Lost in the Movies: The Last Weekly Patreon Update: John Thorne conversation, Pt. 1 / Before Midnight & Boyhood (+ Kevin B. Lee/video essay history, La Vieja Memoria, La Haine, Lost in Translation, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Dogville, Persona, Death by Hanging, All the President's Men, Emak-Bakia, Faust, Cria Cuervos, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Cold War, BlacKkKlansman, La Religieuse, Mary Sweeney's short film, AOC hits Congress, podcast recommendations & much, much more)

The Last Weekly Patreon Update: John Thorne conversation, Pt. 1 / Before Midnight & Boyhood (+ Kevin B. Lee/video essay history, La Vieja Memoria, La Haine, Lost in Translation, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Dogville, Persona, Death by Hanging, All the President's Men, Emak-Bakia, Faust, Cria Cuervos, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Cold War, BlacKkKlansman, La Religieuse, Mary Sweeney's short film, AOC hits Congress, podcast recommendations & much, much more)


The first part of a three part, two-and-half interview with legendary Twin Peaks scholar John Thorne, creator of Wrapped in Plastic and The Blue Rose magazines, highlights this epic five-hour episode (if you plan to listen to the whole thing, and probably even if you don't, you will want to break it into several listening sessions). I've made twenty minutes of this segment public on YouTube - if you like what you hear, and want to hear more, you can access the rest of the interview as a patron over the next several months.


Episode 51 also includes my first double feature film in focus since last winter, and that's only the surface of its bounty which also includes my reading of a dozen archive reviews, brief thoughts on another dozen or so films or TV shows I watched in the past month, updates on many different projects I've been working on, reflections on a very tumultuous month in politics, pieces of listener feedback across several different platforms, and a dive into the work of Kevin B. Lee and the history of video essays. The links section is equally epic, including probably a hundred different resources based on what I discuss in the episode.


Episode 51A: Film Viewing Diary & Political Topics
(The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Cold War, BlacKkKlansman, La Religieuse, Bohemian Rhapsody, Aquaman, The American Meme, Mary Sweeney's short film, second seasons of Mad Men & Veronica Mars, Inside Out, Thirteen, Derry Girls, Hill Street Blues, Christmas film songs, best year in film history, AOC hits Congress, fair use history of a dance meme + intro, updates, podcast recommendations & more)

(+ Kevin B. Lee/video essay history & Opening the Archive favorite films #100-90: La Vieja Memoria, La Haine, Lost in Translation, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Dogville, Persona, Death by Hanging, All the President's Men, Emak-Bakia, Faust, Cria Cuervos)

(+ listener feedback: the Owl Cave ring, spirituality vs. psychology, Ray Wise, LeftTube recommendations & more)


This is by far the longest podcast I've ever released, so long that I couldn't even fit it all in one file and had to upload in installments. Initially, I planned for this episode to launch a whole new, more sprawling approach to this endeavor, dividing my usual catch-all "Other Topics" into a bunch of new sub-categories like "Media Journal,"  "Lost in Politics" (not sure about that title though!). I even incorporated new musical cues for each section. However, given both the time this took and especially feedback I was getting from patrons before I'd even recorded the podcast, I've reconsidered. Instead of the first volley, this will be a last hurrah for my year-long, eclectic approach to Patreon.

I knew going into January that it would be a transformative month for my Patreon, but it ended up being more transformative than expected. When the month began, I planned to make up for fewer podcasts with more text posts (weekly progress reports and opening up the biweekly previews to all patrons) and, as mentioned, a beefed-up monthly rather than weekly podcast. What I heard from patrons is that all of this was just too overwhelming. Since I began the Patreon, my main worry has been not providing enough of a reward for loyal readers and listeners but it turns out that for most people, less is more and too many options can be exhausting.

So from now on, I'm simplifying my approach to Patreon: each month there will be one Twin Peaks rewatch podcast for the $5 patrons, one podcast for all patrons (featuring a random Twin Peaks topic or interview, an archive section reading old film reviews, some listener feedback, and very brief updates and podcast recommendations). Eventually I may create a public podcast that serves a similar function to this episode, providing me an outlet to discuss everything that's on my mind across many topics and experiences. But I don't think Patreon is the right platform for that - better to keep the rewards centered on what most people become patrons to support.

I also received some really helpful feedback about this site; due to its rather antiquated blog format, something I've struggled against since the earliest days of Lost in the Movies but never really overcome, readers find it a real challenge to navigate. Expect some major changes, the biggest in the site's history, within the next few months as I attempt to convert the homepage from "here's a newsroll of the latest work, with a crowded, confusing sidebar full of information squeezed in" to, hopefully, "welcome to the broad range of my online work, here are the easiest ways to find what you're looking for in a few clear-cut categories (oh, and here's my latest piece as well)." 2019 will be another big year for Lost in the Movies, not least because - hopefully by the time I publish my next now-monthly update - I will soon begin work on the next Journey Through Twin Peaks videos.

