PEAK PERFORMANCES AT BAM CINEMATEK
Calling all Twin Peaks freaks: BAMcinématek in Brooklyn, NY are so excited for the return of David Lynch’s forever-cool television show in May that they’ve put together the perfect program to get you psyched for season three. If you’ve ever wondered what Laura Palmer and The Beatles have in common, this series is for you.
Dr. Jacoby in West Side Story? Laura Palmer’s dad as a mutant plant monster? In celebration of the return of David Lynch’s avant-visionary soap opera, BAMcinématek revisits some of their favorite cast members’ finest roles, ranging from the iconic to the totally unexpected.
Thu, May 18th 7pm & 9:45pm
SLAP SHOT (1977)
Paul Newman is the coach of a losing hockey team who hits upon a winning strategy—no-holds-barred violence—in this rude, crude, and outrageously funny sports satire, featuring
Michael Ontkean (Sheriff Harry S. Truman).
Fri, May 19th 4:30pm, 7pm & 9:30pm
THE WARRIORS (1979 / DCP)
New York City’s subway tunnels become a labyrinth of surreal ultraviolence in this art-damaged dystopian classic featuring David Patrick Kelly (Uncle Jerry) as a gang leader.
Sat, May 20th 6pm & 9pm
BLUE VELVET (1986 / DCP)
It begins with a severed ear… College student Kyle MacLachlan (soon to be Agent Dale Cooper) slips from squeaky-clean suburbia into a depraved psychosexual shadow world, in which Isabella Rossellini’s lounge singer is terrorized by Dennis Hopper’s psychotic sadist. Lynch’s all-American masterpiece remains a singularly disturbing, mesmerizing experience.
Sun, May 21st 2pm & 8pm
WEST SIDE STORY (1961)
Before Richard Beymer was sleazy, Civil War-obsessed businessman Ben Horne and Russ Tamblyn kooky, Hawaii-obsessed psychiatrist Dr. Jacoby, they costarred in this classic Best Picture winner, which still swoons thanks to Leonard Bernstein’s rapturous score and exhilarates thanks to Jerome Robbins’ iconic choreography.
Sun, May 21st 5:15pm
THE HAUNTING (1963 / 35mm)
In the ultimate Old Dark House chiller, a group of guests—including Russ Tamblyn (aka Twin Peaks’ Dr. Lawrence Jacoby)—endure a terrifying stay at a Gothic mansion purportedly haunted by a poltergeist. Drawing on his experience working under legendary producer Val Lewton, director Robert Wise employs suggestive shadows, distorting lenses, and disorienting camera angles to generate an unsettling air of sustained dread.
Mon, May 22nd 7pm & 9:45pm
AFTERGLOW (1997 / 35mm)
Alan Rudolph’s typically astute study of bed hopping and bad romance charts the amorous crisscrossing of two philandering couples. Nick Nolte and a marvelous, Oscar-nominated Julie Christie are the on-the-rocks marrieds who swap partners with their yuppie counterparts, played by Jonny Lee Miller and Twin Peaks’ Lara Flynn Boyle. The sex farce set up gives way to genuine human pathos.
Tue, May 23rd 9:15pm
IGUANA (1988)
Two-Lane Blacktop director Monte Hellman helmed this fascinating and forgotten fable of a disfigured 19th century sailor (Everett McGill, gas station proprietor Big Ed Hurley on Twin Peaks) who, shunned by society, exacts revenge upon humanity by becoming the cruel master of his own island. Strikingly shot amidst the craggy landscapes of the Canary Islands, it’s a dark, quasi-mythic should-be cult item in search of a following.
Tue, May 23rd 7pm
SWAMP THING (1982 / 35mm)
Chemical contamination in a Louisiana bayou transforms a research scientist (Ray Wise, or, as you may know him, Leland Palmer) into the titular, rubber-suited gooey green one. Director Wes Craven walks the line between horror thrills and tongue-in-cheek schlock silliness in this irresistibly goofball DC Comics adaptation. Directed by Wes Craven.
Wed, May 24th 7pm & 9:30pm
RED ROSE, WHITE ROSE (1994 / 35mm)
Joan Chen—iconic as Twin Peaks’ femme fatale Josie Packard—receives an exquisite showcase in this lush, 1930s set melodrama about a man (Chao) haunted throughout his life by a past affair. Hong Kong auteur Stanley Kwan directs with a lacquered visual style (courtesy of DP extraordinaire Christopher Doyle) and operatic irony worthy of Sirk.
Program notes by BAMcinématek.