Well, dear readers, this week is flying by, like a gazelle pitching woo. Does anyone still pitch woo? Did you know, for example, that woo spelled backwards is oow? Just asking. I think I’ll pitch some woo. The question is with me pitching would the woo strike out, walk, or get on base or, at the very least, on bass? I want to pitch some damn woo. Oh, well, I suppose the pitching of the woo will have to wait until I find some person to whom I WISH to pitch the damn woo. But if I do, I’ll be the first person to say woo hoo. What the HELL am I talking about?
Yesterday was a day in which I did things. One thing I did was get up in the morning. That’s always a good thing to do. I had an early morning telephonic conversation with the East Coast Singer, and we chatted briefly about the show and how the band rehearsal had gone. Then I did some work on the computer and was then told that we were completely sold out for the Kritzerland anniversary show, with a growing waiting list. So, we began discussions about doing something we’ve never done in all our three years – adding a second performance. We’re thinking it would be a matinee at three o’clock, but it could also be a later show at ten, but I’m much preferring the matinee option. So, we’ve put the word out to the cast, most of which has responded that it would be fine and now we’re just waiting on final word from the club. That way, those who are on the waiting list for the evening show can switch to the matinee and I’m fairly sure we’d have a nice big crowd for the matinee and maybe even sell that out, too. We shall see.
Then I had some chicken tenders, then picked up a couple of packages, then came home and did a three-mile jog. After that, I had to drive to the Bank of Bur to pick up some tapes for an upcoming Kritzerland project (either our next or the one that follows) – this will be a very big album for us IF the missing three minutes of cues are on these tapes – that way we’d be the first to release this score in complete form, plus we can put on quite a few bonus tracks and since it involves a fan favorite composer I’m quite sure it will be an instant sell out even if I go up to 1500 units, which I probably would. I can’t tell you how selling out that many CDs quickly would be for Kritzerland – very helpful indeed. We shall see.
Then I had a pep talk with Sandy before the show. Then I did more work on the computer, did a first pass at a show order so I can start writing the contextual commentary for the anniversary show, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Body Double, released by Twilight Time. I saw Body Double on its opening day, because the person I was involved with at the time was very good friends with Gregg Henry, who was one of the stars of the film. I’d met Gregg and his wife and liked both very much. My history with Mr. De Palma at that point was hit and miss. I was a fan from the time I first saw Sisters. Then I saw and loved Phantom of the Paradise, which had some real originality to it, I thought. I enjoyed Obsession, but it was becoming obvious that his Hitchcock fetishism was overtaking him. That was followed by Carrie, which I think is his best film. Then I saw The Fury, which I found okay, cheesy, and a little wacky, where De Palma’s “style” was at the expense of a good script. Then came Dressed to Kill, which I loathed – all the Hitchcock ripoffs, which were endless, the easy to figure out “twists” – and all the overblown “style” – and yet, people LOVED it. I missed Home Movies, but saw Blow Out, which I kind of enjoyed, even though again the overblown style verged on ridiculous at times – these set pieces of De Palma’s. Then came Scarface – fun in its way, but a little revolting, but the performance by Pacino is so weird and wild that you just sort of go with the film and its excesses. And then came Body Double.
