Mariah Carey is at her most powerful during the holiday season. If you need evidence, just look at how the Glitter soundtrack—yes, Glitter, as in Careys panned 2001 film about a girl breaking into the music business—is performing on the charts. Seventeen years after the film was released, roasted, and canonized as a flop, its soundtrack has re-emerged, thanks to a push from Careys fans to get it to No. 1 on the iTunes chart—edging out current offerings like the A Star Is Born soundtrack.
Carey celebrated the success last Thursday, thanking fans for the push and using the hashtag #JusticeforGlitter . . . which the Lambily has apparently been taking quite seriously. Per Billboard, Glitter has just re-entered the Soundtracks chart at No. 14, with 5,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 15, the majority of which were digital-album sales. That sum means Glitter soundtrack sales are up by 9,016 percent. Festive!
The album also emerged on other charts, including the R&B/Hip-Hop Catalog Albums sales chart, where it landed at No. 1; the Catalog Album Sales chart at No. 8; and the Digital Albums list at No. 15. This is, Billboard notes, its biggest sales week in over 16 years—since 2002, when it sold around 5,000 copies.
At the time of its release, Glitter was a critical and commercial bomb. It starred Carey as Billie Frank, a singer struggling to break into the music industry. Carey blamed its box-office failure, in part, on the films unfortunate release date, which was just a few days after 9/11. The singer isnt particularly keen on discussing the film even to this day, telling Jimmy Fallon in a recent interview that it “almost ruined my life.” But now, its a cause for celebration! Followed by the impending dominance of her new album, Caution! Which, unlike Glitter, has received strong, celebratory reviews.
You know why all this is happening, dont you? Aside from the obvious—that Carey is a talented (skinny!) legend, and her fans are dedicated and all that—its because Carey listened to “All I Want for Christmas Is You” early this year, ushering in the start of her holiday powers. Just look at the Instagram video below of Carey riding through the snowy streets of New York, happily singing along to her own bop. What youre observing is a festive, decades-old ritual. She is unstoppable now.
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Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Full ScreenPhotos:11 Unbelievably Beautiful Sci-Fi Movies
Metropolis
Fritz Langs 1927 German expressionist classic has influenced countless films, not least because its a timeless paean to the Art Deco movement. Set in 2026, Metropolis imagines a world of bright lights, towering buildings—like Manhattan on steroids—and impossibly chic robots.Photo: From Everett Collection.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubricks legendary 1968 film about humans traversing the universe lived up to the gargantuan promise of the word “odyssey,” starting with the daring opening scene set to “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” Everything was immaculately designed, from the pristine spaceship with its glowing red emergency hatch, to the impressively rendered space walks.Photo: From MGM/Stanley Kubrick Productions/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Steven Spielbergs sci-fi classic, which is just about to turn 40, gave us some of the most enduring alien-adventure imagery of our time. From the Lite-Brite flying U.F.O. zipping across the starry sky, to the tableau of workers set against the stunning desert landscape, Encounters is one for the ages.Photo: From Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock.
E.T.
E.T. himself wasnt a looker, but the movie sure was. Steven Spielberg grounded the film with looming, exterior shots of Culver City, then flung Elliotts adventures deep into the sun-dappled heart of the ethereal Redwood National Park.Photo: From Universal/Everett Collection.
Under the Skin
Few movies are as darkly disarming as Jonathan Glazers 2014 thriller, filmed half in Scotlands bustling city streets, half in its surreal natural landscapes. Scarlett Johanssons man-eating alien also brings her prey back to a pitch-black cave with a deep pool, like something truly out of a nightmare.Photo: From Everett Collection.
Ex Machina
Alex Garlands 2015 stunner takes place largely in one home—but what an unbelievably gorgeous home it is, a high-tech wonderland nestled deep into a verdant forest. The brilliant design extends to everything from the luxe-yet-minimalist decor, to the aesthetic of the main robot (played by Alicia Vikander), her translucent body only partially sheathed in skin.Photo: From Everett Collection.
