Patreon podcast begins w/ Twin Peaks season 3 rewatch/"films in focus"/guest appearances (Max Clark, Andrew Cook, Em & Steve from No Ship Network) • The Kingdom viewing diary • first season viewing diaries: Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Veronica Mars, The X-Files, The Wire • Star Wars: The Clone Wars film/TV prologues • Celebrating Lost in the Movies' 10th anniversary • TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion • "5 Weeks of Fire Walk With Me" concludes w/ horror/art film/Lynch/original series/season 3 comparisons and Twin Peaks interview: Lindsay Hallam
Chapter 29: Packing the Podcast (January - March 2018)
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Read about this chapter
JANUARY
Joining Patreon as 2018 begins
Reviewing Star Wars' Episode VII to initiate my podcast
My podcast explores how David Lynch's TV pilot-turned-film relates to his popular TV series
Looking back across a half-decade at my short film, which itself looks back on the previous decade
My podcast covers Jean-Pierre Melville's French Resistance classic
A Christopher Nolan double feature on my podcast
FEBRUARY
Pairing two different life stories for my podcast
Chronicling the process of making my Twin Peaks videos
On my podcast, three disparate films characterized by a descent into narrative chaos and disintegrating social norms
A guest joins my podcast to discuss the Blade Runner sequel
My podcast unites a diverse triptych with a common narrative: a young woman struggles internally and externally with forces that seem beyond her control
MARCH
The announcement of an ongoing Twitter thread sharing my whole archive ten pieces at a time
The last double feature for my podcast applies an intense formal focus to themes of violence and social division
A podcast I'd been a guest on many times invited me back to talk about my own podcast
Hard to find the common thread in the films covered by the tenth podcast although they do all have similar outcomes
Announcing my commitment to daily posts (eventually all viewing diaries or podcast episodes)
The first of my "season 1 viewing diaries" for 2018, focused on one of the most popular cable dramas of all time
A high school chemistry teacher finds a new line of work
The sloppy partners in crime have a couple big problems
My podcast couples the first and last Lynch films, with another one as a bonus
A slyly clever flashback prepares us for one of Walter White's dramatic turning points
Walter and Jesse wander into separate stories after their big adventure
Old friends re-open old wounds
The iconic Heisenberg emerges
Concluding the first season as business settles into a groove
Wrapping up the "select a film" reward on my Patreon after three months
Aronofsky's debut feature becomes the first solo film subject of my podcast since the second episode
Introducing the second viewing diary of spring 2018, the season of Mad Men set in 1960
A typical day at the office for Don Draper and the very first day for Peggy Olson
Now that Don's family is part of his story, we split time between the advertising and domestic worlds
The Drapers throw an afternoon party in the suburbs
Pete and Betty both feel unmoored
Haunted by family ghosts in the bright light of day
My podcast gets lost inside Hayao Miyazaki's fantastical world
APRIL
Peggy's career at Sterling Cooper takes a surprising turn
Alcohol and oysters (and age) provide Don with an edge over Roger
Alternating between the Great Depression and the early sixties
Don's golden opportunity and Betty's poignant Coke campaign
Crisis hits the office late at night
Don and Peggy rise together, in different ways
My podcast focuses on one of the most meticulous World War II prison escape movies
From Dick to Don - the story finally gets told (and intercut with a crucial presidential election)
The first season closes quietly and effectively, with a fantasy bidding farewell to the fifties dream and the soundtrack hearkening to the sixties ahead
Revisiting the episode where it all began, twenty-eight years ago...
This documentary weaves together Lynch's personal memories and reflections with footage of him working on his paintings, clips from his early films, and snapshots/home movies of his youth
Screenshots from a vivid, vibrant Lynch doc
Trek's unusual beginning, with a different captain and a premiere not released until after many episodes, films, and spin-offs
Pilot is prologue for my Return rewatch, and I invite a guest to discuss Stanley Kubrick's last film on my first public podcast episode
To pave the way for my eventual Clone Wars viewing diary, I share reviews/discussions of the pre-series films/shows
A much-maligned Star Wars that was generally well-received at first - how does it prepare us for The Clone Wars?
