I wanted to watch something different for today and i wasn’t quite sure what I was in the mood for. So, I surfed my Showcase Anytime app and I stumbled upon a film that instantly caught my eye. The film I chose for today was directed by surrealist legend David Lynch and his 1986 film Blue Velvet. Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) is your typical college student who is forced to come home after his father was in an accident. One day while walking back from seeing his dad in the hospital, Jeffrey discovers an ear and with the help of a friend heads down a very dark journey. You see Jeffrey takes it upon himself to investigate a woman named Dorothy Valens (Isabella Rossellini) who just may be connected to the ear somehow, but the journey may be more than he bargained for. The film also stars Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Sandy Williams, Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider) as Frank Booth, Hope Lange (The New Dick Van Dyke Show) as Mrs. Williams, Dean Stockwell (Air Force One) as Ben, Frances Bay (Happy Gilmore) as Aunt Barbara, Brad Dourif (Child’s Play) as Ray, Priscilla Pointer (A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) as Mrs. Beaumont, and Jack Harvey (Tune In Tomorrow) as Tom Beaumont.
This is the first David Lynch film that I have seen that I actually enjoyed watching because it made sense (Eraserhead is the only other film I’ve seen). The film gets pretty intense right when he starts his investigation and the surrealism in the film is the brutality of Isabella Rossellini who likes to get slapped around during sex. Then all of the scenes with Dennis Hopper just get really weird and intense, but man he puts on one heck of a performance as this crazed wild man who is just out of his gourd. Kyle MacLachlan does a good job in the film, but Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini steal the show and are the MVP’s of the film. One of the most intense sequences in the film is the “joy ride” that they all take as Hopper’s character is pissed and trying to scare the crap out of MacLachlan’s character. They visit a whore house where you see more tense and awkward scenes. I haven’t talked about Laura Dern’s character who symbolically in my opinion represents the light side of life where as Rossellini’s represents the dark side. There is always these symbols in the film especially at the end with robins, but I’ll let you see that for yourself. It was cool seeing Brad Dourif in the film as this was a pre-Chucky role for him and what does he play, but a madman who is apart of Hopper’s gang. If you like films that get very intense and awkward, then definitely check this one out. I am going to give Blue Velvet an B+ for a final grade and the soundtrack is pretty decent.
There was a time in some parts of the country whose history was very dark and very shameful. In the 1960’s, the living conditions for African Americans were not very ideal as racism and segregation were at it’s peak especially in Mississippi. For today’s film, Mississippi Burning, we explore the atrocities that mankind committed during the civil rights movement. Two drastically different FBI agents, Allen Ward (Willem Dafoe) and Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) are sent to Jesper, Mississippi to investigate the disappearance of three civil rights activists. The only problem is that they can’t seem to get anyone to talk out of fear and for some of them it would mean implicating themselves. That doesn’t stop the two agents from moving forward and not in reverse as they try their best to bring justice. The film also stars Frances McDormand (Fargo) as Mrs. Pell, Brad Dourif (Child’s Play) as Deputy Clinton Pell, R. Lee Emery (Full Metal Jacket) as Mayor Tillman, Gailard Sartain (The Outsiders) as Sheriff Ray Stuckey, Stephen Tobolowsky (Groundhog Day) as Clayton Towney, Michael Rooker (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Frank Bailey, Pruitt Taylor Vince (Monster) as Lester Cowens, Kevin Dunn (Warrior) as Agent Bird, Tobin Bell (Saw) as Agent Stokes, and the film was directed by Alan Parker (Pink Floyd The Wall).
This was an excellent film that featured excellent performances by just about everyone in the film. Even Darius McCrary who starred in the hit 90’s TGIF TV show Family Matters was very good in the film so it’s hard to choose an MVP, but for me it would go to Gene Hackman. His character and his performance were bad ass and you were rooting for him the whole entire time hoping that he would get to do things his way. I do have to say that Willem Dafoe was a good balance to Hackman because he represented doing things by the book while Hackman was all man and did what he felt was right. It’s hard to believe today that people thought and acted the way they did like they did in this film. Some parts of the county were pretty ignorant to the idea of human rights.You see the KKK in action in this film and you see how hateful they are. I looked it up and this film is loosely based on a true story. Loosely based because they changed the names of people and they created a fictional town in Mississippi. If you want to look up the facts on the real story, then click 
365moviesin365dayschallenge 