A Movie A Day #115: Zero Tolerance (1994, directed by Joseph Mehri)

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

In Zero Tolerance, Robert Patrick plays Jeff Douglas, an FBI agent who is sent down to Mexico to pick up a recently captured drug dealer. Ray Manta (Titus Welliver) is the head of the White Hand drug cartel and he is not happy about having been arrested. When Ray tells Jeff that his entire family is being held hostage and will be killed unless Ray is allowed to escape, Jeff demands that Ray give him his word that no harm will come to his wife and children. Ray gives his “word of honor,” not realizing that his associates have already killed Jeff’s family. Jeff is now out for revenge and he is not going to let the FBI, with its rules and procedures, stand in his way. Jeff is not only out to get Ray. He is also going to track down and kill every member of the White Hand, which includes everyone from Mick Fleetwood (yes, that Mick Fleetwood) to Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter (playing almost exactly the same role that he played in Marked for Death and Only The Strong) to Ator the Invincible himself, Miles O’Keeffe.

(How much keeffe is in this movie? Miles O’Keeffe! Ha ha, that never gets old!)

Robert Patrick is one of those actors who can make any movie worth watching and Zero Tolerance, an otherwise forgettable revenge flick, is proof of that. No one plays a revenge seeking killing machine with as much panache as Robert Patrick. After his family is killed, Patrick crosses the country, stopping everywhere from New Orleans and Las Vegas and seeing vengeance with a determination that almost makes Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood seem mellow by comparison. This is the type of movie where Robert Patrick literally drives his car through the side of a helicopter and, even after the helicopter explodes, still emerges unscathed.

There’s only one man who could pull that off.

Robert Patrick.

A Movie A Day #114: Scavenger Hunt (1979, directed by Michael Schultz)

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

When game designer Milton Parker (Vincent Price) dies, all of his greedy relatives and his servants gather for the reading of his will. Parker’s lawyer, Benstein (Robert Morley), explains that Parker is leaving behind a $200 million dollar estate to whoever can win an elaborate scavenger hunt. Dividing into five teams, the beneficiaries head out to track down as many items as they can by five o’clock that evening. Among the items that they have to find: a toilet, a cash register, an ostrich, a microscope, and an obese person. Hardy har har.

The five teams are made up of a who’s who of sitcom and television actors who had time to kill in 1979. The Odd Couple‘s Tony Randall is Henry Motely, who is Parker’s son-in-law and who works with his four children. Soap‘s Richard Mulligan plays a blue-collar taxi driver named Marvin Dummitz (because funny names are funny) who teams up with his friend, Merle (Stephen Furst). The Mary Tyler Moore Show‘s Cloris Leachman (an Oscar winner, no less) gets stuck with the role of Milton’s greedy sister, Mildred. She works with her conniving lawyer (Richard Benjamin) and her stupid son (Richard Masur). Maureen Teefy plays Milton’s niece while his nephews are played by Willie Aames and Dirk Benedict. Cleavon Little, James Coco, Roddy McDowall, and Stephanie Faracy play the servants.

It doesn’t stop there, though. Avery Schreiber plays a zookeeper. Meat Loaf plays a biker who beats up Richard Benjamin. Ruth Gordon, Stuart Pankin, Pat McCormick, and Scatman Crothers all have cameos. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger makes an appearance as a gym instructor who knocks Tony Randall out of a second story window.

There are a lot of famous people in Scavenger Hunt. It’s just too bad that the movie itself is barely watchable and not at all funny. It tries to go for the zaniness of It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World but, unless watching Willie Aames steal a clown head from Jack in the Box is your idea of hilarity, the film never comes close to succeeding. Michael Schultz directed some classic films (like Car Wash) during the 1970s but, unfortunately, he also directed Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and this.

Scavenger Hunt used to show up on a late night television, where it was always advertised as starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. (He barely has five minutes of screentime.) It was released on DVD/Blu-ray earlier this year but watching for the cameos is the only reason to take part in this Scavenger Hunt.

A Movie A Day #113: Mother Night (1996, directed by Keith Gordon)

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Four years after she played the mysterious (and dead) Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks, Sheryl Lee starred as another mysterious (and possibly dead) woman in Mother Night.

