Dear Diary,
I'm sorry that it's been a couple of days since I've written. 'Twas a busy weekend! I tried to keep up by tweeting and retweeting a lot of cool things I noticed online. I saw ROGUE ONE for a second time, yet it did not change my initial feelings towards the film as a whole.
This morning, I finished this season's viewing of the perennial cult classic SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. Based on the poster, you can probably guess what this movie is about. A traumatized young man dressed as Santa Claus goes on a Christmas Eve rampage across his town, snuffing out any and all semblances of naughtiness. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is most famous for the controversy surrounding it. Upon its release in 1984, no horror film had made a villain out of Santa Claus. That, combined with the film's graphic death scenes, prompted critics, politicians and concerned parents across the country to call for the film's swift ban, as well as the heads of both producer Ira Barmak and director Chuck Sellier, Jr. Among horror aficionados, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is most famous for containing one of the all-time great slasher movie deaths - a topless Linnea Quigley impaled on a mounted buck's antlers. Earlier this year, I picked up Anchor Bay's "30th Anniversary Edition" Blu-ray for an extremely low price. This is the complete uncut version of the film and is the only copy I've ever seen. Apparently, the master used for this Blu-ray disc was compiled from both an incomplete HD master and a VHS composite. At several moments, the "high-def" footage gives way to early-VHS-quality video. It's a bit jarring, and one could argue that it ruins the impact of one or two kills, but for me, it reinforces the film's low-budget charm. I can see why this is a cult classic, and just this year, it's become a fun guilty pleasure for me. Not recommended for children, the squeamish, or concerned mothers.
Industry news I saw today noted that ROGUE ONE made about $150 million in North America over the weekend. Worldwide cumulative estimates were just above $290 million. Perhaps unsurprisingly, COLLATERAL BEAUTY, the ensemble melodrama led by Will Smith, struggled to hit pay dirt. Read more about the weekend's box office totals at BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Speaking of ROGUE ONE, director Gareth Edwards spilled to Radio Times that he found some unused footage from A NEW HOPE that made it into the final cut of the new film. Industrial Light & Magic cleaned up the aging celluloid, and Edwards then used it hoping that eagle-eyed fans would appreciate it and that less discerning audiences wouldn't notice. I won't post spoilers for ROGUE ONE on this blog, so if you want to find out exactly which footage was used, read here.
We also got a couple of insanely awesome new teaser trailers today! These two sub-2-minute clips may have singlehandedly rescued me from my cynicism towards the just-passable trailers of the past several weeks, including THE MUMMY and WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES.
First we got an all-new look at JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2, and it looks terrific. The last film was a pleasant surprise with franchise potential that nobody saw coming, and the sequel looks to build on that in a valuable way. I can't wait!
Then we got our very first look at BLADE RUNNER 2049! I was skeptical at the idea of a sequel to BLADE RUNNER, but once Warner Brothers confirmed all the talent involved, I grew more receptive to it. This teaser damns skepticism to hell and may just be the best of this year. It shows just enough to make us excited but not so much that any aspects of the plot are given away. I could watch it a million times.
As I wrote this post and finished some other work for the day, I put on Criterion's disc of Terence Malick's THE THIN RED LINE. This is one that's been sitting on my shelf for several months, and I finally got around to it. Such a magnificent film.
Lastly, I'm ending my day with a screening of the new sci-fi romance film PASSENGERS. Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt have been tearing it up on the press junket for this movie, so hopefully it lives up to the hype.
Until tomorrow,
BC
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