Now Screening - What Are You Watching Right Now?

[struth]

Another of my David Lynch films today.. Blue Velvet, 1986. It stars Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, and Laura Dern.

Super song too....






Blue Velvet initially received a divided critical response, with many stating that its objectionable content served little artistic purpose. Nevertheless, the film earned Lynch his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director, and came to achieve cult status. As an example of a director casting against the norm, it was credited for revitalizing Hopper's career and for providing Rossellini with a dramatic outlet beyond her previous work as a fashion model and a cosmetics spokeswoman. In the years since, the film has generated significant attention, and it is now widely regarded as one of Lynch's major works and one of the greatest films of the 1980s.

Its a good film, and a hard watch as said at times; a bit like growing up from late childhood to adult, which can be a nightmare, which i think much of it is about..

[struth]

Something a bit lighter now; a straight up Hitchcock; The 39 Steps from 1935, so 86 years young. this is the criterion bluray and very clean it is too.




The 39 Steps is another in a line of Hitchcock films based upon an innocent man being forced to go on the run, including The Lodger (1926), Saboteur (1942) and North by Northwest (1959). The film contains a common Hitchcockian trope of a MacGuffin (a plot device which is vital to the story, but irrelevant to the audience); in this case, the designs for a secret silent aeroplane engine.

[Macca]

'Black Sunday' (1977)

Robert Shaw is a Mossad agent who tracks a Black September terrorist cell to the USA and tries to stop them committing an atrocity at Super Bowl X.

Not seen this since the early 80s but I remembered it as being pretty good. And in retrospect it is a pretty good film, with several surprises along the way.

The only problem is the pacing is a bit stop-start like a lot of 1970s thrillers ('The Taking Of Pelham 123' being an exception to that rule) and some of the SFX in the blimp scenes are a bit ropey which jars with the 'ultra realism' look of the rest of the film.

Worth a watch though.

[struth]

Blow Out, 1981. Directed by Brian De Palma and stars John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow.






Blow out got mostly positive reviews at time and now is classed as a cult classic.

[walpurgis]

Blow Out, 1981. Directed by Brian De Palma and stars John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow.






Blow out got mostly positive reviews at time and now is classed as a cult classic.

Excellent thriller. Not well known. I have the DVD in my collection.

[Pigmy Pony]

i read it as 2 realities within one reality... but it could be anything with lynch. i just enjoy the ride

My thoughts exactly - just embrace the weirdness, don't ruin it by trying to understand it!

[struth]

The Sand Pebbles, 1966. Directed by Robert Wise and starring Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough, Richard Crenna, Candice Bergen, Mako, Simon Oakland, Larry Gates, and Marayat Andriane. Robert Anderson adapted the screenplay from the 1962 novel of the same name by Richard McKenna.





The Sand Pebbles was a critical and commercial success at its general release. It became the fourth highest-grossing film of 1966 and was nominated for eight Academy Awards and eight Golden Globe Awards, with Attenborough winning the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

It rained the night of the premiere, December 20, 1966, at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City. Afterwards, McQueen did not do any film work for about a year due to exhaustion, saying that whatever sins he had committed in his life had been paid for when he made The Sand Pebbles. The performance earned McQueen the only Academy Award nomination of his career. He was not seen on film again until two 1968 films, The Thomas Crown Affair and Bullitt (which included his fellow Sand Pebbles actor Simon Oakland as Bullitt's boss).

[walpurgis]

The Sand Pebbles, 1966

Another good one. I think it's mentioned in the film that they were known as the Sand Pebbles after the ship, the 'San Pablo'.

[Barry]

My thoughts exactly - just embrace the weirdness, don't ruin it by trying to understand it!

Having seen most of Lynch's output I would agree, but it's an uphill struggle. "Mulholland Drive" did it for me - I just couldn't understand it at all.

"Dune" wasn't weird at all, just badly made. But it is a difficult book to transfer to the screen. Lynch, IMO, just took the opportunity to impose his 'optics' onto the story, without understanding the breadth of the 'space opera'. Nor was "The Straight Story", which although far from a conventional Hollywood film, was original and (err) straightforward.

And the "Elephant Man" was a sympathetic telling of a heavily disfigured man who is doomed to be a fairground freak, until he was looked after by an understanding London doctor. Again an excellent film.


But if you want weird - go no further than "Eraserhead"; Lych's first big-screen film. Should be seen by everyone.

[Barry]

Blow Out, 1981. Directed by Brian De Palma and stars John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow.






Blow out got mostly positive reviews at time and now is classed as a cult classic.

It's OK, but IMO derivative - a sort of 'audio' parallel to "Blow Up", although more horrific. Maybe I should watch it again.