Month: November 2020

David Lynch Friday #2 – The Elephant Man

Remember when I said how surprised I was that Lynch could get money for more work in the wake of Eraserhead? Well, it turns out, he could not. After Erasherhead was out in the wild, Lynch wrote a script titled, “Ronnie Rocket.” The script was shopped everywhere and nobody was interested. Lynch called a friend and asked for work directing someone else’s script. He was pitched, The Elephant Man and immediately jumped at this opportunity. The script found its way into the hands of Anne Bancroft (who would end up playing a role in the film) who then showed it to her husband, Mel Brooks. The picture was on but Brooks had no idea who Lynch was and so asked for a screening of Erasherhead. Lynch figured this would doom him. Upon exiting the screening, Brooks ran to Lynch and said, “you’re a madman, I love you, you’re in.” The Elephant Man would go on to receive eight Oscar nominations, including direction and adapted screenplay for Lynch himself. They would win zero but not shabby at all for a second feature.

The film opens with circus music as Anthony Hopkins’ character makes his way through a backstreet sideshow. Lynch pulls no punches from the beginning. He is putting the onus of this story on us, the audience. What will we make out of this? He cloaks each scene in alternating bright light and deep, husky shadow. The black and white photography is gorgeous, at once offering itself as a vessel for seedy territory and of 19th century elegance. Lynch is obsessed with depicting the ugly side of industry. He comes back to this over and over again throughout the film. Progress cannot happen without creating downtrodden to step over. It’s a vicious cycle.

Anthony Hopkins plays Doctor Frederick Treves, who hears of this Elephant Man and manages to secure himself a private viewing. We receive the initial shock of the deformed man’s appearance but Lynch is smart to only show two quick glimpses and then focus the rest on Hopkins’ face. The doctor perhaps came for a thrill but now wants to help the deformed man, named John Merrick (real name was Joseph Merrick). Treves gets Merrick to the hospital and subjects him to a thorough examination in front of an auditorium of his colleagues. Merrick remains hidden to our view throughout this process. Lynch instead opens this examination by pointing the camera directly at us, the audience. The light clicks on — shines a light on our own soul. The examination ends and we’re POV with the camera once again — shutting down. Some would say the camera snatches the soul. Well, we are now complicit. Again, what do we want out of this? Lynch chooses to hold our feet to the fire, illuminating (quite literally) how we view some in our society monsters based on appearance and nothing else. It is society that is the monster — an ever hungry and feeding beast. Perhaps, Lynch is enlightening us as to what fame can be like for those in the constant crosshairs of a society who loves to build people up only to revel in their eventual fall from grace.

The way Lynch shocks us with the first glimpse and then hides Merrick’s appearance for a while gives off an illicit vibe. Are we sure we’re ready for this? And by that I mean are we ready to plumb the depths of our own souls? Once we’re complicit, we are fair game. We’re then forced to make a choice. Merrick will now be depicted plainly to us — no longer hidden. Merrick is blossoming due to kindness and our reactions are ours to own.

The depiction of John Merrick by the late, great Joh Hurt blows me away every time I see this film. It’s so physical yet delicate. His mannerisms and speech are deliberate and nuanced. Nearly any other year and Hurt waltzes away with the Oscar but unfortunately he lost to DeNiro’s mind-melting performance in Raging Bull. Anthony Hopkins, for his part, has this way of speaking that seems as if we’re always hearing his innermost thoughts. I have always loved this about him and here, he is so restrained and composed in his performance. Legend.

There is a famous line form this film when Merrick is being chased through the train station as he attempts to return to the hospital. It reads:

I am not an animal. I am a human being. I am a man!

It’s a great line and delivered with the perfect mixture of anger and anguish by Hurt. I would, however, like to point out two other lines that speak to the enormous heart Lynch has and has infused all of his work with.

Anne Bancroft says the following after reading some Shakespeare with Merrick:

You’re no Elephant Man at all. You’re Romeo.

She then kisses him on the cheek and Merrick cries. I cry. My heart is nearly as full as Merrick’s heart in this moment. But we’re not done because upon his return to the hospital and Treves is busy apologizing to Merrick for not better protecting his patient and friend, Merrick stops him with this:

I am happy every hour of the day. My heart is full because I know I am loved.

