Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to the Ellora symphony of one Yasushi Akutagawa, quite a wonderful Japanese conductor from Japan. He not only wrote much classical music, he was also a prolific film composer, which is how I first knew him because of an LP on Varese Sarabande entitled Village of the Eight Gravestones, which I really liked and now have on a compact disc (CD). An interesting bit of did is that Mr. Akutagawa’s father was a very famous Japanese author from Japan, named Ryunosuke Akutagawa, who wrote the novella that the film Rashomon is based on. Anyway, the son can be very melodic and tuneful but also dissonant and dramatic, but all his classical works sound like film music. Speaking of film and music, we finally got two screeners that weren’t Amazon or Netflix movies that I could, if I wanted to, which I don’t, watch on – wait for it – Amazon or Netflix. Today we got two movies from Warner Bros. – The Batman and Elvis – separate movies, not The Batman meets Elvis, which actually might be entertaining. So, I figured that I’d watch both. Of course, that’s before knowing that the run time of The Batman is just under three hours. Yes, you heard that right, just under three hours. I know this particular film was mostly liked by critics (but not all critics) and loved by audiences, who spent 700 billion dollars to see it. I’m always baffled by these reboots or reimaginings so soon after the last reboot or reimagining. I guess they just want to squeeze every cent they can out of these endless franchises, which, frankly, I wish would dry up and blow away. I saw only a bit of one of the Christopher Nolan Batman movies – couldn’t stand it and shut it off. I saw the first Batman movie with Michael Keaton and didn’t really care for it, but in retrospect it’s sure better than what they’re doing now. So, what did I think of The Batman? I guess I enjoyed it for what it was, which is yet another dark, dank, angst-filled superhero movie. It’s a bore already, but people lap it up, so what do I know? The actors are fine and the effects are fine but it’s too damned long at that length and it would be easy to shave thirty minutes off its run time without hurting it at all. The score by Michael Giacchino is certainly better than a cello droning away, but not much. It’s very minimalist in feel – lots of repeated notes and phrases ad nauseam. It’s not terrible and it works well enough in the film. I hate the Batman costumes in all these reboots – what IS that? I think if someone actually goes back to the roots and makes a superhero movie that’s actually fun to sit through and cheer (think Richard Donner’s Superman) it will be a huge hit. These dark, dank, noirish things just get old very quickly – no fun, no joy, no moments to cheer (maybe they cheered the appearance of the Batmobile – wouldn’t know, since I didn’t see it in theaters. Then I watched the first ten minutes of Elvis and was so dizzy with its director’s visual excess that I turned it off and will save it for this evening. This director is simply exhausting – sometimes you just want everyone to settle down and, you know, tell a story rather than showing off every ten seconds. I did enjoy Tom Hanks’ portrayal of Colonel Tom Parker, or at least what I’ve seen of it.
Yesterday was a day that went by without irritants until the very end of the day. Had to deal with one in the immediate but slid the other to next week. I got seven-and-a-half hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, watched Darrell Brooks’ three people speak on his behalf, all asking for him to be sent to a mental health facility, but we all knew that would not be happening. Then Mr. Brooks spoke on his own behalf and I think we all knew exactly what he was going to do and do it he did, rambling on endlessly and pointlessly for over two hours. He’s only supposed to say what he thinks his sentencing should be and why – he never actually said that at all. What he did say was all me, me, me, I need medication, I’m a victim, more me, me, me and pity party. What he never did in those two endless hours was say I’m sorry for what I did. In fact, that is ALL he should have said. They took a recess and so did I.
I drove to the mail place and picked up the screeners, then drove to Home Depot a couple of miles away. I finally got someone to help me, but they didn’t have the part I needed, so I’m turning this over to the handyman to deal with – he knows what he’s doing and I don’t. He may have to order the part from the sink manufacturer, but maybe he’ll know a jernt that has it.
I stopped at Taco Bell on the way home and got a couple of things, came home, ate them, whilst watching the judge give her remarks. Of course, as we all knew he would, he interrupted, asked irrelevant questions and finally began yelling at the judge, who had him promptly removed from the courtroom and put in another room where he could watch and hear but not be heard. That was a relief. She spent as much time as she needed to give her thoughts, got very emotional while discussing the real victims, and not buying any of Mr. Brooks’ I need medication BS. Not her problem. She finally allowed him back in because he promised not to interrupt, but the minute he got back in he started up again, raising his voice, and she instantly had him removed again and never let him back in, which is her right when he abuses courtroom behavior, and the law is on her side about it. And then, at long last, she sentenced him. Six life sentences to run consecutively without parole for the six deaths. For all the other charges it was the maximum and all totaled that’s around eleven hundred years in prison. And that was that. He truly deserved everything he got – a true, vile, and evil psychopath with a very long criminal history. I’m sure that whoever has been advising him this entire time – and trust me, someone has been advising him all this time with all his sovereign citizen BS and stuff he would know nothing about – will help him file an appeal in the next twenty days. But this judge was perfection and her record of this hideous circus of a trial will kill any chance he thinks he might have for an appeal. She did everything by the book, made a record of every single thing citing case law, and then there’s Brooks’ own behavior that will get his appeal tossed out within minutes. This judge deserves all the accolades available and a nice vacation.
After that, I had some telephonic conversations, did a few things on the computer and then did my viewing. Around nine, I had a nice chicken salad sandwich from the Cheesecake Factory – it’s really good and I always enjoy it.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, the handyman will come at some point, I’ll finish the show order and commentary for sure, I’ll eat a sandwich or salad of some sort, I’ll ascertain whether there are any packages or mail to pick up, and then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow will be more of the same, not sure what’s happening on the weekend, and then it’s Thanksgiving week and won’t THAT be fun and turkey-filled? It will be.
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, have a handyman visit, finish the show order and commentary, eat, ascertain the package and mail situation, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What have been your favorite movies of 2022 thus far? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have finally gotten two screeners I actually wanted to view – The Batman meets Elvis, a story of superheroes and rock-and-roll.