Twin Peaks Review

[NOTE: I will reviewing the original run of Twin Peaks from 1990-1991. The prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992) and The Return (2017) revival miniseries will likely get their own review. Also there will be some spoilers. So I recommend watching the show and then coming back to read the review. To sum it up, it's a fantastic TV show.]

Twin Peaks began in 1990 and was created by David Lynch (Eraserhead, The Elephant Man) and Mark Frost (writer on Hill Street Blues). To sum up Twin Peaks, it is one part murder mystery, one part quirky comedy, one part night-time soap opera satire, and one part supernatural horror TV show. Twin Peaks is considered one of the best and most influential television shows of all time. Twin Peaks has inspired many TV shows over the years, most notably The X-Files (both shows star David Duchovny, who played transgender DEA agent Denise Bryson on Twin Peaks), LOST, and also the teen drama Riverdale (which also stars Madchen Amick, who plays Shelly Johnson on Twin Peaks). The Twin Peaks pilot episode aired April 8, 1990 with a feature length 94 minute runtime directed by David Lynch himself. Its opening scenes are unforgettable and set the tone for the whole series. As Pete Martell (played by the late Jack Nance) goes fishing outside his cabin home at the Packard Sawmill, he discovers a body washed ashore, covered in plastic. Pete Martell rings the Twin Peaks Sheriff's Department when Sheriff Harry S. Truman (played by Michael Ontkean) answers. Pete delivers his unforgettable line "She's dead. Wrapped in plastic", which was all over the TV commercials for the show. Lynch masterfully builds up the suspense and atmosphere over who the identity of the woman is, accompanied by Angelo Badalamenti's iconic score. We get sensitive Andy Brennan (played by Harry Goaz) crying before the body is identified, which I think in a lesser show that wasn't as well directed would ruin the tension of the scene as it's kind of over the top, but it works here to add some levity and tension break before the reveal. And then the reveal happens, and Dr. Will Hayward (played by Warren Frost) in a shocked tone lets out "Good lord it's Laura", followed by Harry Truman's "Laura Palmer". Angelo Badalamenti's score gets louder as Lynch has a close up shot on Laura Palmer's (played by Sheryl Lee) face. It is a close up shot that is both haunting and beautiful. What follows is a series of reactions from the town of Twin Peaks to the shocking death of Laura Palmer. Most effective is the reactions of her parents, Sarah Palmer (played by Grace Zabriskie) and Leland Palmer (played by Ray Wise). Sarah Palmer shouts for Laura, thinking she is still in bed asleep. Getting no answer she makes a few calls. She gets no answer when she decides to call Leland, who is at work at The Great Northern Hotel selling property to foreign investors. Leland is on the phone to Sarah when Harry Truman comes to visit him. Leland drops the phone, immediately knowing that it is about his daughter Laura. Sarah then breaks down, crying loudly. It is a harrowing scene. Ray Wise is terrific in this scene, and he is terrific in the whole series.

Halfway into the pilot episode FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan) enters the scene, enthusiastically describing the trees of the Twin Peaks into a recorded that he sends to a woman named Diane (who remains a mystery until the 2017 revival). Dale Cooper (Coop for short) is the main character of the series. He leads the investigation into Laura Palmer's death alongside Sheriff Harry Truman, which takes up the first half of the entire show. Kyle MacLachlan is a perfect Dale Cooper and plays him with such gleeful enthusiasm, giving him the quirks needed to flesh out the character. Some of my favorite scenes of the whole show are Cooper trying coffee, and going "Damn that's a fine cup of coffee". And of course his tapes for Diane, with him describing his experiences with the town of Twin Peaks and developments into the investigation of Laura Palmer. Cooper is also a take no bullshit character who can tell if a character is telling the truth or is lying. I'd somewhat compare him to Sherlock Holmes, albeit a more quirky, oddball version of Holmes. And Harry S. Truman is his John Watson. Anyway I'm not going to recap the whole pilot, just the scenes or character introductions that standout. There was also a 114 minute International pilot which served as a standalone film TV movie incase the show wasn't picked up, which involved BOB and him being revealed as the killer of Laura Palmer, and in that version BOB (played by Frank Silva) was just a normal serial killer. Thankfully that was scrapped as the show got picked up, and BOB served as the series' primary antagonist. And BOB was made a supernatural entity that took a human host. Although Frank Silva was original a set decorator on the pilot episode, but was accidentally caught in a reflection in the pilot episode, which caught David Lynch's eye as terrifying and he was cast as BOB.