Lee is cast as Helga Noth, the German wife of American expatriate Harold W. Campbell (Nick Nolte). Harold is a playwright, living in Berlin and doing propaganda broadcasts for the Nazis. Working with Frank Wirtanen (John Goodman), a military intelligence officer, Campbell has developed a series of verbal tics that are meant to secretly deliver information to the Allied Forces. It is never clear whether Harold’s information serves any real purpose just as it is left ambiguous as to whether Harold believes any of the anti-Semitic propaganda that he broadcasts over the airwaves. Working as both a propagandist and a double agent, Harold serves both the Allies and the Axis.

In the final days of the war, Helga is reportedly killed on the Eastern Front and Harold is captured by the Americans. Frank arranges for Harold to be quietly sent to New York City but tells him that the government will never admit that they used him as a double agent.

Harold spends the next fifteen years living an isolated life in New York. His only friend is an elderly painter, Kraft (Alan Arkin), with whom he plays chess. Eventually, Harold opens up to the painter and talks about his past. Kraft, for his own shady reasons, reveals Harold’s identity to a group of neo-Nazis. Though Harold initially wants nothing to do with them, this changes when they reveal that they have Helga.

Or do they? Almost no one in Mother Night is who they claim or what they seem to be, especially not Harold.

Based on a novel by Kurt Vonnegut, Mother Night suffers from the same uneven quality that seems to afflict most films based on Vonnegut’s work. It is easy to go overboard when it comes to bringing Vonnegut’s unique mix of drama and satire to the screen and Mother Night does that in a few scenes, especially once Harold reaches New York. It is still an intriguing and thought-provoking film, though. Nick Nolte gives one of his best performances as Harold and Sheryl Lee does a good job in a difficult role.

The pinnacle of Vonnegut films remains George Roy Hill’s version of Slaughterhouse-Five but Mother Night is still superior to something like Alan Rudolph’s adaptation of Breakfast of Champions.

A Movie A Day #112: The Trial (1993, directed by David Jones)

Posted on April 29, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

One morning, in turn of the century Prague, Josef K. (Kyle MacLachlan) wakes up to discover that two detectives are in his room. They tell him that he is under arrest but they do not tell him the charges. Josef remains free to go about his everyday life but he must report to the court whenever the court deems to see him. No matter where Josef turns or who he talks to, he cannot get any answers concerning what he has been charged with. Even his disinterested attorney (Jason Robards) can not give him a straight answer on why he is being prosecuted. No matter how much Josef protests that he is innocent of whatever has been accused of, his fate has already been decided.

On paper, this film version of Franz Kafka’s classic novel sound like it should be a masterpiece. The film was shot on location in Prague, the script was written by Harold Pinter, and Kyle MacLachlan seems like the perfect choice for Josef K. Unfortunately, director David Jones takes a very straightforward approach to the material and does not exploit the story’s nightmarish qualities. This is a version of Kafka that could easily play on Masterpiece Theater. (The perfect choice to direct The Trial would have been MacLachlan’s frequent director, David Lynch.) MacLachlan does well as Josef K. but he is overshadowed by a steady and distracting stream of cameos from actors like Anthony Hopkins, Alfred Molina, and David Thewlis.

Despite not being totally faithful to its source material, Orson Welles’s 1962 adaptation, which stars Anthony Perkins as Josef K., remains the version to see.

TV Review: Twin Peaks 2.20 “The Path to the Black Lodge” (directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal)

Posted on April 29, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Welcome back to Twin Peaks!

Our latest episode begins with a closeup of Rusty Tomasky’s (Ted Raimi) face as the members of the Twin Peaks police force struggle to get the giant paper mache chess piece out of the gazebo. While this goes on, one of Rusty’s friends talks to Andy (Harry Goaz), Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) and Harry (Michael Ontkean). Rusty was in a band and was supposed to play a gig at Snake River. On the way there, a tire went out on the van and a man emerged from the woods, wanting to know if Rusty wanted some “brew.” Rusty’s friend starts to cry, which makes Andy cry.

Cooper says that Windom has taken another pawn but he did not tell them his next move. “Windom Earle is playing off the board.”

The next morning, at the sheriff’s station, Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) asks Andy what he knows about saving the planet. Andy says that styrofoam never dies and people need to stop tossing their beer cans into Pearl Lake. Lucy says that tomorrow will be D-Day, “Dad day.” She will be choosing her baby’s father, either Andy Brennan or Dick Tremayne. She will also be entering the Miss Twin Peaks contest because she and the baby could use the money.

