Chuck (2017; d. Philippe Falardeau)
A movie about the “real life Rocky,” the “bleeder from Bayonne” Chuck Wepner, starring Liev Schreiber. My review for Ebert.
Take Me (2017; d. Pat Healy)
God, I loved this movie. Please seek it out. My review for Ebert.
Supernatural, Season 12, Episode 20 “Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes” (2017; d. Richard Speight Jr.)
Not bad. Speight has proven himself to be quite good, particularly in smaller moments, comedic moments. But visually he’s good too. I know the “witch twins” are a hit with fans and they have Spinoff written all over them, but I’m not enamored. I dislike the way-too-easy “shazZAM” brand of magic on display, which came into the show via Rowena and shows no sign of leaving any time soon. Magic used to be gritty and difficult and bloody on this show. I was way more into the old-school spellwork of the old lady, with her special ring and terrifying scarecrow doll. And finally – FINALLY – a “BM” scene, plus some emotion about Mom’s desertion. There should have been a scene like that per episode all along. The lack of “BM” scenes in Season 12 is inexcusable. A “family hug” in the finale won’t make up for it. And thank God, though, for these actors, who continue to invest and find the human moments, even though the writers are no longer writing said moments.
Manifesto (2017; d. Julian Rosefeldt)
If you don’t see this movie – AND you complain about cliched un-challenging fare clogging the multiplex – then you haven’t got a leg to stand on. See it. It’s insane. There has never been anything else like it. How could there be? It’s truly bizarre. My review for Ebert.
Supernatural, Season 3, Episode 3, “Bad Day at Black Rock” (2007; d. Robert Singer)
I re-watched as a palate cleanser for my Season 12 blues and in the hopes that I could at least start thinking about doing my next re-cap. So looking forward to it because this episode is a classic. Evidence of what the show can do, what it can get away with, how GOOFY it can get, and yet how DEEP that subtext goes … all while playing out a season-wide Arc. Pretty amazing. “I lost my shoe.” Never EVER gets old.
Twin Peaks, Season 2
Over this past month, I did a backwards re-watch of the series in preparation for “The Return.” My goodness I forgot how … MUCH … the series derails in Season 2 after Episode 7. I mean, I still watched every episode back in the day. But it’s like after the “reveal” came, and it was forced on them by the Powers That Be … suddenly there are lengthy plots about Janine the Teenage Wrestler and Audrey falling in love with … Billy Zane. BILLY ZANE. I blocked him out! My God, he’s terrible. But still, there’s so much to love about it. I haven’t watched it in years and it was incredible to me how much I remembered. And in re: Episode 7: The scene where Maddie is killed as Cooper and Harry sit at the roadhouse, listening to Julie Cruise sing, bathed in a warm red light, is the most frightening sequences in the entire series and legitimately upsetting to watch, even though I watch so many violent movies and absorb violence into my bloodstream just by walking around on the planet. There’s something so PERSONAL about that scene in the living room, how LONG the scene goes, how haunting it is back in the roadhouse … It’s an indictment of most horror films, which treats human life as cheap. I know there are some who think David Lynch handles humanity cheaply too. I disagree. I think he is commenting on how cheaply humanity rates itself, how immune to violence humans can become. That scene says: Look. Hear her. See her. BE with her in this terrible moment of her death. Because no one will rescue her. It’s too late. She needs you to be a witness. It’s devastating.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992; d. David Lynch)
Sheryl Lee gives one of the greatest performances of the 90s – really, ever – in Fire Walk With Me.
The Graduate (1967; d. Mike Nichols)
It’s been years since I’ve seen this. I was interviewed about it recently for an article about its upcoming anniversary so it was so fun to revisit. Funny: I have zero sympathy for Benjamin now. I’m all about Mrs. Robinson who seems, frankly, like the only sane person in the whole entire thing.
The Handmaid’s Tale – up to episode 8 so far
I have mixed feelings about what “they” are doing to Margaret Atwood’s classic. I understand the reasoning but I still have mixed feelings. Part of the terror of the book is not knowing if her husband made it out. Is taking that leap at the end, having no idea if he was still out there. They’ve made a number of choices to “open up” the story, showing the backstory of the Commander and the Commander’s Wife – as well as Nick the driver. These are all very well done and the actors are all incredible. They aren’t exactly the characters in the book (especially the Commander’s Wife who – in the book – is kind of a Tammy Faye Bakker type). But the acting is superb and I love the LOOK of it, the atmosphere and cinematography.
Supernatural, Season 12, Episode 21, “There’s Something About Mary (2017; d. P.J. Pesce)
I don’t remember one thing about it. Honestly, I’m shocked to see the adoration for Mr. Ketch on Twitter, people begging him to come back for Season 13. The BMOL have ruined the whole thing ever since they showed up, as far as I’m concerned.
The Commune (2017; d. Thomas Vinterberg)
Thomas Vinterberg’s latest. These are all very good actors. Something was missing though. My review for Ebert.
Inglourious Basterds (2009; d. Quentin Tarantino)
His masterpiece. My nephew Cashel (19) stayed with me for a couple of days and we watched it together. It was a blast.
Slings & Arrows, Season 1, Episodes 1-6
Cashel saw it on my shelf and popped in the first disc. He had seen it. All theatre nerds MUST see this series. It was a really hot day and we lounged around and had a Slings & Arrows marathon which was super fun. “I’m Darren Nichols. DEAL with THAT.” Gold.
