In 1986, David Lynch brought us a sinister, psychological, disturbing, yet inviting masterpiece, Blue Velvet. The trademarks of filmmaking that Lynch is known for in his films include slow-motion with scenes of violence and strobe lights to heavy surrealism. Those trademarks are all used in Blue Velvet and they set the tone for the dark setting that his audience is about to experience. In the introduction, the background colors are faded, the music is unpleasant, and the film begins with a depressing scenario before the horror conflict is revealed. Lynch uses small clues in the beginning that lead us to what is about to be a nightmare that is hard to forget.

Blue Velvet takes place in a quiet town in Lumberton, North Carolina. Our main character (also the protagonist) is Jeffrey Beaumont (played by Kyle MacLachlan). Jeffrey is back from college due to his father having health issues and being hospitalized. Since his father is in this position, he needs to manage his father’s hardware store. It is not long before Jeffrey comes across a severed ear on the lawn of his family home. When he makes this discovery, he delivers the evidence to Detective Williams (played by George Dickerson). Jeffrey becomes friends with the Detective’s daughter Sandy (played by Laura Dern). They become very close as friends and are fascinated by what may have resulted in the severed ear. They believe it has to do with someone named Dorothy Vallens (played by Isabella Rossellini) who is linked to previous weird activity and some criminal behaviors in the area. This tempts Jeffrey to spy on Dorothy, but when he does, she catches Jeffrey which involves him in a dangerous situation with Dorothy.  In fact, Dorothy is a slave to Frank Booth (played by Dennis Hopper), a cruel, negative man who abuses his power to get whatever he desires out of Dorothy. With Jeffrey now in the middle of the situation, he feels he cannot leave this horrid scene, until it comes to an end.

Frank is just insane when he realizes that Jeffrey and Dorothy are friends. He gets more abusive, forces Jeffrey into situations he does not want to be part of, and worst of all, is even more crazy towards Dorothy. The sad part is Dorothy is stuck because Frank has connections to the police, so if she tries to get help, Frank can find out and get even more violent. Due to Jeffrey’s involvement, the good people in his life, including Sandy, her father and Dorothy’s family (that Frank has locked up somewhere) may fall-down with him.  Blue Velvet becomes a rollercoaster ride of evil, little to no time to get to safety, and more realizations that turn out to be scary and disastrous for Jeffrey. Once Frank knows Jeffrey is in the loop, he only makes matters worse.

Blue Velvet is still a sensation thirty years later, because of its audacious style of cinematography mixed with sinisterism. The more the evil power grows with Frank, the cinematography becomes darker. The mind of David Lynch still speaks to people with Blue Velvet and that is because the film haunted many fans with its setup, its conflict, and the twisted ideas that Lynch possessed which resulted in the making of Blue Velvet. I found the film hard to watch again, because I viewed it on the big screen late at night. Given the film has many violent nighttime scenes, leaving the cinema felt kind of strange, yet I was still blown away by the dark experience. Lynch is an idol of mine when it comes to giving his films deep meaning with his strange technological effects. Four stars for Blue Velvet (even after thirty years).

Actor Elijah Wood fits the pattern of playing characters that are gutless and non-violent. But in many of his films, including those when he was quite young, the characters he plays often grow and be brave.  Wood’s roles fit this pattern in The Good Son (1993), The Ice Storm (1997), The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003), and Green Street Hooligans (2005). Come to Daddy is a movie where that pattern is still with him, but instead of being serious or sad, this film is mixed with comedy and horror. Come to Daddy is hysterical with comic violence, but the violence is also disturbing. It is a film that had me thinking seriously one moment, and then laughing the next.  This film is a strange journey of wonder and unanswered questions that have many disturbing, yet funny outcomes.