Dead. I’m dead. This beautiful fucking film has executed me.

Now, it’s no secret in the film that due to his increasing deformities, Merrick is not long for the world. He knows this as well. The last we see of him is him removing the pillows on his bed so that he may sleep like a painting hanging in his room. We know he will die because of this. He knows he will die because of this. He looks at the picture of his mother that rests on his bedside table — his most cherished possession. In fact, his mother looms over the entire film, at once his antidote to a cruel world and also a bit of an albatross that keeps him hanging on. Merrick finally lets go and as he dies, he sees a vision of his mother. She calls to him and tells him everything will be fine. And delivers one final line:

Nothing will die.

A perfect ending.

Not many films can claim this but The Elephant Man is such a film.

Next week, the very first Lynch film I ever saw as a child, Dune. Until then, love each other.

The Very Best Of The PS4 Generation

Seven years is a good run. Not the longest generation of consoles but not the shortest either. I play a lot of games in my downtime — it’s how I relax. I’m forty-one years old and video games have been with me my entire life. We’ve grown up alongside each other. Today, I’m going to break down the best games of this past generation. This generation was the first in a long time that I didn’t also own an xbox console — I didn’t see the point. Sony dominates the first party conversation and Microsoft dropped the ball this time around. I will also not be commenting on Nintendo games, I have a Switch but Nintendo usually deserves their own post because they continue to march to their own beat.

We’ll begin with ten third party games (or in one specific case, series) that I found to be a cut above the rest. CONTROL delivered an incredibly complex sci-fi story wrapped around a third person action/superhero game. Fans of Twin Peaks and the X-Files would be well served by this one. Tons of performance issues but several patches and now new machines have helped this quite a bit. HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE gave us an extremely moving story about mental illness inside of a barbaric action game. Play this one with headphones on as the audio design is some of the best I’ve ever experienced. KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO TV EDITION was an action adventure title that played as a dreamy metaphor of life and death — of struggle and acceptance. Again, fans of Twin Peaks or David Lynch in general will eat this up. LIFE IS STRANGE has become one of my favorite things ever. Another adventure title with most of its emphasis on story, this entire series pulled every one of my heart strings. The story of two estranged best friends trying to reconnect while solving a series of murders and attempting to alter time to save their town, hooked me. We then got a prequel showing how the murders began and that was pretty great too. The official second season followed two Mexican-American brothers as they fled the police following an extraordinary event ending with the police killing their father. This sort of nuanced story is why I still play games. METAL GEAR SOLID 5 delivered in spades. Kojima’s final effort for Konami before going solo was a wonder to behold. A bit lighter on the typical bonkers Metal gear story but providing us the best gameplay in the series’ history. Metal Gear Solid is my favorite game ever and Kojima is my favorite developer ever. He’s the David Lynch of games — more on him in a bit. RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 is the best game Rockstar has ever made. It started slow, almost too slow for me but by the end, we were given a story that, had it been filmed for television, would’ve swept the Emmy Awards. It still blows my mind that nobody has tried to option this yet. RESIDENT EVIL 2 was remade last year and delivered the best Resident Evil game ever, save for RE4. The new version of the Tyrant is terrifying and awesome all the same. TITANFALL 2 is perhaps the best feeling first person shooter I’ve ever played. Buttery smooth and fluid. Great action and greater fights. WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH is another adventure title that focused most on story. This time we were given a tragic family history in beautifully rendered little vignettes — like reading a great collection of short stories. WOLFENSTEIN: THE NEW ORDER – The first level of this game sucks, almost to the point that you won’t play further. Mistake. Once BJ wakes up in that hospital, this game delivers insane action, great stealth and surprisingly beautiful writing. I swear, the people who wrote this one had just binged some Cormac McCarthy.

Onto my beloved Playstation.

