#5B - Blue Velvet (1986)

Narrowing down to my 5th favorite film of all time was incredibly hard! So I figured, why fight it? I went ahead and decided upon having two number 5's. Here is #5B, 1986's Blue Velvet.



Written and Directed by the amazing David Lynch in 1986, Blue Velvet is Lynch's ode to the seedy underground found in almost every good-hearted small town. In 1984 David Lynch agreed to direct a big-budget movie adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune for Dino De Laurentiis. In return, De Laurentiis agreed to produce a low-budget mystery for Lynch. Unfortunately, Dune was a critical and financial failure, so much as that when it was finally released on special edition DVD in 2006, David petitioned to have his name taken off the credits. However, things would turn around for the indie auteur two years later as Blue Velvet garnered him his second Academy Award Nomination for Best Director. Kyle MacLachlan playes a college student named Jeffrey as he returns back to his home town after his father is hospitalized. One day while walking back home from seeing his dad, he takes a shortcut through a field and happens upon a severed ear. After talking with a local detective, Jeffrey decides to investigate on his own. This leads him to a part of town he never knew existed and a way of life he may never be able to return from! Besides Lynch mainstay Maclachlan, the film also stars Isabella Rossellini as Dorothy Vallens, the always amazing Laura Dern as Sandy Williams and the late great, near perfect Dennis Hopper as Frank Booth. Lynch capitilizes on the amazing cinematographry of Fredrick Elmes, shot in a film noir style to convey what would become one of the most amazing mysteries ever produced. The movie, famous for being so sexual and violent, wasn't recieved with open arms by all reviewers upon its release. It was, however, included in the New York Times Top 10 Of 1986 list. Since then though, the film has been reguarded as a cult classic and has been included in the prestigious American Film Institue in three separate top of lists. The film has been referenced in television and film many, many times since its release, including Jay shouting out a famous Frank Booth line in Kevin Smith's Clerks and the famous Simpsons two-part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns." And, as Kevin Smith once said, and I'm paraphrasing at best, "once you've been referenced on The Simpsons, you've finally made it!" Its just a shame it took Blue Velvet 9 years to "make it."

Check back soon for part 2 of my 5th Favorite Film of all time.

Cheers,
Shawn M