Well, dear readers, I have breaking bombshell news – it is March. Yes, you heard it here, dear readers, it is March and it is my fervent hope and prayer that March will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful. February, for those who may recall it, was a short month and I covered that story in depth the other day and shan’t rehash it now. For now, I will recount the goings on on the final day of February, a short month thanks to Roman underpants. I got about six hours of sleep, got up, answered e-mails, got my Instacart Ralph’s delivery, then made some faux chicken stroganoff for food. It was a good batch but I couldn’t finish it and so I didn’t, which is unusual for me. Then I spent some time following a book auction in Australia, part eleven of a huge mystery collection by a well-known collector. I only found out about this with part nine – most of the books are in primo condition and I must say that many go for very reasonable prices in Australian dollars – I’m talking about less than fifty bucks. I gather that the really premium stuff was in the first five batches, but the batches I’ve watched have had some great titles and they do recycle the stuff that was passed over from the first batches. Anyway, that was enjoyable. I decided not to go to the mail place – I’ll do that today at some point or maybe even Monday – doesn’t matter, as the check wouldn’t clear until Tuesday anyway, presuming it actually arrived. I dozed off for about ninety minutes, did some stuff on the computer, and then girded my loins, determined to watch a motion picture, namely Ella McCay, the first film in fifteen years from eighty-five-year-old James L. Brooks. I have been fascinated by Mr. Brooks’ film career. He came out of TV and not much as a director and hit it big with Terms of Endearment. It was a great first film – quirky, funny, moving, with great performances from everyone. His smartest move was hiring the director of photography, because a first timer really needs that eye and ideas, visually. For me, it all worked beautifully. His next film was Broadcast News, and while I didn’t love it as much as Terms of Endearment, I still enjoyed it – it was funny, had great performances, but there was, for me, something stand-offish about it and Holly Hunter’s character falling for William Hurt. It was a big hit. Then came the misstep known as I’ll Do Anything, which began life as a musical film, only to have a disastrous preview and having all its musical numbers removed and reshoots done. It was a huge bomb. He bounced back with As Good as It Gets, which was a hit and Oscar-winner. As with Broadcast News, I enjoyed it but didn’t quite love it. And then? As happens with many directors, something happened. He made Spanglish, a bomb that had critics scratching their collective heads. Then in 2010 came How Do You Know? Another bomb that took a critical drubbing, with most critics saying Brooks had lost his timing, comedic sense, and storytelling sense. Fifteen years went by and late last year we got Ella MacCay, another huge bomb that has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 24%. But I wanted to see it nonetheless, and last night I did – well, the first hour and I’ll finish it once I post these here notes. But the first hour was enough to show me that Brooks really has lost his comedic timing and storytelling sense. Yes, it’s quirky, and it sure tries hard for some laughs that never come, at least in hour one. The leading lady is kind of an Anne Hathaway clone, and Brooks has written the character so weirdly, that there’s not much for the actress to play. Jamie Lee Curtis is fine as her aunt, but the AI de-aging crap is really horrible. Naturally, we have Julie Kavner and Albert Brooks in it – the latter is completely wasted and not funny at all and with a horrible wig. Woody Harrelson is in it for a bit but again the characters are simply paper thin. I’ve still got an hour to go – yes, it’s just under two hours long – so we’ll see what happens.
Then I had half the shrimp cocktail shrimp from Ralph’s – a perfect snack of almost zero calories. And then it was time to write these here notes.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll probably call the mail place to see if the check is there and if it is I’ll probably get it and deposit it. Otherwise, I’m hoping I’ll get the second blurb – I still haven’t gotten the final galley, which is odd since it was only two tiny things. Hopefully today. Also hope to finalize the flap copy so Doug can get that part done. I’ll eat something, and in the afternoon have a telephonic call to figure out the casting for the recording I’m producing. Then I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
This week, I hope to get all book stuff to the publisher and then we’ll take pre-orders. Also hoping to ship the French How to Succeed and announce our new title, hoping to get packaging approval on The Sherman Brothers Album so we can get that announced, I have a Zoom meeting with the set designer for Applause, and perhaps a couple of other meetings.
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, call the mail place and go there if there’s something to pick up, hopefully get the second blurb, hopefully get the final galley, hopefully finalize the flap copy, have a telephonic call, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, as we stand up and march, march, march into March – and it is my fervent hope and prayer that March will be a month filled with health, wealth, happiness, creativity, and all things bright and beautiful.