Haines Logo Text
Column Archive
September 30, 2008:

TIME IS LIKE AN IGLOO

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

NOTE: There is a problem with the site. Hopefully it will be fixed in the morning.

Well, dear readers, can it really be the end of September? I have to say, every month this year has flown by, but September has flown by faster than any of them, like a gazelle on Facebook. I mean, where did this month go? Last I looked we were just welcoming in September and now we are welcoming it out. I gotta tell you. Does everyone realize there are only three more fershluganah months left this year? Oh well, there is nothing to be done about it, for time is like an igloo. I don’t know what that means, but I like the sound of it. Yes, time is like an igloo and, conversely, an igloo is like time. Did you know, for example, that igloo spelled backwards is oolgi? Is oolgi the opposite of algae? Of course, I love the Bacharach/David song – What’s it all about, algae? What the HELL am I talking about? Time is like an igloo? Oolgi and algae? Speaking of oolgi and algae, yesterday was an okay day – nothing horrible happened and actually a couple of nice things happened. For example, I got up. That was nice. I had to do the long jog early because I had an early brunch meeting. I got back from the long jog, I shaved and showered, and then headed over to Hugo’s for the brunch with a really nice gal who I hadn’t really seen since she was a PA on The First Nudie Musical. She went on to have a very interesting career – she worked for Thom Mount at Universal, she wrote the movie Tron, and now she’s writing for Footlights and writing and directing little shows around town. We had a delightfully delightful time and talked of many things, including, but not limited to, cabbages and kings. I had two poached eggs and an English muffin, and a teeny-tiny side Caesar salad, which had almost no dressing on it. After the brunch, I did some errands and whatnot, then came home and had to write some stuff. That took a while, then I went to the mail place and one of my errant and truant packages had arrived, so that was good. I did a few other things, then came back home and did some more work on the computer, as well as had several telephonic calls of varying lengths. And then somehow it was the end of the day. I made myself two English muffins with cousin Dee Dee’s spread – she’d told me what I was doing wrong, and they came out exactly as they should and were yummilicious. I also had a peach and a green apple and some Quakes. Finally, I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Godfather II, the sequel to The Godfather. Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: The Godfather II is the finest sequel ever made. Why? Because it illuminates and builds on the first film, instead of just repeating it. Why? Because the characters and relationships are complex, varied, and never predictable. The structure of the film is a marvel of dramatic construction. The actors, every single one of them, are perfection, none more so than Mr. Pacino, who will forever be in the pantheon of great screen actors for his performances in the first two Godfather films. The art direction, camerawork, sound, music, all of it – perfection. And Mr. Coppola’s work is without fault. All that said, I prefer the first film (I’m in the minority on this). It’s cleaner and leaner, and I just respond to it better. The second film certainly holds my interest always, and I really admire it and love watching it, but it’s the first film I return to over and over again. The first film is very long but never feels it – it’s 175 minutes fly by. The second film is even longer – 202 minutes (with an intermission), and it sometimes feels its length. But why quibble – the two films comprise some of the best moviemaking ever done and we will probably never see their like again. The transfer is on a par with the first film – better than it’s ever looked on home video, but too soft for my taste, and not quite replicating the look of the IB Tech prints (I did own a 35mm IB print of The Godfather II – it was, if memory serves, the last film to be printed in IB Technicolor, before Technicolor sold their IB machines to Red China). Interestingly, I saw The Godfather II not in LA but in New York, at a movie theater on Broadway. I can’t quite remember why I was in New York in 1974, unless I was there shooting the PBS version of Forget-Me-Not Lane.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because time is like an igloo, and this section’s time is up.

Today, I must do the long jog, then someone’s coming over to pick something up, then I must buckle down Winsocki and do some writing, then I must choose the book selections I’ll be reading on Saturday, then I must do errands and whatnot, and I’m waiting to hear if I’m having a dinner meeting (it will be tonight or tomorrow night).

Tomorrow and Thursday are more of the same, and then Friday I have a long lunch meeting. Saturday is, of course, the book signing, and I’m hoping some of our LAzians will be there.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, do errands and whatnot, write, choose book selections, and have telephonic calls. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite film sequels – the ones that either live up to the first film or even exceed it. And what are your least favorite film sequels – the ones that totally miss the mark. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we bid a fond farewell to September, and welcome October with open arms and a heart full of hope for a good month.

Search BK's Notes Archive:
 
© 2001 - 2024 by Bruce Kimmel. All Rights Reserved