Tag: film analysis
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Wild at Heart (1990)
Wild at Heart is the most Lynchian response to a David Lynch movie such as Blue Velvet. Adapted from a Barry Gifford novel, which focuses on a couple of star-crossed lovers attempting to rid themselves of hateful and malevolent family members, there is no doubt Lynch saw tremendous opportunity for irony and comical commentary on…
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Blue Velvet (1986)
After two subpar productions in which his idiosyncratic vision was unable to reach full capacity, David Lynch garnered the opportunity not only to make a movie with total creative control but also to delve deep into the themes and notions of his first feature, Eraserhead, which in many ways laid the foundation for Blue Velvet.…
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Dune (1984)
When an artist capable of dreaming up his own, unique world collides with a different, unique world not of his making, the result can be either spectacular or disastrous. In either case, the result is typically neither boring nor forgettable. Yet, when it comes to David Lynch’s adaptation of the science-fiction classic novel Dune, these…
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The Elephant Man (1980)
The Elephant Man is primarily an anti-David Lynch movie despite the bizarre surrealist sequences bookending the historical drama. How Lynch found his way to this material is as unusual as the combination of his style with that of the movie’s producers and writers. Despite his established background as a comedic writer, director and actor, producer…
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Eraserhead (1977)
Different kinds of movies make different demands on their audiences. Most simply ask you to sit back and be entertained. But every now and again, a movie makes a tremendous request on its viewers, and promises that if you participate to the best of your ability, the reward is a much deeper and more meaningful…
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First Reformed (2017)
Many filmmakers might have a movie like First Reformed stored away either in their mind or on paper. The trick, however, is to bring such a story to life and discover if that is even a worthy cause. Often this can come at a great cost for the filmmaker, who typically puts everything on the…
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Dog Eat Dog (2016)
In interviews promoting the movie, Paul Schrader stated that making Dog Eat Dog was a chance at redemption for him and Nicolas Cage, given that their experience with their previous collaboration resulted in a movie that neither of them endorsed. As a result, there is a manic energy and sense of throwing caution to the…
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The Canyons (2013)
The Canyons is the type of movie where it is difficult to understand how much of its tone and attitude is intentional and how much is consequential. Given its setting, the types of characters and the end results of their interactions, a case could be made in either direction. However, as a form of entertainment,…
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Adam Resurrected (2008)
Most directors have at least one movie in their filmography that can only inspire head-scratching and bewilderment at the heavens. Why, given how unusual and off-beat such a movie is, was it directed by this particular filmmaker? The simplest answer must be because an opportunity arose and he took it. Paul Schrader is nothing if…