The prequel film that leads directly into The Clone Wars - what can the show continue, and what can it improve?
Before The Clone Wars, there was Clone Wars - gorgeous stained-glass windows in the church of Star Wars
The worst-reviewed Star Wars film by far is actually the 2008 cartoon, but viewed as a pilot for the series it's pretty effective
My former Evangelion conversation partner, who is a big Clone Wars fan, joins me to explain and analyze the film and its style of animation, as well as the series that sprang from it
Re-visiting Jane Campion's arthouse hit twenty-five years later, plus surveying the first season of Twin Peaks for my podcast
Introducing a complete episode guide for the short Danish horror series
A grouchy Swedish doctor is introduced to a strange hospital alongside the audience
Haunted ambulances and basement corridors compete with bizarre misanthropes to foster a weird vibe
Amidst the gothic spookiness, Lars von Trier incorporates screwball comedy
The first season races toward its unexpected final moment
Although created several years later, only a few hours have passed onscreen as the second season begins
My podcast explores season 2 as a single unit (but also at three very different points) while focusing on a film about an early outsider artist
Glimpsing a spare, haunting vision of the afterlife
Decoding a mysterious painting to determine the spiritual structure of the Kingdom hospital
MAY
And so we must be prepared to take the 🕇 with the 😈
The TV phenomenon began life as a movie
Although never officially aired (or even released?) this "episode" has been widely seen and discussed by fans
An ambitious production, shooting at the Twin Peaks locations themselves, makes for a great conversation with the Obnoxious & Anonymous host (we also dive into Cameron's Golden State Killer project)
How does Frost intersect with the film he mostly stayed away from? Plus, my podcast finally catches up with one of the most acclaimed films of the decade...
Aside from my weekly podcast, three first season diaries dominate the last ten weeks leading up to the site's tenth anniversary
Kicking off a murder mystery in a divided Southern California beach town
Wait, is that (*squints*) Paris Hilton? Veronica Mars' parade of uber-zeroes guest stars has begun...
Veronica helps a student track down his missing parent (between the iMac and the DVD rental store, the top image is very much of its time)
Going undercover as a gamer to bust a college student's scam
Veronica investigates her own boyfriend - as well as her dad's new girlfriend
What once seemed to be the post-Twin Peaks era is, in retrospect, the inter-Twin Peaks era...my podcast breaks this down alongside a very unusual dystopian romance
As political fever sweeps Neptune High, Veronica both embraces and questions the populist candidate
One of my favorite episodes explores the apartment community where the Mars live, featuring Jessica Chastain as a troubled young woman whom Veronica wants to help
Veronica's attention is drawn to a controversial website (shades of the work that put Mark Zuckerberg on the map a year earlier)
The detectives' deep dive into a cult proves...surprisingly pleasant
The holiday party thrown by a movie star becomes even more dramatic than you would expect
Our emphasis shifts to another Mars as a serial killer prowls Neptune and the police grudgingly invite their ex-sheriff back to help out
In the last prelude to the Return rewatch, my podcast regards a Hammer horror classic and re-visits questions I posed beforehand to see how they were (and weren't) answered
Neptune High has its own secret society - is that creepy, or just goofy?
