Damn Fine TV/Film
Paul Thomas Anderson is a living, working, current filmmaker which puts him at an extreme disadvantage to being on my radar. I have a proclivity for the work of directors long passed or those with a surrealist bent, neither category would be home to Paul Thomas Anderson. Each year, however, I embark on the quest …
Among the great living journeymen of acting, Ray Wise is one of the most recognisable, appearing in everything from Twin Peaks to the six-time Academy Award-nominated Good Night, and Good Luck. As of writing, his IMDb page lists a remarkable 235 acting credits, which makes him the perfect candidate for this latest instalment of "As …
Continue reading "As Seen on Twin Peaks: Ray Wise in Swamp Thing"
“I think of it as a fascist rhapsody posing as a metaphor of liberation . . . We’re not meant to root for one man or another. We’re meant to root for blood; that is, to appreciate the glory of bloodshed as a moral protest against the deadening perfection of corporate society…No fascist vision has …
Continue reading "His Name is Robert Paulson: Authencity and Relationships in Fight Club"
The first season of True Detective kind of seems like Nic Pizzolato’s impression of a collaboration between Cormac McCarthy and H.P. Lovecraft. It would have been easy to take umbrage with a writer imposing himself on such sacred ground, were it not so well executed, but Christ on his throne, what a wonderful piece of …
Continue reading "The Killing of A Sacred Deer: More of This, Please"
Warning: Spoilers for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) ahead. Birdman begins with text from Raymond Carver’s poem “Late Fragment,” presented alongside the gloriously unpredictable drumming of Antonio Sánchez: “And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel …
Laura Dern has been nominated for an Academy Award twice, she's won four Golden Globes and an Emmy, and she's the latest performer to be discussed here on "As Seen on Twin Peaks." This series takes a look at the acting careers of the cast of Twin Peaks - one performer at a time. But, …
Continue reading "As Seen on Twin Peaks: Laura Dern in Wild"
It's a classic horror movie trope: a group of friends/family members/co-workers/etc. gather for dinner/games night/vacation/etc and over the course of the night/weekend/winter/etc, some outside force beyond their ken terrorizes them. As the suspense and tension mounts, decisions are made, lives are upended, and our darkest fears become reality. It's what underpins everything from House on Haunted …
Continue reading "Who Are You, Really? And Who Do You Want To Be? – Coherence (2013)"
"Hey, Morrison. F**k 'em, man. It's great. It's nonlinear. It's poetry. It's everything good art stands for" are the first words spoken by Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek in The Doors. It's funny that one of the most Lynchian lines ever spoken on-screen by MacLachlan is not from Dune or Blue Velvet or Twin Peaks, …
Continue reading "As Seen on Twin Peaks: Kyle MacLachlan in The Doors"
“I like Bergman, but his films are so different,” says David Lynch at one point in Lynch on Lynch. “Sparse. Sparse dreams.” He’s just been effusively discussing how Fellini’s films make him dream, in magical and lyrical ways. Which leads him on to Bergman. Bergman’s work has another dream quality to it and Lynch gets …
I was pretty excited about the prospect of this Netflix movie. I actually knew nothing of the plot before I started watching and I refused to read any reviews as I wanted to go in with an open mind, but any movie written and Directed by Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code, Warcraft: The Beginning), son …