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

the phantom? who the hell is that?

surprised Inland Empire ranked so low here, given the posts

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

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

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

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

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

ha! ha!

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

well, he's the phantom

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

blame Reagan.

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

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

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

Shasta's prediction was true. Psychic!

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

wonder who FWWM fan is, i applaud you

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

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

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

not enough hallways u_u

hahah

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

No, that would be Inland Empire.

(Terry Gross Voice) That was really great.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

THE WORM IS THE SPICE

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

is donovan the next-most-famous TM practitioner?

oh wait, macca's a fan too:

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

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

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.

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

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.

still haven't watched. must rectify.

No problem ranking it third in my list.

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

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

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.

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.