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