(Roughly) Daily

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Continuing yesterday’s theme of waning summer, one notes that the Summer Blockbuster Season is ending; the last of the “spectacular” movies of 2010 are making they way into theaters now.  Soon, blazing guns and buff heroes give way to the poignancy and angst of Winter’s more grown-up fare.

But before one hangs up one’s 3-D glasses, one might check in at Movie Body Counts for a tally of the “the actual, visible ‘on screen kills/deaths/bodies’ of your favorite action, sci/fi, and war films”…  or actors or directors.

The counts contain some surprises: the highest movie total to date?  LotR: Return of the King (836…  the more likely-seeming 300 only had 600).  As for directors, John Woo is at an unsurprisingly high 1,111; while famed fright-monger [and recent (R) D  honoree] Wes Craven stands at under 10.  (Sadly, Russ Meyer, the auteur behind the epic that gives this missive its title, is not covered… but then, Meyer did specialize in a different kind of body count.)

One can consult the rules and review the process here…  then browse through Movie Body Counts.

As, like squirrels, we save up for a long, deeply-felt winter, we might recall that it was on this date in 1912 that Arthur R. Eldred of Oceanside, New York, achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America (which had been founded only two years before). He was the first person to earn the award. He didn’t receive the actual badge until September 2 (Labor Day), as the badge had not yet been made.

Arthur Eldred (source)