Movies That Travel and Transcend Time on Satellite TV
There is 'Back to the Future' time travel, 'Terminator' time travel, and even '12 Monkeys' time travel, all with various renditions of how exactly speeding around in time might be achieved.
However, there is one film with a unique brand of time travel philosophy that has stuck with audiences for many years now 'Donnie Darko.
' This film, today is a rental and satellite TV 'on demand' favorite, but once upon a time it was a great big theater flop.
Perhaps the film itself fell through a wormhole slightly before it's time, explaining the delay in popularity, but it took quite some time for the cult audience to build up behind Donnie.
Part of the film's delay had to do with the September 11th attacks.
Due to the plane crash shown in the film, it was deemed inappropriate for release so soon after the international catastrophe.
This hiccup shot the film's release date into the future.
The tragedy still fresh in the minds of many, only a handful, well under 100, US theaters picked up the film initially.
How did the little dark film that could become the international cult sensation that it is today? By and large the international community really got behind Donnie Darko right from the start.
As international audiences began building up faith in the film, its popularity slowly trickled back onto American soil.
Part of its charm, and quite probably confusion, to American viewing audiences was the lack of a clear genre.
Nobody could quite put a finger on whether it was a teen drama, horror film, science fiction thriller, or perhaps even a dark comedy.
While visually it makes for a great high definition watch, not many audiences had the opportunity to see it on the big screen until the Pioneer Theater in New York's East Village put on a series of midnight showings.
The showings would go on for more than two years and audiences never seemed to tire.
Originally set to release in 2001 the film went almost straight to video.
After several years of building up a band of loyal followers, a two-disc director's cut and special edition release was put out in 2004.
Finally the film had somebody to sell its concept to and the special edition release was a huge hit.
Although fans dragged their feet in getting on board with the film, there is some sense behind its initial flop, at least amongst American viewing audiences.
Today, the formulaic predictability of Hollywood film is greatly appreciated by the general viewing audience.
A film like 'Donnie Darko' must be seen once, twice, or three times, paying close attention, huddled around the HD TV, before the details can be completely and orderly filed within the mind of the average viewer.
This kind of film does not necessarily translate to a box office success.
In addition, around that time period in the US people were looking for optimism and hopefulness, not necessarily a teenage boy doomed to a fate of being crushed by an airplane.
Such a concept hit a little too close to home for many viewers and ultimately harmed the film's box office release.
Regardless of what happened in the past, spring into the future and judge the film for yourself by catching it on satellite TV.