Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much late fish, having to write these late notes in a hurry. Whilst writing them, I’m listening to Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg by Richard Wagner, a very long opera of almost four hours duration spread over four CDs. But I’d rather have that and these glorious melodies than the opera I attempted to listen to prior to it – an opera by someone named Peter Eotvos – The Three Sisters, from the Chekov play. I took a chance on it – one has to do that every now and then and sometimes those chances pay off and sometimes they don’t. This didn’t pay off. It’s a modern opera circa the late 1990s from what I can gather. There are only a couple of “reviews” on Amazon, both five stars, and one of which states that he listened to it three times in a row, so much did he love it. Wonderful melodic content, said he. Well, I don’t know what CD he was listening to, but there’s not a melody in sight. It’s as if the composer just threw up a bunch of random notes in the air and let them land where they may. It’s thoroughly irritating and, of course, does not serve Mr. Chekov or his play especially well. I honestly don’t understand how the singers learned what they had to sing. As to listening to it three times in a row, if I’d done that, I would have become a serial killer. This makes Schoenberg and Weber, and other serial composers seem like master melodists. I kept thinking, my kingdom for a melody. I finally had to shut it off. Mind you, I like pieces that aren’t necessary melodic – moody, dark, whatever – like a lot of film music – but strident noise is not my thing. Then Wagner came to the rescue with actual tunes. I also managed to watch a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Lost in America, an Albert Brooks movie. What an odd seven films he’s made and how lucky he is to have gotten money to make them, considering none of them set the box-office on fire. His highest grossing film was Mother, and that made only nineteen million dollars. All his other films were either flops or minor break-evens. I think he’s made one great film and one film that I enjoy but that I don’t think quite makes it to greatness. The others just fall flat for me, and that includes Mother, although I should probably see that again. His first film, Real Life, has a few funny moments, but it doesn’t sustain and loses steam pretty quickly. Then came Modern Romance, which I hated when I saw it, mostly because his character in that one is so completely obnoxious. Yes, it has a few funny moments, but I just couldn’t get past his character, I’m afraid. Then came Lost in America. I saw that one on its opening day and enjoyed it. There were some truly hilarious things in it – huge laughs – and it was short, eighty-eight minutes. He had Julie Hagerty, who was terrific, and the entire Vegas sequence worked perfectly. It does meander a bit, but basically, I really liked it. Garry Marshall’s scene was brilliantly acted and got the biggest laughs in the film. After that came Defending Your Life, which I love. I don’t know that he knew going in how it was going to turn out, but whatever alchemy was at work, everything just worked. In the interview on that disc, you can kind of tell that things morphed as they went along, and Meryl Streep just grounds the film perfectly, and Brooks himself is at long last likeable. That was followed five years later by Mother.
But then came The Muse, which I thought was horrible and which bombed, and then his last film (thus far), Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World, which flopped horribly and pretty much was critically reviled. That was in 2005 and he hasn’t written and/or directed anything since. But if he’d only done Lost in America and Defending Your Life, that would have marked him as a terrific and unique comic filmmaker.
Yesterday, I got nine hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, and had telephonic conversations, chose songs (I think they’re all chosen now, save for one), did some work on the computer, had a brief visit from a CD dealer, who picked up some stuff, then I shaved and showered and went to the mail place, where I picked up one package and one envelope. Then it was on to Vitello’s for an early dinner with Robert Yacko, kind of a weekly thing we do now. I tried something new – a chicken Caesar wrap, and it was really excellent. It came with a very small side Caesar salad.
Then I came home, answered more e-mails, finally had a couple of orders (it’s been a dry three days), got the current release masters to approve, which I’ll do today or tomorrow, and then I watched the movie. I also watched the interviews that were included as extras. As I had the night before, I made about four ounces of pasta with red sauce for my evening snack – it was good. Then I listened to music and the rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I have two sets of liner notes to write, I have a show order to make, and then, if I’m feeling like it, I may head over to the Hollywood Show to say hi to some folks. I was pretty set to not go because I just don’t think that would be any fun wearing a mask, but someone told me it’s pretty loose once you’re inside. I’ll text Barry Pearl at around two-thirty and see how it’s going. We shall see. Then I’ll eat something fun, and then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’ll finish whatever I haven’t finished and then have a ME day. Then Monday through Thursday are meetings/meals every day, and I have to do a work session for the Kritzerland show, so a very busy week indeed.
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, write two sets of liner notes, make a show order, decide whether to visit the Hollywood Show, eat, hopefully pick up packages, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are YOUR favorite films of Albert Brooks – both his own films and the films in which he’s an actor. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be listening to an actual melody.