Well, dear readers, this week is flying by, like a gazelle singing the songs of The Beatles in ragtime. And speaking of The Beatles but not ragtime, last night I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Help, starring the aforementioned Beatles, along with Leo McKern, Roy Kinnear, Victor Spinetti, and Eleanor Bron, all participating in the madcap craziness of director Richard Lester, who’d helmed A Hard Day’s Night. It must have been daunting trying to come up with a follow-up film that wouldn’t just try to copy that brilliant, fresh and unique movie. But they came up with something that, while not quite as brilliant, was still fresh and unique and a whole lot o’ fun. I was there on opening day – the lines were humungous, as you might imagine. The film got huge laughs, the songs were, of course, great, and a good time was had by all. I probably went back six or seven times in the next few weeks, enjoying it just as much each time.
But a funny thing happened on the way to becoming a relic of a different time: For me, A Hard Day’s Night is still fresh and unique, while Help hasn’t worn all that well over the years. The songs and those musical sequences are still fantastic and some of the gags are still laugh out loud funny, and the cast is superb. But some of it just feels labored now and I kind of just sit and wait for the next good gag or song and the filler becomes a little irritating. I hadn’t watched Help in its entirety since the special edition DVD came out in 2007, a restoration of the film or so said the end credits. So I was looking forward to the Blu-ray until, that is, I made the mistake of reading a review on one of those websites – the review actually gave the transfer high marks – four out of five stars (and written by a former dear reader), albeit with the usual caveats to cover bases – possible “ringing” (read haloes from sharpening) but that might not be ringing because it might be anomalies from the back lighting. So, that was heartening. No, the mistake was going to the discussion board on that loathsome site and reading the pundits, those oh so knowledgeable armchair experts. And I’m happy to say they were entirely predictable. The transfer was a four-star disaster, how dare the reviewer give it high marks, all grain has been DNR’d out of the transfer and the whole thing has been sharpened producing horrible haloes and such. Bitch, bitch, bitch (that is three bitches and these people know from bitches). Of course, not a one of them had actually seen the transfer. They were looking at a screen capture, one frame captured who knows how – ONE FRAME – and from this they can make with their specious pronouncements over and over again.
Then a couple of people towing the party line actually looked at the disc, but the damage had been done. They simply said it looked not much better than the DVD and it was mediocre, stopping short of calling it a DNR disaster, just in case. So, imagine my surprise when I put on the disc and the first image comes on the screen – what do I see? Grain. Not DNR – GRAIN. Why, I’ll be hornswoggled if Help doesn’t look like the movie Help. What a concept.
There are a lot of opticals in help and they look like opticals – grainer than the rest of the film. I’m seeing a lot of detail and I’m seeing some softer shots that are a result of the zoom lens being used. At no point am I seeing DNR or sharpening (our former dear reader was right in his guess – it’s backlighting) – I hate to tell these people, but they don’t use DNR and sharpen just one shot here and there – they do the entire film if that’s the road they’re taking, but since there are plenty of shots with plenty of detail, excellent contrast, beautiful color that is very accurate, well, as the voice of reason here, it’s a very nice transfer and most will be very happy. Is it the older 2007 master used for the previous DVD? Maybe. But it was a hi-def master so it’s fine. If that was the case, a new master probably would have yielded slightly better results, just because the technology has come far in the last six years, but it’s nothing like a disaster and it suffers from none of the issues they’re talking about. Of course, I think a poll would reveal that not a one of these people had seen Help on the silver screen, and so all knowledge is based on TV viewings and home video viewings, which results in no knowledge at all. Help looks very much like Help has always looked projected. The usual suspects then bragged how they’d cancelled their orders – all based on looking at screencaps which resemble not a whit or even two whits what is actually on the disc, at least as viewed by me as a film, in motion. If you like Help you will have no problem with this Blu-ray. End of usual rant about the usual suspects.
Prior to watching Help I’d had a fairly okay day. I was up way too early, I did a three-mile jog, I had a nice telephonic conversation with the East Coast Singer, then I went and had a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich – pretty tiny, actually, with some fruit on the side. I was sitting across from a publicist I’ve used many times, Steve Moyer, who was with his client Karen Kramer (as in Mrs. Stanley), who I also know, so we had a nice chat. Also sitting a few booths away from me dining solo was Bert Cooper/J. Pierpont Finch himself – Robert Morse. Someone told me it’s all happening at the zoo and I do believe it, I do believe it’s true, only it’s all really happening at Jerry’s Deli.
