[atsonicpark]

Hmm.. No Lynch film has done well at the box office... except Elephant Man, I think.. maybe Straight Story. Lost Highway the first film I saw by him, I was 10 or 11 (I was a NiN fan). It's a pretty cool movie, but you could tell he was starting to run out of ideas, and then his next few films kinda revisited the same themes, ideas, and had similiar plots, characters, etc. It's interesting in a sense, because it almost seems like he's trying to "perfect" his template; kinda like how so many Aki Kaurismaki films feel the same.. it's like, there's a skeleton of a movie, and he's constantly working to make the perfect version of it, using most of the same elements and structure... that's how I feel about Lynch lately, like he's trying to craft the perfect version of his vision.

My favorite Lynch is Fire Walk With Me, by far (it's most his terrifying, most bizarre, most unique, and most hilarious -- at times, it feels like a Jon Jost film! And it has elements in that he would never revisit any other time -- there are angels in it... ANGELS?! Also, that confounding bar scene with the subtitled dialogue always confused me.. the scene with David Bowie and the security camera is my favorite scene in any movie, EVER... etc... just a masterpiece), and Eraserhead + early shorts (which feel so groundbreaking and amazing, even today). I think Inland Empire might be his "best", though, as it feels so sloppy and ridiculous -- but honest. It's just such an interesting, unfiltered mess, seems like it's his most personal film since Eraserhead, and it almost feels like a fuck-you to film, a fuck-you to studios, etc... it's a very angry film... it doesn't quite "work", but it doesn't need to... I also think it was Lynch saying, "DV is the future." It's the only film of his I had to watch multiple times to comprehend, and it's the only one that really continues to stick with me -- like, I still need to watch it some more.

I was so obsessed with Lynch for like 10 years, and I still think highly of him, though I like him more as a person than as a director. I have never been impressed with him as a "director", since the pacing is always so off in his movies, and no scenes ever really wow me in the way they're shot. His films often look kinda boring, except for the lighting. The sad thing about Lynch is that he's FUCKING HILARIOUS, and that's such an often overlooked element of his work... I wish he had made a straight-up comedy... though I guess I always observed most of his films as dreamy absurdist black comedies. I mean, Wild at Heart, and parts of Fire Walk With Me are just SOOOOOO funny. I love his show On the Air, that show was just downright hilarious. The Twin Peaks television series was so awesome in its brilliant juxtaposition of hilarity and disturbing scenes. I think that's his ultimate work, all in all, even though I'd consider it more Mark Frost's show than Lynch's (the episodes Lynch directed were always the best, though).

Y'know, now that I think about it, Lost Highway is the film I notice most people like who don't even like Lynch (Blue Velvet and Elephant Man also), mainly because of the soundtrack; the rare NiN songs and such got people into this film who wouldn't have otherwise seen it... again, I saw it when I was 10 or 11, with my grandma.. I wonder what she thought it.. I remember being confused back then, but I got it on VHS when I was 13 and loved it. I always thought it was just a dream back then. Like Lynch said, "Not everything in life makes sense." And not everything has to either.

I haven't thought about the film in probably 5 years now, but it's just a fun lil' mobius strip. It's pretty straightforward, even though the acting is poor in places, and it's too long. I think it has the best atmosphere of any of his movies. I think the film is kinda like Mulholland Drive, in that the second half takes place in the character's head for the most part; I think the film is about lies, how Fred can't be honest during the interrogation. It's a view of his subconscious, as he comes to terms with the murder of his wife.