haines his way

03/17/2003:
"THE DAY AFTER"

Well, dear readers, here it is, our 501st notes. Yes, Virginia, for those who were errant and truant over the weekend (and there were many) we had quite a celebration here yesterday, especially in our Unseemly Live Chat, which was especially lively and sparkling last evening. In any case, there’s a lot to cover in these here notes, so I may as well just dive in.
I got my first two blurbs for Kritzerland. I thought it would be clever and perhaps even a first for me to go back to the original blurbers and have them blurb this book, too. Unfortunately, that plan has proven difficult, as Ira Levin is in the middle of his own book and won’t read any other fiction until he’s through (I’m the same way). Rupert Holmes has been very busy with a multitude of projects, but I know he’s going to attempt to read it this week (the deadline for me getting the blurbs to them is coming up shortly). So, if we have his, then what I’ll do is use Ira’s from the first book (describing the first book) and then do the new ones (describing Kritzerland). In any case, here’s Dick Lochte’s blurb (he’s written six superb mysteries under his own name, and co-authored several mysteries with the likes of Christopher Darden):
“Readers familiar with Bruce Kimmel’s debut novel, Benjamin Kritzer, will need no prompting from me or anybody else to take a trip inside its sequel, Kritzerland. They’ve already discovered that Kimmel, relying on storytelling skill, wit, and memory, has tapped into something quite wonderful with his continuing portrait of a boy coming of age in late 1950s Los Angeles. What those unfamiliar with the author’s shrewdly observed, wistful tales should know is that the outspoken and idiosyncratic Benjamin, putting the pangs of adolescence on hold by losing himself to the magic of the silver screen, deserves a place on the classics shelf alongside his spiritual older bothers, the protagonists of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye and Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer.”
Isn’t that a perfectly lovely blurb? Tomorrow I’ll give you Mr. Gary Owens’ blurb. Over the weekend I watched quite a few DVDs. Here are my thoughts on a few of them.
I got an advance of A Chorus Line. I haven’t seen it since the day it was released. I hated it then and I hate it more now. What a botch from start to finish. Everything that worked about the stage version has been tampered with and changed for the worse. The energy is simply sucked out of the piece by director Richard Attenborough. Why they would hire the director of Gandhi to direct a film of a Broadway musical is an enigma wrapped inside a conundrum. That single decision is deadly for the film, but the work of scripter Arnold Schulman, is dreadful. The film’s biggest downfall is the decision to keep Cassie separate from the other auditioners (until the tap routine). This is an idea that Michael Bennett toyed with and discarded immediately because Cassie, for the emotion of the story, must be with everyone from the beginning. Michael Douglas is a terrible choice for Zach because he’s just surly and mean, and you never ever get the sense that he’s a dancer/choreographer. Some of the kids are good, but it doesn’t matter because they are dancing the hideous choreography of Mr. Jeffrey Hornady, who was, at the time, the flavor of the month because of Flashdance. The movie has been thoroughly eighties-ized, with synth drums and that awful Flashdance/Giorgio Moroder style. Mr. Hornady does occasionally throw in a Bennett step, though, so that’s always nice. And the normally brilliant Ralph Burns does terrible work here – it is the most unexciting orchestration you can imagine, and the mix of the film is shockingly bad. It is fun to imagine what a director today would do with it – simply pander to the MTV crowd with overcutting and jumpy cameras and it would be equally awful. I do hope someone gets another crack at this someday, because it really would make a marvelous film. I did like Miss Nicole Fosse (who looks like her dad) and Pam Klinger (as Maggie). A big haineshisway.com blechhh to this film. There is a little newly-made featurette with Marvin Hamlisch in which the people who made it get one hilarious fact so wrong that one can only sit and shake their head in disbelief that someone got paid to make the featurette. Hamlisch mentions the two new songs he and Kleban wrote for the film, and then they cut to those numbers, which should be Surprise (an awful song) and the new Cassie song, Let Me Dance for You (although it’s so similar to The Music and the Mirror, why did they bother). But instead of Cassie’s song, they cut to Who Am I Anyway as the “new” song. First of all, it’s not even a song, second of all it’s not new. Another blechhhh.
Then I watched the remake of Charade, The Trouble With Charlie. It is becoming increasingly clear that Jonathan Demme lucked out with Silence of the Lambs, which is the exception rather than the rule in his career. This film is so annoying on every single level that one simply can’t believe it. Charade is a light comedy thriller, well thought out, well paced and a star vehicle for Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant. Who do we get? Thandie Newton (who?) and Mark Wahlberg. I mean, honestly. All I can think of is that every other actor in town turned it down. And with good reason. It’s another botch job from start to finish. Charade remains entertaining and watchable because of its stars, and its devilishly clever plotting by Peter Stone. This has the same plot, but everything is hammered over the head, the soundtrack is non-stop “hip” rock songs, and what little score there is by Rachel Portman is so wrong it’s just scary. The leads are so non-charismatic that one simply doesn’t care whether they perish or succeed. Jonathan Demme, who is older than I, spends the entirety of the film trying to be hipper than hip, with skewed angles, sped-up film, all that crap they do today that’s supposed to be clever. This film, which is already unwatchable, will end up being one where you say, “Look what they were doing back then”, a cultural relic of bad artistic choices – pandering to today’s audience visually, rather than telling a good story. Well, it didn’t work here, and no one went to see this thing. The DVD does include Charade, in a lovely enhanced transfer, so unfortunately it’s a must-have.
What am I, Ebert and Roeper all of a sudden? I’ll talk about the others that I watched tomorrow. Meanwhile, let’s all click on the Unseemly Button below and see what’s happening on the other side of the mountain.

