FILM 1767: LIGHTS OUT

TRIVIA: Teresa Palmer hadn't seen the design of Diana before filming, until she filmed her first scene with her on a completely dark set. This was an intentional directorial choice so as to provoke a genuine reaction of fear when first seeing the design. Alicia Vela-Bailey, the woman in the costume, was previously Palmer's stunt double on I Am Number Four(2011), it would have ruined the effect had she seen her prior as she would have recognized her therefore losing the authentic expression of fear.

David F. Sandberg decided to focus on practical effects and avoided as much CGI as possible.

Made back its entire production budget on its opening day at the box office. 

The house in this movie is the same one used in Ouija (2014) and Ouija: Origin of Evil(2016).

On the wall in Rebecca's room, a poster reads "Släckt", which is Swedish for "Lights Out" or "Extinguished".

Diana was created with a photorealistic prosthetic suit that could also function as a green screen suit so as to remove her from the scene when the lights came on. The designer of the suit previously created the title character of Mrs. Doubtfire (1993).

(at around 38 mins) When Martin and his mother have a movie night, the movie that they are watching is Auntie Mame (1958).

The move to Hollywood was somewhat hectic for David F. Sandberg and his wife, requiring that Losten quit her day job in order to do so. Once in Hollywood the two were unable to get an apartment due to a lack of credit, forcing them to rent Airbnb on a monthly basis.

FILM 1667: CHRISTINE

TRIVIA: The film's warm 'yellow' tinge and muted coloration was a trend in the 1970's. Because Christine takes place in the early Seventies this effect was chosen on purpose to make the film appear more authentic. This effect used to be naturally caused by lighting and the type of film stock used (often Ektachrome, a popular Kodak 16mm stock), but in the digital age the effect is usually added in after filming by using computer filters and overlays to create a nostalgic "vintage" look.

The owner of the company that cut the film's trailer, Robert "Smitty" Smith at In Sync Advertising, was an actual intern at WXLT-TV who knew and was friends with Christine Chubbuck. He sought out the job when he found out about the film and saw it at Sundance; incidentally, the creators had tried to seek him out for interviews during the research phases, but were unable to locate him due to the ubiquity of his name.

Despite her standoffish demeanor portrayed in the film, the real Christine Chubbuck was known on television as a cheerful woman, particularly fond of children to the point where she volunteered outside of work to do puppet shows for mentally handicapped kids. Only her closest family members really knew the extent of her depression.

FILM 1600: BOY INTERRUPTED

Boy Interrupted looks at the life of Evan Perry a 15-year-old boy from New York who committed suicide in 2005. The film made by his parents Dana and Hart examines how Evan's bipolar disorder and depression affected his life and the life of his family.

Variety noted that because of his parents' occupations, they did a good job in recording his life, and produced an "elegiac little gem". The Philadelphia Inquirer called it a "remarkable, deeply unsettling documentary", scoring it 3/4 stars. The Movie Blog criticised the production quality, but found that the film still "communicated effectively and with a lot of emotion". SI Live suggested that the boy's story perhaps did not merit a documentary, but it was "valuable viewing" in that it would educate people a little about mental illness.

(Information found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_Interrupted)

BOOK 140: STEPPENWOLF: HERMANN HESSE

Steppenwolf (orig. German Der Steppenwolf) is the tenth novel by German-Swiss author Hermann Hesse. Originally published in Germany in 1927, it was first translated into English in 1929. Combining autobiographical and psychoanalytic elements, the novel was named after the lonesome wolf of the steppes. The story in large part reflects a profound crisis in Hesse's spiritual world during the 1920s while memorably portraying the protagonist's split between his humanity and his wolf-like aggression and homelessness. Hesse would later assert that the book was largely misunderstood.

From the very beginning, reception was harsh. American novelist Jack Kerouac dismissed it in Big Sur (1962) and it has had a long history of mixed critical reception and opinion at large, Already upset with Hesse's novel Siddhartha, political activists and patriots railed against him, and against the book, seeing an opportunity to discredit Hesse. Even close friends and longtime readers criticized the novel for its perceived lack of morality in its open depiction of sex and drug use, a criticism that indeed remained the primary rebuff of the novel for many years. However as society changed and formerly taboo topics such as sex and drugs became more openly discussed, critics came to attack the book for other reasons; mainly that it was too pessimistic, and that it was a journey in the footsteps of a psychotic and showed humanity through his warped and unstable viewpoint, a fact that Hesse did not dispute, although he did respond to critics by noting the novel ends on a theme of new hope.