Arrival
Before tackling Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve polished his sci-fi chops with Arrival, the slow-burning vehicle about a linguist trying to communicate with aliens. Though the drama is mostly contained to military quarters and the room with the aliens, Villeneuve shows off a little by featuring a massive, oblong spaceship floating just above the ground of a foggy, grassy field. Bradford Youngs rich cinematography, inspired by the darkly beautiful photography of Martina Hoogland Ivanow, ups the films art factor.Photo: From Paramount/Everett Collection.PreviousNext
Metropolis
Fritz Langs 1927 German expressionist classic has influenced countless films, not least because its a timeless paean to the Art Deco movement. Set in 2026, Metropolis imagines a world of bright lights, towering buildings—like Manhattan on steroids—and impossibly chic robots.From Everett Collection.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubricks legendary 1968 film about humans traversing the universe lived up to the gargantuan promise of the word “odyssey,” starting with the daring opening scene set to “Thus Spoke Zarathustra.” Everything was immaculately designed, from the pristine spaceship with its glowing red emergency hatch, to the impressively rendered space walks.From MGM/Stanley Kubrick Productions/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Steven Spielbergs sci-fi classic, which is just about to turn 40, gave us some of the most enduring alien-adventure imagery of our time. From the Lite-Brite flying U.F.O. zipping across the starry sky, to the tableau of workers set against the stunning desert landscape, Encounters is one for the ages.From Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock.
E.T.
E.T. himself wasnt a looker, but the movie sure was. Steven Spielberg grounded the film with looming, exterior shots of Culver City, then flung Elliotts adventures deep into the sun-dappled heart of the ethereal Redwood National Park.From Universal/Everett Collection.
Star Wars IV
Let us now pay homage to the film that started a billion-dollar franchise and begat a cottage industry of lesser copycats. From the rosy, double-mooned desert landscape of Tatooine, to the eternal image of the Millennium Falcon hurtling through a starry galaxy far, far away, the first S_tar Wars_ set the stage for an incredibly novel universe.From Lucasfilm/Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock.
Blade Runner
Ridley Scotts original adaptation of Philip K. Dicks story of rogue replicants presented a deliciously claustrophobic city cluttered with neon lights, inspired by the urgency of Hong Kong. Much of the films gargantuan feel can be attributed to ingenious special effects and models painted to look like a life-sized dystopian hellscape.From Ladd Company/Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock.
The Matrix
Perhaps the most enduring thing about The Matrix is not its mind-melting plot, but its perfectly curated futuristic-goth aesthetic. The Wachowskis brilliantly baked Neos world into dark green settings, a moody backdrop for the leather-clad cyberpunks waging a physical and philosophical war against their enemies.From Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock.
Gravity
Alfonso Cuarón scooped up the best-director Oscar for this 2013 film for good reason. The tense, space-bound thriller is largely comprised of special effects, opening with a gorgeously rendered vision of the Earth in all its breathtaking splendor.From Warner Bros/Everett Collection.
Under the Skin
Few movies are as darkly disarming as Jonathan Glazers 2014 thriller, filmed half in Scotlands bustling city streets, half in its surreal natural landscapes. Scarlett Johanssons man-eating alien also brings her prey back to a pitch-black cave with a deep pool, like something truly out of a nightmare.From Everett Collection.
Ex Machina
Alex Garlands 2015 stunner takes place largely in one home—but what an unbelievably gorgeous home it is, a high-tech wonderland nestled deep into a verdant forest. The brilliant design extends to everything from the luxe-yet-minimalist decor, to the aesthetic of the main robot (played by Alicia Vikander), her translucent body only partially sheathed in skin.From Everett Collection.
Arrival
Before tackling Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve polished his sci-fi chops with Arrival, the slow-burning vehicle about a linguist trying to communicate with aliens. Though the drama is mostly contained to military quarters and the room with the aliens, Villeneuve shows off a little by featuring a massive, oblong spaceship floating just above the ground of a foggy, grassy field. Bradford Youngs rich cinematography, inspired by the darkly beautiful photography of Martina Hoogland Ivanow, ups the films art factor.From Paramount/Everett Collection.
Yohana DestaYohana Desta is a Hollywood writer for VanityFair.com.
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