gotta-light
Gotta light?

Metrograph hosting "Gotta Light?" film series this weekend ahead of 'Twin Peaks' finale

[Mild Spoilers for Twin Peaks: The Return follow]

This Sunday (9/3) is the finale of Twin Peaks: The Return, David Lynch and Mark Frost‘s much-anticipated third season of their endlessly influential early-’90s series. In the 16 hours so far, it’s turned out to be pretty great, a place once again both wonderful and strange that went in directions you just couldn’t expect, and will probably continue to do so for the two-hour finale. The only thing we feel certain about predicting is that Twin Peaks theme singer Julee Cruise will perform in the finale — she’s the only musician from the initial cast list who hasn’t shown up yet. (Check out our guide to the music of Twin Peaks: The Return.) If you haven’t watched yet, you should, and you can catch up on demand or via the Showtime Anytime app (or through Hulu). Showtime is also showing a Twin Peaks: The Return marathon on Sunday.

A few months before the series aired, Showtime exec David Nevins called Twin Peaks: The Return the “pure heroin vision of David Lynch” and he was probably thinking of Episode 8, titled “Gotta Light?” It ranks among the weirdest, most awesome things Lynch has ever done: beautiful, scary, delving into Stan Brakhage and Chris Marker-influenced experimental cinema, plus gruesome violence, some disturbing insect/reptile hybrids…and Nine Inch Nails. NYC moviehouse Metrograph is showing a series called “Gotta Light” this Labor Day Weekend inspired by that episode:

David Lynch is that rare artist who unites traditions, often apart or at odds with what is thought to be traditional narrative and avant-garde film. Lynch’s fine arts background, attending art school in Philadelphia as an aspiring painter, spurred him into filmmaking by a desire to see his paintings move, and his first efforts were distinctly in the experimental vein. As proven by Twin Peaks: The Return, the same spirit remains alive in Lynch—for proof, look no further than Episode 8, a tangled, visceral multi-megaton blast of invention that brought together personal cosmology and postwar history in a single bravura performance. While The Return continues to unfold, Metrograph selected a program of Lynch’s more far out productions, alongside a collection of films—many non-narrative—that complement or inform his work.

Featured films include Lynch’s Eraserhead and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, Tarkovsky’s Stalker, Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, classic noir film Kiss Me Deadly, and a bunch of cool short film programs. The “Gotta Light?” series runs through September 3. Check out the schedule and get tickets here.

After Sunday, the full tracklistings for both of the Twin Peaks: The Return soundtracks will be released, one being the score, and one of songs performed at the Roadhouse (Chromatics, Sharon Van Etten, Au Revoir Simone, more) and other pop songs used in the series. They’re both coming out digitally on September 8, but the vinyl pressing will be out via Italians Do it Better on September 22 and pre-orders are available.