I saw a mediocre movie which could have been a great satire.

 

 
The other day, I read an article in the New York Times about Stormy Daniels and her testimony in the Trump fraud case.  The article mentioned that Stormy did a bit part playing herself in the film, Bad President, a satirical film which tries to explain how Trump became our 45th president by selling his soul to the devil.  Although the film was mildly amusing, there was only one cast member that RQS and I recognized in the film - Stormy herself.  And this got us thinking - who could be involved in a more expensive remake of this film that would be top notch?

Since this film's plot has the devil looking to make chaos, and Trump being a stupid fool who could be easily manipulated due to his greed, his narcissism and his lack of humility, we figured that we'd need someone with gravitas to make the role memorable - and came up with Whoopi Goldberg.  Given that Satan is played by a black fellow in this film, switching Satan's gender opens the remake up to even funnier gags.  The role of Donald Trump would go to Alec Baldwin, as he knew how to go over the top in his SNL performances. The role of Stormy Daniels could be given to her - if she wanted to play herself in an exaggerated manner.  It would be nice to see another adult entertainer get a chance to go "legitimate". Most of the other roles could come from central casting.  But I would like to see Richard Gere play Michael Cohen, based on his performance in Chicago.  

But who would script and direct this film?  Mel Brooks is way too old for a full time gig like this.  Yet, he could be a consultant.  I could see a younger version of Steven Spielberg producing the film, based on his work in "1941".  Maybe Michael Hoffman (director of "Soap Dish") could handle direction duties. And Andrew Bergman (also from "Soap Dish") could handle the over the top script?

Yes, reality is stranger than any film that could have been dreamed of in 2016. But now, we need to find a way to laugh at recent history AND to leave the Trump family fuming.  Years ago, Charlie Chaplin said that he might not have made "The Great Dictator" had he known how evil Hitler was.  If I could go back in time, I'd have told him that it was essential that the film be made - evil men need their bubbles burst, and to be shown as poor excuses for humans....

PS: Bad President can be streamed on Freevee....

Jelly's Last Jam

 

Jelly's Last Jam tells the story (very loosely) of Jelly Roll Morton's life, as well as his contributions to the musical form we know as Jazz.  This was one of the better revivals in City Center's Encore! series. Given that I enjoyed Jelly Roll's music, I figured that this would be an entertaining diversion for both RQS and I, and gave her tickets to see this show on Valentine's Day.

A week and a half later, we braved the cold to go to City Center.  Weekend travel on the NYC Subway system can be frustrating at times, as many lines are shut down (whole or in part) for maintenance. For us, this meant that we had to deal with a larger than normal crowd at Union Square as we made our way outside to get a bite to eat.

Now, I don't keep any of my feminine wardrobe at RQS's house.  Even though it hovered near 32°f, the wind chill made it feel worse than that. So I was very fortunate that my feminine wardrobe was not available to me, as I would have braved the cold in a nice dress with tights on my legs.  Yet, if I did, I wouldn't have been the only person wearing a dress - we saw quite a few young (and older) ladies showing off their legs while on the subway, and later at city center.

Once done with food, we took the train to 57th street and then walked over to City Center.  After picking up our tickets, we had to kill 30 minutes in the lobby before being allowed to enter the theater and proceed to our seats.  Thankfully, we were able to take the elevator to the mezzanine where we had seats.

The play was nearly 2+1/2 hours long (with intermission) and RQS was tapping her feet and moving to the rhythm throughout the play.  I loved it too, and I'm not a big fan of musicals.  (Later on, I found this review in the New York Times while on the ride home - a nice coincidence.)  However, there was one minor fly in the ointment - we weren't able to make it home in time for SNL's cold open - one of our usual Saturday Night things to watch, along with Weekend Update.  At least, we were on time for a great fake advertisement for a love doll - Fugliana.  This was not a skit for everyone, but it was one of the show's best skits of all time. We watched the show until the second musical number started - then it was off to bed for the night.