Twin Peaks: Classic or Dud?

by internet standards, I'll wear that with pride.

Post by ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius) deleted

Lol overreact much

Yeah, seems quite OTT. I'm just excited to hear Doc's thoughts on the new stuff.

I made it to “amazing” episode eight of the new series. It was very neat. Reminded me of Bela Tarr and Jodorwsky and Warhol. It’s a fine episode of ... something? Then I watched episode nine, and I’m back in “ehh” land.

Apart from the Bomb episode, the whole series so far seems to careen wildly from tone to tone, idea to idea( in a way that doesn’t seem entirely in control. I know that, like, the True Fans can say this is part of the appeal, but it just kinda seems grandstandy. FWIW, I also think TP:TR actually *does* seem more like the end of the original series than the beginning.

I’m enjoying and will continue watching, but Lynch editing Lynch results in a lot of six minute scenes conveying two minutes of information or character or concept, intercut with long hallways and weird medium shots of people in hokey rooms being awkward. Often it feels like three minutes would’ve been atmospheric, and four virtuouso, but my patience runs really thin beyond that.

While I appreciate that Lynch’s susceptibility to the TM “cosmic unconsciousness” silliness permits him to be experimental, I think there are more than a smattering or scenes that tip into self-indulgence.

That being said, I think some of the discipline imposed by the conditions of his earlier work may have forced Lynch to make editorial concessions, where it’s kind of cool to see what he does with few genre and form restraints.

That being said, I think some of the discipline imposed by the conditions of his earlier work may have forced Lynch to make editorial concessions, where it’s kind of cool to see what he does with few genre and form restraints.

i agree with this completely. besides the original series, i think the best example of this is Mulholland Drive, which imo is his best work, and that had a very unusual constraint/limitation- they'd already shot half of it for TV, and when Lynch finally got funding to finish it, he had no ideas, and then at the last minute he went to do his TM and as he said the ideas came "like a string of pearls." constraints like that are never something one seeks out, and obviously the MD situation was super precarious and not something you'd want to repeat even if you could, but it made something amazing. there's no way the tv series MD was envisioned to be would've been better than the final film.

I said this in the s3 thread I think but I agree that lynch works well when constrained, and this season of twin peaks was constrained as hell (not in terms of runtime but I mean watch the behind-the-scenes docs if you think he had an unlimited sandbox here). I think eraserhead and inland empire are probably the freest conditions he's ever worked under and they both had very particular sets of limitations that might have shipwrecked a director with different instincts.

It's funny because I will fight you if you think that "fan cut" that reinserts the missing pieces into fwwm is superior, and I absolutely think that blue velvet is as good as it is because lynch and dunham had a mandated length of 2 hours, but I find the pacing of the new twin peaks to be perfect over the 16ish hours. This may not be a great analogy but it's a bit like how a 4hr slow cinema film doesn't feel anywhere near as torturous as a 3hr superman

there are threads for S3 btw remy

xp yeah i was going to mention those behind the scenes docs, they were constrained, though not as strictly or formally as other examples. it's the difference between a mandated run time and not having as much money as you want and having a compressed schedule. anyway, thats all ill say about s3 itt

http://welcometotwinpeaks.com/news/rest-in-peace-diane-caldwell/

if you're like me, the way i was up until 2 days ago, at least, you know of Invitation to Love, you enjoy the appearances of Invitation to Love in season one, and generally think "invitation to love - it's pretty good". but have you ever watched ALL of invitation to love?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFMen60b6UQ&t=323s

i watched all of this (over 16 minutes) a whopping three times over the weekend, and it is incredible. listen to the ASMR of Montana's leather as he lifts the cigarette to his mouth. the trademark lynch dualism of Jade and Emerald and the mirrored characters representing good and evil.

question for twin peaks superfans: is the audio supposed to cut out in two of the final scenes of Invitation to Love? it seems like it is probably intentional, because both audio cutouts occur during scenes of violence, the silence adds tension, and it's still possible to follow the action.

whoops, let's try that again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFMen60b6UQ

twin peaks trivia: Tim Heidecker stars in Invitation to Love

CHET: our marriage is in the past. experience is a great and bitter teacher.
EMERALD: so is money. Chet, you're a fool. and Jade's a fool. But my father's the biggest fool of all.

*Montana appears out of nowhere*

MONTANA: so what does that make me?

*Chet looks on in horror as Montana leather jacket noisily crunches as he lights a cigarette*

CHET: Montana! I -
MONTANA: hello, beautiful.
EMERALD: i knew you'd come back

*Chet takes a big drink*

CHET: we didn't expect to see you back here in town so soon, Montana.
MONTANA: i had a change in direction.
EMERALD: so Montana, tell me - did you find that rainbow you were looking for?
MONTANA: plenty of rainbows. no pot of gold. *leather noises*
CHET: i'm not sure how i'm feeling about this.
EMERALD: Chet, shut up and get Montana a drink! he must be absolutely parched after 18 months in a rainforest *makes out with Montana*
CHET: how long are you planning to stay in town, Montana?
MONTANA: long enough to see you two. And my ex-wife. tell me, Chet - how is Jade? *intense leather crunch noises*

NARRATOR: Invitation to Love...will be right back

So long, Norma.

http://www.thewrap.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/norma-jennings-twin-peaks-300x200.jpg

I think of her as more famous for Twin Peaks at this point, but they only mentioned The Mod Squad on the story I just heard.

some lady! RIP x

See you in my dreams~

We both know that tune, don’t we?

