Well, dear readers, I cannot believe we’re but a mere two days from my Christmas Eve Do. There is so much to do for the Do and I must start doing the Do things today, such as getting rid of all the stuff that’s piled up against a wall in the dining room, a few boxes sitting in the living room (CDs, programs, etc.), stuff I just haven’t felt motivated to move. There there’s the simple matter of shopping for the foodstuffs for the Do. I intend to do most of that early this evening, save for the desserts. Trying to go to Gelson’s any time after tonight will be a disaster in the making. Of course, as always I have no idea how many people will be coming to the Do, other than that I’ve received a more than a few responses from people who are going out of town or who have family obligations. It actually never really matters to me who shows up, because whether it’s five or thirty-five, we always have a warm and cozy time. I know at least ten people will be there for sure, and I’m hoping others will be, too. Other than the Do, I haven’t been doing all that much. For example, yesterday I awoke quite late because I ended up watching all two hours of the fundraiser show on DVD, hence didn’t get to bed until just before three. While it was fun seeing the show, I was not so happy with some of the “A” camera footage. I know there’s probably enough to cover the problems with the “B” camera footage, but I really have to think if I want to edit the footage or just leave it raw. Of course, cooked footage is better, but, we’ll just have to see. I just puttered around the home environment doing this and that and also that and this. I don’t think I left the house until about one-thirty, and then I did a few errands and picked up not too much at the postal office. I think I’m still due a package or two, which will hopefully arrive before Christmas. I then came home, listened to some CDs whilst working on the computer, and then went out to get a bite to eat. I ended up at the California Pizza Kitchen at five-thirty. It was jammed with kiddies and teens with their parents’ credit cards – I couldn’t believe it. This is not an inexpensive jernt, and yet there these kiddies were, ordering everything on the menu. I had my usual Penne pasta with sausage and peppers and it was very good. I then came home, where I immediately sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a short subject and a motion picture on DVD. The short subject was entitled Disneyland, USA, a beautiful transfer of this 1955 Cinemascope People and Places short. It was really fun being taken on a tour of every part of the brand new Disneyland facility. Even now, fifty-two years later, it still retains its magic. I also looked at some of the second disc of extras, and amongst the bonus material is some absolutely amazing time-lapse photography of each section of the park being built. If this same park were to be conceptualized, planned and built right now, it would take five years to do it. The fact that Disneyland was built in less than a year is mind-boggling. There’s astonishing footage of Tomorrowland’s Rocket To The Moon being constructed and made ready literally six days before opening day. Talk about flying by the seat of your pants. But that’s the difference between then and now. Then you had one man with a vision and a battery of employees helping him to realize it – but, at the end of the day, the buck stopped with that one man – Walt Disney. Today, there would be so many hands in the pie with no clear leadership or vision, and everything would have to be discussed and approved by so many people and it would all get watered down and just take years, with all the backpedaling and people protecting their jobs and being afraid of making a decision and trying to please certain market segments because that’s what their testing has told them. There was no testing, no market segments, no backpedaling, no people protecting their job – just a man who was a genius who had the clout and the dough to bring his dream to fruition.
I then watched a motion picture on DVD, the new 2-disc Special Edition of John Woo’s Face/Off, starring John Travolta and Nicholas Cage. I usually detest these sorts of films, but there’s something so loopy and off-the-wall about Face/Off, that I really enjoy it. I enjoyed it when it came out, I enjoyed its first DVD incarnation, and I enjoyed it last night. Try as they may to copy him, no one does Woo like Woo. Like him or not, he really has a style all his own, and for this film, style and script work hand in hand to create a very entertaining film. The major differences between this film, which does have a preposterous plot, and say Next, which also has a preposterous plot, is that Face/Off has an emotional core to it, and no matter how wacky it gets, its hero and villain are memorable creations, especially in the unique way they’re presented. Travolta and Cage are clearly having a great time playing each other, and Joan Allen brings necessary humanity and warmth to the film. Thanks to a powerful opening sequence, you immediately hate the villain of the film, and feel for the hero. In Next, the villains are just faces, actors who have no characters other than that they’re identified as the villains. That is just never interesting, because it’s just the hero fighting nameless, faceless, and ultimately pointless people. Who can care about that? In Face/Off, the villain is as well drawn as the hero, and that’s why the movie resonates and is so much fun, despite its outlandishness. Could anything in this movie really happen? Of course not. While most of the comments on the imdb are very positive, there are a few one-star “reviews” and it’s illuminating to look up their other “reviews” to see that they give ten stars to Spiderman III. They can suspend disbelief for an utter piece of crap like the latter, but not for Face/Off. It is to wonder. The film runs 140 minutes, but never ever feels like it. The pace is terrific, the action scenes are Woo at his best, and it’s fun to watch the stunts and everything because the film was made in 1997, and doesn’t have much CGI in it – it’s all practical stunts and therefore it’s much more exciting. When I see the ridiculous crap in today’s action films, where people leap 1000 feet off a building and land safely, all courtesy of CGI, and looking every bit as unbelievable as it really is, then these 90s action films really start to look better. I looked at some of the long featurette on disc two, but I’m pretty certain that most of this footage was on the previous DVD, so I’m not certain why this is being called a Special Edition. The Travolta and Cage footage is all from when the film was being made, I believe the Woo interviews are all from the last DVD, and only the Joan Allen footage looks like it might be completely new. There are some other featurettes, so maybe those are new. Transfer doesn’t seem much better than the last DVD, but I no longer have the last DVD to make a comparison. All in all, Face/Off remains a fun and fast action film, with terrific performances from all its players.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’ve gone on so much in this section that I’m now fifteen minutes late posting these here notes.
Yes, I’m afraid these here notes are going from The Late Show to The Late, Late Show (cue Leroy Anderson music).
As I said earlier in the notes, I don’t really have any plans for the day, and this evening I’ll be doing the shopping for the Do. Tomorrow, there are two screenings at the DGA which I may or may not go to. Then, on Monday, I’ll be getting up bright and early, getting the house in order, and then cooking the various and sundried foodstuffs for the Do.
I believe my Darling Daughter will be visiting on Christmas Day, and that’s always a cause for rejoicing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do not much at all and then shop for the Do. Today’s topic of discussions: It’s time to begin our year-end ten best lists. So, what are your 2007 ten best CD releases, that is the ten-best CDs released in the year 2007, so don’t include ones that you first heard in 2007, although that could be a separate list. Okay, I have to go now – there are ten lords a-leaping and I simply don’t know what to do with them. I don’t know if you’ve ever had ten leaping lords in your house, but it is very difficult to concentrate with such tumult going on. I really must speak with my true love about all these oddball gifts she’s giving me. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, as we cue the Leroy Anderson music for The Late, Late Show.