Well, dear readers, once again I must write these here notes in a hurry because once again I did not get home until after eleven and once again I had to have two long telephonic conversations. But here I am, ready to write some notes, so without further delay or ado, the notes.
The first thing I should let you know is that apparently autumn has arrived – it was only 95 degrees today. So, that was nice. Last night at this time it was 95 degrees – tonight at this time it is 75 degrees. Progress is being made. Progress is the root of all evil. What am I, General Bullmoose all of a sudden? In any case, I only got about two-and-a-half hours of sleep and was up at four-thirty. I just tossed and turned for a while, and then for a little variety I turned and tossed for a while. I played on the iPad and then I finally fell back asleep around seven and slept till ten-thirty, so I think I got a little over five hours of sleep.
Once up, I had to answer quite a few e-mails, did work on the computer, got the news that we could do a short vocal comping session, which was great because it makes Monday’s session much easier. Then I went and had some lunch – a cup of chicken corn chowder and a turkey sandwich and no fries or onion rings. Then I did some banking, after which I came back home. I did a bit of writing, made the event page for the October Kritzerland show, which always takes forever, and then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Yesterday I finished watching the new Godzilla movie. I have been a Godzilla fan ever since seeing the Raymond Burr American version of Gojira. I believe I first saw it at the Picfair Theater but I wouldn’t really swear to it. If it wasn’t there, then I didn’t discover it until 1960, which is possible – it played for an entire week on the Channel Nine Million Dollar Movie and I watched every single showing. And over the years I have seen every single Godzilla movie, from the 60s right through to now. I enjoyed quite a few of the silly 1960s and 1970s efforts, but I really liked when Toho began taking them seriously again, in the mid-1980s. I really like quite a few of those films. I loathed the late 90s stupid Godzilla movie with Matthew Broderick – it was Godzilla in name only and it was dreadful. I’d heard quite a bit about this new film, how it was a throwback to the Toho films and done with respect for the history of the franchise. So, I was quite looking forward to seeing it.
Well, yes, it’s kind of an homage, but to the Toho films of the 80s and 90s. But that’s where it ends. Godzilla 2014 is, for me, terrible. There is not one character you know anything about and you certainly don’t care about them. It’s by-the-numbers screenwriting, but with truly terrible dialogue, plotting that makes no sense, jumping from scene to scene incoherently with no sense to the time structure of the story. The real villain of the picture isn’t Godzilla – Godzilla, as in the 60s and 70s films, is the good guy. The villain is the MUTO, some creature that looks like it’s escaped from a Gamera movie. There’s no fun, there’s no sense of drama, just scene after scene of I don’t know what, really. It’s all perfunctory and pointless. I read a few reviews that said this director really did a great job. I must have not seen that movie because there’s not a single great thing in his direction. The movie is relentlessly gray and very dark – I mean, you literally cannot tell what’s going on some of the time. The director never gives you the geography of a scene and therefore you never really have a clew as to where you actually are in the action scenes. The big boy makes his first extremely brief appearance about sixty-five minutes into the film. He comes back a bit later and has a few more minutes of screen time. Sorry, it’s called GODZILLA. Yes, some of the other films didn’t hurry for the big boy’s first appearance, but he did get a lot more screen time than here.
For me, the original Gojira has never been topped. That film is somber, real, and you buy everything in it – and Godzilla is the VILLAIN. That film is a masterpiece of moviemaking, writing, music and effects. I recommend that very highly (there is a Criterion Blu and Ray). I cannot recommend Godzilla 2014 in any way, shape or form and that’s all there is to it. Sorry big boy.
After that, I had one long telephonic call that will hopefully get some stuff back on a better road, then I went to the engineer’s house and we comped three more vocals. Two went very quickly, but the third took quite a bit of time, mostly because I am a perfectionist and because that particular song, which was written for me to perform in a musical of mine (Together Again), is a deceptively hard song to sing when it’s placed in a female voice. But it came out really well so all’s well that ends well. After that, I came directly home.
Today, I’m hoping to just relax, finish liner notes, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and then I attend the Bewitched Fan Event at the Sportsman’s Lodge. I will, of course, have a full report for you.
Tomorrow, I’m supping with Kay Cole and her ever-lovin’ Michael Lamont, then seeing something called Psyche the Musical. Saturday, I do the morning shift at the Bewitched Fan Event, signing photos and I’ll have my first memoir there for sale. Sunday I’m seeing Kiss Me, Kate at the Pasadena Playhouse. Then next week is all Sandy Bainum stuff. Monday night we finish the vocal comps and I’ll listen to them all and make sure I’m happy with them. Then Tuesday evening we meet at Westlake Audio and I hear all the mixes and do my thing with them and get them to where I’m happy. Then on Wednesday Lanny Meyers joins us and he listens and we do his tweaks and then we’re basically finished. I really think it’s going to be a pretty terrific album. Funnily, while I sit there doing the work, I never think that “Oh, isn’t it great to hear all my songs” because I just concentrate on Sandy, the band and the feel of it – I just don’t have that songwriter ego of some I could name but won’t because, you know, they probably read these here notes. I’ve never had that gene of self-promotion for my songs, which is probably too bad, but that’s the way it is.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, write, eat, hopefully pick up some packages and then attend the Bewitched Fan Event. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Godzilla movies and other Japanese monster (kaiju) films? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, after which I shall perhaps watch the original Gojira or even the Raymond Burr American version known as Godzilla.