Season 1 is in my opinion a near perfect television season. The mystery behind who killed Laura Palmer was of course so gripping and compelling. But it was also the other plots and characters that helped make the show work. And also the town of Twin Peaks itself, and the dissection of a suburban quiet town being rocked by strange happenings. While I'm not the biggest fan of Josie Packard (played by Joan Chen), her storyline does involve Ben Horne and Catherine Martell. And of course the always underrated Jack Nance as Pete Martell. Ben Horne is one of my favorite characters on Twin Peaks. Richard Beymer relishes in playing Ben Horne, a businessman that is sleazy, scheming and at times repulsive. Ben Horne and Catherine Martell scheme a plot to get Josie Packard to sell the Packard Sawmill to Ben Horne. Piper Laurie is fantastic as Catherine Martell. Every scene between Ben Horne and Catherine Martell is in my opinion a joy to watch, as Richard Beymer and Piper Laurie have fantastic chemistry with each other. I also love Ben Horne's scenes with his brother Jerry Horne (played by David Patrick Kelly). Especially the scene where they both eat a bree sandwich and mumble delightful about how tasty the sandwich is. Shelly Johnson (played by Madchen Amick) is in an abusive relationship with psychopath drug dealer Leo Johnson, and I think it is an effective storyline that touches on how awful domestic abuse is. Eric DaRe is convincing as Leo Johnson, and Madchen Amick is also convincing as the abused wife Shelly. For most of Season 1 the focus is on Leo Johnson potentially being the killer, and Lynch and co. certainly make it convincing, as he's a piece of shit who beats up his wife. Why wouldn't he be a prime suspect in murdering Laura Palmer? Shelly Johnson is also in a love affair with local bad boy Bobby Briggs, who was the boyfriend of Laura Palmer. Bobby Briggs is a character who grew on me. At first he is a stereotypical jock type character, and I wasn't as convinced with Dana Ashbrook's performance in the first couple of episodes. But I found he got more comfortable in the role as the show went along. One moment that stood out to me is his therapy breakdown scene with Dr. Jacoby (played by the great Russ Tamblyn) in that is shows that Bobby is insecure who really cared about Laura and knew she wanted to die. Dana Ashbrook is very convincing in that scene as his Bobby breaks down crying over memories of Laura.  I am also fond of the love affair between Ed Hurley (Big Ed for short) and Norma Jennings. Everett McGill and Peggy Lipton have great chemistry with each other as Ed and Norma, and feel like they are meant to be together despite being married to other people (Ed with Nadine and Norma with Hank). Always enjoyed their scenes together, and they never felt too cheesy or sentimental. As I said most of that contributes to the performances and chemistry between Everett McGill and Peggy Lipton. Big Ed also plays a role in the investigation of Laura Palmer, as he is apart of the Bookhouse Boys with Sheriff Harry Truman, Deputy Hawk (played by Michael Horse), and James Hurley (played by James Marshall). Donna Hayward (played by Lara Flynn Boyd) is the best friend of Laura Palmer, who soon begins a romance with James Hurley, who Laura was having an affair with before her death. Together they do their own investigation into Laura's death. Let's cut to the chase; James Hurley sucks. He is a boring and dull character that is played with the emotional range of a tree by James Marshall. And I am not a fan of the relationship between Donna and James. If I was to pick a subplot that I feel is the weakest of Season 1, it would be Donna and James' storyline. But it is still better than James' Season 2 storyline. I'll get to that. Oh boy I'll get to that. Audrey Horne, daughter of Ben Horne, is a character who is quite mysterious at first as well as mischievous. The more we learn of Audrey, the more we see that she isn't the spoiled rich girl we initially thought, but someone who never got any real love from her father and deep down cares and wants to help people. Sherilyn Fenn is great in the role. Her relationship with Dale Cooper is also great. Every scene with them I found a joy to watch. Miguel Ferrer as abrasive FBI forensic analyst Albert Rosenfield is always a joy to watch whenever he shows up, and was a great foil for Harry Truman. One of my favorite recurring characters. I especially love his monologue in the second season that he gives to Harry Truman. Another character I would like to mention is Dr. Lawrence Jacoby. Russ Tamblyn is terrific as the eccentric therapist.

Standout scenes in Season 1 included Cooper's dream in episode 3 where he sees Mike/One-Armed Man (played by Al Strobel) explaining his former relationship with BOB and how he saw the light, as well as reciting the Fire Walk With Me passage. We see BOB speak for the first time, vowing to "kill again". And then we get our first look at the Red Room where Cooper is sitting down and has aged. We get introduced to The Man From Another Place/Arm (played by Michael J. Anderson) and a version of Laura Palmer. "The gum you like is going to come back in style" says The Arm in a strange and disjointed voice. "I feel like I know her, but then sometimes my arms bend back" says Laura Palmer in a disjointed voice. And then The Arm dances to a jazz instrumental. It is the first instance where Twin Peaks enters strange and weird territory, and that this wouldn't be your typical TV show. There is also the scene where we are first introduced to BOB (outside the accidental mirror reflection in the pilot episode) and he is hiding under Laura's bed and scares Sarah. It is a scene in the wrong hands might be cheesy and the idea of it is cheesy, but how Lynch directs the scene makes it genuinely creepy and kind of terrifying. But I think that is what I love about Twin Peaks. Many scenes in the show could came across totally cheesy and too over the top, but they worked because of Lynch and the other great directors/writers on the show. Leland Palmer jumping onto Laura's coffin at first is kind of funny. The idea of a man just jumping on a coffin. But then you think about the grief Leland is going through and Ray Wises' performance, and it's sad. Same goes for when he breaks down and dances in The Great Northern Hotel. Everyone, including Ben Horne and Catherine Martell is laughing at him, and maybe the audience laughs at first too, but then we see Audrey empathize with Leland and feel his pain, which then the audience starts to feel Leland's pain too. It's incredible. I also love the One Eyed Jack scenes where Cooper and Big Ed go undercover. Cooper pretends to be an accountant for Leo Johnson and confronts Jacque Renault (played by Walter Olkewicz) where he gets him to admit that he and Leo slept with Laura and gave her drugs. Also that Leo tied up Laura and a bird started pecking on her arm, which Leo then put a poker chip in her mouth and said "Bite the bullet, baby!". The way Jacque says it is so sleazy and disgusting, but also Walter Olkewicz in his short time on screen was extremely memorable and gave a great performance. And then Leland Palmer killed him because he thought he killed Laura. I love how that scene was shot. You don't see Leland at first, but black gloved hands and a pillow going over Jacque, and then when Jacque dies you see Ray Wise as Leland let out an inaudible cry. I said it before and I will continue to say, and that is Ray Wise is fantastic. Another stellar scene is where he confesses to the murder of Jacque Renault in Season 2 when he's briefly arrested. Just incredible acting.

