David Lynch

[triodelover]

Sad that his only film on blu-ray is Dune. Not to mention The Elephant Man and Wild at Heart are OOP.

The Elephant Man is available from Optimum Releasing in the UK. According to this review it's region A/B, so you shouldn't have any trouble playing it.

[Duncan Hopper]

Laura Harring reckons Lynch is making a sequel to Mulholland Drive. here

[mfunk9786]

So here's a theoretical because I'm bored and am curious as to what people will say: If Lynch drops dead tomorrow, what film lives on as his absolute master work?(If you had to pick one)

[Murdoch]

I believe Mulholland Dr. to be one of the greatest American films, so that one.

My appreciation of it has grown over time and it so fully encompasses the wide-eyed idealism of Hollywood naivete, and the crushing reality that so many can't accept. Lynch employs his surrealist methods most perfectly in MD; the fantasy and reality are so bitterly contrasted that it presents Hollywood as the American purgatory, where young starlets cling to their brief past success in hopes of one day rekindling it despite how dour their lives become. Plus, the Club Silencio scene is one of the best recent examples of pure cinema. For me it succeeded in every way Sunset Boulevard failed.

A sequel is wholly unnecessary (unless it is something like what WKW did with his In the Mood for Love/2046)

[domino harvey]

So here's a theoretical because I'm bored and am curious as to what people will say: If Lynch drops dead tomorrow, what film lives on as his absolute master work?(If you had to pick one)

Mulholland Dr, no contest

[Finch]

Prior to MD, I'd have picked Blue Velvet and if I had to choose my favourite scene in all of Lynch's work, it'd be the finale of Fire Walk With Me (where is the Blu, New Line?).

I wasn't as down on 2046 to the extent that it ruined In The Mood For Love for me but it's precisely the reason for why I hope Lynch doesn't do a sequel to MD and creates a whole new universe instead.

[knives]

For me his definitive film is Lost Highway. In many ways it's the ultimate outlier of his work, but also a concentration of everything he does best. It's also only one of three of his movies that get me emotionally wrecked.
As for A Mulholland Dr. sequel, I'll cautiously anticipate it. I've always felt that the present movie was rushed and that Lynch had so much else he needed to say to turn it into a complete film. s if it were more of an in between film that expanded the connective tissue between the first and last episode and it was good, but of course, I'd gladly welcome it.

[tartarlamb]

2046 and Sunset Boulevard were failures, and no one wants a sequel to Mulholland Dr.? Some gloomy folks on this board!

I just hope that, if there is a sequel, he doesn't shoot the damn thing in digital.

[Robin Davies]

Another vote for Mulholland Dr.
Closely followed by Eraserhead and Lost Highway.

[perkizitore]

Eraserhead is the film he will be remembered by, but the Twin Peaks legacy will live forever. My personal favorites are Lost Highway and Blue Velvet.

[Finch]

Lest anyone's tempted to think no one on this forum likes Sunset Boulevard: I consider it to be Billy Wilder's best film, one of the five all-time best American films and the joint best film (with Lynch's) about Hollywood - it is certainly superior to Altman's The Player (and I like Altman's work in general). SB's script is razorsharp, the cinematography is exquisite, Holden, Swanson and von Strohheim are all excellent, and it's got a nice cameo by Keaton.

[Svevan]

No votes for Inland Empire yet (where's Matt?). If I had to vote, missing some key parts of Lynch's ouevre, I'd say Mulholland Dr. is more representative of his work than Eraserhead, but I prefer the latter (by a smidge).

[Tommaso]

I absolutely admire "Sunset Boulevard" (that had to be said!). As to Lynch, it's very difficult to say for me which film(s) I like best. But probably "Inland Empire", "Eraserhead" and also "The Straight Story" are my favourites, whereas I consider "Wild at Heart" and "Dune" to be his worst (though I have a perverse liking for the latter).

As to "Mulholland Drive", which seems to be everyone's favourite: I dunno, it's certainly a good film, but one that is perhaps a little too clever for my taste. Perhaps I always have in mind what Rivette would have made of such a story of two young women trying to solve a mystery.

