Watch this now: Video essay on David Lynch's movies

Here's a lovely video paying tribute to David Lynch's films. Nice to see some of his lesser-viewed works like The Straight Story, Dune, and Fire Walk With Me get time.

David Lynch in Four Movements - A Tribute from Richard Vezina on Vimeo.

Kelly's big score: Santa's got a brand new bag edition

The bad news is that Christmas, my favorite time of year, is now over. The good news is that I scored some good books.

As gifts, I received:

The Babylonian Trilogy - Sebastien Doubinsky

Nightmare Movies - Kim Newman

11/22/63 - Stephen King

Bistro Cooking - Patricia Wells (am dying to make some recipes from this)

With gift cards, today I got:

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - Horace McCoy

Hell House - Richard Matheson

Here be Dragons - Sharon Kay Penman

I also bought The Complete Calvin and Hobbes as a Christmas gift for the whole family.

Watch this now: Trailer for The Hobbit (part 1)

Make no mistake, I love the Lord of the Rings movies. But I've been skeptical about the upcoming adaptation of The Hobbit. Does it really need to be split into two movies? And what's with shoehorning in characters from LOTR who weren't in the book of The Hobbit (we see Galadriel in the trailer, and I've heard rumors that Legolas and even Saruman (!!) will be in it as well).

At any rate, the trailer is here and it's a weird mix of the new and the familiar, and is a little too vague for my taste - shouldn't we mention the reason for Bilbo's adventure? And what about Smaug? However, I do like the fact that most of the dwarves don't look like Doc and Sleepy.

I'll reserve final judgment until the film's actually showing (next year), but for now I'm cautiously optimistic.

Review: The Reflecting Skin

My review of the brilliant, beautiful, and often horrific film The Reflecting Skin is up at Horrorview.

Imagine if David Lynch directed a Ray Bradbury adaptation, and that sums up this movie. If that lights up all your dials, then watch it as soon as you can.

Review: Kill the Irishman

My review of the disappointing Irish vs. Italians gangster movie Kill the Irishman is up at Horrorview.

Kelly's big score: Here we go a-wassailing edition

For the weekend after Thanksgiving we did our usual thing and went up to the town of Solvang, which was decorated for Christmas, and where we indulged in shopping and pancakes to take our minds off the mess the recent winds made of our yard.

I also went to the town's three bookstores and came home with:

Mary Ann in Autumn - Armistead Maupin

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven - Sherman Alexie

The Executioners - John D. MacDonald

Separate Beds - LaVyrle Spencer

The Other Side of Midnight - Sidney Sheldon (shut up, sometimes you need to read some trash)

Diary of a Mad Housewife - Sue Kaufman

After Many a Summer Dies the Swan - Alduous Huxley

Track of the Cat - Nevada Barr

The Two-Bear Mambo - Joe R. Lansdale

Fine Just the Way it Is - Annie Proulx

Revenge of the Rose - Nicole Galland

That ought to keep me occupied for a week or so!