Well, dear readers, we certainly had a busy weekend here at haineshisway.com, and what fun it was. If you missed any of the merriment and mirth and laughter and legs, by all means check out all the notes and excellent postings. The Writer’s Block website went up a day sooner than expected – so, you can now order the book, hear sound clips from the exclusively exclusive CD (only available when you order from the site), and read the first chapter. Mr. Mark Bakalor did a splendidly splendid job, keeping it simple and easy to navigate. The address is www.writersblocksite.com – pay a visit and tell them Bruco sent you. We already have had a nice amount of orders and I’m hoping the rest of you who’d like to get the book will be putting their orders in soon. The first batch of orders is going out tomorrow afternoon if I can hie myself to the post office before they close, so those who get their orders in before one o’clock West Coast time will have their books shipped in this first batch. Aside from that excitement, I spent a very relaxing day yesterday doing absolutely nothing. Oh, I watched a DVD or two, but I didn’t really even leave the house except for a short jaunt or two.
I’ve seen several DVDs in the last few days, so here is my full report for you. First, I watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Boy With the Green Hair, starring Mr. Dean Stockwell, Mr. Pat O’Brien, and Mr. Robert Ryan, along with Miss Barbara Hale. This is a region 2 DVD. This company has been putting out quite a few of the RKO titles – I’m sure when Warners gets around to doing them they’ll look better, although The Boy with the Green Hair looks great on this DVD. I’ve always liked this film – it’s very sweet, says what it has to say without too much heavy-handedness, and it features an absolutely astonishing performance from the young Dean Stockwell. Simple effective direction from Mr. Joseph Losey (just prior to his blacklisting) and beautiful color cinematography from George Barnes. I then watched Mr. George Stevens’ delightful romp, The More the Merrier, which I’d never seen. What timing, what performances, what style. They don’t make them like Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur and Charles Coburn anymore. The film remains very funny and it’s just a pleasure to see a comedy that actually knows how to be a comedy. The transfer is a bit rough, but that’s because Columbia lost many of their original negatives in a flood in the seventies. So, they made new negatives off various prints and whatever other elements they had which were not damaged, but the result is occasionally dupey-looking footage. Still, if you love old-fashioned comedy it’s a must. I then watched a motion picture on DVD entitled The Battle of Algiers. Gillo Pontecorvo’s film is a powerful and brilliantly-directed work and has influenced many filmmakers. It’s as if you were watching a documentary, so realistically are the scenes shot. It’s also very relevant to everything that is going on in the world today. Criterion’s DVD release is spectacular – the transfer is perfection and there are two DVDs of extras. I can’t say it’s an entertaining thing to watch, but if you like powerful films that have something on their mind, give it a whirl.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? Why don’t we click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m quite certain I have things to do today if only I can remember what they are.
I think I have things to do every day this week, and yet I cannot remember what they are. I am completely absent-minded right now – I need to write things down because otherwise I’m sure I just won’t show up wherever I’m supposed to be. I do know I have to go back to the dentist on Wednesday to redo one of the two fillings which has withered with age. And I do know I have to attend the eighty-eighth birthday bash for Mr. Forest J. Ackerman. I’m hoping the other things I’m supposed to do will come back to the absent-minded me before I have to do them.
Don’t forget, Donald has a new radio show up and running, so be sure to check it out. I feel I should do something surprising and interesting right about now. But, what would it be? I suppose I could do a triple lutz. Frankly, I’m only in the mood to do a single lutz, but if you only do a single lutz they call you a putz. If you do a quadruple lutz they call you nuts. So, most people bypass the quadruple lutz – that is called a quadruple bypass. We don’t allow groaning here at haineshisway.com. How many of you can do a lutz at all? How many of you have actually attempted a lutz? How many of you succeeded? How many of you have a clew as to what the hell I’m going on about?
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, perform some sort of lutz, I must try to remember – oh, a Schmidt and Jones reference – what I’m supposed to be doing this week, I must have my script printed out so that I can start making notes on it tomorrow. Some of the notes I’m going to make on my script are Bb, C#, D and A. Those are fine notes, aren’t they? If I run out of time, perhaps I’ll only do half-notes. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite politically-oriented films and plays and books (both fiction and non)? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, along with our loads of lovely lutzes.