Well, dear readers, I shall write these here notes in a hurry because I am operating on two hours of sleep, am a zombified zombie, and at this moment have the personality of a three-toed sloth dating a five-toed weasel. I feel under the weather, under the rainbow, and under the yum yum tree. I feel I’m on the verge of getting sick or on the verge of needing another toe, so that I can personally be a twelve-toed Jew. Of course, feeling this way I have no idea what the HELL I’m talking about and I’m jiggy with that. I will go to bed shortly after posting these here notes and pray I get a good night’s beauty sleep because a good night’s beauty sleep peels away the lethargy and replaces it with elan and spunk and joie de vivre. That’s because sleep is peeled spelled backwards. Well, let’s get on with the show, shall we? I did watch two motion pictures last night – I re-watched the M. Night Shyamalan movie Split. I first saw it in 2017 when it came out. It stars James McAvoy and re-reading what I wrote back then, I thought it was okay. I purposely didn’t read reviews, and I knew nothing about it. Because she was an unknown at the time, I had no idea that the lead teen girl was Anya Taylor-Joy. Betty Buckley has a juicy role, but not as juicy as McAvoy’s many personalities he assumes. The whole movie is sat wondering if it was going to settle on what it wanted to be and then in the third act, for me, it just devolved into silliness. And then, after the first of the end credits, we get the “twist” if you want to call it that. Mr. Shyamalan is known for the twist – he should try the Wah-Watusi because the Twist is so 1962. Anyway, if you don’t know what the “twist” is STOP READING AND SKIP TO THE NEXT PARAGRAPH, although by now it should be known because, well, SPOILER ALERT. Split is a sequel to Unbreakable, but not until that final shot after the first end credit, when we see Bruce Willis. Split got split reviews but apparently was a box-office hit. Doing a sequel seventeen years later seems wacky to me. Then two years later, we got Glass, the last of what is a trilogy. Glass got pretty bad reviews but was a hit. I found it awful on just about every level except the acting. And the third act, as in Split, just devolves into a puddle of endless action scenes, and then after that it doesn’t know when to stop. Shyamalan’s output in the last two decades makes you wonder what happened, especially with his latest, Trap. He has a good visual sense and is good with actors – it’s the stories he’s telling and the writing of those stories.
However, both Split and Glass’s biggest directorial mistake is not having James Newton Howard do the scores. Howard was integral to the success of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, and whatever one thinks of Signs – some love it, some don’t – it has a great score. But with Split and Glass he’s hired one of the droning boys – music as wallpaper and sound design and it really hurts both films. In fact, the only time either really registers any emotion is when the new composer reuses a cue from Unbreakable. James Newton Howard could have helped both films immeasurably.
Prior to that, I got two hours of sleep – phlegm, Pepcid, all of it. I don’t get it, frankly. I’d purposely not eaten anything after six. I was in bed by two-thirty, up at three-thirty and somewhere at some point got another hour. I answered e-mails, followed an auction that included a lot from the estate of the late Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme. Big prices and a lot of items. But the non-estate stuff was fascinating. One item especially – a 2004 Bentley in great condition, that went for a super reasonable 16K. I was hoping to nap and got into bed after having some Popeye’s – being careful not to overeat – I haven’t had any food since and yet I still have that yucky feeling that nothing has digested. The nap plan didn’t pan out, but of course nap is pan spelled backwards. I was hoping to doze off during the two movies, and I guess I did during one, for about twenty minutes – not really that helpful. I’ve been popping Sambucol throughout the day and evening, too. And here we are.
Today, which is Monday, I’ll hopefully be up after a good night’s beauty sleep. Once up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, work at the piano, choose the songs for the holiday show, and search for a set designer for Drat! The Cat! At some point, I’ll eat and then watch, listen, and relax.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals and more of the same.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up after a good night’s beauty sleep, do whatever needs doing, work at the piano, choose songs, search for a set designer, eat, and watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite films of that fine actor, Samuel L. Jackson? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, hoping that the zombified me becomes unzombified sooner than later.