I’ve been writing a lot about all of the comic book movies I’ve seen, but not to often about books that became movies. This may be a on going series in books that eventually became movies. I was talking with one of the other bloggers around here, and something brought this up. (Old age is creeping up on me, so I can’t remember what it was.)

Anyway, I started complaining about good books and stories that became rotten movies. I understand the reasoning behind the changes script writers make when converting a book/story to a movie. Some things flow better in words, than they do on screen. Somethings needed for a good movie are missing from the book. Two different media, so it makes sense that some changes would be made.

The first on my list is a story by one of my favorite authors, Isaac Asimov. The story was “Nightfall”. A classic science fiction tale about a planet that never had night. With many suns in its skies, true darkness came on very rare occasions. The story was how the people reacted to the up coming event, and the effect it had on them. It was a very gripping story, that I thought would make a good movie. I didn’t get to see it when it was in the theaters, and only saw it many years later on video. Let’s put it this way I wasted money renting it from a library.

They forgot to change the names to protect the innocent. I can understand why it took years before another Asimov story became a movie.

Now it has been years since I’ve seen that movie, and I’m not sure if anything could cause me to see it again, but here are a few things I remember.

1) Terrible acting. David Birney was the lead character, and he as stiff and boring. The rest of the cast made no impression on me at all. I remember the lead because he was sooo.. bad.
2) Constant looking at the Suns/Sky with freaky music and video effects. Once would have done enough, but over and over again???
3)They advertised this as “Isaac Asimov’s Nightfall” I think he gave permission, and the used the character names and book title. Everything else had nothing to do with the original story.
4)The sets and locations for the movie just bit dust.
5) It was 83 minutes too long.
6) I kept thinking it would get better, it never did….

If you want some real fun, read the reviews on IMDB. I’ve spent too much time on this already.

I went to dinner before going to the theater for another night in the light booth. It was a special dinner with Grandparents, Sisters and an Aunt and Cousin. It was in celebration of my youngest 17th birthday. This is her last year as a child. By law next year she will be an adult in society. My youngest is almost an adult. When did she grow up?

A very dear friend was saying something about her birthday coming up, and found it a bit overwhelming. Me, I’ve never had any problems with any of my birthdays, after all it is just a number. I do find I’m having a bit of trouble with other days. Daughters’ weddings, graduations, and their birthdays. Funny, I don’t feel old when I have my birthdays, I do on the other days mentioned. Today I saw the 17 year old that is my daughter. Talk about feeling old.

I guess that comes with being a parent. There are children who now call me Grandpa. Hmmm when did all this happen? Yesterday, I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to do when I grew up!

I’ll have to go find my cane, glasses and hearing aid and hobble over to the rocker…. Today I feel old…

A wise man once said that every performance of any show is different every time.  No where was that more prevalent than in tonight’s performance of Little Women.  As I posted earlier, we have been plagued by a leaky ceiling.  It was discovered that this was due to a malfunctioning air conditioner.  During the first act, the a/c was turned off and it was suggested that we speed the action up to accommodate the audience.  At intermission, we had a concession line that featured free cups of water.  The aristocrat Braxton Prendergast was seen behind the counter serving complaining that it was beneath him to serve peasants.  Mrs. Kirk threatened him with bodily harm at least twice.

Apparently, the audience did not mind the drips because the air was turned on again for the second act.  This was perhaps the best the act has run and accepted.  The final duel between Braxton and Rodrigo met with thunderous applause when the villain fell to the ground.  Every time a line was spoken having to do with water, the audience roared in hysterical laughter.  The title of this post is taken from the title of a song that Jo and Prof. Bhear sing at the end of the show.  I thought they would never be heard from all the laughter I thought would come.  However, after a few chuckles, the song went very well as did our 4th of 6 shows.  Maybe tomorrow someone will provide the audience members beneath the drips with small umbrellas of their own.

Ah, yes and a happy birthday to my co-star, Elizabeth.