Supernatural, Season 12, Episode 22, “Who We Are” (2017; d. John F. Showalter)
Sorry, I really am! I just can’t go there with this season. I see the rapture on Twitter and I feel isolated and sad. I also don’t want my words to take away from other people’s feelings. Not that I have that power. But you know how it feels. There’s so much that is “off,” it’s like a supersonic disturbance, not discernible in the details, but present nonetheless. The characters feel … gone. There’s a random totally made-up “issue” for Sam – Sam needs to know he’s a leader! Sam needs to know he can lead others! – WHAT? That came from out of nowhere, and in a season where Sam as a character has completely vanished – unforgivable – to manufacture some hurdle/challenge for him made no sense. It also made no sense because … IS that an “issue” for Sam? Would he “not know” that he could lead? What the HELL. It’s like no one involved was even familiar with the show. These characters are established already. The show has a continuum, not just of plot, but of character development. You can’t go BACKwards. That conversation between Sam and Dean about being a Leader would have fit in with SEASON 2, not SEASON 12. For God’s sake, do I have to do everything around here? Also, why was Dean wearing grey SLACKS at Jody’s? Even the clothes don’t feel right. Like I said, I’m sorry.
Supernatural, Season 12, Episode 23, “All Along the Watchtower” (2017; d. Robert Singer)
Singer’s specialty is the intricacies and depths of relationships. It’s what he’s drawn to, it’s what he’s good at. So I always relax ever so slightly when he’s at the helm, because his interests are my interests. My issue is not with his direction. It is with the season entire and its lack of focus on what matters, the BROTHERS. They think we can “get along” without nighttime-Impala scenes where the brothers talk to each other? They think we don’t notice that there only 4, maybe 5, of those this ENTIRE SEASON? And then they expect us to fall into a puddle because of a family hug? Sheila, at any rate, don’t play that way. You don’t get to check OUT of investment in these characters for 20 episodes and then resolve it all in a conversation and a hug. Besides, what’s there to “resolve”? As far as WE saw, this whole season neither Sam nor Dean had an “issue” with their mother. Sam was being lovely and understanding and Dean managed his massive abandonment issues with ease, seguing into a Words with Friends relationship. (Honestly, I almost stopped watching after that little detail.) There was no angst, no arguing in the car, no TALKING between them about how they FELT about what was happening. A line here, a line there, does not mean you have established a proper season-wide Arc. And so I watched the family hug and felt nothing. I also didn’t like the “flashback” and I know I was supposed to. It’s what we’ve all dreamt of. That confrontation. Ackles, of course, played it gorgeously but I was mostly pissed because it was one of the only opportunities in the whole STUPID SEASON where he – a brilliant actor – was allowed to act. I don’t have much confidence, to be honest, that next season will course-correct. It’s been too long.
Twin Peaks, Season 1
After the Season 2 re-watch I went back and watched the first season which is a delicious and delirious masterpiece. So far ahead of its time it’s still ahead of OUR time. I can’t even believe this was on network TV.
The Virgin Suicides (1999; d. Sofia Coppola)
What a tragic film. And the tragedy is in the mystery. The mystery left in the wake of those 5 blonde girls, running out of the house in their nightgowns – the house they are not allowed to leave – to stop a man from cutting the tree down in their front yard. Who were those girls? What was it like to be them? How did THEY see things? Because our point of view is that of the boys who were obsessed with those girls. We see what they see. We wonder the same things. We share their grief. They can’t forget those girls and neither can we.
Lick the Star (1998; d. Sofia Coppola)
Coppola’s first film, a short, about cruel-eyed girls in middle school. Each of them have a copy of Flowers in the Attic in their backpack. The whole thing’s on Youtube. It’s 13 minutes long. Cameo by Peter Bogdanovich!
Mommy Dead and Dearest (2017; d. Erin Lee Carr)
Fuuuuuucked up. I read Michelle Dean’s story on Buzzfeed when it was first published and found it riveting and upsetting. It hits a bunch of my particular sweet spots. Mental illness, abuse, brainwashing, Munchausen by proxy … a terrible terrible story. The documentary is quite good although I wish they had gotten a little bit more into the financial fraud involved.
Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 1 – 4
I am just glad I have lived to see this day. And I am glad, so far, that this series is what it is. Confounding. Mysterious. Riveting. I have no idea what is happening and I am glad of that. There’s no “selling out.” This is David Lynch’s dream-space. He is an uncompromising director. And of course there’d be no reason to do this, to revisit this, if he couldn’t do it exactly as he wanted. I am loving it. Agent Cooper chanting robotically, “Hellooooooo”? The longer that joke went on, the funnier it got. I am ACHING for the next episode.
The Women’s Balcony (2017; d. )
Loved this film so much! My review for Rogerebert.
Mad Men, Season 1
I’ve been busy this month. There’s a lot going on, in the world and in my life, and I am always teetering on the edge of some kind of psychological chaos. (This is normal life for me, by the way. Nothing unusual.) Binge-watching something – even something where I already know what it is – is pleasurable. Maybe even more pleasurable. I only watched the series once, and I was really late to the Mad Men party. So it’s nice to re-visit these people, as awful as many of them are. The acting is SO GOOD.
The Bachelorette, Season 13, Episode 1
I had to tune in. I already have my favorites. I already side-eye many of them. I like these guys though. And I love her.
Megan Leavey (2017; d. Gabriela Cowperthwaite)
Will be reviewing for Rogerebert.com. It opens this month.
