Tag / harry dean stanton

by Jaime Rebanal

‘Wild at Heart’ Review: A Tender, Twisted, Dark Love Story from David Lynch

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David Lynch’s Wild at Heart received the Palme d’Or from the Cannes Film Festival in 1990, yet it still seems to have remained heavily underrated in his filmography. Among many things that one could ever find themselves loving about Wild at Heart, it’s also like looking at a new side of the David Lynch that one would be familiar with and even if the sudden shift in tone may not work for the most dedicated of his fans, it still results in what I see to be one of his most beautiful films by far. If there’s any other way to describe Wild at Heart, it would only be fitting to describe it as the happiest film that David Lynch might ever leave us behind with, but it still perfectly blends together all the distinctive elements of surrealism in order to create one of the most romantic movies that could ever have been made too.

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by Jaime Rebanal

‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’ Review: The Death of Innocence in a World of Blue

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NOTE: This is a revised review that best represents my current thoughts on the film as opposed to my previous review. You can read the original right here.

Twin Peaks is one of the most influential television series ever made but the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me has never enjoyed the same sort of acclaim – having been met with harsh reviews and also having flopped at the box office. I’m fairly biased in the favour of Twin Peaks as it is my favourite television series of all time but throughout the show you could always tell that Lynch had a particular love for the character of the deceased Laura Palmer. In fact, there are few people whose entire mystery has impacted an entire culture the same way that Laura Palmer has done so, and no one understands the effect her death has left upon many that same way David Lynch does. Yet few people knew her as a person too, which emphasizes the tragic beauty of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

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by Zephyr Ash Ostrowski

Last Minute Criterion Suggestions from Us

There’s only a few days left of the half-off sale from the Criterion Collection. If you’re a newcomer to the home video line, all of those selections can look daunting and you’ll probably stand there for a good while trying to decide what to get. With nearly a thousand titles to choose from, it’s overwhelming. Don’t worry, two Criterion aficionados have their picks that are perfect for any first-time buyer or if you’re looking for something to spice up your shelf.

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by Jaime Rebanal

The Last Temptation of Christ Review: A Thought-Provoking Meditation Upon Faith and One of Scorsese’s Best Films

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I was at one point a devoted Roman Catholic, but now I find it so difficult to bring myself to commit to religion whether it be to believe in it or to reject it outright. When one would initially think of a title like “The Last Temptation of Christ,” an ardent Catholic may respond to say that the content is blasphemous because Christ is an image of perfection, one who stands for everything good within the world on behalf of another authority. But among the most important factors to consider when watching The Last Temptation of Christ is that it is not a film based on the Gospels but rather a controversial novel by Nikos Kazantzakis and it also happens to be directed by a Roman Catholic – and that man is none other than Martin Scorsese. But when you watch a film like The Last Temptation of Christ being told from those eyes, what makes it such an accomplished effort is how it feels most in touch with Scorsese’s own spirituality.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Alien – Review

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Ridley Scott’s Alien remains one of the defining works in both the horror and science fiction genres, a film that, like any of the best of their genres, invented a whole new universe by starting small. From the many films that the Alien series has spawned, Ridley Scott’s original film still remains my favourite of the bunch for good reason. It remains my favourite because it shows how little is necessary in order to start a universe of its own from scratch. Although eventually this rule was broken by eventual sequels (as much as I love James Cameron’s Aliens), it’s already impossible to deny the impact that Ridley Scott’s original film would have left behind on science fiction and horror within years to come. In itself it would easily have been just a “haunted house movie in space,” but perhaps there’s a whole lot more that results in the final product actually turning out to be all the more clever.

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by Jaime Rebanal

Paris, Texas – Review

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Gracefully slow-moving, much like the flow of the course of life, what Wim Wenders creates and presents in Paris, Texas is one of the most beautifully moving tales that I’ve come across in my whole life so far. Yet reviewing the film was always a struggle, for I get a different perspective on it every time I watch it, but one mutual link between all viewings is that I always come out satisfied. And it’s not merely being satisfied to the degree it’s only a good film, because something as astonishingly gorgeous as this means so much more. Paris, Texas only grows to captivate me more upon each revisit, and it’s a feeling I can’t possibly describe any better. A feeling that comes only from experiencing the power left behind by Paris, Texas and not merely from alone just watching the film take place on the screen. Continue reading →

by Jaime Rebanal

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me – Review

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It’ll be rather difficult for myself to speak of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me from the perspective of an outsider as Twin Peaks is my favourite television series. It’s clear that coming into Fire Walk With Me without having watched the series prior is not particularly as great an idea given as the ideas will remain clear especially to Twin Peaks fans, and for those unfamiliar, the results will just be on a mere baffling end for it is not accessible to anyone who has not seen the series. Normally I’d refer to the criticism that it’s a longer episode of the series for film, but Fire Walk With Me isn’t that, for there’s a lot that still works even without any connection to the series. It was what I would have wanted as a fan, though if it were a single episode, it wouldn’t be ranked among my favourites. Continue reading →