Continuing with AFI’s list, I will now comment on the fantasy world. This genre is by far the one in which most people have to leave their logic and knowledge of the ordinary world at the doorstep and embrace their inner child. This was perhaps my favorite segment (as they did not include the 10 best musicals). But here goes:

• Big (I believe that this Tom Hanks film re-started the whole kid-transforming-into-an-adult-overnight craze)
• The Thief of Baghdad (silent movie that I cannot comment on)
• Groundhog Day (? OOOOKKKKKK…. Why?)
• Harvey (classic Jimmy Stewart film… near and dear to one of my frequent readers)
• Field of Dreams (they built it and they did come again a bit of a ?)
• Miracle on 34th Street (the original in glorious black and white which I have commented on before)
• King Kong (1933 big scary monkey climbs Empire State Building and go boom)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (another Jimmy Stewart favorite at Christmas time…. once in your life did you not want to know the world would be like if you were never born?)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (one of the most faithful book to screen adaptations ever conceived)
• The Wizard of Oz

In my humble opinion, the classic Oz deserves to be at the top. I dare say that this movie has lived on for over seventy years and I do not know of anyone who has never seen it. If there is they must live under a rock. Speaking of rocks, there is at least one film that should have been in there somewhere. The Neverending Story is a fun fantasy (featuring Rock Biter) for children of all ages full of wonder and far away worlds. Also, where is The Princess Bride? The inclusion of Groundhog Day just made me scratch my head. How does one get on to vote on this A.F.I. list anywho?

Only BLOCKBUSTER Total Access let’s you Rent Movies Online with the Flexibility to Exchange In-store!

Wizard of Oz gifts and merchandise at WBShop.com !

This morning after I was so rudely interrupted, I turned on our local radio station where one of my fellow Little Women cast members delivers the news. One of the featured topics of the day was “The worst movies ever made.” I know the film that at least one of my readers finds to fit that bill… and I am pleased to say that I have yet to watch The Night Listener with Robin Williams. I have mentioned from time to time Norbit and Howard the Duck. However, there has to be some other good stinkers out there. Here are a few:

• Leonard Part 6 (starring Bill Cosby during the waning years of The Cosby Show… did not make me ask what happened to the other five previous films))
• Ghost Dad (also featuring Mr. Cosby which goes to show that bankability in one form of entertainment does not guarantee success in other forms)
• Rocky V ( and about 2/3 of the movies Mr. Stallone has graced us with… thank goodness the series came back and went out on a better note with Rocky Balboa)
• Jaws the Revenge (Bruce the Shark looked even more fake)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (sorry Mr. Shatner, your directorial debut was not your finest hour

I am sure there are several other (un)worthy films to include on this list. Please feel free to join in the fun and making us all relive some of the low moments in theatrical movie history.

CinemaNow. Try it FREE!

This morning while I was in bed peacefully sleeping in the quiet confines of my nearly abandoned home (the parents are nearly finished with their 2 week trip to California), I was  alarmingly awakened by thhe srill tone of the telephone ringing.  I looked at the alarm and saw 6:30 AM.  They will leave a message.   Five minutes  later, the phone rings again… UGH.   Ten minutes pass; I get up to answer the phone, but they already had hung up.  Check the Caller  ID: Kaiser’s Supermarket.   Was my alarm set right… I did nothink I had to be in until 10.   So I call back (since all three times it was the same caller).   Can you come in at  8  instead of 10?   Our bookkeeper had a daughter who was going into labor so they were a bit short handed.  I suppose, I said rather groggily.  At least my first two hours there were rather uneventful… only the two hour delay of our truck that put a damper on the whole day.  Not only were we minus one person, our stock was two hour behind schedule (which seems to happen occasionally… especially when you have new driver who has never heard of our small metropolis and even have gotten it mixed up with a town with the same name one state to the west…. which is not a fur piece away… think I have been thar once).   So… other than that, the first part of my day was fine (I did get in two hours more than I had anticipated, good thing would have been better if I had not gone to bed so late last night).

One week from today, I will be hitting a milestone – the big 3-0.  To say I am dreading it would be a huge understatement.  It’s not that I feel old – at times I do, but mostly I enjoy being older because in some ways, my early 20’s really sucked.  After working out the growing pains of my early 20’s and figuring out how and where to settle our family for the rest of our lives, my late 20’s went really well.  But there are a few things about turning 30 that have me feeling a little depressed lately…

This first thing is really not a big deal, just food for thought, really – I read an article about a year ago about fashion ettiquette, and apparently ettiquette says I can no longer wear my hair in pigtails.  They say 30 is too old for this.  I haven’t worn my hair in pigtails since I was about 6 years old, but it’s the principle of it now being inappropriate because I’m too old.  What if I wake up one day wanting to wear my hair in pigtails all of a sudden?  Not really a catastrophe, but again, it’s just the principle – something I CAN’T do…  Maybe I should wear my hair in pigtails ON my 30th birthday…