Somewhere (2010; d. Sofia Coppola)
It’s probably not a huge mystery why I have taken this stroll down Coppola-Lane. You know, I’m glad I re-watched this one. It’s the only one of hers where my initial response was, “I don’t know if I’m into this.” Totally different experience this last time. I think it’s phenomenal. The big moments of life happen IN the small moments. Coppola is so good at details, the details of the small moments that make up our lives. It’s a beautiful movie, a true soulmate connection between a director and an actor.
Radio Dreams (2016; d. Babak Jalali)
This beautiful funny and strange film opens today. I so recommend it! Cameo appearance by Lars Ulrich. It’s about a Farsi-language radio station (low-rent doesn’t even begin to describe their situation) operating out of the Bay Area. It’s really about music, about immigration, about the capability of artists to connect with one another, to open up a space of communication, even if they don’t share a language. Wonderful film.
Band Aid (2017; d. Zoe Lister-Jones)
I really liked it. My review just went up on Rogerebert.com.
The Bachelorette, Season 13, Episode 2
I knew Demario would be a problem.
I miss Supernatural.
//Agent Cooper chanting robotically, “Hellooooooo”?//
Ha ha! I’ve kept doing it and giggling since I watched the episode.
I miss it too.
I know, I keep doing it too!!
I’m going to try that the next time I go to the casino. Maybe it’ll work?
I bet that Twin Peaks fans who are also slot-machine-people will be doing it constantly!! For good luck!
“I knew Demario would be a problem.”
I feel like this is something Darren Nichols would declare immediately upon striding into a room.
It took me a couple of goes to get past the first few episodes of MM season 1. I just didn’t want to watch a show about Don Draper, tortured adulterer. I eventually came around to finding his backstory very compelling and Hamm is, of course, extraordinary. But Man Men for me is about those WOMEN. The show is most interesting when the camera is on women like Hendricks, Moss, Jones, and Siff (I love Rosemary DeWitt but not so much the character). OR when it is about the comic shenangians of Don Draper, Asshole or Pete “The Weasel” Campbell (Kartheiser is SO GOOD!!!).
Re: SPN, ha ha, your rant about family hugs (what is that with Sam just appearing from behind a wall to say his forgiving line and jump in for hug time) extending into Watchtower — everything you mention happens all in 12.22 which just goes to show how little 12.23 had going for it.
MAN MEN
Man Men!! Ha, perfect typo.
// for me is about those WOMEN. //
Me too!
This recent viewing I am allll about Betty. I don’t know if January Jones is a good actress or not. But she is BRILLIANT as Betty. I am HAUNTED by Betty. I don’t know if I would have been Betty if I had been born at that time – probably not. I would have probably been someone like Joan – or maybe Peggy. A cross between Joan and Peggy, since I’m a floozy but I’m also Catholic, and how that works out, I still don’t know. But it’s Betty’s submission to the conventions … it haunts me. I would have gone totally psychotic if I had taken that route, and “bought the lie” – and Betty is so NUTS (giving that little boy a lock of her hair when she babysits him??) – but I feel for her. Granted, she married a stone-cold slut with a yawning abyss for a soul … so maybe if you married a nice man that life wouldn’t be so bad. Either way, I’m just so impressed by JJ – and some of her line readings are so so strange. Who else would choose to say the lines that way? And sometimes I can’t tell if JJ is in CHARGE of her performance, or just being obedient to good direction and at a certain point it doesn’t matter at all. Perfect casting. That poor woman.
Kartheiser is BRILLIANT.
An old friend of mine from Chicago plays his brother. I was in a bunch of plays with that guy. Rich Hutchman – great guy!
And not one but TWO guest-spot people played the lead role in my script in various iterations of it. Missy Yager, who plays Betty’s compadre at the riding stables – played the lead role in the first ever reading of the script – and then also directed the workshop production of it in LA. And Rebecca Creskoff, who plays the married sister of the Mencken department store lady whom Don Draper toys with – played the lead role in that workshop production, directed by Missy.
So watching it is also like having a mini reunion with various spots in the timeline of my life.
January Jones is so good! I find her so difficult to watch — or maybe, as you say, Betty is so difficult to watch and Jones is perfectly cast — the way she just doesn’t fit in her skin — like she’s cubist inside and good housewife’s guide cover on the outside. Her cruelties and mysteries are so telling. I really loved seeing her relationship with Sally develop in the last seasons and she broke my heart in her last episodes.
I think in the whole show I identify most with Stan, ha ha. The lives of just about all of the women terrify me. I can honestly say I don’t know who I would have been. Probably Joan’s lonely and abandoned lesbian friend….hopefully she found herself a good time…
How cool about your friends cropping up!! What a great feeling!
Oh my God, Stan. I love Stan so much. That’s my kind of guy – and he’s really the only male character on the show I can say that about.
I had forgotten a lot of it.
The lesbian friend is heartbreaking. I hope, too, she finds what she’s looking for – it would have been interesting if she had returned, just so we get a glimpse – like we do with that sad bohemian Rosemary DeWitt character. Ugh. That woman.
In re: SPN … yeah, I don’t remember 12.23. Demon baby? Bobby?
To quote Tommy Lee Jones’ first line in The Fugitive, “My my my my my what a mess.”
//what is that with Sam just appearing from behind a wall to say his forgiving line and jump in for hug time// Jessie – THIS^^^^ Sam as toaster at its finest. Attractive, useful, just waiting on your counter until you need him to provide forgiveness or lore. Where was the table-flipping scene with Sam, roiling with anger over Magda’s death? Or Eileen, there were only a few wet eyes and quivering throat for Sam (bless JP for at least sneaking some kind of emotion in there because the script didn’t call for it). If Sam was the toaster in s12, then Dean was the Cuisinart sitting next to him. Moments of glory, whipping up a few strong emotions, only to be turned off and set back on the counter again *walks away grumbling to myself*
Paula, your kitchen appliance analogies could not be any more perfect. What does that make Mary, then? A thermomix, which you buy intending to do a thousand things with but only end up using to dry your tea towels?