Don’t forget, you still have until midnight tonight to answer the Unseemly Trivia Contest question. And Donald has a brand spanking new radio show up and running to celebrate the wearing o’ the green. And do catch up on the weekend notes if you missed them.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must make phone calls, I must plan, I must write, I must eat various and sundried foodstuffs and I must get organized, oh, yes, I must get organized. Today’s topic of discussion: Back to our film composer top five – today we’ll do my favorite film composer, Bernard Herrmann. So, what are your five (or more) favorite Herrmann scores (I know this will be particularly difficult to pare down). I’ll start – Fahrenheit 451, North by Northwest, Vertigo, Psycho and The Magnificent Ambersons. But I can’t not mention The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Obsession, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Marnie, and his work on both The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. Your turn. I’ll check back in shortly, so let’s have lots of posts, shall we?

Replies: 54 Unseemly Comments

Oh, to be errant and truant on such an auspicious occasion! So sorry to have missed the celebration. Here's to the next 500!
Posted by Susan @ 03/17/2003 08:28 AM PST

Well in spite of everything that is wrong with A CHORUS LINE the movie...and I agree with everything BK said...I still like Cameron English as Paul and Vicki Frederick as Sheila. And I certainly agree that they went totally wrong with director and choreographer choices. The movie didn't stand a chance. Do you think they used the 6-track mix on the DVD that was used for the 70 mm version, or the one used for the 35 mm?
Bernard Hermann...hmmmmmmm....another very tough choice. And I will have to agree with some of BK's picks.
Psycho, North by Northwest, and will add Blue Denim, The Egyptian, and The Day the Earth Stood Still. 8-D
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 08:39 AM PST

Oh, and Cape Fear (1962).
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 08:44 AM PST

Did anyone notice that today's notes were 80 percent on the front and only 20 percent after clicking.... hmmmmmm
North By Northwest is perhaps my fave BH score.
Posted by Craig @ 03/17/2003 08:48 AM PST

OBSESSION and VERTIGO would have to be my favorite Bernard Hermann scores. Lovely themes and used so well. North by Northwest would follow.
I wasn't errant and truant with posting yesterday, but I was errant and truant in missing the chat. I got home from work and had just enough time to change clothes to attend the Cole Porter revue that Dear Readers Laura and Sandra had attended the evening before. I enjoyed myself very much. It was a great group of kids. At times, it got a little too much like something that might be on a Carnival cruise, but all in all, it was a lovely evening. Sorry I missed the chat.
Posted by Kerry @ 03/17/2003 08:55 AM PST

