MR Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me

...and after the show, here's the infamous Twin Peaks movie!
Considered a classic of cinema history by some, despised by others, they can only all agree that it is quite a confusing movie - in true Lynch fashion.

Originally, with all the planned script in the picture, lasting as long as 5 hours of runtime, it was then cut down to a more acceptable ~2 hours run (which for the time was quite a lot already if you ask me..).

David Lynch's most experimental feature according to his own words, make way for....

Movie: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Directed by David Lynch
Release date 1992
Genre Supernatural/Mystery/Thriller/Drama Horror film
Country USA

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a continuation of the Twin Peaks TV series.

Neither a true prequel nor an actual sequel, in the purest sense of the meaning.
The story itself is clearly a "prequel", taking place before the pilot of the show, but watching it first will spoil the entire premise of the on-going mystery of the show (for its 1st season at least).
So, be warned, Spoilers ahoy!

Anyway, it is more of a follow-up as far as the exploration of the town of Twin Peaks go, as well as the themes touched, etc.

The story starts with David Lynch's own character, Gordon Cole at the FBI's Headquarters.
Gordon calls Special Agent Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak) about the murder of a Teresa Banks in Deer Meadow, Washington.
After getting a new partner called Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland), both get a special briefing through clues, because Gordon speaks really loud and likes to use codes.

A Blue Rose case. There's been several missing Agents already on similar cases.
Our Agents follow the investigation which leads them to a mysterious ring in a trailer park.... which in returns makes Agent Desmond disappear into thin air!

The following day, we're back with Kyle MacLachlan as Special Agent Dale Cooper (or rather, introduced to Cooper long before he actually arrived in Twin Peaks).
One of the missing Agents - Agent Jeffires, David Bowie(!!) in a random cameo - makes a reappearance to warn Cooper at the FBI HQ. Coop goes to talk with Gordon about his recent dreams and this previous vision. He takes upon this investigation himself. The murder first and now these visions, Coop believes the killer will strike again and they must be prepared.

A year later, we're now in the little town of Twin Peaks.
Following the life of 17 years old High School prom queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in her very discontinued life.
You see, Laura Palmer has various faces.
Laura juggles different lives she's been going through, two boyfriends, and other strange relationships.

And that is not all!
She has been pursued since her childhood by a man from her nightmares, the one they call BOB.

And it's not over yet!
Her father Leland (Ray Wise) has been acting quite strangely as of late.
And there's also all those dreams of a Black Lodge and a ring...

It's the story of Twin Peaks "before the show".
A very dark tale, fans will notice the absence of humor unlike the show.

The movie came out in 1992, a year after the series ended actually.
Almost all the cast returned for this film, with the only exceptions being Lara Flynn Boyle who didn't reprise her role of Donna Hayward because rumors say she was asking for way too much money, after being quite difficult during the 2nd season of the show, so she was simply recast with Moira Kelly instead who did quite a good job of keeping the character the same. And the lovely Sherilyn Fenn as Audrey Horne , due to conflitcs with her shedules, but she was easily taken out of the story, Audrey having no real connection to Laura Palmer anyhow.

At first glance or view, it might seem like a mess of a movie.
Because it had been cut down from its original 5-hour first cut into such a shorter production.
Various scenes that featured returning TV characters were cut down entirely.
It also requires a familiarity with the universe of Twin Peaks. (for example, Annie appears at somepoint, out of nowhere, murdered, in a vision without any explanation whatsoever)

The movie is full of symbolism and dream imagery. The line between the everyday life and the Red Room/the dream world blurs as we follow Laura in her downward spiral which will result in her death.

It is also quite constructed like a serial, movie or not.
The movie is clearly divided into two overall distinct parts/chapters, each with their own segments/episodes.
The whole end of the movie being the story of the final seven days of Laura Palmer.

Because it was clearly aimed for watchers of the show, it expects you to to know the characters.
The scene of the "clues" briefing with Lil the Dancer is a perfect example of the way fans used to read into every detail of Twin Peaks episode.