A thermomix – I just spent 10 glorious minutes figuring out what this is. All that possibility and yet it would sit in the closet, doing nothing most of the time. Hmm, that does sound familiar. Going with the appliance analogy, does that make Jody Mills an electric carving knife? Comes out once a year and is practical but kind of badass.
ha ha! Maybe you guys don’t have them? This is all you need to know about thermomixes..
I can definitely see Jody Mills as an electric carving knife. They scare the crap out of me.
*snorts*
That scene where Maddie dies is one of the most frightening scenes that I’ve ever seen, and it was nearly as haunting when I watched it last year. I think that I was not ready for such a brutal scene even at 14. It’s still amazing to me that it aired on network TV.
I’m so happy to have Twin Peaks back on the air, especially because it’s not a retread. The Return feels new but still connects to what made the show so amazing. That casino scene goes on for so long! And MacLachlan is totally game for it all. We blew through it in the first two days, and it’s hard to even wait until Sunday.
Dan – I agree, that Maddie’s death scene is still one of the most frightening things ever – and I had a similar experience re-watching it (it had been years). I KNEW it was coming and I still felt totally devastated by that scene.
// That casino scene goes on for so long! //
I know!!
I just re-watched the episodes again, and was blown away by its length and how fully they commit to that joke. It’s excruciating in a way but that excruciating quality is WHY it’s so funny. I am having so much fun watching KM in this role – sooo different from what I was expecting. Also, he gets to be Doug-E AND “Bob” – this is a tour de force for him. Very excited for him about that.
Also, the finale line of episode 4 – “I know where she drinks …” … I am hoping this is about Audrey, although one of the fun things about the series is that I have to totally give up my expectations that I ever know what’s going on or what’s to come. :)
Audrey was my favorite character in Season 1 especially, outside of Agent Cooper. I am so curious to see what David Lynch has in store for her – who she has become. Who on earth could that girl have become??
My burning love for Bad Day at Black Rock is beyond articulation. Looking forward to your re-cap.
Quit Season 12 after Hitler. Going to suffer through the rest when my future university career isn’t hanging in the balance. You’ve pretty much summed up what I feel to be wrong with the show ever since those appalling last s11 episodes. I’m refusing to ‘count’ anything past 11×20. Too many moments where the characters simply wouldn’t behave like that (from what you say, Sam’s leadership issues sound particularly dire) and I resent how they’ve genericised spn-land (I mean, words with friends, come now, really).
The writers have an obligation here and they’re failing to uphold it. I don’t see why I should fulfil my viewer-obligation of believing them. (Because this isn’t fiction we’re discussing and I’m not getting totally carried away or anything.)
It’s really ridiculous how much this has bothered me. It seems so out of tune with what SPN actually is, and what’s at its core. Jarring, actually.
Also, I love the amount of detail and insight that you continue to put into your recaps, and catching up on your 3×02 one is the first thing I’m looking forward to post-exams. As ever, thank you for them.
Wren –
// Quit Season 12 after Hitler. //
I almost did. That episode made me ANGRY. The rest of it has been more of a disappointment, etc, but that one pissed me OFF.
and the whole President thing. Total mis-fire to “go political” in a year when the United States is … well, we’ve lost our mind, basically. And I apologize to the world for what has happened. I am 99% sure that the folks at SPN-Land assumed that Clinton would win, and so assumed that the political allegory would work as a “wow, we just dodged this bullet” thing – and also it just felt so juvenile: “Never fear, Americans! Sam and Dean are here!”
My God. 15 year old boys are in charge of SPN now and I’m pissssed.
// I resent how they’ve genericised spn-land //
I know! When Dean said the word “Snapchat” I felt like my eyes started spinning in my head.
Bad Day at Black Rock is so good!!
Side note: I have one of those two-pronged plastic forks and honestly – every time I wash it and put it away I think of that horrible scene in the kitchen where the dumb-bell thief impales himself on it. One of my favorite deaths in all of SPN – but sometimes I think I should get rid of that kitchen implement. What if I tripped on something and fell backward??
//That episode made me ANGRY.//
It felt to me like something that Dabb had pitched throughout eras Kripke, Gamble and Carver, only to be incessantly rejected. In a way it kind of says something about what kind of risks can be taken with a show like this.
Although perhaps this wasn’t so much of a risk as just a terrible idea. When Hitler guy started screaming about dogs I genuinely wondered if I was imagining what I was seeing.
// Total mis-fire to “go political” in a year when the United States is … well, we’ve lost our mind, basically.//
Honestly, I think politics was always going to be a bad idea. Half the charm of the show is in the nature of their status as outlaws, anonymities. They’re supposed to be alienated. It just doesn’t fit.
// When Dean said the word “Snapchat” I felt like my eyes started spinning in my head.//
Oh gawd. No. This is them trying to make the show more teen-friendly or relatable or something. Awful. Crude. I think for me the first warning bell was ‘quail’s eggs’ (although that episode was actually rather good).
In re: Black Rock:
That death. What the hell. It’s so ghastly- and a very, very tiny bit funny- and the whole episode is just so subversive and stupid and deep.
It couldn’t have happened in season two or season four. Only season three could have carried off that particular brand of manic weirdness. Also, Bela is my love.
