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Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem

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Blue Velvet

Blue Velvet

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Frank Booth
Review: Someone interviewed Dennis Hopper some years ago and asked him about this film. He replied to the interviewer..."I read the script and I told David .......

I AM FRANK BOOTH!! In this stylish film he most certainly is. Lynch,s opening colorful hues beguile us all for a few moments...but thats just to set us all up for the big roller coaster ride.

When Hopper yells at MacLahan " Pabts Blue Ribbon" he means it. Hopper summons all his demons up and delivers a nightmare for us all. His baroque " well dressed man" outfit is so disturbing it will jolt you.

Rosselini is perfect in her sensual and pathetic moods. Electro shock treatment at its best.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nothin Has Been Better
Review: Absolutely perfect - Wow. They don't make 'em like this anymore. Loved the movie and the surrealism of the story. It was perfectly balanced between total disclosure and mindful interpretation. Lynch hasn't had that balance since - not even with Fire Walk. When I read his book "Lynch on Lynch" I was disappointed at the outright denial of straight story line from him. I think Blue Velvet is a magnificent straight line movie with mysteriousness so critical to his past stuff like Eraserhead and Elephant Man. I loved the movie and loved the music too.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beautifully Crafted
Review: One of the most striking and beautifully crafted movies I've seen in a long long time. Some of the camera angles and shadow/light stuff is really cool. The story is disturbing but realistic and I really cared for the characters. Lynch has superbly created a masterpiece. I loved the balance of slow-motion and blurred facial trails - something Lynch used in Elephant Man and Lost Highway. I totally bought into the surreal world of Frank and his friends. Unforgettable movie well worth watching a few times to catch some of the nuances and subtle peripheral visual noises.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Artful, surreal portrait of the normal and the deviant
Review: David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" is a symbolically rich, masterfully crafted work, depicting the coexistence of two seemingly diametrical worlds with icy and compelling juxtaposition. Beneath the normal, kin- and friendship-oriented world of small town America, Lynch delivers a haunting and terrible (but inexplicably fascinating) world of evil and corruption. The complex relationship between these two realms is unified by a rather simple mystery-detective plot, but, like the opening montage, this ultimately gives way to a premise of greater depth and complexity. Without summarizing plot, one could argue that the central characters in this tableau are representative of each world in some way: Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle Maclachlan), the college student and amateur detective whose seemingly innocent curiosities lead him into the complicated underworld where they evolve into voyeurism and compulsion; Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), the tormented lounge singer whose familial ties to illicit affairs have forced and trapped her in this underworld; Sandy Williams (played in an almost-painful-to-watch-at-times manner by Laura Dern), Beaumont's budding romantic interest who is willing to help her too-curious friend but remains morally and psychologically rooted in the positive "surface" world; Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), Dorothy's tormentor and blackmailer, and the terrifying, twisted villain who exemplifies the negativity of the underworld. The relations between these characters serve as the foundation for juxtaposing the two worlds, a contrast which is strengthened by the frequent use of symbols and subtleties (e.g. color and lighting, sometimes surreal placement of characters on the screen, the heavy profanity of Frank). The main underlying idea is certainly a haunting one: behind every facade and every seemingly normal appearance is an existence of a deviant nature. I do not believe that Blue Velvet is a perfect film, though: even though its story is complex and difficult to assemble it often progresses conspicuously slowly and unevenly. The film presents several jarring and somewhat confusing breaks of flow over its 124-minute duration. Several important scenes are depicted in brief shots and, in the spirit of the underworld that the film illustrates, low light. Similarly, many lines are whispered. While some of these effects are essential to the artistic aspirations of the film, it may be difficult for the viewer to perceive all of them. A second viewing is often necessary, but, unless a viewer cannot endure this film, a second viewing is probably inevitable. Criticisms notwithstanding, Blue Velvet is probably my favorite film (if I had to choose one), and definitely one that I would recommend.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sick, Unforgettable, and Hopper's Best Performance Ever
Review: If you don't think that a film can be carried all the way through by one actor, think again. Dennis hopper gives the most electrifying, twisted, and ultimately nauseating and corrosive performance in Frank Booth, the ultimate embodiment of evil. While he shouts for us not to "f****** look at him," we are transfixed by the grotesqueness and overall power of his character, like slowing down to watch a car accident. Lynch is a master of the art -- my favorite scene has go to be when Booth takes McLaughlin to a field, puts lipstick on himself, then proceeds to kiss McLaughlin while one of the gang's girls dances atop a car to "Candy-Colored Clown." A truly one-of-a-kind, daring, original, and unforgettable glimpse into the dark cracks of American suburbia which we are too afraid to peer into.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: BLUE RIBBON PRESENTATION
Review: Boy comes back from college. Finds High School darling. Finds amputated ear in field. Calls Police. Hides in woman's closet. Watches her and her pissed-off boyfriend have weird sex. Tells his girlfriend. She tells Daddy. Daddy is a cop. College-boy falls for the victim. She is old enough to be his mother (HINT,HINT). Psychopath beats up boy. College-boy decides to revenge. High School girlfriend sings weird song about people. Yellow Man sets up sting. Psychopath gets shot in the head. Boy and girl marry. OH! PARDON ME! I WAS TALKIN' ABOUT MY LIFE LAST NIGHT. This movie is pretty good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not for the Squeamish
Review: This is a disturbing movie. Do not even attempt to RENT this film if you can't deal with the most disturbing absurdities and evil people you have ever seen on film. Dennis Hopper creates a villain of unparalleled sadism - unparalleled except by Dean Stockwell, a man whom Hopper looks up to and who lip syncs to Roy Orbison's "Candy Colored Clown." Even the Isabella Rossellini is a disturbing portrait. Good grief! Even the "normal" folks are disturbing!!! Oh, by the way, I like this film a lot. <g>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A masterpiece of all times.
Review: When at the beginnig of the movie the camera plunges down the ground revieling worms living underneath it triggers thrills down your spine immidiately. That`s symbolic: these worms are permanently inside of us looking for an opportunity to emerge. Lynch is a great researcher of human nature and along with Twin Peaks this movie ranks tops among films exposing the Evil in our world.A must movie for everybody.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Haunting, Engaging and Surreal
Review: The movie is unforgetable. I first saw it in mid-80s and thought about it for years before I eventually purchased it and viewed it again and again. It has all of the elements of a Lynch masterpiece and certainly all of his films are masterpieces. However, I believe this movie is his crowning achievement. Isabella Rosselini and Dennis Hopper have never been better. I recommend this movie for all fans of suspense in the Hitchcock tradition with a blend of Terry Gilliam in the style of "Brazil" - Simply Amazing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Disturbingly Great
Review: What really strikes me about David Lynch is his insane sense of humor and juxtaposition of funny and sick, for example having a puppy and a baby playing in front of a stroke victim, Dennis Hopper's polite way of "showing a neighbor a good time", and on a side note, the importance of Pabst Blue Ribbon. I also enjoy the simplistic cliches about good vs.very bad things and the hope that some day the birds will return and everything will be good again.


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