Elen

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Posts posted by Elen


  1. For what it's worth, I didn't think you guys sounded like you were blaming her in the FWWM episode, just confused as to why she was seemingly turning a blind eye and maybe a bit upset by that. That's understandable since her behavior does seem baffling. It's also something that rings very true to me.

     

    I believe it's a pretty common response to live in some state of denial when someone you love or live with is leading essentially a double-life. Leland probably worked hard to keep his predilections a secret, and one of the most effective ways to do that would be to make her sound like the crazy one and treating her as such. So you have a woman who knows that something's "off", but she can't see exactly what that is and meanwhile, her husband is working hard to make sure she's off-kilter enough not to have concrete suspicions, to the point of drugging her to keep her unaware that he's doing these things in their own house. Even people like Doc Hayward become unwitting participants in this, almost, when they give her drugs and try to calm her down. They're trying to be helpful, but it's like Sarah's the canary in the poisonous coal mine of the house and they're ignoring her.

     

    There's also probably a survival mechanism at play here, too, as you've noted.

     

    When she finally has it all laid out and knows the truth when Cooper and Truman tell her who killed Laura, she seems calm and in control for the first time in the whole series. It's like having the truth that she's suspected somewhere in her brain dragged out into the sunlight has given her some peace, even though it's a horrible thing.

     

    (Sorry if you ended up saying the same thing on this week's episode! I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. Also sorry if that makes no sense at all; I was trying to figure it out as I was typing.)


  2. I love the scene with Cooper and Diane because I am a sucker and it was cute. I didn't find it too coy and it was just the right amount of fanservice for me because it was so short. I didn't realize that was such an unpopular opinion but I'm sticking to it, dammit! :P


  3. Donna does; Maddy just sees weird carpet movement if I recall correctly. Mrs. Palmer also sees him crouched behind the bed, so it seems to be possible to see Bob without anything directly happening. I'm not sure what his rules are, exactly, for harming or possessing people. To hurt someone he may need his human "host", or prefer it that way.

     

    It might just be that they're sensing Bob and that he's not actually present, too.


  4. I'm glad that movie brought MacLachlan and Lynch together, at least, because...boy howdy, is that movie (and Paul) kind of a bummer. I mean, that hair! I'm also pretty sure at one point MacLachlan has to look up at the uncaring stars and, in an internal monologue, ask, "Where are my feelings?" Yow.


  5. Also, I just watched The Missing Pieces.  Some of those scenes had no chance of getting into the movie (Pete arguing with Dell Mibbler?), so why were they even filmed?

    So we could watch them a decade+ later on wildly advanced technology, duh! David Lynch is all about the long con. ^_^

     

    I could have argued before why the movie doesn't work in some ways when I didn't quite align with it emotionally, and now I could say why it works so damn well, too. You always know how to rationalize your emotions.

    That sounds exactly right to me. Lynch's work in general seems to work on a very specific emotional level- people seem to either like his work or not, and neither group is "right".


  6. Okay, so Fire Walk With Me was the first actual Lynch movie I saw (though I did watch the show first, obviously).  I decided ahead of time that I had no idea what to expect and I was just going to roll with it. My roommate and I watched it with an abandon that would probably make David Lynch happy, and it became almost a participatory experience. I wish we had a hidden camera set up because our reactions were hilariously in-sync through much of the movie. Cooper comes on screen: "Yaaaay!" James's motorcycle is heard: "Booooo!" Any time Leland Palmer/Bob comes on screen: "Auuuuaahhh!" (hard to approximate that sound via text) or "Nooooooo!"

     

    I'm glad someone mentioned the running time of the movie because my commitment to roll with it extended to keeping track of time, apparently. If you had told me it was 90 minutes I would've gone with it, ditto to if you had told me it was three hours long.

    A few thoughts about the actual movie:
     

    • Kiefer Southerland was amazing. I really hope he's in the revival, his character was quirky in just the right way. He fit in with the special brand of FBI weirdness.
    • Annie showing up all bloody in Laura's bed scared the hell out of me. I guess Heather Graham is at her best when she's freaking me out.
    • The scene in the Canadian strip club is wild. Just really interestingly and creatively filmed. I liked the use of subtitles a lot.
    • I laughed aloud when Laura flipped James the bird. You tell him, girl.

     

    And again I have to give it up for Sheryl Lee, and to David Lynch for being so fascinated with Laura and passionate about bringing her to life. Someone close to me has a story that wouldn't look too dissimilar to Laura's, and I thought the movie did a very effective job conveying the terror of it, and the complicated ways people react to trauma.

     

    Here's something I sent to a friend right after watching it:

    This movie is so weird. The beginning and the end are...craziness. And the middle is like a really tense domestic drama, mostly. This movie is bananas.