Season 2 starts off great. Sure there is some pacing issues and storylines that aren't as compelling. The Audrey kidnapped and drugged storyline at One Eyed Jack I didn't find that compelling and kinda dragged on until it ended rather anticlimactically. I did like Michael Park's performance as Jean Renaut though, but Victoria Caitlin as Blackie I found quite poor and not that compelling. There is also the storyline with Donna and reclusive agoraphobic Harold Smith that I also didn't find all that compelling. I think Lara Flynn Boyd did her best to make does scenes watchable, but I found Lenny Von Dohlen's performance as Harold Smith to be very hammy and over the top. There was still the murder mystery behind Laura Palmer's death. And foreshadowing of stranger things to come. Like The Giant (played by Carel Struycken) giving Cooper cryptic clues to who the killer of Laura is. As well as Major Garland Briggs (played by Don Davies) getting more of a focus. One of his most memorable lines was "The owls are not what they seem" that he gave to Cooper. I also love the scene with Major Briggs and his son Bobby in the RR diner in the first episode of Season 2 where the Major says he had a vision that he saw himself seeing Bobby be in a state of "deep harmony and joy" in his future, which Bobby gets emotional hearing it. It's another scene that highlights that Bobby deep down isn't just a bad boy and has potential to do good (which The Return may answer that question). Leland Palmer gets more focus. He also has white hair and is more cheerful after spending most of Season 1 in emotional distraught over the death of his daughter Laura. One of my favorite scenes is him singing "Mairzy Doats" when entering Ben Horne's office, and then Ben and his brother Jerry start dancing. It's a wonderfully bizarre scene. As well as his renditions of "Get Happy" and "Getting to Know You". Ray Wise is incredible as Leland Palmer. He has so much range throughout both Season 1 and 2, as well as Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (which I'll talk about when I review it). He pulls off the transformation from distraught grieving father to happy go lucky tremendously. Twin Peaks had started to lose ratings and ABC thought it was over the fact that Lynch and Frost had drawn out the "Who Killed Laura Palmer" mystery. So ABC pressured Lynch and Frost to reveal who the killer was. Which they did in the 7th episode of the season "Lonely Souls". It was revealed that BOB had possessed Leland Palmer. How David Lynch directed this sequence was breathtaking. It starts in The Roadhouse where Cooper and The Log Lady Margaret (played by the always fantastic Catherine E. Coulson) are sitting at a table. The always hypnotic, dreamy and beautiful Julee Cruise is performing on stage. And then there is a bright white light, and Cooper sees The Giant on stage. "It is happening again" The Giant utters. And then fade into the Palmer living room. Leland Palmer is fixing his tie in the mirror when we see BOB in the reflection. Maddy Ferguson (also played by Sheryl Lee), Leland's niece, comes into the living room and sees Leland/BOB. She tries to run, but Leland/BOB grabs her. What follows is one of the most disturbing sequences in television where Leland/BOB punches Maddy and also kisses/gropes her before killing her. The Leland scenes are filmed as normal, but the BOB scenes are slowed down with brighter lighting. Ray Wise is excellent in this scene. He is terrifying while possessed by BOB, but for a brief moment he snaps back into himself and cries for Laura, but then turns back into BOB again. Ray Wise's performance as Leland is one of the best performances I've ever seen, and this was another incredible example to his range as an actor. Sheryl Lee is also excellent in this scene as the terrified and innocent Maddy Ferguson. I never talked much about Maddy and Sheryl Lee's performance earlier. What I loved about Maddy is that she was the complete opposite of Laura and truly innocent, where Laura was more flawed and a tortured soul. You really feel for Maddy in this scene.

So the killer was revealed. The mystery was gone. How would it affect Twin Peaks? Well the next two episodes are still great overall, as Ray Wise is still in the show and the episodes center around him as BOB. The suspense and tension of when Cooper and everyone would find out he is BOB is incredible. There is an incredible scene with terrific acting by Ray Wise in episode 8 "Drive with a Dead Girl" where Cooper and Harry Truman confront Leland/BOB in the Great Northern Hotel about Ben Horne "being the murderer of Laura", which Leland at first dismisses but then starts getting emotional. He goes outside the room to cry, but then his crying turns to laughter. Cooper follows him, and Leland/BOB once again puts on the facade of being concerned about Ben being the "killer". The last shot is Leland/BOB's sinister stare at the camera. Episode 9 "Arbitrary Law" featured Cooper and everyone finding out that BOB is Leland. We call back to Laura Palmer in the Red Room whispering "My father killed me". Cooper still has everyone believing Ben Horne is the killer and has Leland as Ben's defendant, but then tricks Leland/BOB and locks him in a holding cell. Leland/BOB of course goes crazy, reciting the Fire Walk With Me passage and that he will "kill again". Now I do wish they dragged it out another episode or two as it is a bit rushed, but thanks to Ray Wise's performance the episode still works and is quite gripping. The final scene with him and Cooper is fantastic where BOB escapes Leland and Leland has to confront the horror that he killed his own daughter Laura (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me makes it even more dark and heartbreaking). Cooper then tells him to look for the light, and Leland reunites with Laura before dying. It is a bittersweet and also in a way beautiful scene, as at the end of day Leland didn't kill Laura by choice, it was BOB possessing him. Both Ray Wise and Kyle MacLachlan are incredible in the scene. And then the show starts to become uneven. The mystery was gone, and Leland Palmer is dead. BOB possesses an owl, waiting for his next move. David Lynch left the show as a showrunner due to being forced to reveal who the killer was and wrap up that whole storyline.

