Michael Adam Warren's Blog, page 14

The Dark Tower (2017)

Stephen King's beloved novel series is brought to startling life with some remarkably great performances for a strangely fun, raw, and engaging film in The Dark Tower (2017). Although this film is getting savaged with negative reviews from critics, I cannot help but think they are looking beyond the mark here. This is a truly great Summer action blockbuster and a surprisingly emotional fantasy story wrapped up into a unique cinematic experience.

Hollywood does not make these kind of films everyday. I hear a lot of critics try to reductively call this film a cliched Y.A. (Young Adult) movie that is incomprehensible to follow. Currently The Dark Tower is hanging at an unbelievably low 18% on Rotten Tomatoes, and only has a slightly improved score of 34 on Metacritic. That is a gross exaggeration of this film's quality and does not reflect its level of entertainment value at all.
If anything, The Dark Tower exceeds any expectations I had for the film going into it. The trailers and marketing were not particularly riveting. But Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey are such amazing actors and I was surprised when watching the film to see how thoroughly both these men threw themselves into their iconic roles as the Gunslinger (Elba) and the Man in Black (McConaughey).
 Idris Elba's Roland Deschain is strong yet damaged man who was at one time a heroic Gunslinger who helped bring peace and order to the various realms of men, but who is so grief-stricken and alone now that he has become fixated on revenge. And Matthew McConnaughey's Walter Padick is a philosophically motivated dark sorcerer bent on lowering the defenses of humanity to allow a horde of demons to enter and destroy life as we know it.
The Dark Tower's greatest strength is in its perfect casting. Even the relatively small bit parts of the Man in Black's henchmen seem stacked to the max with talented actors, including Abby Lee, Fran Kranz, and Jackie Earle Hayley! And the child actor playing the young psychic Jake Chambers (Tom Taylor) is one of the most phenomenal young actors in the world today.
The production apparently put on one of the most extensive searches in history to cast this all-important role of Jake, and apparently Tom Taylor just blew them all away. And for good reason. Although the Dark Tower novels typically emphasize the Gunslinger Roland character as a central protagonist, at this point in the film Roland is a broken man who he is and has lost the vision of what he is doing with his life.
It takes young Jake to set Roland right and to help restore him back to being the honorable Gunslinger he used to be. Jake is aided in this journey because of his exceptional gifts with the shine, which we are informed are strong psychic powers.
Shine is referred to in other Stephen King works, but most notably in his novel The Shining (1977), which was adapted a few years later by Stanely Kubrick into the classic horror film of the same name. Twenty years later Stephen King adapted his novel again but for the small screen, and enlisted his friend and frequent collaborator Mick Garris in turning it into a TV miniseries version that more accurately reflected his intentions with the original story.
Jake Chambers's shine is so powerful that Jake has visions of things happening on other worlds and can see backwards in time. This power is something the Man in Black desires and will stop at nothing to find for his own nefarious purposes, wreaking havoc and chaos in his wake while on the hunt. Jake helps awaken the old Gunslinger spirit back in Roland, who begins training Jake in the ways of the Gunslinger, too.
Without spoiling the film, much of Roland Deschain and his path in the film is inspired by Arthurian legend and Excalibur is a literal thing that exists in this world, and it plays a significant part of the film. And to Idris Elba's credit, he is completely believable as the best Gunslinger in the world. He wields his weapons with a deftness and clarity of purpose that bleeds through every frame of film. Truly, rather than the pen, here it is the gun that is mightier than the sword.
When Stephen King was asked his opinion of the movie, he responded, "They’ve done a wonderful job here telling a story that’s coherent and that pulls a lot of the elements of the novel in The Dark Tower. Purists may not like it. I can’t tell about that for sure, because it doesn’t start where the book starts. But at the same time, they’ll fall right into it because they’ll know exactly what’s going on."
 Thankfully for the purists, there are some grand plans in store to create a connected TV series prequel to the film starring Idris Elba as the Gunslinger on his adventures adapted more directly from the Stephen King source novels and exploring that vast fantasy story in all its glory.
But unfortunately, the poor marketing and horrible critical response to the movie seems to have dampened the opening box office in the U.S., which has cast some doubt as to its future as an ongoing TV series. Hopefully good word of mouth from us audience members can help many more people discover and experience this powerful fantasy film on the big screen for themselves.
While The Dark Tower is by no means a perfect film, I still feel a powerful sense of wonder and magic with this movie that is rare and precious to find: heart. The storytelling was admittedly rushed and the editing was frequently choppy and many of the side characters feel underutilized, but the idea of having much more time to explore these characters later in the series is a good consolation to that flaw.
I am confident that if the box office numbers do not explode from word of mouth to make The Dark Tower a hit in theaters, I have no doubt this film will quickly gain status as a cult classic and build up a steady following of fantasy fans over the years. The Dark Tower is simply too interesting to ignore forever. I think when most the movies getting 90% or higher this year on Rotten Tomatoes are long forgotten, this movie will still be entertaining families.
And the on screen paternal chemistry between Elba's Roland and Taylor's Jake is something I have rarely seen so beautifully executed before. There are performances and scenes throughout this film that brought me to tears and made me genuinely care about the characters and feel invested in the wildly fantastical elements of the story, too. The Dark Tower is a smart movie and time is on its side.