At the Great Northern, Doctor Hayward (Warren Frost) is giving Ben (Richard Beymer) a physical examination. Hayward tells Ben that he believes that Ben is trying to do the right thing but that he needs to stay away from Eileen. Ben says he has no choice. He has to do what his heart commands him to do. Wheeler (Billy Zane) steps into the office. He says that he has been looking for Audrey. Ben says that Audrey should be back any minute but Wheeler does not have a minute. His business partner has been murdered in Brazil.

In the attic of the Hayward house, Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) looks over her birth certificate and sees that the identity of her father has been left blank. She finds a scrapbook, full of pictures of her parents with Ben.

Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn) returns to the Great Northern, where Deputy Hawk (Michael Horse) is waiting for her. Hawks tells he that Cooper needs to see her at the station, immediately.

In his office, Ben is still talking to Wheeler. Ben is more concerned about Stop Ghostwood than Wheeler’s dead business partner. Wheeler says that he has no choice but to go. Not realizing that Audrey’s back, Wheeler gives Ben a note and asks him to deliver it to her. Wheeler leaves the office.

At the sheriff’s station, Major Briggs (Don S. Davis) has obtained all of the Project Blue Book files dealing with Windom Earle. Briggs plays a video tape of Earle ranting about the Black Lodge. Cooper says that Earle did not come to Twin Peaks to get revenge on him. Instead, he came to Twin Peaks to find the Black Lodge. Now, they just have to figure out how the Black Lodge is connected to the drawing found in the cave.

Little do they know that, through the microphone hidden in the bonsai tree, Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh) is listening to their conversation. Earle tells Leo (Eric Da Re) that the time has come to invite Major Briggs to a Project Blue Book reunion.

At the diner, an old woman who we have never been seen before is eating cheery pie when her hand starts to shake so uncontrollably that she has to grab it with her other hand to stop it.

In a booth, Shelly (Madchen Amick) reads her Miss Twin Peaks speech on how to protect the environment to Bobby (Dana Ashbrook). Bobby says that he has been thinking about his relationship with Shelly. Bobby says that he knows he has not been a great boyfriend but, when he saw Shelly kissing Gordon Cole, something in his brain snapped and he realized how much he loved Shelly. They share a passionate kiss that is interrupted by a phone call from Cooper.

At the Roadhouse, preparations are being made for the Miss Twin Peaks Contest. Mayor Milford (John Boylan) tells Lana (Robyn Lively) that the other two judges are going to be Norma Jennings and Richard Tremayne. The Mayor says that all they have to do to win is get Lana alone in a room with Richard. He tells her to wear “a dress slit all the way to Seattle.” The Mayor then starts to cry, wishing that they could just elope. Lana says that she will only marry him if she wins Miss Twin Peaks.

At the station, Cooper tells Audrey, Shelly, and Donna that all three of them are in danger. He orders them to check in with the sheriff at least twice a day and to never go anywhere alone.

At the cabin, Windom is talking about blood-drinking priests while Leo cleans up. Leo sees a picture of Shelly’s face glued to a playing card. Windom says that if Shelly wins Miss Twin Peaks, she will die. He says that Leo can help if he wants. “No!” Leo says before trying to attack Windom with the zapper, which does not work because, even though Leo has managed to grabbed the zapper, he is still the one wearing the electric collar. Leo ends up zapping himself.

Audrey returns to the Great Northern, walking through the lobby and barely missing Wheeler, who is checking out. Audrey goes to Ben’s office, when Ben welcomes her back and then tells her that the Stop Ghostwood Campaign needs a spokesperson. Ben wants her to enter Miss Twin Peaks. Audrey wants to know where Wheeler is. Ben finally tells her that Wheeler had to leave for the Brazilian rain forest and tries to give the letter to Audrey. Audrey leaves, hoping to catch Wheeler at the airport.

At the sheriff’s station, Cooper, Harry, and Andy are examining the cave drawing. Cooper says that the symbols suggest a time but a time for what? Cooper admits that he is having a hard time focusing because he can not stop thinking about Annie. Suddenly, Cooper’s hand starts to shake until he grabs it with his other hand.

Major Briggs is walking through the woods when he is approached by Windom Earle and Leo, who are wearing a horse costume. “Hello, Wilbur!” Earle says before shooting the Major with a tranquilizer dart.