And if there's one Lynch film I would never want to go without, it's certainly that short that shows him cooking Quinoa...

[tartarlamb]

As to "Mulholland Drive", which seems to be everyone's favourite: I dunno, it's certainly a good film, but one that is perhaps a little too clever for my taste. Perhaps I always have in mind what Rivette would have made of such a story of two young women trying to solve a mystery.

Well, Lynch is no Rivette. That's for sure. Although, Rivette certainly liked him, especially Fire Walk With Me.

Lynch's bag of tricks has always seemed a bit limited to me. I'm a fan, but I'm not entirely on board since part of me resists what seems like often crude filmmaking and persistent questions of taste. Mulholland Dr. is the one that really clicks for me. Also, I'm with you on Sunset Blvd. I remember a thread a long, long time ago where there was some discussion on why many members here are ambivalent about it.

[godardslave]

Fire walk with me is the "most pure" Lynch, i feel.
Lost highway is a masterpiece of cinema.

[triodelover]

Lest anyone's tempted to think no one on this forum likes Sunset Boulevard: I consider it to be Billy Wilder's best film, one of the five all-time best American films and the joint best film (with Lynch's) about Hollywood - it is certainly superior to Altman's The Player (and I like Altman's work in general). SB's script is razorsharp, the cinematography is exquisite, Holden, Swanson and von Strohheim are all excellent, and it's got a nice cameo by Keaton.

I absolutely agree and eagerly await the Blu-ray which is supposedly coming from Paramount sometime this year.

[Sloper]

Mulholland Drive is probably the best (of those I've seen) and I would welcome a sequel, but Inland Empire is in a way the greater achievement. It provoked reactions I've never had to a film before. At two points in the film, I genuinely thought I was having a nightmare, and came out in a cold sweat. (I'm not spoiling anything for those who haven't seen it yet by mentioning that face...)

I also just want to say that I love The Elephant Man, even if it's the least 'Lynchian' of his films.

(And Sunset Boulevard was my favourite film throughout my teenage years. I still like it, though not quite as much. The amount of disdain it comes in for on this board is just astonishing!)

[Finch]

Rivette a fan of FWWM? Considering that the 1992 reviews were the most hostile of any Lynch film after Dune, it continues to amaze me (in a good way) that so many people have since embraced Fire Walk With Me.

I would love The Elephant Man if it wasn't for the fact that it portrays Merrick too much like a saint (for the lack of a better word), takes his goodness for granted, doesn't question him enough. I find his characterisation a bit too one-sided and simplistic (not a criticism of John Hurt's stirring performance) as far as the screenplay goes. Still, there's a great deal to appreciate, even to love in the film - upper tier Lynch in my book.

[domino harvey]

Pretty sure he talked about loving Twin Peaks in a recent interview, but it was unclear if he meant the movie or the TV show

[Peacock]

Rivette on Fire Walk With Me

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)

I don't own a television, which is why I couldn't share Serge Daney's passion for TV series. And I took a long time to appreciate Lynch. In fact, I didn't really start until Blue Velvet (1986). With Isabella Rossellini's apartment, Lynch succeeded in creating the creepiest set in the history of cinema. And Twin Peaks, the Film is the craziest film in the history of cinema. I have no idea what happened, I have no idea what I saw, all I know is that I left the theater floating six feet above the ground. Only the first part of Lost Highway (1996) is as great. After which you get the idea, and by the last section I was one step ahead of the film, although it remained a powerful experience right up to the end.

[domino harvey]

That's what I was thinking of, but I guess it is pretty clear haha

[Grand Illusion]

I don't want a sequel to anything.

But yeah, MD is Lynch's definitive work.

[Nothing]

Fire Walk With Me, undoubtably.

[perkizitore]

I am a huge Fan of INLAND EMPIRE, but it has to be number 3 in his oeuvre. I enjoyed it more than any other of his work (except for Twin Peaks), but Eraserhead is so unique and Blue Velvet so influential, that the little critic in me stops me from regarding IE as his masterpiece.

[R0lf]

If they made a sequel to Mulholland Drive how would they get around the fact that both the characters died and moved on in the first movie?