Blue Velvet

From the moment a naive college student discovers a severed human ear in a suburban parking lot, David Lynch's classic Blue Velvet perversely begins to alter our perceptions about the true qualities of American life. Even twenty years later, Lynch's overdoses of murder, depravity and kinky sex retain the power to disturb us, and Dennis Hopper's performance as a sadistic nutjob still outspooks anything else he's ever done. Among the leading grotesques, look for Isabella Rossellini, Laura Dern, Jack Nance and Dean Stockwell. Young Kyle MacLachlan, who would later become the centerpiece of Lynch's revolutionary TV series Twin Peaks, is the picture of innocence lost, and Angelo Badalamenti's profoundly weird score boosts the mood of unease.

Blue Velvetopens a one-week run at the Starz FilmCenter on Friday, July 28, concluding a five-film Lynch revival series. Starz is at 900 Auraria Parkway in the Tivoli Building. For more information, call 303-820-2456 or log on at www.denverfilm.org