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December 5, 2009:

THE PERFECTLY BORING NOTES

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 all too soon. I’m feeling quite relaxed because my day wasn’t stressful and it was actually quite pleasant. I got up around nine. That was quite pleasant. I then printed some orders, answered some e-mails, and had a long telephonic call with our very own dear reader Julie, who’ll be helping produce the Nudie Musical staged reading in New York. After that, I did some errands and whatnot, and then had an early luncheon at Hugo’s – my usual pasta papa and small Caesar salad. It seemed more filling than usual. I then did more errands, picked up several fun packages, and then came home and packed up a few orders and paid some bills. I then decided that was it for work and I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Yesterday, I watched two count them two motion pictures on Blu and Ray. The first motion picture was entitled Phantom of the Paradise. This film has never fared particularly well on home video until a special edition DVD came out in France. That looked quite pleasing, so I was very happy when I found that the same company was putting that transfer on Blu-Ray. I’m happy to report that the film looks great and just as it should, which means that it is grainy and has the authentic 1970s look that it should have. The film is loaded with multiple-pass opticals, so one cannot expect it to look like a film from today. That said, it’s very sharp, very colorful, and I got sucked into watching the whole thing. It’s probably my second favorite De Palma film (the first is Carrie), and I never really get tired of watching it. I like the Paul Williams songs a lot, and the actors are all wonderful, especially Gerrit Graham as Beef, one of the great comic performances of that decade. Funny side note: I saw the film at its first performance on opening day at the National Theater in Westwood. The next day, I was shooting Happy Days and I was raving about the film. Ronny Howard heard me and he was so intrigued that he and his wife went to see it that night. Well, the next day he told me they’d HATED every minute of it. It was really funny. I wonder if he still hates it? I then watched the hour-long documentary the French did for the DVD release, which is presented in standard definition, which allows you to see just how good the Blu-Ray looks compared to the anamorphic clips in the documentary. Most of the key players are interviewed and it’s quite fun – Gerrit was there (and does a lot of his interview in French), Jessica Harper, De Palma, Larry Pizer (the cameraman), the producer, Paul Williams, Archie Hahn and a few others. I then watched the second motion picture on Blu-Ray, a fine companion piece, Phantom of the Opera, the film version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. I’d only seen it once before on DVD and certainly didn’t love it. But I’ll tell you something about it – at least it has the courage of its convictions and is filmed as a real musical, not one of these Rob Marshall everything’s taking place in the head of a character mish-mashes. That was okay for Chicago and already seems tired and clichéd in Nine. The look of the film is really nice, as are the lush orchestrations – where the film fails, at least for me, is in its casting. I just don’t like the guy who plays the Phantom, and while I think Emmy Rossum is an okay Christine, she doesn’t really light up the screen. A couple of the supporting players do well, but had they cast this a little differently it might have come off a lot better. The Blu-Ray looks pretty terrific.

After that, I listened to some CDs, drove to the post office and got everything in the night drop, came home, took a hot shower and did some work on the computer.

Wasn’t that a perfectly boring telling of the day? That put me to sleep three times just writing it. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get my beauty sleep.

Yes, I feel that these are perfectly boring notes. Why not call a spade a spade, which is, after all, better than calling a spade a shovel. And you know what – I’m jiggy with perfectly boring notes. I’m enjoying writing perfectly boring notes that are sleep inducing or, to put it another way, inducing sleep. Did you know, for example, that sleep is peels spelled backwards?

Today I shall get up early, do the long jog, go to the bank, and then I shall toddle over to the Dena of Pasa to attend the book fair. Of all the book fairs I’ve been to, this is invariably the most boring, so it’s perfectly in keeping with these perfectly boring notes. I know a few dealers who’ll be there and I’ll hang out for a while.

Tomorrow, Mr. Cason Murphy will be coming over early to address packages and there are a lot of them to address. After that, the rest of the day is mine all mine.

Next week is somewhat busy and, of course, I shall soon be another year older and wiser. I have no clew at this time what is happening for that older and wiser day – I guess we’ll just see. I am having a lunch meeting that day, so that will be fun. CDs should be here Wednesday morning, so that will be a very heavy shipping day.

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, attend a book fair, eat something amusing and then I don’t know what. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your all-time favorite flamboyantly flamboyant comic performances, both on stage and on film – those performances that are over-the-top or wild and crazy, but somehow work? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I wrap up these perfectly boring notes like a dead herring in the moonlight.

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