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Moriarty Visits David Lynch's INLAND EMPIRE And Lives To Tell About It!!
It’s funny. If I had to name my favorite working filmmaker, I’m not sure I could do it.
But my co-writer Scott tells me that he knows who my favorite filmmaker is, even if I don’t. He is confident that David Lynch is my favorite filmmaker based on watching my responses to Lynch’s work over the years. The weird part about that is that half the time, I hate Lynch films the first time I see them. I remember being apoplectic walking out of WILD AT HEART after eagerly awaiting it for months and months. And upon first viewing, FIRE WALK WITH ME felt like a complete betrayal of TWIN PEAKS, and I left the theater red-faced and ranting. But when I revisited those films without the weight of expectation, I fell head over heels for them.
Not all of his films sneak up on me, though. BLUE VELVET floored me the first time I saw it, and I consider it one of the very best films of the ‘80s. ERASERHEAD, THE ELEPHANT MAN, THE STRAIGHT STORY... he makes diverse and remarkable films that get inside your head and never really shake out. Yet for some reason, his films are never the ones that I put at the top of my “most-anticipated” lists. Maybe it’s because he so resolutely refuses to play the hype game. His movies just sort of... arrive. And when they do, they’re almost always beyond description.
Which makes them a little tricky to review.
There’s another consideration here that could affect whether you want to read any further in this review, so let’s go ahead and get the disclosure out of the way. In this case, it’s too much fun not to share.
When or if you see this film, you’ll notice my name shows up in the closing credits under the “Special Thanks To” section.
A few years ago, when I was still living in my apartment in Hollywood, I got a call from a friend of mine named Jeremy Alter. Jeremy’s one of those guys who seems to have worked every possible gig in this business, and even though he’s had some remarkable experiences, I’ve never detected a hint of ego in all the time I’ve known him. He’s just a hard-working family guy who seems to know everybody.
When he called initially, he said he was scouting locations for something and he wanted to drop by and take some pictures of my apartment. He didn’t say why, but he called me again a few hours after he came by and told me that he wanted to bring a crew by the following evening. Sure enough, the next night he showed up.
With David Lynch and Laura Dern.
They told me that they’d be shooting something for Lynch’s website, a short film. I was shocked to see that all they had with them was DV equipment. One of my favorite things about Lynch has traditionally been the lush cinematography of his films. Altogether, Lynch had about four people with him, along with Dern and a young Polish actress who seemed to speak very little English. My roommate, Henchman Mongo, had just moved out, and Mrs. Moriarty and I were in the process of changing everything in the apartment, so one of the bedrooms was empty. That allowed Lynch to set it up any way he wanted. He had the Polish actress lay on the floor of the room, smoking, while Dern sat with her back against the wall. Altogether, they probably took two hours to work a scene, and at the end of it, Lynch carried his own equipment back out to the car. Jeremy told me that he had no idea if the footage would be used in anything, or if it would just be an experiment in the format for Lynch, but either way, they thanked me. A few weeks later, signed DVD copies of THE SHORT FILMS OF DAVID LYNCH and ERASERHEAD showed up at my door as a thank you.
If that strange momentary intersection with the director means that you no longer trust my opinion of the film that, several years later, features all of about fifteen seconds from the footage shot that night, then I understand, and I would rather you skip the rest of the review than read any further. Personally, I wasn’t influenced by that so much as I was intrigued. Every now and then, I’d get word from Jeremy about some other last-minute shoot, some laundry list of requests that he would fill for Lynch at a moment’s notice, and he told me how the project just kept growing... and growing... and it sounded to me like whatever the end result would be, it would be unfiltered Lynch.
And indeed it is. In fact, I’d go so far as to call this a masterpiece, a word I don’t throw around lightly. It feels like a summation of an artist’s full career.
Having said that, I also hesitate to recommend this film to anyone but the adventurous. This movie eschews the conventions of narrative with glee, and the result is a three-hour nightmare machine spiked with moments of Lynch’s absurdist wit and more genuine humanity than anything he’s done since THE STRAIGHT STORY.
This is perhaps the most elaborate game Lynch has ever built for an audience. From the moment it begins, INLAND EMPIRE is constantly folding in on itself, daring you to follow its dream logic. The film opens with a woman and a man in a hallway. Obviously, a deal has been made, and sex is about to occur. Both of their faces are digitally blurred out, obscured. They step inside, quickly conduct their business, and then he leaves. It’s only as the whore sits up into the light of a television in the room that we see her face for the first time. She’s puffy, tear-stained. And as she watches the TV, the flicker of it reflected in her eyes, Lynch takes us into the television, into whatever it is she’s watching.
Onscreen, people in rabbit-suits walk through a strange oblique scene that is underscored by canned laughter. Is this how Lynch sees sitcoms? Laughter at nothing? People who are barely recognizable as people? Whatever it is, we move through a few more images on TV, including one of Grace Zabriskie, a Lynch regular, walking up a sidewalk in high speed. When we see that image again, she’s walking at regular speed, and she follows the sidewalk to a huge house. Knocking at the door, she’s admitted by a butler who calls the lady of the house, Nikki (Laura Dern) down to speak with her. Pay close attention to the conversation that unfolds between them. Most of the clues you’ll need to decode everything that follows are contained in that exchange, and Zabriskie seems to know everything that’s going to happen to Nikki over the next 160 minutes of film time. If only Nikki was able to understand what she’s being told, maybe she would be able to avoid the descent into madness that consumes her.
Instead, she focuses on one piece of information in particular. Zabriskie tells her that she’s going to win a role in a movie that she wants. Sure enough, she does, and very quickly, she’s at her first day of rehearsals for a love story co-starring Devon (Justin Theroux) and directed by Kingsley (Jeremy Irons).
During the rehearsal, they’re interrupted by someone on the soundstage, someone they don’t see but only hear. Kingsley explains to them that the film was almost shot once before in Poland, but that the two leads were murdered and the film was shut down. It’s considered cursed now, in part because it’s based on an old gypsy fable. Nikki and Devon don’t care, though. They both see this as an opportunity, and they love the material. In Nikki’s case, she needs this. It’s a comeback for her, a return to the business. She’s married to a very wealthy man, but she seems dissatisfied. She needs to act. She needs the outlet.
He warns her, though, that if she has an affair with Devon during the making of the film, there will be consequences. And there are, but just not the consequences that he seems to suggest. Nikki starts to lose herself in ON HIGH WITH BLUE TOMORROWS, the film she’s making, losing herself in Sue, her character. At first, there’s a fairly clear line between what is taking place in the film and what is taking place in “reality,” but that line begins to blur. Is Nikki sleeping with Devon? Or are we just seeing Sue and Billy sleep together?