While her dad investigates a music industry kidnapping (maybe), Veronica tries to help a grieving classmate figure out his mother's fate
Veronica sticks up for a teacher accused of taking advantage of a student, while her father is hired by the student's parents
Rarely has a quasi-pun title covered so many bases: this episode features an eighties dance, a Russian bride, and an actor named Tom Cruz
A cross-town rivalry gets serious when the teams kidnap each other's mascots; Veronica goes undercover for her own community even though she sympathizes more with the underdog Pan High
While sleuthing for a harassed honors student, Veronica returns to the scene of her friend's death (this entry features my first big guess about the killer's identity)
The Return rewatch begins on the one-year anniversary of the premiere (rounded up here a few days after my podcast episode published on Patreon) - I cover Parts 1 and 2 alongside a British rock film
Nineties darling JTT pops up for a guest appearance full of surprises, as Veronica pursues a potential school bomber
One more relatively light high school mystery before the season heads into its dark, dramatic final stretch
Taking on a case of sexual jealousy and humiliation, Veronica is led to disturbing discoveries about her own life as well
This time, Veronica the detective is working for Veronica the client - it's her own mystery she needs to solve
And finally, who killed Lilly Kane?
JUNE
The X-Files opens with a light rather than a darkness in the woods
The joy of Dougie pairs with the joy of Astaire-Rogers in my twenty-second podcast
The mythology really kicks in, as does the iconic theme song
Shifting gears to the urban and the (quasi-)human
Mulder connects deeply with a UFO case that reminds him of his own lost sister
Urban legend meets rural folklore as The X-Files splits an episode between city and country for the first time (but definitely not the last)
Mulder and Scully take a backseat to a secretary whose boss may be trying to tell her something...from beyond the grave
Going into nineties tech thriller mode, though the hook feels even more relevant decades later
Snapshots of two troubled blondes, one looking up, one looking down: my podcast continues the Return rewatch and tackles a new film in focus, in both cases exploring lives haunted by a big event in 1989
Drawing (pretty directly) from The Thing - or rather its source material - the agents are locked away in an Alaskan science station with a dangerous parasite
Not a popular episode, but I love the part cheesy, part creepy effects in the tale of a possessed ex-astronaut
Mulder goes rogue and connects with an amateur enthusiast who knows his reputation
One of the best early episodes of The X-Files uses a striking color palette and chilling performance to evoke seventies supernatural thrillers
Brits set fire to America once again, as the FBI pursues a psychic pyromaniac and Mulder rekindles a less literal old flame
My favorite episode of the first season introduces Scully's dad (a familiar face for Twin Peaks fans) and offers an unforgettable Brad Dourif performance
My podcast pairs a dark, violent episode with a warm, romantic film
Sharp contrast between metropolitan decadence and quasi-Amish simplicity
Two hearts beat as one - The X-Files dips into police procedural mode (with a twist of course)
An old case re-emerges for Mulder when a supposedly dead killer taunts him
Mulder and Scully plunge deeper into the UFO lore than ever before, racing cross-country to track a mysterious truck
Deep South preacher and faith-healing protégée ring X-Files alarm bells
Searching for a werewolf-like killer on a Native American reservation
Taking a break from films in focus (with one upcoming exception), my podcast centers an unusually plot-heavy Return episode and offers an overview of the sixties Stones
Loggers and environmentalists grapple with a primeval foe deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest
My guests are two veteran podcasters as my podcast reaches the most iconic episode of the new Twin Peaks and a Jane Campion film about a cult deprogrammer (part of the Part 8 conversation is public)
For the first time a monster-of-the-week comes back for seconds
Mulder and Scully shuffle off to Buffalo, pursuing a ghost cop and psychic killer kid
For the last time, one of the first season's favorite devices: a single person occupied by two different presences
The X-Files goes big for the mythology-heavy, high-stakes season 1 finale
A run-of-the-mill murder acquittal (after a witness backs off) launches an investigation with a much larger target, a tale told from two points of view throughout the season
JULY
The Daniels detail settles into an abandoned basement, where it seems both the police and the dealers are hoping they'll fail
My podcast on a quiet Peaks episode and melancholy Dylan montage
Omar bursts on the scene, figuratively and literally (he robs the stash house)
"It's a thin line between heaven and here."
The battle between Omar and the Barksdale organization turns deadly
Wallace experiences a crisis of conscience
Can the season continue to divide its perspective without appearing to take a side?
