Well, dear readers, today is Thursday. And they say we don’t have any useful information here at haineshisway.com, the site I feel that soon will be the most popular on all the Internet. Being Thursday, I really must write these here notes in a hurry as I’ve not been getting enough sleep and I must be up at seven this morning to take the motor car in for servicing. Whilst that’s being done, CDs and helper will arrive and we have to ship a humungous number of Carnival CDs. So, here goes. How many people here know what Soylent Green is? Shhhh. Don’t tell. But last night, for example, I watched the new Blu and Ray of Soylent Green, a wacky little film kind of based on the novel Make Room! Make Room! by Harry Harrison. I’ve always enjoyed the movie, mainly because it’s the final performance of Edward G. Robinson, and his final scene in the movie is very touching. Charlton Heston is square-jawed and tough as a detective whose investigation into a murder of an official is being swept under the proverbial rug (not Mr. Heston’s rug, which is another story). Pretty Leigh Taylor Young plays Shirl, or, as Heston calls her, Furniture. That’s what many women are in this film – furniture. But we don’t have to worry about that because this film takes place far off in the future, in 2022. Back in 1973 that seemed like an eternity away, but it’s merely a decade away now – so watch out, you women, or you might be furniture. Joseph Cotton has a small role, too. The direction is by Richard Fleischer and the film has a weird but interesting sort of soundscape score by Fred Myrow. The transfer is very nice – this film never ever looked good on its original release, as there are a ton of opticals in it. So, this transfer replicates the sort of grimy look of most of the film – however, there are some interiors that are well-lit and sterile and those scenes really pop well.
Can someone please explain why I have jumped the gun and talked about a motion picture in the first paragraph? How unseemly. I hate when I jump the gun and I hate even more when the gun jumps me. Is jumping the shark the logical progression from jumping the gun? So many questions, so few answers, jumping the gun-wise. I had a pretty nice day. I got up early and went to an early morning meeting at LACC – mostly an air-clearing meeting that went very well. I then picked up some tapes for an upcoming release. We’re reissuing a CD that another label put out a couple of years ago, one that sold out in a day, with many people missing out on it. I felt there were probably sufficient sales left to warrant the reissue. I watched the film a few weeks ago and there was a wonderful cue that had gone missing in action from the CD. So, that’s why I had the tapes pulled, but the minute I opened the box with the three-track half-inch masters I saw the problem – one box, box one, is missing. Somehow, someone lost it. And that missing cue is obviously on the missing tape – what a shame. I’m going to watch the scene again and see how much dialogue there is and how many sound effects there are, and maybe see if we can get away with maybe including that as a bonus track. That would make our release slightly different, which would be a good thing. We shall see and see we shall. After that, I had a sandwich and fries for my meal o’ the day. Then I picked up one small package, after which I came home and did some work on the computer and also some organizing of various and sundried things. I then decided to do a brief mile and a half jog – boy am I out of shape, but I did it and it felt good and I will try my damndest to keep up with the jogging routine.
I then watched a motion picture I’d TIVOd entitled The Big Picture, which was Christopher Guest’s first feature film. I remember trying to watch it years ago, but found it unbearable. Twenty-three years later I find it even more unbearable. Mr. Guest hadn’t quite figured out his strengths, which would soon lead him to the mockumentary genre. Here, he tries to have it all ways – to make a satire with lots of spoofs in a plotted film about a young man who wins a student film award and his adventures trying to get a film made. So, on the one hand, we’re expected to invest in the story of this guy, and to care about him. But the spoof stuff is so unrelentingly silly that it continually takes you out of the film and therefore you invest in nothing and no one. It’s the kind of thing that was done on the cable comedy show Likely Stories – but there it was thirty or forty minutes and not a feature film. You can just see how funny Mr. Guest and his collaborators think their student film spoofs are, and their fantasy sequence spoofs – but they’re not remotely funny. In the end, one is left with ninety-five minutes of nothing. The actors are all fine. The film came and went very quickly – a five million dollar film that grossed all of $187,000. Happily, it did not end Mr. Guest’s career.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must hie myself to the bedroom environment so I can hopefully get at least some beauty sleep.
Today, I shall take in my motor car for its second servicing, I must ship out a lot of CDs, I must try to not jump any firearms, I must eat something amusing and light, I must hopefully pick up some packages, and I must marvel at the fact that it’s the last bloomin’ day of March. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, today is the last bloomin’ day of March and tomorrow will be the first bloomin’ day of April, which will hopefully bring us a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. And speaking of bloomin’, my allergies got very bad yesterday – the air is rife with pollen and pollen is rife with air.
Tomorrow, I have many errands and whatnot to do, and then we have our second Gardenia rehearsal, which I’m very much looking forward to. It’s going to go into the evening again, which I’m not thrilled about, but it will all be fine because I’ll be hearing gloriously glorious voices singing gloriously glorious songs.
Let’s all put on our pointy party hats and our colored tights and pantaloons, let’s all break out the cheese slices and the ham chunks, let’s all dance the Hora and the mambo (MAMBO!) because today is the birthday of our very own errant and truant but beloved dear reader Ann. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to our very own errant and truant but beloved dear reader Ann. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO OUR VERY OWN ERRANT AND TRUANT BUT BELOVED DEAR READER ANN!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, take the motor car in for servicing, I must ship CDs, pick up packages, eat, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Charlton Heston movies? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland on the last bloomin’ day of March.