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[Matt H.]

Glory be! My DVDs arrived today, so, of course, FLOWER DRUM SONG was the first thing in the player.

What a joy to see this excellent film looking and (especially) sounding so good. That Dolby Digital 5.1 surround on the "Love Look Away" ballet had me swooning.

And for picture quality, the scene in the garden where "You Are Beautiful" is sung was stunning in sharpness, color, and detail. It looked unbelievably lush.

[Matt H.]

Page Three JUNGLE BOOK Dance!!!

[Matt H.]

bk, DRs Elmore, FJL, and others who know about music and singing:

There is a guy over at the Home Theater Forum in the FLOWER DRUM SONG thread who keeps saying over and over that Jack Soo's singing voice is way off pitch through all of his singing, and that it's so bad he ruins the movie for him.

I have been watching FLOWER DRUM SONG for years and years, had the soundtrack album on LP and (recently) CD, and Jack Soo's singing has never remotely sounded flat to me. Oh, occasionally, he might talk a note or two instead of singing them, but I just don't hear off pitch singing with him.

Is my inner tuning fork off or is this guy off base? He's been so insistent about it that I just haven't argued with him other than to say it sounds fine to me, but he remains firm on saying Soo can't sing AT ALL!

[Matt H.]

After FLOWER DRUM SONG was over, rather than watching special features (probably saving them for the weekend), I put in THE KING AND I since we had been talking about it earlier in the week.

Yes, the new anamorphic transfer is LEAGUES ahead of any previous Region 1 DVD, laserdisc, or tape release. Gorgeous is not the word.

What's more, I saw colors today I had never seen before in the clothes. That bluish purple tunic that Yul Brynner wears for a good portion of the first half of the film, I had never seen green in it before. Today, I saw that green is a prominent color in the fabric. Details in Anna's gowns were also a lot more noticeable now than they were in the previous DVD and laserdisc releases.

Rather than listen to the soundtrack (which seemed to be the same as on the last DVD), I turned on the commentary by Richard Barrios and Michael Portantiere. It's kind of a rambling, free association kind of dialogue between the two of them. Not bad but not especially revealing anything (yet) that I didn't already know.

I got through "Something Wonderful" before shutting everything off, but I'll pick back up with it when I go back downstairs later.

[TCB]

Hi, Ben (a FOLLIES reference)!

[singingnymph]

Ed Bradley, 60 Minutes correspondent died of leukemia today at age 65

Oh, how very sad.

[Ben]

Hi, Back TCB!

I'm about to leave for our 50th Anniversary gala.

As E&T Jose would say

Laters!

[singingnymph]

bk, DRs Elmore, FJL, and others who know about music and singing:

There is a guy over at the Home Theater Forum in the FLOWER DRUM SONG thread who keeps saying over and over that Jack Soo's singing voice is way off pitch through all of his singing, and that it's so bad he ruins the movie for him.

I have been watching FLOWER DRUM SONG for years and years, had the soundtrack album on LP and (recently) CD, and Jack Soo's singing has never remotely sounded flat to me. Oh, occasionally, he might talk a note or two instead of singing them, but I just don't hear off pitch singing with him.

Is my inner tuning fork off or is this guy off base? He's been so insistent about it that I just haven't argued with him other than to say it sounds fine to me, but he remains firm on saying Soo can't sing AT ALL!

I've never found it terribly off...anyway, I've always found it more in character for Sammy to not sound pretty.  The guy may have perfect pitch... sometimes it's more of a curse than a blessing, I've heard. But if that were the case, you'd think the guy could say it once & leave it at that. Maybe he doesn't like Soo outside of FDS?

[bk]

There's nothing wrong with Soo's singing.

I shall now be on my way to a production meeting and then rehearsal.  Keep the home fries burning until my returning, and let's have some posts for me to read when I get back home later tonight.  

[FJL]

Hmm...quirkiest habit was one which I happily got over completely, and that was sort of rubbing the area under my eyes to the point where it was a compulsion.  

[Matt H.]

Well, good, at least I'm not alone in thinking Soo's vocals are AOK.

Reading this guy's rants is really the first time I've ever read anyone say anything negative about Jack Soo's performance.

[Matt H.]

Now, I'm off to clean the bedroom areas before heading back to THE KING AND I. Then, a very full evening of TV watching and recording.

[FJL]

Matt - Thanks for the honor of mentioning my name in the intro to your post about Jack Soo, but I'd never put my name alongside bk's and elmore's in terms of knowledge of music and singing.  I do appreciate it, though.  

[FJL]

POTENTIAL GROSS-OUT QUIRKY HABIT AHEAD




Actually, is picking scabs a quirky habit?  Both in conversation and literally.    

When I mention that I tend to do this, people tell me they do it, too, or have friends who do it becuase they think it helps the healing process for a scab.  So if so many people do it, while it may be gross, is it quirky?

[Rodzinski]

Poor Jack Soo. The guys on BARNEY MILLER never liked his coffee either.

