Twin Peaks - The First Season (Special Edition) (1990) Review

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(More customer reviews)In the spring of 1990, the ABC network treated it's viewers to a most unusual viewing experience; the David Lynch and Mark Frost creation "Twin Peaks". A hybrid murder/mystery, primetime soap opera, darkly funny comedy and super- natural thriller...Twin Peaks was all of these and yet at the same time none. It would use what on other shows would be clichés to create a richly woven tapestry so original, thought provoking and emotionally truthful that it re- defined what television at it's best could truly be. At times it was hilarious and absurd, other times it was heart-wrenching in it's honesty of human emotion and suffering, and still other times it was deeply chilling and disturbing with images you can't easily shake off days after...and sometimes it was all these things at once. There had never been anything even remotely like it on TV before and (so far) nothing like it since. It's influence can be seen in countless other programs...but only elements, no one has achieved the true artistry that "Twin Peaks" had. Being a mid-season replacement series, the whole of it's first season was only 7 episodes and had much of America asking the question "Who killed Laura Palmer?".
The series' was set in the fictional, northwestern town of Twin Peaks, where the murdered body of local homecoming queen, Laura Palmer is found on a beach wrapped in plastic. This event sets the stage for the arrival of FBI agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and the subsequent investigation as to the identity of her killer. It is this investigation that will uncover the quiet trappings of this small mountain town to reveal dark secrets hidden within and and even darker things lurking without. He will encounter a remarkable cast of characters, all with their own personal agendas.
"Twin Peaks" was and still remains groundbreaking television of the first order. It was stylistically cinematic, each episode looks very much like an hour long feature film with an equally impressive soundtrack presentation. It was incredibly well written (with so many quotable lines the mind boggles at them all) with fabulous characters, a wonderful sense of humor and a shadowy (and sometimes very scary) sense of mystery. The large ensemble cast of MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Piper Laurie, Sherylynn Fenn, Laura Flynn Boyle, Peggy Lipton, Miquel Ferrer, Ray Wise, Joan Chen and far too many more to list here are all uniformly excellent in their respective rolls.
For "Twin Peaks"' debut on DVD, Artisan Home Entertainment has put together a very nice set featuring episodes 1 thru 7 (unfortunately the 2 hr. pilot is missing due to rights issues, originally owned by Warner Bros. it is now owned by Paramount). The packaging is a slick fold-out design with transparent slip case, much like the design of Fox's X-Files box sets. 4 discs are included.
With only 2 episodes per disc, these transfers are mastered at a very high bit rate and the results are stunning. Having been used to the soft, grainy picture afforded by the previous video versions of the series, I was quite unprepared for the unbelievable picture quality delivered on this release. These new high definition, re-mastered transfers are breathtaking, with colors rendered perfectly (the green opening titles nearly leap off the screen). Blacks are solid with excellent shadow detail, flesh tones are accurately reproduced and the show's red color schemes have never looked better (without a trace of bleeding). No digital artifacts are present and I never noticed any signs of edge enhancement, all in all an incredible job.
The same can be said for the sound presentation here, you can choose between Dolby digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 surround or (in a first for any television DVD product) DTS digital surround. These are very good mixes, the DTS surround being the best. The surround elements are reserved mostly to ambient sounds and Angelo Badalamenti's brilliant music, dialogue is placed mostly in the center and is clear and intelligible. This is television and not a Hollywood action spectacular so don't expect reference quality surround use, but a detailed sound mix perfectly suited to the show. Badalamenti's score is especially well presented here.
I would suggest to first time viewers to try and get hold of the pilot episode. Although it has an alternate ending filmed as a possible "closed" ending for European markets, it is actually an uncut version of Cooper's dream in episode 2. You can also purchase an import DVD of the pilot from Amazon.com which is the original broadcast version, the video and audio is not as pleasing as on the set reviewed here but still it is acceptably good. Artisan has included a booklet with the season 1 set explaining the events of the pilot but I would suggest viewing it if possible before viewing ep.1 thru 7. With each show being a day in the investigation, viewers will likely be lost without the events of the pilot to start from.
Overall a very impressive set from Artisan. If you missed this extraordinary show before, don't miss it this time. And please hurry up with Season 2.

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Item Name: Twin Peaks - The First Season (Special Edition); Studio:Republic Pictures

