Triple play

It's much better to see a movie on the big screen. Once in a while, though, it's necessary to resort to Vulcan Video and play stuff for viewing on the 13-inch television. The three most recently seen weren't recorded heretofore. Dodgeball was just what the doctor ordered: Ben Stiller was California-funny and Rip Torn did some scene-stealing. De-Lovely was a stinker in all sorts of ways, but it was show-bizzy, Kevin Kline was thoroughly professional with bad dialogue, and those tunes and lyrics just stay at the top of the mental playlist. Judd was not suited to the role, but she and Kline did dance well together. For some reason, we came in at the middle, not the beginning, but I recognized who all the characters were. It was a bit odd to make the Murphys so prominent. Later, I went back and watched from the beginning, just for the music, and found that the movie still stinks. Most of the modern interpretations of the songs fall short also. This music always brings many memories of RVH singing and playing the piano. It was funny that the actor cast as Gerald Murphy looked way more like the real Cole Porter, with his somewhat froggy visage. These songs are not meant to be so over-dramatized. My Neighbor Totoro was an unexpected pleasure. Too bad it was dubbed and perhaps had new music. To hear the original would be interesting. I love it that the cat-bus had so many legs.