Anyways, it's a great dark horror movie, a different kind of horror than the way people are used to with Hollywood.
A beautiful picture, lots of red tones and unique images.
And let's not forget Angelo Badalamenti’s amazing score. Compared to the show, the music here sounds more like a cacophony of lights and sound.

Overall, it is a much darker, bleaker and more brutal vision of the world of Twin Peaks.
It seems that more new mysteries are created than resolved.
It's a very strange experience, unlike any other.
Dark, brutal, probably too consuming for the general public which explains the way it was received originally. One of most disturbing movies you'll see.
What is real or not... the line blurs... blurs... blurs..

Be warned though, do not expect something closer to the TV show.
When it once was originally presented at the Cannes Festival in 1992, the movie was received with booing from the audience (that's just rude!). The negative reception came from a confused audience no doubt.
It's the kind of story that will follow you, making you think and interpret on your own.
The kind of plot that only benefits from repeated viewings. For fans of Twin Peaks and David Lynch mostly.

It's funny to see how more than a decade later, being finally released over there, the movie finally found a commercial success in Japan - which resulted in the heavily TP-inspired Deadly Premonition.

David Lynch originally planned various movies an eventual series of films, "Fire Walk with Me" being the first one because it resolved all the details taking place before the series.

The movie is also quite fast paced, things seem to move forward quickly and jumping around story points here and there, you can feel the heavy cuts specially in the early portions of the movie.
Fans are still waiting for the promised director's cut since the laserdiscs-era. (it seems one was prepared and ready, around 3 hours 30-long)

A great movie.. that is, with prior knowledge of Twin Peaks.

I give it, for Twin Peaks connoisseurs:

 2.5 / 3 Necronomicons (must watch!)

For average Joe:

  0.5 / 3 Necronomicons (run from it!)

MR Nausicaä

This week, let's look into what is considered the first Studio Ghibli movie (though it isn't!)
If you want to check out my previous reviews, follow the Ghibli-Marathon tag or simply click over the above picture!

Considered by many, a classic of the Japanese animations - for both fans of anime or not. Let's review Miyazaki's big independent debut...

Movie: Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind 
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Release date 1984
Genre Anime/fantasy adventure
Country Japan

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is a post-apocalyptic animated filmd written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and produced by his long time friend and co-animator Isao Takahata, who had both been trying to launch their own anime studio for years.
Tired of all the usual commercial and cheap productions Japan had been producing for years, he experimented making movies for larger audiences with more mature content and serious production values.

The story of Nausicaä was actually based on a manga going by the same name, drawn and written by Miyazaki. Serialized from '82 to '94. it is about a princess from small kindom that is then brought into a war between empires. She tries to seek the coexistence between these different nations why preventing the humans own selfishness and ambitions from destroying nature in the process.
The movie is actually the adaptation (more or less) of the first chapters (2 of the 7 volumes).

Nausicaä is therefore an adaptation of a manga...which itself was originally inspired by the character Nausicaä from Homer's Odyssey. This character served as basis for Miyazaki's story. The daughter of King Alcinous, trying to bring back peace in the middle of a imperial war amongst nation.

But back on the movie itself, shall we?

The film tells the story of Nausicaä, a young girl, princess and fighter from the "Valley of the Wind" who gets involved in a struggle  between empires.

But let's start at the beginning first.
The story takes place a 1000 years after an apocalyptic event, called the "Seven Days of Fire", it was a cataclysmic war that destroyed both the planet's civilizations and ecosystem.
Now, there are Toxic Jungles all over the world, also called the Sea of Decay, where the air is toxic and there lies giant insects, the result of various evolutions and aberrations, nature's answer to man's destruction.

Nausicaä lives in this Valley of the Wind that is a place relatively protected from the toxic spores thanks to the air coming from the ocean.
A wise and mysterious man who lives there from time to time, called Master Yupa, is searching for the "Man in Blue", he who will unite the people back with nature. To help him out, Nausicaä goes on exploration, searching from jungle to jungle and beyond the desert for this mysterious savior.
She uses this flying glider, a Möwe, to move around.

