It's the inevitable and long-awaited DAVID LYNCH POLL

Trying to influence the vote with all caps?

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

They say it on every poll thread, but this really is hard.

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

This is a pretty tough poll, but I'm gonna go with The Elephant Man because it's really sadly underrated.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:18 (5 years ago) Permalink

I will venture to predict that every film will get at least one vote.

― Steve Shasta, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:19 (5 years ago) Permalink

TP:FWWM is easily the worst though, right?

― Steve Shasta, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:20 (5 years ago) Permalink

I would vote for Twin Peaks if I could but of the films its either Mulholland Dr or Inland Empire.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:20 (5 years ago) Permalink

Dune's pretty bad too.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:20 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mulholland Drive, but I haven't seen Inland Empire yet

― Richard Wood Johnson, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:21 (5 years ago) Permalink

Dune's the only one I like.

― Abbott, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

Dune's bad in a great way.

For me it's between Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive.

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

I will vote for Dune if nobody else will

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

Fear is the mind killer!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

THE SPICE EXTENDS ENERGY
THE SPICE EXPANDS CONSCIOUSNESS

― Abbott, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

Weird thing about Dune is, it pulls off some strange trick of being 100% exposition and still making no sense.

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

By happy chance, Eraserhead should be coming from Netflix tomorrow. Haven't seen it in nearly 20 years. I'll wait until I've seen it again to vote.

― Rock Hardy, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

Which is FANTASTIC

xp

― Abbott, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

xpost to myself
I mean, unless you've read the book or seen the movie a dozen times, both of which I have done. :)

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

Ranked:

The Elephant Man
Twin Peaks Pilot/Twin Peaks Season 1
Blue Velvet
Mulholland Drive
The Straight Story
Lost Highway
Eraserhead
Twin Peaks Season 2
On The Air
Wild At Heart
Inland Empire
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Dune

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:25 (5 years ago) Permalink

mulholland drive in a landslide (deservedly)

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:25 (5 years ago) Permalink

Actually I think there is one other thing I am missing. Some three part hotel thing also written by Barry Gifford. It was meh.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:25 (5 years ago) Permalink

FUCK

― sexyDancer, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:26 (5 years ago) Permalink

Wild at Heart needs some love, too.

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:26 (5 years ago) Permalink

My memory may also be too kind on the On The Air.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:26 (5 years ago) Permalink

Wild At Heart's pretty clunky though.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

yeah Alex the hotel thing is bad - Crispin Glover's in one segment. Never understood Gifford's appeal.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mulholland Drive will win, but it's not his best. For me, it's between INLAND EMPIRE and Blue Velvet.

― Tape Store, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

I don't get the Inland Empire love at all.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

yeah its technically impossible for it to be better than mulholland dr

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:31 (5 years ago) Permalink

mulholland drive
blue velvet
eraserhead
inland empire
elephant man
wild at heart
tp:fwwm
straight story
lost highway
dune

― tipsy mothra, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:32 (5 years ago) Permalink

yah

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mulholland Drive, followed by Blue Velvet

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:36 (5 years ago) Permalink

inland empire
eraserhead
elephant man
mulholland drive
straight story
lost highway
dune
blue velvet
wild at heart

Haven't seen Fire Walk With Me. Need to rewatch Dune, Lost Highway, Blue Velvet (hated that one but everyone seems to love it). I can live without seeing Wild At Heart again really.

― Matt #2, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mulholland Drive, followed by Blue Velvet

yeah, I settled on that finally, too

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:39 (5 years ago) Permalink

mullholland dr is an insanely overrated movie.

― the schef (adam schefter ha ha), Monday, 20 August 2007 21:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

impossibe

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:41 (5 years ago) Permalink

a thread about lynch would be disappointing without totally different and in fact opposite opinions

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:42 (5 years ago) Permalink

If MD is overrated, life is overrated.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:42 (5 years ago) Permalink

I expect someone to defend the touching humanity in Wild at Heart.

(xpost)

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:42 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mulholland Dr. = one dream, a somewhat entertaining middle section, an ok atmosphere, a few GREAT scenes
Inland Empire = like four different worlds, all somehow intertwined (God knows how), that all work together to entertain you for over three hours...brilliant atmosphere, cool music scenes, fascinating stories that never drag, you can love it without understanding it...it's like Mulholland Dr. x 25.

― Tape Store, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:43 (5 years ago) Permalink

well that one guys head does go flying off xp

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:43 (5 years ago) Permalink

fascinating stories that never drag

uh

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

Blue Velvet
Mulholland Drive
INLAND EMPIRE
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Eraserhead
Wild at Heart
Dune
Lost Highway
The Straight Story
The Elephant Man

(but it's all real close) The essence of Twin Peaks is #1, though.

― sexyDancer, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

Jeez, I'm waiting on my IE DVD from amazon so I feel like I shouldn't vote until I've seen it, but this closes in 3 days, so...Blue Velvet.

Mulholland Dr. I still would have liked to see as a series - if that was just the pilot with some added stuff, wow.

― marmotwolof, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

fascinating is a bit wrong, yes. but definitely interesting

― Tape Store, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

Corrected: that all work together badly to entertain bore the pants off you for over three hours what seems like eternity

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

mullholland dr is a perfectly good movie. it's just that claiming it's lynch's best work is completely bonkers insane in my opinion. tape store otm re: a few GREAT scenes, but quite frankly a significant portion of that movie feels like someone making a parody of lynch.

― the schef (adam schefter ha ha), Monday, 20 August 2007 21:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

everyone, these are the top four:

mulholland drive
blue velvet
eraserhead
inland empire

arrange 2-4 as you please

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

trying to imagine a parody of lynch that still didn't feel like lynch is a brain-twisting exercise

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:48 (5 years ago) Permalink

otm, he does it on purpose

― sexyDancer, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:49 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mulholland Dr. is wayyyyy more boring than Inland Empire. After you watch it once or twice and figure out that it's a dream, do you really ever want to watch it again? I mean, apart from the tryout scene/"Llorando" clip(/lesbian make out sessions???), it's not THAT great/entertaining. I liked it quite a bit, i'm just turned off by the idea of it being considered Lynch's best work.

