The impulse in the arts to build idols and smash them has found another victim in David Lynch. His early films (Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet) won a cult following that swelled in 1990 when Twin Peaks debuted and stretched the confines of TV. For a few months, Lynch was a trendy darling. Then viewers, impatient with the erratic quality of the series, turned on Peaks and on Lynch. Boos greeted this movie prequel at Cannes in May. In two years, Lynch has gone from genius to leper.

In fact he has simply remained David Lynch — a supreme stylist obsessed with working through the dark themes that matter to him — and like all artists, he is subject to varying degrees of success. The screen Peaks is no match for the two-hour TV pilot, but at its best the film draws us back into a uniquely haunting world. Events transpire during the week before the death of Laura Palmer, with actress Sheryl Lee tracing the character's downward trajectory of drugs and sex. Ray Wise is more disturbing than ever as Laura's depraved father; Michael Anderson repeats his mesmerizing portrayal as the dwarf in Laura's dreams; and Lynch does a sly encore as a hearing-impaired FBI honcho. It's damaging that some key characters, including Kyle MacLachlan's indispensable Agent Cooper, appear only briefly and that others, especially Sherilyn Fenn's saddle-shoed sexpot, Audrey, don't show at all. And though the movie ups the TV ante on nudity, language and violence, Lynch's control falters. But if inspiration is lacking, talent is not. Count Lynch down but never out.

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."