All of this description just barely begins to scratch the surface of INLAND EMPIRE, and this is a film that goes much deeper than just the surface. I’m sure some people will dismiss this completely because they are frustrated by the game, but don’t let them tell you that it doesn’t add up to anything. It does. There’s a puzzle here that you’re able to piece together, but it’s not easy, and it’s not going to satisfy every viewer. The thing that surprised me is how funny much of the first hour is, and how almost nothing after that point is even remotely funny. In fact, the longer the film wears on, the darker it gets. Dern becomes so disconnected from time and identity that she loses complete track of herself. Her performance is the glue that holds the film together, though. Other characters drift in and out of the movie, and although I missed Theroux after his last appearance and even though I would have liked more of Harry Dean Stanton, it’s Dern that drives the whole thing. It’s no wonder she ended up with a co-producer credit on the film. She is onscreen almost the entire time, and there’s not a hint of vanity in her work here. She debases herself. She strips herself emotionally for the camera. She crawls along Hollywood Boulevard on her hands and her knees, literally wallowing in the city.
My biggest fear before I saw the film was that I would hate the look of the DV cinematography. This isn’t like Michael Mann’s MIAMI VICE or Singer’s SUPERMAN LIFTS THINGS. This wasn’t shot on a high-end piece of equipment. All of this appears to be regular consumer-grade DV, and for the first ten or fifteen minutes, I was disconcerted by just how cheap it looks. But gradually, as I became engrossed in what I was watching, something happened. Not only did I not mind the aesthetic, but it actually started to grow on me. There are things about video that are completely different than film, and Lynch is canny enough to play to DV’s strengths. He seems obsessed with textures and light in the film, like in the very first few shots of the film, with a needle on a record in extreme close-up, and when he pushes things into near-total darkness in the last hour of the film, it becomes much stranger and dreamier than I would have expected. Laura Dern doesn’t just step into shadows; she merges with them, bleeds into them. It’s like she steps into something tangible, something she can’t quite scrape off.
As low-tech as the visual end of the film is, the sound design is incredibly sophisticated. The film’s score is as much a sound effect as it is music that you actually notice. It’s almost score as subtext, designed to affect you without you actually hearing it. There are a few places where music actually leaps to the foreground, like a dance number set to “The Locomotion” or, most memorably, the incredible end credits that use Nina Simone’s “Sinnerman” so well that I will never be able to hear the song without picturing that sequence again. But for the most part, the score just sort of hovers right at the edge of conscious hearing, getting into your head and under your skin, adding to the almost unbearable claustrophobia of the last third of the film.
So what is it about the last hour of the movie that makes it feel like such a nightmare? Why does it disturb me more than even the murder of Laura Palmer in FIRE WALK WITH ME or Sailor’s moment of rage on the steps in WILD AT HEART or anything involving the baby in ERASERHEAD or Frank Booth in BLUE VELVET or even the scenes with Robert Blake in LOST HIGHWAY? Because Dern manages to make us feel every single bit of Nikki’s deterioration. She allows herself to look terrible here, but in those moments, there’s also such strength bubbling just below the surface that she achieves a ragged beauty.
Lynch’s films tap into something primal. With most movies, you watch them the way a rock skips across a lake when thrown, just bouncing along the surface. With the films that Lynch makes, though, you plunge into the film, and no matter how deep you go, they continue to yield new surprises. I’m sure that I’ve just begun to enjoy the way INLAND EMPIRE is constructed. For fans of this director’s idiosyncratic career, this is a delirious high that will take days to wear off. For those of you who don’t enjoy his more willfully surreal work, I’d warn you off. This is not a movie for the casual viewer. But for those who buy the ticket and take the ride, there is an embarrassment of riches on display here. Look for brief appearances by Diane Ladd and Julia Ormond and Mary Steenburgen (who looks so de-glammed in her one scene that I wasn’t sure it was really her). Watch for the incredible ways that certain images and dialogue echoes through the entire film. Enjoy the way Lynch takes the notion of “it’s all a dream” and demolishes it completely. Listen for Lynch’s hilarious cameo as “Bucky,” a lighting grip. But more than anything, indulge yourself in the pure cinema that INLAND EMPIRE has to offer. I always hate when people call smaller films “art” movies, but that word applies here. This is more of an experience, a happening, an event that is designed to swallow you whole, than it is a movie in any conventional sense. It’s electrifying to see what happens when one of our great filmmakers decides to reinvent his very approach to the craft, and when the results are this spectacular, it should serve as encouragement to others.
The film will be playing in Los Angeles this coming week as part of the AFI Film Festival, and for everyone else, it appears that it will be released on December 15th.
And speaking of the AFI Fest, I’ll be covering it this year, and I’ve already seen about 15 movies from the line-up. I’ll have a preview of what you can expect from the fest as well as a number of pieces for you in the next few days.
Drew McWeeny, Los Angeles
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didnt even read the post... get me!!!! bbbbbuuuuuuurrrrraaappppppp
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i dnt understand it.... SECOND bbbbbbbbbuuuuuuurrrrrrrraaaaaaatttttttt that that sound of my gat
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and proud!
www.obsessedwithfilm.com -
cant be proud wen ur buried. im am the ghost... walk with me
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And whenever there is a thread on Lynch, I ask the same question, and Moriaty, I'm asking you too this time: Why is "The Straight Story" a good movie? The only defense i have heard for it is, "It's a simple story told in a simple way", and that's fine, I can appreciate that, but it's not enough to make a dull movie good in my opinion. There are film classes on The Straight Story, and they just say the same thing too. I love all of Lynch, and this is the one piece of his that puts me off, and I'm hoping it's just do to how I'm missing it on some layers and I don't "get it". So, can anyone who is a fan of this movie (and some people have called it Lynch's best!) PLEASE explain to me why it is a fantastic film? Because I want to like it. Also...Excited as hell to see INLAND EMPIRE.
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Damn you Michael Bay
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Why is this the first time we're hearing about your heart attack? ;)
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I'm glad someone else noticed that.
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Do you even have any idea what an editor does?
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David Lynch, a true talent.
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I was hoping to meet David there, but he couldn't attend. Shoot!
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and an editor corrects his spelling. Its from a movie so it must be true. AND ! who care is Mori's got some typos? Even with them he still knows what he's talking about and has his name in a Lynch movie which is neater then any fucking dictionary. Tops, Mori.
