Be Excellent To Each Other

Now it's dark.

Wondering what the board consensus on David Lynch is? Personally I love the guy. Not seen all of his stuff, and what he does doesn't always work for me, but Christ I've never seen what's coming with him. I guess dream logic helps that way. If I had to pick my top three Lynch works I'd probably go for season one Twin Peaks, The Straight Story and Mulholland Drive.

Mulholland Drive did baffle me a fair bit, but there's just scenes in there that work on their own that blow most other cinema out of the water. The mafia man slowly spewing up his coffee in complete mesmeric eye-fucking disgust at the meeting. The infamous diner nightmare scene. The utter horror of the miniture old people. And Angelo's completely unsettling score.

The Straight Story is an utter beauty, and makes me wish we could have another 'straight' Lynch film. The soundtrack is immense, especially 'Lauren's Walking' which is so beautiful it's set me trying to find similar music heavy of the constant cello bass and soaring polka-waltz violin, and crushingly failed each time. The film is packed with astonishing imagery that's beautifully simple. The grain cylinders and rows and rows of corn. The wooden slat houses and the small time diners. It's a celebration of small rural American life that is beautiful.

And Twin Peaks. Well, it's part of my permament dream space. I will keep revisiting it now and again in my dreams. I haven't seen the second season, I almost don't want to. The destination doesn't matter to me, I have the characters perfectly suspended in their dreamy coffee fueled, misty, lumber yard town.

So, what do the rest of you guys think? Do you like Lynch? Hate him? Not bothered to check out his work? People seem to assume that's he an utterly alien guy who's up his own arse and who cannot relate to humanity at all. But every actor and crew member ever interviewed fucking love working with him. Apparently he's funny, lets the actors and crew use their own ideas and really helps people with their characters and roles.

He's batshit insane but he's almost a perfect director. Kudos, Mr Lynch! Now I'm going to watch Inland Empire, which I have never seen. I anticipate the ultimate weird.

Still to try his coffee, mind.

I am happy to host a Lynch night if NervousPete is the MC.

Will it involve me doing a soft shoe shuffle whilst offering critique in a scary backwards voice? If so, I'm in.

I'd far rather that than the Airplane/Naked Gun thing, FWIW

Looking through his list of works on IMDB, I haven't actually seen a single thing he's made. I'm aware of who he is, and am fully aware he's almost certifiably batshit insane, but his films and I have managed to never cross paths.

*Strokes chin*

Well I'm up for it.

Now if I could just get this damn library disc to work. Inland Empire, denied!

MULHOLLAND DR.
One of my favorite films ever. I loved it on first viewing, and should really watch it a few more times to try to catch what's going on.

Inland Empire.
Utter shit. Seriously, WTFF? Turned it off.

Well, looks like I won't be finding out tonight if you're right or not as the Blu-Ray player refuses to play more than 18 seconds. Gngh.

Might dig out Mulholland Drive again instead.

He's ok, seen a bunch of his stuff, mildly impressed. Not a popular opinion, that. He's supposed to be marmite.

Mulholland Dr. is as good as American cinema gets.

Not seen Inland Empire. It's too long!

Straight Story was OK.

Eraserhead was the best thing ever, to me aged 17. Not actually seen it since.

Really, not even Eraserhead?

Really actually.

What's worse, when people used to mention "Mulholland Drive" and I say, yeah, I've seen that, it's the one with Tim Robbins and The Dude, they look at me funny.

No, you're thinking of Iron Man.

Hah! That's exactly what I do. Good film, Arlington Road.

It is, isn't it? And it's the sole reason why when people go on about David Lynch being a good director I say, yeah, he's brilliant!

That may continue to be the case, from the sound of it.

I've seen almost all of Twin Peaks and really liked it but never got around to watching the end. I've seen series 1 twice though. It is excellent but I would probably remember it better if I had watched it when I was sober. I've also watched Mulholland Drive under similar circumstances but I don't really remember it. Does it have Naomi Watts in it?

Certainly does.

Heh. I sympathise.

Got Inland Empire working through the Egg-Box. It's sort of making a weird sort of sense so far. Apart from the bits with the rabbit-people. But the stuff about casting, openings, doors, time-perception, evil seems to make a sort of fucked up sense. It's also sinister as fuck. The witch-like Eastern European crone-neighbour has such a contorting face, it's almosts some hyper-real CGI effect.

Think I'll have to watch it in hour long installments though so I don't start bleeding through my nose or anything.

As for the Lynch night, I'd propose:

Twin Peaks pilot
Mulholland Drive
Blue Velvet

Maybe The Straight Story.

And as many coffees as we can drink!

Rixondale's gonna hate me for alway if I turn a Zucker-Abrahms night around into a Lynch night. FORALWAY.

With sexy results!

Coffee?