It’s so satisfying. In details, too. I rewatched lately- that shot of Kubrick with that insane Jesus portrait- howling. Might be one of the funniest bitchiest moments of the whole show.
I would not keep that fork around if I were you. It isn’t just stuff like that, though- the surface stuff- whole plotlines feel ‘off’. Mary’s return- that should have turned everything inside-out. If you bring back someone like her, you’d better bloody well be prepared to tear everything down- I mean, look at What Is and What Should Never Be, and When the Levee Breaks. Mary comes onscreen and it feels like the world is ending. This diminishes her role. It misunderstands it.
Oops. Horrible formatting strikes again. Most of that last paragraph was supposed to go somewhere in the middle.
// It felt to me like something that Dabb had pitched throughout eras Kripke, Gamble and Carver, only to be incessantly rejected. //
Interesting! I think you might be right!
I mean, they already dealt with Nazis in two awesome episodes – the Golum episode and the submarine episode – maybe I’m missing more – but I think those were beautifully done. That’s enough. Dean Winchester is not a superhero. Stop it. They’re one-monster-at-a-time guys – that’s the gig – so to go “global” with it (as this whole season has done) has really diminished the position of Sam and Dean. And it seems like Dabb thought that we’d all swoon over the thought of Dean killing a genocidal historical maniac … maybe some did. I was furious!
// Half the charm of the show is in the nature of their status as outlaws, anonymities. They’re supposed to be alienated. It just doesn’t fit. //
Totally agree. Doesn’t Dean say he doesn’t vote? Keep them outside. On the lonely by-ways. This whole season was so jacked up with SWAT uniforms and federal prisons and hi-tech bunkers – I didn’t even know what I was watching half the time.
// I mean, look at What Is and What Should Never Be, and When the Levee Breaks. Mary comes onscreen and it feels like the world is ending. This diminishes her role. It misunderstands it. //
So true and this is what most saddens me. Because they can’t un-do what was done this season, the missed opportunity of it. and they never USED to miss opportunities like this. I mean, smack dab in the middle of Season 9 we get “Bad Boys” – even that late in the game they were still finding new ways to mine the emotional trauma of that childhood – yet another layer that helps us understand that man …
And here Mary is back and THIS is what they do? (It gets worse, as you can imagine – throughout the rest of this season). Like: poof. She’s back and it doesn’t seem to matter. and suddenly in the final 2 episodes, it matters – but by then it’s way too late.
// It misunderstands it. //
YES. and THAT is what was so chilling to me about Season 12. It felt like everyone involved had actually misunderstood the show on a supremely deep level. There have been other seasons that felt slightly unfocused – or maybe the Big Bad wasn’t all that compelling – but everyone working on it UNDERSTOOD the show.
Not anymore. Now we have an episode where Sam and Dean take on an entire SWAT team, bare-handed, and win.
// This is them trying to make the show more teen-friendly or relatable or something. Awful. Crude. //
Yes. I cringed.
Now I’m not remembering “quail’s eggs.” I’ll Google it. I barely remember this season, tbh.
//Dean Winchester is not a superhero. Stop it. //
God help us all if this is the fault of the Marvel franchise.
//They’re one-monster-at-a-time guys – that’s the gig – so to go “global” with it (as this whole season has done) has really diminished the position of Sam and Dean.//
Yes- it’s completely ignored a unique aspect of previous seasons. I mean, season five- their most ‘global’ season ever- the apocalypse unfolds on back-streets and in alleyways. It’s beautiful.
Have these people even seen season five?
//I was furious!//
Just curious- was it the plotline itself that pissed you off- the fact that it inevitably ‘diminished’ Hitler, etc? Let’s face it, it would always have been a dubious episode however they played it. But I agree- the golem episode in season 8 in particular is lovely.
This just felt gross- and pander-y- and a bit disgusting, really. Not sure I can even articulate why. Perhaps because it just felt a bit- strike-a-blow-for-patriotism- ish? And- I don’t know- when you consider the respective histories of America and Germany in the second world war- yeah, no.
//I didn’t even know what I was watching half the time. //
It’s generic. The only other part of SPN that strikes me as generic is actually Bloodlines- that awful backdoor pilot in season 9 with the illogical Vamp-Diaries type monster families. That was Dabb as well, wasn’t it? Hmm. I think he’s a wonderful supporting writer- look at Riechenbach, Form & Void, Devil May Care- but he probably shouldn’t be allowed to steer the sleigh here.
//Doesn’t Dean say he doesn’t vote?//
Can’t recall- but it fits.
//Because they can’t un-do what was done this season, the missed opportunity of it. and they never USED to miss opportunities like this.//
No. I imagine that any ex-writers still watching are in agony. What gets me the most is the idea- which I think is stupid, but still- that this season drags down the rest of the show- in terms of muddling up ‘canon’. But really this season is just empty air. I did hear they killed off Crowley- but that isn’t much of a consolation when from what I’ve seen, they might as well have killed off Sam and Dean too. And the bunker should have been torched somewhere mid-season-eleven, frankly.
And the fact that we might have three more seasons or so of this- well, I’ll be over here living in season six.
//Now we have an episode where Sam and Dean take on an entire SWAT team, bare-handed, and win.//
Ugh. Really?
As for quail’s eggs- it was right at the beginning of The Foundry ;)
Anyway, I’ve been moaning for way too long about something that really doesn’t deserve this much time and attention. But whatever, it’s cathartic.