WWE Twin Peaks Parody!

If you thought the cultural impact of Twin Peaks is a thing of the past, then just tune in to the WWE to be proven wrong. Sometimes you just need to get silly and integrate Twin Peaks into your story any way possible, especially in pro wrestling. Be prepared to enter the Black Lodge with the WWE in this humorous parody.

Twin Peaks: The Return - Part 11

In the veritable slot machine of narrative TV, Twin Peaks: The Return just scored a massive jackpot with Part 11. Equal parts charged, funny, and bizarre, we explore more and more of the town of Twin Peaks and its familiar soap opera of broken hearts, revenge, and strange coincidences. And the many places and locations outside of Twin Peaks we are slowly discovering are not quite so different at all.
ride the drama as Bobby and Shelly try to

San Diego Comic Con Panel Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

From Left to Right (Top) Dana Ashbrook, Don Murray, Everett McGill, Damon Lindelof, James Marshall, Tim Roth, Matthew Lillard, (Bottom) Kimmy Robertson, Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi WattsSome of the cast of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) gathered into Hall H at San Diego Comic Con for the first time, and hopefully not the last, to celebrate and discuss the show with fans and Panel Moderator Damon Lindeolf (LOST, The Leftovers, etc).CAST DISCUSSION - The only vital thin missing from this Cast Discussion is David Lynch's reportedly hilarious video introduction and greeting apologizing for not being there in person as the video feed humorously picks up strange Lynchian occurences.Q&A SESSION - Honestly, I would have loved to have Mark Frost and David Lynch present for this Q&A but the co-creators would probably be bombarded with requests to explain and help make sense out of the show, which is currently ongoing and will be airing Part 11 later tonight.

Twin Peaks Podcast Central

Welcome to Twin Peaks Podcast Central, a site dedicated to providing fans and curious viewers of Showtime's acclaimed series Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) with an exhaustive list of all ongoing podcasts, vodcasts, after shows, and recap-and-review series currently discussing and analyzing the show. These podcasts are run by various entertainment magazines and companies, independent professional reviewers, and zealous amateur fans alike. But every kind of commentator on this list is united in their love for the original Twin Peaks (1990-91) and love to discuss the show and attempt to understand its many mysteries.
David Lynch and Mark Frost co-created the well-beloved TV series Twin Peaks (1990-91) and its prequel feature film Fire Walk with Me (1992). In the process they created a cultural phenomenon that helped reshape the way TV is imagined and created today. After their show's premature cancellation, Twin Peaks steadily gained popularity in reruns and on home video until it has become one of the most watched, analyzed, and talked about shows in the history of television. After fans waited on a 25 year cliffhanger, David Lynch and Mark Frost teamed with Showtime to revive the classic show back to startling life with a bold new interpretation titled Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). Regarded as one of the most challenging and complex works of art ever attempted on television on this scale, Twin Peaks requires and deserves a much closer examination than most shows. So stay up to date with the latest theories, speculation, and commentary on the show week by week after the individual parts of The Return airs.

LIST OF ALL TWIN PEAKS PODCASTS(IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

AFTERBUZZ TV - TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURNBy AfterBuzz TVDescription: A weekly “after show” for fans of Showtime’s Twin Peaks. Our co-hosts discuss episodes of the new series with interactive live feedback.YouTube
BICKERING PEAKS
By Aidan and Lindsay
Description: A weekly podcast devoted to all things Twin Peaks. Join us for episode recaps, analysis, and discussions about this pop culture phenomenon in the run-up to its hotly anticipated 2017 return to our TV screens!
Website          iTunes

THE BLACK LODGECAST
By The Black LodgeCast
Description: A weekly podcast dedicated to Twin Peaks.
Website          YouTube

DAMN FINE PODCAST
By Ron Richards and Tom Merritt
Description: "It is happening again..." In 1990 Twin Peaks captured our hearts and imaginations. And now 27 years later, David Lynch and Mark Frost are primed to do it again. Tom Merritt of the Daily Tech News Show and Ron Richards of iFanboy come together to re-watch, re-visit and re-analyze Twin Peaks in its entirety leading up to and including the new season coming May 21, 2017.
Website          iTunes

DEER MEADOW RADIO
By Deer Meadow Productions
Description: A Twin Peaks podcast looking at all aspects of the classic series and Fire Walk With Me, as we eagerly await the new season.
Website          iTunes


