OK, here we go, the big one, Inland Empire. This was the first film I ever remember bailing on mid-watch. It was many years ago, before I had a blog, and it was probably my first David Lynch film, watched purely based on a 5-star review in Empire magazine. All I can remember is a rabbit sitcom. I called it quits after about an hour of utter incoherence, but this time I’m trapped on a train, and the next episode of Alien: Earth is refusing to play so I’m watching this instead. I think the best way of me trying to keep track of everything going on is, like with my Twin Peaks re-caps, to keep a stream of consciousness style document going whilst I write, which I present to you now (slightly edited and tidied up after watching). Let’s get going!
Fred (Bill Pullman) plays saxophone by night, and sleeps in his soundproof saxophone-practice bedroom by day. One morning a voice over his intercom tells him “Dick Larante is dead”, and a videotape of his house is delivered to him. Soon, Fred’s partner Renee (Patricia Arquette) is murdered, and Fred is arrested, because there’s a video of him doing it, much to his surprise, but don’t worry, this is a David Lynch film, so there’s a creepy pale guy cropping up all over the place too.
The Twin Peaks hiatus is over! Apologies for the delay, but as this film was rated 18 and the IMDB Parental Guidance section is somewhat graphic I deemed this would be unsuitable for my usual Twin Peaks viewing environment of my laptop on a public train, and it’s taken me several months to find an evening devoid of other more pressing activities in order to actually watch this film. But watch it I now have, and my thoughts I will soon distribute.
As with the first two seasons of Twin Peaks I went in knowing precious little of Fire Walk With Me, other than it was a prequel to the original show. My assumption was that this might follow Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) on the Theresa case, and whilst that was partially correct, this is far more about Laura Palmer’s week leading up to her washing up on the river bank encased in clingfilm, and my what a horrendous week she had. We’ll get there, though. For now, here’s my regular stream of consciousness from watching the film, albeit more edited this time due to the film’s length, otherwise we’d be here all day.
Sailor Ripley and Lula Fortune (Nicolas Cage & Laura Dern) are young, spirited, and very much in love. When a man (Gregg Dandridge) approaches Sailor at a classy function and accuses him of trying to sleep with Lula’s mother Marietta (Diane Ladd) and tries to kill him, Sailor defends himself and brutally kills the guy, and is sentenced to two years in prison for his trouble. Upon his release, he and Lula set out on a road trip, much to the chagrin of Marietta, who sends a selection of assailants out to put a stop to their escapades.
I know I’ve seen bits of this before, but I think this was my first time seeing it all in one piece and, hopefully, it’ll be my last as well. The premise is confusing and mangled. Everyone’s favourite energetically chaotic funnyman Robin Williams is laboured with playing the least fun person imaginable, strapped to his giant mobile phone instead of spending time with his kids. Way too much time is spent in the real world before heading into the fantasy realm. It’s just so boring!
This year I pledged to fill in all my Steven Spielberg blind spots, reviewing them as I go. I’ve been making reasonable progress with the watching, but customarily slacking when it comes to the actual reviewing, partly because I got side-tracked with the Twin Peaks of it all. So far I’ve watched Always, Hook and Amistad, (along with the already-reviewed Sugarland Express and Empire of the Sun) none of which I feel overly compelled to watch again anytime soon, so these next few reviews will likely be a little lighter than usual, hope that’s OK. I still have Munich and Catch Me If You Can to go, so hopefully look out for them soon!
Okay folks, strap in. Six days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States of America was concerned about another attack on US soil. 1941 follows a bunch of people in and around California over the course of one day, including: – The crew of a Japanese submarine searching for something honourable to destroy, commanded by Akiro Mitamura (Toshiro Mifune) alongside German officer Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt (Christopher Lee), and eventually kidnapping Christmas tree salesman Hollis P. Wood (Slim Pickens). – US Air Force captain “Wild” Bill Kelso (John Belushi) apparently chasing Japanese aircraft in his Warhawk. – Captain Loomis Birkhead (Tim Matheson) attempting to seduce old girlfriend Donna Stratton (Nancy Allen), now the secretary of General Stillwell (Robert Stack), complicated by the fact that Stratton can only become aroused in a flying airplane, and Birkhead is not a qualified pilot. – Civilian couple Ward and Joan Douglas (Ned Beatty and Lorraine Gary) are presented with an anti-aircraft gun due to the coastal location of their home. – The Douglas’ daughter, Betty (Dianne Kay), wants to go to the jitterbug dance with newly-unemployed former-dishwasher Wally (Bobby Di Cicco), which becomes a problem when the dance becomes only available to enlisted men, much to the joy of the aggressive Corporal Sitarski (Treat Williams), who has eyes for Betty, whilst Betty’s friend Maxine (Wendie Jo Sperber) very much has the hots for Sitarski. – Two members of the Ground Observer Corps (Murray Hamilton and Eddie Deezen) are posted atop a Ferris wheel, keeping watch for any approaching enemy forces. – And finally, devoid of any real through-plot, there’s a tank crew comprised of Sergeant Tree (Dan Aykroyd) and Privates Foley (John Candy), Reese (Mickey Rourke), Henshaw (Walter Olkewicz) and new addition Jones (Frank McRae).
It’s the last day of the summer vacation in 1962. Tomorrow, Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) are heading off to university, leaving behind their two friends Terry (Charles Martin Smith) and John (Paul Le Mat), as well as Steve’s girlfriend and Curt’s younger sister Laurie (Cindy Williams). Over the course of this night spent on their local driving strip, these four friends will undergo various adventures that may change their lives forever.
In 1860s Massachusetts, the March family has four daughters, all with different artistic aspirations. Meg (Emma Watson) is an actress who is happy complying to society’s ideals of feminity, Jo (Saoirse Ronan) is an aspiring writer with intentions to make it on her own, cherubic Beth (Eliza Scanlen) is a musician, favouring the piano, and Amy (Florence Pugh) a painter who sometimes feels put out as the youngest child (although it was only in researching for this post that I discovered she was supposed to be the youngest, as it felt like Beth far more filled out that role). Their mother Marmee (Laura Dern) tries to mould them into good, charitable adults whilst their father is fighting in the American Civil War, and over the seven year period of the film, they all have varying dalliances with their wealthy neighbour’s grandson Laurie (Timothee Chalamet).
This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review. It was written because Kate Winslet appears in the film and one of the missions of this site is to review every Kate Winslet film. The other Kate Winslet reviews can be found here.
There’s all kinds of films in the world. Films to cheer you up, films to terrify you and get your blood pumping, even dramatic weepies designed to emotionally rip you apart, rendering you unable to function for the rest of the day. There’s a time and place for each of these films, and given just how unprecedented the times we’re living in are, and how these days every waking moment can feel like a never-ending naked slide down the spiralling razor blade of life, I for one am trying to limit my exposure to the more emotionally draining films.
Life Vs Film 