The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I've recently become obsessed with Lynch. I had seen The Elephant Man a while ago, and recently I've watched Blue Velvet and Lost Highway. Blue Velvet left me a little cold, a lot of brilliantly twisted shit that all wrapped up a little too nicely, and Lost Highway just ruined my shit. I'm watching Mullholand Dr. right now. Basically, I'm obsessed with him but I haven't really liked watching any of his movies. But I'm completely enveloped in them and can never shake them off. Does anybody know what the fuck is up with any of his movies? I need a guide.

Salon did a real nice write-up of Mulholland Drive: http://archive.salon.com/ent/movies/fea ... _analysis/

I thought Blue Velvet was essentially straightforward, insofar as the plot doesn't have the same kind of weirdness as Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive have. The Encyclopedic Site Which Cannot Be Named has a nice enough article on LH, which I personally view as more or less analogous to Mulholland Drive (though LH is heavier on the scaring the hell out of me, and Mulholland is heavier on the petting. No, I'm kidding. But that is a hot scene. Also a good movie, but imo less effective than the other). Watch Twin Peaks' full run + movie if you can, and Eraserhead.

A friend of mine has been Netflixing the Twin Peaks DVDs and he and I have been running through them. They're awesome. Unlike a lot of David Lynch's stuff (probably since he's writing and directing for TV), it's only overly mysterious where it's supposed to be (i.e. when it pertains to the mystery at hand), and almost all the Lynchian weird bits are played for humor very effectively, especially with the aid of lead actor Kyle Maclachlan. Watch it.

Definitely one of my all time favorite directors. Since no one else has mentioned it, Wild at Heart as a really good one.

anyone seen Eraserhead? All I know of it is the Lady in the Radiator Song, and that's not much.

I thought Lost Highway was the best I've seen, Bill Pullman was surprisingly good as the haunted sax lothario, and it was cool to see Henry Rollins in it. In retrospect it reminds me of Oldboy, apart from David Lynch has this habit of setting a scene which is really difficult to understand and then moving to another storyline completely, but it definitely creates a mood.

Mulholland Drive was quite good, lots to misinterpret there. and what were the tiny people all about?

Wild at Heart was cool, but it's been waaay too long since I saw it so I can't remember much about it (apart from Willem Dafoe blowing his jaw off - one of those images which I can't seem to forget)

I've never really wanted to see Blue Velvet in spite/or because of it's cult status. It's like you said Luke, they're not the kind of films you actually enjoy watching so I've never found myself in the mood to sit down through it all. Maybe the point is that you're left with a feeling of relief afterwards because you don't live in that world, as opposed to the kind of wistful longing that accompanies the end of, say, a Star Wars film, because you know you'll never actually be a Jedi.

This poses the question; why do we watch David Lynch films? They're confusing and creepy but not necessarily scary. I dunno

what do you like about them Jute??

Unlike some of the posters here, I love to watch David Lynch films. They are initially unintelligible but no less enjoyable for it, and with time and effort they reveal definite, interesting stories and structures all without losing that unshakable mysterious atmosphere. In addition, they are beautifully shot, well-scored, and often feature surprising performances that few other directors could get from their cast. What could be better?

They're also the only movies that scare me. David Lynch can inspire more fear with a shot of a forest in the middle of the day than any horror movie I can imagine (and I love horror movies).

FurryPedro: I would argue that your hypothesis that we enjoy Lynch films because we are relieved not to live in that world is a misapprehension. Most of his work is concerned with revealing that these strange and terrible things exist underneath the cover of everyday public life. This is especially clear in Blue Velvet and both the TV series and film of Twin Peaks.

By the way, I highly recommend Blue Velvet. It's probably my favorite Lynch movie.

I guess enjoy is just a weird word to use when discussing Lynch. I love watching the movies, I want to watch Lost Highway again and again, but I certainly don't feel good watching them. I feel a delicious unease, because the themes dealt with in his movies aren't just used to decorate a story, the themes become a part of you. You're not just watching a movie that touches on the subjects of adultery, murder, madness, rage, delusion, identity crisis, you feel all of those. You become maddened when the Mystery Man tells Bill Pullman that he's in his house at that moment. You feel betrayed when Justin Theroux's character walks in on his wife cheating on him and is thrown out of his own house. It's completely unsettling, in a way that might not fix itself, and it's an incredible rush.

Right, I think I know what you mean. It 's an indicator of the fact that I'm not as into films as I am with music (working on the basis that David Lynch is the film equivalent of Slint or This Heat). So if I watched his films 3 or 4 times over the year I'd probably see the genius of it.

Twin Peaks was the only TV series I watched religiously since the original Star Trek. OK, maybe Gigantor or Land of the Giants.

And the music is awesome. And it had someone with the name Bambi Sickafoose on the crew...wow!

DFW has a nice essay on Mr. Lynch in his compendium of essays, "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again."

It gave me some insight into the brain of David Lynch, anyway.

I'm a fan of most of David Lynch's stuff. His entry in the Lumiere tribute movies set was the best of the bunch, IMO.

--Em

I've only seen Eraserhead (ages ago/cos of Pixies), which I loved. So I should watch his other stuff soon.

I liked his adaptation of Dune, but not because it was accurate with the book (because it wasn't).