The show went through the motions for the next several episodes. Some bad subplots were made more of a focus. The Super Nadine (played by Wendy Robie) nonsense was still around, and just as ridiculous and stupid as ever. Then we get James Hurley leaving Twin Peaks and he comes across and has a love affair with a femme fatale type woman named Evelyn Marsh (played by Annette McCarthy) who is abused by her husband, but she and a person named Malcolm who pretends to be her brother plan to kill her husband, and James gets caught in the middle of it. It is a trainwreck and the worst storyline in Twin Peaks. The acting by both James Marshall and Annette McCarthy is horrendous. The storyline has nothing to do with the overall plot, and then it ends pretty anticlimactically. When the storyline ended I was glad to see the back of it. Another storyline that dragged out and I wasn't a fan of was the Lucy (played by Kimmy Robertson), Andy and Dick (played by Ian Buchanan) storyline on who Lucy will choose as the father of her unborn baby. I will say that Ian Buchanan's performance as pretentious and condescending Dick Tremayne grew on me and he was the best thing about that storyline. But it was very obvious that Andy was going to be the father, and the whole storyline was kinda pointless and just filler to give Harry Goaz and Kimmy Robertson more to do on the show. A storyline some don't like but I quite enjoyed (mostly due to the performance of Richard Beymer) was the Ben Horne Civil War storyline where in his head he was General Robert E. Lee. Audrey, Jerry, Bobby and Dr. Jacoby all get involved in the storyline. It is over the top and a bit silly, but I found it fun. Again mostly due to Richard Beymer, who is a delight whenever he is on screen. There was also David Duchovany's transgender character Denise Bryson showing up for a couple of episodes as the DEA agent that comes to Twin Peaks when Cooper is briefly relieved of his duties in the FBI. Denise Bryson was quite groundbreaking at the time, as there wasn't many positive trans characters on television. Duchovany is great in the role as well as his chemistry with Kyle MacLachlan's Cooper. Another great recurring character that appeared sporadically during Season 2 was FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole, who was played by David Lynch himself. Gordon Cole is hard of hearing, wears large hearing aids and talks very loudly, and often mishears what people say which results in very comic responses. David Lynch is great as Gordon Cole. Always loved when he showed up. I also loved his scenes with Shelly Johnson at the RR Diner where he is smitten with her and can also hear her perfectly. David Lynch and Madchen Amick had great chemistry together. But overall the show become directionless and uneven. It was like the writers and also Mark Frost were throwing things at the wall and seeing what would stick, and the absence of David Lynch (aside from his appearance as Gordon Cole) was felt.

Thankfully the show got back on track in the last couple of episodes of Season 2. The show wrapped up or focused less on the more mediocre/bad filler storylines, and focused more on the more interesting storylines,like the mystery of The Black Lodge and the Windom Earle plot which both tied into each other. Windom Earle (played by Kenneth Walsh) is a former FBI Agent and former best friend of Dale Cooper. He plays a chess game with Cooper and other mind games. As well as tortures Leo Johnson, who was in a comatose state for the first half of Season 2 but then snapped out of it and attempted to murder Shelly. Bobby of course came to rescue and Leo fled, and soon found himself in the company of Windom Earle who put an electrified collar over his neck. For the first time in the show I sympathized with Leo Johnson. Yes he was a piece of shit, but seeing him get tortured against his will made me feel a little sorry for Leo. Not even Shelly and Bobby treated him as badly as Windom Earle did when he was in a comatose state. The character of Windom Earle I didn't know to make of at first. I really liked the build up to meeting his character. But then when he does show up he is very over the top and campy who wears different disguises. I did eventually get used to him in the last few episodes, and his character did become more interesting. There was also his plan for the Miss Twin Peaks pageant that also involved The Black Lodge. Although not every storyline in the last couple of episodes was solid. The show introduced love interests for both Audrey Horne and Dale Cooper, which the show teased that there might be a romance between the two. Although at the time Kyle MacLachlan was going out with Lara Flynn Boyle, who apparently got jealous of Sherilyn Fenn and put an end to the potential relationship between Cooper and Audrey. Kyle MacLachlan also said he was uncomfortable with the idea of Cooper dating Audrey, as she was a teenager and he felt the relationship worked better as platonic. Billy Zane played John Justice Wheeler, a business partner of Ben Horne who very quickly fell in love with Audrey. Heather Graham played Annie Blackburn, Norma's sister who Cooper quickly falls in love with Cooper. None of these relationship work, as there is very little chemistry. Also I never liked the idea of Cooper getting romantically involved with someone. I'd be fine if he got with Audrey as he had chemistry with Sherilyn Fenn, but I also liked that there relationship was platonic for the most part. Annie did serve more of a purpose than John Justice Wheeler, as Windom Earle took her into the Black Lodge. Still I disliked how forced those romances felt, especially Cooper and Annie.

