David Lynch - Classic or Dud

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Wait - did David Lynch direct the OG Dune?

Most certainly did -- his third film after Eraserhead and The Elephant Man.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 16:43 (twenty years ago) link

that movie really has some of the best production design ever. ever ever.

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 16:44 (twenty years ago) link

Factoid: Jodorowsky was originally scheduled to direct Dune, but his projected budget, among other things, prevented him from doing so.

Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 17:47 (twenty years ago) link

good

jones (actual), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 17:52 (twenty years ago) link

his fils can be classic or unclassic (straight story) or downright dud (wild at heart) but as a director and a persona he is never anything less than K-k-k-k-klassic!

Did anyone ever see that interview he did for scene by scene - i loved the bit where he's talking about "the eye of the duck" to describe the key scene in his films.

Also i highly recommend the book "Lynch on Lynch" - so much fun!

jed (jed_e_3), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 18:58 (twenty years ago) link

wild at heart rules!

s1utsky (slutsky), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:04 (twenty years ago) link

I watched The Straight Story again recently and realized it might be one of my favorite of his films (as opposed to the first time I watched it, where my reaction could be summed up as such: "WTF?"). It's very touching, and about as involving as a film with so little "action" gets.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:11 (twenty years ago) link

i would've liked it if he'd arrived at harry dean stanton's house in the first reel and they spent the rest of the picture hanging out on the porch

jones (actual), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:15 (twenty years ago) link

(same goes for Chris Isaak in Fire Walk with Me)

Herbstmute (Wintermute), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:32 (twenty years ago) link

Mulholland Drive is a great film for Lynch, yanking him out of his US weirdo cult niche and projecting world class ideas onto the world stage. I fail to see how it could stand a chance at BAFTA with Princess Ann on the board however (Oscars and Globes out-of-th-qn i assume).

Umm. This movie is two years old. Why are we speculating on its award chances?

jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:40 (twenty years ago) link


i had heard a rumor that lucas wanted lynch to direct one of the movies in the original trilogy, my guess would be return of the jedi. anyone else heard this? fact/fiction? if lynch had done one they might've been good.

*waiting for backlash*

Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:49 (twenty years ago) link

The ewoks would've drank coffee and there would've been creepy sax music.

nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:51 (twenty years ago) link


creepy sex music would've been good too.

Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:52 (twenty years ago) link


i'm guessing the effects would've been worse too, if that's possible.

Dean Gulberry (deangulberry), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 19:53 (twenty years ago) link

yes lynch was supposed to direct return of the jedi, he turned it down and did dune instead.

anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:27 (twenty years ago) link

Man, I might've actually liked a Star Wars movie. Wait, but I didn't like Dune. Oh well. I would've like to see have seen it done, though.

jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 29 October 2003 20:39 (twenty years ago) link

I love love love love Mulholland Drive.

Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 30 October 2003 00:35 (twenty years ago) link

Mulholland Dve, Elephant Man, Lost Hwy and Eraserhead are all great. Dune was shite (didnt Lynch have his name removed from it on re-release or something tho? Or am I confused). I wasn't a huge fan of Blue Velvet, and I never watched a second of Twin Peaks - I must be the only person in the world my age who hasn't!

Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 30 October 2003 00:46 (twenty years ago) link

Yes, Lynch had his name removed from Dune. As I mentioned above, I really thing Mulholland Drive was a return for Lynch; I think it's great.

Sean (Sean), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:21 (twenty years ago) link

He had his name removed from the TV version, which did include a lot of extra footage that fanboy me appreciated (and which fleshed out the story a hell of a lot more readily). It was, however, a poor edit in technical terms, most notably with a complete hijacking of the musical score that made no sense.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:22 (twenty years ago) link

only removed from the extended-for-TV version?

crosspost

RJG (RJG), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:23 (twenty years ago) link

Dune is one of my favorite movies ever. Makes perfect sense if you read the book (and don't anybody come back with "it should stand on it's own" bs, etc.)

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:27 (twenty years ago) link

Makes perfect sense if you read the book

Yeah, quite right. I read the book a year before the movie came out so my timing was perfect there...

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:28 (twenty years ago) link

Btw, Amazon describes the TV version as being 'shorter'.

Sean (Sean), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:29 (twenty years ago) link

!?! Amazon is wrong.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:29 (twenty years ago) link

yeah, I have both versions on DVD.

although, N. has had my copy of the cinema one for nearly a year, now.

RJG (RJG), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:32 (twenty years ago) link

It's now on my Netfilx queue since I haven't seen it in years. (and what are they doing recommending Cher Live to me?? Just because I rented The Eyes of Laura Mars?)

