The audience wasn’t having any of it either.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get these here notes posted and get myself in gear.
My goodness, that first section was so long I fell asleep three times whilst writing it. I shall save the rest of my look back at 2007 for tomorrow’s notes, save for saying that in talking about the first part of the year, I neglected to mention directing Joan Ryan’s one-woman show, which actually took quite a long time, supervising a Lynda Carter recording session, and also producing the cast album of The Brain From Planet X.
Today I have no plans and shall do as little as possible, save for watching some motion pictures on DVD and beginning my diet, at long last.
Let’s put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s dance the Hora or the samba, because today is the birthday of dear reader Dakota Celt. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to dear reader Dakota Celt. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO DEAR READER DAKOTA CELT!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do little, except for maybe taking a drive in my motor car. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your ten favorite books of 2007? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, and do remember, it’s also free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, as I get myself in gear for tomorrow’s amazingly amazing festivities.