David Lynch returned as a director for the season finale and at the time series finale "Beyond Life and Death", and it's an unforgettable piece of television that is both weird and wonderful. It starts with build up with Cooper and Harry Truman figuring out where the location of The Black Lodge is, and it is revealed to be near a circle located near sycamore trees in the woods. There is the Log Lady Margaret who helps through her log. And Ronnette Pulaski, who partied with Laura, Leo and Jacque the night Laura was murder, and also escaped BOB. She also was in a coma in Season 1 and woke up to a dream of BOB and a creepy screaming Laura. Another unforgettable sequence in early Season 2. There is also a funny scene where Pete Martell thinks the Log Lady stole his truck, screaming "Grand Theft Auto". But it of course was Windom Earle disguised as the Log Lady. Windom Earle takes Annie to the circle located near the sycamore trees, and a red curtain appears and they go into The Black Lodge. Cooper soon goes after them. And then things get weird and a bit confusing. We start with Cooper entering The Black Lodge and strobe lights flicker. Jimmy Scott sings the hypnotic jazz  "Sycamore Trees", while we cut back and forth between a close up of Cooper's face, The Man From Another Place/Arm dancing and Jimmy Scott. It sets the mood and atmosphere for what is a truly memorable and unforgettable series of events inside The Black Lodge. I can't do this sequence justice, so I'm just going to briefly touch on some of my favorite shots/scenes from the episodes. Cooper finding evil doppelgangers of The Arm and Laura Palmer, and the shot of evil Laura screaming. That scene was creepy and unsettling. Sheryl Lee has a fantastic scream. Also BOB taking Windom Earle's soul, and him and evil Cooper laughing together. And then when Cooper gets out of The Black Lodge, we notice something strange about him. He is brought back to his hotel room by Harry Truman and is seen to by Dr. Hayward. He goes into the bathroom to "brush his teeth". Cooper looks in the mirror and smashes his head on the mirror, and BOB is in the reflection. "How's Annie" he repeats with a sinister laugh. That was the ending of Twin Peaks for 25 years. I could imagine how frustrating some people were by that cliffhanger.

Twin Peaks was and still is a groundbreaking television show. I think the rise of television shows becoming more compelling dramas, taking more risks and following less of a formula started with Twin Peaks. There was nothing else like Twin Peaks in 1990. It was a game-changer that will continue to stand the test of time in my opinion. David Lynch is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and his directed episodes of Twin Peaks stand among his best works. I would also like to mention Mark Frost, who I think contributed to helping structure the story in television form, as Lynch was more familiar with film rather than television. Lynch brought the weird and the visual style, but Frost brought the experience of writing television. Together they made a truly unforgettable TV show.

The Castle of Cagliostro Review

The Castle of Cagliostro (also known as Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro), released in 1979, is Japanese legendary animation filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's (Studio Ghibli co-founder, and directed great works of animation such as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, etc.) feature film debut, and it is the second feature film about Arsène Lupin III, an eccentric master thief. Lupin III started as a Japanese manga series in 1967 written and illustrated by Monkey Punch (real name is Kazuhiko Katō). Lupin III gained great critical acclaim, and later spawned six animated television series, eight theatrically-released films, twenty-seven animated television specials, video games, and more. One of those television series was Lupin the 3rd Part 1 (1971-1972), which Miyazaki directed 15 episodes of alongside Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata (director of Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, etc.). Miyazaki also directed 2 episodes of Lupin the 3rd Part II (1977-1980) in 1980. 

The Castle of Cagliostro is a standalone film in the Lupin the 3rd saga, as most installments are. You don't have to watch the TV series or read the manga before watching The Castle of Cagliostro, as the film tells you who the character of Arsène Lupin III is and the world of Lupin the 3rd. He is a cocky, eccentric ladies man who is more than very good at stealing stuff. This is the first Lupin the 3rd installment I've seen. To briefly summaries the plot of the film: Arsène Lupin III flees the Monte Carlo Casino along with his partner in crime Daisuke Jigen with huge quantities of stolen money. Lupin soon recognizes that the money is high-quality counterfeits, and trace the alleged whereabouts to the Grand Duchy of Cagliostro, the home of Count Cagliostro. There is a woman involved, Lady Clarisse, who is due to be wed to Count Cagliostro as she has a signet ring that is suppose to combine with Count's signet ring. What follows is a very fun caper film that has stunning animated action set-pieces and is a funny and charming film. 

The film's opening features in my opinion one of the best car chases in animation film history. It is exciting and adrenaline pumping with how it is animated and edited. The scene also is allegedly one of Steven Spielberg's favorite scenes, as he took inspiration from the scene for chase sequences in both Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and The Adventures of Tintin (2011). There is also a sequence involving a clock tower fight between Lupin III and Count Cagliostro that influenced the episode of Batman: The Animated Series "The Clock King", which features a sequence where Batman and The Clock King are fighting inside of the clock tower that is shot similar to how Lupin and Count Cagliostro's fight was. 

The Castle of Cagliostro in comparison to Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli films like My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, etc. may seem a bit more shallow on the surface level, and I'll admit the character development isn't amazing. So if your going in thinking this will be like those films I mentioned, you might be disappointed. This film doesn't really tackle environmental themes or deal with coming of age aspects, and also the more intimate character study films that Miyazaki became more known for. The villain Count Cagliostro is also more of a standard villain than the grey antagonists Miyazaki usually has in his films. He works as an antagonist to Lupin, but isn't a super deep or interesting character. But I found that the film still worked because of Miyazaki's direction and the film is charming and funny with a likable protagonist in Arsène Lupin III, and also likable side characters like Inspector Zenigata (who is normally an adversary to Lupin and wants to catch him, but occasionally helps Lupin, and the back and forth between the two is great and a highlight of the film) and Fujiko (an on-off lover of Lupin, who is also an expert thief). 

