My new plan for Lost in the Movies essentially broke Journey Through Twin Peaks into its component parts: Twin Peaks as a central touchstone, television as a subject, and video essays as a favored approach. Once a month I offered either an update on the new Peaks' progress or gathered memories of the old Peaks, every week I reviewed another episode of True Detective (season one and, as it aired, season two) and/or Neon Genesis Evangelion, and as often as possible I submitted a new video essay to Fandor Keyframe, where I had been invited to contribute by Kevin B. Lee (whom I interviewed in the spring as part of my effort to dig deeper into this exciting new form). I also tried to slowly make my way through my own DVD collection but that never got very far, although I still get a few movie reviews in here and there.
Subjects include the Quay brothers' oneiric world, Maya Deren and quantum physics, the value of fandom, a wide-ranging discussion of a Woody Allen book, and Kevin B. Lee's "desktop documentary" analyzing the socio-economic implications of a Transformers production.
Learning to Look: Eye Contact in Satyajit Ray's The Big City is not only my highlight for this period, but one of my strongest video essays - and pound for pound, perhaps my best work of criticism, period.
MARCH
I took a long breather after Journey Through Twin Peaks, and then set my course for upcoming work
My first written film review in six months: a Polish film about Nazi concentration camps, shot by and starring survivors
With a new Twin Peaks book hitting the shelves, I took the opportunity for another interview
Screenshots from the climactic sequence of True Detective, which I'd just finished watching (and was about to publish a viewing diary for)
APRIL
Announcing the debut of my viewing diary format
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Did David Lynch just quit Twin Peaks?!
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Celebrating Twin Peaks' twenty-fifth anniversary in the immediate shadow of a potential crisis
Interviewing the master video essayist about his short film analyzing the global production of a Transformers sequel and the broader cultural and economic implications
The Voice of the Video Essay: conversation with Kevin B. Lee (Part 2 of 3) on video essay aesthetics
The aesthetics of making, and watching, video essays - the discussion continues (with lots of examples)
The (then-)future concludes our discussion; will the video essay merge with the essay film or create something new? (with more examples)
Kicking off my first viewing diary, writing about each episode after seeing it for the first time
Randomly reviewing a Jacques Rivette film in a year that would end up very Rivette-heavy
The mystery begins with a body in a Louisiana field
A shot-by-shot breakdown of Asuka's meltdown in Neon Genesis Evangelion episode 22
Whispers of the Yellow King
MAY
A shift in my sensibility framed by V.F. Perkins' book and Twin Peaks
Martin Hart's personal life is cracking up as the detectives circle closer to a prime suspect
My first video essay for Fandor (and my first since Journey Through Twin Peaks), on the peculiar world of the Quay brothers
A detour into a biker gang subplot and a one-shot wonder sequence mark perhaps the most episodic hour of the show
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Comments from the brief era when the future of a Lynch-directed Twin Peaks season 3 was in doubt
In a surprise move, the series changes course and leaps ahead
Sham psychic tries to go straight (or does he?)
Maybe my favorite episode, as the detectives' personal struggles come to the fore
JUNE
Transferring my film clip series to Vimeo for higher quality and adding a couple more clips that were supposed to be in at the time
Is it all coming together now?
Screenshots from a teleplay using its form in interesting ways
Into the heart of Carcosa...
How I remember experiencing each big turning point in Twin Peaks back in 2008
Rounding up my first season reviews along with all the striking screenshots I couldn't find a place for until now
My growing interest in the phenomenon of fandom, observed through the lens of Twin Peaks, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and the Star Wars prequels
Offering a refresher on the first episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion with Bob Clark and Japanese writer Murderous Ink before resuming the episode guide
I finished True Detective season 1 just in time to move onto season 2 while it aired on HBO in the summer of 2015
Reacting to the True Detective season 2 premiere with ambivalence
What do a raven and a hitman have in common?
JULY
Asuka's arrival resumes my Evangelion coverage in the year the show takes place in (includes conversation with Bob Clark and Murderous Ink)
The friendly bus driver and his passengers, happy, sad, and everything in between
One of my favorite video essays analyzes eye contact in a film about the birth of a saleswoman
Using Dance Dance Revolution to slay the Angels (includes conversation with Bob Clark and Murderous Ink)
Dreaming of a Conrad Twitty impersonator on True Detective
A serial killer's requiem for a massacre
Again, a shootout slices a True Detective season in half
All you need is lava (includes conversation with Bob Clark and Murderous Ink)
Hitting the lucky number anniversary on my site
How do the images of Maya Deren align with the world as seen by quantum physics?
As season 2 moves forward it also trips over itself
Attack of the giant spider Angel (includes conversation with Bob Clark and Murderous Ink)
Almost three-quarters of the way into the season, finally a really excellent episode
"What motivates you to fight against the Angels?" (includes conversation with Bob Clark and Murderous Ink)
How did different Twin Peaks fans respond to major moments in the series when viewing for the first time?
AUGUST
With a dramatic death and a dramatic coming together, the season approaches its conclusion
Ritsuko fights the Angel virus (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
My video essay juxtaposes two films, decades apart, in which Victor Sjostrom faces Death in an old carriage
Discussing a new study of Allen's work
After a shaky season, True Detective heads into the woods - and the desert - for a truly Californian finale
Evangelion puts its own spin on the clip-show cliche (includes conversation with Bob Clark)
(I covered this period on Episode 21 of my Patreon podcast)
Next: A World Without Uncertainty (August - December 2015)
(in which the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule begins, anchored by Neon Genesis Evangelion)
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Previous: Journeying into Twin Peaks (July 2014 - February 2015)
(in which the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule begins, anchored by Neon Genesis Evangelion)
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Previous: Journeying into Twin Peaks (July 2014 - February 2015)
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