Well, dear readers, I have breaking bombshell news and I really must share it for without this breaking bombshell news you will not be in the know, you will be adrift in a sea of knowledge run amok. Here it is: It is April. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is April, and it is my fervent hope and prayer that April will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. Make it so, April. We all need it. You know we do and that is no April Fool’s joke. I tell you, this year is flying by, like a gazelle trapped in a maze of maize. Have you ever been trapped in a maze of a maize? It’s pretty amazing. Right now, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to Ennio Morricone’s brilliant soundtrack to Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. I have an interesting history with this film. I saw it on July 16 at the Albermarle Theater, where I worked for a brief time whilst living in Brooklyn, Flatbush to be exact. The Albermarle was a lovely theater, one of several, on Flatbush Avenue. I’d seen a few movies there before going to work, but I was only there a brief time because I left to do a production of Stop the World – I Want to Get Off as both actor and director, in stock in New Jersey. I believe my stay there was probably no more than two or three weeks, tops. And during my final two weeks, they played Once Upon a Time in the West, and I saw it many times during its two weeks there. At the time, I’d enjoyed all three Dollars films, but I didn’t know what to think of the two hour and forty-five minute Once Upon a Time in the West. I was mesmerized with it in a lot of ways, but I didn’t know if I was seeing a brilliant film or merely a good film that had a very long running time. I think by week two I’d decided that it was brilliant. It looked incredible, the actors were great, the photography was amazing, and the music was fantastic. At some point in that second week, I began watching it again and realized it was now shorter, with many scenes either truncated or left out completely. I couldn’t believe it and it pretty much killed the movie – it was about twenty minutes removed. Anyway, in the end I was in love with the film, bought the soundtrack album and played it over and over again, and eventually owned an IB Tech/scope 16mm print of the truncated version, which is the only way you could see the film until it was finally put back the way it was for the DVD release. There’s tons of misinformation about this film – I just corrected a few things on the Wikipedia page because whoever wrote it didn’t know what they were talking about. Both Wikipedia and the imdb list the release date as May 29 in New York. Nope, July 16 in New York and July 23 in Los Angeles and nowhere else in the US prior to those dates. The LA run was in terrible second-rate theaters on a double bill with El Dorado and I believe LA got the newly cut-down version, hence the double bill. Here’s the ad for the NY run – note the Albermarle in Brooklyn.
Why am I talking about this? Oh yes, in addition to listening to the soundtrack, I also watched the movie last night. I have the Blu-ray from 2011 – I really was not fond of it – same master as the DVD from years prior to that, and with color that was okay but not nearly accurate and just a real video look to it – and yet, everyone raved. Not I. But there was a thread on the Home Theater Forum that it was coming on 4K from a new 4K restoration. Then someone said Vudu had it and it could be had for ten bucks and that to their eyeballs it looked like a brand-new transfer. I never trust what I read but I decided to rent it and see if it was indeed new – and, of course, it would have to be to get a 4K release and of course it was. Right from the second the Paramount logo came on I could tell it was brand new because it was rock solid and I also knew it would perfect color because the Paramount logo had just the right blue in it. And the color was indeed great and MUCH better than the old DVD/Blu-ray transfer, everything was sharper and it looked like – film. I’m trusting when the 4K comes out it will include a new Blu-ray with this new transfer, although I am tempted to just buy the thing now to have it. It’s really gorgeous and the film is a masterpiece.
Yesterday was mostly a fine day in mostly most ways. I got eight hours of sleep, answered a lot of e-mails, and found out that Sami is now an official selection at two of the ten or eleven festivals we applied to. Hoping there will be more. Here are the two.
I got the delivery that had chicken salad, egg salad, rye bread, and pickles. All from Langer’s Deli courtesy of a delivery group here called Locale. I was very impressed. They go to the restaurant and pick up your order, and they personally deliver it to your house. And with it came some nice flowers, a nice touch. Price wasn’t much more than it would have been had I gone there and, of course, I didn’t use up expensive gas. Langer’s strength is their rye bread, pastrami, corned beef, latkes, and that kind of stuff. I found their chicken salad not as good as most others I’ve had. The egg salad was a bit better but not as good as others I’ve had. The pickles, however, were amazing and I have a whole jar of ‘em to enjoy at my pickle leisure.
Then I went to the mail place and picked up one important envelope – thankfully, the most important one. Hopefully the other one will arrive today. As I was leaving, I got word of a major miracle so that was a very good part of the day. Then I came home, did a few things on the computer, and we’re fully cast for the April Kritzerland now and I’ll post that flyer as soon as I have it, hopefully today. Just got here.
Then I had a piece of cheesecake for dessert, from the Cheesecake Factory, since the two sandwiches were not that caloric and were all I’d eaten all day. I watched the movie, which is close to three hours long, and then it was time to write these here notes.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll hopefully pick up the other important envelope, I’ll eat (kind of having a Popeye’s craving – we’ll see), then I can just watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is a ME day, I think – I don’t think anything is happening. Monday, I’m having a lunch with one of the biggest of the Kritzerland Indiegogo contributors, so that will be fun, and the rest of the week is book stuff and getting everything to the publisher, Sami stuff and hopefully hearing we’re approved for our launch date, more lunches, and doing whatever 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, hopefully pick up the other important envelope, eat, then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite westerns from the 1950s on? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we give a warm and hopeful welcome to once upon a time in April, and it is my fervent hope and prayer that April will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.