// I mean, smack dab in the middle of Season 9 we get “Bad Boys” – even that late in the game they were still finding new ways to mine the emotional trauma of that childhood //
Yes yes yes- absolutely. I find that episode genuinely frightening- those drawings of the mother ghost thing stretching over the burning car- and how frightening it is just gives back to the whole Winchester-family aspect so beautifully. And that young Dean actor is wonderful. Same goes for ‘About A Boy’- which really works in tandem with that episode. It’s nuanced because it has to be. Season Twelve- what I’ve seen- is obvious, when it’s not being, well. Ignorant.
And whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat have they done to Sam. Oh, God. Wince. It’s that moment from All In The Family with ‘and ears!! Why are they round!!’- but /continuous/.
I too thought that boy’s drawingsof his mother in Bad Boys were horrifying! And the idea of a mother dying to save her child resonated with Mary dying over Sam’s crib.
That’s a great point you make about Sam’s leadership speech: it had felt a little off somehow to me, but I dismissed it because it did reflect his rebellion against being the younger brother, always being cared for and protected, and it gave him a reason for allowing the BMoL to call the shots. But what you say about it really makes sense, that it didn’t feel genuine because they hadn’t created any believable lead-up for that.
As for Words with Friends, I just saw it as Dean being willing to do ANYTHING in order to stay connected with his mother. If she won’t stay with them, if all she’ll do is play an online word game, he’ll take it; he wants her to be happy. He doesn’t want to pressure her. He’s trying to accept her where she is and as distant as she is. But then they should have shown how painful it was for him to be relegated to that sort of a superficial connection when she’s the mom he’s idolized and yearned for all his life.
They DID squander the potential of that story line. (It’s interesting to me that Sam and Dean rarely if ever have said they love each other, but their actions show how much they do. Mary, on the other hand, SAID she loved her boys, but she didn’t prove it through her actions.)
// was it the plotline itself that pissed you off- the fact that it inevitably ‘diminished’ Hitler, etc? //
I definitely think that – but I also disliked the feeling that the show was going in a political direction, which got even worse when the President was involved … and also, it turned Dean into a Superhero-type figure as opposed to a flawed heroic man … and then also Dean’s constant “Hey did you hear I killed Hitler?” “OMG I killed Hitler” thing – it felt JUVENILE. Like they thought all of us out here who love Dean Winchester were idiots who would swallow anything, who would swoon at the thought of him saving the world retroactively from WWII.
Ugh. Condescending. Total lack of understanding (again) of the appeal of this particular character.
Cosign in re: the bunker.
This season was particularly bad. The bunker became a place where they retreated to eat pizza and play Words with Friends. In other words: even though they were being locked up in federal prison and blah blah blah – everything ELSE about their lives was total low-stakes.
It’s like the writers have been reading too much fanfic where all the brothers do is sit around and drink coffee and relax.
Let the FANS write stuff like that. In order for the series to be valid, there needs to be high stakes for the brothers – always – maybe take a week off for a funny episode – but other than that, the bunker has become a liability. Bobby’s house NEVER felt that safe and suburban.
// ‘and ears!! Why are they round!!’- //
As far as I’m concerned, that was the beginning of the end of the character of Sam Winchester.
Aslan’s Own:
// And the idea of a mother dying to save her child resonated with Mary dying over Sam’s crib. //
I so agree. That final scene with the mother in the kitchen – and that little boy actor – where on earth did they find him? He was amazing … was a powerhouse scene and it makes me cry every time.
// but I dismissed it because it did reflect his rebellion against being the younger brother, //
I just feel like this has been dealt with already, know what I mean? And it hadn’t been set up at all over the course of the season by, say, Dean suddenly taking over again for his own reasons, and overriding Sam and all the rest. It was totally phony – not to mention condescending to the character. I think my response to Dean’s “inspirational” speech was “WTF.” or something equally articulate.
// He’s trying to accept her where she is and as distant as she is. //
You know, that would have been interesting if we had had at least 5 or 6 episodes of Dean NOT being a “good sport.” They skipped all the steps. They skipped all the good stuff – without even realizing that that was the “good stuff.”
Think about all of the other Arcs where Dean had to accept something – or how long the Soulless Sam thing was explored – or the Dean-Lisa thing – they gave these Arcs a chance to blossom, have some resonance, really dig into the sense that Dean was pulled in a couple different ways.
The whole Mary being back thing is so fascinating but it wasn’t explored at all. They took the least-interesting road.
And Sam? Sam appeared to have zero feelings at all about his mother returning and then taking off. He was totally okay with it.
This is not dramatic!
oh yeah thanks for reminding me about the ears.
Just kidding I will have to Pi lobotomise myself to ever let that one go.
On the season 2 of Twin Peaks–I remember feeling intoxicated by the first season and then checking out about halfway through the second. When I heard about the new episodes I started a rewatch, only to find myself losing the trail at about the same spot. I haven’t finished it yet, which I feel sort of guilty about. The reveal and Maddie’s harrowing murder, though–those scenes are unforgettable. The most frightening shot in the series for me was Bob crawling through the living room in season 1. I still have nightmares built around that shot.
I had the same reaction my first time through. (I also watched on Netflix and knew that the show ended on a cliffhanger before I started watching, so that may have influenced my reaction – I started dragging my feet on watching because I didn’t want it to end.) That said, especially now that season 3 is happening, I definitely think it’s worth watching. And if you’re interested in the horror aspect, the season 2 finale has some definite nightmare-inducing sequences.
// Bob crawling through the living room in season 1. I still have nightmares built around that shot. //
Barb … I know, right? Me too?
