Category Archives: MOVIES & THE ARTS

The New Music of the New “Doctor Who”: Two Takes

Leave a reply

Funny. I enjoyed the episode “Rosa” and thought it bodes well for future episodes.

Perversely, though, I very much dislike the new main theme and musical underscoring for basically the very same reasons that the author of the article, “As the long-running science-fiction television series begins a new chapter with a woman in the lead role for the first time, its theme tune more or less restores the original musical conception,” prefers them. I feel like the main theme has been orchestrally eviscerated and abbreviated, and the aimless underscoring so enjoyed by the author reminds me of the musical underscore work Dennis McCarthy did on “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, which was aimless, meandering, athematic, amelodic work which I loathed.

Some people apparently appreciated McCarthy’s work, and I’m told that his style was deliberately chosen by the producers, but I always felt that it made the series seem cheap and cheesy. What I enjoyed of the series was in spite of his work, or especially among the episodes he didn’t score. (The memorable Borg theme, for example, is not McCarthy’s but is the work of Ron Jones.)

I miss Bernard Herrmann, but at least we still have luminaries like Danny Elfman and the great John Williams for memorable film and TV scoring.

The article referenced can be accessed below:

“As the long-running science-fiction television series begins a new chapter with a woman in the lead role for the first time, its theme tune more or less restores the original musical conception.”

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-music-of-doctor-who-makes-a-glorious-return-to-form

A lost film: “The Sleepeaters”

Leave a reply

This is a re-post from December 9, 2016.

Just for fun . ;-)

_________________________________________________________

To my knowledge, this film has never been shown anywhere. This clip is the first I have seen online in a long time. The ‘Documentarian’ speaking in the background is me.

I hope someday that the whole film will see the light of day.

VIDEO: The ‘Real’ Andy Kaufman, Interviewed By Seth Schultz At ‘Pip’s Comedy Club’ in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn

1 Reply

Have you ever seen Andy Kaufman as ‘himself’? Really?

Most of us have never seen the ‘real’ Andy Kaufman without his personas for him to hide behind. Here in this rare video, he’s being interviewed by Seth Schultz, son of Pip’s Comedy Club then-owner and founder George Schultz, after doing nearly two hours on stage in front of an unhappy audience, and he’s clearly exhausted and ‘put out’ by the experience. At the time this video was shot, Pip’s (in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn) was the oldest and one of the most important comedy clubs in America.

This video is taken from a longer article entitled, “Marty Schultz, 58, Owner Of Pips Comedy Club, Passes Away In Las Vegas“ (By on October 10, 2013) published in SheepsheadBites.com. The date of the video is not specified.

“Here’s an interview Seth did with friend Andy Kaufman. Beginning at the 3:00-minute mark, Kaufman is talking about Pips, Seth and George, and Sheepshead Bay in general. This interview was the material Jim Carrey studied for his role in Man on the Moon.”