Come to Daddy gears on a man named Norval, an artist of music and other forms of entertainment (not specified) with previous alcohol dependency issues. He decides to travel to see his father who he has not seen for decades. Supposedly, his father is Gordon (played by Stephen McHattie). Norval visits him at his giant home that is on a scenic waterfront in Canada. Norval goes to visit because he has received a letter from his father for that purpose. However, as the visit begins, Norval begins to realize that Gordon displays some bothersome language and creepy personality traits. With Norval’s prior issues with alcoholism, this is a dangerous situation because along with Gordon intentionally being a jerk, he also drinks heavily. In short order, the father and son time for Norval and Gordon turns out to be a horrid adventure for Norval as the movie continues.

Many people view Come to Daddy as silly or average and I agree due to how the film evolves. The tense moments between Norval and Gordon are sparked by the personality traits of Gordon. We see that in the moments where Norval tries his best to establish a form of connection, but Gordon rejects it with opinionated humor, and consistent mocking. Those scenes grasped my attention because it made me think of real-life scenarios in times of conflict. The answers Gordon gives Norval are not what one would normally expect. McHattie has the evil looks, the menacing laugh, and the snarky comments that make it clear that Come to Daddy is only going to get uglier.

As I mentioned earlier, Wood is someone known to be play gutless characters who build guts later.  In this film, he runs into various scenarios as he makes dangerous discoveries along the way. This makes Come to Daddy funny because Wood’s character, Norval, is still not very brave, but he approaches the life and death problems being unprepared and finds himself at odds thinking about whether he did the right or wrong thing. Wood’s ability to portray a sensitive personality along with genuine comedic flair is a plus for Come to Daddy. I had a fun time with this movie although Come to Daddy is a movie that not everyone will enjoy.   However, if someone wants a good laugh with some unexplained conflicts thrown in, it is an entertaining film. I am going to give Come to Daddy two and a half stars.

At the Music Box Theatre in downtown Chicago, I had the chance to attend a screening of Scarecrow.  The movie, originally released in 1973, is directed by Jerry Schatzberg and stars Gene Hackman and Al Pacino.  The film was in 35 MM projection and is a superb dark flick that is not remembered or appreciated. Back in 1973, Scarecrow was in a competition section at the Cannes Film Festival and won the big award, the Palm d’Or (back then it was called the Golden Palm), but it shared the award with the Alan Bridge film The Hireling. Besides receiving that award, Scarecrow did not receive much attention. That is unfortunate because it is a deep and authentic drama that is essential for avid film fanatics.

The film gears on Max and Lionel (Hackman and Pacino). Max is an ex-con artist who is a drifter with a goal to save money by opening a car wash. Lionel is an ex-sailor who is homeless. Once they both get acquainted, they begin to go on the road together in hopes of finding ways to make income and start a car wash business. However, the title Scarecrow has a meaning which Lionel explains during a discussion in the movie.  However, it is important to see it in order to   understand the connection and why the film has this title.

Realism is such a critical element of Scarecrow. This film brings its audience back to the era of low technological support. The film also shows how networking was such a challenge in this time frame. There are moments where Max and Lionel hit plateaus and experience other troubles that make the goal of the car wash even more challenging than they have anticipated. Also, Max starts to resent Lionel, because he feels Lionel has no craft and is lacking in so many areas required for success. The realism with the anger and frustration brings out the harsh authenticity that Scarecrow portrays.

Given how brilliant Scarecrow is, I believe if it got the recognition it deserved, it would have led to more opportunities for the actors and people involved with the film. Hackman has said this role was his favorite, but because it was poorly recognized, it prompted him to pursue more commercialized films. While the movie got some recognition with awards and reviews, for some reason it never found an audience to help the film grow. Unfortunately, the film alone was off the grid, and not released on DVD until many years later.

Despite, the poor attention, Scarecrow is a film that is imperative for the 1970s and the film world we are in now. The film needs to be seen because of its character development, and its central conflict. The dialogue is top-notch, and viewers will sense deep feelings during this movie.  There are many films like this one I love that are also underappreciated. I am giving Scarecrow four stars.