― Tape Store, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

^^^Yes, I realize that I just lost what little credibility that I had.

― Tape Store, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:51 (5 years ago) Permalink

I could watch the "real" last third of MD forever. Naomi Watts being rejected by girlfriend and Hollywood, condescended to at Hollywood parties by ghoulish Ann Murray eating walnuts, drinking bad coffee and masturbating in her apartment -- very painful.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:52 (5 years ago) Permalink

"After you watch it once or twice and figure out that it's a dream, do you really ever want to watch it again?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:52 (5 years ago) Permalink

mulholland drive has all the best lynchian symbolic, thematic etc potency while actually being cohesive (it doesnt seem like hes just being willfully strange) and one of the great performances ever from naomi watts.

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:54 (5 years ago) Permalink

There's duff stray bits that seem like stuff from the TV pilot (the conversation in the Denny's; Robert Forster), but, still, a remarkable salvage job.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:55 (5 years ago) Permalink

I voted for MD.

― Jordan, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

Twin Peaks
Blue Velvet
Eraserhead
Dune
RABBITS
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
The Straight Story
The Elephant Man
Mulholland Drive

Lost Highway

Inland Empire (mostly for the inclusion of RABBITS)
Wild at Heart

TP:FWWM is easily the worst though, right?

no!

― ☪, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:57 (5 years ago) Permalink

you cant really fuck with the rebekah del rio - llorando scene

― chaki, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:57 (5 years ago) Permalink

actually I think Wild At Heart is probably the worst

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

"There's duff stray bits that seem like stuff from the TV pilot (the conversation in the Denny's; Robert Forster), but, still, a remarkable salvage job."

Agreed. This is why it's not #2 on my list.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 21:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

Wild At Heart isn't the worst by virtue of the soundtrack and the crazy head blowing off scene.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

But yeah it's pretty bad.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

Eraserhead (1977)
Mulholland Drive (2001) / INLAND EMPIRE (2006)
Blue Velvet (1986)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Wild at Heart (1990)
Lost Highway (1997)
Dune (1984)

haven't quite worked out where I stand with inland empire. need to see it a few more times. eraserhead doesn't make sense anywhere else so it burbles to the top. blue velvet has some special significance for me, that *so* wrecked my head in '86.

it's great that lynch is currently in a second golden age.

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:05 (5 years ago) Permalink

I loved wild at heart when it came out, saw it 3-4 times. it was such a daffy, off-the-wall cinema experience. it hasn't aged well, though.

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

and the crazy head blowing off scene.

I don't even remember this scene!

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

i'd defend wild at heart as maybe "least appreciated" (although there are several candidates for that). for me it's the dividing line between his great movies and his varying-degrees-of-not-great movies (with wild at heart just on the side of "great"). i think it's kind of his airplane! -- a zillion jokes (not all of them "jokes", of course), with enough things that work to make up for all the ones that don't. lots of great scenes. the car crash in the desert with sherilynn fenn picking at her brain iis easily in my POX david lynch scenes.

― tipsy mothra, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

the conversation in the Denny's

this is one of my favorite bits in md! it captures a humdrum-but-surreal dream-feel so well, maybe better than anything else in the film (other bits seem more stylized). it is sorta tv-piloty in relation to the whole, but the sequence is flawless execution. and it wakes up the dozers.

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

tm OTM re: car crash scene

― Tape Store, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mulholland Drive is the best movie of this decade you guys.

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:18 (5 years ago) Permalink

lotsa memorable sequences in wild at heart - strobe light / thrash metal dancing, koko taylor, fetid new orleans, fenn's car crash, the weird motel scene with john doe, jack nance, et al. the glue holding everything together is pretty weak, though. and by glue I guess I mean nicolas cage.

a certain sequence in the film was a lot more mysterious before "wicked game" got played to death, too.

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

Hey Naomi Watts fans, I dare you to check out CHILDREN OF THE CORN PT. IV: THE GATHERING. I have a VHS tape in my basement.

― Tape Store, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

now I'm thinking I need to rewatch these 3:

Wild at Heart (1990)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Lost Highway (1997)

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

ooh was that the one after URBAN HARVEST?

x-post

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

no thanks, ts. that sounds like an offer from a serial killer.

xpost

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

I wonder if wild at heart would've aged better if lynch had reeled in cage and dafoe a bit. he should've hung a sign on the camera that said, "do not chew the scenery. you are not dennis hopper."

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

i like cage's goofier moments. the dancing, his ridiculous "taste the peach" anecdote (eat the peach? whatever it is), his little spiel at the end to the guys who have just kicked the crap out of him.

― tipsy mothra, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:35 (5 years ago) Permalink

Nic Cage is like the Rod Stewart of American film actors - a great, promising start followed by the most horrifying "sellout" bullshit ever

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:36 (5 years ago) Permalink

"take a bite of peach"

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:37 (5 years ago) Permalink

that's the one.

also, source material for the shot of diane ladd with her face covered in red lipstick? when i saw black moon a few months ago i noticed a similar scene there, and that seems like the kind of movie lynch would have loved, but i don't know if they were both referencing something else?

― tipsy mothra, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:39 (5 years ago) Permalink

Hey Naomi Watts fans, I dare you to check out CHILDREN OF THE CORN PT. IV: THE GATHERING. I have a VHS tape in my basement.

-- Tape Store, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 08:23 (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

:D

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

Nic Cage is like the Rod Stewart of American film actors - a great, promising start followed by the most horrifying "sellout" bullshit ever

Not sure that scans, Shakey, since not only was Rod BORN to sell out, but he made lots of great moments after his purported classic years.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

this applies to Nick Cage too

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

I voted for Blue Velvet because it is the closest he's come to a flawless movie. Many of the others are great, but have rather glaring flaws. The Straight Story is the only one that I don't enjoy, but it is probably better than I would give it credit for.

