Well, dear readers, I am officially all better. I knew it when I arose at six yesterday morning and was really hungry with absolutely no trace of nausea. That was very good news, especially as I hadn’t gotten but about five hours of sleep. I announced the new Kritzerland CD, printed out a batch of orders that came in right away, then went back to bed. I didn’t really have time to sleep as the telephonic device rang at eight. It was the film preservationist Robert Harris, who’s been helping me figure out the best way to handle the Nudie Musical elements, which has been very helpful. After that call, I got up and printed out more orders and happily was still very hungry. Then I loaded the picture and sound elements in my motor car and drove over to the lab where the transfer will be done. They checked everything in and at some point I’ll get a call to come back and look at a test reel to see what we’re dealing with, color-wise and scratch-wise. That will tell us what kind of hours this will take in terms of color correction and scratch removal. If it’s too costly at this lab, Mr. Harris has another option we can explore. I do think they’d like my business, so I’m hoping they will make me a good deal. After that, I went to the bank and did a few other errands and whatnot, then came home and printed out more orders. I then finessed some writing on my personal project, and then it was time to have a lunch meeting at Jerry’s Deli.
I got there early to make sure we got a nice booth and sitting in the booth next to me was my cousin Alan. So, we had a nice chat. Then my folks arrived and we had quite an interesting meeting. During our meeting, Mr. Jon Lovitz sat in the booth next to us and was quite loud. Also in attendance in a booth further away was Jason Alexander. The jernt was hoppin’. I was so over my nausea that I had a bacon cheeseburger and fries and boy did they taste good. And now, after alluding to this personal project for weeks, perhaps it’s time to finally tell you what it is – but only in a general way because, as we all know, there are prying eyes occasionally and we don’t wish to be ripped off. So, for the last year I have been wracking my brain (no mean feat) to come up with an idea for a web series. I had certain things I wanted to incorporate, but I just could not figure it out.
I viewed a few series and odd webisodes and it was amazing to me how amateur they were and I thought to myself, myself I’d really like to do one and do it to the best of my ability. Then, when I attended the Easter dinner at Barry Pearl’s home (he was in New York – the dinner was thrown by his ever-lovin’ Cindy) I spoke to two people who were in the midst of doing their own web series. I quizzed them about the specifics of it and got really good information about length, content, and inherent problems to watch out for. I then watched all six episodes (their “season”) of their show and I saw exactly what they were talking about. The next day I got the idea that had eluded me for a year. It came quickly, it came fully formed, and it was something that I knew was right up my street (we don’t use the word “alley” around these here parts). Everything fell into place very quickly and I began writing – I have now written three of the six episodes we’ll start with and I’ll write the other three in the next week or so. The plan is to begin shooting in August. I have already lined up some very interesting folks to appear. The trick with these is to have the cost be zero. That’s not quite going to be possible with this, but it will be close. So, I’ve been meeting with the gentleman who will be editing the show – that’s who yesterday’s meeting was with – and he introduced me to another editor who will also probably help out. The editor is a very good pal of mine – in fact, he edited several of my Likely Stories bits back in the 1980s, and he’s edited many Joe Dante films, including the about to be discussed Matinee, as well as Explorers and many others. It’s been a little slow for him but he just got a great gig and is off to Italy to edit the new Dario Argento movie, which I think is yet another version of Dracula. He returns in mid-August just as we begin shooting, so the timing will work out very well. I’m very excited about this project and I will tell you more about it as we get closer to the shooting. We may try to raise just a little bit of money to make things a little easier for all of us – I’m in the process of settling on a cameraman and sound person, but everyone has to work for free. I have to remember the name of that money raising website thing (a lot of people are funding their CDs by doing that) – if anyone remembers the name of that site, please post it. After the meeting, I picked up a few packages, then came home. I printed out more orders, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on Blu and Ray. First up was the movie I’d begun a few days ago, Dario Argento’s film Cat O’ Nine Tails, his follow up to The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. While I admire Mr. Argento’s style, I don’t really care for many of his films, and actually I can’t watch any of them as they’re far too violent and sickening for my tender being. I’ve wanted to watch Suspiria but I can’t get past the first twenty minutes due to the graphic violence. I did see his film Phenomena and that one wasn’t too too bad – I basically watched it because I was a fan of the then-young Jennifer Connelly. In any case, of all the Argento films I’ve seen, my favorite is Cat O’ Nine Tails. It’s not a great film by any means (it’s actually Argento’s least favorite of his), but it has Karl Malden and James Franciscus and Catherine Spaak and a great score by Ennio Morricone. The transfer is really top-notch and I enjoyed it just as much as I always do.
I then watched the second motion picture on Blu and Ray, the aforementioned Joe Dante film, Matinee. I saw it the day it opened and it was a film dear to my heart in subject matter – it takes place in 1962 and is somewhat about a William Castle-like filmmaker (played by John Goodman) coming to a Florida town to test-screen his new film, MANT, an affectionate parody of The Fly, Tarantula, and all those low-budget horror sci-fi things of the 1950s. I was disappointed by the film because the MANT part and the John Goodman part were a good deal of fun, but the other plot regarding the Cuban missile crisis, teen romance and a really inane pumped-up “suspenseful” ending having to do with a collapsing balcony in a movie theater, all sucked the fun out of the film for me. But the MANT stuff is terrific fun, the performances are fine and there’s a decent Jerry Goldsmith score, too. The editing by my pal Marshall Harvey keeps it moving along. I like Joe Dante, but he never seems to know when enough is enough and when to stop being a overly “clever.” It plagues several of his movies – Innerspace being another one that just fell apart after an excellent first half. The transfer on this region B disc from France replicates the somewhat grainy look of the original theatrical prints.
After that, I printed out a few more orders and then it was time to write these here notes. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must be up early again and need some beauty sleep.
Today, CDs and helper will arrive and we’ll ship out The Berlin Affair. That will probably take two or three hours, then I’ll grab a bite to eat, do some errands and whatnot, hopefully pick up a few packages, then go over Barbara Deutsch’s book for whatever problems I might find, style-wise. Then we’ll be meeting at Grant Geissman’s to put the final fixes in and then the whole thing will go off to the publisher. I’m sure I’ll also watch a motion picture when I get home.
Tomorrow, I will have writing to do, I must finish choosing the Kander and Ebb songs and casting the show (we’re close now) and begin getting charts and making CDRs for everyone. Then I’m taking someone out for their birthday. Thursday is a lunch meeting and there are other things to attend to, like prepping the next Kritzerland release. The weekend is kind of busy – a work session with the thirteen-year-old and then a film music concert directly after, and then our annual Tony Awards Bash right here at haineshisway.com.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, ship CDs, eat, do errands and whatnot, pick up packages, proof a book and then enter fixes. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite 1950s sci-fi and horror films – a topic I always enjoy. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall think of my personal project and the final three episodes I must write.