Speaking of Alfred Hitchcock Presents....
Does anyone else remember the oen hour episode called 'The Unlocked Window'? A group of nurses was stranded in a house during a storm. And a nurse killer was on the loose. And everything was locked up except one window in the basement...and...and...they sent the handyman for help...and..
it didn't do any good...because one of the nurses was the killer in DRAG!!! wooooooooooooooo...so scary.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 09:05 AM PST

The ACL film was awful, though not the fault of the cast. While not up to the original cast, most were equal to some of the replacement casts I saw over the years. With a decent adaptation, direction and choreography the cast would probably seemed better than they came off. Then there was the opening which was stolen from Fosse's "All That Jazz" (allegedly coming to DVD later this year). Yet as bad as the ACL film was, I still got the same goosebumps at the end that I get when I see it on stage. It's like Pavlov's dogs... give me the "One" Vamp and the silver lame costumes and all the emotions just hit as much as the first time downtown at Joe Papp's.
Didn't Hermann do "Citizen Kane"? A great score as are most of his - particularly all the Hitchcock films.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/17/2003 09:06 AM PST

Did someone say Citizen Kane? The Ghost and Mrs. Muir? Taxi Driver?
Well, Psycho of course. But what about Hangover Square? Well, I must admit to neither having seen the film nor heard the score, but the mere fact of its influence on Sondheim and Sweeney Todd must say something.
Posted by William F. Orr @ 03/17/2003 09:08 AM PST

Jrand--- was that nurse really Norman Bates pretending to be his mother?
Speaking of "Thrillers" I recently heard the "Suspense" radio broadcast of Agnes Moorehead doing "Sorry Wrong Number" which was supposed to be the best radio thriller ever (she did it several times over the years). Yet most of it is Ms. Moorehead talking on the phone to telephone operators, and it reminded me of Nichols and May or Shelley Berman routines, so I was laughing instead of being kept in "Suspense".
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/17/2003 09:10 AM PST

While we are all on a ACL rant, what about "What I Did for Love"?
I remember Lehman Engel remarking (when Ed Kleban first played it for the workshop, I believe), aha, you now decided to sit down an write Your Hit! Let's write at least one song that "Sinatra will record", so to speak.
Of course they did. It can be lifted and heard as a love song by anyone unfamiliar with the show. But at least it served its proper function on stage.
So the movie has to... well, to use a BK phrase, HIT US OVER THE HEAD! (Pardon me if I shout.)
Posted by William F. Orr @ 03/17/2003 09:14 AM PST

Well, WEL, I myself think that Moorhead's radio version is a gem. But when you look at all the misguided attempts to expand it on film, introducing more plots and characters than the simple premise can hold--I remember there was a TV version with Loni Anderson!
But the original is still a gem, even though we can spot the hook a mile away (well, especially in these jaded times, when we have seen that hook shamelessly imitated countless times.).
Speaking of telephone operators, I remember in Thomas Disch's first "Prisoner" novel, he has Number 6 excaping from the Village and trying unsuccessfully to contact Headquarters through a maze of telephone operators. Disch remarks, anent #6's paranoia, "It was becoming increasingly difficult to remember that the world had always been this way."
Posted by William F. Orr @ 03/17/2003 09:20 AM PST

LOL...I don't think it is Mrs. Bates. It may even be Paul Gilbert who played Lola Diamond in Carroll Baker's movie 'Sylvia'.
I have never heard the Agnes Moorehead version of SWN. I don't like the movie with Stanwyck OR the tv movie with Anderson, GHU.
The only "Suspense" radio program I have heard is 'Sisters' with Frances Farmer. One sister is out ordering a coffin and planning her own demise and funeral, but of course it turns out she is planning on killing her sister and assuming her identity! This was made sometime in 1958, so they were still producing the radio show up until at least then.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 09:24 AM PST