    Now that I've seen a few more Lynch movies that seems applicable to more than Fire Walk With Me. :)


  7. The Sycammore Trees song has such an air of finality to it. It really seems to be there to prepare Cooper (and us) for the final stage of his journey, perhaps even his "death", depending on your interpretation of what happens to him in the Lodge.[..]The strobe light set up during the song, with alternate sides of Coopers face being illuminated, is excellent. It also provides a nice visual foreshadowing of the doppelgangers and Coopers doppelganger in particular.

    Yeah, I thought that whole initial introduction to the Lodge set the mood perfectly. It helps the viewer transition from the concrete feel of the "real world" plot and into the dreamy weirdness of the Lodge/waiting room/whatever.

     

    When Earle and Annie are approaching the entrance to the Lodge and Earle shines the torch in both his and Annie's faces, their eyes momentarily look a lot like the doppelganger eyes.

    Neat observation! You also reminded me about the moment Annie sits up like some bloody, creepy doll from the floor next to Cooper. That really freaked me out and almost justified casting Heather Graham.

     


  8. I believe it was Keith Phipps at The Dissolve who championed the character of Cooper as (and I'm paraphrasing) the epitome of human decency and to see him cut down at the end is just so brutal.

    It really is. That crazy, mocking laughter from someone we've known as having worked to be especially caring and considerate is really rough. It works great, emotionally, but I'm really looking forward to (hopefully) a more positive resolution for such a fundamentally good and likable character.

     

     

    I've just now listened to the episode and I have one dumb comment: I didn't interpret the contact lenses as giving them blue eyes, but dead eyes. They looked quite cloudy to me. My perception might be colored by Hannibal, which uses similar lenses to distinguish corpses, especially those exposed to the elements. (Like Laura? That seems a stretch...)


  9. I'll have more to say when I'm awake enough to put my thoughts into words, but I will say that Sheryl Lee's performance is incredible. She does a beautiful job conveying Laura's pain, upset, and general aura of fucked-upness, but she's also wonderful with the goofy intoxicated stuff, like when she's trying to talk on the phone, smoke a cigarette, and put on her tights at the same time. I loved her performance, and cared a lot about Laura because of that.


  10. To think that we could have ended the series with Bob dressed as... a dentist? And sucking out Windom Earle's soul with a giant hypodermic needle? No, please jesus, no! I don't even want to think about it.

    Right? So bad. So, so bad.

     

    I'd be okay with getting a little bit of the DoppelCooper in the new season of Twin Peaks. MacLachlan can play unnerving very well.


  11. That script puts such a perverse emphasis on oral hygiene at the end --down to waking Cooper wanting to brush his teeth. I can't recall did that line make the final version or does Dale have another reason to go to the bathroom right before the show's final reveal?

    It did! I know this because I could freak my roommate out very quickly by giving her a deadpan, "I need to brush my teeth".

     

    I like that line a lot, actually, because the viewer probably has a hunch that he's not quite right, but it could also just be typical goofy Cooper concerned about his oral hygiene.


  12. That's all very good advice regarding Fire Walk With Me, especially that it helps to regard it as its own, kinda Peaks-y thing.

     

     

    Veering off-topic a little, I don't generally read fanfiction, but someone recommended this short story that takes place right after the show ends, from the point of view of Diane. I really liked it and thought it was well-done and sweet.


  13. This episode was worth all of the junk parts of season two.

    It really was. I watched it (and Peaks) for the first time late last year, and even as a "modern" viewer who is used to unusual or downright wild stuff on television this was one of the weirdest things I'd seen. My roommate and I were genuinely freaked out by doppelganger Laura (the scariest thing ever to be on the show, in my opinion), the doppelgangers in general, and deranged Cooper at the end. Even the sound design in that scene is offputting; there's a little shrieky sound as Cooper smashes his head against the glass.

     

    (LostIntheMovies, I'm assuming you're eventually going to drop some knowlege about how drastically the finale changed from script to filming? That's fascinating stuff, knowing how close it came to being more late-season garbage, and you surely know more than I!)

     

    When I saw it I was very grateful to know that new Twin Peaks was coming because it's such a bummer of an ending. It felt like David Lynch was salting the earth so it was easier to handle knowing that the story would continue, even decades later. Now, however.... :deranged:

     

    I can't say I was too thrilled with how it ended, though.  Nothing about Bob possessing Cooper worked for me.  I tried thinking of how things would play out and I had a hard time imagining any interesting scenarios.

    My assumption was that Truman and Doc Hayward heard him being crazy in the bathroom, figured out something was up, and locked him in a psych ward a la Windom Earle. Which is one of the reasons I didn't like the extended epilogue in the deleted scenes of Fire Walk With Me as it

    seemed to belie that reading without adding anything new.


  14. And I guess Cooper loves him some strained chess metaphors. something like "this chess game contains more pieces that we ever imagined"? Buh, why.

    Haha, I missed that one! Yeesh.

     

    Yeah, this episode is pretty lackluster. I think I prefer the pine weasel to Miss Twin Peaks. It kinda makes the already deeply weird finale all the more shocking, following this episode.