Nausicaä is actually sort of able to talk to these giant insect creatures and would love to see peace returning to the world..
She is particularly found of the "insect kings", the Ohmus/Ômus (depending on the version of the film).

One day, a giant airship crashes near the Valley.
Nausicaä notices it and tries to rescue a little girl she sees aboard.
The villagers soon find out it is the princess Lastelle of Pejite.

Which brings war to the peaceful village.

The war is still going between various rival kingdoms. A military flying ship from the Tolmekia (/Tolmek/Tolmèque) Empire comes around.

Nausicaä discovers an embroy of a Giant Warrior in the first crashed airship - which are dangerous weapons created by man from the old war.
Lastelle was actually trying to destroy the monster, these embryos need to be destroyed!

But the empire Tolmekian wants to resort to what originally destroyed the world in their conflict against the Dork Empire.
The Princess Kushana and General Kurotowa invade the valley for the embryo...

Meanwhile, Nausicaä finds out the jungle is actually toxic because of what people did to the ground, plants actually grow in water beneath the sand and jungle.

The Tolmekia kingdom tries to use an ancient weapon too soon, to fend off from an Omhu attack...
Nausicaä must stop the Tolmekians from killing these insects, the survival of the planet depends on it!

Let's simply say it, Nausicaä is a gorgeous looking animated movie, with great animation quality, an amazing atmosphere and feel, a mature tone, fantastic orchestral music compositions and a great story to boot.

Miyazaki and his very competent staff did the impossible, made Japanese animation relevant again and popular worldwide with both fans and critics alike.

The movie's production was done in a record time of under 10 months (!!!) for a budget of about 1 million $USD, which at the time was a lot and without precedent.

It helped establish the Studio Ghibli, which would be the home of various other Miyazaki and Takahata films for the following decades. That is why it actually is often considered part of Ghibli's filmography and legacy.
It went on to win several prizes and breached  various records of the JKapanese box office and worldwide as well.

Originally Tokuma Shoten wanted to turn Miyazaki's Nausicaä manga into a movie, but Miyazaki preferred to take the occasion to do so himself. It was then released by Toei on March 1984.

There's a lot of Takahata as well as Miyazaki in this movie.
It really is a joint effort to launch their Studio Ghibli.
There's a lot of inspiration both brought in from their previous productions. Be it from Lupin or Horus. Mostly esthetically.
And as fantastic as it is, it is a story of characters before anything.
Ghibli's first leading female heroine, a model for generations to come.

Overall, it is a must see, simple as that.
Beautiful gorgeous looking, great and entertaining.

It's a movie for all, all ages and wherever you come from. It's an universal kind of story.
People fighting for peace, people raging war, nature being ignored and caught in the middle.
Environmentalist and meaningful.

But please, I will add this to this conclusion, please don't watch the butchered US translation from the late 90s - also re-released on DVD for some reason.
Avoid the version of the movie translated under the name Warriors of the Wind at all cost!!
It was heavily edited and modified to be more "manly" and less "girly" as stereotypical 80s American cartoon companies would have put it. Avoid this release!!

Anyways, Nausicaä is a must watch!

I give it:

2.5 / 3 DonPatchis!

MR Super (2010 film)

If there were superheroes in real life, and I mean actual "realistic" vigilantes not comic book-ysh-super powered flying people, how far would such individuals go?
Could they make a difference? Wouldn't they be considered just nutjobs, "psychopaths" by our society standards?
How detached from reality would one go to be able to live such a fantasy?

That's the kinda question director James Gunn tried to ask, amongst many others in his superhero/comedy/drama Super.
Be warned, this is a film strictly for a mature audience only!

Movie: Super
Directed by James Gunn
Release date 2010
Genre Indie comedy/drama
Country USA

In development since the early 2000s, Super is an idea James Gunn has been trying to develop and put to screen since a very long time.
Mostly due to a lack of investors and no interest from producers.
One of the earlier versions even ended up as a non-Gunn directed film called The Specials in 2000, directed by Craig Mazin.
Finally thanks to the success of his 2006 scifi comedy/horror film Slither, James Gunn was finally able to produce this 2002 script into a low-budget independent film.

