New Segment: "Blast from the Past" - David Lynch's The Elephant Man

     Every once in a while, I like to remove myself from the awful drivel that Hollywood has been cranking out lately in this day and age, and go back to a much better film period...a time of originality and quality story lines...with dramas that weren't contrived, comedies that weren't boring, and action movies that weren't cheesy...that's right.  I'm talking about the 90s.   
     I have so many favorite movies from the 1970s-90s it's not even funny.  So whenever I get depressed after seeing another preview for a Nicholas Cage movie, I know I've got a stack of VHS tapes at home to bring me some form of comfort.  Either that or Netflix.  
     Netflix actually brings me to my main point.  They had The Elephant Man to watch instantly online.  I had no choice but to completely drop everything I was doing, however important, and watch that movie.  

      The first time I saw this movie I was in high school, and back then, it was probably one of the more disturbing movies I had seen.  This movie is disturbing to me still to this day.  The story of John Merrick and his days in the circus as a freak show, and then his transfer to the hospital of Sir Fredrick Treves, is a journey that David Lynch chronicles through beautiful black and white shots and a jarring score.  John Hurt's humane portrayal of Merrick and genuine, tragic, and triumphant at the same time.
     The awesome thing about this film is that it created the category in the Oscars for "Best Makeup", due to so many complaints after the awards, which means that Lord of the Rings and The Fly would have never picked up such well-deserved awards had it not been for this film being so snubbed.  And if John Hurt was going to lose to another actor for Best Actor, I'd rather it be Robert DeNiro in Raging Bull than anyone.