LAURA PALMER IS DEAD PODCAST
By Tom Meier, Melissa Kriha, Kelly Dowd, and Patrick Dowd
Description: Discuss the classic series Twin Peaks and the new revival.
Website          iTunes
PEAKED
By Tom Bown and Christopher Bingham
Description: A fan discussion podcast about the 2017 Twin Peaks revival hosted by one Lynch fanboy (Tom) and one Lynch skeptic (Bing).
Website          iTunes

PEAKS TV
By David Chen and Joanna Robinson
Description: Two prolific podcasters discuss Twin Peaks.
Website          iTunes

THE RED ROOM PODCAST
By Scott Ryan and Joshua Minton
Description: Critical analysis and passionate conversation about television in all its glorious expression.
Website          iTunes


THE SPARKWOOD AND 21 PODCAST
By No Ship Network
Description: After the announcement of a new installment of Twin Peaks in 2016, Steve and Em decided it was finally time to cover the show that first stole their hearts.
Website          iTunes

A TWIN PEAKS PODCAST
By Entertainment Weekly
Description: The show that changed television is back. Pour yourself some damn good coffee and join Entertainment Weekly’s men from another place, Jeff Jensen and Darren Franich, as they unwrap the plastic and examine the mysteries of Showtime's trippy horror-soap revival.
Website          iTunes

THE TWIN PEAKS PODCAST
By Matt, Mel, Brad, and Caitlin
Description: Two Twin Peaks newbies watch the show for the first time accompanied by two Twin Peaks fans.
Website          iTunes

TWIN PEAKS THE RETURN: A SEASON 3 PODCAST
By Andy Hazel and Hayley Inch
Description: An episode-by-episode analysis of Twin Peaks: The Return, with Andy Hazel, Hayley Inch and some special guests.
Website          iTunes


TWIN SPEAKS
By Lori, Sam, and Snell
Description: Friends re-watching and discussing the TV series, Twin Peaks, in anticipation of the upcoming third season. Please send questions or comments to: twinspeaks1@gmail.com.
Website          iTunes

TWIN PEAKS REWATCH
By Idle Thumbs
Description: Join us as we revisit David Lynch and Mark Frost's unsettling murder mystery serial, Twin Peaks. Each week we'll watch and discuss one episode. Be part of the conversation!
Website          iTunes

WHAT THE FLICK - TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN
By William Bibbiani and Merdith Placko
Description: Co-hosts examine Twin Peaks and its revival The Return in a weekly recap and review.
YouTube

WRAPPED IN PLASTIC
By Radio Misfits Podcast Network
Description: Twin Peaks is one of the most influential shows in the television history. There might be a handful of dramas that can be pointed to as dividing lines for TV, where it’s easy to recognize shows that came before the series’ time on the air and shows that came after.
Website          iTunes

Do you have a podcast about Twin Peaks? Provide the following information in the comments below and it will be verified and your podcast will be added to the list.

NAME OF YOUR TWIN PEAKS PODCAST:
Hosts and/or Person(s)/Company Creating Podcast:
Brief Description of Your Podcast:
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Your Podcast's Official iTunes URL:
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Twin Peaks: The Return - Part 06

Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) finally won me over fully in Part 06. David Lynch and Mark Frost have taken such a radically different approach to this show over their original series that it can be difficult to adjust to the new wavelength. But the show is hitting its stride and I can feel the personality of the town of Twin Peaks begin to reveal itself through this new show's inciting incident, the tragedy of Richard's fatal hit and run. It reaches the exquisite heights of unapologetic emotion that only Twin Peaks is capable of taking us.
There is something disturbingly touching about Dougie (Golem-Coop, Dougie-Dale) loving the lawmen, their handguns, and badges as we start where we left off last episode. Dougie seems to be contorting his hand and sleeve of his jacket to try to mimic the statue of the old western cowboy and his outstretched six shooter, but in vain, never quite emulating the pose. But this statue and what it represents to the mentally blocked Agent Cooper stuck inside Dougie seems clear.
As police officers find Dougie loitering aimlessly near the statue, Dougie becomes enamored with the badge. The police eventually deliver Dougie home to Janey E, who seems to be at a loss about how to handle Dougie. The old Coop seems spark out slightly as he tries to touch the officer's badge, apparently desperate to explain his own identity with this totem of law enforcement. But no one understands or cares what Coop is trying to say, dismissing him as the eccentric Dougie.
It is unclear why Janey E is not more concerned than she seems about Dougie's inability to communicate or focus on his tasks. Twin Peaks poses an interesting question of whether or not the entire personality and demeanor of someone living in the burbs can change overnight and yet no one really notices. Even those closest to the man. This Kafkaesque nightmare continues for poor Agent Cooper, who is forced to live out the relatively mundane existence of Dougie.
In a surprisingly emotional father-son bonding moment, Dougie helps tuck in Sonny Jim for bed. The boy seems, possibly, almost preternaturally tuned in with his father's change and yet seems very fond of Agent Cooper's attempts at filling Dougie's parental shoes.
One starts to sympathize and feel sorry for Janey E who discovers Dougie's infidelity from photos in a manila envelope left outside their home earlier. Blackmail from a bookie loan shark wanting to retaliate for Dougie not paying off his debts with him. Janey E seems mostly annoyed by Dougie's cheating and gambling, but is surprisingly adept at getting things straightened out and setting Dougie back to work.
Lest we forget Agent Cooper is still stuck in Dougie, Phillip Gerard-Mike, the one-armed man appears and pleas with Agent Cooper to wake up and not die. This interlude with the Lodges raises the stakes considerably, implying there is a risk of Agent Cooper possibly getting lost to oblivion if he does not wake up or if he dies while in this Dougie form.
This brief but important interchange opens the way for some important questions we opened with in previous parts to be reexamined. For instance, if Mr. C (a.k.a. BOB-Coop, or Doppel-Dale) did create Dougie in the first place as a trap for Agent Cooper to fall into upon reentering our Earth reality, then does that mean that Mr. C is the anonymous billionaire who created the glass box in New York City? It seems more and more likely.
And is it actually possible for Agent Cooper's consciousness to just wake up? If so, what is Cooper waiting for? Is Cooper competing with Golem-Dougie for use of this brain and mind? Is there a chance that Dougie, who we last saw transform into a small golden sphere in the Black Lodge, might be able to return his consciousness into Dale's new physical form, too? The constraints of this body-swapping magic are unclear, as are Cooper's choices. Is Cooper hesitant to assert himself as a dominant personality in Dougie because it could destroy Dougie's personality forever in the process? Does Coop want to rescue Dougie somehow, too?
Meanwhile, Gordon Cole sends the curmudgeonly Albert on a mission to find and enlist the help of Diane, the anonymous woman on the other side of Agent Cooper's tape recorder sessions in the original series. Although never seen or heard, Diane was a ubiquitous presence in Cooper's private moments of introspection and deduction.
It is worth noting that Special Agent Albert Rosenfield has always been a cantankerous and confrontational character from his earliest appearance in the classic series up until this modern day. And there is something telling that even Albert seems a little hesitant about approaching Diane for help. Does he just think this task is beneath him? Or is there more to it?
And we get one of the great character reveals for the series as the Lynch mainstay Laura Dern appears as Diane in the flesh. This casting finally confirms once and for all that Diane is in fact a real woman and not one of many theorized multiple personalities that Agent Cooper allegedly developed after being stabbed in Pittsburg, which was a fun far-fetched fan theory some Twin Peakers have been pitching for twenty-five years. But Diane is here, at last! I just wish we had more time with her this episode.