Written and directed by Gunn, it features an all star cast of such actors as Rainn Wilson (The Office,.), Ellen Page (X-Men 3,..), Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon and even a cameo from Nathan Fillion (Castle, Firefly)!

But,
What is it about exactly?

Super tells the story of this cook from a little local dinner called Frank D'Arbo (Rainn).
Frank never had much going on in his life.
The movie opens with Frank telling the audience he actually only had two relevant moments, two good memories in his entire life. (which he is putting up on the wall as lil' drawings he made)
Marrying this beautiful girl Sarah. And that time he helped the police catch some thief.

Sarah is a recovering addict.

One day, Sarah leaves Frank for this mysterious guy named Jacques (Kevin Bacon) who owns a club (and some other "less legal" businesses).
Frank loses all interest in his life, things don't make sense for him anymore..until one night when he's literally touched by the hand of God in a terrifying (and very graphic) dream. Was it only a simple nightmare or an actual divine intervention?
Inspired by another local TV "hero" from Jesus Network called the Holy Avengers (Fillion), Frank decides to become an actual superhero.
Frank believes he was chosen for a purpose. He goes at the nearest comic book shop for research. There he mets Libby (Page)...

Frank finally dons a secret identity as the Crimson Bolt and armed with a wrench, starts to fight crime in the streets.
Simple drug dealers, child molesters and even more trivial law-breaking persons all suffer the wrath of a Crimson Bolt on a criminal-punishment spree.
As he slowly starts to use his vigilante persona for more random reasons (and gradually acting more like a psychopath than anything), he is finally joined by Libby who goes as his sidekick Boltie...

Super is a sort of R-Rated deconstruction of superheroes.
While it originally didn't make much sense to make a movie out of this subject back in 2002, nowadays, with all these Marvel and DC movies on screens, it is a much more interesting form of analysis of what makes one "super" hero or not.

While other movies use the usual secret origin story to base future installments of on-going franchises, Super uses it mostly for the personal journey-aspect.
Super tells this journey of self-discovery Frank undergoes. Frank isn't really an altruist person, he uses this mask the costume provides for more selfish reasons.
Harmful purposes.

In a way it may start from the same premise as Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass, but it only shares the same concept at the start. It deconstructs the superhero myth and genre.
Frank is closer to an actual psychopath when your really think about it. He goes on this crazy journey.
What his right and what his wrong - Frank's logic which we follow through the movie might tell us one thing, but then we met Libby who's go her own perceptions of right and wrong.
Libby makes a great contrast with her mentor, with her love for violence and profanity - in opposite to Frank's ideals. 

It is also a spiritual journey.
The movie as a lot of relgious content.
"Some of his Children are Chosen" as Frank put above the closet in which he hides his costume.
It's nothing new  really, superheroes always had their own share of religion-inspired themese (Superman has often been seen as a Christ figure, and Batman as a martyr figure). The difference is that here James Gunn is quite explicit about the kind of themes you can decide to read superheroes. (the Crimson Bolt has his own disciple, Boltie,..).

It also mocks the glorification of violence surrounding this type of action movies/superhero characters.
Quite violent, often graphic but mostly stylized with onomatopoeias.
The Crimson Bolt goes awry playing superhero, using this freedom Frank never had, imitating superheroes. There's a danger in date.

The film ends in a bloodbath, in a spectacular crazy Grindhouse-style climatic battle.
(in which the director doesn't forget to remember us and our hero death is real)

It's a great interesting movie for fans of the genre.
Tyle Bates provides a simple but epic enough score (alongside various music from divers artists).

Overall, it's a very fun ride.
A black-comedy like you don't see much of anymore.

James Gunn asks various questions and take us on a darker more violent analysis of the genre than Kick-Ass. (probably closer to the original comic book than Kick-Ass' live adaptation)
Mark Millar (Kick-Ass' writer) actually defended Super of not copying Kick-Ass.