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I loved this film, but I am reluctant to call it his best film. It seems to be his most accessible and most heartfelt though, surely. If you feel that the film is dull and simplistic story about a guy on a tractor wanting to see a his brother, who he has not seen in years, then I don't think there is anything anyone can do or say to make you realise how good it is. Elephant Man made me cry at certain points and affected me hugely. The Straight Story did the same without the tears. I found it to be a very touching film about a man in his twilight years who has come to the realisation that life is too short to allow past incidents to allow silence to remain between two brothers. Take into account the fact that the actor playing Alvin Straight was terminally ill at the time of shooting. Watch the scenes where he reminisces about the past, look into his eyes as he talks. It is very powerful and moving whilst being very restrained.
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if you owned it, did you mention the fact that Lynch filmed...err, videoed in it when you were shopping it?
Zombie, tough call on that Worlds Greatest Living Director. Miyazaki? Scorsese? Wong Kar-Wai? Malick? Spielbergo? Kitano? Altman? Godard?!? Bergman?!? -
Damn you MCMLXXVI
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The Straight Story is not a "simple story" as so many perceive it to be. It is deeply complex (although not as unintelligible as other Lynch films) film. The weight of Alvin Straight's emotions weigh the watcher down with profound analysis of such conditions as family, aging, the plight of the senior citizen in America, etc. Just watch how Alvin tries to maintain his dignity as he rides a "LAWN MOWER!" across states. The acting is suberb. The final scene amazingly touching. But above all else, this is one of the few films (VERY RARE) that actually made me want to be a better person. That counts for a lot.
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I'm not against Lynch doing straight, heartfelt narratives at all. The "Romeo and Juliet scene" in Elephant Man made me cry, and I felt for him the entire time. Maybe I should just try watching Straight Story again with an open mind and see what happens.
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I feel embarrassed for asking this being a film obsessive, but who is Wong in terms of the movies? My Love of film has sent me on few, though memorable, foreign excursions, but being as their are so many artists all over the world I must admit to some xenophobia in my cinema simply because I often need quite a few leads before I will trust that a new (?) director is worth investing meditation in. Obviously Asian Cinema presents a wide variety of directors (both good and bad), but what is it that separates Wong from others that I have heard his name dropped so often recently? Who would he be compared to (I've heard Scorsese, and that's what got me so excited) and what are his go-to filnms that most effectively present his particular vision?
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Not to distract from this thread that seems to be developing on The Straight Story, I've had a number of different feelings on this movie from the first time my Grandma showed it to me in tears to the last time a friend showed it to me in rapture
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Doc, simple in terms of the way in which the film is shot, it's chronology and also when compared to his other films. And how complex it is depends on what you take away from it. This can go for anything, I could probably watch an episode of Days of Our Lives and render it complex and/or profound. But I do agree, it isn't as simple as what it shows on the surface.
Daniel, no worries. You should give it another shot, definitely. I know many people who didn't appreciate this film, another an apparently huge Lynch fan. Some people don't have the patience, as it is a slow going film. But like most slow going films your patience does (maybe) pay off. -
I was always curious as to how, exactly, they filmed that scene, culminating in the bad guy (Bob Ray Lemon, played by stuntman Gregg Dandridge) getting his head bashed into a marble floor several times. It's probably one of the most realistic fight scenes I've ever seen on film: of course the sound effects have a lot to do with it; but still, that dude was taking some PUNISHMENT. Unfortunately, there's nothing on the dvd that even references the scene--you'd think they could've spent about ten or so minutes taking the viewer through it, but noooo. When Wild first came out, it was my favorite Lynch film; now I'd give that honor to Lost Highway, followed closely by Mulholland Drive and Fire Walk With Me. Can't wait for Inland Empire, as it sounds like more Mulholland madness. And for the record, never saw The Straight Story, though judging from the comments I'm reading, I should probably give it a look.
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I am completely with you in it wanting to make you (me) a better person.
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It used to be Lost Highway, but watching it again, it hasn't held up as well in my opinion, maybe it was jsut my mood. But I love all of Wild at Heart thoroughly. It's really hard to pick a favorite with Lynch, but I'm often shocked to see Wild at Heart described as his worst. Only thing that would have made it better was if Sherilynn Fenn played Laura Dern's role, complete with nudity.
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So I greatly anticipate the day when I finally get a chance to check this out. As for my personal favourite piece of Lynchism, I'd have to go with Lost Highway. I know it's not the popular choice, but damn I love that film. I swear, it's a sin when directors as unique and talented as David Lynch have such an uphill battle scrounging up a few dollars just so they can get anything made. A damn crime against film is what it is.
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I REALLY hope it's available in my area, but these types of movies usually aren't...aaarggh!
I bet it'll be at BNAT.
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Thunderballs, you have just signed your Utter Loser Papers. Good luck having your opinion taken seriously ever again.
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hmmm...well, I'd start with Chungking Express, which, in terms of influences upon his work, references the more fun lovin' films of the French New-Wave, particularly early Godard.
The Scorsese comparisons would only really come into play in his early works, Days of Being Wild and As Tears Go By, but I never really saw it. I guess As Tears Go By might be considered his Mean Streets, but seeing how that's his weakest film I wouldn't even bother.
Days of Being Wild is good, but it was with the one-two punch of Chungking and Ashes of Time, circa 1994, that I feel in love with his work. Ashes has been called "Last Samurai at Marienbad" by a critic far more savvy than myself, and it works as an apt description. He swiped the blurry, blink-and-you'll-miss-'em action scenes from King Hu, and while Sammo Hung was pissed that so much of his work was cut (and what's shown was either densely edited and blurred) but there are some stunning set-pieces. I could go on and on about that film, but I know others who've never made it through without falling asleep, so I may be in the minority on that one.
Some folks love Fallen Angels, but I dunno, I thought he was repeating himself with that, kind of like a highlight reel of his earlier work. Now, if you're a homophobe, stay clear of Happy Together, but if not, there's a lot to like.
You can read up on his latest stuff yourself, 'cuz I think I've threadjacked enough already. Let me just add that his framing is impeccable-couple that with the beautiful cinematography of Doyle and his latest shooters, his films are wonderful eye candy. Some may call it style over substance, but sometimes style is your substance, and for someone so concerned with surface beauty Wong is pretty damn deep. -
Eraserhead was the most disturbing. Followed by the Twin Peaks TV show (One of the few shows that I used to make sure to schedule into my time. Fire walk with me was not as good as I'd hoped. Maybe I'll watch that one again soon). Dune is such a misunderstood classic. I still can't believe it when a Sci-fi nut says they've never watched it! I'd love to find those Short Stories of David Lynch, though. Didn't he direct an episode of the '80's Twilight Zone or something? Anyhow, I won't miss this one.