Now, this film has a big fan base, for reasons that really elude me. People think this is a brilliant film. If you’re one of them, best to skip right to the next paragraph. Body Double starts fine. The first fifteen minutes is fine. And then it gets ridiculous so fast and remains ridiculous for so long and then gets more ridiculous with each passing minute. The Hitchcock mania is in full force here, from Rear Window to Vertigo. We get a replay of the museum scene from Dressed to Kill, which was, of course, a replay of the Scottie following Madeline scenes in Vertigo – in Body Double the scene happens in a Beverly Hills little boutique center. Back on the film’s opening day, I figured out everything that was going to happen instantly from about twenty minutes in. Some of De Palma’s direction borders on the inept in terms of keeping the “twists” hidden from the audience. Anyone who doesn’t know who is doing what to whom early on isn’t watching carefully because De Palma so easily gives it away in the way he shoots what Craig Wasson is watching through the telescope. I can’t say more without spoiler warnings, but it gets worse after that and again, there was no surprise for me at any point along the way. Mr. Wasson is forced to play a character who is so stupid it’s mind boggling – he has no chance, and Mr. De Palma, it would seem, encourages him to go to very over the top places, and it’s painful to watch at times. Gregg’s fine, Deborah Shelton is dubbed for some reason and is pretty bad, but she certainly isn’t helped by Mr. De Palma or the script (which he co-wrote) – there’s the usual ridiculous lust-filled out of nowhere love scene with Wasson and Shelton on a public beach at the head of a tunnel – here Mr. De Palma perfectly replicates the exact 360-degree shot that Mr. Hitchcock uses in Vertigo, complete with the rear projection. There is one scene of violence that is so stupid it defies credulity – it involves a rather well endowed power drill and a woman. I kid you not. You don’t see anything really, but it’s fairly hilarious.
There’s no use going on, except to say that the film becomes almost watchable once Melanie Griffith appears. This was in the day when she was one of the cutest women on Earth – just adorable and real and funny and endearing – and so she is in Body Double. She suddenly lifts this awful thing into a whole other place, but it’s short-lived because she’s really only in about thirty minutes of the film. The most shocking thing on this Blu-ray is an interview done with Miss Griffith a few years ago – to see what this woman has done to her face is just, I don’t know, upsetting. She looks like a caricature – a really bad caricature. The good news is that the transfer is perfect and the film looks better on this Blu-ray than it did in the theater, where the prints were not very well done and were excessively grainy. So, if you’re a fan of De Palma or you enjoy Body Double I’d recommend this disc highly but I don’t really have to since it’s already sold out.
After that, I listened to our mixes from last night – they’re really quite good, but I found a handful of things to nitpick and adjust – really tiny things, but I’m a perfectionist. But the majority of what I heard made me very happy indeed. Then the tape transfer guy picked up the tapes that I’d picked up earlier. Then I heard from Sandy, who told me the show had gone very well and that the audience had a really good time. She told me she screwed up one patter thing, but did the right thing and made a funny comment about it and then fixed it – which is exactly how to handle that sort of thing. They videotaped it, so I’ll get to see it eventually.
Here’s the final song I wrote for the musical that’s featured in Writer’s Block. As I mentioned, the musical they’re supposed to be trying out is called Bus and Truck and this was the title song I came up with. For those who’ve read the book, the composer’s name is Stanley Sherman – note the initials and note further that I gave Mr. Sherman the characteristics of two notable theater composers who share those same initials. So, for the title song, I purposely used a couple of vamps that have the feel of one of those composers. This is sung by our mighty ensemble, which included Guy Haines, Barbara Deutsch, Alet Taylor, I think Juliana Hansen was there, Tammy Minoff was there, I think, and I can’t remember who the guys were. Anyway, here’s the title song for Bus and Truck.
That was quite perky, wasn’t it? I’d actually like to see Bus and Truck. Today, I shall have a morning conversation with Sandy about upcoming schedules – we’ll be doing a CD launch both in LA and NY, so we have to coordinate all that. So, our NY contingent, get ready because I want a big get-together and I’d also like you all to come to the CD launch partay. I’ll do a jog, eat, hopefully pick up some packages, we’ll be shipping the Preminger at Fox CDs, and that’s pretty much the day part of today. The evening part of today is attending an event with Marilyn and Alan Bergman – not attending WITH them, an event in which they are the guests.
Tomorrow I have a lunch meeting (the one I mistakenly thought was last week), and then there’s a few other things happening, including writing two sets of liner notes and the commentary for the Kritzerland anniversary show. Not sure what’s happening on the weekend, other than Sunday we’re back in the studio with Lanny so he can hear our mixes.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, have a telephonic conversation, jog, eat, write and then attend an event. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall dream of pitching woo.