It’s with great joy that I mention the release of TWIN PEAKS: THE GOLD BOX EDITION, which hits stores October 30th. I first fell in love with this show about ten years ago, when Bravo first aired it after its cancellation in 1991. I can totally remember the first Twin Peaks scene I watched - the episode that revealed the identity of the killer, actually. I was totally confused and enthralled at the same time. The music, the richness of the colors, the sounds, the total absurdity of it all….I don’t know, I imagine it’s what it must feel like to smoke a cigarette for the first time, but better, or just become totally addicted to something. It was an immediate creative shock to my system, and to this day I continue to learn so much from Lynch and all his work. I’d hate to sound like a DVD geek, but here goes: this beautifully packaged box comes jam-packed with “damn fine” goodies that Twin Peaks fans new and old can appreciate. But really, this show, regardless of the wimpering weirdness of season two, is and always has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to TV -it invented invention. If you haven’t seen it yet…you know what to do. Let the cherry pie-making begin.

I’ll get right to it: I always liked Ben Affleck. Sure, he’s made a ton of crap movies, but there are just as many good ones in there (Good Will Hunting, Mallrats, Boiler Room, Armageddon, Hollywoodland, Dogma, Shakespeare in Love, Chasing Amy, Dazed and Confused, and of course Phantoms, in which he was the bomb). Maybe it’s because we share the same first name, but I’ve always given the guy the benefit of the doubt. And thank God he’s proven me right with Gone Baby Gone, his directorial debut. Affleck made a hell of a movie, although to be fair, he did have a hell of a team. As far as actors, you got heavyweights Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman. His DP shot Braveheart, Almost Famous, AND Legends of the Fall. The screenplay is from a book by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River. And the music (maybe my favorite part of the movie, dragging me dangerously close to tears) is by Harry Gregson-Williams, who has scored everything cool since 1995. Still, Affleck’s talent shines through. His eye for locations and people is unrelenting. Gone Bay Gone is intense and involving, and Ben should be proud. Oh, and Casey rocks it.

Hey, check out this fantastic animated short, courtesy of OurStage.com, a competitive site for independent filmmakers and musicians. This was the top animated film from September, and it’s good. Real good. And deeeep.

Loom

Sure to outdo my own NYU in Prague adventures, I found myself envious of the first batch of Tisch Abu Dhabies when I opened today’s alumni letter:

“Martin Lipton, Chair of NYU’s Board of Trustees; John Sexton, President of NYU; and His Excellency Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, today announced that they have reached an agreement to create “NYU Abu Dhabi,” a Middle Eastern campus of NYU. This will be the first comprehensive liberal arts campus established abroad by a major U.S. research university. It is projected that a first class of students will enroll in 2010. NYU Abu Dhabi will be a residential research university built with academic quality and practices consistent with the prevailing standards at NYU’s Washington Square campus….”

You can read more about the purple flag’s new territory here.

I recently watched a couple of wildly different independent films that truly captured my heart, and wanted to pass them on to you faithful readers (wherever you may be) for your viewing pleasure. The first we screened during our few moments of down time at the Woodstock Film Festival. The programmers were handing out DVD copies, and playing it in ‘fest hangout The Colony Cafe. It’s a film of truly Rocky-esque proportions, the tale of patriotism and shadow-rockin’ known as Air Guitar Nation.
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