My list (Does not reflect actual quality of the films):
Blue Velvet
Lost Highway - way underrated, wish it would come out on DVD
Wild At Heart
Dune - I love this movie despite some really misguided choices, I wish he'd do another Sci Fi film
TP: FWWM
Mulholland Drive
INLAND EMPIRE - just got the DVD today!
Eraserhead
The Elephant Man

― Moodles, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

this applies to Nick Cage too

!!You crazy! Everything after Red Rock West is nigh unwatchable!

Bangkok Dangerous
Next
Ghost Rider
The Wicker Man
World Trade Center
The Ant Bully
The Weather Man
Lord of War
National Treasure
Matchstick Men
Adaptation
Sonny
Windtalkers
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
The Family Man
Gone in Sixty Seconds
Bringing Out the Dead
8MM
Snake Eyes
City of Angels
Face/Off
Con Air
The Rock
Leaving Las Vegas
Kiss of Death
Trapped in Paradise
It Could Happen to You
Guarding Tess
Amos & Andrew
Deadfall
Honeymoon in Vegas

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:54 (5 years ago) Permalink

i like face/off kinda

(more than mulholland dr. or lost highway that's for sure) (i watched mulholland w.dr vick and we snoozed non-stop)

― mark s, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

eraserhead is still lynch's best easy -- tho i didn't see inland yet

― mark s, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:57 (5 years ago) Permalink

"for he IS the kwisatz haderach"

― mark s, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

Although there is much I enjoy in it, I agree that Mulholland Drive is overrated.

The thing about MD that grates on me is that Lynch insisted on leaving in all these plot strands that were meant to be developed in the TV series and then very obviously tried to tie it all together in a fairly hackneyed manner.

He should have chopped a lot of this stuff and focused on the main plot. He could have even dropped most of the Justin Therroux plot, and it probably wouldn't have been missed.

― Moodles, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

Bringing Out the Dead is good.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 22:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

And Snake Eyes has a great start (and terrible end.)

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

And Lord of War could have been great only it wasn't.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

THat's the best I can do.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

What a fucking BRO

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:02 (5 years ago) Permalink

mulholland dr. is the best film of the last 25 years.

― t0dd swiss, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:04 (5 years ago) Permalink

I said decade, but i'll join you on the the quarter century action.

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:05 (5 years ago) Permalink

it's not better than eraserhead

― mark s, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

tho

― mark s, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:08 (5 years ago) Permalink

hence the 25 year cutoff

― Edward III, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:08 (5 years ago) Permalink

(adaptation is good, face/off is fun, it does get pretty thin after that)

― tipsy mothra, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:08 (5 years ago) Permalink

face/off's atrocious.

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

Angelo Badalamenti spitting espresso into a linen napkin is pretty pointless.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

I found that pleasing.

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

i saw face/off alone and somewhere strange, like den haag -- that may be why i enjoyed it at all

― mark s, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:11 (5 years ago) Permalink

Face/Off was where I got off the John Woo wagon (no wait actually I got off when he hired Travolta for that silly stolen nuke movie)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

Broken Arrow? aw hell yeahs

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

i have fonder memories of all these than i do of mulholland, where all i remember is my butt bein numb

― mark s, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

I voted for Dune as it's the one I return to most often. Wild at Heart was the one I liked most at the time of release although I haven't seen it in ages. The rest of them seem willfully and arbitrarily difficult - which is fun, but not as meaningful for me.

― Spencer Chow, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

There's actually still a few from Lynch I haven't seen.

INLAND EMPIRE
Mulholland Drive
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Eraserhead
The Straight Story
Blue Velvet -- if people on this thread have been overwhelmingly anti-IE and anti-FWWM, allow me to slag on this one for a few minutes (before coming to my senses and realizing that if this is his worst, that's not too bad at all)

― Eric H., Monday, 20 August 2007 23:16 (5 years ago) Permalink

How cuet was MacLachlan in BV tho??!

― W4LTER, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:18 (5 years ago) Permalink

and the crazy head blowing off scene.

there's also the hand blowing off scene, with the punchline of the dog running out the back with the hand in its mouth. Sick sick sick.

― kenan, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:19 (5 years ago) Permalink

Very cute, especially his jaw.

(xpost)

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:20 (5 years ago) Permalink

I didn't see Adaptation up there, but yeah that's good too.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

I saw Some Like It Hot for the first time last night, and Tony Curtis posing as the millionaire oil baron reminded me of Kyle McLachlan a little.

― jaymc, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

I didn't see Adaptation up there, but yeah that's good too.

-- Alex in SF

??

― chaki, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

there's also the hand blowing off scene, with the punchline of the dog running out the back with the hand in its mouth. Sick sick sick.

and lifted from kurosawa.

― tipsy mothra, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

I hated Adaptation and Bringing Out The Dead (both of which I saw because I - rather foolishly, it turned out - hoped a decent director would give Cage something interesting to do). Snake Eyes I've only seen the tail end of.

And these are the vaguely defensible ones with name directors! Where's the love for Leaving Las Vegas (worst abuse of Sting in a sdtk EVAR)or The Weatherman or 8MM? I am SURE there are ILXers here somewhere that love Con Air... maybe this is a different thread altogether...

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

maaaaaybe

― jhøshea, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:32 (5 years ago) Permalink

i would watch Con Air, The Rock and Kiss of Death anytime.

― ☪, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:41 (5 years ago) Permalink

You need to post to the Billy Wilder thread, jaymc.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

"??"

What? I liked it. Made me laugh.

― Alex in SF, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

i can't wait till he starts getting senile but continues to make films until he's 99

― cutty, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:48 (5 years ago) Permalink

the first 45 minutes of Lost Highway are the greatest movie david lynch ever made. sadly, it's followed by about 2 hours of the worst movie david lynch ever made.

ie gets my vote because, even though it does repeat some of md's themes, it's the one lynch movie that i feel is truly his vision, fully realized.

also, i like it best.