Here's everything else I posted in the past week on Patreon:



51A

ANNOUNCEMENT about new podcast format

INTRO to podcast line-up (the order changed when I split up the podcast)

MONTHLY UPDATE/main site - True Detective viewing diary, Black/White featured for January, updated directories & picture gallery, updated Fire Walk With Me/Missing Pieces comparison, considering site revisions

MONTHLY UPDATE/Patreon - new reward structure (biweekly previews are ending but archives are open to all patrons, monthly podcast, Lost in Twin Peaks rewatch podcast), Lost in Twin Peaks: Missing Pieces, biweekly previews: Civil War Cinepoem/Warden & limo driver/La La Land, shared Blade Runner 2049 & Top 12 video essays on YouTube, weekly journals, new welcome video, preview poll

MONTHLY UPDATE/behind the scenes - Cinepoem: Verses From War & What the Soul Desires (& full Cinepoem compilation), 3 1/2 Minute Review: The Wind in the Willows, Side by Side: The Big Chill/The Return of the Secaucus Seven, The Unseen: Inside Out, random reviews: Thirteen, Mad Men season 2 viewing diary, Veronica Mars season 2 viewing diary, future approach to updates 

MEDIA JOURNAL
AQUAMAN
THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS
LA RELIGIEUSE
WAKING DREAM (Mary Sweeney's short film)
THE AMERICAN MEME
COLD WAR
BLACKKKLANSMAN
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
TV - Finding Jesus, Seinfeld, The Marvelous Ms. Maisel, Derry Girls, CNN decade documentaries (The Nineties, The Eighties, The Seventies) - right wing terrorism & Ted Bundy, Baby Shark, Hill Street Blues season 4, Patriots vs. Chiefs in AFC championship, Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder heavyweight boxing - Fury's breakdown/scandal, partial viewings (Christmas movies & random romcoms & TV shows & kids' programs), Christmas film songs (The Muppet Christmas Carol, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas), Band Aid
BOOKS - Room to Dream, Classics Illustrated, need to re-start Das Kapital
MUSIC - Evolution of my 2000s mix CDs
ARTICLES - What was the best year for movies? (1939, 1946, 1955, 1974, 1982, 1999, 2007) & my pick (1966), Cinema Enthusiast's film year round-ups

LOST IN POLITICS? - Old western show related to Trump's wall, AOC in Congress, other freshman progressives, inside/outside strategy, AOC dance video & related video/meme/copyright context, Green New Deal, Congressional committees, AOC on 60 Minutes appearance, 70% marginal tax rate, Democrats uncomfortable w/ AOC, MAGA teens in DC, Adolph Reed & DSA Momentum, 2020 candidates including Tulsi Gabbard, Beto O'Rourke's brief surge

PODCAST RECOMMENDATIONS including ambivalence about Dead Pundits Society, end of the USSR, Elizabeth Warren, documentary about Air America, & "a Marxist-Reaganist film podcast" 

51B

FILM IN FOCUS - Before Midnight

OPENING THE ARCHIVE - Boyhood, pt. 1

FILM IN FOCUS - Boyhood, pt. 2

OPENING THE ARCHIVE - Introducing The Favorites
#100 LA VIEJA MEMORIA
#99 LA HAINE
#98 LOST IN TRANSLATION
#97 CELINE AND JULIE GO BOATING
#96 DOGVILLE
#95 PERSONA
#94 DEATH BY HANGING
#93 ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN
#92 EMAK-BAKIA
#91 FAUST
#90 CRIA CUERVOS

SUBJECT OF THE MONTH: Kevin B. Lee & the history of video essays 

51C

TWIN PEAKS REFLECTIONS - John Thorne conversation, pt. 1

LISTENER FEEDBACK - The Missing Pieces, Mr. C's speaking style, roses disappear from Laura's painting, Ray Wise behind the scenes in season 3, Lynch & Frost collaboration/relationship, Harley Peyton writing Shelly/Gordon & abandoning the Audrey/Cooper romance, interpretations of the ring, psychology vs. spirituality, Fire Walk With Me as different genres, Noelle's LeftTube recommendations, Angela Nagle's MO, Dmitri's LeftTube podcast recommendations, Night World, Street of Crocodiles, Neon Genesis Evangelion, my video essays Learning to Look & Not Just O.J., honorary Oscars, Blade Runner 2049, first Twin Peaks video, True Detective season 3

OUTRO

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