U
pon its initial release in 1982, Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” was a critical and commercial disappointment. Over time the film amassed a devoted cult following, and in 1992, upon the release of Scott’s director’s cut, Times film critic Kenneth Turan wrote a deep dive into the making of the film and its rediscovery. Twenty-five years later a sequel, “Blade Runner 2049,” will open in theaters nationwide. This article was originally published on Sept. 13, 1992.
Elegant cars gliding through a decaying infrastructure, the dispossessed huddling in the shadow of bright skyscrapers, the sensation of a dystopian, multiethnic civilization that has managed to simultaneously advance and regress these are scenes of modern urban decline, and if they make you think of a movie, and chances are they will, it can have only one name: “Blade Runner.”
Blade Runner tallied $14.8 million.)
That would have likely been the end of the story, if not for a fluke occurrence in 1990. That’s when a Los Angeles repertory theater requested a print of
Blade Runner from Warner Bros. and got something unexpected, as Gizmodo reports.
An exhaustive report in the Los Angeles Times, written by noted film critic Kenneth Turan in 1992, detailed how the Cineplex Odeon Fairfax asked for and received a 70mm print of the sci-fi film. Michael Arick, the director of asset management for Warner Bros., handed over what he thought was the theatrical cut of the movie, which he had grabbed after noticing it had been abandoned in a screening room. Arick never actually rolled the film, so he had no reason to believe it was anything other than the 1982 version audiences saw in theaters.
Sundance from home: A virtual wrap on 2021’s unprecedented all-digital festival [Los Angeles Times]
This year’s Sundance Film Festival, its first virtual incarnation, ran Jan. 28 to Feb. 3 and Times film staffers were collectively glued to our TVs, laptops, smartphones and other devices to join in the annual celebration of independent cinema. Critic Justin Chang and reporters Mark Olsen and Jen Yamato discuss a most unusual festival experience and nod to some standout films and a few rather puzzling decisions by the festival’s awards juries.
JUSTIN CHANG: At a normal Sundance Film Festival, Jen and Mark, we wouldn’t be writing to each other. We’d be sitting around that big kitchen in the L.A. Times condo, snacking on pizza and gummy bears, exchanging quick notes on the movies we’ve seen and strategizing about what to see and write about next. Then some of us would don our beanies and parkas and head out into the snow while doing the kinds of quick travel-time calcula
Dozens Of Independent Films Showcased At Virtual Sundance Film Festival npr.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from npr.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
NOEL KING, HOST:
The Sundance Film Festival is all virtual this year. More than 70 independent movies are being screened. Some of them were made during the pandemic. Some of them are about the pandemic. Some of them are just a respite from the pandemic. I talked with film critic Kenneth Turan about his favorites.
KENNETH TURAN, BYLINE: I want to start with dramatic films. And there are two films that have kind of a social context. There s a film called Passing. It stars Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. It s set in 1920s in Harlem. It s about two childhood friends who reunite, and one of them is now passing as a white person. And it s about how that influences their relationship, how it influences the kind of whole texture of everyone s life to be passing. It s a really provocative film. It s beautifully done.