13 replies to this topic

[exit_16w]

Has anyone seen it? I just watched it, wow very good but very confusing. Just wondering if anyone had a opinion on it.

[Triumph]

One of my favorite movies from the last five years.

But I'm a pretentious college student, so of course I'm going to like stuff like that.

I had to watch it three or four times to really get it. But I think it *does* almost make sense if you watch it a couple times.

It's an interesting way to tell a story. But the scene with the Cowboy, the scene with the goons and the director, and who could forget that lesbian scene..

[DevilMinder]

One of my favorite movies from the last five years.

But I'm a pretentious college student, so of course I'm going to like stuff like that.

I had to watch it three or four times to really get it. But I think it *does* almost make sense if you watch it a couple times.

It's an interesting way to tell a story. But the scene with the Cowboy, the scene with the goons and the director, and who could forget that lesbian scene..

And 7 years later he starts showing a non-hockey side. Go Triumph!

Seriously, that movie is very cool. The theatre scene haunts me for some reason. Momento was a cool figure it out yourself movie as well.

[NJCroMag]

Has anyone seen it? I just watched it, wow very good but very confusing. Just wondering if anyone had a opinion on it.

Ugh. Loved the first hour of the film, but everything after that made me want to rip the hair out of my head. Someone here mentioned "Memento." That was very cool.

[Don]

I haven't seen Mulholland Drive, but I should considering I like most of Lynch's stuff.

But Memento, that was great. Especially when the woman hid all the pens. The same director has another film, "Following" which I really liked. It's about a part time author that, for the sake of gaining inspiration or just for curiosity, likes to pick a random person in the crowd and follow them throughout their day. One day he follows a thief with a unique manner of robbing places... the author finds the man extremely interesting and continues to follow him, getting him into dangerous mishaps.

It's hard to piece together, as Memento and as I've heard Mulholland Dr., but rewarding.

I've been told the one that nobody understands is Jacob's Ladder, so I think I'll be renting that over the holidays.

[Pepperkorn]

Mulholland Dr actually isn't that hard to piece together-- it's the usual Lynch crap. It's like looking at an Escher in a way -- it's not going to make too much sense because he fvcks with the perception. The reason I do not find Lynch a genius is that he just does whatever the hell he wants in the end. You don’t have a complete Escher-like picture where you say ahhh he flipped it on it's ear logically so you have a complete though impossible picture. I think I'd be happier with Lynch's finales if they were true paradoxes... but it's never wrapped up with no lose ends, so I always walk away thinking "Oh so I wasted all that time following what in the end turns out to be Lynch's own freaky trip with no total significance to anyone but him." This was closer to what i want from one of his pictures - more connections & logical progression than he's ever made before certainly. Don’t’ get me wrong I enjoy all his stuff but hate that empty “I just stuffed myself on Twinkies and Ho-Hos” feeling I get in the end. You think you're getting something mentally nutritious but it's all just garbage in the end. Yeah my husband announced with glee “Dykefest!” right before they got all hot and heavy! The brunette’s fake knockers were distracting… The bad teeth dental plate on the post-Diane blond were a nice detail!

[Triumph]

Well, it is just garbage in the end, but here, Lynch turned a fairly cliched story (girl goes to Hollywood and ends up not making it) into a very interesting one.. I have to respect him for that. The use of symbolism has to be respected too, even if it is overwrought. But the fact that you can have widely varying interpretations at least show that he's trying.. film has so much potential as a medium, at least Lynch is using it in a non-traditional way...

I admit I've only seen one other Lynch film, though..

[Pepperkorn]

Well, it is just garbage in the end, but here, Lynch turned a fairly cliched story (girl goes to Hollywood and ends up not making it) into a very interesting one.. I have to respect him for that. The use of symbolism has to be respected too, even if it is overwrought. But the fact that you can have widely varying interpretations at least show that he's trying.. film has so much potential as a medium, at least Lynch is using it in a non-traditional way...

I admit I've only seen one other Lynch film, though..