Ok.. a few more BH faves:
Taxi Driver
Journey to the Center of the Earth
and The Devil and Daniel Webster
Posted by Craig @ 03/17/2003 09:26 AM PST

Favorite Herrmann score: The Birds.
KIDDING! OK, they're:
Psycho
North by Northwest
Psycho
Vertigo
and finally
Psycho
Jrand: What didn't you like about the Stanwyck Sorry, Wrong Number? Her lo-o-o-o-o-ong false eyelashes? The endless flashbacks? I love Barbara, but "Sorry" is not my favorite of her films, either. Maybe half-hour radio shows shouldn't be stretched out to 90+ minute films.
I saw A Chorus Line around '85 in a very tiny theater (OK, I may as well admit it...it was a dinner theater. Jrand, you'll recognize this name: Beef 'n' Boards. :) ). I actually thought the small, intimate venue worked well for the show, because Zack was behind the audience as he gave instructions to and questioned the dancers. It really strengthened the feeling of being one of the dancers, actually auditioning for this show. It was neat.
I agree that the film of A Chorus Line was execrable.
Posted by Lulu @ 03/17/2003 09:46 AM PST

I've said it many times, An Unlocked Window (with score by Herrmann) is one of the great hours in television history. Brilliantly cast and directed and written, terrifying today as it was thirty-five years ago. It was remade in the 80s on the "new" AHP, but as a half-hour show and it was dreadful. But the original is a classic - thankfully, I had it transfered to DVD, a lovely copy that I had on tape. The other Alfred Hitchcock Hour that is a masterpiece is Ray Bradbury's The Jar (also with a score by Herrmann) - talk about creepy, plus a great performance by the great Colin Wilcox. I lent my 16mm print to a film school about two years ago, and Miss Pat Hitchcock came down and saw it, and then spoke afterwards.
Posted by bk @ 03/17/2003 09:48 AM PST

BIG NEWS:
I eluded this in chat the other night, but I have big news regarding our very own Ms. Kerry Butler. Since it has been published already I can tell you all that she has been cast in a sitcom pilot for FOX. For the full story, click on my name...
Posted by Craig @ 03/17/2003 09:49 AM PST

A couple of Herrmann trivias: The woodwind instrument that he used in Journey to the Center of the Earth, to accompany the big lizard towards the end of the film, is appropriately called a Serpent. It's dates from the middle ages, I believe.
Herrmann didn't receive a composer's credit for The Birds, instead being credited as a Sound Consultant. Much of the "score" to that film, representing the sounds of the birds themselves, was created electronically, predating synthesizers.
By the way, BK, I agree that one of his best scores was for Farenheit 451. An amazing feat, shifting from the seperation of loneliness to the purity of the same emotion.
And happy 501th! (501st? Whatever, I'll just get out my blue jeans for the day, even if we're supposed to be celebrating our green genes instead.)
Posted by S. Woody White @ 03/17/2003 09:53 AM PST

Jrand--- The "Suspense" with Ms. Farmer was a new version of one done about ten years earlier with either Olivia DeHaviland or Ida Lupino (they both were on the series at one time and I forget which one did that). Most big stars guested on "Suspense" at one time or another and they used the same scripts more than once. For example Frank Sinatra played a disturbed man who tortured Agnes Moorehead (the show's most frequent star) on one episode and a few years later the same script was done with Gene Kelly and Ether Barrymore. Judy Garland did a great one called "Drive In". The thing with "Sorry Wrong Number" was that almost everything the operators said were the exact same types of lines that Elaine May said as an operator to Mike Nichols or an imaginary operator said to Shelley Berman or Bob Newhart and so it came off as a comedy routine. Had I heard it originally (before the operator was turned to a stock comic character) I might have enjoyed it more.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/17/2003 10:12 AM PST

WEL - I thought costumes for "A Chorus Line" were gold, not silver. BK - do you eat a lot of sundried food? The only sundried food I know of are tomato's.
Posted by Matthew @ 03/17/2003 10:16 AM PST