They'll be Belgian* or Irish or other alcoholic ethnic coffees, right? Including the Suicide Nuclear Iranian Coffee.

*Err, they have, like, alcoholic waffles in them or something. Shh.

Eraserhead is a dreamy mind-fuck. Mesmerising and irritating; like the bitter sweet pain of squeezing a deep bruise.

The Elephant Man is masterful, sad and beautiful.

Mulholland Drive is a very special film. Complex. Brooding. Haunting.

I too love Twin Peaks.

Dune: ridiculous, inadvisable, bonkers mess. Highly recommended if you can stay awake.

Blue Velvet is excellent but I have an irrational dislike for Isabella Rossellini, which kept spoiling my fun,

People do back flips over Lost Highway, and I admit it is pleasingly strange in parts, but it left me feeling oddly unsatisfied.

I've not seen Wild at Heart, Inland Empire or The Straight Story. But I will. I will.

The best thing about Lynch's direction is the sense of pure menace he can conjure out of light and colour. It is a singular talent.

True dat. He's also the only director I can think of that can make actors look either genuinely scared or genuinely completely consumed by evil 100% of the time. Whatever you think of his storytelling, there's no denying he has the actors bring their A-game.

Dune is a mess, true. But it has the odd killer scene in it. Pieter's 'Mind in Motion' speech, Paul dealing with the hunter-seeker, the Shadout Mapes, anything with Gurney Halleck. It's a noble failure, and shows the sci-fi effort up as the amateur dramatics it was. He nailed the Atreides. When I read the book I think of their look from the film. Shame he botched the Harkonnen so badly. And the ending is bobbins.

I'd love Paul's Click-Clack encyclopedia. Even more than an iphone.

...

Uh oh, did someone say iphone?!



Inland Empire still good. I expect the mega-weirdness still to kick in. Why is it that I'm entirely understanding it so far? Something's wrong.

I think Lynch is an Artist.

He's a painter, a conceptual artist, an expressionist, an impressionist and a visual poet.

Film is his chosen medium and sometimes it doesn't quite fit

Basically his need to express things visually doesn't always fit the criteria of what is understood to be a movie, but when he manages to coincide his vision with our expectations he's a wonder. Even when he doesn't hit all the markers he's interesting.

I wonder what he would think of you posting on an internet forum whilst watching one of his films, Pete. I think his hair would rise up like a Dilophosaurus.

Heh, weird how that's the one thing I remember about that film. And by that I of course mean not weird at all.

I loved Twin Peaks, but I haven't seen it since the original run on BBC2, so I've no idea what I'd think of it now. Just about anything else I've watched by him has been nigh-on impenetrable. Lost Highway was completely unfathomable from start to finish, and even the friend I watched it with, who was a total Lynch nut, couldn't work out what the hell was going on.

ERASERHEAD. His best work. Without doubt. Any suggestion otherwise is definitely wrong.

First contact with him I think was with Fire Walk With Me. Which perhaps is a bit wrong. You're meant to watch that after Twin Peaks right? Anyway I really liked it.

Lost Highway came next and wasn't marvelous. I've watched about one episode of Twin Peaks and not an awful lot happened. Keep meaning to go back but never do.

Not really seen anything else. I really should though.

The soundtrack I had to Twin Peaks is wonderful. Angelo Badalamenti for the win! As they say.

I've only seen a couple of episodes of Twin Peaks, early on in my TV watching life, and for me it's more the ambiance and feeling of the thing that is memorable. Not sure I could recapture that watching it again so I probably won't.

Conclusion on Inland Empire Pete? Did you watch it all the way through?

Now yer talking!

Unsurprisingly to those who know my taste in music/film/art/etc I LURVE Lynch! I'm pretty sure I've seen everything he's done (which is reasonably available), inc. all films, shorts, TV series and I've even got a DVD lecture he did on Transcendental Meditation.

I don't think I dislike anything he's done, tbh. Even Dune (which gets a little bit lost at times) has sooooo much awesomeness in it I still really like it. The first time I ever saw Eraserhaed it absolutely destroyed my mind, like a film adaptation of "Hamburger Lady" by Throbbing Gristle. Probably the most nightmarish piece of cinema ever created, not least because of the incredible sound by Alan Splet who is now a massive sound design hero of mine. An entire chapter of my Masters dissertation discussed the viewer's psychological connection with the scene in Twin Peaks FWWM where they're in the night club and the dialogue is submerged under the music.