The cops get more than they planned for with a new informant
The Return rewatch reaches another dark, violent episode; elsewhere my podcast examines events in early seventies Chile
Basketball as the backdrop for a much bigger game, in which Avon isn't merely on the sideline
An episode thick with snitches
The aftermath of a big event has negative ramifications for both sides of Baltimore's battle
With one episode to go, I wonder what's left for the season - and the show
Police and dealers experience jarring ups and downs as the case and season conclude
As part of a longer series, this Peaks community invited me to discuss four episodes leading up to the big one - all kinds of interesting new questions and ideas arise in the midst of our conversation
Chapter 31: An Extended Anniversary (July - September 2018)
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Read about this chapter
My podcast commemorates a full decade of Lost in the Movies
I finally make the pilgrimage to Snoqualmie and North Bend in Washington State, and share my photos of where Twin Peaks was shot
I cover one of the most exciting episodes of The Return as well as a brand new political superstar, and my "Opening the Archive" section begins a new approach, highlighting individual pieces from my past
When I realized that many comments from the past few months had been prevented from posting, I shared them - revealing thoughtful insights into The Wire, The X-Files, Mad Men, and more
The Return rewatch covers Audrey's comeback while "Opening the Archives" delves further into the British New Wave
AUGUST
Rugby and arm wrestling are the sports of the week on my podcast
My longest podcast episode covers one of the most memorable parts of Twin Peaks, a popular left-wing film of the moment, and a Swedish vampire book and adaptation
Death defines my podcast both through this Twin Peaks episode and the "Opening the Archive" vampire remake
For the fiftieth anniversary of the 1968 Chicago protests, my podcast reviews Haskell Wexler's counterculture document, while my Return rewatch juxtaposes Cooper and Diane in a very important episode
SEPTEMBER
Several years later, I finally share extended responses to ten episodes I rewatched after completing my Journey videos
I decided to republish Reddit comments from a 2016 rewatch, presenting them as a spoiler-free guide for first-time viewers of the series
The pilot almost seems to exist in a parallel universe, where there are no more episodes and the premise remains forever suspended in mystery
The charm of getting to know the characters and the town
Twin Peaks hits its most Wild at Heart as David Lynch steps in again
The conclusion of the first phase, full of frustrated longing
Creating a sense of Twin Peaks as a community full of little corners to explore
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S1E6 "Cooper's Dreams"
It's useful to view this episode through the two characters most important to the show: Cooper and Laura
It's useful to view this episode through the two characters most important to the show: Cooper and Laura
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S1E7 "Realization Time"
The writers weave a web that makes the whole community feel connected
The writers weave a web that makes the whole community feel connected
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S1E8 "The Last Evening"
Mark Frost's episode is fast, action-packed, and centered around areas of public community
Mark Frost's episode is fast, action-packed, and centered around areas of public community
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E1 "May the Giant Be With You"
Refreshing if you can relax and let the episode (like the waiter) guide you into the correct frame of mind
Refreshing if you can relax and let the episode (like the waiter) guide you into the correct frame of mind
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E2 "Coma"
Whenever I think of my favorite scenes from this stretch of episodes, most are from this hour
Whenever I think of my favorite scenes from this stretch of episodes, most are from this hour
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E3 "The Man Behind Glass"
Who is this girl Laura Palmer, what did loved ones misunderstand about her life, and what impact does her outsize legacy have for the people left behind?
Who is this girl Laura Palmer, what did loved ones misunderstand about her life, and what impact does her outsize legacy have for the people left behind?
