Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry for she of the Evil Eye will be here all too soon. Besides, I need a break at least once a week from the longer notes, so today we shall move along at a brisk clip, like a gazelle in a wonder bra. Yesterday was quite an interesting day – I got up very early, did the long jog, did errands and whatnot, then did a lot of work on the computer and had a few telephonic calls. Then I toddled off to a lunch meeting with the composer and lyricist of the long musical. We talked about the next four weeks and how we were going to work, then I asked a lot of questions about the songs, then gave some suggestions on one particular lyric. After that, I shipped some packages and did some more errands. I came home and waiting for me on my iDisk was the master for Two For The Seesaw. I really didn’t think I’d have it before the end of next week, but my mastering engineer became totally addicted to it and couldn’t stop. I burned it to CD and went into my bedroom, where my pro monitor speakers are, and I sat and listened to all of it, all forty-four minutes and it is so beautiful-sounding, so crystal clear, so emotional, so haunting, and such a great listen that I was transported to a whole different universe. I’ve heard this score hundreds of times, but I’ve never heard it like this. Afterwards, I sent the mastering guy an e-mail telling him it was perfection and that no changes were required. Oh, there’s a little bit of instrument noise and orchestra noise, but I like it – it’s part of the recording and I wasn’t about to try and “fix” it. The recording was close-miked, so the orchestral detail is amazing – it really sounds like it was recorded yesterday, only things that were recorded yesterday don’t sound this good. It will be my favorite score release of the year, and not because I’m putting it out but because the music just “gets” to me. After hearing it, I immediately began writing my liner notes, and the first thing I point out is that 1962 was a banner year for scores that “got” to me – To Kill A Mockingbird, The Miracle Worker, Hatari, The Days Of Wine And Roses, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, David and Lisa, The Manchurian Candidate – can you imagine anything like that today? Today everything sounds the same – every one of the scores above is completely unique, with its own voice. And I haven’t even mentioned Lawrence Of Arabia, What Ever Happened To Baby Jane, Mutiny On The Bounty, Birdman Of Alcatraz – I mean, the list just goes on and on and on, and we’re not even talking foreign film soundtracks. Anyway, it’s full speed ahead for this release, which I’m probably announcing a week after Illya Darling, which is going “live” at some point Monday.
After that, I went to my designer’s house and delivered most of the stuff he’ll need for the Seesaw booklet, after which I came home and finished watching a motion picture on DVD entitled Vicky Christina Barcelona, un film de Eric Rohmer – oops, sorry, Woody Allen. As they do every year, critics were falling all over themselves proclaiming this film a return to form, even though they said the same thing the year before and the year before. When then new one comes, they forget all about the one from the year before and are, in fact, usually dismissive of it, saying “Well, that one didn’t work, but this one sure does.” Please remember, this is only one BK’s opinion, so if you loved the film, that’s great. I wanted to love the film. I hated every minute of it. It’s so filled with that awful Woody-speak, wherein young characters speak just like Woody Allen, only not the funny, charming Woody, but the pretentious Woody. I didn’t believe one thing in the film and hated all the characters. And it’s so clearly his Eric Rohmer film, only without Rohmer’s incisiveness and talent – Rohmer created this sort of genre – Allen is a pretender. Sometimes he’s doing “his” Fellini, “his” Bergman, “his” whoever, instead of doing what he started out doing – completely original films that were his “his.” Additionally, the critics raved about the photography. It’s great, all right, if you like the color yellow. This is a yellow film. Sorry, but blue skies are BLUE, not a sickly pale greenish/yellow. Everything in the film is drenched through a haze of yellow. It’s completely unappealing, at least to me. Its ninety-seven minutes seemed like 197 minutes. After forty minutes I wanted to kill the guitar player. I haven’t liked a Woody Allen film since I don’t know when – the last one I sort of liked okay was The Purple Rose Of Cairo. The last one I really liked was Broadway Danny Rose. And yes, I was in the minority and didn’t love Hannah And Her Sisters or Crimes and Misdemeanors. Of all the recent ones, only the tepid Small Time Crooks actually had stuff in it that made me laugh, and that was mostly due to Elaine May’s wonderful performance.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’ve got to get my beauty sleep before I am unceremoniously awakened by she of the Evil Eye.
Today I may or may not be going to the editing place to work on the sound mix. I heard a test yesterday that I thought was dreadful, so I need to go in there and tell him how I need it to sound. Luckily, I have Kevin’s CD and DVD, and that’s exactly how I want it to sound, so he can just match to that and it will go very quickly once he does. I also have to type up my outline and notes for Monday night’s Cabaret and Singer Workshop that I’m doing as our second LACCTAA event. I think I’ve got it organized and I think I’ve got plenty of stuff to talk about for ninety minutes, after which we’ll have a Q&A. I also have to finish the Seesaw notes.
Tomorrow, I’m doing a book signing at the annual Paperback Book Show in Mission Hills. I go there every year, but this is the first time I’ve been asked to sign – have no idea how it will be, but I’m looking forward to it. Mostly I’ll be hawking How To Write A Dirty Book and Other Stories, since the cover of that book is like a classic paperback cover. I will have very limited copies of my other books with me, too. We’ll get some photographs and post them.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, maybe go to the editing room, type up my notes for Monday, finish the Seesaw notes, and then relax and watch a motion picture or three. Today’s topic of discussion: What is your favorite year for motion pictures – the year that had the most movies that you absolutely loved? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst we end these brief notes for a lovely Saturday.