― smash your phonograph in half, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

Lost Highway - way underrated, wish it would come out on DVD

Out in R2, 2-disc set. I have it, it's great. Get one of those cheap Philips players you can rig for region free play, totally worth it.

― marmotwolof, Monday, 20 August 2007 23:52 (5 years ago) Permalink

yr all jerks! (well, some of ya, anyhow). Wild at Heart is great and I think has stood up really well over time. All things considered, I think it's a pretty daring film, and one which encapsulates so much of what I think is great about Lynch. Plus it was Nicolas Cage's best other than Adaptation. (But, ha, yeah, Shakey, I saw Leaving Los Vegas when it came out, and the Sting songs were sooooo ridiculously loud on the soundtrack as well as just being awful and awfully placed within the film).

I also don't understand the hate for TP:FWWM. I think it's pretty amazing.

Count me in among the "Mulholland Drive is overrated" camp...although I haven't seen it in a couple of years and should likely re-visit it.

Call me crazy, but I'm voting for Wild at Heart.

― dell, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 00:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

Is there no love for The Straight Story? Or The Elephant Man? David Lynch tearjerkers are better than anyone else's tearjerkers, and I'm including Autumn In New York when I say that.

Looking at that list above I never realised quite how much shite Nicolas Cage has been in. Is there anyone to top him? The sheer, unrelenting quantity is amazing. Someone should do a worst Cage film poll (not me tho).

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 00:52 (5 years ago) Permalink

I really dislike "Lost Highway."

― John Justen, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 00:54 (5 years ago) Permalink

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4eQ6ZsGbmY

― ghost rider, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 00:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

The first 45 minutes of Lost Highway are the greatest movie david lynch ever made. sadly, it's followed by about 2 hours of the worst movie david lynch ever made.

I agree with this.

― Matt #2, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 01:04 (5 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― ILX System, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 23:01 (5 years ago) Permalink

Just watched Eraserhead again this afternoon -- it's just as good as I remember it, but doesn't vault past later films. My vote's going to Blue Velvet.

― Rock Hardy, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 23:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

It's all about Eraserhead for me.

― da croupier, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 23:30 (5 years ago) Permalink

I really had a bad reaction to Mulholland Dr when I saw it. Sitting in an a college auditorium with a bunch of folks doing the whole "I love it cuz I have no idea what's going on" thing even though I could tell pretty easily Lynch had tacked on a Wizard Of Oz "and you were there and you were there and you were there and you were there and you were there" ending to the show pilot without removing the subplots that would have nothing to with Naomi Watts' dream logic. Having seen Wild At Heart and a few other things since, I'm actually really psyched to see Inland Empire. Knowing he's just going hardcore indulgence means I won't sweat hype or middlebrow acclaim.

― da croupier, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 23:39 (5 years ago) Permalink

So you don't like Mulholland Drive because other (silly) people liked it because they thought it was a meaningless freak out?

― W4LTER, Thursday, 23 August 2007 01:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

I really dislike "Lost Highway."

I don't know how I feel about it. For a long time I was feeling Ebert on the point that it shows "contempt for the audience," which it kinda does. It sets up a fascinating mystery, then abandons it in the weirdest way possible, then never comes back to it, and in fact meanders for the rest of the movie. He's obviously fucking with us. But... is that part of the appeal?

― kenan, Thursday, 23 August 2007 01:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

So you don't like Mulholland Drive because other (silly) people liked it because they thought it was a meaningless freak out?

I didn't like it because of the lame structure I described (uncut TV pilot with extended "it was all a dream" cop-out capper thrown on out of financial necessity), but thanks to the environment I caught it in I was more irritated than I might have been otherwise.

― da croupier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 04:04 (5 years ago) Permalink

The take on Mulholland Drive's appeal I most respected was my middle-aged pal Greg who said "I like movies where you find a murdered body...and it's you."

― da croupier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 04:10 (5 years ago) Permalink

And there was some good titty, too.

― da croupier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 04:11 (5 years ago) Permalink

da croup OTM - about the structure, anyway. Love Mulholland Drive, don't mind the tacked-on ending, but I am bothered by some of the hanging threads - obvious remnants of the the film's origins in a failed TV show pilot. I accept the incoherence, 'cuz the digressions are all compelling, but they result in a rather shapeless, aimless film. The director character is given too much screen time, the cowboy and his otherwordly mob bosses too little, the renagade cop and the diner dreamer are just non-sequiturs.

I like the film 'cuz the core story works beautifully, and I respect the fact that Lynch made a satisfying film out of his wrecked TV show, but it does give plenty of ammo to folks who accuse him of random weirdness for its own sake.

― Bob Standard, Thursday, 23 August 2007 16:23 (5 years ago) Permalink

I think "Elephant Man" - it's corny as hell but it makes me cry

― Tom D., Thursday, 23 August 2007 16:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

I like the end, it reminds me of Herzog

― Tom D., Thursday, 23 August 2007 16:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

the real answer is probably blue velvet, but i'm going to vote for mulholland drive because i like it more and have seen blue velvet too many times.

FWWM is not the worst, I think it's better than wild at heart and dune, and maybe lost highway.

― akm, Thursday, 23 August 2007 20:43 (5 years ago) Permalink

Moodles - I dunno where you are, but Lost Highway is definitely on DVD in the US, I netflixed it.

― jessie monster, Thursday, 23 August 2007 20:49 (5 years ago) Permalink

i don't understand the FWWM hate--

yeah maybe i would have edited out the sexy bathroom-turkey-gobble-gobble scene but there is not much else i would change about that film

the last scene always hits me pretty hard

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 20:51 (5 years ago) Permalink

It's mostly just pointless. I mean the Chris Isaak part s'okay, but there's nothing in the Laura Palmer piece that wasn't explicitly revealed and done better in the TV show.

