Well, dear readers, it’s the day before Thanksgiving, and here I am, sitting like a puddle of emotional fish having just finished a Studio Ghibli film I’d not seen, made in 2014 and entitled When Marnie Was There, based on an English novel by Joan G. Robinson. I knew nothing about it, other than it was the second feature directed by the fellow who did the wonderful The Secret Life of Arietty. I didn’t know what to expect, really, and I knew I would miss the film not having a Joe Hisaishi score. Well, five minutes in put that to rest, as the music was in that mode and equally as beautiful as Hisaishi. The film is absolutely stunning to look at, the characters are wonderful, it’s VERY emotional and, at the end, completely satisfying in tying up all the plot strands. Once again, no villains, just an unhappy young girl filled with self-loathing and no self-esteem because she’s a foster child. She’s withdrawn and lashes out at people with sudden ferociousness. She also has asthma and is sent to spend a summer with relatives of her foster parents, where the air is clean and will do her some good. And to say more would not be right – all I’m telling you is to find it and watch it – in JAPANESE only with English subtitles. Don’t even think about the dubbed version. Of course, I needed the soundtrack, but it’s hard to find – a two-CD set that seems to only be available from Japanese dealers and therefore really expensive, especially with the postage, and it would take two months to arrive. No thanks. So, thankfully the two-CD set was available as downloads on Amazon for ten bucks and I got that and am listening to it as I write these here notes and bathing in the beauty of its themes. The composer is named Takatsuga Muramatsu and I’ll be checking out other stuff, should there be anything up on YouTube. Obviously, highly recommended by the likes of me. And prior to that, I’d finished up Passing, which rather feels like an arty 1960s super low-budget film. It was okay – good performances, but it just kind of lays there like so much fish and then ends. Of course, while the filmmakers say it was indeed a low-budget film, I’ve never thought ten million dollars should be called low-budget, but that’s just me.
And after I finished that, I watched a DGA screener that had arrived yesterday – Tick, Tick…Boom. To start, I am not a fan of Jonathan Larson’s show, Rent. Just not. Saw the tour and pretty much hated it – the production, the score (save for Seasons of Love), the set – but I know people love it more than anything, which is why it ran for twelve years. Tick, Tick…Boom came before and chronicled Larson’s attempts to be a musical theater writer who longs to be heard and produced. Encouraged by my close personal friend, Mr. Stephen Sondheim, was encouraging to him. Sondheim, in this film, is portrayed by Bradley Whitford, who certainly has his quirky persona down pretty well. So, what did I think? It’s very well made and directed, one is thankful that the pace is perky up until the final ten or fifteen minutes, and Andrew Garfield is certainly as good as everyone says. Now, if you’re on any social media platforms where there are musical theater people, they would have you believe that this is perhaps the greatest movie musical ever made – they love it, I think, because they’ve been through the struggles, and it simply resonates with people who are impassioned and struggling. I never really went through that – I just did what I did and if something did or didn’t happen, it did or didn’t happen. I never lived in a grungy apartment in Soho or the Village or any of that stuff. So, it didn’t resonate with me on that level and therefore I didn’t find it to be the greatest movie musical ever made. One thing it has going for it is that Netflix, prior to its release, wasn’t shoving it down everyone’s throats, so without that relentlessness (yes, I’m looking at you, In the Heights and now West Side Story) it gives folks a chance to simply discover and enjoy sans hype. Clearly, it’s not gonna break any box-office records – in fact, most reports say that people are seeing it with maybe three or four others in the theater. It has no actual grosses save for South Korea. How many will watch it on the Flix of Net will probably not be known. There were one or two things that had hints of a tune, but I’m just not a fan of this kind of music, but it’s enjoyable in its way and creative folks certainly understand the emotions of it. Glad to have seen it.
Yesterday was a day, most likely a Tuesday. I could not fall asleep and didn’t until around five, and then I slept until around noon, so seven hours of sleep or thereabouts. Once up, I had e-mails to answer, then I had to make a Venmo account because Cindy Williams wanted to send me something for writing her that piece of special material. I told her she didn’t really have to, but she insisted. I don’t know from Venmo but was amused to see that it’s part of PayPal but operates separate from them. You can’t even transfer money from Venmo to PayPal, only to a bank account and you can’t even do that until you verify that – they make a small deposit and then take that out, and you have to verify those amounts, which can take a few days. Meanwhile, her payment showed up and I was completely taken aback by the amount, which was, how shall we say, really generous and just shows you what kind of human she is.
Then I went to the mail place and picked up a few packages, including the screener, then came right home. I made the tiny pizza thing with Boboli crust, Prego pizza sauce, and pepperoni – it was pretty good and certainly as good as the first time I made it. I ate that and a little pumpkin pie after, but knew I’d need to eat something later – the pizza thing was under 500 calories. Then I did a little writing, which I think went well. And then I began the watching portion of the afternoon and evening and the rest you know.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll write a bit, I’ll hopefully pick up some packages, I’ll eat something light and fun, and then I have to make a folder of the holiday show music for our musical director, Lloyd Cooper, and get that to him so we can have our work session early next week, although it’s a pretty easy show. And then, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I’ll be here on my own, as I was last year. I remember ordering a turkey dinner from Paty’s in Toluca Lake last year – it was very good. Maybe I’ll see if they’re doing that again this year, or maybe I’ll just buy a few turkey slices from Gelson’s – who knows? Not I. Then I’m attending an opening night on Friday, then the weekend is pretty open, which is good.
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, hopefully pick up packages, eat, get music to the musical director, 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, happy to have written Tick, Tick…Notes.