I found The Castle of Cagliostro overall to be great fun with great, exciting animation and great, detailed locations. It is lighthearted and easy to digest, which is quite different to say about a Miyazaki film, as Miyazaki's filmography is quite complex and tackles more mature themes than most animated films. It's also more toned down than most Lupin the 3rd installments, as doing research I found that there is a lot more sex scenes and raunchier content in other Lupin the 3rd installments. But I think it worked for the film. It is still a great feature film debut for Hayao Miyazaki, and what followed was not just animation magic, but cinema magic with his Studio Ghibli films. 

Inside Out Review

The film is directed by Pete Doctor (director of Monsters Inc. and Up [which I haven't seen yet. I know I should watch it, and it might come to a bit of a shock to some people that I haven't seen it, as I am a big film fan, and I love Pixar, but for some reason never sat down and watched it. I will soon though]). It is the 15th Pixar film. The story is to put it brief: Riley (played by Kaitlyn Dias) is a young girl who is happy and loves hockey. She soon moves from Minnesota to San Francisco with her parents (played by Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan), and inside her head are the emotions Joy (played by Amy Poehler), Sadness (played Phyllis Smith), Anger (played by Lewis Black), Fear (played by Bill Hader) and Disgust (played by Mindy Kaling), and they conflict on how to navigate Riley in this life changing event.

That is all I'm going to tell you for those who haven't seen it, as I myself knew very little going into this movie. I never even saw a trailer, just small clips on the TV. I think it's best that you know very little about this film going in, as this movie is seriously one of the best films of year. This absolutely lives up to the hype, maybe even more if that is possible. I absolutely loved Inside Out. I had a giant smile of my face for most of the running time. It is so inventive with its concept and ideas.The writing is wonderful, some of the best Pixar has ever done, as it's a very funny and creative film, and the emotions have great interactions with each other, especially Joy and Sadness, who are the 2 emotions the film focuses on the most. Anger has the funniest lines in the film, and Lewis Black is perfect as Anger. The film isn't just all funny though. This film has a poignant feel to it, like some other Pixar films, and the film also challenges the brain a bit with its ideas and message, but not to the point that it would be confusing to some kids. Kids (while some jokes or aspects of the film might go over their heads) can understand and follow the film well, and can be just as engaged in the film as adults. There is one scene in this film that might hit people in the feels, as it is an emotionally powerful scene.

The animation just pops wonderfully on screen. It has such vibrancy and kinetic energy to it. Some of the animation is up there with the best they've done. Pixar truly is one of the best at doing animated films, as they make animated films that everyone can go see. Adults can maybe even get more out of their films for the most part, and Inside Out is no exception. This film is truly Pixar at its best, and it's certainly one of my favourite Pixar movies. Top 5 for sure. I love the Toy Story films, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, but in 15 years someone could come to me and ask me what in my opinion is the best Pixar film, and I might just tell them Inside Out, as I think Inside Out will hold up extremely well, and get better with age.

I laughed. I felt emotion. I was just sucked into this wonderful world inside a child's brain. I loved all the characters in this world, and if they come up with a script as good as this I would gladly spend time with these characters in this world again for a sequel, but as I said only if it is as inventive and creative as this film was would I want a sequel. This is the best animated film of the year and will no doubt be one of the best films I see this year. I can't recommend this movie enough, and even my review might be doing this film injustice, but I truly want people to experience this film without me telling them too much or me telling them even a tiny spoiler about the film, and I hope you can love this movie as much as I did.

Jurassic World Review

UPDATE: Having watched the film again and it being a couple of years, I no longer like this film and think it is very mediocre. I still find the last 3rd with the T-Rex kind of enjoyable, but the rest of the film is both boring and stupid. Never bothered with Fallen Kingdom and don't care to see it. From what I heard it was even worse, so I dodged a bullet. 

Jurassic World is set 22 years after the first one, and the film seems to ignore the events of Lost World and III, so in the new timeline they don’t exist, and Isla Nublar now features a fully functioning theme park that was original envision by John Hammond, but as we know from the first that plan went pair shaped. The theme park is called Jurassic World, because it’s much much bigger than the first one, and features more in it. They also decided to rename because they thought it might be in poor taste to name it Jurassic Park since that was the park that many people working on it got killed in. Visitor rates are declining, as people aren’t as impressed with dinosaurs anymore, so new species of dinosaurs are created to re-spark interest for the park. One in particular is a hybrid dinosaur called the Indominus rex. Things go horrible, as he gets out, so the people working at the park have to try getting every visitor in the park to safety, and then trying to find a way to stop the rampaging dinosaur.

I’m going to be honest I wasn’t looking forward to this film, as I believed that you can’t do a sequel to Jurassic Park without it being almost exactly like original, and with this film it is kinda, but with more people. However, once I got past the 40 minutes of set up and exposition, which I found fairly boring and uninteresting for the most part, I got into the this film. This movie delivers on the spectacle, and is entertaining for the most part. The park looks awesome. The amount of detail that goes into the park is outstanding. I was really interested in seeing the park operate. They do do something different with the film, which I liked very much, unlike Lost World and III, which basically do what the first did, but less interesting and more stupid.

