Movie Thread

[Rushy]

I strongly disagree. Hands down the worst Lynch movie, by a mile.

Because of the camerawork, or the hazy narrative or something else?

Incidentally, while I appreciate Eraserhead as an experience, the actual film itself leaves me cold. It seems to me that the film is about a father's fear of being unable to cope with raising a child - particularly a disabled child.

I don't relate to having this kind of trepidation towards parenthood at all, so Henry's plight was totally wasted on me. Of course I realize that I don't have to relate to every character ever, but the film doesn't really have anything else for an emotional hook. So I'm just watching Henry Spencer manage this baby with that sad sack look on his face, and I'm thinking "grow up, Henry. It's a kid, you take care of it."

The film, as good as it is, just isn't meant for me and I get little out of it besides marveling at Lynch's craftsmanship.

[Rushy]

Perhaps Lynch's directorial work on The Elephant Man wasn't a 100% hired gun situation, but it also wasn't his own passion project.

It's like a stepping stone for his career. As he said in interviews, Mel Brooks gave him final cut and he was willing to do it, so he still counts it among his films.

But if Eraserhead was him aiming for the stars and Dune was what galvanized him to be fully independent, then Elephant Man is kind of an awkward in-between, where he's working for the sake of building up credit in the industry. I just have this feeling that he was very much restraining his natural artistic impulses at the time, trying to fit in.

David probably respected his work on the Elephant Man much more than Dune, because they were all his choices, even if they weren't choices he would have made at any later point in his career.

[veris leta facies]

I strongly disagree. Hands down the worst Lynch movie, by a mile.

Because of the camerawork, or the hazy narrative or something else?

Inland Empire is completely overlong, tedious, and ugly film. Lynch has always advocated for high image quality and the idea that movies should be seen in theaters, I can't comprehend why he decided to make this dreadful, home-video-looking monstrosity shot with a handheld digital camera. Low-resolution digital cinematography might be tolerable if the film itself were otherwise brilliant, BUT IT IS NOT. The movie was filmed without a finished script and developed scene by scene, with Lynch having full artistic freedom without producer constraints and it really shows. The situation was somewhat similar to that of Eraserhead, but whereas Eraserhead is a fully polished, refined, and cohesive work of art, Inland Empire is fragmented, amateurish, and chaotic in the wrong way. Over its shocking three-hour runtime, there are moments when it feels like Lynch is outright trolling the viewer; midway through the film, a completely unrelated musical dance performance appears—'Are you seriously still watching this garbage?' Sure you can say I just don't understand Inland Empire, and that would be true, I really don't get this trash. What a travesty that this ended up being Lynch's last film.

Perhaps Lynch's directorial work on The Elephant Man wasn't a 100% hired gun situation, but it also wasn't his own passion project.

It's like a stepping stone for his career. As he said in interviews, Mel Brooks gave him final cut and he was willing to do it, so he still counts it among his films.

But if Eraserhead was him aiming for the stars and Dune was what galvanized him to be fully independent, then Elephant Man is kind of an awkward in-between, where he's working for the sake of building up credit in the industry. I just have this feeling that he was very much restraining his natural artistic impulses at the time, trying to fit in.

David probably respected his work on the Elephant Man much more than Dune, because they were all his choices, even if they weren't choices he would have made at any later point in his career.

Well said. I completely agree with this one.

[Rushy]

Inland Empire is completely overlong, tedious, and ugly film. Lynch has always advocated for high image quality and the idea that movies should be seen in theaters, I can't comprehend why he decided to make this dreadful, home-video-looking monstrosity shot with a handheld digital camera. Low-resolution digital cinematography might be tolerable if the film itself were otherwise brilliant, BUT IT IS NOT. The movie was filmed without a finished script and developed scene by scene, with Lynch having full artistic freedom without producer constraints and it really shows. The situation was somewhat similar to that of Eraserhead, but whereas Eraserhead is a fully polished, refined, and cohesive work of art, Inland Empire is fragmented, amateurish, and chaotic in the wrong way. Over its shocking three-hour runtime, there are moments when it feels like Lynch is outright trolling the viewer; midway through the film, a completely unrelated musical dance performance appears—'Are you seriously still watching this garbage?' Sure you can say I just don't understand Inland Empire, and that would be true, I really don't get this trash. What a travesty that this ended up being Lynch's last film.

I don't think I can objectively deny anything you said here, but I found Inland Empire to be satisfying in a subliminal sort of way.

The digital look is like the 2000s equivalent of grindhouse, it has an unnerving effect. Coupled with the abstract storytelling where you have just enough information to recognise that something is going on, something you're not privy to but almost know makes me feel like being in a semi-dream state. I remember having fun trying to tie the overall theme together in my head, trying to work out what Lynch was doing. It always seemed like I was one step away. I enjoyed that.

The rabbits scene (which was originally from an unrelated web series) was like watching a creepypasta thing. Ironically, it was what I imagined a Lynch film was like before I saw a Lynch film.

Also, I like Laura Dern, Jeremy Irons, Harry Dean Stanton. And musicals. And not having as much pervy stuff/brutalism as his other films.

[Kugelfisch]

The whole rant of the father about the tiny chickens lives rent-free in my head.
"But they're new!" after being all but disgusted about the whole premise of man-made, tiny chickens encapsulates the average consoomer to this very day.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Aren't you getting excited for new thing?

[Rushy]

As for Fire Walk With Me, that movie really benefits from repeat viewings, because a lot lf the seemingly inexplicable symbolism comes from the TV show.

Like how the convenience store scene is all about establishing the partnership of Bob and the One-Armed Man, which was mentioned like... twice?

And you barely even know that, because the One-Armed Man isn't even there, he is represented in that scene by the dwarf, who is established AFTER that scene as the soul of the missing arm.

That's Lynch for you.

[Old Black Man]

Decided to watch Queer Street: Prom Queen. I love how they took a series of dumb fun pulp teen novels and turned them into queer friendly classist shit where they felt the need to add a town that you might as well just call white privilegeville. This one wasn’t as insufferable as the three parter, but still pretty bad.

[Rapeculture]

Decided to watch Queer Street: Prom Queen. I love how they took a series of dumb fun pulp teen novels and turned them into queer friendly classist shit where they felt the need to add a town that you might as well just call white privilegeville. This one wasn’t as insufferable as the three parter, but still pretty bad.

I figured as much, it is Nigflix, after all.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

Decided to watch Queer Street: Prom Queen. I love how they took a series of dumb fun pulp teen novels and turned them into queer friendly classist shit where they felt the need to add a town that you might as well just call white privilegeville.

It is an accurate representation of the queerphobic nightmare that was the 80's.

Also also you confused the fuck out of me for a moment because there actually is a Queer Street novel

Inglorious Basterds

Okay, this one's less about the movie and more about the German dub.
Why the fuck does that dub even exist? The original already is 1/3 French, German and English. All they did for the dub is make it 1/3 French and 2/3 German. They had to apply some rewriting to any scene featuring both German and English, and then hope against hope you're not noticing that certain characters aren't talking directly at each other for some reason.

They even redubbed people that were already speaking German - like that one Brit in disguise who now doesn't have a suspicious accent.