ARCLIGHT REVIEWS - Visual Media Reviews

ARCLIGHT REVIEWS is my new YouTube Channel where you join me, writer/director Michael Adam Warren, on a fun and fascinating exploration of visual media. Visual media includes modern cinema, television, streaming content, video games, and comic books. In a world of countless viewing options, make an informed decision to help you figure out what to watch next.

Lo-Fi Physicality of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) - Spontification

As part of our ongoing series to spotlight excellent David Lynch-related video essays online, here is one from the YouTube channel Alternating Line. In this video essay, included below, we explore the deliberately simple special effects David Lynch employs in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017) and contrast it with the more sophisticated special effects he occasionally drops in. What is he communicating with this dichotomy?

Eraserhead - Capturing a Nightmare

Not the longest or deepest analysis of David Lynch's seminal film Eraserhead (1977), but Jack's Movie Reviews on YouTube does give a nice overview of this surreal dream for the new and old viewer alike. And importantly, he shares Lynch's own designs for the film to act like a dream for each person, meaning something personal and potentially different for everyone.

Blue Velvet - Masterpiece Films

A fun homage to PBS's Masterpiece Theater, YouTuber Consequence of Sounds takes that old show's format to showcase classic films instead of books. Here she dissects some of the elements of David Lynch's 80's masterpiece to showcase why it still enthralls audiences as much (if not more) today than it ever did before.

Mulholland Dr. Analysis - Malmrose Projects

We proceed to the next David Lynch video essay by Malmrose Projects, the critically lauded Mulholland Dr. (2001). Sight & Sound Magazine declared it the best film of the 21st century, so far. Although the analysis here is brief, it is still engaging and well-explained. It is a pure cinematic dream and one of the most intriguing films to watch and discuss.

Lost Highway Analysis - Malmrose Projects

We happily present the next David Lynch-related video essay by Malmrose Projects, his analysis of Lost Hghway (1997). Unlike some of the other YouTubers on our list, Malmrose skipped over reviewing the majority of David Lynch's filmography. We can assume he is more interested in discussing Lynch's last three films released theatrically rather than analyze his work as a whole, which is why he skipped directly to what he cares about most. I would be pleased if one day he went back to address David Lynch's other films, which are an amazing odyssey.

Eraserhead Analysis - Malmrose Projects

I have admired YouTuber Malmrose Projects for a few years now and I want to take this opportunity to point you to her channel on film and TV analysis. We begin with her study of David Lynch's feature directorial debut and student film extraordinaire: Eraserhead (1977). Lynch describes this "troubling dream of terrible things" as his "most spiritual film."

Understanding a David Lynch Film - Renegade Cut

Four simple guidelines to watching films made by director David Lynch. How to initially approach them and how to revisit them to get more and more out of them over time. The art of analysis and interpreting dream symbolism for oneself. And the enjoyment of oneiric (dream-like) art in general.

Mulholland Drive: How Lynch Manipulates You

Painting by Ise Anaphada

Evan Puschak (a.k.a. The Nerd Writer) has carved out a great niche for making brief, yet informative videos wherein he analyzes art, cinema, television, and popular culture. One such nugget is found in Puschak's analysis of David Lynch's directorial style in the acclaimed film: Mulholland Dr. (2001).

Lost Highway: How Video Manipulates Us

Another informative video essay by What's So Great About That? on YouTube. She discusses David Lynch's examination of objective reality through video recordings and how they might not be quite as black and white as they appear to be. She explores some great ideas about Lynch's dichotomy of memory and video evidence and whether either can be ultimately more truthful than the other when confronting a complex reality.

David Lynch: The Treachery of Language

Below is an informative video essay recently created by What's So Great About That? on YouTube. She discusses David Lynch's complex relationship with the written language and how it relates (or does not relate) to his oneiric visual dreamscapes on film. She raises some good points and introduces some interesting parallels from other writers and artists, particularly on the topic of translating ideas to different mediums.

What is Cinema? By David Lynch

Italian Giorgi Getiashili released a beautiful snippet on YouTube of David Lynch discussing the nearly magical nature of cinema and how to best experience the illusion. David Lynch has always been an advocate of developing a more sophisticated language in cinema capable of transporting audience members into complex and abstract worlds of artistic thought.