Patreon update #49: The Social Network (+ the Angela Nagle immigration controversy, LeftTube, Fire Walk With Me as Twin Peaks episode, the RR counter/the ring in season 3, Disney's aesthetics/ideology, the Hollywood War and Peace & more)

The Social Network - which I've been planning to make a film in focus since June - is a movie I've covered a couple times before, first in a review/discussion disguised as a Facebook page and later as a visual tribute alternating between the film's images of paper and plastic as methods of communication. This time I take a more straightforward approach and reflect on the film's triple status: as a document of the early 2000s when Facebook was born, as a reflection of the turn-of-the-decade when the film was released, and as an artifact explored in today's context when Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg have become deeply entangled in our political and cultural landscape.

Speaking of politics and culture, I've been waiting a couple weeks until I could devote an entire "other topics" section to the backlash against Angela Nagle, author of the popular but controversial Kill All Normies, who recently wrote an essay attacking the left's position on open borders. I think both her approach and the reaction to her speak of a growing rift on the left, a phenomenon I've already begun to explore on previous episodes. I've had a lot to say about this on Twitter and hopefully here I'm able to organize various responses into a cohesive analysis of what's going on, with Nagle and with the left and the issue of immigration more broadly.

This podcast also concludes the exploration of my "4 Ways to Watch Fire Walk With Me" study by examining that film in relation to a dozen Twin Peaks episodes, continues a conversation with listeners about Sherilyn Fenn's and Audrey Horne's on/offscreen stories in The Return, and follows up my two-part review of the Soviet War and Peace by dipping into the archive for my review of the Hollywood adaptation, directed by King Vidor and starring Audrey Hepburn, Mel Ferrer, and Henry Fonda.

Episode 48: The Social Network (+ the Angela Nagle immigration controversy, LeftTube, Fire Walk With Me as Twin Peaks episode, the RR counter/the ring in season 3, Disney's aesthetics/ideology, the Hollywood War and Peace & more)

Line-up for Episode 48

INTRO

WEEKLY UPDATE/recent posts: added Christmas highlight to the sidebar

WEEKLY UPDATE/work in progress: Twin Peaks blu-ray features & John Thorne interview for podcasts

TWIN PEAKS REFLECTIONS: Fire Walk With Me as Twin Peaks episode

FILM IN FOCUS: The Social Network

OTHER TOPICS: Controversy over Angela Nagle's "The Left Case Against Open Borders", podcast recommendation

LISTENER FEEDBACK: LeftTube recommendations, the RR counter scene, Leland/Bob, Teresa's ring, the Pink Room & the Red Room, Twin Peaks truckers, the aesthetics & ideology of Disney

OPENING THE ARCHIVE: War and Peace

OUTRO

BECOME A PATRON

Patreon update #48: Training Day (+ Fire Walk With Me as Lynch project, the Soviet War and Peace - 1812 & Pierre, Jonathan, CNN's The 2000s, Twin Peaks fan theories, Ocasio-Cortez clapbacks, Bernie 2020? & more) and preview of Lady Bird review

Just in time for November, my monthly Ethan Hawke series continues with Training Day - a film mostly celebrated for Denzel Washington's iconic performance as a corrupt LAPD cop but also including an Oscar-nominated turn by Hawke as the rookie protagonist. My "Twin Peaks Reflections" attention to the recent Fire Walk With Me essay resumes; I analyze the Twin Peaks movie as a David Lynch project. I also conclude the reading of my War and Peace essay for "Opening the Archive." There are two long sections this week, as I delve into political subjects I discussed on Twitter in "Other Topics" and share extensive listener feedback for my last couple episodes. At the outset of the episode I lay out more specific plans for 2019, as some tiers will shift and a new Twin Peaks project will launch; meanwhile, for my biweekly preview I share parts of an upcoming review of Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird.

Lady Bird, 2017, dir. Greta Gerwig (November "See the Future" Preview #2 - 2nd tier reward)

Episode 47: Training Day (+ Fire Walk With Me as Lynch project, the Soviet War and Peace - 1812 & Pierre, Jonathan, CNN's The 2000s, Twin Peaks fan theories, Ocasio-Cortez clapbacks, Bernie 2020? & more)

Line-up for Episode 47

INTRO

ANNOUNCEMENT - 2019 Plans for 1st/2nd tier restructure & Twin Peaks rewatch

WEEKLY UPDATE/Patreon: 2nd tier biweekly preview - Lady Bird

WEEKLY UPDATE/work in progress: Cinepoem, Mad Men viewing diary, Mary Shelley review

TWIN PEAKS REFLECTIONS: Fire Walk With Me as Lynch project

FILM IN FOCUS: Training Day

OTHER TOPICS: Jonathan, Ollie Klublershturf vs. the Nazis, random TV viewings, CNN's 2000s documentary - I Want My MP3/The iDecade/The Financial Crisis, CGI Lion King, CBS sports montage, John Carpenter's special effects, Dr. Amp's early musical, The Magnificent Ambersons on Criterion, Evangelion on Netflix, Nicolas Roeg & Bernardo Bertolucci died, ridiculous Dear Prudence letter, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez clapbacks, Stephen Hawking vs. Joe Lieberman at 2000 Democratic convention, "Thomas Jefferson" disses Ocasio-Cortez, donut Twitter celebrates the new Democratic Caucus chair, Bernie Sanders' "not racist" statement, should Sanders run in 2020?, Eric Erickson celebrates Augusto Pinochet, podcast recommendations

LISTENER FEEDBACK: my disclaimer about how I'll respond, Michael & Us covers Donnie Darko, Judy as repetition, different versions of the Palmer house, One Eyed Jack's & spirit world, Teresa & the dirt mound, Cooper leading Carrie to her death?, Laura & the ring, Lynch vs. Frost on Judy, do theories overlook flaws?