Sean (Sean), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:36 (twenty years ago) link

the recent TV Dune was unwatchable.

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 30 October 2003 01:38 (twenty years ago) link

you know the best bit of dune is when alicia witt sez "and how can this be? for he is the kwizzach hadarach!" and inexplicably pulls her bottom lip all the way across the side of her face on the 'be' or 'is', i forget which

cremaster's opulent mythboredom reminded me a lot of dune

prima fassy (bob), Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:23 (twenty years ago) link

cremaster 2 most indebted, obv

prima fassy (bob), Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:24 (twenty years ago) link

but not to dune

prima fassy (bob), Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:24 (twenty years ago) link

to other suburban lynch

prima fassy (bob), Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:25 (twenty years ago) link

that movie really has some of the best production design ever. ever ever.

absolutely. it's funny how the production design seems to be the central concern of the film for much of its length, but unlike other well-appointed films, the design is actually so rich it actually sustains interest.

this movie redeems dino dilaurentis's reputation from all the europudding he's made. (well, this movie and "blue velvet.")

the last half hour is a mess, yes, but it's compelling for being so incomprehensible. the ending, if you haven't read the book, is just quizzical--all the more so for being so terrifically bombastic and theatrical.

amateurist (amateurist), Thursday, 30 October 2003 11:43 (twenty years ago) link

I really like everything I've seen by David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, Dune, Twin Peaks season one), except, oddly enough, for Eraserhead, wherein I was so creeped out by the bile-spitting preemie (I was watching it alone at night) that I couldn't watch the rest of it. I hadn't read Dune when I saw the movie (and still haven't actually), and was totally baffled but still enjoyed it, mainly due to design, special effects, and Kyle McLachlan.

NA (Nick A.), Thursday, 30 October 2003 12:59 (twenty years ago) link

I used to have some sort of movie-tie-in picture book of Dune when I was a kid. Imagine, if you will, some poor hack writer trying to distill the plot to a few short paragraphs per half and hour. Completely incomprehensible. I used to sit there and make up my own plot to the pictures.

FWWM, like Dune, does have a lot of extra footage still sitting there. As a fan of fractured, difficult art I'm not too bothered about seeing it restored. Pretty much all the series cast shot scenes.

Lynskey (Lynskey), Thursday, 30 October 2003 13:03 (twenty years ago) link

Taking on Dune was a crazy idea and the (heavily edited) film is riddled with flaws. Nonetheless it is a work of beauty, perhaps all the more loveable for it's faults. The heart plug scene is unforgettable cinema, Sting is absurd, the voice overs wonderfully bizarre, the visualisation of Frank H's ideas meticulous and inventive... I think it's a brilliant, sprawling mash up of a movie, amazing to look at and absolutely crammed with diverting details.

Err, Lynch incidentally is brain-crushingly classic.

Alex K (Alex K), Thursday, 30 October 2003 13:08 (twenty years ago) link

i'd love to see at least some of the fwwm stuff restored or at least assembled if it can't be edited in. the full script was wonderous (I'm sure it's still around on the web somewhere). FWWM gets a bad rap, it's a zany circus of a film with some excellent scenes (the Pink Room nightclub scene, the final shots in the black lodge, the entire opening sequence with Chris Isaak and Keifer).

anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Thursday, 30 October 2003 17:55 (twenty years ago) link

I used to have some sort of movie-tie-in picture book of Dune when I was a kid. Imagine, if you will, some poor hack writer trying to distill the plot to a few short paragraphs per half and hour. Completely incomprehensible

There's a much better book out there if you can find it at all -- The Making of Dune by Ed Naha. He was hired to essentially hang around on site during the entire length of filming and write a book about it all and did a fantastic job, I thought. While essentially uncritical about the final product itself, it actually doesn't talk about that so much as just the filming itself. Also laden with tons of photos.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 October 2003 18:00 (twenty years ago) link

Classic for pretty much everything he's made.

Here's ten, in order of "classicness":

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Eraserhead
3. Blue Velvet
4. Wild at Heart
5. Elephant Man
6. Twin Peaks
7. The Straight Story
8. Dune
9. Fire Walk with Me
10. Lost Highway

David A. (Davant), Thursday, 30 October 2003 23:49 (twenty years ago) link

i read the full script for FWWM and thought it was dumbly literal, and was mostly glad it had been chopped to bits for the final product.

amateurist (amateurist), Friday, 31 October 2003 10:45 (twenty years ago) link

The order in which i like them - not much to do with "classicsness" - wild at heart is the only one i actively dislike so it's not on there.