― Alex in SF, Thursday, 23 August 2007 20:54 (5 years ago) Permalink

RONG.

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 20:55 (5 years ago) Permalink

heart says straight story, junk says mulholland

― gff, Thursday, 23 August 2007 20:56 (5 years ago) Permalink

Gotta go with "Blue Velvet". It's simply untouchable.

― Alex in NYC, Thursday, 23 August 2007 20:57 (5 years ago) Permalink

Blue Velvet (although I'm waiting for my parents' Blockbusters to get their sole copy of Inland Empire back)

― poortheatre, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

I've always held "Mulholland Drive" as my favourite, but the more I think about "Inland Empire" I'm convinced it's almost as wonderful. However, I'll stick with MD and see how I feel in a couple months.

― Operator plug, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

Mullholland Drive

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

"I'm as blank . . . as a fart!"

― akm, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

also, I like the 'gobble gobble' scene

― akm, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

haven't seen inland empire, eraserhead, lost highway or straight story. of the ones I've seen, Blue Velvet edges Mulholland Drive.

I nearly said, "don't you fuckin look at me!" to someone today.

― pj, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

it's "daddy," you shit-head.

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

I really had a bad reaction to Mulholland Dr when I saw it. Sitting in an a college auditorium with a bunch of folks doing the whole "I love it cuz I have no idea what's going on" thing even though I could tell pretty easily Lynch had tacked on a Wizard Of Oz "and you were there and you were there and you were there and you were there and you were there" ending to the show pilot without removing the subplots that would have nothing to with Naomi Watts' dream logic

dude, all those subplots totally have everything to do with her character's dream logic! take the bumbling hitman character. basically, in her dream world this guy is incompetent because it allows her fantasy lover (who is apparently at least 2 people conflated into one, her real-life ex-lover and the actress who she was passed over the role for, who she also was in love and/or had a fling with) to escape her intended death (which she in "real life" apparently hired the hitman to carry out) and wander into her bathroom/heart/pants.

same with Theroux's director character, he's portrayed as a guy who is constantly ordered, pushed around or shit on by others (i.e. the studio, his wife, etc.) in watts' character's dreamworld this provides her the psychological explanation as to why she didn't get the role: it was a conspiracy involving the studio, mob, creepy midgets, and a supernatural cowboy (hey, it is dream logic after all), not the fact that director was sleeping with the other girl or something else as mundane.

makes sense. perfect sense. right? *shifty eyes*

anyway, does it really matter how much of these were unresolved threads from the pilot or not? in the end it only matters what the final edit conveys, and i think lynch mostly knew what he was doing by leaving those threads in there. even if it was in that intuitive, "happy accident" way kind of way in which he likes to work.

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:49 (5 years ago) Permalink

it's "daddy," you shit-head.

Are you talking to me?

― pj, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:52 (5 years ago) Permalink

Blue Velvet out of all of these has the best lines

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:57 (5 years ago) Permalink

Ha, Latebloomer I was just attempting to write a response similar to yours, but you said it way better.

― W4LTER, Thursday, 23 August 2007 21:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

MD was about 2/3rds new material shot specifically for the film. Lynch didn't make it a movie by tacking on an "it was all a dream" ending.

― jed_, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:00 (5 years ago) Permalink

x-post

ha, usually i'm the one that says that!

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:01 (5 years ago) Permalink

Jed: That wasn't my understanding at all. 2/3 new material? I understood that he shot very little new footage. A good deal less than a 1/4 of the film's total running time.

― Bob Standard, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:05 (5 years ago) Permalink

Yeah Jed, that's not what I understand at all. In fact early scripts of the pilot show it to be almost word for word the entire movie up to the hour and a half mark.

― Alex in SF, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

x-post

yeah i don't believe he shot all that much new material. still, it doesn't matter much. it's all about editing.

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

Yeah but again the original pilot script is basically the first hour and a half of the movie with little to no modification.

― Alex in SF, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:11 (5 years ago) Permalink

I thought it was just the ending and the nakey lesbo scene.

― marmotwolof, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:11 (5 years ago) Permalink

Club Silencio and what came after being the new stuff.

― Bob Standard, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

you're right, it seems there's 45 minutes of new material in the film.

― jed_, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

I have seen the tv pilot and it is basically word for word until when Rita cuts her hair and that is where the pilot ends. there were a couple of scenes cut, some added... but nothing too drastic.

That being said, if anyone thinks that its just a tacked on dream ending, you really need to watch the film more closely.

xposts

― t0dd swiss, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:14 (5 years ago) Permalink

Filming for the pilot began in February 1999. The pilot script balanced normal and surreal elements, much like Lynch’s earlier series Twin Peaks. The pilot laid the groundwork for story arcs, such as the mystery of Rita's identity, Betty's career, and Adam Kesher's film project. [2]

Plot points of the feature film's ending—the physical relationship between Rita and Betty, the bizarre trip to Club Silencio, the "alternate reality" and "identity swapping"—were written and shot after the pilot was completed. Lynch filmed most of the new scenes in October 2000, funded with money from French production company StudioCanal.

― marmotwolof, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:15 (5 years ago) Permalink

"That being said, if anyone thinks that its just a tacked on dream ending, you really need to watch the film more closely."

Oh no I think it's a very AWKWARDLY tacked on real ending which makes the pilot events a dream. It's still a good movie though.

― Alex in SF, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

MD is one of the rare films to get better as it goes along.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:19 (5 years ago) Permalink

I believe that the new stuff that was added is the most brilliant realization of what noir films in the 40s and 50s wanted to do, but never could (mainly because of the censors)

― t0dd swiss, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

the makeout scenes between Justin Theroux and Robert Forster, sadly, ended up on the cutting room floor.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:24 (5 years ago) Permalink

even more sadly the subseqent scene where billy ray cyrus joined them for a threesome in a paint-filled hot tub weren't even filmed:-/

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:27 (5 years ago) Permalink

it was going to be a musical sequence over the end credits, a la Inland Empire

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

anyway, does it really matter how much of these were unresolved threads from the pilot or not? in the end it only matters what the final edit conveys, and i think lynch mostly knew what he was doing by leaving those threads in there. even if it was in that intuitive, "happy accident" way kind of way in which he likes to work.

