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December 29, 2007:

THE YEAR THAT WAS

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry because she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early. Why, do you realize that in just two short days we’ll be having our annual Rockin’ New Year’s Eve here at haineshisway.com? What a bash we’ve got planned for this year, and you won’t want to miss one minute of it. As for today, this final Saturday of 2007, I begin to look back at the year that was. This year flew by so fast that I still haven’t had time to process everything. It was a year of the good, the bad, and the ugly, but I’d like to think that the good won out. The year began on a high note (A#) when I began my new novel, Murder At Hollywood High. The first three months of the year were mostly taken up with the writing of that tome. I also directed The Party Animals stage show, which I had a lot of fun doing. It’s taken on a life of its own and we still have high hopes for it all. I also directed a club act for newcomer Merissa Haddad, who was the winner of the Sterling’s LA’s Next Singing Star contest, or whatever the HELL they called it. I had a really good time working with her and the act played very well. And, early in the year, I took over the Los Angeles City College Theatre Alumni and Associates organization, promising to turn it into something special. We began by deciding to do a fundraiser, and I came up with the idea of doing a night of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz songs. We recruited Mr. Cason Murphy and Miss Adriana Patti to work on the show, along with Joanna Erdos, our vice president, and myself. None of us could have foreseen the insanity that would ensue, from getting the event funded to casting it, to choosing the material and getting it arranged, to getting items for the silent auction, to getting the word out and the million other things that needed we needed to do. Many people said they’d help us, but in the end it was just the four of us right down the line. In those early months, there were a lot of other things going on, too. Then came the news that The Brain From Planet X had been invited to participate in NYMF, the New York Festival of New Musicals. I gleefully accepted without really understanding exactly what it was going to entail. The decision to do it was also going to effectively take Cason and I out of the loop for the fundraiser for two solid months. I had to suddenly raise the money for the how, which, thanks to some wonderful angels, happened relatively quickly. But I could not have predicted how expensive it was going to be nor could I have predicted the drama the whole NYMF experience would be. In the midst of that, we were editing the book, and I took part in a reading of a musical – by taking part, I mean I acted in it, something I don’t really enjoy doing, but I worked with people I liked and I had fun. After that reading, the author of the show asked me to mentor it into its next incarnation, which I spent the rest of the year doing. At the end of July, I went back to New York to cast The Brain, which proved a really arduous task. I hired a wonderful choreographer, and what I thought would be a fine design team. I wrapped up as much as I could before finally leaving for my seven-week sojourn to New York. We’ll continue the story tomorrow.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really must get my beauty sleep before she of the Evil Eye arrives.

Yesterday, I had a very calm and collected day. I woke up late, did some errands, then typed up all the little book notes I’ve been making on various and sundried pieces of paper. As I typed them, I began to have that nice feeling I get sometimes that the new tome will be fun to write – and I hope it will be. I then had some lunch at the Kansas City Barbecue, which is my new favorite place to eat in all of the San Fernando Valley – the food has been stellar each and every time I’ve eaten there. I did a few more errands after that, then made the decision not to go to the Chance Theater holiday party, which was taking place at someone’s home – in no traffic the predicted drive time was an hour and ten minutes, so add in Friday night horrid traffic through downtown and I knew I was looking at a two-hour annoying drive, then the hour drive back. That, coupled with the fact that I knew I’d only stay at the party for an hour made me realize I just didn’t want to do it. Instead, I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled Cat Ballou. I’ve always been fond of Cat Ballou, and while it obviously is not as fresh as it was back during its original release, it’s still reasonably funny, and Lee Marvin is brilliant as Kid Shelleen. And I just love watching Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole do their thing. Jane Fonda was such a wonderful light comedienne back then – no one did this sort of thing better than her. Mickey Callan wasn’t to my liking, then or now, but Dwayne Hickman is his usual charming self. John Marley is wonderful as Jane’s pop. The transfer could use some work – too brown, not enough blue, but what else is new? I then watched another motion picture on DVD entitled The Adventures Of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and a large cast of wonderful actors, the likes of which we’ll never see again. I’d actually never watched the whole DVD – while this DVD transfer is generally thought of as world-class, I don’t find it so. Again, it’s Warners, and there’s just too much bloody brown and yellow and not enough blue. Yes, certain colors (the greens, especially) are vivid, but there are too many scenes where skin tones just blend in to the earth tones. Also, while some of it is very sharp, other parts of it are too soft. But, the film is the thing and what a gloriously glorious Hollywood Studio Film it is. There’s not a wasted minute in this film, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s wonderful score just keeps it moving along. Errol Flynn IS Robin Hood – he’s cocky, charming, heartfelt, and heroic. Olivia de Havilland is a fetching Maid Marian, and quite feisty in her own right. I adore Claude Rains as John – Mr. Rains was a great, great actor and I never cease to be amazed at his range and his quality. Basil Rathbone is perfection as Sir Guy, although once you’ve seen The Court Jester, it is difficult to watch him without thinking of his expert clowning in that film. The Adventures of Robin Hood is entertainment with a capital E, when entertainment actually meant something. I then began a third motion picture on DVD entitled Half A Sixpence. I know this film has its ardent fans, but I finally had to shut it off, which is what I do every time I turn it on – I get about ninety minutes in and can take no more. It’s just too long, too lethargically paced, and some of the numbers go on for so long that you just can’t imagine what they were thinking. I like the show itself, which I saw on tour here in LA with Dick Kallman. I like the score. But the film, for me, is a lumbering thing, instead of a light soufflĂ©. The actors are all fine, although I never get used to the fact that the charming Grover Dale’s entire performance is dubbed by another actor. Transfer is very sharp, but the color is, once again, too brown with not enough blue, something that usually doesn’t happen with Paramount transfers.

What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Today, I shall drive about in my motor car, and then I shall come home, do some work, and then toddle off to see Sweeney Todd at the DGA. After the film, I’ll make the decision as to whether I’ll stay and see the screening that follows it, the nearly three-hour There Will Be Blood. I just don’t know if I’ll have the stamina.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, go hither and thither and perhaps even yon, do work, hopefully pick up a package or two, and then see a motion picture or two. Today’s topic of discussion: We continue with our ten-best lists – what are your ten favorite films of 2007, along with your ten favorite male performances and your ten favorite female performances? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I resume looking back at the year that was.

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