Five games spoke to me enough to write about while not quite cracking my top ten of this generation. CONCRETE GENIE was whimsical and fun to play. It was full of color and sweet nature while telling a story about bullying and believing in yourself. DETROIT BECOME HUMAN is the best game Quantic Dream has created. A cautionary tale set in the near future that is as much about xenophobia, bigotry and general fucked up-ness in our current society as it is about androids in the future. GHOST OF TSUSHIMA is the most recent release and a stellar one. Full of extravagant art direction, a beautiful score and rock solid third person samurai/stealth gameplay, it delivered everything. UNCHARTED 4 was awesome and supremely polished but also a bit too long. It felt like the end and like nobody working on it really wanted it to actually end. UNTIL DAWN took the teen slasher flick and decided to out Quantic Dream the studio they were attempting to ape. This one arguably should have made my list.

Now, the official first party (and/or PlayStation exclusive) top ten.

10 – DAYS GONE – I was lucky to have waited a few weeks before firing this one up. I understand it was chock full of performance issues at launch but by the time I began my play through, those were largely fixed by several patches. Think Sons of Anarchy mixed with 28 Days Later while playing Syphon Filter. A bit rough around the edges but Sam Witwer gave a phenomenal performance and those horde fights were the stuff of legend.

9 – RATCHET & CLANK – A remake/reimagining of a beloved Playstation staple, this game delivered perfect gameplay, gorgeous visuals and a pretty hilarious story. Play it, you won’t regret it.

8 – UNCHARTED: LOST LEGACY – Where was Chloe in Uncharted 4? She’s right here, lol. This was released after Uncharted 4 and many assumed it was just dlc. No, this was a full fledged game albeit shorter in length than its predecessor. This shorter length really helped keep the narrative focused and thus ended up being the superior entry.

7 – SPIDER-MAN – I have loved Spider-Man since I was a little kid. This is the game I always dreamed I would one day be able to play. The swing mechanics are perfect and the story was pretty great too. (Miles Morales is, for sure, on my 2020 GOTY list)

6 – FINAL FANTASY 7 REMAKE – This one surprised me a bit. Next to Metal Gear, Final Fantasy is my favorite franchise in gaming. Hell, as a franchise, it is my favorite. Seven was never my favorite entry, I really liked it and from a technological standpoint, the leap from six to seven was mind blowing but it somehow kept me at arm’s length. The intense focus this remake shows and its ability to grow the story around Midgar so much provided me with the most joy I’ve felt from this franchise in a long time. I am and always will be a sucker for Final Fantasy.

5 – GOD OF WAR – This game uses a single camera shot through its entire runtime. That previous sentence doesn’t even make sense but it’s also not false. I still think about this aspect of the game and shake my head, laughing. Sony Santa Monica also made me care about Kratos for the first time in the history of this particular franchise. He was so much more nuanced and haggard this time around. The move to Norse mythology helped this franchise as well. A monumental creation.

4 – HORIZON: ZERO DAWN – Fun. Plain and simple. This has to be the most underrated game of this generation. It was overshadowed by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild upon release and that’s a shame. By the way, BOTW happens to be the most overrated game of this past generation. Horizon did nearly every single thing BOTW did and didn’t sacrifice any story to do it. Wonderful game.

3 – BLOODBORNE – I wasn’t a big Souls guy. Bloodborne intrigued me because of its Gothic horror setting. It reminded me of Castlevania. I played it. I hated it. I died a hundred times before even making it to the first boss. Then that boss, The Cleric Beast, whooped my ass another ten times. I hated the game more. Then I beat The Cleric Beast. I thought I understood the game. I fought the next boss, Father Gascoigne. He whopped my ass to a degree that sent me driving, in a rage, to GameStop. I walked in, no words, and threw the game on the counter. I then said, “fuck this game and I don’t care what you give me for it.” The kid smiled and began to laugh but then talked me into keeping the game. He gave me a few tips. I went home and fought Father Gascoigne again and he whooped my ass a few more times. Then I beat him. Then I beat Vicar Amelia at the last second with only a shred of health left. I dropped my controller and howled. I’ve never experienced exhilaration like that. I then proceeded to be the one whooping ass. Fucking Bloodborne, lol.

2 – THE LAST OF US PART 2 – I’ll keep this short because I’ve already written thousands of words on this work of art. It’s easily my 2020 game of the year and it’s one of the greatest ever achievements in this medium. The story is so deep that you can continue, to this day, to mine new and intimate things from it. I love this game with all my heart. It made me weep more than once. Some of you who are unfamiliar with The Last Of Us are not prepared in any way for what will be unleashed by the upcoming HBO series. This is the best of this medium, save for one.

