From: jsnell@ocf.berkeley.edu (Jason Snell)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks
Subject: Re: Little Things
Date: 30 Aug 1992 23:55:36 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandstorm.berkeley.edu

In article <rock2@xcf> blojo@xcf.berkeley.edu (Jon Blow) writes:
>
>    Well, I have a lot more to say about this movie, but I'm a bit tired.
>    Besides, this post is long enough already.  I must say that this is
>    a terrific movie and, though I don't like to make "best" comparisons,
>    it's the best movie I've seen in quite a while.
>
>    It sort of irks me when people like jsnell@ocf say things like:
>
>> Flawed-- VERY flawed. But fun nonetheless. Just as TP is a fascinating
>> television show, but flawed -- VERY flawed.
>
>    because they're trying to sound cool or something.

You might be trying to sound cool, Jonny. I wasn't. But thanks for the
misrepresentation. Seems to me you're probably bothered more by the fact
I found fault with a movie you found terrific. Forgive me?

>Folks, if you're
>    going to say something like that, please give reasons why.  

Gee, I thought I gave some. For more, see this message.

> It takes
>    a few seconds to read that sentence but it has almost no content--
>    and I'm more or less against content-free Usenet.

Of course, that was the concluding paragraph of some initial comments on
the film... it wasn't a post unto itself. So please try not to quote it
too much out of context.

>Why was it flawed?
>    How was it VERY flawed?  I don't buy that assertion.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, like the Twin Peaks TV show, has plenty of
fascinating imagery and certainly provides us with plenty of puzzles. But
ultimately we're left with lots of pieces missing. Rather than trying to
address questions previously asked, Lynch and company seem to prefer to
add on more questions until it all collapses under its own weight.

How was FWWM very flawed? How about David Bowie's worthless walk-on? How
about the first 25 minutes having absolutely no resolution whatsoever?

As for the show... well, I'll just say that there are so many inconsistencies
and forgotten plot threads (as well as downright stupid plot threads) that
it, too, was close to collapsing under its own weight.

I can buy the 2nd season finale, which was meant to be a cliffhanger. But this
movie's statement was this: we're going to introduce new characters and never
resolve what happens to them. This is a feature film, and realistically 
there won't be another. Maybe there's a slim chance, at best. But by leaving
old threads even more confused than before and by introducing NEW threads that
essentially lead nowhere, FWWM seems more like a cynical production: we're
going to give you lots of stuff and we don't have to resolve it. If you 
want to know what happens, see this movie a bunch of times and maybe we'll
make another one for you.

What happens then? More questions, no answers. Endlessly.

I'm fascinated by Lynch's imagery, and the mystery of the black lodge
is intriguing. But I consider a lot of FWWM to be either sloppy or
a greed-inspired con job, or maybe a little bit of both. I enjoyed
watching the film, but not nearly as much as I could've. And it bothers
me that this film is so dense and obscure that non-Peaks fans will be
totally lost. This is not to say I wanted to see a simple, explain-all
TP movie. But I wanted more than what I got. Would having Chris Isaak
appear in the Black Lodge be too much to ask, for example? As it is, that
first 25 minutes is both the most entertaining part of the movie and
the most useless.

Happy now, Jon? The above isn't nearly as coherent as I'd like, but
I tried to sate your appetite for explanations of opinions. I hope you
can find it in your heart to forgive me for a "content-free" post. :P

-jason

-- 
  Jason Snell / jsnell@ocf.berkeley.edu / Cal Graduate School of Journalism
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            "I thought for a second that my monkey had rabies --
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Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks