The Return on Silver Screen Proves Why Fans Come Back to Twin Peaks
I have watched The Return several times now since its release in 2017. Each time, it feels like descending into a cave that should feel familiar—haven’t you been here a hundred times already? And yet, each descent into the third season of Twin Peaks feels almost alien. There are always hidden caverns to explore, new narrative threads to pull and unravel that often feel like they lead you nowhere.
Twin Peaks: The Return Offers Meditation on Grief, Feeling Life in the Moment
Two days after the dream, I entered a darkly lit theater in Northwest Film Forum to the familiar sound of the synth-heavy, nostalgic yet eerie Twin Peaks theme song, and shuffled into a seat. I was about to spend two hours watching episodes five and six of Twin Peaks: The Return (2017), as part of a collaborative screening of the entire 18-episode season held by Northwest Film Forum, SIFF, The Beacon, and The Grand Illusion Cinema between November 13 and December 16 of this year. I had only watched the first four episodes of the first season of David Lynch’s masterpiece series set in our home state. But there I sat, going in blind.
Studio 18 Supports Emerging Artists with Shared Delusions
Their exhibit opened to the public for a one-day event on Saturday, November 15 at Studio 18 Artist Collective. “This is a very historically [sic] arts building. They used to throw raves here in the ‘90s, early 2000s,” Reinhardt stated. The building is tucked beside train tracks underneath busy roadways—empty and bustling all at once. At the top of a thin staircase was the gallery opening, alive with visitors and music.
Local Filmmaker Shea Formanes Chats New Short Diwata, Production Process
Last year I was privileged to speak with local filmmaker Shea Formanes about her first feature, I Watched Her Grow. Recently, Shea and I spoke again, this time about shooting a short film she is currently working on. We spoke about her process and how this particular film, titled Diwata (a Filipino word meaning “muse”) went from an idea into her current project. We also went into great detail about how a film like this gets made and the partnerships she found along the way.
Nebula’s Portals to Immersive Experiences Rise from Cafe Nordo’s Remnants
In the winter of 2022, Cafe Nordo, a company who created beloved immersive theater and dining experiences within Pioneer Square’s Nord Alley, closed its doors and set its gaze to a dream of the future. After thirty original productions hosted in its two venues, the Culinarium and the Knife Room, the company decided to seek out a larger, more accessible home to produce and sustain boundless creativity. As they searched for real estate with sufficient accommodations, the dream world began to take shape. A rift, so to say, opened beneath Cafe Nordo, and out emerged Nebula.
Performative Femme Contest: Uplifting Our Queers on a Dime (and More to Come)
Each femme featured their own unique prop or presentation. Some read Queer theory, some read Sappho, and some read two books at once. The queens who weren’t reading were reapplying their makeup, doing the splits, singing Chappell Roan, or giving flowers out to the crowd. To gain their favor, contestants would flirt with the audience through notes, suggestive gestures, handfed strawberries, and at one point a collar-and-leash lead.
Trans* Talk: Trans* Storytelling
I think Trans* people should be in control of their own stories the same way I believe that any community should be in control of their own stories. This isn’t to say that other writers can’t include Trans* characters in their stories—they absolutely should—but that Trans* folks should be the ones to own the Trans* narrative. We should decide what is an authentic recounting of our own experiences. No one else knows the experience like we do, and when others take over our stories, they tell it wrong, boiling down the Trans* experience to stereotypes: focusing on surgery, making their Trans* characters completely androgynous, or minimizing the experiences of dysphoria.
Greenwood Artists Fight Fascism with Flair and Community Support
Corey Skullcrusher, an artist with the Waiting Room, appeared in full aristocratic flamboyance to accompany their “monstrosity.” From dress to wig to bloody neck, Skullcrusher embodied beheaded nobility. The presence of such elegance brought forward a message of resistance. Skullcrusher explained that the guillotine was historically the most humane way to oust those who were abusing power. While the golden cardboard guillotine may be a bit campy and cheeky, “it’s very specifically a message.”
SBWU Strike! Red Cup Rebellion Joined by Rep. Scott, Mayor Wilson
The strike comes in response to years of unsuccessful bargaining sessions in which Starbucks dismissed their workers’ concerns, chief among them proper staffing and increased wages. A key issue in this strike is Starbucks’ liberal use of union-busting tactics. SBWU has filed over one thousand ULPs (unfair labor practice suits), citing hundreds of unresolved labor law violations such as retaliatory firings, withholding tips, store closures, and unfair staffing cuts.
Twin Peaks: The Return Premiered with Die-Hard David Lynch Fans at NWFF
Twin Peaks, and indeed the entirety of David Lynch’s oeuvre, was and will always be a communal experience for me. I saw my first David Lynch movie, Mulholland Drive, in an almost-sold-out screening at the SIFF Egyptian in 2023. From then, I watched Blue Velvet, Inland Empire, Eraserhead, and more, reporting my jumbled but inspired thoughts, theories, and emotions back to more senior Lynch fans and friends. Though an endlessly long watchlist prevented me from visiting the humble, beloved town of Twin Peaks, Lynch’s passing in 2025 awakened the urgency to make the trip.
Protect Our Pitch 206 Encourages Neighborhoods to Discuss World Cup Impacts
As the FIFA World Cup looms on the horizon, Seattleites are proactively bracing their communities and neighborhoods for impact. Organizations such as the CID Coalition, Stop the Sweeps, the Seattle Solidarity Budget, and more launched the Protect Our Pitch 206 Campaign, a collective movement aiming to intercept the harm that accompanies mega sporting events.
Greening the Dark Season: P-Patches Provide Plant Power Near You
Now that we have finally left behind a dreadfully hot summer, gardeners all over the Puget Sound will be adding a layer of mulch to their soil and taking delicate plants indoors, while others, like me, will be keeping a careful eye on their indoor plants and making sure the heater is set low. Although we are about to move out of the ripening season for many of our beloved local Washington fruit (sweet Honeycrisp apple, how I will miss you!), that doesn’t mean that the Evergreen State’s farms and gardens will be empty or that there won’t be any gardening opportunities ahead for all of you green thumbs! If you’re hoping to keep your head in the gardening game, you need not look further than your own neighborhood.
Twin Peaks: The Return of the Return
“I’ll see you in twenty-five years.” These were the final words the spirit of Laura Palmer whispered to Agent Dale Cooper during the season two finale of Twin Peaks in 1991. In 2017, Laura’s farewell became the backdrop for Twin Peaks: The Return, the third and truly final season of David Lynch’s and Mark Frost’s beloved cult classic. And now, The Return returns. This time it’s being presented across Seattle by The Grand Illusion Cinema, The Beacon, Northwest Film Forum, and SIFF.
Sound Cinema: The Egyptian In Memoriam
At its reopening in 2014, the Egyptian was a first run movie house for arthouse cinema and international films, much like it was under previous management. Toward the end of its lifespan, the Egyptian became the venue where SIFF would host more of its revival, restoration, and thematic programming. It is where Noir City and Scarecrowber found enthusiastic crowds. It is also where SIFF hosted Capitol Hill's pinkest party in July 2023 with joyously raucous showings of Barbie.
Parker’s Pages: For Today I Am a Boy
For Today I Am A Boy by Kim Fu stopped me dead in my tracks.
The pure poetry in every line feels like something akin to Medeline Miller (The Song of Achilles) or Ocean Vuong (On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous), easy-breezy but powerful, simple and complicated. It is difficult to find a writer quite like Fu, with such command over a narrative, seamlessly moving between past, present, and future without a single falter. Each line felt like its own universe so carefully crafted, and the whole novel moved like a symphony harmonizing in unison.
Craving Live Music? We Know a Spot
The bitter adage, “Seattle isn’t what it used to be,” recently increased in circulation after the shocking news of the Crocodile shuttering the doors of Here-After and Madame Lou’s. In their statement, the Crocodile asserted that they are committed to the longevity of their main stage—unfortunately, it comes at the cost of their smaller comedy and music venues.
Cosplay is Fandom Expression to the Nth Degree
Cosplay has a rich history often overlooked in the mainstream geek/nerd culture. As an artform often seen as ‘cringe’ or ‘embarrassing,’ a lot of people don’t know much about the cosplay scene or its events, but the truth is that it’s a vibrant community of dedicated fans, crafters, and performers. To separate cosplay from fandom culture is a disservice, as cosplay remains one of the oldest expressions of fan dedication along with fanfiction, conventions, meet-ups, and fanart.
Food Security is Food Justice (and a Climate Solution)
“People on food stamps are lazy!” A phrase I and many others have heard too often. In the summer of 2019, I was in my 2nd year at the Seattle Aquarium, managing a little over 400 community partnerships, serving on several boards and committees, and I had just become the newest member of the Washington State Environmental Justice Task Force.
I was also on SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits. Food stamps.
Impossible Maps Questions Life and Grief Through Dance
Impossible Maps, a dance concert choreographed by C. Asa Call and performed at Yaw Theater, explored the ever-agonizing experience of grief and how, despite its wretched terrain, it can and must be navigated. Under a mythic lens, it interwove expressions of humanity’s despair with the mourning of Earth’s seasonal cyclical deaths and its inevitable final destruction.
And the 2025 Gregory Award Winners Are…
October 27, 2025, marked the 25th annual Gregory Awards held by Theatre Puget Sound. Performers, designers, and theatre makers and lovers all filed into Town Hall Seattle decked in their finest fashion for a night to celebrate the artistry and creation of the performing arts. After an hour to mingle, socialize, and give toast to the year’s winner of the Gregory A. Falls Sustained Achievement Award (John Bradshaw), guests gathered in the pews of the Great Hall for the start of the ceremony.