1 – DEATH STRANDING – I told you there’d be more on Hideo Kojima. This is another one I’ve already written about at length. I had a good feeling I would really dig this game because I have always vibed with Kojima’s work. Our brains just sync. I still wasn’t expecting to love this game the way I did. It’s methodical and satisfying in ways I’ve rarely experienced. The performances are extraordinary. Higgs is one of my favorite ever villains. The musical cues are phenomenal. This is pure, unfiltered Kojima and I loved every second. In a time where our leaders are failing and looking to be as awful and divisive as ever, Kojima gives us art whose sole purpose is to bring people together. It is literally about reconnecting the world. The multiplayer aspects are revolutionary. It’s a game that continues to give me hope in this bleak world. It just may be my favorite game ever created.

That’s a wrap on the generation. I’ll probably return to poetry for the near future but at some point in either December or January I’ll begin my best of year lists. Until next week, love each other.

David Lynch Friday #1 – Eraserhead

Eraserhead. Been awhile. Like much of Lynch’s work, Erasherhead benefits from time and exposure. The more time you spend with the film, the more you will get out of it. This was Lynch’s feature film debut, way back in 1977 and in the spirit of total honesty, it’s a miracle anyone saw this film and then decided to give Lynch money to make a second feature. This isn’t a knock on the film, it’s a wonderfully complex work and supremely assured for a debut feature but the film is also a nightmarish puzzle box. It is not easily digestible and at times it’s even a bit offensive to the senses. Lynch is challenging his audience right out of the starting gate, a trait that will never abandon him.

Watching it again now, after Lynch was able to revisit Twin Peaks, it’s clear that there is a lot here that either exists in the same universe of Twin Peaks or at least the universe of the Black Lodge. Erasherhead will be a major talking point when we wrap this project up with the sure-to-be massive post featuring everything Twin Peaks. For reference:

The apartment lobby floor is the same as the Black Lodge.
Electricity is prominently displayed throughout the film.
The electric, old-fashioned humidifier looks a lot like Phillip Jeffries.
The tree growing in Henry’s apartment looks exactly like THE ARM from the Black Lodge.
There is also a small photo of an atomic bomb explosion next to Henry’s bed.

So yeah, we will be revisiting all of this because I feel like I am on the verge of some new, mind blowing Twin Peaks revelations. But we will get back to that at a later date.

One of the themes of Erasherhead is that of parenthood and specifically fatherhood. The opening scene with Henry’s face superimposed over some kind of cosmic egg is an easy to grasp metaphor for the paranoia of parenthood. Lynch loves the technique of superimposing and still uses it to this day as a filmmaker. Jack Nance also has a face made for closeups — I swear it’s as malleable as clay. It says, “what have I done?” This could also be Lynch working through his feelings on birthing an idea and creating life in art.

An undervalued aspect of Lynch’s work is how funny it often is. Erasherhead is full of body horror and psychological torment but it’s also hilariously uncomfortable. Lynch uses black and white photography to cloak the film in shadow, like there is a looming, negative force overseeing everything. This also serves to exude a silent film vibe. It’s like if Charlie Chaplin were cast in Nosferatu. I love this. The dinner scene where Henry visits his girlfriend’s family is uproariously creepy. Everything is there to be considered normal but it’s all heightened enough to be off. The catatonic grandmothers cigarette. The tiny chickens and enormous carving knife. Then comes the blood. Then comes the tiny chicken seizures. Later on, Henry literally loses his head and some kid runs over and steals the severed head. Again, wild and hilarious. The kid then sells the head to the pencil factory where they turn it into a literal eraser head. I am not making this up.

So, what could this all mean?

There is more than just a singular theme — this is true for all of Lynch’s work. Sure it’s about fatherhood but it goes deeper. It touches on how children are our soul transferred into a new being all while being born of our own faults and demons. It’s also about how alien-like babies are and Lynch establishes this in the most heightened way possible. Lynch is also commenting on nature versus industry. We are inundated with images of machinery and general industry encroaching on and diminishing nature. Lynch then gives us plenty of background scenery depicting nature attempting to reclaim its place by invading the characters’ homes.

