David Lynch - Classic or Dud

Most certainly did -- his third film after Eraserhead and The Elephant Man.

Did anyone ever see that interview he did for scene by scene - i loved the bit where he's talking about "the eye of the duck" to describe the key scene in his films.

Also i highly recommend the book "Lynch on Lynch" - so much fun!

Umm. This movie is two years old. Why are we speculating on its award chances?

*waiting for backlash*

crosspost

Yeah, quite right. I read the book a year before the movie came out so my timing was perfect there...

although, N. has had my copy of the cinema one for nearly a year, now.

cremaster's opulent mythboredom reminded me a lot of dune

absolutely. it's funny how the production design seems to be the central concern of the film for much of its length, but unlike other well-appointed films, the design is actually so rich it actually sustains interest.

this movie redeems dino dilaurentis's reputation from all the europudding he's made. (well, this movie and "blue velvet.")

the last half hour is a mess, yes, but it's compelling for being so incomprehensible. the ending, if you haven't read the book, is just quizzical--all the more so for being so terrifically bombastic and theatrical.

FWWM, like Dune, does have a lot of extra footage still sitting there. As a fan of fractured, difficult art I'm not too bothered about seeing it restored. Pretty much all the series cast shot scenes.

Err, Lynch incidentally is brain-crushingly classic.

There's a much better book out there if you can find it at all -- The Making of Dune by Ed Naha. He was hired to essentially hang around on site during the entire length of filming and write a book about it all and did a fantastic job, I thought. While essentially uncritical about the final product itself, it actually doesn't talk about that so much as just the filming itself. Also laden with tons of photos.

Here's ten, in order of "classicness":

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Eraserhead
3. Blue Velvet
4. Wild at Heart
5. Elephant Man
6. Twin Peaks
7. The Straight Story
8. Dune
9. Fire Walk with Me
10. Lost Highway

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Blue Velvet
3. Eraserhead
4. Elephant Man
5. Lost Highway
6. Fire Walk with Me
7. Twin Peaks
8. Dune
9.The Straight Story

sorry, jaymc, my aside has troubled you, AND i used the wrong tense in one sentence!
and it revived a discussion, how about that ?
but huh ?, you haven't commented on Princess Anne and the BAFTAs, which was what i was getting at. Or anything else beyond the semantics of said paragraph. What do YOU THINK ?

I'm not sure I'll ever get round reading the book so could somebody please summarize what it adds to the movie?

I sometimes imitate Lynch talking about Naomi Watts but I've got nothing on that guy.

and of course Spacek's husband Jack Fisk is one of the all-time great production designers.

He directed her and Kevin Kline in the movie Violets Are Blue which I remember as being pretty good.

Fisk was the man in the planet in Eraserhead. Lynch’s… unorthodox makeup techniques were miserable for him.

Lynch and Fisk knew each other since they were kids and they lived together for a while, they were both painters.

Rep screening of Blue Velvet tonight (surprised it doesn't have its own thread)...Not a single laugh in an half-filled theatre when Dorothy says "I looked for you in my closet tonight." It's a strange world.

(Always amazed to be reminded that Hope Lange is in this--I knew her as a kid from The Ghost & Mrs. Muir TV show.)

Watched the Fablemans last night and Lynch made me so happy. I can't tell if the scene was written to be Lynchy (lipstick kisses all over his face, taking FOREVER to light the cigar) or if Lynch made it Lynchy.

I like that movie, but the Lynch cameo is basically the cherry on top.

My mother in law was visiting the other week, and we were trying to pick out a movie. I had her whittle down some ideas to give me a better idea of what she wanted to see, and she goes "oh, what was that weird movie about the small town? There's a lounge singer, and a teen, and it's really strange." "Blue Velvet?" I ask. "Yes!!!" "Well, we're not watching that," I say (thinking, "...you weirdo"). But I picked "Straight Story" and of course everyone loved it.

we have Mark Harris to thank for Lynch in The Fablemans. Spielberg and Tony Kushner were discussing possibilities, and Harris (Kushner's husband) suggested Lynch.

I wish Lynch did more acting, but I'm to sure sure if that was due to a lack of opportunities or if he was really particular about which films/shows to do (or maybe both). His guest role in Louie C.K.'s show was brilliant - it's now overshadowed by the revelations about Louis C.K., but those episodes aired a few years before that happened and at the time, everyone I knew absolutely loved Lynch's performance.

I think he was pretty uncomfortable with it. Isabella pushed him into the role in Zelly & Me and he was terrified. I’ve never seen that movie, but all of his acting that I have seen are entertaining, of limited range, and are best in small doses.

i think he knew his limitations and wasn’t interested enough in the craft to become a Real Actor. Eventually he got by simply by being David Lynch, in the same way that Werner Herzog has.

Hertzog was the first person that jumped to mind.

xp

Ugh, that first sentence is a mess, I'll try to do better in the future

I'd have liked to see a buddy movie starring Lynch, Herzog and Cronenberg. 3 of my favorite actors.

add spielberg and make it a sitcom set in a florida bungalow

swap spielberg for scorsese

Nah, gotta have Spielberg as the straight man.

Nah, I think you need more of an awkward/odd couple dynamic. Something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhJPwzlyZ2Q

Werner Herzog as David Lynch.

Maybe throw in Judd Apatow just to have sarcastic wisecracks to himself.

Lynch, Herzog, Cronenberg and ... Sydney Pollack? Or Albert Brooks!

sydney pollack surely the best directors acting performance

xp!

Ha, I thought of polling Best Directors Who Act. Pollack would be near the top.

In other Lynch news, Wild At Heart did serious numbers in Bologna last night. I'm amazed that such a big audience turned out for it.

https://bsky.app/profile/davidlynchsworlds.bsky.social/post/3mov4aa3o222m

xps Albert Brooks, YES - in all seriousness, I'd put his greatest films on par with Lynch, Herzog and Cronenberg's. Can't say the same about Pollack or Apatow's best work, and Brooks is funnier too.

uh Tootsie is absolutely on par with Lynch, Herzog, and Cronenberg's best.

Pollack's one scene was a highlight of Death Becomes Her.

Lynch, Herzog, Cronenberg, Spielberg

Spielberg would be Mike, but who would be Vyvyan, Rick and Neil?

tootsie isnt much good for any of the parts where tootsie exists tbh

what are albert brooks good movies

tootsie isnt much good for any of the parts where tootsie exists tbh

― Wichita Referee's Assistant (darraghmac)

Shame on you, you macho shithead!

uh Tootsie is absolutely on par with Lynch, Herzog, and Cronenberg's best.

Sorry, cannot agree. Mixed feelings about that film.

Oh, I know all its flaws but love it anyway, whereas Herzog is a director who makes fiction films I never wanna watch again.

Herzog's documentaries are generally better than his fiction films, but honestly I don't think most of his films live up to the myths he builds around them. However, a few that do are incredible - among his fiction work, Aguirre towers over every other scripted film he did.

One of my favorite Herzog films isn't even one he directed: Les Blank's Burden of Dreams.

otm on both counts