My favourite films by Lynch would probably be Eraserhead (nightmarish masterpiece), Lost Highway (I love the free-jazz and decadence) and The Elephant Man (heart-wrenchingly beautiful). Twin Peaks is rated my second favourite TV thingy after The Wire. Pete: you should definitely watch season 2 of TP! It gets a little lost in the middle, but there are some incredible moments in there on-par with season 1, and the last few episodes are just non-stop awesome! Talking of Lynch TV Series, I heartily recommend yarr-ing two out-of-print series he did called On The Air and Hotel Room. On The Air is quite light hearted, like the funnier bits of Twin Peaks, and Hotel Room is fooking fantastic with some of the best work Lynch ever did - ep2 is dark and sinister gold!

I could rant about Lynch all day, but anyway - Lynch: 10 squillion bananas!

Of his work, I have watched:

The Grandmother
Twin Peaks
Lost Highway
Mulholland Drive

I enjoyed all of the above. I've also seen bvits and bobs from various other films he did (Dune, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart) but never actually sat through them in one sitting. No fault of the films, I just have lousy timing.

He did Dune? The original Sting-tastic one? I've seen that! I've seen a David Lynch film!

It was awful.

I love Lynch, he's amazing. My friends tend to be baffled by the whole thing, but that seems to be missing the point. I don't like the thought of deconstructing it or trying to make some kind of linear sense out of his films, I just love the way they flow. It's a truly dreamlike feel, with all the wonder and terror that goes with it. So many beautiful moments, and he can still scare the hells out of me like no-one else.

Inland Empire was incredible, but I think I might have been lucky in catching it while in just the right mood. Alone, late at night, relaxed and receptive, it just blew me away. At any other point I may have just been bored or annoyed by it. It's probably the most singularly 'Lynchian' thing he's done. Also, there's a moment in it that absolutely terrified me. Like, the chills to the spine, plain speechless kind of horror that you couldn't possibly have seen coming. You'll know it if you've seen it. Brr.

I just rewatched Lost Highway recently, and couldn't get back into it at all. Not sure why, it just didn't grab me. I wasn't big on it to begin with though. I also found Fire Walk With Me to be dreadful, despite being a huge Twin Peaks fan. Everything else of his is gold though.

From his early shorts, Alphabet is highly recommended.

I enjoyed what I saw of Twin Peaks, should get hold of the sets really. Need to watch more of his films too.

I like weird shit.

Dune - the Greatest Sci-Fi Mega Turkey of all Time.

I have only one good thing to say about Dune: it didn't stink up the place as nearly as much as Zardoz.

PM me the dates when you're free, and I'll PM you the dates when I am, and we'll gogogogo on this, yeah?

Wilco, I'll mull the dates tomorrow. It'll have to be after the next 15th though, as the amount of bills, bonds and agency fees at this time of moving out of one house-share and into another is staggering.

Never seen Waterworld?

You do mean the film, right?

I disagree. I have no love for it, but to be fair Waterworld's worst crime is that of being mediocre. It's basically Mad Max on water. It's not a bad film per se. In fact I'd go as far as to say it hangs together as a story far better than many blockbuster sci-fi films of the past twenty years or so and there are some pleasingly flash bangs and wallops.

Once... and it wasn't nearly as bad as The Postman

Her Indoors is up for a Twin Peaks event if one is happening.

Cough I quite liked the Postman cough.

Then again I'm quite the sucker for any form of post-apocolyptia.

You'll fucking love Bicester.

Then you should totally see The New Barbarians, a terrible straight to video film I saw earlier today. But it does feature some unusual elements such as the hero guy getting captured and raped by the evil guy. Some of the deaths in it are amusingly gory. Overall pretty good fun.

Enjoy this trailer fot it:

"What does this button do?"
"Oh, classic feature that. Classic! Push it and your door will eject itself!"
"What the hell use is that?"
"Well, my lad, just imagine the day a magnetic bomb attaches itself to your door. Where would you be without it, eh?"

Looks shite - need to watch it though, so where can I obtain such cinematic mediocrity?

I do like Dune. I think it still has things going for it.

And did you know David Lynch is in it? Here he is!

I had to watch that bit several times. It cracked me up. It reminded me of this...

That's the bit that made me want to watch it

If you want to watch The New Barbarians you can grab it at Cinemageddon. Not sure if registration is open right now though. I may have to invite you if you're not there already.

And Pete, that is my all time favourite Reeves & Mortimer sketch and I was reminded of that as well.

The film is very much tripe, but it's fun tripe.

Other problems with the film:

Characters constantly on about how much of a horrible wasteland it is when in the background there's nice green hills and pretty little trees. Then they have a car chase and crash into the lovely green grass verge. "Man we're never going to be able to find fertile ground with all this green stuff around!" I could imagine them saying. Perhaps it's a mass delusion and they only think it's a barren wasteland.

The electric cars the bad guys use are hillarious. They chase down people but can barely keep up. It's only when people happen to conveniently slip and fall they are able to skewer them. This makes some of the car chases excellently low speed. Imagine if Mad Max 2 was entirely done with milk floats..