Thanks for the Suspense trivia, Bill. Interesting. Lulu - I think I didn't like Stanwyck in SWN - because she used all of her MOST irritating acting tricks. The MOST IRRITATING to me is her habit of (when she knows her lines are going to be interrupted, she starts talking and looks down and away...and then up at the person who interrupts her...don't know where she learned it..but SHE always does it...even in THE BIG VALLEY.
Beef N Boards is still going strong. I don't go much...since I end up arguing with the wait staff about cuts in the shows they do. One insisted I had 42nd Street mixed up with A Chorus Line, until I finally said..."Well, when WE did it on Broadway...it was this way..." LOL. I was using the Royal WE of course.
BK your raves about An Unlocked Window must have been in some of the 500 notes before I arrived. I will never forget it. Do you know the name of the actor who played the nurse? And you have a copy huh?
Moorehead doing Nichols and May sounds about right for SWN.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 10:36 AM PST

Matthew --- They were actually gold and silver as was the background.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/17/2003 10:47 AM PST

On "The Unlocked Window", imdb has,
"An Unlocked Window" Episode: #3.17 - 15 February 1965
T.C. Jones
John Kerr (II)
Louise Latham
Dana Wynter
They tell us that T(homas) C(raig) Jones specialized in cross-dressing roles, and all of his credits seem to indicate that.
As for the frustrating telephone operators being similar in SWN and various comedies: I recall one critic writing that ACL had been criticized for being full of show-business cliches, to which he responded, "Well, sometimes the cliches are true."
Posted by William F. Orr @ 03/17/2003 11:02 AM PST

Yup - TC Jones. I think he played a transvestite on ALL IN THE FAMILY once as well.
Louise Latham - ohhhh. I remember her on a GUNSMOKE episode trying to deny her son, an Indian who had been born when she was a captive. I think Randy Boone played her son. And Dana Wynter...yup...Mrs. Greg Bautzer.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 11:15 AM PST

As it comes back to me - did Hitchcock himself direct 'An Unlocked Window'?
And I think I remember reading in the TV GUIDE that the cast was not given the final few pages of the script, so they didn't know how it ended. And TC Jones was always dressed as his character and so no one even knew that it was a man playing a woman until they shot the final scenes. Creepy! And very effective. I saw it during the syndicated release on a Sunday afternoon. My sisters and I were scared to death!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 11:37 AM PST

I don't think that T C Jones was the transvestite on "All in the Family" (I just got the 2nd season DVD and some other name was listed) but he was one of the "New Faces of 1956" on Broadway along with Maggie Smith and Inga Swenson. His specialty was Tallulah. He popped up on a lot of 50s television variety shows.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/17/2003 11:57 AM PST

I'm not sure I get why "The Trouble With Charlie" is a must-have -- is it because it also has an enhanced "Charade"?
There is a fabulous "Charade" on Criterion all by itself with an absolutely essential commentary track featuring Stanley Donen and the screenplay writer (whose name eludes me). Do try and get that version if you can find it.
Bernard Herrmann:
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
Beneath the 12-Mile Reef
Vertigo
Hangover Square
The Trouble With Harry
I also love his portion of "The Egyptian" although it's shared equally by Alfred Newman, whose contributions are my favorite parts of that score.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/17/2003 12:36 PM PST

No, Hitch didn't direct An Unlocked Window, I think it was Norman Lloyd or Robert Sevenson or one of those boys.
Ron, yes, The Trouble with Charlie is a must-have for the enhanced Charade. The Criterion, while lovely, is not enhanced for widescreen tvs. If you don't have a widescreen tv then the Criterion should do you fine.
Posted by bk @ 03/17/2003 12:51 PM PST

