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July 22, 2014:

WHEN THE SEQUEL ISN’T EQUAL

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, this week is flying by, like a gazelle in a glue factory.  Of course, it is quite late and I’ve been up and doing things with only six hours of sleep, so if I become incoherent you dear readers will understand why.  Did I just write IF I become incoherent?  Since when haven’t I been incoherent?  I thrive on being incoherent and it’s one of the trademarks of these here notes.  IF I become incoherent – it is to laugh.

Yesterday began in the wee small hours of the morning, six to be exact, when I announced our new title.  It would have actually been nice if that’s when I woke up, but for whatever reason I woke up at four-thirty.  So, I got out of bed at five, got everything prepared for the announcement and then at six just had to click “post” on various sites.  Unfortunately, the Film Score Monthly board is so antiquated that nothing works properly there.  I managed to get Won Ton Ton posted but it took me five tries to get Centennial Summer posted and by that time if there’d been a gazelle around here I would have strangled it with a shoelace.  Then the same damn thing happened on Facebook on the Kritzerland page – I got Centennial Summer’s cover up, but could not get Won Ton Ton’s cover up – that took about twelve tries.

Then I went back to bed at around eight and slept for three more hours.  I got up and had to download a lot of music that had been sent, which I then began listening to – it’s pretty great.  The downloads were large and took some time.  Then I went and had some lunch – a quesadilla with guacamole and salsa and sour cream, oh my.  It was yummilicious.  Then I picked up one package, then came back home.

I spent the next couple of hours listening to everything I’d downloaded, plus I’m trying to get my lyrics for the song I’m singing at the Kritzerland show in my head – I have most of it, but the final verse is being stubbornly elusive.  Stubbornly Elusive – that’s the title of my next novel.  Then I sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched the sequel to Red, which was entitled Red 2.  As most of you know, I’d never even heard of the first Red, but as silly as it was I found it very enjoyable, thanks to its colorful cast and breezy style. For me, Red 2 comes nowhere close to the first film, despite most of the same player.  Suddenly the screenwriters get cocky and extremely lazy, giving up the ghost of any logic whatsoever (the first film, while silly, did have at least a modicum of logic and some sweetness that’s entirely missing from the sequel).  So, we get lots more action, no real characterizations and an amusing turn by Anthony Hopkins, despite the horrible writing of his role.  Mary-Louis Parker once again is the rock of the film and she does have some amusing moment.  In the first film, John Malkovich was on the verge of being irritating all through the film – in the sequel he is completely irritating.  Helen Mirren is just plain fun and so is Brian Cox.  So, to cut to the chase – it’s just another case when the sequel is not equal.

Then, because I was in a Mary-Louise Parker kind of mood, I watched the first episode of the first season of Weeds.  I never watched it because its subject matter would just be annoying to me, as I hate any and all kinds of drugs.  This thing has been on eight seasons.  What I wasn’t prepared for was how bad I thought it was – I thought the writing was really sub-par and its endless attempts to be cable-quirky were not successful.  I cannot even imagine what they’ve done for eight seasons because I could barely get through the first episode – I didn’t like any of the characters and that’s kind of the kiss of death for me.  The first season was in 2005 and it’s amazing how fast the stuff in the show has dated.  Not for me, I’m afraid.

After that, I did a two-and-a-half mile jog, then I listened to more music, I got the raw tracks for another Kritzerland project, which I then listened to and which are great, and that was about it.

Today, I shall hopefully arise after a good night’s beauty sleep.  I shall eat some breakfast to tide me over until the six o’clock meeting – I know there will be Dino’s Pizza at the meeting, so I think just doing some eggs won’t do much damage, plus I’ll jog, and then I should be able to eat three of the teeny-tiny Dino’s slices.  Can’t wait and hopefully the meeting will go well.

Tomorrow, I’m seeing a singer/actor named Scott Dreier do his tribute to Doris Day, Doris and Me – it’s at the El Portal Theater and I’ll probably eat at the Eclectic Café before the show.  The rest of the week is just learning my song, finessing the Kritzerland commentary, having a work session with our musical director, and perhaps even finding a moment or two to relax.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, eat, jog, hopefully pick up some packages, listen to more music and then have a meeting.  Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite sequels to movies – ones where they were as good or maybe even better than the original.  And what do you think the worst sequels have been?  Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland knowing that sometimes the sequel isn’t equal.

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