David Lynch - Classic or Dud

i saw the donovan concert on pbs hosted by david lynch. it was SO BAD. mike love came out at the end and sang a song as crappy as a man could. i posted about it somewhere.

Mike Love is such a dick he named one of his kids Christian (his kids seem nice though)

I wonder what Lynch's eulogy will be like

I have yet to see Inland Empire all the way through but man do I dig it.

the last 15 minutes or so are really something else. I've watched it twice and its fantastic but a real undertaking.

Ok, this has to be a joke.

it is not - that's been out for a couple years at least

yeah, they were selling it at the IFC center when IE was playing. didn't actually buy any tho.

anyone care to recommend some movies by other directors I might like given I really like David Lynch?

Carnival Of Souls

The Tenant by Roman Polanski. It predates Lynch but has a very similar feel to his more surreal stuff, could even be that he was influenced by it.

i couldn't think of anything but Polanski is a good answer, actually. Repulsion, The Tennant and even Rosemary's Baby all have aspects in common with Lynch.

Maybe some of the Val Lewton films - The Seventh Victim for instance

Is Hitchcock too obvious?

Three Women

this.

also, if you can find it, "black moon" by louis malle. surreal psychosexual alice in wonderland stuff; includes at least one scene that i'm convinced was the basis for something in wild at heart.

Wizard of Oz duh

try these:

safe
audition
the spirit of the beehive
come and see
the holy mountain
persona
a tale of two sisters
choses secrètes

Woman in the Dunes

You might also enjoy movies by Julio Medem, especially The Red Squirrel and Tierra, as they're both surreal films about passions lurking beneath calm surfaces.

pauline kael nailed it in her blue velvet review: "Lynch might turn out to be the first populist surrealist - a Frank Capra of dream logic."

that was a random thought about lynch, apropos of nothing

werner herzog is probably also a good idea ... esp. even dwarfs started small.

OTM

I've never found the proper entry point for him, so I can't make recommendations, but: luis buñuel

Holy Mountain? I don't see that connection (unless yr thinking of the Dune angle)

their tones are totally diff but the wacky transgressive surrealism would appeal to a lynch fan methinks

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari & other German Expressionist films.

Last Year at Marienbad

Might be difficult to find, but worth it.

Criterion is releasing it this year.

Optimum released it in 2006 I believe.

Thanks for all these, just watching the Tenant now. I particularly like the way Lynch uses music if that makes a difference to recommendations.

ronan: here's a clip from herzog's even dwarfs started small, if you haven't seen it already (i also think herzog makes interesting use of music in his films). so i guess that if you like this, then you should rent this film:

a PETA film of the month favorite

I enjoyed The Tenant, though it was sort of less postmodern than maybe what I was looking for. I mean actually I'm sure lots of these films I will enjoy, but I get a huge kick out of Lynch using pop music or modern music in really weird contexts, or the kind of humorous weirdness of eg the woman dancing on the car in Blue Velvet.

I will keep checking out the above recommendations though.

Cronenberg always strikes me as Lynch's nearest point of comparison.

SCORPIO RISING by Kenneth Anger seems like the most obvious precursor to Lynch in terms of use of pop music, colour, occult iconography

^^^Yes absolutely
Kustom Kar Kommandos, Scorpio Rising, Rabbit Moon

, but I get a huge kick out of Lynch using pop music or modern music in really weird contexts

Have you seen much Dennis Potter?

LGarda: Bunuel

re: music yeah Potter is another good reference point, my personal favorite is "Lipstick on Your Collar" (feat. super-young Ewan MacGregor!) but the most Lynch-like is definitely the og Pennies from Heaven.

werner herzog is probably also a good idea ... esp. even dwarfs started small.

And "Kaspar Hauser", if you're a fan of "The Elephant Man"

I think maybe Blackeyes is Potter's most Lynchian, but not his best.

Potter wrote a screenplay adaptation of the DM Thomas novel The White Hotel for David Lynch in 1990, apparently.

I have a Potter boxset. Have seen about half of it.

i was going to suggest "syndromes and a century" but that's not particularly lynchian in the way that Ronan is geting at, it's pretty singular. the problem is that i can't think of anything that is lynchian in that way other than his own films.

^ this is sort of seals the deal on lynch's greatness for me (not that the door really needs sealing for me, but still). no matter who he may have been influenced by, and after decades of being remarkably successful and influential in the weirdo art movie game, there just aren't any other "lynch-like" movies out there. he stands alone.

this is a good parody, though:

miracle mile does that cheerful cardboard americana turning into utter nightmare thing from blue velvet pretty well.

the Anthony Edwards movie?

this is a good resource if you're looking for movie recommendations based on other movies you like: clerkdogs.com

I enjoyed The Tenant, though it was sort of less postmodern than maybe what I was looking for. I mean actually I'm sure lots of these films I will enjoy, but I get a huge kick out of Lynch using pop music or modern music in really weird contexts, or the kind of humorous weirdness of eg the woman dancing on the car in Blue Velvet.

most of the ones I listed are similar to lynch in that they're terrifying films but they aren't horror movies, they work on the axes of social fear and loathing, gothic absurdity, and transgressive behavior. their use of music is pretty standard except for safe, which has some ironic diagetic 80s tunes sprinkled throughout.

have you seen richard elfman's forbidden zone?