  15. The horse costume is absurd, as is the dart target thing, but that video is genuinely unsettling and saves a bit of Windom Earle's plot for me.

     

    Stephen Gyllenhaal (yes, that Gyllenhaal) comes closest to the mark with a lot of moments here and the closing montage is great set-up for what's to come.

    Yes, I loved some of those moments he threw in there. People have already mentioned that weirdly ominous shot of dripping syrup, and the Mayor's voiceover of, "This isn't right! There's something wrong here..." over a montage of the town is a very Lynchian, unsettling touch. It reminds me of Sarah Palmer's outburst last season where she wonders what's been going on in her house.

     

    Pete's offer to take Audrey fishing as the cure for a broken heart is easily the best thing to come from Billy Zane. I love Pete.

     

    One of the big bummers of late season 2 (probably the only one that gets worse instead of better) is the deterioration of Donna's character. She was usually hampered with difficult plotlines (and a big dead weight known as James), but I thought Lara Flynn Boyle did a nice job and I felt for Donna much of the time. Now she's just awful. She's on what should be a supportable quest, trying to push through lies her parents have told her, but instead she comes off as hugely petulant and obnoxious. Shame.


  16. And Heavy Metal Dude was there because of... Beer? The cost of beer in Twin Peaks must be pretty damn high for him to be cool with hanging out in a creepy cabin with an old dude playing a flute and his pet Frankenstein monster.

    Maybe he just wanted to drink beer without having to listen to Julee Cruise's ethereal crooning.

     

     

    I also like Truman's deduction that the chess piece can't be a bomb because there's no ticking sound.

    Twin Peaks's finest! Man, it has not been a good week (month, year) for Harry.


  17. And I was kind of grossed out by the Gordon Cole-Shelley stuff. I've never been able to see Cole as not David Lynch, and the whole thing came off as very casting-couch-y to me. I don't think Lynch is that kind of guy, but I just couldn't shake the feeling.

    I had that feeling a little when I first watched it, but there's a DVD extra with Lynch talking to Madchen Amick (and MacLachlan) that kinda out my mind at ease. They half-joke around that it was a total casting couch thing, but Amick very genuinely seems to have had a blast with that storyline and the filming. I like those scenes a lot so it was nice to be able to enjoy them fully without feeling icky.

  18. Oh my gosh, Gordon Cole and his counter Esperanto are one of my favorite things in the whole show, let alone this latter run of episodes. "I FEEL AS THOUGH MY STOMACH IS FILLED WITH A TEAM OF BUMBLEBEES", indeed. I like seeing Shelley get some unqualified, open admiration by a non-loser.

    I also think the Annie stuff is cute, if sappy. That penguin joke might be the worst joke ice ever heard, bless. The problem I have with Annie (aside from Heather Graham being a bit stiff in the role) is that there's a lot of talking about how quirky she is and not a lot of actually seeing her be quirky and unique.

    Was it you, LostInTheMovies, who mentioned that the writers have fallen into the habit of telling instead of showing? For me this is most apparent with Annie and makes her more of a missed opportunity than a compelling character in what should be an important subplot. Thankfully it's fun watching Cooper be giddy and lovesick even if Heather Graham is a bit wooden.

    Was Cooper wearing glasses in that one scene in his spelunking gear, in Truman's office?


  19. I generally really enjoy post-breakdown Ben.

    I think it's a testament to the actor's charm that I'm able to switch over to rooting for Ben pretty easily. I mean, he's such a monster for most of the series: a statutory rapist, owner of the world's sketchiest brothel, drug pusher, liar, cheat, etc. But because it's TV and the show itself has changed so much I kinda go, "Eh".

     

    So Billy Zane was a replacement love interest so we wouldn't be creeped out by Cooper and Audrey, right? So why do they make a point to tell use that Wheeler remembers her as a ten-year-old? Kinda gross.

     

    Why would a group of girls, one of whom has been terrorized and another who has been kidnapped and nearly killed, in a town so recently rocked by the murder of a young woman, not be suspicious or alarmed by a creepy, random note from a stranger and show up to the location it listed?

     

    I saw a funny Tumblr post about the moment with Albert, Cooper, and Truman in the hallway. It looks very different out of context.


  20. Josie has always felt weird as a character. Like she was written to be this femme fatale manipulative woman even if she was slightly trapped by her circumstances. But then the actress plays her as someone who is trapped by circumstances and just trying to survive meekly.

    Nicely articulated! Josie always felt weird but I didn't quite know where the dissonance was. That seems spot on. Her character seems to be written a bit like Laura with more culpability: bad things have happened to her, and she herself has done very bad things of her own volition. But with Laura you can see that in the actress's perfomance (that Laura has her own darkness) and not much with Josie at all.

     

    "Thats the good thing about about the law IT DOESNT BREATHE YOU CAN'T KILL IT!!!!"

    Oh good Lord, I'd forgotten about that. Yikes.