Weekend Recap

Now that the election day preparation madness has subsided, I got a chance to catch up with some friends I haven't seen in a while. Balm for the soul. Z was almost nostalgic for old times; it's not like him to say, Oh do you remember when we went to that restaurant etc. Y was really sweet and returned some books I lent 4 or 5 years ago.

I saw the new "final" director's cut of Bladerunner on Saturday night. I am not entirely sure that I've seen it on the big screen before. In any event, I'd remembered that it was a bit violent at times, but I'd forgotten how gory it gets in places.* I don't love the movie as much as I used to, and I don't think it's necessarily the revisions for this release (I only noticed one change - at the very end - but then again, I haven't seen it in about 7 years). I think maybe I'm not as intrigued by the movie's apocalyptic vision or by its questions about memory and identity, emotions and mortality. This time, some of the catch-phrases (which I had not remembered from prior viewings) really jarred on me. And the "courting" of Rachel is somewhat disturbing (I wonder if this scene was revised at all**). However, it was interesting to see this time capsule of Harrison Ford....

Today, I met up with RunnerNYC after her second marathon. She was not feeling well (sinus infection, insomnia, and aftereffects of a brutal pedestrian-car collision in 2006) and they messed up her bags at the end of the race so that she was shivering, nauseous, and angry. Grrr. However, U and I treated her to a stunningly mediocre brunch afterward at a place that was both close-by and (most significantly) toasty warm. So she looked a lot better when we left, thank goodness!


---------------
FN* According to Wikipedia, it is not just my imagination that this was gorier than the version I'd previously seen. Among other changes, they "restored" some violent elements since the U.S. theatrical release:

* When Batty confronts Tyrell in his bedroom, in addition to crushing Tyrell's face with his hands, Batty pokes out Tyrell's eyes with his thumbs, releasing a huge amount of blood.
* When Pris has somersaulted onto Deckard's back, rather than hitting him three times and then dropping him (as she does in all other versions), she hits him twice, then inserts her fingers into his nostrils and releases her legs, holding him up by his nostrils for a few seconds before he falls to the floor. The shot of him falling to the floor is identical in all versions.
* Deckard also shoots Pris an extra time, and the scenes of her thrashing spasmodically on the floor after having been shot are slightly extended.
* When Batty is being hunted by Deckard at the end of the film, he pushes a nail through his own hand, which again bleeds profusely.

FN ** Neither Wikipedia nor the NYT mentioned any changes to this scene. So it's likely my own sensitivities have changed.