The movie features an high-range casting, including fun cameos from Nathan Fillion as this parody of an actual "costumed hero" called Bibleman in real life.
It's a fun, gore and trash movie. Similar to the old Toxic Avenger movies from Troma Entertainment (Gunn actually worked there for a long time and wrote several pieces there).

A great exploration of the genre.

I give it:

2.5 / 3 Films!

MR Gauche the Cellist

Time for one more anime movie from the pre-Studio Ghibli years!

This time, let's see a radically different genre of movie, once more from sensei Isao Takahata.

Movie: Gauche the Cellist
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1982
Genre Anime/musical
Country Japan

Gauche the Cellist.
What a unique movie this one is!

Sometimes called "Gorsch the Cellist" or "Goshu the Cellist" depending on the translation (though I prefer the original "Gauche" name better).
This little movie - and by little I mean, slightly over a mere hour -  is based on a short story by Kenji Miyazawa. Easily one of the most popular Japanese writers/poets. A great influence to both Miyazaki and Takahata, who based several of their works on his storytelling.

There's been literally dozen adaptations of this story, including several movies.
This one's the adaptation Isao Takahata wrote for the screen and directed himself in the early 80s.

This is the story of Gauche.
Gauche is a cellist who lives in a small town in some unidentified part of the rural Japan of old.
He's also part of a small local orchestra, The Venus Orchestra.

Gauche is having some problems at the rehearsals.
He's a good musician, with a great technique, but his work lacks heart and spirit.
While he struggles daily there, the conductor tells him he needs to add some emotion when playing. Devoid of that, the music can be as good as he tries..there's simply no solid foundations beneath his sound.

During the course of the next four nights, Gauche is visited each time by a talking animal (a cat, a cuckoo, a tanuki, and finally a mother mouse and her son).
The animals seem to only annoy him at first, the cat only wants to heard a song. But then he starts to learn something every night, the cuckoo practice scales with him. And enjoys himself, like when he's accompanied by the tanuki's little drum. And accept playing as more than just practice, when he helps the mice while playing a rhapsody.

The animals teach something about himself, playing music from the heart...
Will Gauche be ready for the big concert at the end of the week?

Gauche is a very unique sort of movie.
More Fantasy (for an American comparison) than your usual generic animes.

It took Takahata and his crew ~5-6 years to produce this little hour-long movie.
This one was done at the Oh! Production's studios.
It's a beautiful looking and sounding story. And no doubt a timeless film.

Visually, it's gorgeous, and holds quite easily to this very day. The beautiful painting-like landscapes, colorful backgrounds with noticeable brushstrokes make it come to life.

The music, by Michio Mamiya, breathes life into this production.
The various rehearsals sound like rehearsed music.
There's various interesting pieces throughout the movie. Be it Beethoven's Sixth Symphony (and important influential figure in Gauche's life) or some other more obscure little cello pieces.
The "Tiger Hunt in India" piece Gauche plays..
And it ends on a beautiful Pastoral symphony when he's at peace at the end of the day.

Overall, easily one of the most underrated and sadly too often overlooked master pieces from Isao Takahata.
Gauche becomes a better musician with his interaction with the small animals that visit his home.
It's a story about music.
The various steps of learning. Trying at first, learning, working hard, and once all this his mastered, acquiring emotion through it.

One of my personal favorites to be honest.

It's more of a naturalism story compared to other movies from Takahata.
As his late work, there's some tragedy as well as some comedy.
The talking animals are never quite explained or understood (in Gauche's mind, for real..in the end it has no importance, only what Gauche experienced does).
A sort of meditative musical film.

Sadly this is one of the harder movies to find around.
There's been one English-based release (and a rare French release like mine, seen above).
It is now under Ghibli's name in Japan, so there's still hope for a new release (it will be easier for outside Producers to export it now).
Though you can just as well get one of the Japanese copies, they're all subtitled in English. (not that dialogues are that important here)


I give it:

3 / 3 DonPatchis!

