Well, dear readers, yesterday was kind of a tuna sandwich day. Two of ‘em. On bagels. Only mayo and onions, no relish or anything else. Sometimes I think I’m a nut for eating so many tuna sandwiches, but then again, a nut spelled backwards is tuna. We SAG people finally got a link to stream all the movies nominated for SAG awards, so last night I finally got to see Maestro, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein. The majority of what I’ve read has treated this film like it’s the second coming of cinema. So, right off the bat I can say that, for me, no, it isn’t. People seem to think that shooting the beginning in black-and-white is some kind of cinema first. No, it isn’t. Even this year, Oppenheimer does the same thing. People think the genius decision to shoot most of the film in the old Academy ratio is a cinema first. It isn’t. So, what do we have here? We have a film called Maestro that doesn’t really cover that maestro part. It’s a film about Bernstein’s marriage and his bisexuality, then it turns into a cancer film. It really does seem like it’s more the wife’s story. There are certainly things to enjoy in the film. Cooper is mostly very good as Bernstein and Carey Mulligan shines as the wife. Everyone has been raving about Sarah Silverman as Bernstein’s sister, but I didn’t really care for her much. I’ll tell you whose brief appearances I did love – Maya Hawke as daughter Jamie Bernstein. She gets a really nice scene with Cooper where he denies the rumors about his bisexuality and labels them false. I had no idea that Maya Hawke is the daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. Who knew? The film skips most of Bernstein’s greatest hits – either mentioned in one-liner passings or not at all. I mean, West Side Story? C’mon, at least give it thirty seconds. The film jumps from the earlier years to the 1970s, which apparently were in color, since the film switches to color in those scenes. Why they’re still in the Academy ratio is anyone’s guess, since that wasn’t an option then and hadn’t been for many years. There are times when the make-up looks frighteningly like Bernstein, and other times when it doesn’t. I can’t say I hated it, and I can’t say I loved it. I enjoyed some of it and the rest was just sort of there. It will be up for scads of Oscars and most likely will win a few because that’s kind of what these things are designed for. I just wanted more, I guess. Maybe there’ll be some deleted scenes on the Blu-ray. Glad I saw it though and I do understand I’m in the minority.
I did get nine hours of sleep, so that was good. I answered e-mails when I finally got up, then went right to futzing and finessing and there was a LOT of it. I smoothed out almost every single page from the seventeen I’d written, made judicious edits, added a few things I’d left out, but thought overall it was interesting and read okay. I wrote a new paragraph then moseyed on over to Gelson’s to buy the tuna and bagels (slegab, spelled backwards). I came home, had the two sandwiches, which were fine, then I wrote about five pages. Then I watched Maestro, wrote nine more pages, and I’ll probably do a couple more before bed. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll check with the mail place because I never got around to it yesterday, if there’s anything worth picking up I’ll do so, I’ll futz and finesse, write new pages, eat, write more new pages, watch another nominated movie, write more new pages, and then I can watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week and weekend will be more writing and maybe even finishing the book. I think I’m down to the final seventy pages or so and it may end up being less than that. We shall see.
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, check with the mail place and go there if necessary, futz and finesse, write new pages, eat, write more new pages, watch another nominated film, write more new pages, and then I can watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite Leonard Bernstein shows and songs, ballets, and classical music? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to be a nut for tuna.