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I checked IMDb. Must've been thinking of someone else.
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nobody would care. It would not be discussed. I think he's brilliant, but he has a creative freedom that most filmmakers will never achieve. He has the patent on American surrealism and if you attempt to do something along those lines, you will be igored or called "Lynchian". There is room in America for only one surrealist auteur. Job taken.
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I don't want to sound like an asshole, but you maybe shouldn't be discussing Lynch if you think Blue Velvet is boring, and couldn't appreciate Twin Peaks as a series. Also, to say Scorsese is awful now too is a pretty brash statement, sure, some may argue that he isn't as good, but he's been messing around with different genres (Age of Innocence, Kundun), and "The Departed" was as good a film as he has ever made. I'm not saying you're wrong about Lynch, but maybe you just don't appreciate him. I was the same with De Palma, until recently. And in Mulholland Drive, Theroux did a fantastic job.
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the first and only Lynch movie that I have seen in the cinema. I thought It was his finest film. The opening of it throws you because you think this is going to be another Lynch movie and it doesnt turn out that. Sissy spacek has been around along time, but that performance was I think the best she ever has ever given. When the movie came out, I thought well at spacek should be in with a shout. as indeed I thought would the entire film be in with several shots. not one damn award. just a token award for Farnsworth who died not long afterwards. That was my favorite film of that year. I appreciate Lynch does not make normal films. I think he at least deserved some recognition for at least that film. fuck the oscars.
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In order starting with best: Elephant Man, Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks pilot, Lost Highway, Dune, Wild at Heart
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...if you don't like (fill in the blank) it's because you don't get it. But if you don't see Fire Walk With Me as the shattering, riveting, perhaps greatest acheivement of a directorial career that has had some very great moments, then You Don't Get It. And you should watch the movie again until you do.
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... I'd agree with that. My problem with FIRE WALK WITH ME the first time I saw it was that it was so profoundly different than the series. But taken on its own, it's an amazing piece of filmcraft, and one of the scariest films ever made.
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that Fire Walk with me is simply terrifying. Even not having viewed it in many years - it still gives my willies the creeps.
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Indeed, Moriarty. In fact, there are scenes from the series that are so unsettling that I can't believe they ever made it on TV. Example: does anyone remember the flashback Ronette Pulaski had when she finally came out of her coma???
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Wow. Who would believe that David Lynch would be a unifying director for all the AICN-ers out there. I love his films so much. (I have an original German poster of Blue Velvet framed on my wall, signed by Lynch, Hopper, Rossellini, and Maclachlan) I'm this close to driving to L.A. to see Inland Empire (and the inside of Mori's house!) but I think I'll wait in angst and anticipation for a month for the main release. (Also, $25 for a ticket? Sure, Lynch is worth it, but that's kinda pricey for one movie) Until then, just remember: "That gum you like is coming back into style"...
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Zardoz, first off, is the Blue Velvet poster you're referring to have Isabella Rossellini on it naked hold blue velvet over herself, and it says "Maui Kadife" in a blood-like font above? I have that poster, but I think it's from Turkey, not Germany. And, I loved FWWM, sure it didn't answer a lot of questions from the show, but Lynch was never about that. The scene with Phillip Jeffries intermixed with that insane scene with Man From Another Place, the boy with the plaster mask, the lumberjacks, "This is a formica table" is SO good, the traffic scene with Leland, Laura, and Gerard yelling is great, the morning after scene with Leland and Laura at the breakfast table, ugh, so much greatness in the movie. My only complaint is that the movie was supposed to end with a brief continuation of the finale with Cooper hitting his head on the mirror, and when Truman and Hayward comes, Cooper goes on this wonderful rant about how "the mirrow struck his head, it STRUCK it as FUNNY." and he just laughs and laughs. I would have loved to have seen that. But yeah, definitely an under rated movie, that isn't terrifying, but a wonderful case study of a father and daughter. Ray Wise deserved an Emmy and Oscar for his performance. And, Moriarty, is the last hour of INLAND EMPIRE crazier than the last half hour of Twin Peaks's series finale, because that may be my favorite thing by Lynch ever.
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The scene where Ronette comes out of the coma, and it's like a slowed down shot of Bob just running and screaming? Yes, terrifying. Leland putting on the fucking gloves in the mirror before he deals with Madeline, combined with the skipping record player, combined with the random points when it would slow down and shine spotlights everywhere. Man on man, what a brilliant show, and in retrospect I have no idea how Lynch was not only on TV, but NETWORK TV.
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I agree about the two old veterans telling war storys. Powerful stuff
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I agree about the two old veterans telling war storys. Powerful stuff
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Oct 29, 2006 4:21:37 PM CST
By the way, based on all these Straight Story comments.
by danielkurland
I'm going to re-watch it, and I hope my enjoyment for it increases.
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So many great, creepy scenes. There are several that I would take over any number of horror movies being produced today. I remember Ronette having a seizure on the hospital bed and it cuts to the traincar with Laura screaming bloody murder and you can tell she's being hit with a blunt object. The show was legendary for its screams - just the sounds alone would be enough for me to cover my eyes. And how Ray Wise was able to portray such hateful glee during his possession, I'll never know. I think horror is a dying art. "Twin Peaks" and "FWWM" manage to deliver some truly unsettling chills. *** "There's a man in a smiling bag..."
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And it's a rare one. I'd never seen it before or since: it's Kyle, Dennis and Isabella in front of a white picket-fence and a rose garden, with Dennis sucking his nitrous mask and about to touch Isa's face, and Kyle looking like "Kilroy" underneath them and the fence. "Ein film von David Lynch". I paid about $250 for it in '93. The autographs are all on index cards that are mounted below the poster, and it's framed on, what else? Blue Velvet...
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And I always thought it was better than the American one of MacLachlan holding Rossellini in some ballet - like pose. That's such a beautiful opening shot - the pure blue, white and red of the the sky, fence and roses - I'd like to turn this thread into awesome Lynch moments if possible, and I'll throw two more Twin Peaks ones in: Leland's cry dance, and the imitations, and Harold Smith screaming as he rakes a gardening tool down his face..."The owls are not what they seem."