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Blue Velvet
3. Eraserhead
4. Elephant Man
5. Lost Highway
6. Fire Walk with Me
7. Twin Peaks
8. Dune
9.The Straight Story

jed (jed_e_3), Friday, 31 October 2003 11:29 (twenty years ago) link

Umm. This movie is two years old. Why are we speculating on its award chances?

sorry, jaymc, my aside has troubled you, AND i used the wrong tense in one sentence!
and it revived a discussion, how about that ?
but huh ?, you haven't commented on Princess Anne and the BAFTAs, which was what i was getting at. Or anything else beyond the semantics of said paragraph. What do YOU THINK ?

george gosset (gegoss), Friday, 31 October 2003 16:53 (twenty years ago) link

eleven months pass...
Wild At Heart is fantastic - reading the book might help if you don't get the movie

I'm not sure I'll ever get round reading the book so could somebody please summarize what it adds to the movie?

Baaderonixxx le Jeune (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:20 (nineteen years ago) link

words

amateur!!st, Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:35 (nineteen years ago) link

If George Gosset cares a year later, I apologize for being snarky. I thought maybe you didn't realize that Mulholland Drive wouldn't be eligible for a BAFTA in 2003, since it came out in 2001 (maybe 2002 in the UK, I'm not sure).

jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:38 (nineteen years ago) link

Region 1 Wild at Heart DVD is finally coming in December!

Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:49 (nineteen years ago) link

what does lynch mean by 'the eye of the duck'?

cºzen (Cozen), Sunday, 7 November 2004 13:09 (nineteen years ago) link

Mark Cousins: I don't know if you know the films of Ozu the Japanese, but this
is the Ozu scene in this film. In some interviews I've read, you've
used this phrase, the `eye of the duck' scene.

David Lynch: Well, you know, nature can teach us a lot of things, and there's
something about, in painting, you're working within a certain shaped
canvas and there's many things that you, you know, one does
intuitively, to move the eye, you know, there's repetition of shape,
there's repetition of colour, but when you start looking at a duck,
you see your eye is moving in a certain way, and you see textures and
colours and shapes and you start wondering about a duck, what it can
teach us about, you know, any kind of abstract, you know, painting, or
proportions or even sequences, scenes, and it always is interesting
that the eye is in the perfect place - if you move it to the body, it
would get lost, if you move to the leg or the beak, it's two, kind of,
fast areas competing, even though the eye is the fastest, it's the
little jewel.

Alba (Alba), Sunday, 7 November 2004 14:07 (nineteen years ago) link

; )

RJG (RJG), Sunday, 7 November 2004 14:08 (nineteen years ago) link

I wonder if Mark Cousins actually said "Ozu The Japanese".

Alba (Alba), Sunday, 7 November 2004 14:09 (nineteen years ago) link

An interesting Q&A with Sabrina Sutherland, touching on a variety of topics – including "Unrecorded Night," and whether there may be more Twin Peaks (she says "David has more ideas for another season"):

https://tulpaforum.com/threads/members-q-a-with-the-one-and-only-sabrina-sutherland.491/

rendered nugatory (morrisp), Friday, 3 May 2024 23:36 (four months ago) link

three weeks pass...

pic.twitter.com/7wH9m1ADi4

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) May 27, 2024



"Something is coming along … for you to see and hear"

Alba, Monday, 27 May 2024 20:12 (three months ago) link

It's going to be a photo of his new single or something, isn't it?

Alba, Monday, 27 May 2024 20:13 (three months ago) link

He's reviving The Angriest Dog In The World as an animation on Adult Swim.

nickn, Tuesday, 28 May 2024 17:35 (three months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1bm78MRPiw

Alba, Wednesday, 5 June 2024 17:18 (three months ago) link

thought of This Mortal Coil before I saw it was already mentioned in the comments

StanM, Wednesday, 5 June 2024 18:01 (three months ago) link

It's going to be a photo of his new single or something, isn't it?

― Alba, Monday, May 27, 2024 4:13 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

so close lol. i'm glad i read your comment before i got excited

karl...arlk...rlka...lkar..., Wednesday, 5 June 2024 19:40 (three months ago) link

chrystabell kinda... sucks?

kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, 5 June 2024 19:48 (three months ago) link

yeah she is extremely boring. I was super disappointed in the first album she did with him years ago. The stuff she's done without him is even worse.

I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, 5 June 2024 20:01 (three months ago) link

She was the worst thing for me in The Return. Just a very odd yet dull presence.

completely suited to the horny decadence (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 5 June 2024 21:58 (three months ago) link

well she can't act at all. this sometimes worked in her favor because it added to the weirdness.