At the airport, Wheeler is getting in his private plane. He stops to take one final look for Audrey.

At the diner, Cooper orders a slice of cheery pie and uses a quote from St. Augustine to encourage Annie (Heather Graham) to enter the Miss Twin Peaks contest. Cooper confesses that he spends most of his time thinking about Annie. Annie says she spends all of her time thinking about Cooper. Cooper asks Annie to go dancing with him and leans in to kiss her. Dishes all of the counter and syrup ominously drips on the floor.

At the airport, Pete (Jack Nance) drives Audrey across the airstrip, letting her off in front of Wheeler’s plane. Audrey runs in front of the taxiing airplane, yelling for Wheeler to stop. Luckily, Wheeler does stop before running her over.

“I’m a virgin!” Audrey says, “I want you to make love to me.”

“Here and now?” Wheeler asks.

“It’s your jet.”

Realizing that Audrey has a point, Wheeler leads her into his plane, while Pete watches from his truck. Pete has tears in his eyes. Suddenly, his hand starts to shake uncontrollably.

At the cabin, Earle interrogates the bound Briggs, shooting arrows at him whenever Briggs says that he is not at liberty to divulge any information. Earle gets annoyed and gives the major a shot of truth serum. Earle asks Briggs what his greatest fear is.

“The possibility that love is not enough,” Briggs says.

(I would have said salmonella but that’s just me.)

Under the influence of the serum, Briggs says that the signs in the cave mean that “there is a time, if Jupiter and Saturn meet, they will receive you.”

At the Martell house, Catherine (Piper Laurie) is showing Eckhardt’s lunar box to Andrew (Dan O’Herlihy). Andrew pushes the buttons the box and it pops open, revealing another box. Andrew smashes that box, revealing yet another box inside.

At the Roadhouse, Annie and Cooper are dancing. Looking at the decorations for the Miss Twin Peaks pageant, Annie tells Cooper that she has decided to enter. Annie says that being Miss Twin Peaks would be like being in a fairy tale. “And you’re the queen,” Cooper says.

Suddenly, time freezes for everyone but Cooper. The lights go down. The Giant (Carel Struycken) appears on the stage, shaking his head “NO.” Cooper looks confused though it should be obvious to him that the Giant is saying, “No, do not enter the contest!”

At the airport, Wheeler’s plane finally takes off. Pete gets out of his truck and is approached by a newly mature Audrey who says that she finally met the man of his dreams and now he is on his way to Brazil. Audrey cries that Wheeler offered to take her fishing but he never did. Pete says he has some tackle in the truck. Pete tells her that the best cure for a broken heart is trout’s leap at midnight.

At the cabin, Leo is shaking and the Major is screaming. Earle is singing about mummy wheat. Earle has figured out that the drawing is actually a map to the Black Lodge.

At the dance, the Giant finally disappears. As Cooper kisses Annie. Mayor Milford tries to get a microphone to work. “Something’s not right,” he says, “there’s something wrong here.”

In the woods, Killer BOB (Frank Silva) emerges from a portal while the red curtains are reflected in a nearby puddle.

With only two episodes left, this was a pretty good episode. All of the disparate plotlines of the latter half of the second season are finally coming together and the appearance of both the Giant and BOB at the end promises that the finale will be a return to the Twin Peaks of old.

Leonard is doing tomorrow’s episode and then Lisa is doing the finale so this is my last recap. I have really enjoyed rewatching Twin Peaks and sharing my thoughts about the show with all of you. Thank you for reading!

Previous Entries in The TSL’s Look At Twin Peaks:

A Movie A Day #111: I’m Dangerous Tonight (1990, directed by Tobe Hooper)

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Sweet and repressed Amy (Madchen Amick) is a college student who has too much on her plate. She has to take care of her greedy grandmother (Natalie Schaefer, of Gilligan’s Island fame). She has to read a book for her study partner (Corey Parker). She has to sew a dress for her older sister, Gloria (Daisy Hall). She has to find props for the school play. It is her search for props that leads to her buying an old chest at an estate sale. Inside the chest is a red cloak. Amy turns the red cloak into a dress but what she does not know is that the red cloak was previously won by Aztec priests while they conducted human sacrifices. As Professor Buchanan (Anthony Perkins) later explains, anyone who wears the dress will be driven to do evil.