I think I'm beginning to spot a pattern here at HHW --- at least on weekdays. When BK first posts (usually between noon & 1:00 Eastern, 9:00 & 10:00 Pacific) there are a flurry of posts for the first couple of hours and then very few posts for the next several hours until early evening. It pickes up for a few hours in the evening and then drops off again around Midnight/9:00 with very few posts until the new day begins. If we are going to remain the most popular site on the internet, we should try to keep a steady stream going. And to those of you who read and don't post, I wish you'd at least post once and tell us why you don't post.
By the way, did anyone ever get Terri to speak after I left chat yesterday or did anyone at least figure out who he/she was?
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/17/2003 01:18 PM PST

Terri actually said he/she/it had to leave and then left us after a resounding round of goodbyes from all of us.
It IS rude to ignore invitations to join in. Certainly, a few words could have spared a lot of sideswipes at her. Maybe she simply isn't very vivacious! : )
I think mention should be made that Terri was allowed to stay silent as long as she wanted.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/17/2003 01:26 PM PST

Oh dear. Errant and truant have been I. Oh yes, I have been most truant and errant over the last week or so.
I was on a business trip to Boston and have been very very very (that's three verys) busy at work. I'll spare you all the trouble and give myself a hearty bitch slapping. (Makes me sound like an ambivalent sadomasochist, no?)
What news have I to report? Indeed, I do have news: I went to the Los Angeles revisal of ANYONE CAN WHISTLE on Saturday night. And, I am sorry to say, if you don't catch this show during its current run here in Los Angeles, it is highly unlikely you will ever have the chance to see the show during your lifetime. Although the cast was most spirited, and Misty Cotton (as Nurse Apple) and Ruth Williamson (as Mayoress Cora) gave excellent performances, this property is no more than a Sondheim curiosity. Yes, it has three great songs, but that is all it has. (Ooh, a FOLLIES reference.) The book is just plain silly, and although the score (beyond those three songs) has moments here and there, it just isn't of the quality of what was (and is, I hope) yet to come in the Sondheim canon. That said, I heartily applaud the producers for making this noble attempt.
(It should be noted that although the theatre at which ACW is playing is tiny--only 99 seats, I believe--the house was sold out on Saturday night. I do hope that the run is successful so the producer is encouraged to continue mounting unusual examples of American Musical Theatuh.)
Posted by Jay @ 03/17/2003 02:03 PM PST

WEL asks why I don't post. Because I don't know from movies.
Terri was silent about an hour and a half, and then typed: "Back." And then left shortly after that. Maybe he/she was surfing and forgot he/she was logged in.
Posted by Laura @ 03/17/2003 02:09 PM PST

I saw "Anyone Can Whistle" back in 1964 on its opening (and almost closing) night on what I think was a Saturday. Although only 17 at the time, I was a fan of Sondheim even then from his "Gypsy", "WSS", and "Forum" shows and wanted to see this new show, which book was written by Gypsy's and WSS's Laurents. At that time I thought the music and lyrics terrific, the dancing/choreography exciting, and the cast, especially Lansbury, wonderful. The book was awful. If it had been funnier, it might have succeeded, but it just lay there like a what is it, fish (a BK reference). As George S. Kaufman famously said, "satire is what closes on Saturday night" and in this case it did- one week later on the following Saturday. I'm not surprised that the revisical in LA is getting the reaction that it is.
Posted by steveg @ 03/17/2003 02:32 PM PST

Argh! Everyone stole my trivia about T.C. Jones. I have that NEW FACES OF 1956 cast album, and he is indeed on it. A friend also made me a copy of another T.C. Jones LP where he has it all to himself. I haven't listened to it in ages, but it's downstairs somewhere! I remember it being very entertaining.
"An Unlocked Window" was directed by Joseph Newman. Along with "The Jar," the only other hour-long Hitchcock show I recall was a wonderful adaptation of "The Magic Shop" based on an H.G. Wells story. Many of the half hour shows were real classics including that memorable one "The Glass Eye" with Jessica Tandy and Tom Conway.
Favorite Herrmann:
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
CAPE FEAR
PSYCHO
THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR
OBSESSION
Posted by Matt H. @ 03/17/2003 02:49 PM PST

