I can't think of a director in the new generation of movie directors who are as original as most of the pieces made by DL. RIP, maestro!
David Lynch has died
171–180 of 391 posts
Re: David Lynch has died
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
Start with "Eraserhead" and then go from there. Surreal is the word I associate with his movies and tv show (Twin Peaks) and I absolutely love watching such movies!
Dune or Twin Peaks are probably going to be more accessible than anything else. For Eraserhead, I understand the metaphor of how parenting can be larger-than-life and terrifying and I see how Eraserhead was trying to embody that but I very much didn't appreciate the highly pessimistic ending. It's an early movie that would have benefited immensely from an alternate ending on its DVD.
The Straight Story is almost certainly his most accessible film, while also very focused on themes that he cares about.
It isn't the elusive puzzle that many cinephiles value in his work, but it is clearly a Lynch film, even if it's not a stereotypical one.
Re: David Lynch has died
#173Re: David Lynch has died
#174I'm so grateful he was able to make Twin Peaks: The Return before he passed. It's one of the most brilliant and moving pieces of fiction I've ever experienced. If they had started it just a few years later it may have never been finished.
Some of the people who returned for it died not long after it wrapped. The "Log Lady" might have died before it wrapped, even, can't recall. Miguel Ferrer wasn't around much longer. Even with Lynch living a good while past it, it'd have been far more limited production if it'd started even a couple years after it did. They already had to do without Bowie and a few others that it seems Lynch might have liked to use (g…
> The "Log Lady" might have died before it wrapped
Yes, she was terminally ill and in hospice care. Lynch moved up the filming of her scenes as well as writing the part so she wouldn't need to travel. The fans really embraced her in the years after the original show aired, inviting her to conventions, etc. She wanted to finish her character's role for the fans before she died.
Re: David Lynch has died
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I’m not sure if anyone could ever “get” one of his movies completely beyond the experience and the narrative. His movies are not supposed to be "got" completely. They are surrealist. They have the logic of dreams. Or nightmares. There are things in them that won't ever make literal sense. Any film school graduate can string together some random images and call it "surreal", and mostly those would be boring. but Lyn…
I want to push back on the surreal end slightly. It's true that his movies are extremely resistant to analysis, and it's true that much of his imagery is de-facto surreal. But his movies still have narratives assembled from humans in concrete situations with concrete problems and easily understandable actions and reactions. In other words, you can enjoy his movies as an experience at relative face-value in a way many…
Sort of. The plot is not always clear, but what is always clear is how you are supposed to feel in each scene.
Re: David Lynch has died
#176This makes me sad the same way that the death of David Bowie did.
“You’ve been seen associating with chickens Jack!”
Without David Lynch the world is just a little bit duller today. :(
Re: David Lynch has died
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have never seen a single one of his movies but I love watching interviews with him, he had an amazing presence and so much energy.
I'm gonna say start with Blue Velvet. It still has the backbone of a classical noir, but it is completely run through with the character of his work. Mulholland Drive reflects the apex of his vision and talents, but there's a learning curve to appreciating it.
Wild at heart. Very approachable, but gory and brutal. The angst seep trough
Re: David Lynch has died
#178Re: David Lynch has died
#179This is an odd coincidence only because I've been stuck on playing https://soundcloud.com/overwerk/beyond today, which culminates in a sample from a Twin Peaks episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc_6kDHWsEM (it's the "I've been looking out beyond the edge of the board" scene)
Re: David Lynch has died
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
I find it interesting how much Ebert hated that movie. I'm not sure how I feel about it myself, tbh, but I am certain I don't have his conviction to state it clearly and unambiguously. The film certainly made me feel things no other movie has.
I think if you're giving original opinions about movies it guarantees that you're going to be on the wrong side of history eventually. His reviews aren't any less interesting even when you disagree with him.
I'm not really convinced he's on "the wrong side"—we're entitled to strong opinions about the role of film in society and this is either value-oriented or subjective. But I emphatically do admire his willingness to stake his claim without ambiguity.
> His reviews aren't any less interesting even when you disagree with him.
100%