Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, with that special glow that comes from seeing a truly delightful motion picture entertainment that is simply perfect in every way. It was the first film I chose to watch in the new Criterion Blu and Ray set because, well, here’s why because. The White Sheik is simply one of my all-time favorite Fellini films and one of my all-time favorite films period. The Criterion DVD was hideous – too dark (you couldn’t even see the backplate image for the main titles) and it was missing its end of part one, beginning of part two title cards, which was really irritating. Thankfully, the UK DVD had those missing cards and was lighter. I was shown The White Sheik for the first time back around 1976, I’d guess, in 16mm and dubbed and I offered to buy the print on the spot because I’d fallen in love with it immediately, and it was sold to me on the spot. I ran it for people whenever I could, and the reaction was always great. Then at some Fellini festival at some revival house, I finally saw it in Eyetalian, and it was even better, although there are a couple of things in the English dub that play funnier there for whatever reason. The new transfer is excellent – yes, they had to patch in some stuff that was damaged on the OCN but mostly what I see are only the opticals having that problem – and they look exactly like they looked on my 16mm print and I mean exactly. So, I had no problem with that at all because they are very clearly opticals every time.
Now, I just read the “review” at Criterion Forum (a site that is not an official Criterion site at all), a site I loathe, and this is the kind of thing their “reviewers” do – talking about the fact that some of the new scan was taken from second to fourth generation material – and I quote: “That shows through clearly at times, with stains, tram lines, mold residue, and frame jumps popping up, combined with a slightly dupier look. Thankfully these issues are more the exception than the rule, usually only showing up around scene transitions or cuts.” Clearly this guy has no idea what an optical is and I’d love someone to explain to me where this nonsensical verbiage comes from – I mean, stains? Tram lines? Mold residue? And yes, reviewer, opticals have more than a slightly dupier look because – I don’t know, all me craze – they’re dupes? And there is but a single frame jump when Alberto Sordi is on the motorcycle with his wife and it’s always been there. Overall, I was very happy with the transfer and boy do I love every frame of this film. The three leads are absolutely wonderful – Leopoldo Trieste, Alberto Sordi, and best of all, Brunella Bovo. Oddly, the other couple of reviews I’ve read don’t even really mention this film at all. And I’m still basking in the glow of this wonderful comedy. It was Fellini’s solo directorial debut (he’d co-directed one film prior to this one) and it’s a doozy of a debut.
Yesterday was a nice start to the new month, which I like to call December. I got about seven hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, heard another wonderful orchestration from Richard Allen, did some work at the piano, had a telephonic conversation with our very own Marshall Harvey – he now has all the video and audio files, so that’s great. Then I moseyed on over to the mail place and thankfully picked up an important envelope and one little package. I then had to do the double bank thing, but again thankfully the first bank branch in Studio City, which had been closed last month, was open again, so I went there, and that was really quick, and then walked over to my bank branch just down the street and there was a line there but it moved pretty quickly and I did what I needed to do and that was that. I then came right home.
I had a hankerin’ to do that really good barbecue jernt again and since I’d just gotten yet another 30% off coupon, that’s just what I did, this time ordering a half-rack of ribs (I’d checked the calorie count online and it was surprisingly friendly) and two sides – I chose baked beans and coleslaw. It arrived pretty fast, about twenty minutes later and I dove right into those ribs and they were amazing. I hate that cliché, the meat fell off the bone, but that’s what happened – the sauce was great, too. The baked beans had a slightly cinnamon kind of taste, but once I got used to it, I liked it, and I thought the coleslaw was pretty good, too. Next time I order from there it will be the California Reuben – turkey, Swiss, coleslaw, and 1000-Island dressing.
I then did some work on the computer, did some work at the piano, and then I sat on my couch like so much fish and watched The White Sheik, which you already know about.
Then I went directly to La Strada because that heinous overseas Blu-ray was so very terrible – well, La Strada, despite being from a dupe negative, looks pretty great, I thought. Excellent contrast and sharpness, and again a true masterpiece. Here we do get the English dub, because that’s the only way to hear Anthony Quinn and Richard Basehart’s own voices, which, of course, are dubbed in the Eyetalian version. Unfortunately, whoever voiced Giulietta Masina is not so hot. But, what a movie. Then ending is brilliant and shattering and Quinn and Masina give incredible performances. And that theme by Nino Rota is one of the greats. Next up I Vitteloni.
I did love one of the extras on The White Sheik – a radio interview accompanied by poster stills from someone’s “notable” Fellini poster collection. Well, once upon a time in a galaxy far, far way I not only had a notable Fellini poster collection, I had THE Fellini poster collection, literally the most envied collection in the world – every original release poster from every film through Juliet of the Spirits, in both large and extra-large form (both sizes had completely different art) and interestingly the hardest of them all to find, and it took me three YEARS, was The large quattro foglio for The White Sheik. I eventually sold all of it for a lot of dough to one well-known dealer – and I have never seen that large poster for The White Sheik since – not even an image of it anywhere – the smaller due foglio (still bigger than a one-sheet) shows up all the time.
After that, I listened to some music, including another opera by Franz Schreker called Der Schmied von Gent – his final opera and like Christophorus, more in his “modern” style and so I didn’t care for it all that much. I just really like his earlier style, which is just very pleasing to my ears. Oh, and guess what – after having been an Amazon Top 500 reviewer for the past nine months or so, a badge I wear proudly, yesterday I became a (drum roll) Top 100 reviewer.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat something fun (I have something in mind), I’ll work on project two, hopefully proof charts, do some stuff for the Kritzerland show, hopefully hear more orchestrations (you can’t imagine how much fun that is), and then at some point I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is more of the same – Kritzerland show stuff, shipping CDs, projects one and two stuff, one more Zoom rehearsal for the Kritzerland show, and whatever else needs doing.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, hopefully pick up packages, eat, work on project two, proof charts, do Kritzerland show stuff, and then watch, listen, and relax. 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, still basking in the glow of that most wonderful comedy, The White Sheik.