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How could one ever forget Cooper's dream sequence and our first introduction to "The Arm". *** "Wow, BOB! Wow!".
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soooo many great moments. The bit with Andy hitting the fake floorboard that hits him in the face, and he just staggers for like 10 seconds, blood on his face, and Cooper just gives him a thumbs up..."There's a fish in the percolator."
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I wholeheartedly concur. I think Lynch has become too insolated and self-obsessed to continue making meaningful films. His films were once laced with black humor and irony, but they now seem like self-parody. Lynch really needs someone to tell him when an idea is not working.
Then again, Lynch has never been a 1/5 of the director that Peter Greenaway is. Why the hell hasn't "Nightwatching" been discussed on this site yet? It's now in post-production. I'm sure someone has sent in info about it. -
Lynch's films still have tons of black humor. Look at Mulholland Drive, his latest movie: the whole scene with the black book where the assassin is cleaning the gun, and it shoots someone, and he needs to then shoot the witness, and he shoots the vacuum cleaner, and it explodes and the smoke detector goes off...all the stuff with the cowboy...Lynch still has plenty of black humour.
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Wow, seems we can all get along on occasion -er, mostly. Mori, couldn't agree more about this master craftsman's use of sound. Exemplary in every piece of work, and a big part of his ability to amp up the chills. "Sometimes my arms bend back..."
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You can be a Lynch fan and still think some of his films outright suck, and then disagree with other fans over which suck and which pwn (me, I think Eraserhead sucks and Blue Velvet pwns). As far as closing songs you'll never hear the same way again, sign me up for "Song to the Siren" from Lost Highway. And I think FWWM kicks all sorts of ass: watch it independently of the TV series for maximum effect.
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Knock off your little "anchorite & MNG Trolling Project", and I might even say it a second time.
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That song in Eraserhead when the girl in the radiator just smiles and stomps fetuses is so effective and haunting, obviously In Dreams is fantastic in Blue Velvet, Lost Highway's I'm Deranged to start things off is perfect, I've always loved Mulholland Drive's Five Reasons Why I Love You, right down to Theroux's delivery of "This is the girl", and Cage singing, Love Me in Wild at Heart is also just incredible. He knows what he is doing. And I hope INLAND EMPIRE has a comparable song/scene.
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Sorry for the constant posts, ha, but you know how Lynch's fans are. Manson's cover of "I put a spell on you" in Lost Highway during that stripping/gun scene is also great.
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David Lynch managed to get "Twin Peaks" on Network TV because after the 2 hour pilot, the bigwigs at ABC never really watched the series. They were operating under the illusion that it was just a quirky drama (injected with some brilliant dark humor) set around characters who talked about coffee and donuts. Little did they know that some of the most intense and disturbing images ever committed to film were playing out as a tale of demonic possession. No one bothered with it until someone took a look at the ratings and said, "Hey, what's this show about anyway?!". ;-)
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Is that it brings up SO many cliffhangers, pretty muc hevery character's life is in jeopardy. We've covered a lot of base here, but how about discussing the pros and strengths of season 2 of Twin Peaks, preferably the stuff after Laura Palmer's murder was resolved, in order to sway the people that may hate it.
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... you guys totally restore my faith in talkback. Thanks!
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... I'm guessing English isn't your first language. Or your second. Or even your fifth. "AN EDITOR DOES HE EDITS CRAP THAT WRITERS WRITE GUESS WHAT HALF THIS ARTICLE NEEDS TO BE CUT WHOS GOT THE FINAL SAY ON THAT THE EDITOR NUMBNUTS!!!!" is a spectacular sentence, and you giving me advice on anything relating to writing is solid gold.
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Lately, I've noticed that your avatar appears to have gone AWOL and that you are signing-off as Drew. Any particular reason for the change? Just curious. *** Keep the faith!
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i agree with MNG (ps, that's a grrreat handle) and danielkurland and all the others with love for lynch. anybody who manages to literally change the fabric of a medium gets props even if you didn't like 'the straight story.' i can't think about 'twin peaks' without seeing frakking bob hiding in the corner of the bedroom, and then of course i see him hiding in the corner of MY bedroom, and then i remember that i'm forever warped because of TP and the fact that i saw 'eraserhead' when i was like 11.
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The CLASSIC "Pennsylvania 6500" scene with Leland dancing with the picture of Laura. I don't know how I forgot that, but wow, another great moment. MacLachlan, Fenn, Wise, Lynch, and Duchovony all deserved Emmys. What the hell was up with Piper Laurie always getting nominated? Sure, she was fine, and in the second season she was technically playing two characters, but the others were just that much better.
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... a lot of people saying that the Leland/BOB thing was made up as a way of ending the show. And I wondered about that because the finale was such an FU! to the network (and nearly the fans!). But if you rewatch the first season, all the clues are right there in front of your face. --- "I heard about you!"
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but I do think that it was severely rushed. ABC made Lynch and Frost reveal who the killer was, and I don't think the Laura Palmer arc suffered because of it (but it may have been even better), but I definitely think SOME of the middle episodes meandered and were kind of unfocused due to the network playing around with things.
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Mori: Any idea why they didn't use Badalamenti for INLAND EMPIRE? They seemed like an inseparable unstoppable duo. Badalamenti's haunting, atmospheric music was the perfect match in Twin Peaks and his movies. I'd be sad to see this partnership lost. But then, I'm already sad as I only just found out that the Season 2 dvd release of Twin Peaks is no longer close at hand for this (un)lucky Antipodean. I also agree wholly with BannedOnTheRun - I consider myself a Lynch fan. I disliked Dune, I wasn't fond of Mulholland Drive and haven't rewatched it to try to get it, and there's a few I haven't seen.
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why doesnt Lynch just try to write and direct a movie that isn't obtuse, hard to understand and tries OVERLY hard to be different and "adventurous"? come on. i liked blue velvet and mulholland, and respect him and his vision, but dont any of you wonder whether he CAN make a movie that makes sense anymore? doesnt "eschews narrative convention with glee" really mean he can write whatever he wants and his legion of fans will think its brilliant? its easy to write a movie that punches narrative around in exchange of "vision".
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Lynch is who he is. What do you want? For him to make films like everyone else? Aren't there more than enough people already doing that? Can't I just have one beautiful freak who doesn't give a fuck about demographics and target audiences and Syd Field's fucking three-act bullshit?