True re: story, particularly as to HOW you end up not making it (this is also true of all careers) ... and I do love what he does with cliche characters. But see, I LIKE character cliches anyhow. I really liked Betty! I loved how she appears one way and though all her actions are static and completely consitant, for the viewer it's a total 180. I like it when Lynch makes that choice. This film was a break through because it took his work with Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks and he took it a step further. Blue Velvet the cliche characters kindof refused to change - which bugged me. Twin peaks his characters just seemed to do whatever the heck he thought was funny though he obviously took a lot of care in creating them.

In this it's like he learned in Twin Peaks you can't cretae characters and set them free to be completely organic and have a life of their own. He's not smart enough to keep their focus - he couldn't keep them consistant on the fly particularly with so many coming and going - I felt like he lost track and hence lost his veiwers. I mean it seemed like he took his subject seriously for a change in this film - thought it through a little. He FOR SURE had a personal investment with the Director's character who I really thought was fun and very real.

[Triumph]

Well, I did see Blue Velvet, but I haven't seen Twin Peaks (or anything else by him).

What's also interesting about both Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive is that they treat a trite subject (the evil of suburbia, the evil of Hollywood) very different than most movies.. to the point where you don't recognize that this ground has been gone over, since it's being done in such a different way. That, to me, is when art succeeds.

[exit_16w]

After thinking about it, Diane and Beatty are the same person its just that Diane is real and Betty is her own dream self. Like how she wants her life to be like, i.e. wowing the producer, getting the girl, solving a mystery...

[Pepperkorn]

I think Diane was the brunette who then bestowes her rotten life on Betty... and then the brunette becomes whatsherface with the lead in the movie and Betty takes Diane's place... SO HA! I'll have to watch it again to form any real theory... but I really don't care enough to

Silencio... silencio eyesrollo...

[Pepperkorn]

Well, I did see Blue Velvet, but I haven't seen Twin Peaks (or anything else by him).

What's also interesting about both Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive is that they treat a trite subject (the evil of suburbia, the evil of Hollywood) very different than most movies.. to the point where you don't recognize that this ground has been gone over, since it's being done in such a different way.  That, to me, is when art succeeds.

mmmm... I can't help but think you're confusing trite subject matter with the trite delivery of what could be serious subject matter. For example, when you say Boy meet Girl, Boy gets Girl, Boy loses Girl, Boy gets Girls back – that’s a classic and can be retold in myriad ways - it comes off as an old chestnut or as fresh and exciting – it’s all in the telling.

What Lynch likes to do is take the Father Knows Best turn a blind eye to the ugly things kind of style while nearly comically revealing the atrocities going on around them. His characters could be "Teflon" people if they so chose but the conflict arises because in their naive fog they walk into these situations -- and as I say remain pretty much the static Father's Knows Best caricature of young man, young woman etc. and so forth.

Really I’m just talking out of my ass for the sheer joy of expounding and I may totally change my mind some other day! Acting, story telling --- it’s not so cut and dry as hockey! I think that’s why I get paralyzed when pursuing a career in it! SO MANY POSSIBILITIES! Dance was easier … but acting is one hell of a proverbial bang for the buck.

Edited by Pepperkorn, 23 December 2003 - 05:00 PM.

[Pepperkorn]

After thinking about it, Diane and Beatty are the same person its just that Diane is real and Betty is her own dream self. Like how she wants her life to be like, i.e. wowing the producer, getting the girl, solving a mystery...

Hmm... so you know maybe it's everyone gets to be the perfect person they want but only if they're willing to pay the price with the life of the one they love..

that's a feckin bummer!

[Triumph]

sounds right to me 16_w.. if you watch the movie again, you'll see that it begins with a shot of a red pillow..

Well, PK, trite subject matter is usually delivered in a trite way, so I could be confusing them. There's a lot of 'classic' stories just told in slightly different ways.. and it's the details that get us.. and the different ways of looking at things.. and now I'm expounding so I'll shut up.