Saturday Music that Loves a Particular Version of The Look of Love

THE FUTURIST! is in the midst of a William Friedkin Freakout Film Foray. He is trying to watch any and all Friedkin directed films in chronological order. The reasons why he is doing this can be stated thusly:

1. A person, in conversation, stated to THE FUTURIST!
that Friedkin is an egomaniac bullying hack with no cinematic style.
Could this be true? No style?

2. THE FUTURIST! had only seen, maybe, 4 Friedkin films in his life ...
and a few he has been very curious about since they are considered
very controversial.

3. THE FUTURIST! loves mini-film festivals in his Thimble Theater.
It quenches his soul and blocks realities that neurotically plague him.

4. THE FUTURIST! is a Completist.

THE FUTURIST! just watched Friedkin's filmed adaptation of the controversial play THE BOYS IN THE BAND. The film begins with the wonderful Harpers Bizarre version of Cole Porter's ANYTHING GOES and it ends with a version of Burt Bacharach's THE LOOK OF LOVE. This is not the vocalized Dusty Springfield take that was originally in the 1967 CASINO ROYALE, but a version that is totally orchestral from the album REACH OUT and conducted by Bacharach, himself.

As the film ends in blackness and bitter sadness the end credits begin showing each cast member and the music begins. It leaves you feeling a bit sad yourself. An odd song, beautiful, full of contented longing finally found, but ... well,

Listen:


THE LOOK OF LOVE
by Burt Bacharach

Existential Star Wars

Hopefully this Summer blockbuster will premiere at The Utter Despair Hive Megaplex. THE FUTURIST! thinks it should be retitled: SARTRE WARS. Is there any movie that bests blends sci-fi and despair? This could be the chance to have French wine served at the confection counter ... finally.

THE FUTURIST!'s Rain Out Theater

While the grounds crew rolls out the giant tarps to protect the field,
THE FUTURIST! provides this short film to idle away the time.

This gets really groovy at about 2 mins in

See You Next Wednesday!

MARLOWE (1969)
dir: Paul Bogart

The Easter Dinner

THE FUTURIST! is a bit late in posting these photos,

but he has been busy the last few days.

Above is the cooked boneless leg of lamb

which was mentioned in the preceding post of Easter Sunday.

THE FUTURIST! apologizes to any Vegans who read

this blog ( he can think of one ) but the succulent

sight of this deliciously seasoned meal

is too beautiful to NOT display.

And this is what it looked like

when nestled between fresh carrots and boiled potatoes

on THE FUTURIST!'s Easter plate:

IT was accompanied by a glass of Pinot Noir

and THE FUTURIST!'s Janus Films mug

which was awaiting boiling water for the satisfying

after meal pleasure of Green Tea.

Oh, it was grand.

The Easter Lamb

The boneless leg of lamb

purchased at a Costco in Hackensack, N.J.

The very same city in New Jersey

that Lex Luthor fired one of his atomic missiles

at in Richard Donner's SUPERMAN (1978)

4.61 pounds.

Cost: $27.61

This shall be THE FUTURIST!'s Easter dinner.

Isn't it beautiful?

________________________

Saturday Music with the Soothing Penguin Cafe Orchestra

THE FUTURIST! has not much to say about The Penguin Cafe Orchestra except that their compositions add some solace to trying times. He has used their music twice before in earlier Saturday Music posts, but not this particular piece. This feels appropriate to listen to the night before Easter Sunday ... to relax and think about cooking a 4.61 pound boneless leg of lamb.

Listen and think about herbs and seasoning the lamb:


PERPETUUM MOBILE
performed by The Penguin Cafe Orchestra

The BANACEK Turtleneck

THE FUTURIST! found out that The Amazing Frollo is working at The NBC Store near Rockefeller Plaza in New York. He asked The Amazing Frollo if they had any discounts on items from old NBC television programs. For instance, did they have any discounted BANACEK turtlenecks? It appears they do not. It's a pity. THE FUTURIST! was thinking of wearing one this Easter weekend with a hounds tooth sport coat. THE FUTURIST! wasn't going to solve any fraudulent insurance scams involving disappearing Brink's armored trucks or art objects. He just wanted to go bow tie-less this Easter. No turtleneck, no cigarillos, no sport coat ... but he will have that glass of whatever Banacek is having.

See You Next Wednesday!

THE WILD GEESE (1978)

dir: Andrew V. McLaglen

* Wow. What a revealing trailer!

THE FUTURIST! is certain the entire cast was drunk during filming.

The stench of whiskey had to be evident on set.

Sunday Funnies: Steve Martin and his Singing Balls

As far as groin comedy goes, this is
not as incredibly ingenious as Mr. Martin's
THE GREAT FLYDINI act on the The Tonight Show,
but it is still very funny.