We get a beautiful establishing shot of a huge lumberyard in Twin Peaks, which makes me wonder if the Packard Sawmill was rebuilt in the intervening 25 years. Since Catherine Martell would have been the only survivor of the Packard family after her brother Andrew and husband Pete were killed in Thomas Eckhart's bomb in the safety deposit box of the bank, Catherine would be left alone to rebuild on the ashes of the former sawmill.
I believe what proceeds from this point of the episode onwards is the longest, uninterrupted running time we have had in the town of Twin Peaks since the show returned. Although not one hundred percent clear yet, it seems as though the lumber industry in the area might be being used as a cover for the drug trade in the area. This would explain a lot about the trail of drug problems being investigated on the periphery of the main plot.
Richard Horne (Eamon Farren) is sampling some drugs from Red (Balthazar Getty) when things of a supernatural bent begin to happen. Someone practices an elaborate, seemingly impossible magic trick for the first time on screen in Twin Peaks since Mrs. Tremond's grandson (Austin Lynch) made the creamed corn disappear and reappear again for Donna Hawyward in the original series.
This coincidence causes me to wonder whether or not Red and the aspiring magician grandson of Mrs. Tremond might not be one and the same person, just twenty-five years older and crazier. The aging timetable is actually consistent with my theory, so let's keep a pin in this theory and let it hang there for a while and see if future episodes corroborate this theory.
But in addition to this crazy magic trick, Red mentions a couple of other non sequiturs: there is something wrong with his liver and he asks if Richard ever watched The King and I (1956). Interestingly, back when Leland Palmer (Ray Wise) was possessed by BOB in the original series, he compulsively sang the famous song "Getting to Know You" from the musical The King and I with piano accompaniment in the Great Northern's Restaurant area.
Why is Red performing supernatural magical acts for his underling, Richard Horne? Maybe as a form of intimidation? Who knows. But it does seem to unhinge and destabilize Richard even more than usual, especially as Red adds a little dig at the beginning by calling Richard "small time" and then again at the end of their bizarre interchange by calling Richard "kid." And repeating the insult again poignantly after Richard objected. And the very specific and gruesome threat of violence he promises Richard is very unnerving, even without the theatrics of the dime trick.
Interestingly, American coins of currency notably come into play in two scenes this episode. First off, a dime is used in Red's magic trick with Richard. Then second off, Deputy Hawk discovers the lost missing pages of Laura Palmer's Secret Diary by trailing an "Indian-Head" Buffalo nickel as it falls and rolls around in the Sheriff's station men's room. I wonder if there is any significance to this strange parallel?
Between the drugs, supernatural magic trick, and insult, Richard is even more perturbed than usual and seems to be the primary reason why he gets into the hit and run accident with the little boy soon. One gets the impression Richard is a powder keg of frustration and low self-confidence on the best of days, let alone just after being made to cower in fear from his boss Red.
Many of you will remember that the "Fat Trout" Trailer Park was where murder victim Theresa Banks lived back in Deer Meadow, Washington. And the manager of her trailer park was none other than Carl Rodd, who was played to perfection by the great Harry Dean Stanton back in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). He must have moved his business concerns a few hours drive up north to Twin Peaks in the intervening 25 years, because now the "New Fat Trout" Trailer Park is open for business here in town.
Apparently Carl gets a ride about everyday from a guy named Bill at a certain time in the afternoon. Mickey bums a ride with Carl to pick up the mail for someone named Linda. This name is important since The Giant and Cooper exchanged a cryptic message about Richard and Linda in the opening black and white prologue scene of the entire series. And something about the number 430 and the phrase "two birds, one stone." It is hinted that Mickey might be Linda's husband and that Linda lost the ability to walk from an injury she sustained in war fighting in Afghanistan.
Miriam is a sweet grade school teacher who cannot get enough of Norma's cherry pies. At last! Someone on the show is eating cherry pies again and complimenting Norma's cooking! It took six hour-long installments for us to reach this important milestone, but we finally made it here. Together. Miriam is about as sweet as sweet can get, earning non-stop German giggles from waitress Heidi (Andrea Hays).
Yay, Heidi is back for her fourth notable appearance in the show! Her first appearance was late for work in the Pilot, late for work in the series finale, and with a gushing nose bleed the last time Laura Palmer did the Meals on the Wheels program in Fire Walk with Me. The appearance of Heidi seems to always accompany some momentous occasion in the Twin Peaks universe and could be considered a harbinger for something bad happening.

