Well, dear readers, what a lazy BK I’ve been. I spent the whole of yesterday being lazy. No one could have been lazier than I. In fact, I was the laziest guy in town. I got up a little after nine and was immediately lazy. It was chilly and even a little drizzly out so I decided not to do the long jog. Instead, I was lazy. I put on some music and listened to three or four CDs, including the new Kritzerland release. I did some work on the computer, lazily of course. I read and answered e-mails, and then I decided I was hungry so I went over to Gelson’s and got a potpourri of foodstuffs, none of which, I must say, really thrilled me and I am done with Gelson’s for a few weeks. I then sat on my couch like so much fish and began a motion picture. I immediately fell asleep for an hour. Then I really watched the motion picture, which happened to be on Blu-Ray. It was entitled Fatal Attraction, starring Mr. Michael Douglas, Miss Glenn Close, and Miss Anne Archer. I liked the film okay when it came out and subsequent viewings have been about the same – I like, but don’t love it. I’m not a huge fan of the director, Adrian Lyne, although this is certainly his best film. The film, of course, has been accused of borrowing the Play Misty For Me plot, but it’s actually quite different and about different things ultimately. Certainly the actors are all fine, but there’s something about the film that just feels off to me and I’m not quite sure what it is. Certainly the party scene that opens the film is loaded with that sort of aren’t we being real and natural kind of banter that just goes nowhere and overstays its welcome. Once the plot kicks in then the film moves right along. The Maurice Jarre score is really peculiar, very synth-laden, but it works okay. The Blu-Ray disc is quite pleasing to the eye and ear. There are all the extras from the DVD, including the original ending.
I then began watching The Longest Day, but I realized that watching it was going to BE the longest day so I decided on something else instead. The something else instead was the newly-released DVD of Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point. I’d never seen it before because it got such wretched reviews and it just really seemed not like my cup of tea. I had seen and really enjoyed Mr. Antonioni’s Blow Up and Zabriskie Point was shot in LA, so I thought it would be interesting to see it. Unfortunately, the reviewers were right and while it was interesting to see it, it’s simply not a good film. It’s arty and pretentious, with non-characters doing non-things slowly – very slowly. There is some pretty photography and very peculiar shots of LA that make it seem like some alien landscape and the scenes in the desert are nicely shot. But the film is close to two hours and then it just ends – slowly. Very slowly. Certainly it’s a film that could never be made today. The transfer is splendid, though – very sharp and colorful, so it’s one of the few Warners DVDs that’s managed to escape being brownized.
I then went for a third motion picture, and this time it was back to Blu-Ray for The Usual Suspects. I very much enjoyed the film when I saw it originally and my now two subsequent viewings have been equally enjoyable. What was not enjoyable was the Blu-Ray presentation. I have been learning that not all Blu-Ray discs are equal – ones from the first wave are not well-encoded – they use an older technology, and in the case of The Usual Suspects it results in an image that is nowhere near as sharp as it should be or as other Blu-Rays. I went and read some reviews from when the disc came out, most of which raved about the quality, which just goes to show you. There was only one reviewer who called a spade a spade (all the other reviewers called a spade a club), saying that it was very sub-par. I’m sure that they’ll get around to doing another edition at some point – this one is about the fifth version on home video.
After that, I was lazy for the rest of the evening and now I am ready for the bedroom environment after being the laziest guy in town, so let’s all click on the Unseemly Button below before I fall asleep right now.
Today, I have a work session with the Nudie Musical musical director – we’ll probably work for two or three hours, and we do the same tomorrow. I’m also going to start sending everyone their music and demo recordings, and an e-mail version of the script, so that they can get a jump on the material. Then I’ll be supping with cousins Alan and Dee Dee at LaLa’s. I haven’t been there in a ‘coon’s age, so I’m looking forward to it.
Tomorrow should be an exact mirror of today. The rest of the week is filled with meetings, meals, and work sessions, all of which I’m very much looking forward to, and on Saturday I hope to go to the DGA to see the latest Pixar film, Up. Once again, as I was with Wall*E, I’m surprised that no one on this here site ran out to see it, whereas with other Pixar films we had immediate reports. I’ve heard that Up is one of their best and I cannot wait to see it. The DGA is showing it in 3D and this will be the first of these new-fangled 3D films I’ve seen.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog (absolutely positively), I must have a work session, I must do errands and whatnot, and then I must sup at LaLa’s. Today’s topic of discussion: What is the most romantic evening you’ve ever had – I don’t necessarily mean sex, but romance – where everything was like romance in the movies? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst the laziest guy in town hits the road to dreamland.