Funny, I just looked up the script for "Fire Walk With Me" to find out what Gerard the One-Armed-Man was shouting at Leland in the smoking RV scene, and, among other things, he shouts "THE THREAD WILL BE TORN, MR. PALMER, THE THREAD WILL BE TORN!"
The only other mention of "thread" in the script is in the "Blue Rose" code scene with the red-headed woman. Stanley notices the different-colored thread in her dress, which Chet notes is Gordon's code for drugs. Thread - Alteration - Editing - Masking - Codes - Drugs - Death: these things all linked

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

this thread must have started as a pilot!

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:32 (5 years ago) Permalink

I'm starting to think the "quinoa" short on the IE DVD may be Lynch's most revealing work, esp. with respect to TP: FWWM. He basically making Garmonbozia (Pain and Suffering). The cigarettes, the attention to timing and mixing and material and darkness. The way he tells his assistant to tell him when to do things (paradox).

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

The Quinoa thing is great - I like that whenever he makes a gesture towards trying to show something to the viewer (like how much water to put in, or what the correct consistency is) it is actually not visible in the shot.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:43 (5 years ago) Permalink

I like the ones without an id-like bad guy, so I like Mulholland Drive and The Straight Story.

― Eazy, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

I think Mulholland Drive was a good pilot and that the second season would have sucked.

― da croupier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:45 (5 years ago) Permalink

I like the ones without an id-like bad guy, so I like Mulholland Drive and The Straight Story.

is there an id-like bad guy in Inland Empire...? There are various threatening figures, but that doesn't seem like the same thing.

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:46 (5 years ago) Permalink

Haven't seen it yet.

― Eazy, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:47 (5 years ago) Permalink

The bad guy in The Straight Story is Alvin Straight! He says it many times!

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

part of the film's irony is that this genial old coot was a fucking monster as a younger man.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

The bad guy in Mullholland Drive is Naomi Watts! She's a hard, cold killer and crazy to boot!

― sexyDancer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:51 (5 years ago) Permalink

I was gonna bitch about Eraserhead not getting enough love but then I rememberd mark s is repping for it so let the hollywood meta retreads with midgets get all yr love, whatevs.

― da croupier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:53 (5 years ago) Permalink

the baby in Eraserhead=scariest thing ever

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:58 (5 years ago) Permalink

the phantom is the bad guy in inland empire, duhr

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

i just remembered the cowboy in mulholland drive and love that guy

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 22:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― ILX System, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:01 (5 years ago) Permalink

the phantom? who the hell is that?

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

surprised Inland Empire ranked so low here, given the posts

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:04 (5 years ago) Permalink

http://www.uneeda-audio.com/phantom/phantom5.jpg

― latebloomer, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:06 (5 years ago) Permalink

Billy Zane was not the vilian, he's a cool dude.

― da croupier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:09 (5 years ago) Permalink

http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/2001_Zoolander/Thumb/2001_Zoolander_207.jpg

― W4LTER, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:12 (5 years ago) Permalink

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=phantom+inland+empire

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:17 (5 years ago) Permalink

shakey talking with authority all over this thread and doesn't even know who the phantom is! ha!

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:18 (5 years ago) Permalink

ha! ha!

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:18 (5 years ago) Permalink

oh gimme a break I saw the film once and I don't recall anyone being repeatedly referred to as "The Phantom" in it sooooo sorry. wtf

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

well, he's the phantom

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:25 (5 years ago) Permalink

also not aware of any "talking with authority" I may have done on this thread (outside of expressing my own personal preferences, I didn't offer much) but whatevs

― Shakey Mo Collier, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:28 (5 years ago) Permalink

blame Reagan.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

yeah that's what i meant, personal preferences ;)

― cutty, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:29 (5 years ago) Permalink

Understand why Mulholland Drive & Blue Velvet won, surprised by the margin. Voted for Eraserhead, tempted to go with Inland Empire.

― Bob Standard, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:32 (5 years ago) Permalink

I knew it would be either MD or BV, and I'm totally happy it was the former.

― Eric H., Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:38 (5 years ago) Permalink

Shasta's prediction was true. Psychic!

― Rock Hardy, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

So glad I got in a vote for Eraserhead at the last minute, the relative lack of votes for it is an outrage.

― Alex in Baltimore, Thursday, 23 August 2007 23:59 (5 years ago) Permalink

wonder who FWWM fan is, i applaud you

― cutty, Friday, 24 August 2007 00:13 (5 years ago) Permalink

I hovered over FWWM briefly when I couldn't decide between MD and IE.

― Eric H., Friday, 24 August 2007 00:22 (5 years ago) Permalink

I haven't seen Inland Empire. I just put it on my queue.
Mulholland Drive is my touchstone.

― Beth Parker, Friday, 24 August 2007 00:43 (5 years ago) Permalink

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pbkhNabG3po

― ghost rider, Friday, 24 August 2007 01:44 (5 years ago) Permalink

not enough hallways u_u

― ghost rider, Friday, 24 August 2007 01:48 (5 years ago) Permalink

hahah

― sleep, Friday, 24 August 2007 01:53 (5 years ago) Permalink

i didn't see this but i vote eraserhead over blue velvet, just
i need to see inland empire again to rate it properly

― sleep, Friday, 24 August 2007 01:55 (5 years ago) Permalink

had i voted it prob. would've gone to IE

― impudent harlot, Friday, 24 August 2007 02:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

can someone explain to me exactly what they get out of mullholland dr? i mean, i want to like it or at least get *something* out of it since lots of smart people seem to think highly of it, but i thought it was maddeningly pointless.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 13 April 2009 01:06 (4 years ago) Permalink

mullholland drive had amazing naomi watts lesbian scene performance. the part where she's auditioning is pretty great. where has naomi watts acted better?

