David Lynch

[viatroy]

I love him. Rent Inland Empire and watch it in the dark. You will too.

 

 

nuh uh. About the 5th hour into that movie I couldn't take it anymore. 100% Batshit crazy

[Lynch]

why isn't "batshit crazy genius" an option?

 

That would get my vote, FOR SURE! For now, I will take "Genius"

[lost highway]

Yeah. I feel Inland Empire might be his weakest, of the recent efforts.

[mfwahl]

Yeah. I feel Inland Empire might be his weakest, of the recent efforts.

I liked it more than Mulholland.

 

I also like

.

 

And of course Twin Peaks

[lost highway]

I found Mulholland more watchable. Yes surreal and random but I could almost make an analysis, some kind of metaphorical way to take in a story line. Inland was just as weird, less fun, and still weirder. Then bunnies looked great though. Never saw Dumbland.

[stooka]

Lost On Mulholland Drive

 

For fans of the film who want to look a little deeper into the story.

[bigshoulders]

Yeah. I feel Inland Empire might be his weakest, of the recent efforts.

I need to block off some time and give this movie another chance. I've watched it once... and I just couldn't follow it. Visually, I didn't like it as much as his previous films. It was 100% digitally filmed, and it showed, even to my untrained eye. I think with the new Red camera though... digital releases will start to become the norm. When this movie was filmed, Lynch was still a pioneer of sorts.

 

Kevin

[Sir Stewart]

I liked Inland Empire a lot - I guess being a captive audience member in a theater helped that.

[mfwahl]

I found Mulholland more watchable. Yes surreal and random but I could almost make an analysis, some kind of metaphorical way to take in a story line. Inland was just as weird, less fun, and still weirder. Then bunnies looked great though. Never saw Dumbland.

Dumbland is a series of short cartoons. You're supposed to have to be a member of his site ($10/month) to see them, but they're out there if you search.

[lost highway]

I liked Inland Empire a lot - I guess being a captive audience member in a theater helped that.

 

That's actually a really important point I forgot. I saw Mulholland the fist time in the theatre. Inland on DVD. Makes a huge difference.

[Moe_Syzlak]

Lost On Mulholland Drive

 

For fans of the film who want to look a little deeper into the story.

I'll have to check this out. I'm a Lynch fan although he's definitely hit or miss with me and I don't necessarily rush out to see his films. I was a HUGE Twin Peaks fan, so when I heard about Mulholland I was interested. I really wish it had ended up a TV series as intended. You have to think if it had been made in a post-Lost world, it would have been green-lighted. My problem with it as a film is that, to me, it is obvious where it switches from the original pilot to the stuff filmed to make it a stand-alone movie. And that "wrap-up" just doesn't work for me.It feels tacked on and cheap to me, but perhaps the above link will help me better understand what Lynch was trying to do.

[Central Scrutinizer]

why isn't "batshit crazy genius" an option?

That would be my take: batshit crazy with occasional genius visions.

 

Blue Velvet is as unsettling as can be, but you can't turn away. He's had more misses than hits though.

 

(EDIT: However, I'm counting down the days until Coen Bros.' "Burn After Reading."

[stooka]

I'll have to check this out. I'm a Lynch fan although he's definitely hit or miss with me and I don't necessarily rush out to see his films. I was a HUGE Twin Peaks fan, so when I heard about Mulholland I was interested. I really wish it had ended up a TV series as intended. You have to think if it had been made in a post-Lost world, it would have been green-lighted. My problem with it as a film is that, to me, it is obvious where it switches from the original pilot to the stuff filmed to make it a stand-alone movie. And that "wrap-up" just doesn't work for me.It feels tacked on and cheap to me, but perhaps the above link will help me better understand what Lynch was trying to do.

 

 

Lynch stated he came upon an idea about how to make this pilot into a movie by epiphany. The specifics on this idea have never been revealed by him (I believe). When interviewed, just vague statements and the occassional reference to the "Eye Of The Duck".

 

If one expected to find a complete backstory that explains everything, there isn't any. Every interpretation starts off good, but never really materializes into something concrete. With all the weirdness in Lost Highway, there is at least a broad conclusion about what is really going on. In MD, there is no answer for what this movie is about, just your own interpretation. I understand it's easy to think he just filmed some more scenes and threw it out there, but I would have to disagree.

 

That website can help, but only true diehards should enter the RTForum sections.

[Moe_Syzlak]

I understand it's easy to think he just filmed some more scenes and threw it out there, but I would have to disagree.