This brings me to one final conclusion: Erasherhead is very spiritual. Lynch drives us through an intense white light and I think he’s depicting how birth and death are the same. He then pushes us through a soupy mess and into a puddle that turns into a black hole. This is him differentiating between duty and desire — daily life and intense lust. I’ve also contemplated the possibility that the barnacled man is Henry’s grown-up son who has trapped his father in some kind of nightmare purgatory of his own creation. It’s like an eternity being forced to live through all of your own failings.

In the end I think that part of the film is Henry’s subconscious shown to us as real life. Henry is full of self doubt and this is best represented by the baby. The infant is a slimy, hideous creature who resembles ET in the worst possible way. Here’s the thing: the baby doesn’t actually look like how we see it. The baby is a manifestation of Henry’s self doubt. Parents worry, especially with newborns, that there is something wrong with their child. Their baby is different in a bad way. It’s a trick the mind plays on its subject. This is where Erasherhead leaves us, with Henry attempting to free his child by murdering it — killing his self doubt. Lynch hits out at life as an all encompassing process.

Birth. Life. Failure. Sex. Duty. Murder. Death.

Next week, The Elephant Man. Until then, love each other.

Unchecked — A New Poem

The shot, it doesn’t look bad

But the unseen is far worse

Festering — infecting nearby tissue

As the sweating begins

*

The wound is twofold

With unkempt track in between

Total treatment is necessary

As the shakes set in

*

Soon, the pain grows numb

And speech is rapidly declining

Failure to act in time

Has left me on the doorstep

*

David Lynch Friday #0 – The Intro

My first experience with David Lynch was watching Dune as a child. I loved it. Now, I know that isn’t exactly the popular opinion with that film but it certainly mesmerized me. I also recall my parents watching The Elephant Man and then Blue Velvet. I specifically remember Blue Velvet because my mother thought it was crazy in a good way and my father thought the exact opposite — not at all his type of movie. Next was Twin Peaks. I was about ten years old when Twin Peaks came out. My mother was excited and I was already a huge fan of detective stories. To me, a new show from the guy who did Dune, starring the guy from Dune, and it was sort of a detective story? Yes please.

As I grew older, Lynch faded from me for a bit. I began my true obsession with his work when I was in high school. This was the jump off and I never looked back. I’ve devoured his work ever since and have loved it all, even when I hated it. There was only one film of his that I missed completely, The Straight Story. Disney Plus rectified that for me and now my only blank spot is Inland Empire. For the record, I’ve watched it, just not all the way through. I have a blu-ray waiting for me and I’ve revisited the Rabbits in the years since. I’m looking forward to it now.

This is what I cherish about Lynch’s work — it is uncompromising. Even when Twin Peaks returned, there were moments that drove me up the wall but I have learned to trust Lynch’s process and have found rewards at every turn. He is my favorite. He’s been my favorite for a long time and only recently challenged for the title by Sofia Coppola. We’ll see how this all holds upon this new revisiting of his oeuvre. Typically, I would focus solely on feature films but Twin Peaks in it’s entirety will be thrown in here because it is my absolute, number one, favorite thing ever. I will also be breaking the timeline and holding Twin Peaks for the very end. There is a chance that week will see my largest post ever. I always have a ton of thoughts on Twin Peaks and there is not a day that goes by without me thinking about the show.

Here we go. The David Lynch project will begin with Eraserhead next Friday. Until then, love each other.

Winter’s Warning – A New Poem

Snow doesn’t fall so much as float

Working its way down from the heavens

Like little specks of purity

*

The world goes still as it ponders what’s next

The blanket of a new dawn

And the hope that comes with rebirth

*

The soft crunch beneath our feet

Like a sigh of compliance

Because we are so desperate to leave our mark

*

Snowfall continues its mission

To hide our sins beneath its cool embrace

And force us to pause and take stock

*

Sofia Coppola Friday #8 – The Recap

It’s the end of the line. I’m sad to let these films go for now but the beauty of art is that it’s never fully gone. Art exists all around us and even within us. Great art stays somewhere deep inside for us to draw from whenever we want or need. This project I’m embarking on with some of my favorite filmmakers has been even more rewarding than I initially thought. I’m learning things about myself that were previously hidden or unobserved. Growth is always a good thing.