My biggest qualm about turning 30 is that I feel too old for a career.  Over the past year and especially in the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking about all the things I’ll never be nor do because it’s too late…  So I guess this is it – I am officially locked into the Mommy career path, sigh.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, some people thrive on it.  I’m just not one of them.  While I truly appreciate being able to stay home and watch my kids grow without having to take some low-paying horrible job, I will also greedily admit that sometimes it’s not enough.  Sometimes, I think about maybe taking a minimum wage job, just to be able to contribute, just to be able to have a logical conversation with adults during the day.  Most of my daily conversations now revolve around poop, Barney, Hannah Montana or what was stuffed into the toilet.  When a person is in their 20’s, I always figured that was the time for establishing one’s career path, but my 20’s are gone, so I guess this is it.  Some days, I’m ok with it.  Some days I don’t even have time to really think about it.  But other days, I think about how I want to do something much more productive and lucrative, make a mark on the world while having fun and feeling like a contributing citizen…  I know, there are lots of people (especially stay-at-home-moms!) who say that raising happy, healthy, successful children IS the most productive and rewarding job out there…  But that’s easier said than done.  First, I don’t yet know if my efforts will be fruitful – what if the kids don’t turn out so well?  And second, and I hate to say this, but I will anyway – some days it just doesn’t seem like enough…  I want to be creating something, doing something, making money – I lack that immediate sense of accomplishment in my life, and I am a person who thrives on immediate payoff for effort.  Third, there’s always the thought in the back of my head – what am I going to do with myself when the kids are grown and in school?  I will be in my mid-thirties at the youngest, and since I didn’t use my 20’s to develop career skills for myself, where will that leave me when my days are no longer filled with changing diapers, preparing meals, cleaning up spills and mishaps, and chasing after kids?  Lately I’ve been dwelling on all the careers I’ve let it get too late to pursue, but there’s also the terrifying thought  – suppose I actually had some free time for myself…  WHAT ON EARTH WOULD I WANT TO DO WITH IT?  I never have any free time, so I don’t even know what I would do if I got some, and that for some reason, is terrifying!

I’m sure the pregnancy is adding to some of the anxiety I’m feeling about hitting the big 3-0.  After all, I’m due, well, actually, scheduled to give birth only 5 days after I turn 30.  And like I said, most days I can look at my 4 beautiful children and think, wow, creating them is a lot to accomplish by the age of 30…  But what about the dark days when all 4 are acting up at the same time, and I just can’t feel pleasure nor reward in the career path I’ve chosen?  And most of all, what career is just going to suddenly pop out of the woodwork for me once the kids have grown and aren’t so needy?

Can’t I just turn 29 again?

Notice on the right side of this page there are links to various things. There are of course links to the blogs I write, and comments people make about them (Hey, I like the comments, so keep them coming). I have links to other blogs. I now added a few links to other places. I will be adding more in the future. These are the places that have some interest to me.

Since I’ve given a good percentage of my writings to things that happen in and around our little theater group, I thought I should add that site too. I don’t go to it that often, because I often know what is going on there. I was going to write a little bit about the theater anyway.

Last year in or around February I celebrated my 10th anniversary with the theater. Funny, I can’t remember the dates of the show, but I do remember it was the first show of 2007. It was the 3rd show of the 2006/2007 season. At that time, we were known as ‘The Williams County Playhouse’, or in most cases, just the Playhouse. People who knew about it, knew what you were talking about. I’ve averaged participating in 2 shows a year since 1997. I wasn’t always on stage, sometimes I would just run lights or help building sets.

Me, I’m what you could call a character actor. I’ve only had a couple of lead roles. Most of the time I’m in a supporting or cameo role. I kind of like it that way. I can only think of a couple plays where I would really want the lead role. To my great satisfaction, I have played the lead in the one show where I really wanted that part. Too bad we don’t have a history section for the theater web site. As a local community theater we’ve been active for over 50 years. I did notice today, that I am in a couple of pictures for some of the shows I’ve been in. Didn’t remember taking some of those pictures, and I’m glad none of the “Run for your Wife” pictures got in there.

Anyway, what was I going on about? A yes character rolls. I can’t say I was much of a character my first year or so. I just didn’t have the confidence in my acting to really start having fun. I had fun during rehearsals and after the shows, just not during the shows. The turning point came in a show called “Wait Until Dark”. While the director wanted me to smoke, it was pivotal to the rest of the show, I never managed to look comfortable smoking. I never smoked a cigarette in my life before that one on stage. Even though I looked like a rookie smoker, I think that caused my comfort level on stage to make a turn. The next time on stage, I was adding a little more to my characters. I’ve played an old man, a young kid, a psychiatrist (three times), a few cops, husband, minister, gay neighbor, British Sgt. Major, Silent film Actor, card playing buddy, gentleman’s gentleman, and a friend to a 6′ 4 1/2″ tall rabbit. I’m sure I have left something out, but that should cover most of them.

