August Overlook

Someday this blog will have a sidebar which alphabetizes my posts, rescuing them from the tyranny of chronology. But until that day, some entries will continue to get lost in the shuffle. Now that August is coming to an end, and with it the summer, I'll take a moment for reflection. I present you the first of what promise to be monthly Overlooks: five posts which didn't seem to get much attention, but which I trust you will find interesting on this late occasion, hopefully enough so to comment and get the ball rolling. Consider yourself invited to the as-yet-nonexistent discussion; dates have no meaning around these parts and I'll be happy to respond no matter how many weeks have passed. And don't stop with what I've suggested - explore the whole blog and drop a line here, there, and everywhere. Because, really, you've got nothing better to do, right?

1. Silent Ozu: "...So I'm not knocking Ozu or cinematic transcendence by saying that the two really don't have anything to do with each other."

2. Twin Peaks in Context: "Oh, and as an aside, what's your favorite Twin Peaks moment? Mine...is probably Donna sitting in the Roadhouse, softly mouthing the words to Julee Cruise's ethereal song."

3. 2046: "Wong's films weave a web of seductive grace, leaving you too bedazzled to resist the narcotic bite of the director. He has us at hello, or rather, at the moment Nat King Cole beckons in his honeyed voice and Zhang Ziyi casts a fleeting, teasing glance in our direction."

4. Blue Velvet: "It does have the appearance of a nightmare, but a kind of sickly, feverish nightmare, not one that taps into the collective unconscious. Put another way, the movie is far more Freud than Jung."

5. Farewell, termite: "I'd say that the most fascinating termitic activity is when the bugs are swarming all over elephant dung that a lumbering white pachaderm left behind (there's an image for you). Perhaps film is at its finest as a scavenger's art, eating away at the detritus of its own pomposity."

As for the detritus of my own pomposity, pretty popular were A dirty dozen and its follow-up Another dirty dozen (see the Holy Grail for a round-up of those who participated); also well-attended was my review of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. This was definitely the month of "Twin Peaks" - and a couple days ago I noted the impact on the series whenever Lynch sits down in the director's chair. Politics, which is popping up again in the national consciousness right about now, reared its lovely head in discussions of Iraq in The War Tapes and Why We Fight, a revisiting of The Dark Knight (favorably contrasting its viewpoint and approach to Iron Man & The Matrix), and even The Incredibles. At one point not so long ago, I noted some similarities between a few masked vigilantes; T.S. was intrigued at the prospect of understanding Batman through the KKK, but few others seemed to take the bait. Here's a hint: it's never too late...

(And don't forget Brian Dennehy as a sheriff square dancing with prostitutes, the tube's very own take on Buford Pusser...)

Ignore the "Read More" link as for once, there's nothing after the jump. Enjoy your Labor Day.