Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to Andre Previn conduct the Albinoni Adagio and other short warhorses like Humperdinck’s overture for Hansel & Gretel and Ravel’s La Valse. Pleasant music for a Friday evening approaching the midnight hour. I did manage to watch two motion pictures earlier. The first motion picture was entitled The Wrath of Becky – never heard of it but sounded like it might be a fun teen revenge picture so I gave it a whirl. From frame one you know they watched Kill Bill because that’s the vibe, trying to be cutesy and quirky, two things I can live without in movies. The young girl is okay, the other actors are playing cliched characters, the violence is over-the-top, of course, like Tarantino and even Last Night in Soho. Later, reading up on it, it’s a sequel to Becky, which “came out” in 2020 – by came out I mean it streamed and played a handful of whatever drive-ins are left and yet it was proclaimed an Indie surprise hit. Come on, already. At that time, the girl was fourteen, in the new one she’s playing sixteen and apparently they rely on a sixteen-year-old for the story and character “development” which is everything that’s wrong with the movie business today and perhaps why we get so many dreadful movies. Come on, already. I don’t know what these films cost, but unless Quiver Distribution paid them enough money to cover those costs, I can’t imagine either film made much money, if anything. These films are all the same, what they call the Indie market today. They’re made so they can debut in some trendy film festival, then they’re picked up by some distributor and go right to streaming. Anyway, it was short, which is more than I can say about the second motion picture I watched, which was entitled John Wick: Chapter 4. I saw the first three chapters and wrote about them – I found them fun, but each of them became a bit more convoluted and less fun – the fight sequences were terrific, and they didn’t really overstay their welcome. I found the first to be the most fun, but the second was more stylish and the third had some fun things in it. The run times of the first three were as follows: 103 minutes, 122 minutes, and 131 minutes. I think you can probably see where this is going. John Wick: Chapter 4 runs 169 minutes and while it was a substantial hit, at that length I just becomes completely repetitious and a bore. This one’s really convoluted, the fight scenes are not anywhere near as exciting as the first three films, mostly because we’ve seen it all before and this one adds nothing new to them. They’re still well staged and there’s no ridiculous editing in them – you really see what’s going on and always have geography. There’s just too many, a few of the dialogue-heavy scenes really go on way past their expiry date, and I just kind of tuned out after a while, although I did finish it. Dear filmmakers, longer does not always equate to better. Please learn this simple lesson.
Yesterday was pretty much a ME day. I got seven hours of sleep, the helper told me she’d be coming in an hour to pick up the Preview Harvey books, so I had to get all that together and sign them, which I did. I also ordered food from Jack in the Box, just because I wanted something fast and easy. The helper arrived and took possession of the books and then food arrived and I took possession of it and ate it all up and it was fine. I answered some e-mails and really that was about the extent of doing anything but relaxing and then watching the two movie and now listening to music.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing and then I can have another ME day. I’ll probably mosey on over to the mail place to see what’s what and I’ll probably pick up something to eat, but mostly I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow, I’m attending a matinee of a play and afterwards I may have some dinner around there. Then this coming week is a bunch of meetings and meals and doing 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, have a ME day, go to the mail place, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite movies of substantial length – three hours and over. I don’t mind a long movie as long as it holds the attention and delivers the goods. Some of my favorites are (and I’m including a few that are just under three hours) Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Ben-Hur, King of Kings, the second Mutiny on the Bounty, The Sound of Music and West Side Story, Spartacus, El Cid, Exodus, The Best Years of Our Lives, for starters. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to know that the books are shipping out.