Twin Peaks: The Return - Parts 03 & 04

In Parts 03 and 04 of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), David Lynch takes us deeper into Agent Dale Cooper's lucid nightmare of an existence as he attempts to escape from the Black Lodge and return to his own body back on Earth, or at least the Earth we are more familiar with. And many old friends concerned for Cooper begin unraveling the mystery of his original disappearance 25 years earlier.
In Part 02, the good Agent Dale Cooper tried to escape the Black Lodge and return to his body, but BOB has pulled a fast one and with the help of the The Arm's Doppelganger the two baddies figure out a way to block Agent Cooper's spirit from returning back into his body, allowing BOB to remain in possession of Cooper's body on our Earth. The Arm's Doppelganger mentions something about "non-existent" to Coop and apparently banishes our lovable FBI Agent from the Black Lodge into the void. Dale temporarily emerged in the glass box in New York City while Sam and Tracey were looking around for the security guard but could not find him, shortly before the two lovebirds returned to the room to begin making love until they were confronted and killed by a malevolent force that has some resemblance when standing still to the ubiquitous grey aliens from UFO lore in The X-Files (1993-2002, 2016), and when in motion the creature appears a bit more like the Smoke Monster from LOST (2004-10).
It is worth pointing out that the showrunners for both those other TV shows prominently cited the original Twin Peaks (1990-91) as one of their biggest influences in developing their own shows.
This monstrous dark entity apparently appeared in the glass box shortly after Coop left it vacant, leaving us to wonder if it is this The Arm's Doppelganger attempting to enter our world? BOB's spirit caught in limbo between the two planes of existence temporarily? Or perhaps a hitherto unknown third party demonic entity? We will have to wait and see.
But whatever happened in that glass box, suddenly Dale finds himself in David Lynch's as-yet-unmade feature film Ronnie Rocket and the Absurd Mystery of the Strange Forces of Existence. David Lynch and Mark Frost even give Special Agent Albert Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) a line of dialogue where he directly references that as-yet-unmade feature film's subtitle.
Here Dale seems to latch on to the last embers of his identity and existence and attempts to travel through electricity back into his BOB-possessed body. Here we meet two different women. The first woman is apparently a blind Asian woman named Naido. Aside from apparently having no eyes, she seems to live an existence of perpetual buffering that causes her and Cooper to skip back and forth around the screen in a jittery, disconnected fashion.
Naido seems eerily reminiscent to Josie Packard from the last time we saw Josie die from fear at the thought of being discovered as a murderer by everyone in town. Her spirit seemed to get stuck in a nearby dresser drawer pull at the end of the episode and in the original Twin Peaks finale Pete Martell seems to be carrying on a conversation with Josie through woodwork of the main lobby's fireplace mantle at the Great Northern Hotel. You will note that a fireplace mantle is prominently featured with Naido in the belly of this spaceship.
It is unclear, but I do get the impression that Naido might be some abstract remnant of herself attempting to atone for her murders in life as Josie, including her attempted murder of Agent Cooper himself in the first season finale cliffhanger shooting. Is it possible that Josie is trying to make things right for Cooper in a last minute act of redemption through her potential Lodgian identity? Maybe.
This whole sequence is abstract, but one gets the sense that Naido made some kind of sacrifice to help the Good Dale Cooper escape some Naido's mother, who is apparently some malevolent entity attempting to stop Cooper from returning home. But strangely, when Coop returns to the fireplace room with the electrical outlet, he discovers Ronette Pulaski waiting for him. The last we saw of her, Ronette was alive and well, if not a little shaken, in the original Twin Peaks series finale. Has BOB-Coop killed Ronette in the intervening 25 years? Is this Ronette's attempt to bring her killer to justice through the Good Dale Cooper?
And although I suspected this would be the case in the new Twin Peaks series, Parts 01-04 of The Return has confirmed my suspicions that this show is not just a continuation of Twin Peaks, but is a bridge interconnecting all of David Lynch's films and TV shows into one Lynchverse. Everywhere in the DNA of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) we see homages, allusions, and direct parallels with every other David Lynch motion picture project up to this point.
 The bookends of the first episode were The Giant and Agent Cooper communicating in a strange room in black and white with a phonograph making strange noises, feels like we have clearly crossed over into David Lynch's first film: Eraserhead (1977).
The strange subplot of BOB-Coop picking up two alleged helpers, who are really secretly being paid to kill him feels like a direct reference to the Bobby Peru and Perdita Durango scenes in Wild at Heart (1990). In fact, one could say that the character of Agent Cooper in particular seems to be transitioning between all of David Lynch's film worlds.
And I am not sure it is possible to get any closer in tone and style to Mulholland Dr. (2001) than we do in the Las Vegas, Nevada and Buckhorn, South Dakota scenes. The Buckhorn police's absurd investigation into the Ruth Davenport murder and the strange machinations of ineffectual hitmen in Vegas both feel long-lost episodes from the originally imagined Mulholland Dr. TV series more than plotlines from Twin Peaks proper.
We even discover Dougie's wife Janey-E is played by Naomi Watts herself, the ingénue-turned murderess from Mulholland Dr. (2001). She is playing a character very different from that original role, though, but there is an undeniable melding of not just the casts of all the Lynchian masterworks, but of their styles and tones, too. We even have Balthazar Getty crossing over from Lost Highway (1997) apparently playing another leather jacket wearing character, but this time in the Roadhouse of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) where he hits on Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick) from the bar.
Mike/ Phillip Gerard (Al Strobel) has an unfortunate discovery that BOB has tricked Cooper into taking up residence in a body other than his own. In a surreal moment of existential horror, Dougie discovers he is not a real person but a manufactured entity who BOB used to trick the Black Lodge into sucking him back in BOB's place. The existential implications of this one scene alone are worthy of a whole episode of Rick and Morty (2013-Present) to explore. Are Janey-E and Sonny Jim golems, too? Or are they real human beings caught up with Dougie?
Mike informs Dougie that he was created and his purpose is now finished. Is BOB capable of creating lifeforms to serve his purposes? If so, then Coop's Doppelganger is even more powerful than we thought, capable of tricking Lodgian magical forces into allowing himself to stay in Cooper's body long past the expiration date with the creation of a Cooper-like golem.
And we are informed that this imbalance cannot continue and only one of them can survive. When the statement was made, all I could really hear was the Voldemort prophecy from Harry Potter, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...  and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."
And given the sad state of the mental clarity of both BOB-Coop and Golem-Coop, their mutual coexistence on this plane of existence is taking a very hard toll on both of them. It looks like we hae an epic showdown on our hands, but unless their faculties start returning back to them soon, it will be one of the slowest and most bizarre fights in all of history. Hopefully Dale's friends can figure it all out in time to help him.

