CATCH A CLASSIC
Brainstorm TCM, 11 a.m.
This gripping 1983 sci-fi thriller was produced and directed by Douglas Trumbull, the Oscar-nominated visual-effects pioneer whose first major work was on the legendary 2001: A Space Odyssey and who later supervised the effects for other classics like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Blade Runner. Christopher Walken and Louise Fletcher star as research scientists Michael Brace and Lillian Reynolds, who create an astonishing new device that can record peoples’ sensory experiences for others to enjoy. But when the machine captures a tragic death and the government wants to use it as a weapon, Brace fights to keep his invention out of military hands. Trumbull was not able to be as ambitious with the film’s look during its virtual-reality scenes as he had originally planned — he had wanted to use a new 70-millimeter cinematic process he developed — because the studio backed out of financing it, Brainstorm is still impressive-looking given the early ’80s technology that was available to bring its high-concept premise to life. The film also marks the final film role for Natalie Wood, who tragically died at age 43 during a break in the film’s production in November 1981. She had filmed all of her major scenes at the time, but production was still nearly shut down. It eventually went on, and the finished movie carries the dedication credit “To Natalie.” —