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E4 "Laura's Secret Diary"
The episode is doing stealth work, trying to build an audience for mostly non-Laura-related stories
The episode is doing stealth work, trying to build an audience for mostly non-Laura-related stories
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E5 "The Orchid's Curse"
This is a show all about crossing boundaries and the confusion and occasional clarity these transgressions unleash
This is a show all about crossing boundaries and the confusion and occasional clarity these transgressions unleash
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E6 "Demons"
Lesli Linka Glatter delivers the best evocation of the supernatural/eerie/uncanny this side of Lynch
Lesli Linka Glatter delivers the best evocation of the supernatural/eerie/uncanny this side of Lynch
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E7 "Lonely Souls"
A case could be made for the episode's climax as Lynch's finest work, although the following scene in the Road House is equally superb in its own quiet, devastating way
A case could be made for the episode's climax as Lynch's finest work, although the following scene in the Road House is equally superb in its own quiet, devastating way
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E8 "Drive With a Dead Girl"
Twin Peaks takes a turn toward the Hitchcockian
Twin Peaks takes a turn toward the Hitchcockian
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E9 "Arbitrary Law"
Probably my strongest piece in this Companion, reflecting my ambivalence about this crucial, dynamic episode
Probably my strongest piece in this Companion, reflecting my ambivalence about this crucial, dynamic episode
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E10 "Dispute Between Brothers"
An episode so disastrous I find it kind of riveting
An episode so disastrous I find it kind of riveting
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E11 "Masked Ball"
For all the episode's flaws, the Josie scene feels like exactly what her story was supposed to be: a web of intrigue and desperation, rooted far away but amplified by the mood of the woods
For all the episode's flaws, the Josie scene feels like exactly what her story was supposed to be: a web of intrigue and desperation, rooted far away but amplified by the mood of the woods
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E12 "The Black Widow"
By now I regard this as a genuine camp classic
By now I regard this as a genuine camp classic
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E13 "Checkmate"
The episode begins and ends with a bang, several actually
The episode begins and ends with a bang, several actually
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E14 "Double Play"
Despite enjoying mid-season 2 more than usual on this rewatch, this episode brought that appreciation to a grinding halt
Despite enjoying mid-season 2 more than usual on this rewatch, this episode brought that appreciation to a grinding halt
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E15 "Masters and Slaves"
This and the previous episode may be the twin valleys of Twin Peaks
This and the previous episode may be the twin valleys of Twin Peaks
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E16 "The Condemned Woman"
A face on the sheriff's desk, a face on the breakfast table, a face in...a drawer pull?
A face on the sheriff's desk, a face on the breakfast table, a face in...a drawer pull?
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E17 "Wounds and Scars"
Lots of understated, masterfully controlled long takes and camera movements which really contribute to the episode's "room to breathe" feel
Lots of understated, masterfully controlled long takes and camera movements which really contribute to the episode's "room to breathe" feel
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E18 "On the Wings of Love"
An abundance of charm, spilling over from one sequence in particular
An abundance of charm, spilling over from one sequence in particular
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E19 "Variations on Relations"
Remarkable how coordinated the story feels, with puzzles to solve and characters interacting
Remarkable how coordinated the story feels, with puzzles to solve and characters interacting
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E20 "The Path to the Black Lodge"
The pieces begin to come together here with a sense of an imminent climax and the Lynch iconography and Frost-fueled mythology finally merging
The pieces begin to come together here with a sense of an imminent climax and the Lynch iconography and Frost-fueled mythology finally merging
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E21 "Miss Twin Peaks"
This episode is nothing if not diligent: I don't think there's a single plot point missed as it marches toward the climax
This episode is nothing if not diligent: I don't think there's a single plot point missed as it marches toward the climax
