My Day with Film (Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017)

Tuesday 1/3/17

Dear Diary,

It's been a hot minute since I've written. Christmas is big in my house, and then we left town the next day to visit family in Pennsylvania. After returning home it was nice to just sloth around for a few days, but now it's a new year packed with fresh opportunities for success! As some idiot said, "It's gonna be 'uge."

Okay, well, the first thing I want to get off my chest is my frustration with "rental copies" of home media. I mean, I suppose I understand the logic behind "rental copies." If you were given all the content with a $2 rental, literally nobody would ever buy movies for their personal collection ever again. Warehouses would be piled floor to ceiling with unsold Blu-rays. I get it, but that doesn't make it any less shitty for the consumer looking to save a buck.

I went down to Redbox today to pick up the piss-poor rehash of Blair Witch. That movie is such a letdown, but when I heard that Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett were doing a commentary and an hour of featurettes, my curiosity was piqued. Wingard and Barrett are known for putting together stellar supplemental material for their films, and with so many secrets and mysteries left unresolved in the film, I had to get my hands on the Blu-ray in order to gain some sense of closure. I step up to the kiosk, hand over my $2 plus tax, and head home to my player just to make sure the bonuses are there and that I don't have to spend full-price to get the closure I so desperately have been seeking.

Imagine my frustration when I scroll through the menu to "Special Features," and all that's listed is a collection of trailers marked "Also from Lionsgate" and a tab for "Bookmarks," which are spots in the film that you can mark and go back to at any time without scrubbing through scene selections. Futility be damned, I cursed Lionsgate in that moment. "Now I have to go spend my hard-earned money on your garbage film because I care too much about movies and figuring out the end of the story," I thought to myself. It comes as little consolation that Target is currently running a 15% off coupon through their Cartwheel mobile app, which I highly encourage everyone to download.

Seriously, do not go shopping at Target again until you download Cartwheel. It will change your life.

So now I have Blair Witch on my shelf. I didn't want it to be this way. I could've spent the money on the far-superior Ouija: Origin of Evil in a couple weeks, yet here we are. I'm sure I'll have some thoughts on the bonus material later this week after I watch everything. Don't let me down again, Wingard! 

Lastly, Dr. Hollyfield recommended I watch Happy Birthday to Me in honor of my birthday yesterday. It's available on Shudder, so I'll be watching that tonight. 

Until next time,

BC

My Day with Film (Friday, 12/2/16)

Friday, 12/2/16


Dear Diary,

I finished watching the extended cut of GHOSTBUSTERS (2016) today. I got more out of the film as a whole than I did before. The humor is still pretty cringey, but otherwise it's not quite the disaster that many think. It's important to form your own opinions about things - movies, art, etc. in particular.

In other news, I found out that there's a 16-second teaser out there for the upcoming reboot of THE MUMMY starring Tom Cruise. The full trailer comes out on Sunday. From what I gather of the brief look so far, it appears similar to what the Brendan Fraser version might look like if it was set in the current time / near future. This is alleged to be part of Universal's shared cinematic universe for its Classic Monsters franchise. DRACULA UNTOLD was apparently the first film in that universe. I've yet to see it myself.

I joined the Cincinnati Film Society today. I'm hoping to meet fellow cinephiles and network with people in the industry going forward.

A friend asked me about Filmstruck, the new online streaming home of Turner Classic Movies and the Criterion Collection. I'm not a subscriber myself just yet. It seems a bit pricey, and the lack of apps presently doesn't help the cause.

Tonight is Smash Cut night at The Woodward in Over-the-Rhine! I've been working for a PR company that's in the middle of a re-branding, and this event is the first to be sponsored exclusively by us. This event has been billed as "a movie-themed comedy game show" hosted by one of the guys from Future Science. I don't really know what to expect, but it should be fun!

Until tomorrow-

BC

My Day with Film (Wednesday, 11/30/16)

Wednesday, 11/30/16

Dear Diary,

So late last night, I started watching THE NEW WORLD since I ran short of time over the Thanksgiving holiday. I picked up the Blu-ray disc from the Criterion Collection during one of their 50% off flash sales earlier this year. The package apparently contains three different versions of the film: the 3-hour Extended cut, the 2-hour Theatrical cut, and Terence Malick's 2.5-hour First cut. I chose the Extended cut to watch this time.

The last time I saw this film was in 2006 in the theater, and being the young, naive moviegoer that I was at the time, I hated it. It was my introduction to Malick, and I didn't understand his deliberate, poetic visual and narrative style. So I popped the disc in sometime after midnight last night and made it through the first hour or so before falling asleep. It wasn't for lack of trying to stay awake, however. I finished the film earlier today, and it's times like this that I'm so grateful to have received a formal education in the study of cinema. Suddenly THE NEW WORLD, a film I once despised, became one of the more enriching cinematic experiences of my life. Chivo's naturally-lit cinematography sucked me in. The production design from Jack Fisk, musical score from the late James Horner, and lead acting performances all kept me there.

Rediscovering Malick's oeuvre over the past year (and going forward) with fresh eyes has been an absolute joy. I first saw DAYS OF HEAVEN via Criterion this year, and it's now one of my all-time favorite films and likely the most visually resplendent I've ever seen. Watching any film from Criterion is like watching it all over again for the first time. They do such an impeccable job, from the box art to the supplemental material. I cannot recommend their products highly enough.

This morning I saw that Netflix instituted a function where you can download certain titles for offline viewing. That's pretty cool. I could've used that last week when we drove 10 hours to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. Aside from long road trips or plane rides, I'm not sure when I would use Netflix offline personally.

Also today I searched online for jobs with the Cincinnati, Louisville and Kentucky state film commissions. I couldn't seem to find anything on their webpages. I've reached out to Cincinnati a few times before, and I emailed the Kentucky state commission. Fingers crossed!

Tonight I'm watching this past Sunday's episode of THE WALKING DEAD and most likely the extended edition of GHOSTBUSTERS (2016). Will report on that tomorrow.

- BC