1. Last night I saw a production of Willy Wonka Junior, a play based on the movie (the Gene Wilder version) based on the book by Roald Dahl. Lily and Clara were acting in said play. Lily and Clara Stole the Show--every time they were on stage (or more technically, near the stage—surprisingly little of this production took place on the stage—the director seems to prefer having actors stand on the steps or the floor in front of the stage), the production Sparkled and was Glorious. Other than that, it was exactly what one would expect from a Community Theater production in which all the actors are under the age of 18 (well, except the Director also gave himself a role--and there was one odd adult in a minor role for no apparent reason).
2. The moral of the play based on the movie based on the book? I have been puzzling this over since the production ended last night and have finally realized what this story is meant to teach:
If you are a very nice young boy, then, if you are fortunate, a disturbing man with an unhealthy obsession with young children and small people from foreign lands will take an interest in you.
3. In related news, Emma and I watched Pulp Fiction earlier in the week. So, here is the question: which is more disturbing--Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Pulp Fiction? And why is one considered Children's literature?
4. I'd seen Pulp Fiction before. Indeed, I have seen almost all the Tarantino films. (I haven’t seen his homage to schlock 1970s horror flicks—not interested.) Tarantino is an interesting producer/director/writer. At his best, he is devastatingly funny. There are moments in his movies which are as witty as anything ever filmed. He has quite the obsession with violence, and that too is often incredibly well done. But, what connects the brilliant dialogue and artful violence is often surprisingly tedious. When an actor isn’t engaged in witty repartee or dismembering someone, it is almost as if Tarantino doesn’t quite know what to do with him. Case in point: there is a scene in Pulp Fiction in which the Bruce Willis character rides in a cab and talks to the driver. The scene is pretty dull and pointless. It is, a quick Goggle search reveals, an homage to some obscure film that Tarantino liked. So, cute—if you saw that earlier movie (and you probably didn’t) then you can think—Hey! I know where this is from. But, so what? The scene is still boring. Tarantino has too many parts like this in his movies. Indeed, Jackie Brown was almost entirely dull moments like that. His most complete movie is, oddly enough, Kill Bill—which may well be the most violent movie ever—and which oddly doesn’t have any of the lengthy witty dialogue as seen in Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. (Word of warning to the squeamish—Kill Bill is seriously violent.) (Word of advice to the non-squeamish—it is a seriously good movie (or, technically, pair of movies).) Tarantino reminds me a bit of Victor Hugo—brilliant, but seriously in need of an editor who will ask, “Is this part really necessary?”
2. The moral of the play based on the movie based on the book? I have been puzzling this over since the production ended last night and have finally realized what this story is meant to teach:
If you are a very nice young boy, then, if you are fortunate, a disturbing man with an unhealthy obsession with young children and small people from foreign lands will take an interest in you.
3. In related news, Emma and I watched Pulp Fiction earlier in the week. So, here is the question: which is more disturbing--Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Pulp Fiction? And why is one considered Children's literature?
4. I'd seen Pulp Fiction before. Indeed, I have seen almost all the Tarantino films. (I haven’t seen his homage to schlock 1970s horror flicks—not interested.) Tarantino is an interesting producer/director/writer. At his best, he is devastatingly funny. There are moments in his movies which are as witty as anything ever filmed. He has quite the obsession with violence, and that too is often incredibly well done. But, what connects the brilliant dialogue and artful violence is often surprisingly tedious. When an actor isn’t engaged in witty repartee or dismembering someone, it is almost as if Tarantino doesn’t quite know what to do with him. Case in point: there is a scene in Pulp Fiction in which the Bruce Willis character rides in a cab and talks to the driver. The scene is pretty dull and pointless. It is, a quick Goggle search reveals, an homage to some obscure film that Tarantino liked. So, cute—if you saw that earlier movie (and you probably didn’t) then you can think—Hey! I know where this is from. But, so what? The scene is still boring. Tarantino has too many parts like this in his movies. Indeed, Jackie Brown was almost entirely dull moments like that. His most complete movie is, oddly enough, Kill Bill—which may well be the most violent movie ever—and which oddly doesn’t have any of the lengthy witty dialogue as seen in Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. (Word of warning to the squeamish—Kill Bill is seriously violent.) (Word of advice to the non-squeamish—it is a seriously good movie (or, technically, pair of movies).) Tarantino reminds me a bit of Victor Hugo—brilliant, but seriously in need of an editor who will ask, “Is this part really necessary?”
5. Janet hated Pulp Fiction. She has no interest in seeing another Tarantino movie.
6. Yesterday was St. Patrick’s Day. I didn’t wear orange. I always want to wear orange on St. Patrick’s Day, but I don’t own an orange shirt. (Or pants or socks or shoes or a hat or a scarf or a jacket for that matter.) (And I can't justify keeping an orange shirt in my closet just so I can wear it once a year as some sort of vague protest against the assumption that all Irish are Roman Catholic. Well, that and Janet gets seriously upset with me every time I mention wanting to wear orange on St. Patrick's Day; I hate to think what she would do if I ever actually did wear orange.) I did listen to Flogging Molly, though. Amazon has a Dropkick Murphys album as one of their $5 albums in March. I have two Flogging Molly albums, and I cannot figure out if that is enough Irish Rock or if I should drop $5 to increase my collection of that genre by 50%.
7. Here is a Flogging Molly link. Cleverly edited.
8. And the link has Johnny Depp in it, which means this blog post is now officially circular.
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