[Rodzinski]

My quirky habit is if I eat at a place that has paper napkins, I have to take an extra one with me when I leave the restaurant. I just noticed this about me in the last couple years.

[Ron Pulliam]

Glory be! My DVDs arrived today, so, of course, FLOWER DRUM SONG was the first thing in the player.

What a joy to see this excellent film looking and (especially) sounding so good. That Dolby Digital 5.1 surround on the "Love Look Away" ballet had me swooning.

And for picture quality, the scene in the garden where "You Are Beautiful" is sung was stunning in sharpness, color, and detail. It looked unbelievably lush.

I thought I felt the northern hemisphere heave a sigh of relief!

[Ron Pulliam]

Why no love for Niki on the board? I for one love Niki. Both of her.

She's not bad, in and of herself, but her story arc is the least interesting to me...and it seems to get the most air time.

[Ron Pulliam]

Last night FJL noted:But you also saw the Marry Poppins sets NOT do their thing.

der Brucer

"Marry," Der Brucer?

M-a-r-r-y?  That's twice this week.

Mary
Merry
Marry

(That was for you, TomovOz)!

[Ron Pulliam]

"Multifarious Malady" -- wasn't that one of those low-budget MGM musical programmers from the 1930s?

[Ron Pulliam]

I have NO quirky habits.

I have only disgusting habits.

[MBarnum]

My quirky habit is that I keep buying bizarre DVDs...for instance I just received a Japanese DVD of a 1961 film titled HEP CAT IN THE FUNKY HAT.

I know many of my friends find this to be bizarre.

[George]

DR Rodzinski, I'm not exactly sure why nobody here likes niki (HEROES).  I think maybe it's because of the first couple of episodes where she drove to dump the body.

It just wasn't interesting. Especially compared to the other stories.

I love her son micah though.

I actually like Niki.  At first, I had no idea what her "power" was, but now that it's been revealed, she definitely seems like someone who can end up being a really bad "bad guy."  But she does seem to do what she does for good reasons, so maybe they'll have her be part of the good guys.  Either way, she's certainly someone you really should have on your side.

[George]

POTENTIAL GROSS-OUT QUIRKY HABIT AHEAD

Actually, is picking scabs a quirky habit?  Both in conversation and literally.    

When I mention that I tend to do this, people tell me they do it, too, or have friends who do it becuase they think it helps the healing process for a scab.  So if so many people do it, while it may be gross, is it quirky?

I will admit that I do this too. However, I'm sure that it does NOT help the healing process, at all.

[George]

My quirky habit is if I eat at a place that has paper napkins, I have to take an extra one with me when I leave the restaurant. I just noticed this about me in the last couple years.

I've been doing this for 20 years (and I don't take just one)!  I started collecting napkins because, shortly after I started going to Western Washington University in Bellingham (up north, near the US/Canadian border), the defrost stopped working in my '76 Super Beetle.  There were times that I actually needed to scrape off the ice from the inside of my windshield!  And I also used the napkins to wipe off any condensation that would build up.  Even after getting newer cars, I still take napkins and stash them in my glove compartment...you never know when you might need a napkin.

[Ron Pulliam]

This has been a very busy day here...it's always the short weeks that are the busiest.

For some reason, folks with "power" love to throw hissy fits at the last minute on Friday afternoons and on days before holidays (unless, of course, they've already gone home).

[Edisaurus]

Edisaurus-
Very interesting your post regarding LeFont etc. And Daughters of the Dust! I was shown that movie in an undergrad class at the U of Georgia. I think I had to write a paper on it.

I work with producers who studied that film in college. Do you know how old that makes me feel? That us why my name is Edisaurus! (I went to UGA, too!)

DOD was one of many films I worked on with Julie Dash. She's done some TV movies since then, but because I'm not a union editor, we've never gotten to work together on those. So the union basically put an end to a wonderful, collaborative relationship. I mean, we're still friends, but I used to practically live at her house and her daughter called me "mommy".  We went through a lot together during those years.

I am proud that DOD was one of the films selected for the National Film Registry and that it won a prize when we took it to  Sundance. Julie has a lot of good films waiting to be made, so I hope we'll get to work together again one day!

[Edisaurus]

I still take napkins and stash them in my glove compartment...you never know when you might need a napkin.

My Greg does this, too. I'm glad he does---I never think to and then have nothing with which to clean my windshield.

[DERBRUCER]

TOD:

What is the strangest thing you do:

A much more interesting tale would be the strangest things I've done: like the time


I like to share some of Woody's quirks. however:



der Brucer

[Edisaurus]

My bad habit---when I'm having a stressful edit, I run my fingers through my hair and pull on it---sort of a scalp massage (I don't really pull my hair out over this stuff) or a way to get blood flowing to my brain.

When producers who know me well walk into the edit room and see my hair almost standing on end like Buckwheat, they address me in a calm, subdued tone of voice.