Some heresy regarding the film PICNIC.

Joshua Logan’s adaptation of the William Inge play PICNIC will screen in early April at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater (Netflix/American Cinematheque) with two people I like doing a Q and A afterwards.

But I can’t bring myself to see it again; once, two decades ago, at the pre-Tarantino Vista Theater was more than enough.

Overaged, miscast William Holden and the excruciating scene where Rosalind Russell loudly begs MARRY ME MARRY ME MARRY ME to Arthur O’Connell resonate in my memories like tornado warning sirens.

Mitigating factors are Kim Novak and young Susan Strasberg, plus the Kansas color cinematography of James Wong Howe.

But it doesn’t work for me as a definitive portrait of breaking away from small town narrowness.

Regarding Sen. Katie Britt’s SOTU Response

What I saw of the Katie Britt SOTU rebuttal (couldn’t bring myself to endure the whole thing) reminded me of fundraising appeals that either come from televangelists or hucksters preying on seniors who watch MeTV, Buzzr, etc.

Obviously, it was intended as a soft-sell version of Trump’s standard apocalyptic Hulk Smash bigotry and Bidenphobia.  But it seemed like an audition video for a local TV news anchor position—heavy on smiling while reading copy off the teleprompter.  With the occasional look this is serious face.