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Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern are the last-word in star-crossed lovers. Pursued by theminions of Dern’s psychopathic mother Diane Ladd, they engage in a nightmarishly picaresquejourney across the American south, encountering one grotesque after another (most memorablyWillem Dafoe’s deeply creepy Bobby Peru). The over-the-top sex and violence is held togetherby a narrative that is a dark remake of The Wizard of Oz.

This was David Lynch’s follow-up to Blue Vel...et, and with this he earned a Palmed’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. It is filled with memorable characters and scenes, but thelunatic humour prevents the movie from being as intense as its predecessor. For that matter, Ifind Lost Highway a more satisfyingly committed descent into weird nightmare (though Iacknowledge being in a minority on this). Nonetheless, flaws aside, this is spectacularfilmmaking.

There were a lot of changes to Lost In Space in Season 2. The most significant was the decision to begin filming in color. There’s no question the show just looks so much better in color. The second drastic change was the overall mood of the show. Season 1 was much more serious and atmospheric. By the time the second year rolled around it became obvious that the trio of Smith, Will, and the Robot was what was drawing in the viewers. From that point onward most of the stories would revolve around that relationship. Th... stories began to get considerably more campy. Season 2 brings us such memorable characters like the green skinned Athena, the Space Circus master Dr. Marvello, Arab Chieftans, and who can forget that rascal cousin Jeremiah Smith?For better or worse, this is what Lost In Space would forever be identified with. The first season was eventually cut out of future syndication packages.

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