Well I saw it in the theatre when it came out and haven't seen it again so I may not be remembering clearly, but (I'll use spoiler tags even though it seems a bit silly for a movie that has been around as long as it has)

isn't the "pilot" section of the movie just explained as a dream sequence? And when Naomi Watts' character wakes you are in the stuff filmed to make it a movie? I don't know, it just seems cheap to me. On par with Pam dreaming an entire season of Dallas and Bobby's death.

 

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

Batshit fucking nuts...

 

He ruined Dune, but Twin Peaks (especially the first season) is wondrous. But I can't abide anything else he has done.

[stooka]

Moe, you should watch it again.

 

 

dream?..............maybe.

 

[Moe_Syzlak]

Moe, you should watch it again.

 

 

dream?..............maybe.

Already added it to the queue!

[Good Old Neon]

Batshit fucking nuts...

 

He ruined Dune, but Twin Peaks (especially the first season) is wondrous. But I can't abide anything else he has done.

 

In all fairness, Lynch was a poor choice to direct Dune, and the studio bears much responsibly for cutting the ever-loving shit out of if it in the editing room. The final cut barely resembles Lynch

[bjorn_skurj]

I kinda like Lynch's Dune. It doesn't really hold together as a movie, but the art direction is amazing and it manages to get at the mystic core of the Herbert novel.

[Moe_Syzlak]

I kinda like Lynch's Dune. It doesn't really hold together as a movie, but the art direction is amazing and it manages to get at the mystic core of the Herbert novel.

Yeah the long version is okay. I like it better than the mini-series despite the dated effects.

[Sweet Papa Crimbo]

I kinda like Lynch's Dune. It doesn't really hold together as a movie, but the art direction is amazing and it manages to get at the mystic core of the Herbert novel.

 

I wholeheartedly disagree with this.

He missed the mark so bad it is almost like he was parodying the book.

[Moe_Syzlak]

I wholeheartedly disagree with this.

He missed the mark so bad it is almost like he was parodying the book.

Explain. I read the book before the I saw Lynch's film and I've read it since. I don't think it misses the mark at all. I think it does a very good job of balancing the political, religious, environmental and economical themes the book deals with.

[sureshot]

I think Mulholland Drive is brilliant. There so many indelible images in that film..and this one still gives me nightmares

[Mr. Heartbreak]

This thread is probably too old to resurrect, but I'm doing it anyway.

 

I became a bit of a Lynch fan in the 80s after seeing Blue Velvet in the theatre and being pretty well blown away by it. I also saw Eraserhead during that time, when the head of the Film Dept. at my undergrad college held a screening of it. I didn't pay as much attention to directors in those days, so I doubt I knew that Lynch was the director, but I remember it as weird and disturbing.

 

Recently, I have been watching the Crime and Investigation network, where they rerun Twin Peaks. Again, didn't know Lynch was involved with that show. After seeing previews of the same two episodes over and over, I became intrigued enough to start watching it in the middle of the series, and got totally hooked. Don't know why I never checked it out when it originally ran. I've now seen all the episodes, and even borrowed Fire Walk With Me from the library just to see what else there was to the story. In some ways, Twin Peaks ended up being one of the biggest unresolved TV cliffhangers of all time.

 

Right now I've got Mulholland Drive on order, but what other works do Lynch fanatics recommend? Opinions on Wild Heart, Lost Highway and Inland Empire seem pretty divided.

[u2roolz]

For me Mulholland Drive is his strongest film and masterpiece. I recently rewatched this earlier this year to kind of go back and rewatch some films of the 00s. Let's just say that there's a reason I picked Mulholland Drive first and then kind of stopped there.

 

I love both Wild At Heart and Lost Highway. I really enjoyed Inland Empire. Although, I have only seen it once. That and Eraserhead are in the same Lynch boat where I really don't want to take the trip to watch them. Eraserhead is a lot more abstractly disturbing.

 

I've never seen The Straight Story, but that one came out in 1999. It's about a man that rides a lawn mower to see his brother. I own it, but never watched it. It's the most Un-Lynch film out there.

 

I also own, but never have seen The Elephant Man. I do know that Mel Brooks produced it.

 

Twin Peaks was fucking awesome. (you already know that)

 

Blue Velvet was amazing. (you already know that too)

 

Trivia: George Lucas offered David Lynch the opportunity to direct Return Of The Jedi.

 

Obviously, if you have the means to get all of his films go and watch them and make up your own mind. As you noted a lot of his films are polarizing.

 

TV: Lynch did two other short lived tv series: On The Air and Hotel Room. Both of which seem tough to find. Maybe not, since I haven't really looked for them or really remember them in the overall Lynch canon.