The action set pieces are filmed really well, and it has good special effects for the most part (the beginning of the film has some poor CG). It’s not as impressive as the first, as the first film had so little CGI, as most of it was animatronics or puppets, so that gave the first a more real feeling, as the T-Rex from the first you were actually seeing a real life animatronic, with CGI added to it in some of the more wider scenes, or more difficult scenes, as in a scene you couldn’t do practical even if you tried. The first Jurassic Park is still a landmark in dinosaur special effects, and they still hold up, and it's maybe sad to say that the effects in the first look better than the effects in this film. The effects in this are clearly CG, and that’s fine, because the CG looked good in my opinion for the most part, although obvious, but I’m a big fan of practical effects, as I think it makes a film look more authentic, and I would have loved if they built dinosaur animatronics.

The tension I thought was lacking, as the first one is one of the great examples of building up tension in a film, as when the power gets cut, you see our main characters sitting in the car, and then all of a sudden you hear a thud, and it gets louder and louder, and the camera slowly reveals the T-Rex, and it’s a gripping moment, and what follows is equally gripping. You feel the danger and tension in the first film, and you are gripping your seat worried that the characters might not make it out alive.

On to the characters. Our 2 main characters are Claire [played by Bryce Dallas Howard] and Owen [played by Chris Pratt], and they are likable [well Claire has some poor characterization, but I’ll touch on that when I’m discussing Claire’s character], especially Owen, and what’s interesting about him is that he’s an expert in training Velociraptors, and you see the bond that he has developed with the Velociraptors, and it’s the best part of the film in my opinion. He’s a lot more toned down than Chris Pratt's characters generally are, but he still has some funny quips in the film, and you totally believe Chris Pratt as an action star. Guardians of the Galaxy was not a fluke, Chris Pratt is the real deal.

Claire is the operations manager and her nephews [played by Ty Simpskin and Nick Robinson] are supposed to be spending the weekend with her, but she is rather busy and her personal assistant looks after them, and then they are on one of the rides when the Indominus rex is loose, so her and Owen have to get to them before the Indominus rex eats them. She is interesting, but there are also parts where she’s a very stereotypical female character. She does have an actual arc though, so I’ll give her that, as she starts off very business focused, and then she becomes more concerned when her nephews might be in danger. It’s just some of the writing for her character bugged me.

The rest of the characters aren’t that well written, and are just there to spout exposition. Vincent D’Onofrio is a fantastic actor, and I love him as Kingpin on Netflix’s Daredevil series, as he does a great job of fleshing out and humanizing Kingpin, but here he is the head of security, and he wants to use the Velociraptors Owen is training as weapons, and the whole movie he is just a one note bad guy, and not an interesting one. A waste of a very capable actor in my opinion.

None of the characters are as interesting as Alan [Sam Neill], Malcolm [Jeff Goldblum], Elle [Laura Dern] and Hammond [Richard Attenborough] in the first film. The interaction with them is great to watch in the first film. Here you don’t really care about the overall interaction between characters. You also aren’t as worried if something happens to them. Maybe Claire and Owen, but that’s it. The kids in this are also not as likeable as Tim and Lex in the first film. The kids are boring. They get way too much screentime, and the scenes just don’t work for me.

Colin Trevorrow does a fantastic job with directing the spectacle and action set pieces for his first time directing a big budget summer blockbuster. John Williams score is used sparingly, and I got goosebumps when I heard the familiar score. It’s such a beautiful score. The score by Michael Giacchino is great, and fits the film’s scope really well.

The ending to this film is one of the best things about the film, as it’s really well handled and very entertaining. There's a lot of things I think they could have improved about the film, like making characters more likeable, improving some of the writing and logical issues, but the ending was one of the best things about any Jurassic Park film, as it was awesome.

The film is certainly bigger in scope and scale than the first film, but it’s not as intimate or as impactful, and the writing is certainly not as strong, but it’s ok, as just shove popcorn [or whatever you like eating when you go cinema] into your mouth and have fun with it. Overall Jurassic World is fun and entertaining, and the sequel to the first that we never got. It’s a popcorn film that is best seen on the big screen, and if you are a fan of Jurassic Park you should be satisfied, unless you think about the plot too much. 

Mad Max: Fury Road Review

Mad Max: Fury Road is the first Mad Max film since Beyond Thunderdome back in 1985, and has been in development hell since 2000, although I'm not sure if it was the same story as this film back then. George Miller [the director of this film, and the previous 3 Mad Max films] planned to shoot the film in 2001 with Mel Gibson as Max, but 9/11 happened, and it halted the project. George Miller said he wanted to recast Mel, because he wanted Max to be a younger age, and Mel was near 50s. In around 2008 or 2009, they planned to shoot the film with Heath Ledger as Max, but due to his unfortunate death, that didn't happen. Finally Tom Hardy was cast as Max Rockatansky in June 2010, and filming began in July 2012, and it ended in December 2012 with re shoots in November 2013.