My favorite role was that of Elwood Dowd in “Harvey”. My least favorite role, was that of one of the beat cops in “Arsenic and Old Lace”, but it was my first WCP show, and I was sick during the run. My most memorable show was one I was in the light booth for. The very first show after my wife’s death. It was a show that dealt extensively with death. It was pure, intense therapy. Theater, my friends, can heal the soul, calm the heart, and make life a bit more realistic.

Why talk about all this now? Well, I know our little theater is in a financial bind (nothing new here, but that is the way of things). I’m sure other community theaters are also on the lookout for cash. So, I guess I’m begging a little here. There is a very good chance that you live near a community theater. Look them up, stop by a show, support them. Yes, there is a little culture going on, and the people in the theater groups are doing it for fun (we don’t get paid folks), but it can be so much more. Have a laugh or a cry watching live theater…..

The advice in the title of my blog post sounds obvious in retrospect.  Mike Myers‘ new movie The Love Guru did not look funny, nor did it look like a good movie…  But date night this week found us in a neighboring town whose movie theater has a card club – you earn points every time you see a movie and earn rewards with the points – free popcorn, drinks, candy, movie tickets.  We were lucky enough to have earned movie tickets the other day, and when we realized this would probably be one of the last movies we’d see without a newborn baby along, we decided to make it a double feature with our earned tickets.  We had gone to the theater to see Get Smart, the latest Steve Carell movie.  Since the times lined up well and we wouldn’t have much time to kill between the movies, we chose The Love Guru (regrettably) for our second movie.

Get Smart
There is one reason why I would want to see this movie after never having seen the ’60’s tv show: Steve Carell.  The guy is a good actor who is always fun to watch, so we couldn’t resist checking out his latest work.  It wasn’t the best example of Carell’s talent, but it was exactly what I was expecting, plus entertaining and amusing.  The fictional gadgetry was clever and the action was plentiful; there were also some funny jokes thrown in (Bill Murray‘s cameo is one of the best parts), and overall it was a good time.  Anne Hathaway was good as Agent 99, but it makes me wonder what the character was like in the tv show…  And I wonder what else I missed since I’ve never seen an episode of the tv version of Get Smart?  Maybe I’ll some across one someday, but for now, the movie wasn’t good enough to make it a priority.

And because I don’t want to waste any time talking about The Love Guru, I’m just going to copy and paste someone else’s review from imdb.com which I think sums up the movie perfectly:
R.I.P. Mike Myers Career
I saw this film last night in a advance screening. I can say without a doubt it is the worst movie I’ve ever seen in the theater. It is simply a terrible movie. For every joke that’s funny (which are few) there is about dozen that are not. Then there’s all the jokes we’ve seen in previous Myers films that aren’t so funny the 4th time around when they appear in this flick. Many moments in this film will having you looking around the theater wondering if anyone else finds this movie as stupid as you do.
That’s really the bottom line. This movie is stupid. Take every fear you’ve had watching the trailer, times it by 10 and you will get an idea of how bad this film is.
By the way, the hockey in this movie will leave any one who loves the game sick to there stomach. The hockey portrayal left me in tears. Its brutal ! The film is a HUGE slap in the face to hockey. Thanks Mike Myers !
On a positive note though, Justin Timberlake and Stephen Colbert are hilarious. The only time i enjoyed the movie at all was when they were on screen. I never thought in a million years I would leave a movie saying ” Thank God Justin Timberlake was is it.”
In short : this movie is terrible ! Don’t believe me ? Then throw your money away and see for yourself.

HAHAHA – I especially like the part in the review, “I never thought in a million years I would leave a movie saying, Thank God Justin Timberlake was in it.”  So true…
At least we got in for free, though the movie was so bad, it was almost a waste of reward points!  But it was a short movie and any time together for husband and wife away from the kids is priceless by itself, so I can’t say it was a total waste – but seriously, don’t see it! 🙂 

One of those, I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed days. I’m hoping I’m not coming down with whatever my light booth double had last week. She needed at least a few days to get over it. I don’t have that kind of time.

Things I wanted to get done during the off days between shows, I didn’t get done. So I’m falling farther behind in things I need to do around the house. I’ll have to make some time this Saturday morning to get things going.

One more weekend of shows, and then on to Children’s theater for my youngest. I guess I will be seeing a lot of that theater this summer. And I haven’t been in a show yet. I know I will have to get going to make sure I help out with the show I’m a producer of. My life in theater is never done.

Good night folks, just a quick update.