I have watched and re-watched, trying to figure out why the hell it is so scary. Break it down into its parts. There’s no tricks to it. It’s just a guy crawling over a couch. Maybe it’s because the first shot shows the empty room. So there’s that tension of the nothingness, the empty space – and then he appears. Ugh. so terrifying.
Barb, Natalie –
yeah, in my re-watch before this new season – I knew going in that episode 7 in Season 2 is where you really get confirmation – although honestly, Fire Walk With Me is where you REALLY learn what happened (well, not everything, because that’s not David Lynch’s style). But it fills in a LOT of blanks and is – if anything – even more horrifying than Season 7. If you haven’t seen it, I REALLY recommend it.
So then after Episode 7 in this last re-watch, I settled in – and there are some sub-plots that grated on my last nerve (Janine as teenage wrestler), and some that were mildly entertaining – but it’s really a soap opera, and once I just accepted that this was a soap opera, and stopped expecting something else – I could get into it. Or at least parts of it.
I think it’s definitely worth it to see the romance between Heather Graham (the ex-nun) and Agent Cooper. It spreads out over a bunch of episodes because he is drawn to her, he flirts with her, etc. I have no idea if that relationship will return in Twin Peaks: The Return – but it felt significant and also plays a huge part in the Season 2 finale.
I also just loved seeing Agent Cooper in “courtship” mode. It’s strangely touching. He’s gentle and considerate. Kind.
//I also just loved seeing Agent Cooper in “courtship” mode. It’s strangely touching. He’s gentle and considerate. Kind.//
Yes. It’s not really surprising – it’s just who Cooper is – but it’s still beautiful to watch.
I also loved the whole Lucy/Andy/Dick love triangle, I have to admit, although the whole Nicky thing was just weird and kind of awful.
As much as I would love to delve into David Lynch’s brain and dig around for all the answers, I also love that he’s so close-mouthed about his vision and intentions, letting his art speak for itself. That takes a discipline I know I wouldn’t have. I want too much to be be understood precisely as my message was intended. I have major respect for Lynch’s ability to let others interpret his art however they see fit. I read a recent interview with him – I think it was in Entertainment Weekly – where the interviewer asked him what we should call Evil Cooper. He said something along the lines of, “I just call him Cooper’s doppleganger. You can call him whatever you want.”
// I also love that he’s so close-mouthed about his vision and intentions, letting his art speak for itself. //
I love this too! It’s not a Christopher-Nolan-style “everything adds up and I am the maestro of this jigsaw puzzle” – Honestly, I think sometimes HE doesn’t know why he makes the choices he makes. But he trusts his subconscious, and its signalling. What is the big white horse about? I still have no idea. But it appears and it means something and it’s the way dream-logic operates. It’s a signifier … of something … it’s clearly Laura-related – but other than that??
“Figuring it out” then becomes secondary. and even when you really get “confirmation” of what had been pretty obvious – and the clearest Lynch gets is in Fire Walk With Me – there are still so many pieces left unsolved – which is kind of what life is like.
// He said something along the lines of, “I just call him Cooper’s doppleganger. You can call him whatever you want.” //
Ha! I hadn’t heard that. Love it.
//What is the big white horse about? I still have no idea. But it appears and it means something and it’s the way dream-logic operates. //
And it makes us so free to associate with stuff that would seem too random otherwise and be fine with it.
It makes me think of 1/ medieval representations of unicorns as symbols of purity 2/ “the elephant in the room,” just cause a horse in a living room is so fucking huge! :)
I don’t think those are THE meanings. But they are part of it FOR ME and I love that Lynch’s work allows so much of that.
// I don’t think those are THE meanings. But they are part of it FOR ME and I love that Lynch’s work allows so much of that. //
Lyrie – me too. I love your thoughts on it. The image is powerful – can contain anything.
I’ve never seen Twin Peaks – I was having a baby at the time. I’ve started watching Season 1 now and I see what you mean about an excruciatingly slow reveal. I have become quite hooked on Agent Cooper and the TP misfits. (Also, I actually dressed and wore my hair like that – yikes) Here’s my question: everybody says it all goes off the rails after Season 2, episode 7; should I skip the rest and go straight to the new season? Not there yet, but just wondering. That backwards talking, groovy dancing dwarf is the weirdest weirdness… just, wow!
// should I skip the rest and go straight to the new season? //
I would not recommend that. You definitely need to see the Season 2 finale – which leads into what we’re seeing now in the new season. The doppelganger aspect – which is a Lynch obsession anyway, what “Bob” really is …
I said above in another comment that there’s also an element in the Season 2 finale – Agent Cooper’s romance with an ex-nun played by Heather Graham – that is built up to in a couple of episodes. It’s important information, otherwise you’d watch the finale of Season 2 and be like “Who is that gorgeous blonde and where did she come from??”
I would also really recommend watching the prequel, Fire Walk With Me. It’s all about Laura Palmer – who (of course) is absent throughout the series.
and I’m excited for you that you’re seeing it for the first time!
Melanie – I agree with Sheila. You need to watch it. Actually, I can’t wait to hear what you have to say after you do.
Me too!
Plus Fire Walk With Me!
It is honestly such a relief to read your comments on S12 of Supernatural and know I’m not the only one who feels this way. I didn’t hate the two final episodes as much as I hated some previous ones, mostly because things happened that I wanted to happen, but the writing that led to them happening was still poor at best. Sam’s sudden need to be a leader, the 180-degree switch from years of avoiding killing humans to an action-movie sequence of coldblooded headshots…
On a related note, I was at the JIB Supernatural convention recently and JA made some very interesting comments about this season. Basically he said that he didn’t understand Mary’s return until he read the confrontation in the script for 12.22. He didn’t think Mary was what Dean needed most, he didn’t know how to play any of the Mary stuff up until that episode, didn’t feel the connection with Sam Smith. Hearing him say this was so incredibly validating that I don’t know how I didn’t shout out loud. I highly recommend watching his solo panel on Youtube.
