Well, dear readers, this should be a vacation week for the likes of me and yet it will only be a partial vacation week for the likes of me, since there are many things to do, which includes our annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve partay right here at haineshisway.com – the safest, best, and most fun partay anywhere. So, be there or be round as we welcom in 2011. But for now, I must write these here notes in a hurry since she of the Evil Eye will be here bright and early and also early and bright. Normally she’d be coming on Saturday, but Saturday is New Year’s Day so today was the only day she could come, and since the home environment can use a good cleaning after the Christmas Eve Do, it works fine. The helper will also be coming over and we’ve got a few things to ship and she’s getting all the Casino Royale and Genghis Khan invoices so she can do the labels and postage at her leisure this week – CDs should be here a week from today. Oops (spoo, spelled backwards), I’m getting ahead of myself which, I suppose, is better than getting afoot of myself. I had a very restful yesterday, just the sort of day I needed. I slept till about 9:45, then got up, answered many e-mails, then got back into bed and watched a motion picture on DVD in the bedroom environment, which was actually quite a pleasant thing to do. The motion picture on DVD was entitled While The City Sleeps, a film of Fritz Lang, starring Dana Andrews, Ida Lupino, George Sanders, Thomas Mitchell, Peggy Castle, Vincent Price – couldn’t ask for a better cast. It’s one of my least favorite Lang films but I watch it every few years to see if I like it better, since some people find it a fine film. The film never seems to know what story it wants to tell – is it about the lipstick killer, or is that just a plot device we shouldn’t really care about, because the other story is of in-fighting at a major newspaper. That story always takes precedence, seemingly, so one’s focus becomes split and the whole thing just never seems compelling as it should. I much prefer Lang’s next film, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt – interestingly, the Lang pundits don’t like that one as much as While The City Sleeps – for me, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt has a very clear story and it is compelling. But the cast is grand and really fun to watch. The region 2 DVD is full-frame, which is absolutely incorrect for this film, which should be 1.85. Otherwise, it looks okay.
After that, I got up, did some stuff around the home environment, then went and had a sandwich and onion rings for my meal o’ the day, after which I came back home and sat on my couch like so much fish.
Then I finished watching a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Amelie, a French film from France, directed by the quirky Jean-Pierre Jeunet, whose most recent film, Micmacs, I saw a week ago. I enjoyed Amelie when I first saw it, and I enjoyed it again on Blu and Ray. It’s quite whimsical, quite quirky, and it goes on for about twenty minutes too long. Audrey Tatou is a charmer, and the rest of the cast is terrific. This is an import Blu-Ray, but it will play in all players. The transfer looks very nice.
I had a few pieces of bite-sized candies like Baby Ruth and Snickers, then watched the first forty-five minutes of Brian De Palma’s Dressed To Kill. I know it’s a really loved film, but I find it nowhere near Carrie in terms of quality and cleverness. It never fooled me back when it came out and it certainly doesn’t fool me now. And it’s quite overwrought in the acting department. Still, fun to watch. I’ll finish it this evening.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because this week is the last of 2010 and I say let’s ring it out in high style so that we can ring in 2011 in even higher style.
Today, as already noted, she of the Evil Eye will be here, as will the helper. All that should be done by one and then I have to figure out the show order for the Gardenia, I have to begin figuring out the rehearsal schedule, and I have to do a few errands and whatnot and eat something light but amusing, as well as have a short visit with Mr. Jon Burlingame. The evening is mine all mine.
The rest of the week is not too busy – just a couple of meals and some light work, and preparing to being my eleventh book on January 1st. And then we have our annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve partay on Friday night. I’ll be planning a fun little repast to have whilst I post all the livelong day and night. I’ll probably pop some champagne and have my usual one sip. I have a bottle here – unopened champagne doesn’t go flat or go bad, does it?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do some shipping, do an order, set rehearsals, do errands and whatnot, and eat. Today’s topic of discussion: Back to our best of the year lists – what were your favorite motion pictures of 2010? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland so that I can arise early and continue to ring out the last of 2010 in high style.