One of the most frustrating things about the current DVD market is the lack of a central place to identify releases with specific features that you prize above all others.
For instance, you can run a search at Amazon.com for "DTS" and it will return over 70 titles that feature DTS. But these aren't definitive, because there are other DVD titles out there with DTS that don't include that feature as part of the name of the DVD. For instance, the DVD of "The Lord of the Rings (FOTR)", Platinum Edition, features DTS 6.1 EX audio. How would you know that nless you looked up the film's sspecs somewhere and then had to scan through them?
i imagine a search for "widescreen" would yield a limited, non-definitive crop of titles, as well, since a lot of releases -- but not all or most -- incorporate "widescreen edition" into their advertising.
I'm thinking "The Pajama Game," for one, wouldn't turn up. That DVD has both pan/scan and widescreen.
A newish release of "Stargate" features a DTS soundtrack that blows me away -- makes all other versions of the film seem muddied/distorted. DTS brings a film to vivid life through my surround speakers.
And today, I've made my first connection with the word "enhanced" as being a specific reference to a film having the (I'm presuming) 16 x 9 widescreen-TV feature so that the image fills the screen of a widescreen TV. I always thought of enhanced as meaning it was restored in some way. Now I have a new color in my paint box.
Sigh.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/17/2003 03:40 PM PST

More rain in LV today! Wow, that's a record for the last 3 weeks now.
I went to Tower last night after the movies, with my daughter; I splurged on Annie Hall and American Gigolo DVDs, and the sound tracks to Chicago (the new one) and Frida--which I saw again last night and love even more.
Thanks for the tip on A Chorus Line--I might have been tempted to buy it, but not any more. I wasn't crazy about the film in the first place, but did like some of the individual performers, like Vicky and Nicole. Michael Douglas was all wrong for Zack (or directed wrongly), just too mean and humorless.
I'm not versed very much in composers and sound tracks, so I can't really answer those questions, forgive me.
Posted by KT @ 03/17/2003 04:06 PM PST

Fans of Benjamin Kritzer - you must run NOT WALK to www.1stbooks.com and read the preview of KRITZERLAND.
Benjamin is faced by a new BM...not the Bad Men!
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 04:14 PM PST

Geez, that URL just didn't do a thing but sit there like so much fish...I filled in the fields and nuttin' happened!
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/17/2003 04:29 PM PST

Never mind!
It takes a little investigating to figure out that when you enter info and press search you're not supposed to see anything unless you then scroll down.
D'uh.
Posted by Ron Pulliam @ 03/17/2003 04:32 PM PST

EEEPS....guess I could said what to do. Sorry, Ron, but you figured it out.
Enter Kritzerland in the title cell and search....then scroll down on the page that comes up....and you will see "preview"....
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/17/2003 04:35 PM PST

Well, King George made his speech: Saddam has 48 hours to leave or we will go to war.
Shit.
I don't know what to do anymore.
Will I get a chance to change the world if my city has been blown up?
Was this what it felt like in the Vietnam years?
Posted by Hapgood @ 03/17/2003 06:51 PM PST

My favorite Herman score is Mame, although I did very much enjoy "Ribbons Down My Back" on the current Broadway Radio Hour.
Posted by Noel @ 03/17/2003 07:35 PM PST

I am more in favour of Bernard Cribbins. At least I managed to post!
Posted by Tom from Oz @ 03/17/2003 08:44 PM PST