― Philip Nunez, Monday, 13 April 2009 01:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

xpost: And you liked Lynch's other work? Personally, I love MD most for its impressionistic dream logic. It isn't totally surrealistic, but it is off just enough that the tension lurking underneath is really jarring when it surfaces. There's plenty to love about the film, though, IMO, but if you plain don't like Lynch's style, then I can see why you'd want to shop elsewhere.

― SORCEROUSES..roll on stage! (Pillbox), Monday, 13 April 2009 01:21 (4 years ago) Permalink

J.D. - also thought it was maddeningly pointless.

(and yeah, I plain don't like Lynch's style fwiw)

― iatee, Monday, 13 April 2009 01:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

No, that would be Inland Empire.

― I'm crossing over into enterprise (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 April 2009 01:27 (4 years ago) Permalink

(Terry Gross Voice) That was really great.

― Philip Nunez, Monday, 13 April 2009 01:36 (4 years ago) Permalink

yeah that scene is sort of the thesis statement. it's a movie about movies. there's other stuff jumbled up in there too, but if you're looking for a "point," it's about how art works (and movie art in particular). "don't play it for real until it becomes real." "no hay banda." the singer lip-synching a song about crying, with a tear painted on her face, but rendering the song in a way that inspires actual tears in the audience. the necessity of artifice in breaking through to something actual.

like in this scene, just try to keep track of the layers and reversals of meaning, how much it does with so few moves in just a minute and a half.

― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Monday, 13 April 2009 02:15 (4 years ago) Permalink

i haven't seen every lynch film, but i loved blue velvet enough that i don't think i'm adverse to what lynch does. like, i like that the weird and semi-inexplicable elements in BV are balanced by the relatively straightforward plot, and i find the story and characters in that film a lot more compelling than the ones in MD. i guess the "crying" sequence in MD is as weird and creepy as the "in dreams" sequence in BV, but i don't find it as memorable because i don't feel any connection to the characters or care about the story. and so much of MD just seems so arbitrary and tacked-on — the whole subplot with the director, especially — whereas everything in BV feels necessary and vital and scary. i'm down with 'impressionistic dream logic' but i guess i just didn't get enough pleasure out of the surface of MD to care. i mean watts is ok i guess but does anyone think that she's as powerful and memorable in mullholland dr as isabella rossellini or dennis hopper was in blue velvet?

that said, i'm glad people are responding to this and i'll probably give MD a second chance eventually.

― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Monday, 13 April 2009 04:59 (4 years ago) Permalink

Did Lynch get into that Transcendental Meditation stuff before or after Blue Velvet?

― Philip Nunez, Monday, 13 April 2009 05:22 (4 years ago) Permalink

not enough love for The Straight Story in this poll. would've voted for Blue Velvet myself though.
Dune and Twin Peaks are amongst the worst film ever though.

i thought Mulholland Dr was pretty cool, i always like art phenomenons that have websites with a zillion theories devoted about it.

― Ludo, Monday, 13 April 2009 09:01 (4 years ago) Permalink

Dune was a movie that I really disliked when I watched it, but found myself quoting and remembering fondly afterward.

― invitation to rabies (╓abies), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

THE WORM IS THE SPICE

― invitation to rabies (╓abies), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 01:53 (4 years ago) Permalink

Have seen two or three references to TM with Lynch's name attached in the paper lately. V odd.

― thomp, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

is donovan the next-most-famous TM practitioner?

― zurück zum Traphaus (donna rouge), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:15 (4 years ago) Permalink

oh wait, macca's a fan too:

http://adventuresintranscendentalmeditation.blogspot.com/2009/01/paul-mccartneys-concert-for.html

― zurück zum Traphaus (donna rouge), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:16 (4 years ago) Permalink

George Harrison was the true believer. There's also Mike Love, Al Jardine...

― Sacco, Vanzetti, Passantino... (Tom D.), Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

Have seen two or three references to TM with Lynch's name attached in the paper lately. V odd.

odd why/how? he wrote a book on the subject.

― cutty, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 17:17 (4 years ago) Permalink

Just recently watched the first episode of "On the Air" and it is AMAZING...

― Adam Bruneau, Tuesday, 14 April 2009 20:12 (4 years ago) Permalink

not enough love for The Straight Story in this poll

Seriously. I just teared up watching the scene between Farnsworth and the old guy sharing WWII horror stories.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2011 22:14 (1 year ago) Permalink

still haven't watched. must rectify.

― lots of janitors have something to say (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 13 June 2011 22:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

No problem ranking it third in my list.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2011 22:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

Great, great film. Right there with Blue Velvet for me (and arguably a better film, albeit not nearly as historically significant).

― clemenza, Monday, 13 June 2011 22:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

Sissy Spacek's small work doesn't get enough notice either.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 13 June 2011 22:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

I really should watch The Straight Story. I'm generally only really taken by Lynch's early period (Eraserhead and his short films) and late period (MD & IE). Oh, and everything Twin Peaks. That stuff in the middle doesn't really speak to me as much. I'd avoided watching The Elephant Man until I bought the Lime Green set, which was stupid, because it's really a very lovely and affecting film. Utterly unlike most of his other work, but it definitely suggests that he also has potential as a director of straight (har har) films.

― SNEEZED GOING DOWN STEPS, PAIN WHEN PUTTING SOCKS ON (Deric W. Haircare), Monday, 13 June 2011 22:47 (1 year ago) Permalink

No problem ranking it third in my list

me too, after MD and Eraserhead. Really unlike any other 'G' rated film I've ever seen.