Like Hitler’s Daughter and Deadly Game, I’m Dangerous Tonight was a USA original film. Like those two films, and despite the combined talents of the star of Psycho and the director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I’m Dangerous Tonight is not very good. Perkins is mostly just used for exposition while Hooper’s direction suggests that his main concern was picking up his paycheck. I’m Dangerous Tonight will be best appreciated by fans of Madchen Amick. Amick is not only beautiful here but she also plays a character far different from Twin Peaks’s Shelly Johnson.

Also, be sure to keep an eye out for R. Lee Ermey, playing a tough, cigar-chomping police detective as only he can.

Movie a Day #110: Femme Fatale (1991, directed by Andre R. Guttfreund)

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Joseph Price (Colin Firth) was once a painter but now he is the world’s least likely park ranger. One day, he meets the beautiful and mysterious Cynthia (Lisa Zane). Within days, Joe and Cynthia are married but one morning, Joe wakes up to discover that Cynthia is gone and she has only left behind a brief note. Searching for his wife, Joe goes to Los Angeles and discovers how little he knew about Cynthia. Joe’s search eventually leads him into the world of porn, drugs, S&M, and performance art.

This month, every entry in Movie A Day has had a least one Twin Peaks connection. Femme Fatale has two. Joe’s best friend, a laid back artist who is usually seen painting a topless woman who sometimes wears a brown bag over her head, is played by Billy Zane, who appeared as John Justice Wheeler during the second season of Twin Peaks. Also, Catherine Coulson (the show’s famous Log Lady) appears as a nun who provides an important clue to Cynthia’s past.

Femme Fatale used to show up on HBO in the 1990s and it is currently on YouTube. It may not be a great film but it does have a good cast. Along with Billy Zane and Coulson, Femme Fatale also features Scott Wilson as a shady psychologist, Lisa Blount as an actress who used to work with Cynthia, and Pat Skipper and John Lavachielli as two talkative thugs named Ed and Ted. Both Carmine Caridi and the great Danny Trejo show up in small roles. It may seem strange to cast the very British Colin Firth as a park ranger but it works. As for Lisa Zane, who is Billy’s older sister, Cynthia was probably her best role.

Predictable though the movie may be, Femme Fatale is enjoyably stupid if you are in the right mood. There should always be a time and place for the old neo noirs of 1990s.

TV Review: Twin Peaks 2.18 “On the Wings of Love” (dir by Duwayne Dunham)

Posted on April 27, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Welcome back to Twin Peaks!

This episode opens at the Bookhouse, where lingerie-clad Jones (Brenda Strong) is climbing on top of Harry (Michael Ontkean). Harry, in his whiskey-dazed state, thinks that she is Josie (Joan Chen). He comes to his senses right when Jones wraps a garrote around his neck and starts to strangle him. Harry manages to overpower her, leaving her knocked out cold on the couch.

At the Great Northern, Audrey (Sherilyn Fenn) delivers room service to Wheeler (Billy Zane). I am not sure what to make of Wheeler. I know that he was brought in so that Audrey would have a love interest other than Cooper but, since he’s played by Billy Zane, I don’t trust him.

At the sheriff’s station, Harry tells Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) that he has not been able to get anything out of Jones. She wants to talk to the South African consulate. Harry wonders why Eckhardt would have wanted him dead. “Sexual jealousy,” Cooper replies before saying that it is good to have Harry back.

In the sheriff’s office, Doctor Hayward (Warren Frost), Harry, and Cooper look at a Bonsai tree that was delivered that morning. Harry looks at the card. It was a present from Josie. Before Harry can get too depressed, Hayward tells them about Windom Earle coming back his house and he shows them the knight that Earle gave to Donna.

Gordon Cole (David Lynch) enters the office, yelling as always and making Harry’s headache worse. Cole shouts that he has just come from Bend, Oregon, that he is bringing Cooper the classified portion of Windom Earle’s file and that he is reinstating Cooper in the FBI.

What no one knows is that the Bonsai tree is hiding a microphone and Windom Earle (Kenneth Welsh) is listening to every word that they say. Earle complains to Leo (Eric Da Re) that Cooper is refusing to play fair. Earle has Leo pick three cards. They are all queens — Queen Donna, Queen Audrey, and Queen Shelly. Earle has Leo pick a king card — “Little Dale.” Earle reaches behind Leo’s ear and produces one more card — the Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts will be whoever is named Miss Twin Peaks.

