Blue Velvet

My first official David Lynch review, but not my first of his movies. That goes to The Elephant Man.

I'm actually really pleased with this movie. It was friggin' weird at times but I'm so happy to have seen it. Set in an idyllic North Carolina town a young man named Jeffery finds a severed ear and soon gets roped into a bizzare plot of kidnappings, sex, and batshit situations and characters. It's a wild trip, and I can't even imagine the audience reactions in 1986. Hell the producer Dino De Laurentiis had such faith in Lynch and the film that he repurposed a production company to distribute the film because no major studio would come near the thing, that is something you can't say about a lot of people in the film industry nowadays, that's pretty grand. The critical reception didn't really start strong until well after the film was released, but strictly on a first viewing basis I very much enjoyed it. I like the whole 50s aesthetic they present in terms of visuals and music, this isn't the first time a film has presented a perfect small town with a dark underbelly but they handle it very well and the music is very jazzy noir-ish centered which you know I'm a sucker for. I think the performances is what really sells the movie, though of course the story and direction are really dang good. Kyle MacLachlan is a very good lead and juggles the weird mix of emotions pretty much flawlessly, Isabella Rossellini has that perfect edge of vulnerability and I'll give major props to anyone who can go full nude cause I certainly wouldn't have the heart for that I mean talk about bravery, friggin' Laura Dern is in this movie which came out of left field but I'm so damn happy to see her in any movie she's a total cutie in this and I simply adore her, oh my God we get to talk about Dennis Hopper now. Dude. Dude. Whoa. There's no words to describe his performance, it's...um, wow. If ever there were a reason to see this movie, he's it. Wild. They handle the mystery good too, like you're never really sure who's in on it and who's not. Are the cops corrupt and maybe aiding the kidnappers? Maybe. Is there gonna be a heel turning character? Who knows? Will evil win the day in a downer ending? Have to see it for yourself. It's a fine movie, never trying to be more than it is but still having that unmistakeable David Lynch quality to it. 4 stars, 8/10, and I'm so getting the title theme for this movie!

Well it's that time again my friends. A new movie based on a Universal Monster hits theaters this Friday, and while my Dark Universe may be dead and buried no one's ever really gone...