Twixt (2012)
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Val Kilmer, Elle Fanning, Bruce Dern, Ben Chaplin, Joanne Whaley

Rating: A+

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1756851/

This is Coppola cum David Lynch. In fact, if this were directed by Lynch it would be hailed as a return to form from the master of the surreal, however Coppola can't seem to catch a break. I've been a big fan of his revitalized arthouse film making, admiring Youth Without Youth, and really loving Tetro. Here he continues the trend with a surreal film right up the Twin Peaks alley. 
It is gorgeously shot, the dream sequences are visually astounding, Coppola playing with blacks and whites, and touches of vivid color, providing a lucid experience. What's more is that this is an extremely personal film for Coppola, with themes of selling out as an artist, losing a child, and confronting failure. After spending the 90s as a director for hire, Coppola has gotten back to making films that are important to him, critics be damned. This has polarized sides over the new direction of one of the greatest in the history of the medium. But with Lucas selling Star Wars and saying he's going back to making movies in his garage (probably bigger than any of our houses) it seems these two who had lost their way, are finding themselves again.
It has some great acting, providing Val Kilmer with is first decent role since Felon, and much to his own surprise, he still has it. He is in turns funny, but also hopeless and adrift. Drunk, tired, and distracted as the bargain basement Stephen King. Kilmer shows he still has the gravitas to carry a film on his back, it's just too bad that it won't be seen enough to provide him the career renaissance he deserves. After he and Coppola nearly worked together a few times over the past 25 years, they finally get the opportunity, and each seems glad to have made it. The supporting cast, especially Elle Fanning, are great, and the costuming and makeup is also a treat.
When Baltimore (Kilmer) roles into town to sign books at a hardware store, the local sheriff ropes him into the haunted towns history. Through a series of strange experiences, and lucid fever dreams (a drunken dream inspired the film) he uncovers the dark secrets of the town, meets Poe, and confronts his long buried feelings. Coppola also plays with meta-storytelling a bit, hinting at Baltimore's own struggles interpreting his dream into a book echo Coppola's, who woke up before the end. Which is going to be a love it or hate it thing... the end. But for me, It's a pleasure to watch something so pulpy, abstract, and full of atmosphere. It's a mishmash of styles, but Coppola gets it to work. Now if only he'd stuck with the original title, Twixt Now and Sunrise...

This behind the scenes still never made the final cut...