Saturday Music at The Minor Super Market

THE FUTURIST! is not going to attend a family Easter dinner again this year. It will mark the 3rd year in a row he has decided not to be present at an Easter holiday repast. Growing up, THE FUTURIST! loved two holidays the very most ... Thanksgiving and Easter. Easter meant springtime and renewal and lovely weather and chocolate and hard boiled eggs and the public television station airing of EASTER PARADE or THE BAND WAGON or SINGIN' IN THE RAIN or a week of movie biblical melodramas with wooden acting, swelling Miklos Roza scores and large breasted women in revealing outfits and lots of Max Factor make-up being wooed by men garbed in metal breastplates, sandals and holding jeweled goblets ... oh, and a very attractive, non-Jewish or Semitic looking actor playing Jesus.

THE FUTURIST! can't avoid the Thanksgiving family gathering, but he has successfully been able to parachute out of the Easter feast. He remembers his small family gathering of years past that was so warm and comforting, but it has morphed into a larger event with in-laws and children and gripes about jobs, illness and what is happening with the kids' friends' Moms and other minutiae that is, oh, so boring. THE FUTURIST! just doesn't care and he will just drink more white wine to dull his senses and fall asleep while the monotone yakking goes on and on and on ... so, instead he will stay home and cook his own lovely Easter meal and watch an appropriate film. Maybe, THE ROBE or KING OF KINGS or CLEOPATRA or a bright cheery musical.

Therefore, he must buy some lamb for his Easter dinner. The family gathering never features lamb. It is always turkey or ham. THE FUTURIST! loves a nice juicy lamb. He never has it all year. This is HIS TIME for the succulent taste of a lamb leg or shank or butt cut. He usually buys the butt cut because it is just enough for a solo meal with some leftovers.

This week he will have to shop for a good piece. Last year, he purchased a very good offering at the Utter Despair Minor Super Market (owned by the Minor Bros) When shopping at The Minor Super Market, you can hear the type of music which is featured below. Where else would you hear this kind of musical accompaniment while prodding melons, reading cereal boxes, leaving that half gallon of ice cream in the canned vegetable aisle after you decided NOT to buy it ... AND checking for a good lamb butt?

Listen:


TULA LUPA
performed by The Erwin Lehn Beat-Brass

See You Next Wednesday!

CHARADE (1963)
dir: Stanley Donen

Happy Birthday To Director Stanley Donen (April 13, 1924)

The Amazing Frollo's Top 5 Sidney Lumet Movies

The Amazing Frollo is seen above in his homage to

Sidney Lumet's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS.

He is green screened in his version of

DEATH ON THE NILE by Agatha Christie.

He never finished the movie.

He got hungry and did not return to the set.

________________________________________________

When THE FUTURIST! heard of the death of film director Sidney Lumet, his first thought was of his friend The Amazing Frollo. Earlier posts have recounted The Amazing Frollo's stature as a magician ... he stinks. (CLICK HERE!) and (CLICK HERE, TOO!) Never has any of his stage acts as a prestidigitator been successful. Audiences have queued up just to see how far he can humiliate himself. AS far as THE FUTURIST! understands, The Amazing Frollo has given up his magic act and been in some sort of sad slump. Rumors have percolated about him having no money and becoming a recluse reading his hundreds of yellowed used paperbacks of movie novelizations, trying to file his VHS collection and eating bacon.

THE FUTURIST! has gotten far afield from his subject regarding why he thought of The Amazing Frollo after hearing of the death of Lumet. The Amazing Frollo is a great film buff and always would talk about Lumet to THE FUTURIST! He even had mini-film festivals of Lumet works that he enjoyed in his own cluttered bedroom watching on his computer screen. THE FUTURIST! asked The Amazing Frollo to compile a list of his favorite Lumet films for this blog. He consented and submitted this:

THE AMAZING FROLLO'S TOP 5 SIDNEY LUMET MOVIES:

Sidney Lumet truly is one of my favorite directors. They way he was able to make so many different kinds of films so well is a real inspiration to me. So naturally this list was pretty hard; I almost cheated and chose six, but rules are rules.

1. 12 Angry Men

2. Murder on the Orient Express

3. Network

4. The Verdict

5. Fail-Safe

I was gonna expand on these choices, but I kinda ran out of steam after 12 Angry Men. Writing about movies is hard. I hope I won’t have to do too much of that in film school.
___________________________________________________

This is the shortest least explained of ANY Top 5 List in THE FUTURIST!'s series. Somehow, though, this warms THE FUTURIST!'s heart; it is true reflection of the sloth-like expectations of THE AMAZING FROLLO. He is never a phony.

Oh, and The Amazing Frollo? You WILL have to write in Film School. THE FUTURIST! predicts that you will perform your finest magic act at Film School. You will finally successfully disappear. And you won't need a steamer trunk or the assistance of a showgirl.