With that said, let’s recap what we’ve learned from Sofia Coppola’s films.

First, she is a filmmaker who always has something to say. She makes you do the work but her message is ultimately always clear. Her films are never stagnant — they don’t just exist, they live. She is frequently inspired by depicting the reality of celebrity and tabloid culture. This makes a ton of sense considering she grew up in one of the most famous Hollywood families our generation has ever seen. Coppola is also consumed with dissecting the pitfalls of love and lust and the need to be loved. She also knows that love and obsession are completely different — this is a distinction a portion of our population routinely fails to make.

Sofia Coppola is a confident filmmaker. In fact, she’s one of the most confident filmmakers working today. Everything in her films always works in concert in order to present her specific vision. Her work is so real. How does she accomplish this? First, her dialog is always great and perfectly matched to what each film requires. This is no easy fete. She has to match her writing to the film’s tone and subject matter while also delivering something unique to not only each character but the actors portraying those characters. This is the secret sauce for a screenwriter and most aren’t nearly this good. It’s part of what makes Quentin Tarantino’s scripts so amazing. People jump to obvious conclusions about how “cool” it is and they try and mimic that. Hollywood then becomes inundated by bad imitators. No, the great ones, (and Sofia Coppola is definitely one of the great ones) match their writing with what is required and only what is required. This brings me to another aspect of why her films are so universally great: her ability to cast to the role. I will argue that this is actually a super power. Last, her needle dropping is on point. I spoke about this a few weeks ago and it bears repeating: she makes the best use of pop songs in her films. That’s it, nobody else does it better.

Now, what I’m most excited to get to is a realization I made as I rewatched her first six films. Sofia Coppola has created a trilogy of sister films. For the record, all of her films have aspects that either resemble or build upon previous work but there is more. First, On The Rocks is the odd one out. Being her newest film, it has yet to find it’s sibling. We’ll just have to see what Coppola cooks up for us in the future before revisiting. As for the other six, they break up like this:

The Virgin Suicides and The Beguiled are a perfect pair. Coppola revisits material dominated by men. TVS is based on a book written by a man and The Beguiled is a remake of a film starring Clint Eastwood. Coppola takes these stories and either reframed them around the women involved or alters the focus so we concentrate on the women and their own daily lives. Both films are about young women living under strict rules while blossoming into adults. They are curious and sheltered but possess ferocious spirits. They will leave their mark upon the world.

Lost In Translation and Somewhere go hand in hand. Both films center around men who are at sea. Both men are world famous actors but at different points in their careers. In some ways, Somewhere feels like it could be a prequel to LIT in relation to their respective main characters. Both films are unafraid to explore the ennui fame can bring with it and the trappings it holds. They also each center around a hotel that serves as a sort of prison for its inhabitants. The characters are constantly searching for a way break out and run free and that metaphor cuts deep.

Marie Antoinette and The Bling Ring belong together. These two films are Coppola’s most celebrity obsessed. Both are based on true events and real life people. Both are stories of celebrity and tabloid and excess and depression. These two films get under our skin more each time we revisit them. She digs deeper into motives of why these people would choose to either do these things or live this way. They both also deal with the youth revolting against norms and then suffering the consequences set upon them by the populace.

This brings me to the end of this particular section of my project. What have I learned? Where my first filmmaker I studied, Terry Gilliam, unearthed new observations that make me think less of him as a human being, Sofia Coppola has only grown in my estimation. She is my favorite Coppola. I said what I said. Not only that but she has climbed the mountain and reached the summit. Sofia Coppola now stands shoulder to shoulder with David Lynch as my favorite filmmakers. I can’t choose right now. Perhaps we will have to do David Lynch next.

Now to the rankings:

7 – The Bling Ring
6 – The Beguiled
5 – On The Rocks
4 – Marie Antoinette
3 – Somewhere
2 – The Virgin Suicides
1 – Lost In Translation

Next week, we’ll lay the groundwork for the next chapter in this project. Until then, love each other.