Cole tells Cooper that, in the institution, Earle was put on the same drug that the One-Armed Man used. Cooper notices that Earle was involved with Project Blue Book, just like Major Briggs. Cooper says that there is some definite linkage, which makes Cole think of sausage patties and breakfast.

At the Great Northern, Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle) spies on her mother, Eileen (Mary Jo Deschanel), meeting with Ben Horne (Richard Beymer). Donna goes to the front desk and, as Mike (Gary Hershberger) and Nadine (Wendy Robie) check out, Donna asks to speak with Audrey. When Audrey comes out, Donna asks her if there’s any reason why Donna’s mother would visiting Audrey’s father. Audrey leads Donna to the secret passageway so that they can spy on their respective parents in Ben’s office.

In the office, Eileen tries to get Ben to take a bundle of letters but he refuses, saying that they are her letters. They were written to her. Ben says that he hasn’t held Eileen for nearly 20 years. Ben asks if Eileen has “told her.” Eileen tells Ben to stay away from her and to never come by the house again.

At the diner, Cole, Harry, and Cooper show up for breakfast. While hungover Harry is busy throwing up, Cooper and Cole get a booth. Cole spies Shelly and shouts, “What a beauty!” Cole walks over to the counter and loudly asks Shelly if he might ask her for a cup of coffee “and in the process, engage you with an anecdote of no small amusement.” Shelly says that he doesn’t have to shout and Cole is shocked to discover that he can hear her, even when she is speaking in her normal voice.

Back at the booth, Harry and Cooper are debating cars when Annie (Heather Graham) comes over and pours them both a cup of coffee. Cooper and Annie flirt while Harry Days music plays in the background. Annie notices that Cooper has drawn a picture of the three marks on Major Briggs’s neck and tells him that the same design can be found at Owl Cave. Cooper tells Harry that he has to see this Owl Cave.

At the Hayward house, Donna gets a postcard from James. He says that he is in San Francisco. When Dr. Hayward steps into the room, Donna tells him that Ben visited yesterday. Dr. Hayward tells her that Eileen and Ben are probably just working on a charity together. Suddenly, roses arrive. They are for Eileen. There’s no card.

At the library, Audrey is getting a book on political science and civil disobedience when she runs into pipe-smoking Edward Perkins, who is actually Windom Earle in disguise. Perkins says that he is a professor who teaches a class in poetry so Audrey asks him about the poem that she received. Perkins tells her that it is by Shelley and that Audrey looks like a queen. Realizing that there is something strange about Edward Perkins, Audrey says that she has to go and makes a hasty exit.

At the diner, Annie finds an advertisement for Miss Twin Peaks. Shelly asks her if she is going to enter but Annie says life is already strange enough without wearing high heels and a bathing suit. Annie says that it’s also strange being around men again and asks Shelley what she knows about Cooper. Shelly tells Annie to go for it.

Back at station, Lucy (Kimmy Robertson) thanks Andy (Harry Goaz) for helping out during yesterday’s weasel riot. “That’s more than a certain Dick did,” Lucy says.

At the Great Northern, Ben is talking to Audrey about the Kennedy Brothers. Ben says that he needs Audrey to be his Bobby Kennedy. He needs her to be by his side, always willing to tell him the truth. Ben apologizes for not being a better father and then says that he needs Audrey to go to Seattle to meet with the environmentalists. When Wheeler steps into the office, Audrey says she is not sure that she can leave on short notice but Ben will hear nothing of it.

After Audrey leaves, Ben confesses to Wheeler that he is not really sure how to be good. Ben asks Wheeler, “What’s the secret?” Wheeler tells him to keep his eye on his heart and always tell the truth. Wheeler confesses that he is falling in love with Audrey. He and Ben eat a carrot.

Meanwhile, Johnny Horne (Robert Bauer) is outside, shooting rubber arrows at wooden buffaloes.

That night, at Owl Cave, Cooper, Andy, Harry, and Hawk (Michael Horse) explore. They find the markings on the cave and discover that they are a combination of the markings on the Major’s neck and the Log Lady’s leg.

Thanks to wonders of incredibly primitive CGI, an owl flies around the cave. Andy panics and swings his pickaxe, accidentally embedding it in the symbol. Part of the wall falls away, revealing a stone lever that is decorated with a petroglyph on an owl. Cooper smiles and says he does not know where this is going to lead but he is sure it will be somewhere “both wonderful and strange.”