Insomnia on Warm

Dear Pagan Gods, it was too warm last night.
Utter Despair, NJ had a sudden heat wave that reached temperatures of about 80 degrees ... in APRIL! Where is the springtime? THE FUTURIST! hates the heat. He especially hates it when the sun has set and it is still warm and humid. Last night's air was full of that disgusting sense of wetness embracing your skin; it feels like the air is sweating. THE FUTURIST! cannot sleep in this type of weather. Opening a window only lets in more of the creeping mildewy air and makes the bed sheets feel like you are are lying on the tongue of a panting canine. This happened last night. THE FUTURIST! tossed and turned and cursed his Life (well, he does the latter most evenings in the dark). He could get only sporadic spells of sleep. He would wake up in 30 minute intervals with his mind racing and feeling so uncomfortable. And for some reason the theme to Valmont's Go-Go Pad from Bava's DANGER: DIABOLIK kept racing through his manic mind. It felt like the NAH NAH NAAAH chorus from the musical piece were taunting him.

Feel free to try to relate. But, also, blow a vaporizer of boiling water on yourself to actually feel the THE FUTURIST!'s late Monday/Tuesday morning experience:

Sunday Funnies: Woody Allen Ponders Morality

What wonderful comic neurotic delivery.
LOVE AND DEATH (1975)
One of THE FUTURIST!'s favorite comedy films of all time.

Saturday Music Devoted to Sidney Lumet

THE FUTURIST! recalls the electric current that quaked through his young frame when he was first entertained by the opening credits of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974). The film begins in an old fashioned manner (at least in today's film experience terms) with a full slate of title, cast and crew in art deco font projected over a background of wavy shiny pink silk ... and this occurs before the film begins its narrative journey. The title imagery begins with a crescendo of orchestral introduction that sounds like a slightly menacing formal dance number and then slowly eases into perfect high class dining music. You can imagine yourself in full dinner dress with silk napkins and antique silverware eating something expensive and French. It is like music you would hear in a 5 star restaurant while watching a couple perform a waltz of death on the dance floor ... One, two, one two ... twirl ... separate ... embrace ... then end in a dip that would end the dance with a knife hilt protruding from someone's chest.

Music from the past for a movie taking place in the past about a crime committed in the past that results in further mayhem.

This adaptation of Agatha Christie's influential murder mystery is a perfect example of a lot of American 70s cinema. So many movies took place in the past or were modern variations of movie genres of the past during that decade. This is perhaps THE FUTURIST!'s favorite adaptation of a Christie mystery. And the film is brought to mind this sad Saturday by the news of the death of the film's director Sidney Lumet.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS is just one of many great films that Sidney Lumet directed. The list includes DOG DAY AFTERNOON, SERPICO, 12 ANGRY MAN, THE ANDERSON TAPES, FAIL SAFE, THE VERDICT, PRINCE OF THE CITY, and a couple of less lauded, but personal favorites ... RUNNING ON EMPTY, EQUUS and the ferocious Q & A. And one of the most prophetic films of the last 50 years, the brilliant NETWORK.

THE FUTURIST! will miss your style, Mr. Lumet.

While we remember, please ...

Listen:


Overture and Kidnapping from
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)
by Richard Rodney Bennett

See You Next Wednesday!

BUTLEY (1974)
dir: Harold Pinter

THE FUTURIST! Asks ...

... Julie Andrews, could you explain what the
Motion Picture Association of America seal means?

Sunday Funnies: Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and a Music Lesson

Oh, THE FUTURIST! loves these guys.
Smart and funny.

Try to watch the DVD of their British
television from the 60s entitled:
Peter Cook & Dudley Moore:
The Best of... What's Left of...
Not Only... But Also...

Saturday Music for Restoring the Soul

THE FUTURIST! had a very frustrating week.
He returned to his regular life ("regular" is the sad adjective in this sentence) and he found he could not wait for days of restive contemplation and relaxation. A good friend had compiled some "burned" CDs of music that were intended to sooth the tumults of Life's waves crashing against THE FUTURIST!'s beachhead. The song below was one of the several minutes of restorative musicality he used to regain composure.

Enough said.

Lyrics provided.

When Mac was swimming I was running late,
walking around New Orleans looking for a birthday cake.
It was a great surprise to him so many people came.
Nobody knows, darling.
Nobody knows how they are loved.
Don't worry, my darling, the sun's coming up.

Let's get up early now, dive clear into the day.
Let's get out of the car with open arms,
not wait to be embraced.
The flowers that grew, the things that happened
since the day you came.
Nobody knows, darling. Nobody knows how they are loved.
Don't worry, my darling, the sun's coming up.


Listen:


WHEN MAC WAS SWIMMING
performed by The Innocence Mission

Joan Crawford Sums Up THE FUTURIST!'s Day