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If I Could Talk To The Animals
Teri and I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory today, and it wasn't bad. Certainly a surprising characterization from Johnny Depp. There was more than a little Ed Wood in his portrayal. I must say, I was surprised that he made Willy Wonka so exageratedly American. I mean, he almost sounded like Benny Hill or Monty Python doing an "Amurrican" accent, if you know what I mean.
But it was pretty good. Deep Roy was a great Oompa-Loompa, the Elfman score was about as good as you could expect, and the added material - i.e. the flashbacks - weren't as bad as I expected them to be. And I was simply amazed at how young Christopher Lee looks, when he's not made up to look 117 as Saruman or Count Doody (or whatever the hell his name was - I didn't watch that movie).
Anyway, earlier or later that day - I forget - Teri and I were driving in the car, and I felt like singing. That happens a lot. Usually, Teri turns on the radio at that point, or Sebastian asks her to put in one of his CDs.
I should mention that I have a weird memory for lyrics. I mean, my memory is really good for most things anyway, but for lyrics it surprises even me.
Maybe it was the kid-movie-connection, I don't know. But suddenly I sang,
Sebastian wasn't with us, and Teri just kind of rolled her eyes.
"That's from Doctor Dolittle," I explained.
"Oh?" she said, probably hoping I wouldn't elucidate.
"Yes," I said, getting into the topic, "not those terrible modern versions with Eddie Murphy, but the old one with Rex Harrison. Although I remember reading that that wasn't a good version, either. You know I'm a big fan of the Doctor Dolittle books, right?"
"Yes, I know."
"Yes, I - " I suddenly realized that I was about to tell her all about the outrage of the Dolittle books being censored (I'd run across another example last week), and that she'd CERTAINLY heard all that before from me, in nauseating detail, several dozen times over. So I switched gears.
"Did you know that they filmed that version with live animals? I mean, real live animals?" I asked. I must have read that in a book somewhere, since I certainly never saw much of the movie.
"Really?" She sounded interested. Without warning, my brain entered a parallel universe.
"Yes," I went on glibly, "well, that is, they were alive when they started filming. By the time they were done, they were all dead."
At which point I couldn't help cracking up. Fortunately she did, too. At least a bit.
I imagine that life with me is rather entertaining sometimes.
But it was pretty good. Deep Roy was a great Oompa-Loompa, the Elfman score was about as good as you could expect, and the added material - i.e. the flashbacks - weren't as bad as I expected them to be. And I was simply amazed at how young Christopher Lee looks, when he's not made up to look 117 as Saruman or Count Doody (or whatever the hell his name was - I didn't watch that movie).
Anyway, earlier or later that day - I forget - Teri and I were driving in the car, and I felt like singing. That happens a lot. Usually, Teri turns on the radio at that point, or Sebastian asks her to put in one of his CDs.
I should mention that I have a weird memory for lyrics. I mean, my memory is really good for most things anyway, but for lyrics it surprises even me.
Maybe it was the kid-movie-connection, I don't know. But suddenly I sang,
"If I could talk to the animals, just imagine it,
What a neat achievement that would be.
If I could walk with the animals, talk with the animals,
Grunt and squeak and squawk with the animals,
And they could squeak and squawk and speak and talk to MEEEEE!"
Sebastian wasn't with us, and Teri just kind of rolled her eyes.
"That's from Doctor Dolittle," I explained.
"Oh?" she said, probably hoping I wouldn't elucidate.
"Yes," I said, getting into the topic, "not those terrible modern versions with Eddie Murphy, but the old one with Rex Harrison. Although I remember reading that that wasn't a good version, either. You know I'm a big fan of the Doctor Dolittle books, right?"
"Yes, I know."
"Yes, I - " I suddenly realized that I was about to tell her all about the outrage of the Dolittle books being censored (I'd run across another example last week), and that she'd CERTAINLY heard all that before from me, in nauseating detail, several dozen times over. So I switched gears.
"Did you know that they filmed that version with live animals? I mean, real live animals?" I asked. I must have read that in a book somewhere, since I certainly never saw much of the movie.
"Really?" She sounded interested. Without warning, my brain entered a parallel universe.
"Yes," I went on glibly, "well, that is, they were alive when they started filming. By the time they were done, they were all dead."
At which point I couldn't help cracking up. Fortunately she did, too. At least a bit.
I imagine that life with me is rather entertaining sometimes.
no subject
I wasn't expecting you to like the new one; hmm.