MR Jarinko Chie

...And here's one more entry for my Studio Ghibli Marathon reviews!

This time one of the lesser known movies, but an important one nonetheless!
Yet another movie directed by (then-future) Studio Ghibli's legendary Isao Takahata.

Did it disappear into obscurity due to its quality? Is it any good? And More importantly, what's it about?....

Movie: Jarinko Chie aka Chie the Brat in English
Directed by Isao Takahata
Release date 1981
Genre Anime/comedy
Country Japan

Jarinko Chie was originally a very popular manga series by Etsumi Haruki pre-published in the pages of the magazine Manga Action from 1978 to 1997 (!) and has been collected in the form of a series of 67 volumes.
Which, by the way, was one of the longest manga series until not that long ago.

The title roughly means "Chie the brat".
(though as you may note, my copy's called "Kié" instead of "Chié", because it's a French release and)

Isao Takahata decided to adapt this episodic manga into a full length feature with an animated studio at Toho, and Yōichi Kotabe and Yasuo Otsuka as chef animators.

It is the story of this little girl Chie, in a heart warming movie than contains both comedy and more serious elements.

Not your daddy's little girl so much, heh?

Chie is the "most unfortunate girl in Japan".
She is about 8 years old. Her parents just got separated.
By day, Chie has to go to school, study on her own and take care of the bullies from class. The rest of the day, she manages her father's own little restaurant on her own.

You see, her father Tetsu is a big goof. He spends most of his time fighting other people or spending his all of his savings on games.
That is why Chie's mom leaved him actually. Tetsu isn't a very present dad nor a very responsible adult. He doesn't take care of his daughter much and has never been able to hold a job for long.

One night while taking care of the family business, Chie helps a little stray cat that starts hanging around afterwards...

This might all sound sort of depressing and all...but it is actually a very funny story, with some very personal signature touches like what you'd expect from a Takahata movie.

More like little skits put together than anything sporting a real overarching story.
The characters, as cartoony as they faces might be, feel real. "Complete."

The art style, in the pure style of classic 4-koma mangas (comic strips), is very caricatural. Characters have huge noses, big square jaws, giant ears... It helps defines them and recognise them in a glance.
This animated movie actually mimics and captured the art style of the original manga perfectly.

Over the various little "plots", the characters develops. The dad decides to give Chie more attention, Chie opens up to her father as well and even the random thugs/yakuzas they meet got their own change of hearts with the contact with this "little brat".

Unrealistic situations and cartoony characters..but a real heart beneath it all.

The cat(s) even have their own whole side story, culminating in an epic final confrontation at the end.
They walk on two legs, talk, can kick some serious butts...and it all comes down to family ties, honor and maturity.

Chie continues to see her mother behind Tetsu's back.. She misses her and would have preferred to stay with her...
A strange turn of events give the parents a chance to become a family again...

It is a very sweet (everything turns out for the better!)  yet rooted in the reality of many children. Not exclusively in Japan.
The story is set in Osaka, which is a nice change from the usual Tokyo from most of these sort of movies/animes. There's a different, friendlier and more open culture. (Tetsu's police officer friend comes to mind) Even the bad guys aren't that bad in the end..

The music composed by Shinsuke Kazato, even if simple, is nice and memorable.
The theme song is particularly catchy and comes at various points under different styles.

Overall, it is a very nice movie.
The animation didn't age that much and it's fast pace enough to feel fun and fresh today as well.

It might feel like a bunch of stories glued together, but there's some character development as well.

It is sadly very difficult to find. Your only choice might be to import a copy of the DVD.
I've only come across online the Japanese DVD (which has English subtitles anyway) and a very rare French release. (which I ended up ordering from the publisher!).

The movie was a modest but success enough.
It was then followed by a 64-episode TV series by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. With Takahata working on it as chief director. Followed then by a sequel series of 30 episodes itself.

Worth a look for Ghibli or Takahata fans!

I give it:

2.5 / 3 DonPatchis!