Popular interest in the novel was renewed in the 1960s – specifically in the psychedelic movement – primarily because it was seen as a counterculture book, and because of its depiction of free love and explicit drug usage. It was also introduced in many new colleges for study, and interest in the book and in Hermann Hesse was feted in America for more than a decade afterwards.

Hesse's 1928 short story "Harry, the Steppenwolf" forms a companion piece to the novel. It is about a wolf named Harry who is kept in a zoo, and who entertains crowds by destroying images of German cultural icons like Goethe and Mozart.

The name Steppenwolf has become notable in popular culture for various organizations and establishments. In 1967, the band Steppenwolf, headed by German-born singer John Kay, took their name from the novel. The Belgian band DAAU (Die Anarchistische Abendunterhaltung) is named after one of the advertising slogans of the novel's magical theatre. The innovative Magic Theatre Company, founded in 1967 in Berkeley and which later became resident in San Francisco, takes its name from the "Magic Theatre" of the novel, and the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, founded in 1974 by actors Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise, took its name from the novel. The lengthy track "Steppenwolf" appears on English rock band Hawkwind's album Astounding Sounds, Amazing Music and is directly inspired by the novel, including references to the magic theatre and the dual nature of the wolfman-manwolf (lutocost). Robert Calvert had initially written and performed the lyrics on 'Distances Between Us' by Adrian Wagner in 1974. The song also appears on later, live Hawkwind CD's and DVDs. Danish acid rock band Steppeulvene (1967-68) also took their name from this novel.

"Be Here Now"(1971), by author and spiritual teacher Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) contains an illustration of a door bearing a sign that reads "Magic Theatre - For Madmen Only - Price of Admission - Your Mind." This references an invitation that Steppenwolf's Harry Haller receives to attend an "Anarchist Evening at the Magic Theatre, For Madmen Only, Price of Admission Your Mind."

The Black Ice, by Michael Connelly, has J. Michael Haller making a reference to the author when he mentioned that, if his illegitimate son took his surname, he'd be "Harry Haller" instead of Harry Bosch.

Paula Cole references the concept of the steppenwolf in her song 'Pearl' on her 1999 album Amen.

Steppenwolf was also referenced in the film Mall (2014).

Lobo da Estepe by the brazilian band Os Cascavelletes was also inspired by the book.

(Information taken from Wikipedia)

BOOK 125: OF MICE AND MEN: JOHN STEINBECK

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in California, United States.

Based on Steinbeck's own experiences as a bindlestiff in the 1920s (before the arrival of the Okies he would vividly describe in The Grapes of Wrath), the title is taken from Robert Burns' poem "To a Mouse", which read: "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." (The best laid schemes of mice and men / Often go awry.)

Required reading in many schools, Of Mice and Men has been a frequent target of censors for vulgarity and what some consider offensive and racist language; consequently, it appears on the American Library Association's list of the Most Challenged Books of 21st Century.

The first film adaptation was in 1939, two years after the publication of the novella, and starred Lon Chaney Jr. as Lennie, with Burgess Meredith as George, and was directed by Lewis Milestone. It was nominated for four Oscars.

In popular culture:

The Warner Bros. cartoon duo Pinky and the Brain (of Animaniacs fame) are somewhat similar to Lennie and George.

In Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) two of the gremlins are named Lenny and George, after the characters of the book. They both have the same personalities as the characters Lennie and George from the novel, and are often seen together.

In Fever Pitch (1997), Paul Ashworth (Colin Firth) claims that getting a boy to read Of Mice And Men is the pinnacle of his career, and it will only go downhill from then on.

John Leguizamo sings (or raps) "Which way did he go, George; which way did he go?" on his song "Voodoo Mambo", as does Tupac Shakur on "Can't C Me" (Can't See Me).

Katy Perry references the novella in her song "Pearl": This love's too strong like "Mice and Men" / Squeezing out the life that should be let in.

In Stephen King's serial novel The Green Mile (1996), John Coffey (played by Michael Clarke Duncan in the 1999 film) is similar to Lennie in that he is large, unintelligent, and innocent at heart. In both stories, mice fall into their care at some point and ultimately, at the time of their deaths, both Lennie and John Coffey were executed in the most compassionate way possible under the circumstances that occur in both novels.

In the season 3 episode of the sitcom Friends titled "The One with a Chick and a Duck" (1997), Joey is playing with a little chicken. Chandler alludes to Of Mice and Men by saying, "Easy, Lennie", to Joey. This was written in the subtitles, "Easy Lenny", by misunderstanding.