Mad Max: Fury Road opens with Max [Tom Hardy] in the wasteland desert being haunted by a little girl who he failed to save, no word on whether it's his daughter [in the original he only has a son, but Miller could have changed his backstory around, so he had a daughter], or someone he failed to save possibly after Thunderdome [George Miller said in his mind this film is set after Thunderdome, but it could have also happened at any point in the Mad Max timeline, maybe even after Road Warrior, or maybe it's set after the 5th film possibly]. Max is also driving away from the War Boys, the army of tyrant cult leader Immorten Joe [Hugh Keays-Byrne, Toecutter from the original Mad Max], and he gets captured, put into chains and is being used a blood bag for the sick War Boy Nux [Nicholas Hoult]. We see Immorten Joe, and to describe him would be that he is a cross between Bane and Beetlejuice, as he has a breathing mask, and he also has white skin and mad hair. Anyway Immorten Joe is the leader of the Citidel, and he owns a supply of water, and also gets milk from his wives breast. Furiosa [Charlize Theron] driving her heavily armored War Rig full of gasoline, decides to flee from Immorten Joe, and takes his 5 wives, which are used for breeding children, and Furiosa is hoping to find her home. Immorten Joe and his army decide to chase after Furiosa, and get back his wives, and soon Max gets caught in between, as Max is strapped to the hood of Nux's car, but he then escapes Nux, and joins Furiosa and the wives.

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the best action films I have ever seen. It is a wild, crazy ride. This film rarely slows down, as it is very fast paced chaotic balls to the walls action, and it's awesome. There is a scene in the film where a guy is playing a guitar that shoots flames out it. It's bonkers, but awesome at the same time. The film also doesn't have any unnecessary exposition, as people talk when they need to talk, and when they do it's actual conversation, not explaining stuff that you can pretty much figure out yourself, as it's not that hard to figure what the plot of the film is in my opinion. Also what separates this film from lets say a Transformers film, is that 90% of the action is all practical, as there is real stunt work and explosions happening in this film, and they only use CGI when it is necessary. For example, they drive through a thunderstorm, and there is thunder and lightning, and we know that's not real and is CG, but the actual chases and explosions are real, and also the desert they are in is actually a desert, and not green-screen. Also another big element of this film, is the characters. Furiosa and the wives are characters that you develop an emotion connection to, as you see that they want out of this shitty wasteland, and that they want actual safety and not be ordered around by a tyrant like Immorten Joe.

Tom Hardy makes a fine replacement for Mel Gibson as Max Rocatansky, but the story isn't about Max, so a lot of people could have played Max in this film, although I did really enjoy Hardy's performance as Max. The story is centered around Furiosa trying to find her home, and Max is there to help her. It has always been that way since Road Warrior. In the original Mad Max it is clearly about Max, as we see him interacting with his family, and also doing his job as a Main Force Patrol officer. In Road Warrior, Max is a drifter who gets caught in a war between oil settlers and bandits. In Thunderdome, Max gets caught in the middle of a struggle for power between Aunty Entity [Tina Turner], the ruler of Bartertown, and a dwarf named Master,who wants to dethrone Aunty Entity. This is another chapter in the life of Max as a drifter, as every Mad Max film is somewhat tonally different [especially Beyond Thunderdome, as that is hardly a Mad Max film until the final 20 minutes], and no characters other than Max return for the sequel. Every Mad Max film after the first could essentially be a reboot, as like I said there isn't really much story continuity besides Max, and even Max barely gets much character development after the first other than becoming a silent emotionless drifter.

However that being said, I did miss Mel in the role, but I completely understand why he wasn't in the film, as he's a bit too old for the character in this film, and he's still blacklisted in Hollywood based on his controversial views, which in my opinion is absolutely ridiculous, as the man is a pro when it comes to acting and directing, and rarely brings his personal life on set, as he commits to a film. I hope we eventually see Mel back as Max in one of the sequels, maybe even the final ever Mad Max film, as they could do a film where Max is near the end of his life, and wants to do one more mission before he dies. Something like that, as not bringing back Mel to the role he made famous would be wrong in my opinion, as he is Mad Max.

Speaking of Charlize Theron, she is excellent in this movie. She is the heart and soul of this film. Her Furiosa is a strong female character, one that has shades of Ellen Ripley [Alien franchise] and Sarah Conner [Terminator franchise]. She is badass, but also very human, as you see how much she cares for the wives, and how determined she is to find the home she was taken from as a child. The wives are also interesting in their own way, as all of them are strong and badass, and have that same desire to survive and get safety like Furiosa.

Another character who is very fascinating is Nux. Nux is a War Boy, and the War Boys are crazy white skinned soldiers that worship Immorten Joe, and they all want to be granted to go to Valhalla, which is heaven for them. There is a great scene with Nux driving a car in the thunderstorm, and him getting very excited and screaming "Oh what a lovely day! What a very lovely day!", and it's so mad and gets you pumped up [well it did for me anyway]. Nux starts off the movie very mad and worshiping Immorten Joe, but then he starts viewing things differently midway through the film, and it's very interesting. Nicholas Hoult gives his most energetic performance yet, as he's great in the film.

The movie is shot to perfection. This movie looks gorgeous. It is seriously one of the best filmed action films I have ever seen. It is beautiful chaos, and there are many shots in this film that look visually appealing. I have gushed over the action, but I'm going to do it again, as the action is seriously amazing. The action is very clear and open, unlike some action films that have shaky cam, and you can barely see what is going on. You can see what is going on in this film, and it's just a masterpiece in action set pieces in my opinion. It's an exercise in how much action can be in one film, and not being bored by it, as the action is done with such great energy to it. I was never bored by the action at all, as it was an adrenaline rush. The stunt team should get around of applause, as they did a terrific job with making the action so spectacular. George Miller should get the biggest applause, as he was the captain abroad the ship. He guided everyone to bring their A game, and they did.

Good luck trying to top this film Hollywood, as there won't be a better action film all year than Mad Max: Fury Road.

I absolutely recommend Mad Max: Fury Road if you enjoyed the first 3 Mad Max films, and if you are a fan of action films that are have great energy to it, and also have badass and interesting characters.