I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Thursday, 6 June 2024 15:09 (three months ago) link

one month passes...

it's a whole album - out tomorrow

https://chrystabell.com/

StanM, Thursday, 1 August 2024 14:33 (one month ago) link

My vinyl copy should be here soon. The singles didn’t do a lot for me but I think this is a headphones in a room with candles sort of thing.

Cow_Art, Thursday, 1 August 2024 14:37 (one month ago) link

a sexy encounter with David Lynch!

Ippei's on a bummer now (WmC), Thursday, 1 August 2024 15:38 (one month ago) link

Ah man — emphysema and housebound, could only direct remotely if he even gets to again.

https://variety.com/2024/film/news/david-lynch-emphysema-cant-leave-house-direct-1236095608/

Very sorry to hear it, tho as he acknowledges he smoked a whole lot for a long time. (And enjoyed it a lot, at least.)

Blitz Primary (tipsy mothra), Monday, 5 August 2024 18:11 (one month ago) link

I suppose we will never be getting Unrecorded Night now, which is too bad.

I can't get excited about a Chrysta Bell album, I got burned on that already

I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Monday, 5 August 2024 18:22 (one month ago) link

More Rabbits?

Alba, Monday, 5 August 2024 18:26 (one month ago) link

The first few seconds of Sublime Eternal Love remind me of 'Smoke Rings' by Kristen Kontrol. Which is far more of a banger than that!

kinder, Monday, 5 August 2024 18:56 (one month ago) link

Fuckin covid

keep kamala and khive on (wins), Monday, 5 August 2024 19:37 (one month ago) link

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yes, I have emphysema from my many years of smoking. I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco - the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them - but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is…

— David Lynch (@DAVID_LYNCH) August 5, 2024

tuah dé danann (darraghmac), Monday, 5 August 2024 21:30 (one month ago) link

It's hard seeing so many cigarette guys (Lynch, Hitchens, Amis, Auster) suffer from the consequences. But Lynch is 78, so has had a good run so far. He'll find a way to do more with his restrictions.

bratwurst autumn (Eazy), Monday, 5 August 2024 21:43 (one month ago) link

Very sorry to hear it, tho as he acknowledges he smoked a whole lot for a long time. (And enjoyed it a lot, at least.)

I remember catching The Art Life in a theatre with friends and one of my takeaways was that he was way too into the whole ritual of smoking.

Charlie Hair (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 5 August 2024 23:24 (one month ago) link

This isn't the first time Lynch has mentioned health issues that developed from smoking - IIRC, there's at least one interview from a couple years back where he said he was quitting smoking because of symptoms that sounded like the early stages of emphysema - but it's definitely the first time he's been upfront about how it will impact his directorial work. Really sucks, but at least he's quit smoking and doing what he can now to keep himself together. (It'll get worse over time, but it sounds like he's fully committed to slowing down the progression.)

birdistheword, Tuesday, 6 August 2024 00:32 (one month ago) link

I mean, he’s 78, he got decades of enjoyment from smoking, it doesn’t seem like a bad trade. (I don’t smoke, but I have this same thought about drinking.)

Blitz Primary (tipsy mothra), Tuesday, 6 August 2024 11:42 (one month ago) link

I am a current smoker of about 25 years and feel the exact same way about tobacco. Absolutely love it. That being said, I think I’ll use this as motivation to quit. Unlike Lynch, I have kids

Heez, Tuesday, 6 August 2024 12:22 (one month ago) link

The youngest of lynch’s kids is still quite young I think?

keep kamala and khive on (wins), Tuesday, 6 August 2024 12:38 (one month ago) link

Oh my bad

Heez, Tuesday, 6 August 2024 12:45 (one month ago) link

She's 11 or 12, her name is Lula. She was in the Art Life documentary which was pretty good.

People.com tells me that Lynch is recently divorced after 14 years of marriage.

Cow_Art, Tuesday, 6 August 2024 13:21 (one month ago) link

I am a current smoker of about 25 years and feel the exact same way about tobacco. Absolutely love it. That being said, I think I’ll use this as motivation to quit. Unlike Lynch, I have kids

― Heez

nobody remembers _boxing helena_!

Kate (rushomancy), Tuesday, 6 August 2024 13:29 (one month ago) link

It’s funny because everything about him seems so self centered, even the healthy habits like his meditation. But particularly his art. I guess that’s how you end up not being the best dad.

Heez, Tuesday, 6 August 2024 13:39 (one month ago) link

nobody remembers _boxing helena_!

Ha, barely, but had totally forgotten who directed it

Thrapple from the Apple (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 6 August 2024 14:34 (one month ago) link

Watched The Cowboy and the Frenchman last night with the kid.

God bless Harry Dean Stanton.

Cow_Art, Tuesday, 6 August 2024 18:18 (one month ago) link


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