― Cosmo Vitelli, Monday, 13 June 2011 23:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

silencio

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/david-lynch-opening-paris-nightclub_1225481

― Crackle Box, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 15:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

My teenage son is getting very into Lynch. Mostly Twin Peaks, but we watched Eraserhead together over the weekend; his first time, my dozenth or so. Hadn't seen it in many years, but it still resonates with me. Hypnotic, disturbing, yet often extremely funny. Not only my favorite Lynch film, one of my favorite films ever.

― Duke Manfist: Action Hero (Dan Peterson), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 16:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

word, Eraserhead is the shit

― some dude, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 16:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

I had the chance to watch a restored print in March as part of the Miami Film Festival, and the audience was scared and amused at all the wrong moments. I still find it about ten minutes too long.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 16:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

all the RIGHT moments, I should say.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 16:58 (1 year ago) Permalink

what, if anything, would you say "Eraserhead" is about?

― anarcho-misogynist puppies (DJP), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

An ugly man looking for love in a black and white world.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

sounds about right

― lots of janitors have something to say (Shakey Mo Collier), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

nightmares

― the manarchist cookbook (Edward III), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

reconciling an overwhelming preoccupation with sexual desire and the responsibilities of fatherhood

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

alternately, a bunch of shit that passed through david lynch's head

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

philadelphia

― the manarchist cookbook (Edward III), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's about how awful old radiators were.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

i always found it to be anti-children, in some way

like, I think Lynch had a kid around that type, and Eraserhead is just some nightmarish version of that , of suddenly becoming a father and losing so many of the things you treasured, or something? ok, i'm not really sure at all

― frogbs, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

there's an extra on the eraserhead DVD of lynch talking about the making of the film at length, it's pretty entertaining + engrossing for what is basically 90 minutes of this

― the manarchist cookbook (Edward III), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

Ninety minutes of Lynch discreetly away from the microphone.

― The Edge of Gloryhole (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

i could honestly listen to lynch rambling into an old-timey radio microphone all day

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

i wished his ranting on the inland empire dvd was as long as the movie itself

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

Lynch moves away from the microphone so he can breathe

― anarcho-misogynist puppies (DJP), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

btw y'all

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

I think my favorite story from that doc is how lynch had a paper route while making eraserhead and iirc he solicited money to finish the film from the ppl he delivered to

― the manarchist cookbook (Edward III), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 17:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

Ok, so speaking of Lynch DVDs - on the Short Films of Lynch DVD (and I think some other Lynch DVDs too) there's a "Calibrate Your Television" section where you're supposed to adjust the brightness of your set to the point where you can just see the "hidden image" on the screen.

So is my TV broken or is Lynch just fucking with me, because I can't see a thing no matter how bright I set it?

― Godzilla vs. Rodan Rodannadanna (The Yellow Kid), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 19:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

best part of the eraserhead doc is his talking about finding a dead cat at an abandoned industrial site while scouting locations for eraserhead and submerging it in a pool of oil for safe keeping, then returning like nine months later and filming henry dredging it up (still there!) and poking it with a hanger. ha ha. such a card.

― And the piano, it sounds like a carnivore (contenderizer), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 23:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

reconciling an overwhelming preoccupation with sexual desire and the responsibilities of fatherhood

― strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Tuesday, June 14, 2011 10:08 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

it's about working a shit job in a dead-end town, living in a crummy apartment and having a bad relationship with a girl you don't really understand. you meet her parents and feel hideously uncomfortable. they're weird and serve you bad food. you desire other women but are also terrified of your desire. you dream pointlessly as a way of evading your situation and responsibilities. eventually you have a kid without wanting one, and you hate that, too.

― And the piano, it sounds like a carnivore (contenderizer), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 23:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

duh, lol, that was SUPPOSED to be a response to this:

what, if anything, would you say "Eraserhead" is about?

― anarcho-misogynist puppies (DJP), Tuesday, June 14, 2011 10:03 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

― And the piano, it sounds like a carnivore (contenderizer), Tuesday, 14 June 2011 23:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

ranked order incl. major shorts/TV

Blue Velvet
The Grandmother
Eraserhead
Twin Peaks finale
Mulholland Dr.
Twin Peaks pilot
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Premonition Following An Evil Deed
Lost Highway
The Elephant Man
The Cowboy and the Frenchman
Dune
The Straight Story
Industrial Symphony No. 1
Wild at Heart

only thing i actively dislike is W@H.

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 06:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh hai put inland empire in there after TP:FWWM

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 06:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 06:11 (1 year ago) Permalink

Your order just about works for me except that I'm not super crazy about Blue Velvet. I mean, it's a good film, but it falls short as an expression of the Lynch that I love. Your top nine (inc. Inland) is otherwise pretty spot-on. The Grandmother is excellent.

― SNEEZED GOING DOWN STEPS, PAIN WHEN PUTTING SOCKS ON (Deric W. Haircare), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 13:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

This is how I would rank them:

Lost Highway
Straight Story
Elephant Man
Lynch's Twin Peaks episodes
Mulholland Dr.
Blue Velvet
On the Air
Fire Walk with Me
Wild at Heart
Eraserhead
Inland Empire

Haven't seen Dune or any of the shorts. After a very good first 30 minutes, Inland Empire is a 2,5 hour snoozefest, and Eraserhead is a "film student film" with all the positive and negative things that implies. Everything else worth a watch, at the least.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 22 February 2012 13:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

Don't want to rank. I'll just continue telling everyone how gay I am for Inland Empire.

― dead-trius (Eric H.), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 14:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

Don't want to rank. I'll just continue telling everyone ERASERHEAD

― TERMAINTOR 2 (some dude), Wednesday, 22 February 2012 14:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

would the twin peaks series have won this if it had been included?

― i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Monday, 10 December 2012 01:08 (5 months ago) Permalink

Rewatched half of Dune last night, god that movie is awesome.

― Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Monday, 10 December 2012 01:09 (5 months ago) Permalink

dune is terrible. but i will pretty much drop everything to watch it any time it happens to be on tv.

― the oral history of (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, 10 December 2012 01:15 (5 months ago) Permalink