To have Agent Rosenfield (Miguel Ferrer) and Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole (David Lynch) team up to try to help Agent Cooper is one of the new joys of the show I look forward to revisiting week to week in the show. Special Agent Tammy Preston (Chrysta Bell) is also a fun addition to the team, and particularly amusing when she makes Denise Bryson (David Duchovny) jealous of her youth and beauty.
And as much as those scenes were cute and charming, it is horrifying to see them question a clearly impaired BOB-Coop who is stuck in prison. Luckily Cole and Rosenfield seem to be catching on quickly to something being seriously wrong with Cooper, making both men think over the Blue Rose. Cole: "It doesn't get any bluer...."
Now whether BOB-Coop just happened to get placed in this Federal Prison by accident is yet to be seen, but I suspect BOB-Coop is after intel that only Ray is in possession of, so I posit that BOB-Coop intentionally had himself sent to the same prison where Ray wound up so BOB-Coop could interrogate him from the information he needs in person. That's quite a shrewd gambit. BOB-Coop is going to prove a formidable adversary, I suspect. Particularly with a 25 year head start and a mind full of knowledge of Lodgian magic.
However, at least one good side effect seems to have occurred from Agent Cooper's 25 years in the Lodge plane: Golem-Coop is impossibly lucky. Guided by Lodgian symbols hovering in flames over the correct slot machines, an incapacitated Dale Cooper is finding a way to survive and even help his new Golem-Coop family while being almost completely unable to speak and think for himself.
I sense a peculiar glee as David Lynch and Mark Frost revel in their absurdist humor as Golem-Coop sleepwalks from one situation to another. Everyone acts so suspicious and judgmental of Dale while he is clearly suffering from some mental ailment, yet almost no one seems to recognize it aside from Candy Shaker (Sara Paxton) who solemnly declares, "I don't think he's ok."
Then we get to my favorite scene from the first four parts of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). We visit the Twin Peaks Sheriff Station once more to discover Deputy Bobby Briggs (Dana Ashbrook). At a glance, we see a fulfillment of Major Briggs's fatherly vision of Bobby one day leaving behind his rebellious teen days behind him and finding peace and leading a life of contentment.
And as Bobby is confronted with the old photo of his former murdered girlfriend Laura Palmer, he breaks down crying. And as humorous and melodramatic as moody Bobby might be, I cannot help but break down in tears with him.
A melodramatic, Sheriff's Deputy Bobby Briggs is exactly what we have been needing. Thanks David Lynch and Mark Frost. Laura's tragic murder seems to have slowly galvanized Bobby into a better man and make him want to protect those he can after failing to protect Laura back in his youth. His entire development as a character over the past 25 years is written all over his face in this brief, poignant scene. This is Twin Peaks at its very best.

Twin Peaks: The Return - Parts 01 & 02

My log has a message for you. Can you not hear it? I will speak for it then, "David Lynch is back in the saddle again and it is a thing. We have been missing Twin Peaks for a long a time and the way you will find it has something to do with your heritage."
If there were any doubt about why David Lynch framed Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) not so much as Twin Peaks Season 3, but more as its own show that is interconnected with the original, it finally became clear with the advent of the release of the first four episodes last evening on Showtime.
Even though several of the characters and story threads are returning and continuing from the original run of Twin Peaks (1990-91), much of The Return's style and tone is distinctively its own. This creates a new Twin Peaks experience with a vibe that is both familiar yet foreign, too. In a TV environment shaped by the classic Twin Peaks, many in the press speculated whether the new Twin Peaks could possibly be as groundbreaking and original in our current day and age. And the answer is a resounding yes. As Kyle MacLachlan warned viewers shortly before the world premiere, "We're going to dip into a world that's changed. This is not a nostalgic trip back down memory lane, by any means. These are new stories and a new direction. So that's part of the excitement, I think."
This originality might be a two-edged sword for some viewers who were hoping for a more clean-cut continuation of the original show, but it is a breath of fresh air for many viewers who have grown fatigued with the current, somewhat repetitive TV landscape.
For whatever criticisms one might be tempted to level at Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), David Lynch and Mark Frost did not go the easy route and simply rehash their original story. The Return will clearly stand on its own as a distinct work of art that will apparently remain connected to the original series, but will still feel free to explore new locations, characters, and themes with a style that overlaps with the classic show yet is not afraid to jump over the edge away from safe ground.
In many ways, at least so far in these early episodes, The Return shares a little more in common tonally with Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) than with the original series. The classic series had a particular setting and structure, but the prequel film began to open up new possibilities that the Lynch-Frost duo now seem to be using as a way to branch out across the United States of America in a story that now occupies a whole country rather than just the small town of Twin Peaks.
And like Fire Walk with Me, The Return is boldly unafraid to delve a long time in abstract sequences that only loosely seem connected to the main plot, at least at first glance. Courageously, the most Peaksian moment of these two segments does not occur until the very end of Part 2 when we finally return to the Roadhouse for the first time.
Of Parts 1 and 2, amid all the Black Lodge insanity dominating poor Agent Cooper's story line, this simple scene showing Shelly Johnson and James Hurley briefly acknowledge each other across the crowd at the Roadhouse is a welcome relief in a familiar environment. The Chromatics are great on stage playing music that feels like the modern equivalent of Julee Cruise's crooning songs from the classic series. Even though we have not seen all the familiar faces return yet, and Agent Cooper's fate is still uncertain, David Lynch ends this two-parter on a hopeful note. So even though there are new, crazy things to try to get our minds wrapped around, a slew of new characters to get to know, and very different story and style to adapt to, this final scene at the Roadhouse reassures us that we as an audience are in good hands and we have arrived home. And I am curious if anyone else noticed someone who looks suspiciously like Jacques Renault tending bar in the background? For those needing a reminder, Jacques Renault was killed off in the first season finale, so it was a little peculiar to see him back in his old familiar spot behind the bar again.
At first my mind raced with possibilities of this scene taking place in an alternate dimension or in an altered timeline of some kind, but then the end credits played and revealed actor Walter Olkewicz was in fact playing a character named "Jean-Michel Renault." So Twin Peaks Wikipedia editors, it looks like you will need to add a fourth Renault brother to your pages describing the Renault family.
We have another one of those crazy Canadian drug dealers added to the mix! Unless he was the only straight shooter of the bunch, which seems unlikely. And more importantly, Jean-Michel must be Jacques's long-lost twin brother, which would make him the first and only twin sibling ever featured on the show, which is interesting considering the word "Twin" is prominently in the show's title: Twin Peaks.
Although, Sheryl Lee did play a dual role as Laura Palmer and Maddy Ferguson, they were identical cousins and not actual twins. And of course the theme of duality and the literal appearance of doppelgangers was featured in the Twin Peaks Season 2 finale, and has been addressed again with Agent Cooper's unique situation.
But I still find it interesting that the first time we encounter an actual twin sibling in the history of Twin Peaks, it happens to be one of Jacques Renault, of all people. Go figure. I just hope Jean-Michel speaks in the same unique cadence and rhythm as his brothers Jacques, Jean, and Bernard. Jean-Michel has some pretty big pimping, bartending, and drug-dealing shoes to fill now that he is the last brother standing.
But there are many more questions to answer before this run is through. Why is a billionaire running a high-tech surveillance system on a glass box connecting worlds together? Did Sam and Tracey's union cause the dark entity to emerge? Is Bill Hastings another vessel for BOB to possess and use in killings? What is missing from Laura Palmer's case file? What about Hawk's heritage will be important in finding it? And what exactly is going on in Buckhorn, South Dakota that has BOB so interested?