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Doesnt "eschews narrative convention with glee" really mean he can write whatever he wants and his legion of fans will think its brilliant? --- No, it really doesn't, as you'll see there are plenty of detractors among even his hardcore fans, there are limits to everything and I personally found the inverted, folding-inwards dream logic of Mulholland Drive too much, whereas I think it was pitch perfect on Lost Highway. As with everything, experimentation must be tempered with skill and experience. For instance, I get really good with a particular recipe that I've created before I start to blow it wide open with drastic variations. It is the same with Lynch, he has a non-structured narrative style and he experiments with how loose he can take it. Obviously in some cases it'll work, in others it won't, but his works would probably suffer interminably from the rigid 3-act structure that most films adhere to.
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The Straight Story, and Elephant Man are both straight narratives, granted, Lynch didn't write Straight Story, but it's proof that he can, and has made "normal movies".
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Maybe it's just me, but I'm getting a little tired of watching "movies" shot on video tape. As bad as "Miami Vice" and "Superman Returns" looked ion the big screen, one can only imagine how awful Lynche's new “movie” must look using mediocre JVC cameras. Honestly, it isn’t like Lynch isn’t a millionaire, he could easily go out and rent--if not buy--a good super 16mm film camera like an Arri or an Aaton and shoot in on film it would look amazing then what he’s been using( heck, even super 8 would look better) Either way, I’m just not going to go support a “film” if it was shot on cruddy videotape. If the filmmakers doesn't care about the quality of his images, why should I care to go pay to see his movie?
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So did the rest of his friends and family.
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... the only time Lynch may have used CGI is when Josie Packard got imprisoned in the drawer knob during the 2nd season of "Twin Peaks". Although that may be negated under the technicality of whether Lynch actually directed that episode or not.
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You are as conflicted as your name is silly. Quote: "I loved Twin Peaks when it was on, but in retrospect it wasn't very good." WHAT?! The series was groundbreaking and it still holds up today. As a matter of fact, that 1st season is probably some of the best television that's every been broadcast. I think you should try watching it again and get back to us by typing under a one-sheet for "Fire Walk With Me".
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It's actually getting kind of annoying, and he's not in the place 3 minutes before he's into the fridge. And man, if him and Roman Polanski show up to shoot on the same day, it gets pretty ugly...
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I don't believe Lynch is trying to be obtuse at all, I think that what he strives to achieve is to visually describe things that are traditionally intangible, characters that are actually emotions, ie Robert Blake is a murderous urge, the growing old people at the end of Mulholland are Diane's conscious, etc. Our dreams are abstract, music, paintings, sculptures can be abstract...but tell an abstract story, and half the populace shits on you...
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Oct 29, 2006 11:09:27 PM CST
Anyone else tired of this "tinyurl.com/wraah" shilling?
by angry white baby
Seriously, man! If it's not about the subject bein talked about, then please don't post! WE GET IT ALREADY! You want people to watch your crappy home movie!
BTW, is it true that Davey Lynch is a big Ronald Reagan fan? A former friend and lynch-fan mentioned that once, to my surprise (I thought it was part of the Hollywood job description to hate the guy)...
And not to neglect posting a comment on Lynch either, but does it also perplex everyone here that DUNE comfused a lot of people when it came out? I mean, what is there to figure out?! Prophecy and political stuff (the whisper stuff is people thinking), good guys go to planet, get blown up, son and mom escape and learn how to kick butt, go back to city and do so, son becomes super-being. The end. As Sir Robin the Brave would say: "That was easy!" -
Anyone who is a fan of Frank Herbert's masterpiece "Dune" should love Lynch's take. For anyone who loves sci-fi, it is also a huge treat. I can't name another sci-fi movie quite like it in style or vision. It is just too bad that it did not have the benefit of the special effects today (they look pretty bad in some scenes). I will say this, even though the Sci-Fi channel movies were more true to the storyline of the books, I think Lynch captured the world and the characters better (at least as I read it).
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Check out the blog here over at the FWWM Fight Website.
http://blog.myspace.com/fwwmfight
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http://blog.myspace.com/fwwmfight
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http://tinyurl.com/tq2nw
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Lynch's Dune was phenomenal. However, I'd quibble with SciFi's take being more faithful to the books: Paul and the princess meeting before he takes Arakis? The princess' bodyguards consisting of Sardaukar? The deletion of the scene where Paul and his mother are being flown into the desert by the Harkonnen? Plus, don't get me started on Sci-Fi's choice for costumes and the cruddy 70's-era Doctor Who sets...
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Come to think of it, they really do suck. Thanks Nodwick. Agreed on all points.
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Any new release of a Lynch movie automatically makes it the cinematic highpoint of the year for me. I think it's a disgrace to the American movie community that he's forced to fund his last three movies with French money from Canal+. Anyway, "Inland Empire" sounds fantastic.
Lynch's movies to me are not about "understanding" or "getting" them; to me it's like when I sit down in my cinema seat and the lights go out waiting for the latest Lynch to begin, already my heart starts pumping on increased speed, all my senses alert and ready to tune into the world that will present itself in front of them and oh... the journey, the flow, the darkness, the music, the secrets ...
And suddenly I sense the lights have come on again and I slowly return and stagger to the exit like I had just a bit too much of a most excellent and rarest of wines.
Getting it? Oh boy ... a Lynch movie has to be lived ... understanding is talking your way out of the experience. -
Lynch is fantastic, and Seijun Suzuki and Russ Meyer (with his few good films) seem like obvious influences. Check out their mid-'60s works if you haven't yet.
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One thing I loved about Twin Peaks (and Blue Velvet) is that the bad guys were actually scary. We thought Bobby was bad, and then we meet wifebeater Leo, and he's superbad. And then out of nowhere comes Hank and lays down the hurt on Leo and realigns our perspective. And then Josie's (I forget) comes to town and messes up Hank. There's always someone scarier in the shadows outside the window.
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To this day, my dream job remains intergalactic navigator. You float weightless in a tank of spice all day and fold space. "Dude, are you high?" Why yes, it's my job.
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Dune is phenomenal, just about the only sci-fi art movie ever made. Brilliant.
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It's amazing that this David Lynch has managed to beat out such an idiosyncratic path for himself and made such brilliant, memorable films in the process. Also, he appears to have done all this without becoming an asshole/alcoholic/drug addict/suicide/very fat person or any of the things people who try to go their own way in the film world often do. That fact alone is almost as strange as many of his films.