Had to make some comments about CHARADE. First, it's probably my favorite romantic mystery. I think it's a pretty perfect film, to tell the truth. Wry, sophisticated, deeply suspenseful, and very enjoyable even after you know the secret to the mystery and all the surprises that flow freely in the last ten minutes. I have the Criterion CHARADE and will have to have the enhanced version, too. But I have NO interest in seeing THE TROUBLE WITH CHARLIE.
I think the score is the finest Henry Mancini ever composed (unless TWO FOR THE ROAD is. Hmmm. both directed by Stanley Donen and both starring Audrey Hepburn. What a killer combination!)
About A CHORUS LINE. I remember when I first saw ALL THAT JAZZ, I was a little heartsick because after "On Broadway," I thought to myself, "This is the way the movie of A CHORUS LINE should start." The movie was still a couple of years off, but I knew then there was no way any movie would be able to match the virtuosity of that opening number in ALL THAT JAZZ. Bennett may have stolen the Tonys from Fosse at the CHORUS LINE/CHICAGO Tonys, but this was Fosse's revenge.
I was so angry when Cassie started singing "What I Did for Love" that I wanted to set fire to the theater to prevent anyone else from seeing this travesty of such a brilliant theater piece. I have NEVER forgiven Richard Attenborough.
There, I feel better after getting that off my chest.
Posted by Matt H. @ 03/17/2003 09:28 PM PST

Hello hello, here I am, an
errant and truant I... or is it a
wandering minstrel I? Can
never keep those straight.
Either way, I've certainly been a
busy I. But there is a light at
the end of the tunnel, oh yes,
there is most certainly a light.
And a wonderfully bright light it
is. What is this light, you might
ask, and I might tell you, for
that is the proper
Hainsie/Kimlet thing to do.
That glorious light is my very
own pending college
graduation.
That's right, fellow dear
readers, this very Friday the
21st I shall complete my
student teaching and thereby
graduate with a sparkling
degree in music education.
However, a couple more busy
busy days stand between me
and that light. I shall try to
keep posting over the next few
days, but do prepare your
pointy hats, pantaloons, ham
chunks, cheese slices, et al
for a grand celebration come
Friday!
Posted by Jed @ 03/17/2003 09:30 PM PST

To Jed - Huzzah! We shall all celebrate your success with the proper attire and foodstuffs
I too have been errant and truant, since I am currently on tour in San Fransisco with my choir, but since my lovely host family for the night had a computer, I decided to check in. It's so beautiful here in the bay area! Napa valley is breathtaking, and tomorrow it's back to the city for more concerts. Busy busy week, this is. I shall check back in when I return home. Until then, happy posting
Posted by Ann @ 03/17/2003 09:36 PM PST

I thought I was errant truant, but now others are claiming to be me!
Posted by ET @ 03/17/2003 10:10 PM PST

Scary.
On FMC at the same time the president was speaking was a movie from 1965 called Return of Mr Moto with Henry da Silva...all about Interpol and the Middle East and oil and the threat of war. It was very spooky to see.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/18/2003 04:26 AM PST

Bernard Herrmann was overrated.
Posted by Steve @ 03/18/2003 06:15 AM PST

Steve---
Many of us disagree. Could you go into more detail so we can understand why you feel that way.
ET - Give my best to John Tesch and Mary Hart.
Posted by William E. Lurie @ 03/18/2003 06:39 AM PST

I guess, going back over the scores listed in the notes, I am a bit puzzled as well.
Hermann's score for The Day The Earth Stood Still was pointed at as crucial to the that film by its producer and director on the recent DVD. They both credited the score with establishing the mood of the film and enhancing the intentions of the story.
And I still think LOST HORIZON stands as a highpoint of film music. Its musicalization of the images we see are married to the point that I cannot imagine one without the other.
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/18/2003 07:15 AM PST

Methinks Dear Reader Steve just wants to create a tempest in a teapot.
Posted by Lulu @ 03/18/2003 07:20 AM PST

Sondheim sucks.
Posted by Another troll @ 03/18/2003 07:22 AM PST

Good morning...
I read today's/yesterday's notes, but didn't realize that I hadn't posted... So...
I'm posting. I'm posting!
-Although after the semi-lazy morning I've had so far, I'm probably due for a bitch-slapping.
Well, time to be more semi-lazy...
OH! Pam - you're package arrived yesterday. Thank You!
Posted by Jose C. Simbulan @ 03/18/2003 07:39 AM PST

But what do you think about his music, troll?
Posted by Jrand52 @ 03/18/2003 07:53 AM PST

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