OPENING THE ARCHIVE: War and Peace (Soviet adaptation) 

OUTRO

BECOME A PATRON

Patreon update #47: Steamboat Willie's 90th anniversary & 9 other classic Mickey Mouse cartoons (+ Lindsay Hallam's Fire Walk With Me book, the Soviet War and Peace - Andrei & Natalya, Democrats in the midterms, Vic Berger's Walkaway video, Nazis vs. MAGA normies, Armistice Day, Halloween/political podcast recommendations & more)

Mickey Mouse, Laura Palmer, and Leo Tolstoy star in this week's eclectic podcast episode (with guest appearances by Vic Berger, Kurt Vonnegut, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez). In some ways, though, the lead subject is Lindsay Hallam, an author whom I interviewed last week about her new book on Fire Walk With Me. "Twin Peaks Reflections," continuing its synchronization with my "5 Weeks of Fire Walk With Me" series, discusses that book and the talk we had about. My film in focus becomes films in focus as I celebrate not just the ninetieth anniversary of Steamboat Willie, the first-distributed and first-sound-designed Mickey Mouse cartoon, on November 18, 2018, but also nine more Mickey shorts from the thirties, ranging from sharp black-and-white to lavish Technicolor. These were a lot of fun to revisit.

The bulk of the episode, however, is consumed by a mammoth "other topics" discussion, my first in about a month. There are a few readings or viewings to touch on but, aside from a lengthy segue on Halloween podcasts, the topics are mostly political. A couple weeks after the fact, I finally offer my response to the "blue wave" (or was it?) midterm elections and some of the spillover into the already-coalescing new Congress. I share a hilarious Vic Berger video about a rally gone wrong (including some audio), muse on the ridiculous but unsettling exchanges between fascists and run-of-the-mill Republicans on Twitter, and reflect on the centenary of Armistice Day. And of course, I offer another big round-up of podcast episodes, all featuring a political context but with subjects ranging from existentialism to the Haitian Revolution.

The podcast closes with part one of my War and Peace review from ten years ago, discussing the Soviet adaptation's structure and the parts focused on the characters of Andrei and Natalya. I'll pick up with the 1812 and Pierre sections next week - see you on the other side of Thanksgiving.

Oh and one more thing - early on the episode, I discuss some potential ideas for my approach to both Patreon and Journey Through Twin Peaks in the new year. Expect more concrete plans for this in the next few weeks including some public Patreon posts.

Episode 46: Steamboat Willie's 90th anniversary & 9 other classic Mickey Mouse cartoons (+ Lindsay Hallam's Fire Walk With Me book, the Soviet War and Peace - Andrei & Natalya, Democrats in the midterms, Vic Berger's Walkaway video, Nazis vs. MAGA normies, Armistice Day, Halloween/political podcast recommendations & more)


Line-up for Episode 46

INTRO

THOUGHTS ON MY APPROACH TO PATREON & TWIN PEAKS VIDEOS IN 2019 (plus a brief update on my Lindsay Hallam interview)

TWIN PEAKS REFLECTIONS: Lindsay Hallam's Fire Walk With Me book & my interview with her

FILM IN FOCUS: Steamboat Willie (+ 9 Mickey Mouse shorts from the 30s)

OTHER TOPICS: The 2018 Midterms & Democrats in the House, Hill Street Blues, Mary Shelley and biopics, Frankenstein LIFE special edition, Halloween podcast recommendations, Vic Berger's Walkaway video, Nazis vs. "normie conservatives", Kurt Vonnegut & a centenarian on Armistice Day, political podcast recommendations

OPENING THE ARCHIVE: War and Peace (Soviet version)

OUTRO

BECOME A PATRON

War and Peace

When I watched and reviewed the Russian War and Peace last month, I was very focused on how closely it followed the book. I'd just finished reading Tolstoy's masterpiece and was fascinated by the ways in which Sergei Bondarchuk's 1968 adaptation reflected (or didn't reflect) the novel's form as well as its content. At seven hours, that War and Peace was certainly able to cram in much of the novel's story, but it was also interested in mirroring the book's purposeful shapelessness - the way it wanders and rumbles along without one clear, delineated narrative arc. King Vidor's 1956 Hollywood opus, on the other hand, does attempt to streamline the 1300-page book and is ultimately - perhaps inevitably - defeated in the process. But it's a pleasurable experience nonetheless and after reading and watching the more ambitious attempts, it's this version which is most satisfying for me right now. Bondarchuk's version may be more impressive, but it's Vidor's version (a bastardization, vulgarization, or purification depending upon your sensibility) that is more entertaining moment-to-moment.

War and Peace

Opening on barren, empty battlefields, whizzing past telephoto close-ups of grass and dirt with a bizarre, avant-garde audio collage enveloping the soundtrack, then soaring into the sky through clouds to reveal a breathtaking panorama, War and Peace immediately confounds expectations that it will be pedantic, stuffy, and overly solemn. Which is appropriate because the book it is adapting is similarly light on pretension and nimble in style, a fact often overlooked when regarding the tome's massive length, all-inclusive title, and daunting literary reputation. Like Tolstoy, Soviet director Sergei Bondarchuk delves into his material with gusto. War and Peace stutters and missteps more than the book it adapts - though it is often smoother as well - but Tolstoy's masterpiece also has an uneven quality - which is ironically one of its major strengths.