Well, dear readers, this week is already flying by, like a gazelle reading War and Peace. I think I have discovered an interesting factoid – pastrami is good for what ails you. I must say that whenever I have a good pastrami sandwich on rye with cole slaw and Russian dressing, my spirits are immediately lifted and I smile at the world at large or small. I have a very good pastrami sandwich at Jerry’s Deli yesterday and that is an anomaly, as usually they’re not that good there. But yesterday they got it right and it just made me so happy and I smiled at the world both large and small. I had some onion rings with the sandwich and this particular batch was also yummilicious. Some say love makes the world go ’round, but in my life right now, pastrami makes the world go ’round. I must say, good cole slaw also makes me very happy, just as good Cole Porter does. Cole Porter and Cole Slaw – they would have been a good songwriting team. But, as fate would have it, Cole Slaw never saw his songwriting dreams come true. Oh, he turned out a few good ditties like “In The Bathroom I’m King,” “The Guacamole Was Good,” and his beautiful ballad, “The Flu Made Me Love You.” Perhaps our next Gardenia evening will be Unsung Cole Slaw. What the HELL am I talking about? In addition to the nice lunch the rest of the day was pretty nice, too. We’re still trying to puzzle out what’s wrong with my Time Capsule and they did some diagnostic stuff that’s being sent to the top tech people so they can try to figure out just what’s going on with the endless and way too long backups. Other than that, I did a little work with the helper, I did some work on the computer, had a few telephonic conversations, and somehow the day was over. After the day was somehow over I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Network. Whenever I hear praise for one of these new-fangled motion pictures they make these days, where they praise the literate and great script, I always think of Network, which has a truly literate and great script, and everything today that’s supposedly great pales in comparison. Part of that has to do with Mr. Paddy Chayefsky – no one told him how to write his script. A bunch of actors and a director didn’t sit in a rehearsal room and tell him how to fix it or change it. No, Mr. Chayefsky wrote the script he wanted it, and the good director Mr. Sidney Lumet directed the script he was given and the actors spoke the dialogue they were given – and let me tell you, that’s how the process should work – hear that, Mr. David Fincher? Watching that documentary on The Social Network really made me not think well of Mr. Fincher, the actors, and Mr. Sorkin, who just seemed so willing to bend to everyone’s wishes. The fact that the film turned out as well as it did is amazing. But Network – that’s something else again. It’s loud, it’s pushy, it’s brash, it has a lot on its mind, and it even occasionally goes too far, but there’s a fierce intelligence and personality behind it and its truths are truer today than they were then, when they were more like satire. It’s all come true and not in a good way. There are many wonderful ranting speeches that are textbook examples of great screenwriting. And, of course, a cast that is utterly great – Mr. William Holden, Miss Faye Dunaway (a really terrific performance of a really pathetic character who is still all too prevalent in Hollywood), Miss Beatrice Straight, Robert Duvall, Ned Beatty (also amazing), a host of wonderful character actors (Roy Poole, Wesley Addy, etc.), and the absolutely brilliant Peter Finch. It’s a two-hour movie that seems like eighty minutes – perfectly paced, perfectly acted, perfectly written, and perfectly directed. What more can you ask? The transfer look fine – it’s an Owen Roizman-photographed film, which means greenish, grainy, and slightly soft. Highly recommended by the likes of me.
After the movie, I did some work on an edit road map for an upcoming release. And then I sang some Cole Slaw favorites, including the upbeat, “Flirtin’ and Desertin’ Has Them Hurtin’ That’s For Certain.” Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I am really staying up too late and don’t want to have a relapse, and therefore must get my beauty sleep.
Today, I have a few things to do, some errands and whatnot, finalizing the edit road map, getting ready to announce our next release and then rehearsing with our merry cast of players starting at three. That will take three and a half hours. I’ll probably try to eat prior to that, otherwise I shall be ornery as all get out and I think we all know just how ornery all get out is.
Tomorrow, I have lots to do, and then I have several meetings and meals throughout the rest of the week and weekend, as well as our second rehearsal on Friday.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do stuff, eat, and then rehearse. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of William Holden and Faye Dunaway? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, singing the songs of Cole Slaw and thinking that pastrami is good for what ails you.