Dear Twitter Friends, “It’s yrev very good to see you again old friends.” pic.twitter.com/yL2UXyxeWT

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) August 21, 2019

what is in the box david

P sure that's just a repackaging of the entire series (no FWWM) based on something I read a while back. Looks nice, though.

There’s a box set of all three series coming out, yeah. This box is a different, limited thing tho:

Twin Peaks: From Z To A, a deluxe 21-disc collection of everything Twin Peaks plus over 20 hours of special feature content will be available by the end of 2019!

This worldwide Blu-ray only release includes every ‘Episode’ and ‘Part’ of all three seasons of Twin Peaks, the Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me feature film and its deleted scenes called The Missing Pieces. On top of over six hours of previously unreleased bonus content, it will also include the special features from Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery released in 2014 as well as Twin Peaks: A Limited Event Series from 2017. The set is limited to 25,000 copies worldwide and will first hit U.S. and Canada on December 10, 2019, followed by an international roll-out on yet to be announced dates.

Oh, nice.

I'd like to see the commentaries from the original season 1 DVD set restored at some point but that's probably not gonna happen.

holy shit, there's a screening of FWWM here in a few months with Dana Ashbrook, James Marshall, and Sheryl Lee! not usually interested in Q&A's but DAMN! Can't fuckin wait

Whoa. Where is “here”?

I would like to attend that

I would like to attend that

I would like to attend that

― treeship., Friday, September 27, 2019 9:22 AM (seven minutes ago)

I would like to attend that

― treeship., Friday, September 27, 2019 9:22 AM (seven minutes ago)

^ it is happening again

lol

what year is this?

*screams into the void*

Baltimore. Only other dates I saw were Bloomington, IN and Miamisburg, OH.

Saw FWWM in a totally empty theater when I was 16. It shook me.

Should have happened

#OnThisDay 1991: An April Fools' Day film that BBC Archive wishes was real - Reporting Scotland revealed that David Lynch was thinking of relocating Twin Peaks to Scotland. pic.twitter.com/eKFn0ljy4Q

— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) April 1, 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MnOtMP41k4

OMG, this cracked me up

1000x better than any of the S3 Roadhouse performances

Renault's ridiculous monologue to Coop about how things were better before he showed up is kind of interesting considering The Return:

"Before you came here, Twin Peaks was a simple place. My brothers sold drugs to truck-drivers and teenagers. One-Eyed Jack’s welcomed curious tourists and businessmen. Quiet people lived quiet lives. Then a pretty girl dies. And you arrive. Everything changes. My brother Bernard is shot and left to die in the woods. A grieving father smothers my surviving brother with a pillow. Arson, kidnapping. More death and destruction. Suddenly the quiet people here are no longer quiet. Their simple dreams have become a nightmare. Maybe you brought the nightmare with you. And maybe, it will die with you.”

ooooh

also I'm rewatching Universal Soldier Day of Reckoning and it has a serious dose of Return vibes, aesthetically speaking

Laura's Ghost: Women Speak About Twin Peaks
Paperback – October 20, 2020
by Courtenay Stallings (Author), Sheryl Lee (Foreword)

In 1990, the groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks, co-created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, opened with a murder mystery when a beautiful homecoming queen, wrapped in plastic, washed up on a cold and rocky beach. Laura Palmer’s character began as a plot device that triggered a small town to face its fractured self. But after three seasons and a film, Laura Palmer is no longer just a plot device. Instead of solely focusing on the murderer, like most traditional storytelling at the time, the audience gets to know the victim, a complex young woman who explores her sexuality and endures incredible abuse. Laura’s Ghost: Women Speak About Twin Peaks is an examination of Laura Palmer’s legacy on the 30th anniversary of Twin Peaks. Palmer’s character was one of the few frank and horrific representations of sexual abuse victims which did not diminish the strength and complexity of the victim. Sheryl Lee, who played Laura Palmer, discusses the challenges of the role and how it has impacted herself as well as women she has met over the years, many of whom are survivors of sexual abuse. The role demanded Lee give all of her vulnerability as an actor to this role. This role is one she cannot escape, one with which she will forever be identified. It’s a role that still haunts her today. For many women, this character represents them. Here was a woman who was not just a victim, but who was owning her sexuality as well—a woman coming into her own and discovering her sources of power. This book is a reckoning in which women from the show and community speak about grief, mischief, humor, sexuality, strength, weakness, wickedness, and survival.

do I need to finish s2 before I watch s3 or can I skip the last 5 episodes? jfc.

the s2 finale, directed by lynch, is essential. you might as well power through imo

Unless I'm remembering wrong the penultimate S2 episode was pretty good as well...

The third-to-last episode is much better than the penultimate episode, really feels like it nails the atmosphere for the first time in ages.

Also Simon’s podcast helps make the awful episodes a bit more bearable!

The final few eps of s2 are great, I'd rather skip season 3 in its entirety tbh

finally got around to watching the original Twin Peaks series a few months ago. Saw 'Fire Walk With Me' at a drive-in last week. Kinda all over the place but still entertaining. Looking forward to Season 3, and annoying my girlfriend with other David Lynch movies.

yes, last few episodes of twin peaks are when it finally gets good again, and it's so incredibly good at the end

of S2 i mean

Counterpoint: the 2nd last ep is just about the worst of the whole run. The one before that is good (and finale is great obv) tho