Twin Peaks: The Return

Twin Peaks (1990-91) was like the candle that burned twice as bright and lived half as long. For it to get a rebirth is like the Phoenix taking flight again after resurrecting out of its own ashes. It is an amazing time to be a TV viewer.
And like the planet devastator from millions of years ago, Twin Peaks helped pave the way for a smaller, newer, and more sophisticated species of TV show to start taking its place as the dominant life form and take the place of those lumbering giants of old. To celebrate the return of Twin Peaks, I have been creating teaser trailers and tributes to the show gearing up for a new era to start. I also began an book series to take advantage of this massive David Lynch event and provide my most in-depth analysis yet of the filmmaker, his work, and Twin Peaks.
And good news, on this blog I will also briefly touch on the new Twin Peaks episodes every week shortly after they first air. This blog series will address each new segment of Twin Peaks, but my most in-depth discussion and analysis of the new Twin Peaks will be saved for my future book, 40 Years of David Lynch - Volume IV: Twin Peaks 2017. This blog will be a nice, quick way for us to touch base on the show as it develops, where we can interact and discuss the show together. And in some ways, this blog will also act as a brief sample of what my future book will be like, too. If you like what you read here and want more, then feel free to order all volumes of my viewing guide 40 Years of David Lynch book series.
Also, expect from time to time special video presentations that I plan to fashion together from the new Twin Peaks as it becomes available. I plan to add my unique voice and spin on our viewership of Twin Peaks and hopefully help curious potential new viewers take a deep dive into the show.I will look into arranging some Twin Peaks-themed prize giveaways, too, in the near future. There are a number of incredible media tie-ins, collectibles, and memorabilia to reward you with. Many of you are old, faithful Twin Peaks fans, who have been hopeful for 25 years that Twin Peaks would return to TV once again.Here's a big Agent Cooper-styled thumbs up to you until we meet again after the first four hours of the new Twin Peaks are available to watch this upcoming Sunday night, May 21, 2017. If you do not have Showtime or cable, Showtime does have a couple of avenues to watch their channel online. One option is a free trial of Showtime through Amazon Prime. These episodes will probably be available for purchase soon after they air via iTunes and Amazon Streaming, too. Good luck staying spoiler free until you get the opportunity to watch. Here is a playlist of some of the Teaser trailers and tributes I put together to celebrate the return to Twin Peaks!

40 Years of David Lynch: Volume II Release Day!

Today 40 Years of David Lynch: Volume II Twin Peaks is released and is available to order on Amazon. David Lynch's professional career and mainstream popularity hit its zenith with the broadcast of the seminal TV series Twin Peaks (1990-91). Along with his co-creator Mark Frost, David Lynch helped make a new paradigm for television that had a remarkable impact and influence on a generation of TV thereafter.
Twin Peaks is a world of mystery, love, and strangeness that is as beguiling as it is frightening. Learn the context of the show's creation and decipher some of the symbolism and explore the complex emotional journey of the show in its core revelations.