// the 180-degree switch from years of avoiding killing humans to an action-movie sequence of coldblooded headshots… //
Oh Lauren I am so glad you brought this up.
The two shootouts – the one in the bunker and the one with Jody out in that parking lot – were so so painful for me to watch.
Shootouts? With humans? What on earth am I watching?
It was so so sad. THIS is what the BMOL have brought to the show. Ugh.
Sheila, I’m with you on everything you say about SPN. This season really broke my heart.
As for fandom’s reaction – I think the most telling thing is that there’s basically no show talk at the conventions even more, not even at Jibcon, which used to be the place where the most serious questions about the show were asked. When a show’s core audience no longer cares about the show itself, that just says it all, if you ask me.
// there’s basically no show talk at the conventions even more //
Really! I don’t follow the conventions so I was not aware of this.
Can you tell me more? What are they talking about instead?
Well, there’s a lot of interest in every aspect of the actors’ lives, especially their families. J2 are frequently solicited to share stories about their children. Then there’s the typical “What’s your advice to someone who wants to be an actor?” sort of questions. Ever since Jared’s first AKF campaign, more and more fans have been sharing personal stories and asking for life advice: “What’s worth living for?” “How do you overcome depression?” etc. And above all fans like to ask randomosities such as, “Are you a green grapes or blue grapes person?” “What would your stripper name be?” “What would Dean rather give up for lent – burgers or sex?”
I know what you mean and certainly agree that panel questions are getting less and less show-related, but I was at JIBcon last month and was really pleased with the number of quality questions about the show (to be fair, I think my expectations were just so incredibly low that ANY serious questions were a bonus!)
I could listen to J2 – particularly JA – talk about acting all day, and his solo panel in particular was pretty in-depth in places. Like I said above, I found it hugely validating to hear him say that he felt the same disconnect with the Mary storyline as I did, and it was a relief to see how much that bothered him. Gave me the tiniest bit of hope for S13, in a weird kind of way.
Thank you for your con observations. It’s kind of disheartening. I understand that they – as people – are fascinating to many fans – but I don’t really share that fascination. I’m interested in them as actors – the nuts and bolts of their process. How they problem-solve as actors. How they think about their characters.
It’s true that this past season there hasn’t been much to grasp onto or discuss.
Lauren – fascinating in re: Mary.
It’s a critique of the writing, that’s for sure.
Like I said, the two of them seemed bored half of the time onscreen. Which pains me to say, but it’s true. What were they given to PLAY? Nothing!
When the movie came out, I felt the same way about Mrs. Robinson, and I couldn’t understand why I was supposed to identify with Benjamin. She’s the only three-dimensional character in the movie.
Jincy – totally.
It was a weird experience this last time because I could feel that I was supposed to be really relating to Benjamin. Maybe I’m just getting old. Well, I know I am.
I love how the very first time you see Mrs. Robinson, she’s seen in passing at Benjamin’s snooty graduation party. Everyone is standing up, holding cocktails, all elegant and proper. She, however, is seated, and her posture is all sprawled out. She is bored out of her mind. I’m with her!!
//My goodness I forgot how … MUCH … the series derails in Season 2 after Episode 7. I mean// Like a completely different show. When I first saw it, I wondered if David Lynch had just wandered off halfway through and left it to the PAs or interns to decide the storyline.
//BILLY ZANE// RIGHT?! I still forget he was in it, and that’s happened so many times. Someone mentions it or I see some credit somewhere, and I’m like what? Oh yeah, Billy Zane.
Did you see the David Lynch interview where he said he was building a table during the premiere? Not surprisingly, he is so oddly charming.
(I will look through the other comments so I don’t repeat a thousand things all ready said!)
In addition to Billy Zane, another Titanic alum – the sneering villain who played Zane’s man-servant in Titanic – is ALSO in Season 2!
I hadn’t read that interview about building a table but it is so charming and I love that he drew a picture of it.
He’s a true artist. He doesn’t get all caught up in the surface stuff – audience reaction, etc. Amazing.
******* Twin Peaks season 3 “spoilers” if you haven’t watched the last episode********
How great to see Amanda Seyfried this week! In my mind, she was always linked to Twin Peaks a little because of her role as Lily Kane in Veronica Mars – another “Laura Palmer.” And Veronica is an Audrey. (listen, it makes sense in my head.)
Cooper crying looking at “his” son broke my heart. Cooper’s state in general breaks my heart. I want to yell to everyone “How can you ask him to go to work/review files/whatever. CAN’T YOU SEE HE’S NOT WELL? What’s wrong with YOU?”
Everything is so intriguing, it feels so good not be spoonfed (sometimes force-fed) embarrassingly obvious story lines.
Lyrie –
// Cooper’s state in general breaks my heart. //
Me too. That moment with the son was just unbelievable.
The whole business meeting was soooooo funny. That poor coffee delivery guy trying to deal with it. But I’m with you – at SOME point someone has to figure out that something’s not right!! Thank God Jade popped that hotel key in the mail. Something’s bound to come of that – although what I dare not say! Ha!
// it feels so good not be spoonfed (sometimes force-fed) embarrassingly obvious story lines. //
I’m so with you on this. It’s bliss.