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: S2E22 "Beyond Life and Death"
The Black Lodge is the best example of Lynch performing emergency surgery
The Black Lodge is the best example of Lynch performing emergency surgery
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: Preparing for Fire Walk With Me
I can't say for certain you'll like the film, but I CAN say it's an absolutely crucial part of the narrative
I can't say for certain you'll like the film, but I CAN say it's an absolutely crucial part of the narrative
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: Fire Walk With Me
In 1992, a Reagan Republican shifted the hero of his most popular story from a chipper, straight-arrow FBI agent to a traumatized drug-addicted teenage prostitute
In 1992, a Reagan Republican shifted the hero of his most popular story from a chipper, straight-arrow FBI agent to a traumatized drug-addicted teenage prostitute
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: The ending of Fire Walk With Me
Laura's pain is extremely real but so, ultimately, is her relief
Laura's pain is extremely real but so, ultimately, is her relief
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: The Missing Pieces
Like a collection of short stories circulating around the subject of a great novel
Like a collection of short stories circulating around the subject of a great novel
The show exists in the tension between the two poles of Lynch and Frost
TWIN PEAKS First Time Viewer Companion: episode directory
After posting every hour for thirty-five hours, I rounded up every entry, plus my viewing diary for season 3
After posting every hour for thirty-five hours, I rounded up every entry, plus my viewing diary for season 3
Accompanying my anniversary podcast with many images for a video presentation
The Full Archive for Lost in the Movies
Many chapters and years, summarized and with links to all the archive pages
Patreon update #38 (Twin Peaks season 3 finale - Listener Feedback, The End of Evangelion, additional listener feedback & more) and preview of Jeffries & the Woodsmen in Fire Walk With Me/season 3
Many chapters and years, summarized and with links to all the archive pages
Chapter 32: Finishing the Longest Year (September - December 2018)
OCTOBER
It all returns to nothing...whether you're Shinji Ikari or Carrie Page (podcast episode)
My podcast covers the extraordinary life of Mark Twain, courtesy of Ken Burns' documentary
My Ethan Hawke series continues with a 90s sci-fi thriller, plus I re-visit a 2000 political drama in light of recent news
Alongside a look at the Twin Peaks fandom post-season three, my podcast discusses the Mark Frost-supervised season of Hill Street Blues and revisits my review of Kubrick's horror classic as Halloween approaches
A year after pausing to work out some ambitious concepts, my series of essays finally returns with a few tweaks to the upcoming schedule
Fire Walk With Me is many things: an art film focused on trauma, a multifaceted participant in the horror genre, an example of Lynch's cinematic aesthetics and themes, and the culminating episode of a TV show
NOVEMBER
Halloween hits my podcast as I review the John Carpenter slasher classic, revisit my coverage of early Universal horror, and analyze the Twin Peaks movie as part of the same genre
What do their mirror reflections tell Nana, Adriana, Alma, Suzanne, Weronika, Laura, and Audrey? My podcast explores the Laura Palmer study in light of European art cinema, as well as the backstory to Sherilyn Fenn's appearance in season 3
Tracing every way that the Showtime series echoes, extends, transforms, and celebrates the once-maligned film that preceded it
Two poignant tales of modern-day martyrs: linking Twin Peaks film and new season, plus my archive review of an Indian classic
My talk with the author of a new book that explores the film's connection to recent art horror, trauma cinema, and classic melodrama, as well as Lynch's important collaborators
The diverse approach of my podcast encompasses Mickey Mouse, Leo Tolstoy, and Laura Palmer - in the last case, discussing my recent Twin Peaks author interview
My Ethan Hawke podcast miniseries reaches the 00s while I look at the place of Lynch's sixth film in his oeuvre and revisit a review of the '69 Tolstoy adaptation from my archive
DECEMBER
My podcast covers "the Facebook movie" as it relates to 2004, 2010, and 2018, plus concluding my War and Peace archive review and exploring Fire Walk With Me's roots in various Twin Peaks episodes
Nothing goes better together than a deep dive into narcotic states of consciousness and a melancholy Peanuts TV special as my podcast offers the first of a couple Christmas-y episodes
Christmas continues on my podcast when I revisit a lengthy review of the holiday classic and follow up with the Before... pair in Paris after 9 years
At year's end, I slow down the podcast pace as my sci-fi conversation from the spring goes public
(I covered this period on Episodes 27 and 28 of my Patreon podcast)
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