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... it's impossible not to love cinema and not love Lynch's movies. Lynch's movies are true love letters to cinema and it's possibilities. And i think Lynch is the best director that uses sound in his films. His use of sound (and music) in his films is always 2 decades ahead of anybody else. Mainstream movies are now using the type of sound design that he was already using with The Elephant Man and Blue Velvet. It's impossible not not love movies and not be in awe of Lynch.
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... I think you may have gone by the "not" store and picked up a few extras, but your point is well taken. I don't know what to say to someone who dismisses Lynch's work outright. And the big rush of INLAND EMPIRE for me was seeing just how drunk he still seems to be on the potential of cinema, something that you don't often see in guys this far into a career.
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Lynch can make a weird three hour movie that even the most die hard Lynch fans can't fully explain and he gets praised for it. Gilliam makes an equally surreal and aggressively non-mainstream film and gets crucified because of it. I havent seen either film but I find that odd.
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Call me a square but if I have no idea whats going and its just a bunch of mood the movie doesn't do anything for me. Crazy me for wanting a charater or anything to latch onto.
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You need to go rent "Return Of Dumbo", the newest direct-to-home-video release from Disney.
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The cut for deleted scenes BETTER include the extended Phillip Jeffries scene, Phillip Jeffries in the Black Lodge, the scene taking place after the series finale, and the appearance of DIANE. I'd be content with those.
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I totally agree that Lynch's stuff is much more deeply terrifying than any traditional horror film. I recently rented Eraserhead but was too scared to actually watch it alone, so I didn't.
Has anybody seen Rabbits? Lynch made it for his website in 2002. I think it is currently on YouTube. It's what Moriarty described the woman as watching in the beginning of Inland Empire. It's just a fake sitcom with the actors in rabbit suits, but it's the scariest thing on the face of the earth. -
I love most of his films (even Dune), but FWWM is just frightingly beautiful and sweeps me away every time I see it. Funny how it was his most criticized, and booed at Cannes. The last scene in the lodge between Cooper and Laura trapped together for eternity will haunt me forever. There is no need for more Twin Peaks, though BRING ON the uncut scenes for the DVD!!!
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the series finale is probably the most disturbing thing i have ever watched. i can't believe that shit made it onto prime time TV, although i guess by that time nobody was watching. the black lodge sequences STILL give me nightmares. brilliant stuff...
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... chum the waters, you're going to need a bigger boat.
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yes, what moriaty descibed sounds like Lynchs short sitcom Rabbits... and this "It’s only as the whore sits up into the light of a television in the room that we see her face for the first time. She’s puffy, tear-stained. And as she watches the TV" evoke his another short movie Darkened Room
For me Lynch's best movie is Mulholland Drive. Its lynch's only movie where I will use word 'dream' and I like also its visual style. -
You were spot on with "he has a creative freedom that most filmmakers will never achieve." But you lost me at "There is room in America for only one surrealist auteur. Job taken."
Lynch has mastered surrealist flim making but you have to remember he was not the first film maker to use the surrealist platform and to say there is no room for any other directors to set foot is such a wild venue is just wrong. Where would film be without directors re-inventing genres? But that's just my opinion and I have been told where to stick it many times before. I just hope that this time isn't one of them. I mean I hope I made my point that is. -
Sounds like an interesting artistic film, I'm there.
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Yep...still trying to work it out.
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Is THE scariest character in cinema next to Melanie Griffin's lips. Disturbingly ... awkward. I don't like him. Anyway, I hate Digital. Miami Vice was fucking shit (visually as well as all otherally). Why do film makers spend all that money to make a scene look great and then have it obscured by grainy noise? Of course there are exceptions to this rule and I'm sure Lynch will use this technique successfully but fuck Michael Mann et al who can't pull it off. Vice was such a clumsy effort. Robert Rodriguez sucks at it too (like his films though). And don't get me started on the 'land' scenes in Snakes On a Plane. Oops. I just mentioned Snakes in a Lynch TB... Sorry.
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It seems we are all in agreement that Lynch absolutely rules.
But man, I don't see how anyone who doesn't at least ADMIRE Eraserhead could be a true Lynch fan. I can't think of a film that better encapsulates a director's entire vision and foreshadows his entire career the way that film does. I've loved every component of the man's work (yes, that includes The Straight Story), but I never TRULY "got" Lynch until I saw Eraserhead. So I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that if you dislike Eraserhead, you like the rest of Lynch's films IN SPITE of (not BECAUSE of) the director.
Who else thinks Eraserhead is absolutely essential to the man's work? -
Thunderballs seems to argue that to be an "artist" somehow makes you less of a "filmmaker". What nonsense! Then he whips out the old "Lynch disappeared up his own ass" argument. Its stuff like that that really makes me understand why people like Paul Schrader call the "postermodern" movement the "post-art" movement. Its not by the way, but many of its FOLLOWERS sure seem outright hostile towards the concept of film as art. I realize Quentin Tarantino seems to actively disdain "art-house" fare in his personal film tastes, but thats because HE finds "exploitation" movies ARTISTIC in and of themselves...and I appreciate many of the films he has discovered even while thinking he sells directors like Hitchcock and Kurosawa short in interviews. Furthermore, I think even HE would take offense at his being called a "filmmaker" first and an "artist" second. If that final duel in the snow between O-Ren and The Bride isn't "art", I don't know what is. What I'm saying is simple: there's no disinction to be made between filmmakers and artists because by its very nature film IS art. Even Brett Ratner makes art...its just BAD art!
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I've seen the Lynch version a 100 times. The sci-fi version once. The sad part is the sci-fi version promised to be more like the book but then the princess shows up in a cheap looking halloween costume with butterflies stuck on it and I knew we were doomed. I picked up ERASERHEAD on DVD for $20 at Best Buy. It has a long video interview with David on the making of Eraserhead and is cheaper than the set he sells on his site. I (we) need Peaks season 2 : ) what is the holdup?
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he's also a fucking genius.
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Lynch is my Hero. I love all his films with passion I have yet to find with anyone else. Hell he could film paint drying and I would be there. Hell anyone see his small short film using the Lumiere camera. Freaking genius!!! His ability to create worlds that are so much greater than the sum of their parts, that tap into something else is phenomenal. Someone mentioned that Lynch = true horror, man you are SO right!!
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Lynch get a free ticket for the rest of his life to do anything surreal but Gilliam seems to get bagged on for doing what he's always done. Look at the reviews for the great Fear And Loathing and Tideland. Not the I've seen Tideland but it just annoys me.
