Well, dear readers, I must write these here notes in a hurry because I must arise at six in the morning to announce the latest Kritzerland release. Therefore these notes shall not be filled with bon mots nor will they be filled with mot bons. They will be short and to the point and also point and to the short. Not a word will be wasted save for all the words right up to the end of this sentence. In short or long, on with the show. Yesterday was, as noted in yesterday’s notes, not a day of rest. Yesterday involved addressing both CD packages and book packages and we got everything done and put postage on it all, so come tomorrow morning when the bonus CDs arrive, all we have to do is put the books (with the CD tucked inside) into padded envelopes, but the padded envelopes into flat rate priority envelope and seal it up. It was good to get all that done. For lunch, I just had a craving for Casa Vega – hadn’t been there in a year probably, and boy was it great. Had my cheese enchiladas and one taco. Faboo, I tell you. After lunch, we had to finish addressing some orders that had come in (of older titles) and we got those done and the helper then took them to the postal office. I did a little jog, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday, I attempted to watch Crazy Heart on Blu and Ray. After ten minutes I finally got to the trailers on the disc. After ten minutes of those, it spent another ten minutes trying to load the menu so that, you know, one could actually watch the film. Unfortunately, like Avatar, also from 20th Century Fox, this disc would not load. Nor would it play in my multi-region player without my switching back to region A, since Crazy Heart is locked for that region. So, no Crazy Heart. Note to 20th Century Fox: Whatever you unconscionable idiots are doing with your copy protection and latest encoding, you will single-handedly stop Blu-Ray from ever catching on with the masses. Note to Blu-Ray authoring people: No one, and I mean no one, wants and/or needs to do firmware upgrades all the time. It stinks to high and even how hell. The average consumer who spends money on a machine simply wants the machine to – wait for it – work. So, after all that, I went to the DVR and decided to watch a motion picture in high definitions that I’d recorded months ago, entitled The Crying Game. I hadn’t seen it since it had originally come out back in 1992. First off, the film is great – brilliantly done in every department. Certainly one of the ten best films of that sorry decade known as the 1990s. At the time of its release, it was the talk of the town – people who’ve seen it know why. But a simple visit to the imdb will show you some of the most reprehensibly ignorant people ever – all saying, “I saw it coming” “I knew” – of course they did – they’d heard about it or read about it. Because I am here to tell you that no one, and I mean no one “knew” when this film came out. One particular idiot said “I knew ’cause I saw Stargate.” Note to one particular idiot: Stargate was filmed and released AFTER The Crying Game, you unmitigated piece of dog snot. Out of what hole or what trailer park do these people crawl? The Internet has truly given voice to a generation of some of the stupidest people on Earth. Of course there are people who are not stupid from the current generation – and they don’t post on the imdb, apparently. End of rant. In any case, I was just bowled over by The Crying Game once again. The opening third leads you to believe you’re seeing one sort of film – and it’s a great opening third. Then it goes somewhere completely other, and that, too, is great. And the final third brings together the other two thirds in a terrific conclusion. The performances are fantastic, especially Stephen Rea (why didn’t this man become a huge star after this film), and Jaye Davidson. The score by Anne Dudley plays a huge part in making the film work – brilliant. The hi-def transfer is everything you’d want it to be. On the opposite end of the spectrum (and I mean the OPPOSITE), I finished watching a motion picture on DVD entitled Island of Love, starring Robert Preston, Tony Randall, and Walter Matthau. I’d always wanted to see this film and thank to Warner Archive I finally have. After all, for its director and star it was the follow up to The Music Man. How bad could it be? Worse. Worse than your wildest imagings. It is blatantly obvious why this film died an instant death with critics and at the box-office, where it did absolutely no business. It is completely unfunny, forced, and a bore. However the Greek scenery is gorgeous and the film has a nice score by George Duning.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I have no bon mots to hurl at you and therefore there is no point in dwelling in this here section.
Today, I shall be up at six in the morning to announce the latest Kritzerland title. After that, I shall try and get some sleep. Then I shall hopefully be printing up a lot of orders. Then I shall try to meet our very own dear reader Kevin for a drink in the Wood of Holly, after which I may or may not have dinner with my cousins. We shall see how it all plays out.
Tomorrow, helper will arrive and we’ll be shipping out books and bonus CDs. I’ll have some lunch or something, and then it’s just errands and whatnot. Wednesday I have a long meeting to attend, and Thursday there is a chance we’ll be shipping out CDs – if not, that will happen the following Monday. And, of course, early Friday, David Wechter and I will be on our way to Olympia to see The Brain From Planet X.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, announce a CD, sleep, do a jog, meet dear reader Kevin, and then meet my cousins. Today’s topic of discussion: What movie contained the single most breathtaking twist you ever saw – one you didn’t see coming at all? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I try to come up with a few bon mots for tomorrow’s notes.