Annie sits alone in the Great Northern cocktail lounge, when Cooper, fresh from Owl Cave, enters. Annie tells Cooper that it is strange being back in the real world. Cooper notices the scars on her wrist. Annie says that she worries that she might try again. Annie tells Cooper that some people think that she is strange. Cooper says that he knows the feeling.

Back at Owl Cave, Earle sneaks in and sees the lever. He turns it and, as the episode ends, the entire cave starts to shake.

This episode, which played like a cross between Picket Fences and Lost, shows just how much of an identity crisis Twin Peaks suffered during its second season. Is it a comedy? Is it a romance? Is it supernatural? No one seems to know.

The best part of the episode was the trip to the Owl Cave and Ben’s conversation with Audrey. The worst part of the episode? Annie, who spent a few years in a convent but is written like an Amish girl on rumspringa.

Up next: Variations on Relations.

Previous Entries in The TSL’s Look At Twin Peaks:

A Movie A Day #109: Where’s Marlowe? (1999, directed by Daniel Pyne)

Posted on April 26, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

Two documentarians (Mos Def and John Livingston) decided to make a film about two real-life private detectives, Joe Boone (Miguel Ferrer) and Kevin Murphy (John Slattery). At first, Boone is skeptical of the two filmmakers. He watched their last documentary, a three-hour epic about New York’s water supply, and was disappointed by the lack of sex. However, as the two filmmakers follow him around, he warms up to them and they discover that the tough and sarcastic Boone is actually a soft-hearted idealist who can barely pay the bills. When Boone discovers that Murphy is sleeping with the wife of one of their clients, their partnership dissolves. It looks like Boone is going to have to shut down his agency, unless the two filmmakers can help him solve his latest case.

Where’s Marlowe? starts out strong by focusing on Miguel Ferrer’s performance as Joe Boone. Ferrer did not get to play many leading roles but he was perfectly cast as Joe Boone. He is completely believable as an old-fashioned private investigator struggling to survive in the modern world. During the movie’s less interesting second half, the attention shifts to the filmmakers trying to help Boone. Mos Def and John Livingston are good in their roles but the film’s focus should have stayed on Ferrer. Unfortunately, the main mystery is never as interesting as Miguel Ferrer’s solid lead performance.

Where’s Marlowe? started out as a pilot and it is easy to see where it would have gone if it had become a television series. For all of its flaws, it is worth it just to see Miguel Ferrer in a rare leading role.

A Movie A Day #108: Against The Wall (1994, directed by John Frankenheimer)

Posted on April 25, 2017 by Jedadiah Leland

The year is 1971 and Malcolm Smith (Kyle MacLachlan) has just started working as a prison guard at Attica Correctional Facility. Even though his father (Harry Dean Stanton) was a prison guard, Malcolm does not fit in with the other guards at Attica. Malcolm is younger than them and is disgusted by the inhumane treatment of the prisoners. If not for his wife (Anne Heche) and the child that they are expecting, Malcolm would just quit but he needs the money. He fears that he is going to eventually turn into just another sadistic guard.

When a prison riot breaks out, Malcolm is one of the guards taken hostage. While the psychotic Chaka (Clarence Williams III) wants to kill all of the guards, Jamaal X (Samuel L. Jackson) realizes that killing the hostages will sacrifice what little leverage that prisoners have. If the guards are killed, Jamaal X reasons, the state police will have no reason not to storm the prison and violently restore order. Over the course of the four-day riot, Jamaal and Malcolm become unlikely friends and allies but it turns out that, even with the guards being held hostage, the government has no interest in negotiating with the prisoners.

This moving, thought-provoking, and well-acted docudrama originally aired on HBO and it won John Frankenheimer a well-deserved Emmy. Samuel L. Jackson is powerful as Jamaal X and this is one of the few times that Kyle MacLachlan got to play a thoroughly normal person with no dark secrets or weird quirks. Malcolm Smith is just a regular everyman who finds himself in the middle of a history-making event.

For fans of Twin Peaks, Against the Wall features three alumni of the show. Kyle MacLachlan, of course, starred as Dale Cooper while Clarence Williams III appeared in one episode as Roger Hardy. Finally, Harry Dean Stanton, a longtime favorite of David Lynch, appeared in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.