Knitting Movie Arsenal

I love knitting [an obvious statement I know]. I also love movies. Good movies - you know, the kind of film that radiates a sort of vibe or feeling right off the screen. Sometimes this is in connection with childhood. For instance, my favorite Disney movie was 'Alice in Wonderland' as I was never the "Princess Type". I cannot tell you how many hours I've spent knitting to that masterpiece. It is still a favorite selection in my Knitting Movie Arsenal.

And then there are the terrible B movies. But I love those too! Horrific scripts, disappointing actors, multiple continuity errors - a la Plan 9 From Outer Space. A lot of these movies have an underground cult following which I seem to gravitate to and eventually become part of.

Another example outside of Ed Wood's filmography is John Waters' work. A lot of people do not enjoy Waters' early cinematic ventures as the films often feature violence and carnage in a whimsical but shocking way - Pink Flamingos, anyone? Looking to his work from 1988 and on, his directing became sort of mainstream with titles such as Hairspray [the original], Cry-Baby, Serial Mom, Pecker, Cecil B. DeMented and A Dirty Shame.

So to the point of this post: I've decided to start writing about any movie

or television show I watch while knitting/crafting/creating that "speaks to me" or radiates that vibe off of the screen. For my very first review, for lack of a better term, it's the Twin Peaks T.V. series.

All of this week I've been watching back-to-back episodes of the show Twin Peaks. Now, I remember this little gem from director David Lynch [another favorite weird and creepy commander of the screen] from 1990 when my parents were watching this "scary show" that I wasn't allowed to see. I was 8 years old so brutal murders, constant adultery and weird hauntings that plagued a sleepy little town was not on my "okay to watch before bed" list.

The point of the show is to figure out who exactly killed Laura Palmer, a teenage girl who washed up on the river bank in Twin Peaks. The first season was solid. Full of mystery, suspense and there was enough intrigue to keep it interesting. Once the killer was revealed, it kind of left me thinking "Okay why should I care anymore?" It felt like the show was trying to convince me to stay interested by playing up the characters I've come to know and throwing out weird flashes of spookiness two to three times an episode.

Even while the show was still focused on who the killer was in the first season, there were some irrelevant scenes too. For example, there is a trio of characters, James, Donna and Maddie, who are all hanging out and recording a song. No mention of getting together to make music or any of the three having dreams of making it big in the singer/songwriter industry. James is playing a guitar while all three are singing these mumbled lyrics about love. The point of the scene was to show that there was chemistry between James and Maddie while really Donna is James' girl. I thought it was a little silly, to be honest.

But, all in all, I love this series. Parts can make me cringe, but not enough to make me want to turn it off. Going back to that vibe I was writing about earlier, this show has it. There are certain scenes that make me want to put something else on because I'm watching these movies/shows by myself and my skin starts to crawl. I get freaked out over some of this stuff! One of the many reason I love David Lynch.

I have about half of the second season left and then I'll watch Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, a full length feature which I've also seen before. It's a prequel to the series. Far more creepier but that's Mr. Lynch! Oh, there's also this character named the Log Lady. If you look into this series, she has these 2 minute dialogs talking cryptically about the mystery surrounding Laura's death and the whole entire town.

Oh, and if you want to see David Duchovny in drag, I suggest this series. It doesn't come until the second season, but it's interesting. Or you could just Google it.

What do YOU like to do while you knit or craft or create? Are you a movie watcher too? Or do you prefer music? Are you a social crafter?