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Mr Lynch
please stop arsing around with new projects for a few moments and kindly get around to releasing Series Two of Twin Peaks on DVD.
many, many fans will buy it, allowing you to get some more cash to make more films.
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Lynch and Gilliam are two different film makers in how they operate in the industry. I love the crotch-cramp outta Gilliam, but the man works (by necessity) with a lot more money then Lynch. Plus, to compare; Gilliam's imagination tends to focus toward the eccentric-surreal (requiring monsters and CG), while Lynch is more over toward the existential-surreal (requiring Mori’s room and a Swedish actress). Having defended that, I can't actually think of too many instances where Gilliam cops flak from the average fanboy (Grim is the exception here but the studio fucked him on that one because of the money involved). The man may have small flaws, but his output is MORE then enough to forgive the man. Grim still has some brilliant ideas - the horse eating the little girl, for one. But it would be awesome if some studio exec would toss the man 100 million bucks, 5 years and no interference to prepare a work so colourfully bizarre my eye balls slap against each in attempted applause. Of course, that would be the same day that Jessica Alba says to me “Hey, fella. Nice penis. Do you know where I can get a taxi around here?”
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I think you misunderstood just a little. I'm not saying he cops flak with fanboys I'm just referencing critics. I do like some Lynch films so I'm not a hater I just get annoyed when critics seem to havea double standard when viewing one of the weirder takes from both directors. I think critics are becoming generally less forgiving with Gilliam which saddens me. I still insist Fear And Loathing is vastly underrated and hasn't and still hasn't been properly acknowledged by critics. For people who think it has no point either you haven't read the book or you missed the last 10 minutes where the point was explained.
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... not sure which critics you mean. Certainly not me. I've discussed FEAR & LOATHING repeated on this site as an underrated gem, and BRAZIL is one of my two favorite films. In fact, the only Gilliam film I outright hate is GRIMM. I think he's a very different filmmaker than Lynch, but equally noteworthy.
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Can't think of any. Even critics whom hated Grimm conceded that it was studio interference (is that a cop-out??). I think he's just much more publicised (and mainstream) then Lynch so when a failure comes along it's widely reported by press. I actually like Gilliam better then Lynch (just because I lean more toward the mainstream and I have a hard-on for giant talking lizards) even though Lynch features a better hit ratio. I mean, come on, it's the man who birthed FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS!!!! Somebody tell me about the fucking golf shoes!
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I had the pleasure of seeing this at The New York Film Festival a few weeks back. As a long time admirer of Lynch's work, I was not at all disappointed. I completely agree with Drew's Review and he expresses it better than I ever possibly could. On the subject of frightening moments in Lynch films - there is a shot that occurs in a scene toward the climax of Inland Empire that absolutely scared the hell out of me and has been burned into my mind since. You'll know it when you see it.
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Sorry when I said critics I mean like the press. Even though I onyl agree with you half the time I think you're very cool. Just look at the external reviews for Fear And Loathing and Tideland on imdb. It amazes how hostile and angry they seem to be. Oh and it pisses me off that I wont be seeing Tideland on the big screen since its nowhere near me. Sorry Im getting way off topic but I had to vent my frustration.
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I still feel dirty after watching this film with Mori the other night.... more from the movie.. but a little bit from scariarty.
Oh... The Straight Story is a kick ass movie. If you cant get into the subtle beauty of that film you must be some kind of dick. -
And I love a really good mindfuck. I can't wait to see this. Of course, it will probably be at the Nuart in LA when no other theatre will carry it.
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This is the first uber talkback thread Ive read to the end - a lot of Lynch love here! Can't wait for this (though the promise of some scary bits gets me quakering as Mulholland Drive is the scariest film Ive seen in years!)
ZOMBIES! [url]www.cafepress.com/slipperyjacks[/url] I deal in Zombies! -
I can't wait to see this. I probably will have to though, since his films usually don't come out by me. The only movie of his that I haven't liked so far was Wild at Heart. If this that good, maybe I'll travel to see it.
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Just got back from the screening at the Cinaramadome in Hollywood.. Awesome movie and David did a quick Q & A after the film.. Always wanted a chance to meet him and shake his hand and I finally got my chance tonite..
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I was also at the Cinerama screening tonight. Lynch was funny and ingratiating during the Q&A, as were Laura Dern and Justin Theroux. I thought the film was a fascinatingly abstract Lynchian jigsaw that managed to be more intricate and intriguing than Eraserhead, Mulholland Dr. or Lost Highway. My friend, however (who is not as big a Lynch fanatic as I), disliked the film and found the look to be ugly and uninspired. Some people just don't respond to the whole grainy digital "aesthetic" (i.e. Dogme 95, Von Trier). I though Lynch's use of the DV was ambitious and elaborate, and there are moments in the film when the DV only serves to enhance the creepy surrealism of the narrative.
Trust me, you haven't ever seen anything like this thing. It is yet another project in which Lynch pushes cinematic boundaries in ways you just don't expect. This is not the film that I would have anticipated after Mulholland, and yet that is exactly what I love about it. I like Lynch best when he frustrates me, makes me dismiss my notions of what I thought I would see, and just let Lynch fuck with my head. As when I first saw Mulholland five years ago, I am currently trying to put the pieces of Lynch's most recent puzzle together in my brain. And what an exhilarating high it is, if you are willing to go with it. -
A whopper of a mind-fuck. I will have to see it at least a couple more times before making a final decision (let's say for right now, I "really enjoyed it"). At the end, Lynch, Dern and Theroux came out and answered a couple questions. The plusses: the acting by everyone (esp. Dern) is outstanding. The music is eerie, uplifting, sad and frightening...everything we've enjoyed from Lynch before (I'd say it sounds most like Lost Highway). The story is bizarre. I think I have a *slight* grasp on what was going on, but it will take repeat viewings to feel at least somewhat aware of what he was going for. The first hour is pretty linear. The next two, you're lost in a nightmarish dreamscape, and you cannot escape.
The minus (because I can only think of one right now, but it's kind of big): the DV work. Sometimes, it really works. The internal shots work just fine. When he's shooting outdoors, I hate the look. It looks broken and roughly chiseled. Maybe it will grow on me, but right now, I can say I just don't like it. It also makes me a bit sad that we've apparently seen the end of him and film. Oh well. He loves it, so what can you do. If you love Lynch, for God's sake, go. If you are lukewarm to his style, STAY AWAY FROM THIS FILM.
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I saw the movie, and, when the DVD comes out, I'll rent it and play it backwards, just to see if it makes any sense that way....
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