After that, I wrote another bunch of paragraphs for the liner notes, then picked up a few packages, then came back home and wrote more paragraphs. Then I did some other work that I needed to do, after which I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday afternoon, I finished watching a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Poltergeist II: The Other Side. My love for the first Poltergeist knows no bounds – it’s one of the most perfect genre films ever. So, I had high hopes for the sequel, which I went to see on its opening day. What a disappointment it was, which was surprising since the main cast was back as were the original writers. But what became apparent immediately is just how much a Spielberg film Poltergeist is, and that includes the writing, which I’m sure he did a lot of for the final script. Everything about that film works – the parents’ relationship, the kids acting like real kids, all of the classic Spielberg elements. Without him, the second film just seemed leaden and ultimately wrapped up way too quickly and a little too sweetly with Geraldine Fitzgerald’s angelesque appearance at the end.
But I didn’t remember a lot of it, so it was interesting to me that the first half of the film actually worked very well, I thought. Julian Beck gives one of the creepiest performances ever, and Will Sampson is terrific. The family (obviously Dominique Dunne isn’t back and there is, as I recall, no reference to her at all) is back and Craig Nelson and Jobeth Williams reprise their roles wonderfully until the writing undoes their good work. The two kids are also let down with bad writing – unlike the first film, here they are real “movie” kids and it’s just bad. Then the finale is just there and the film wraps up so quickly there’s no way for it to be satisfying. All these good things are set up strongly, and none of them really pay off, especially the Julian Beck character, which should be a major force in the last third of the film, but isn’t. The reason for this is simple: Mr. Beck died before the film was completed, and so H.R. Giger was brought in to create a monster version of him but it doesn’t really work at all. Had Mr. Beck lived to complete the film, the last third might have worked better than it does. The score is by Jerry Goldsmith (who did Poltergeist) and while it has a lot of electronics, it’s still very good and really helps the film. Goldsmith was simply a master at this kind of thing and his work here is beautiful. The transfer is very nice and the sound robust and full. Of course, this was followed by Poltergeist III, an unfortunate second sequel that was completely dreadful, had a horrid score, and only two original cast members back – Zelda Rubinstein and young Heather O’Rourke, who sadly passed away just a few months after filming and just before her twelfth birthday. I’m actually kind of curious to see Poltergeist III again – haven’t seen it since the day it came out.
I had a small thing of mac-and-cheese from Gelson’s for my snack, did another jog (mile-and-a-half), and then wrote some more of the liner notes. Also, occasional dear reader Mark sent me a wonderful little newspaper clipping. I’d found this a few months ago on Google but hadn’t saved it, so I was happy he sent it to me. It’s a 1966 Valley newspaper with an ad for the new Kiru restaurant in Tarzana, which turned out to be the undoing of my father, for many reasons. First of all, the restaurant business in 1966 was in bad shape (that would change just a couple of years later, as things always do) and it was a terrible time to open a new and very expensive second location. Second, Tarzana in 1966 was, well, Tarzana in 1966. The biggest thing around there was the Valley Music Theatre (a theater in the round), which, like most theaters in the round in LA, was beginning to flounder. Third, he went into business with some very shady people. The rest of that story is recounted in There’s Mel, There’s Woody, and There’s You. Here’s the ad – and if you read Larry Lipson’s column on the right, there is a mention of my father and the restaurant.
Today, I shall jog, I shall prep our new release for its Monday announcement (and hopefully hear and approve the master) – the packaging is already approved and at the printers. I shall eat, the work session has been pushed to Friday late morning, so I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, finish the liner notes and get those off for proofing and corrections, and I shall listen to some songs that we may or may not do in the August Kritzerland show. I’ll also read through my commentary just to make sure I like it. I may also try and see a little play nearby by someone I used to know. I’m sure it won’t be very good (I’ve read enough about it to know that, and Steve Moyer was its publicist and it didn’t seem he was too thrilled with it), but I’m just interested enough to want to see what it’s about. Tomorrow I’m seeing Barry Pearl’s ever-lovin’ Cindy in a play. I have no clew as to what’s happening on the weekend.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, prep a release, eat, finish liner notes, hopefully pick up some packages, listen to songs, and relax and maybe see a play. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your all-time favorite TV westerns, those oaters from the good old days. I can tell you some of mine right here and now and also now and here: Wild Bill Hickock, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Wyatt Earp, The Rifleman, Maverick, Gunsmoke, Annie Oakley (with Gail Davis), and Hopalong Cassidy – oh and The Cisco Kid. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I shall sing Help in ragtime.