Well, dear readers, I had a perfectly pleasant and mostly restful Sunday, the kind of day I really needed to have. I got eight hours of blessed sleep, and I did a two-mile jog. Once again, I had tacos, using the other half-pound of ground round. Very calorie friendly it was, too. I must say that I sat on my couch like so much fish several times yesterday, mostly to watch motion pictures, and I do believe I fell asleep at least six times. But I did manage to watch a few things, thereby lessening the big stack o’ things to watch. I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Barbarella, starring Miss Jane Fonda, with a screenplay by Terry Southern and about twelve other writers. The film was directed by Roger Vadim and is his usual ham-fisted work. Why this film has a cult, other than its sheer stupidity, is anyone’s guess. I suppose it has a certain camp value, but I’m not really a fan of camp. When I saw it back when it was released, it was one of the very few films I walked out on. We do get to see more of Miss Fonda than has ever been seen before or since. But it’s just an endlessly weird and outré film without much point and with the pace of cement. The music by Bob Crewe and Charles Fox is, many times, Bacharach-lite. The transfer, however, is quite nice.
I also watched the new Blu and Ray of Magical Mystery Tour, made by and starring The Beatles. I’d never seen it before and certainly I never need to see it again. The songs are, of course, wonderful, but it’s a mish-mash of nothingness, almost completely unfunny save for a few little touches here and there, and I would say the pace of the fifty-three minute program is funereal if it actually had pace. But, any film that has I Am the Walrus can’t be all bad. Oh, for a Richard Lester. The lads were clearly not filmmakers. The transfer verges on being out of focus for almost the entirety of its length. They say they did a photochemical restoration of the original 16mm negative and I cannot believe that would look anything like this transfer. 16mm, by its nature, is grainier than 35mm, but you wouldn’t know it by this transfer. If you look at Junior High School’s Blu and Ray, it’s very clear that it’s 16mm. They should just leave the look of the film alone and stop trying to “clean” it up when that isn’t necessary. The music does sound quite good, though.
Speaking of Richard Lester, I then watched another thing I’d never managed to see – Mr. Lester’s film Butch and Sundance: The Early Years, a prequel (in the days when there weren’t really prequels) to the hugely popular Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The film was trashed by reviewers back in the day, which is why I and everyone else probably stayed away. So, imagine my surprise to find an utterly charming and funny motion picture entertainment, with many of the droll qualities of William Goldman’s original. He’s a producer on this film, but not the writer, but the writing certainly has his flavor. The casting works surprisingly well, with Tom Berenger in the Paul Newman role and William Katt in the Robert Redford role. There are times when the resemblance is uncanny. There’s really no story, just vignettes showing how Butch and Sundance met, became friends and their early adventures. It’s all very amiable and it moves along at a steady clip, and it also has a terrific score by Patrick Williams. I would think the DVD is probably out of print, but if anyone wanted to check it out, it’s probably available cheap.
I also finished writing the contextual commentary and then went back and made some additions and deletions to what I’d written yesterday. So, that’s done and a big load off. And, of course, I sang I Am the Walrus all day long and into the good night. Goo goo ga joo. You know, I have mutant crickets outside on the patio. These are the loudest crickets I have ever heard. It’s like they’re belting Defying Gravity out there. Give it a rest, boys.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I really must get a good night’s beauty sleep.
These mutant crickets are really irritating. I suppose I could turn on the patio light and that might shut the little buggers up. Today, I shall be up by nine or so, I shall try to do a two-mile jog, then I think I have a telephonic call or two to make. After that, it’s Dr. Chew for my teeth cleaning. Then I’m sure I’ll eat a nice under 1200 calorie meal, hopefully I’ll pick up some packages, do some banking, and then come home and work on finalizing casting for the next two Outside The Box episodes.
Tomorrow, lots o’ stuff during the day, and then I’m finally seeing The Book of Mormon. I’ll mosey on down there early and get a good parking space, then I’ll walk over to Musso and Frank and have a nice, leisurely meal, then walk back the theater. I will, of course, have a full report. The rest of the week is meetings, meals, liner notes, a work session with our musical director and stuff like that.
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 Texas two-step, because today is the birthday of former dear reader Cason. Cason doesn’t live her anymore, but it was always fun to have him and Miss Karen (his mum) around. So, let’s give a big haineshisway.com birthday cheer to former dear reader Cason. On the count of three: One, two, three – A BIG HAINESHISWAY.COM BIRTHDAY CHEER TO FORMER DEAR READER CASON!!!
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, have telephonic conversations, get teeth cleaned, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, bank, and cast. Today’s topic of discussion: What was the first pet you ever owned? Let’s hear all about said pet and any fun stories you have. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall hopefully fall asleep if these damn mutant crickets ever shut their big traps.