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The Elephant Man (1980) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Time hath not altered" the emotional impact this movie has on me when I watch it. The word "poignant" has grown hackneyed from overuse, but it certainly applies to this great film. Few films can equal it in terms of dramatic artistry and pitch perfect performances. There's not one maudlin note in a film that could easily have descended into bathetic melodrama in lesser hands.
Lynch was practically a neophyte at the time he directed this movie, yet to many (and to most, for that matter, save the true believers) THE ELEPHANT MAN is his magnum opus. I believe this is because of the mostly Britsh, classically trained actors that made up the cast. Hopkins and Hurt excell. Anne Bancroft (who I believe is the only American in the cast) delivers a flawless performance. Freddy Jones, as Bytes (this was before the internet, remember) is simply uncanny in his tour-de-force portrayal of arguably the vilest villain in cinema history. Who cares that the character was totally innacurate, historically? He chews up the scenery in true Grand Guignol fashion. Gielgud and Wendy Hiller are also on hand to provide levitas. One can't find a better ensemble. It's criminal that at least one of them weren't awarded an Oscar, but that's just another example of how meaningless those little gold statuettes are, more often than not.
Though this is a lot more linear than most of Lynch's movies, there is enough of the surreal on hand to keep the die hards happy. But the surrealism doesn't get in the way of the plot. Christopher de Vore and Eric Bergren, who collaborated with Lynch on the screenplay, can take some credit for that. Veteran cinematographer, Freddie Francis did perhaps the best work of his career here. The black and white images are as good as it gets. The sets are unforgettable. Victorian London has never looked so convincing on screen, yet with that nightmarish quality that defines most of the movie.
If you've never seen this movie, get your hands on a copy, soon. It couldn't be described as "weepy," by any means. But if you're not reaching for the kleenex at some stage in this marvellous film, I'd ask the Wizard for a heart, if I were you. For those of you who haven't seen it in a while, give it a re-viewing. It absolutely holds up, particularly in comparison to 1980 Best Picture, ORDINARY PEOPLE...and Best Director, Robert Redford? Hopkins didn't get nominated, but Jack Lemmon did for TRIBUTE? Anyone remember that one? Gotta go find some Maalox.
BEK

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Elevator Movie Review

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(More customer reviews)While certainly low budget and not for the faint of heart, "Elevator Movie" certainly possesses its own unique élan vital for the thinking person. One cannot help but admire the raw existentialist nerve that runs through the pithy, often-very-funny dialog. As the film progresses and the circumstances become more bizarre and the characters increasingly unlikable, an ever-increasing something is there, both addictive and eerily familiar--namely, we are reminded of ourselves and of our own interpersonal relationships! Do not miss out on this Sartre meets "The Twilight Zone" experience. Highly recommended.

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Jim is a shy, withdrawn loner, pervert, and virgin. Lana is a friendly and outgoing born again Christian who has renounced her promiscuous drug filled past. They have never met until they step into an elevator together one day. The elevator gets stuck between floors, and they start to get to know each other. A building maintenance man assures them over the elevator's emergency intercom that a repairman is on the way. Hours, days, weeks, and months pass, and no repairmen arrive. Jim and Lana spend their days screaming into the intercom trying to get the maintenance guy to answer again. He doesn't.Starvation is not a problem, as Lana entered the elevator with a bag full of groceries, which is mysteriously found to be filled with fresh food every morning. After enough time passes, Jim gives up hope of escape and resigns himself to building a new life in the elevator with Lana, who he sees as his first girlfriend. Lana on the other hand desperately wants to escape, and clings to her faith in God to provide them with an opening of the elevator doors. Eventually, a reluctant and desperate romance begins--

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Blue Velvet (Special Edition) (1986) Review

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(More customer reviews)I just recently saw David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" on the big screen (and in widescreen) for the first time. Having seen it now in its original aspect ratio, I can't bear to go back to my pan-and-scan videotape. Thank goodness that it's coming out on DVD."Blue Velvet," quite simply, is the best film of the 1980's; the only film that comes close to it is Scorsese's "Raging Bull." "Blue Velvet" was so ahead of its time when it was first released back in 1986. In fact, it remains so today, judging by the bewildered faces of people who were at the revival showing I attended. The film precedes "American Beauty" in blowing the doors off of the closet that Suburbia keeps its skeletons in, telling the story of a young college kid who, after finding a severed human ear, gets caught up in murder and mayhem in his hometown of "Lumberton USA."Lynch goes to great lengths to set up his picture-book depiction of small-town American life (complete with bright red fire trucks, white picket fences, and blue skies) before taking a wrecking ball to it. Like he did in his debut, "Eraserhead," Lynch shows us what we look like (tedium and all) but purposely twists our view of it, like a mad optometrist giving us the wrong eyeglass prescription.Apart from the fine directing, "Blue Velvet" boasts an excellent cast that delivers each line with patented Lynch-quirkiness. Kyle MacLachlan plays Jeffrey Beaumont like a modern-day Dante, travelling through the Inferno he never knew his hometown was. Isabella Rosselini is spectacularly disturbing as Dorothy Vallens, a lounge singer whose husband and son have been abducted. Her character is a first: a femme fatale who is more dangerous to herself than anyone else. And in what may be one of the top ten tour-de-force performances of all time, Dennis Hopper, as oxygen-huffing crime boss/hedonist Frank Booth, makes you laugh one minute, and cringe with fear the next after realizing that such a person probably does exist.You may not agree that "Blue Velvet" is the best film of the 80's but you'll have to do some digging to find one more original. It is a contemporary film noir classic that deserves to withstand the test of time like older noir classics such as "Double Indemnity" and "The Big Sleep." So far, it appears to be holding up. It's a strange world and "Blue Velvet" (both the film itself and the fact that it was made) is solid proof of just how strange it can be.

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BLUE VELVET - SPECIAL EDITION - DVD Movie

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