Rate Lynch's Films

Started by j_scott_stroup04, December 15, 2003, 09:50:10 PM

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Jeremy Blackman

Raving about Inland Empire but disliking Lost Highway for its overindulgence is just a little inconsistent.

Jeremy Blackman

Might as well chime in:

Inland Empire
Mulholland Drive
Lost Highway
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With me
Wild At Heart
Blue Velvet
Eraserhead
The Straight Story
The Elephant Man
Dune

Mr. Merrill Lehrl

What would you say, in general, were your qualifications for ordering the list, and to what degree is the top film distanced from the bottom film (besides the number of films between them; what I mean is do you like Dune half as much as Inland Empire, for example)?
"If I had to hold up the most heavily fortified bank in America," Bolaño says, "I'd take a gang of poets. The attempt would probably end in disaster, but it would be beautiful."

mogwai

The Straight Story
Mulholland Drive
The Elephant Man
Lost Highway
Blue Velvet
Wild At Heart
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
Eraserhead

Haven't seen Dune or Inland Empire. I guess I like the least bizarre one of his movies.

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: Mr. Merrill Lehrl on June 25, 2011, 04:31:11 PM
What would you say, in general, were your qualifications for ordering the list, and to what degree is the top film distanced from the bottom film (besides the number of films between them; what I mean is do you like Dune half as much as Inland Empire, for example)?

Funny you say that, because I almost listed it that way, as I've done with some other things, like Radiohead albums.

I love his intense puzzle films the most, and as far as I'm concerned he's only actually made 4 of them (my top 4). The rest of his movies are sort of in a different category for me.

Blue Velvet is very good but probably overrated. Eraserhead is good but also a little student-film-ish and tedious. The Elephant Man is good, but not exactly my favorite type of film. The Straight Story is fantastic, and it might deserve a spot above Eraserhead, but I guess it's not quite as memorable.

Watching Dune is like looking at the aftermath of a fatal car accident; it's a failure in so many ways that I can't bring myself to watch it a second time. (To be fair, Lynch did not have final cut.)

Anyway, here's the edit:


Inland Empire
Mulholland Drive

Lost Highway
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With me



Wild At Heart

Blue Velvet

Eraserhead
The Straight Story



The Elephant Man









Dune

Mr. Merrill Lehrl

Quote from: Jeremy Blackman on June 25, 2011, 05:23:50 PM
Eraserhead is good but also a little student-film-ish and tedious.

Funny you say that because I recently rewatched the movie, twice in a row, and thought I saw a strong connection between the film and the deadpan American indie films of the mid80s (because I'm calling Stranger than Paradise the first) and into the 90s with Tom DiCillo's Johnny Suede and Living in Oblivion, Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup, etc., outrageous dreamy fantasy infused films executed straight facedly (films that are sometimes criticized for being student filmish and tedious).

QuoteI love his intense puzzle films the most, and as far as I'm concerned he's only actually made 4 of them (my top 4). The rest of his movies are sort of in a different category for me.

Makes total sense. 

Part of the reason I couldn't execute this list, or really any list, is because I find it difficult to weigh two styles against each other. Even having discussed Eraserhead in the manner we have I still couldn't definitively conclude, for myself, that its relative merits and flaws form a concrete shape. It has characteristics, but its artistic methods produce emotional responses from me, to varying degrees, and these types of responses are difficult for me to categorize (when they're awesome, i.e. when they're done well and work for me, and this usually involves a component of mystery which Lynch is always willing to supply).

Lynch strikes me as a difficult filmmaker to rank because his films move me each in different ways. I think this is the distinct appeal of The Elephant Man, Dune, and The Straight Story to different types of people, especially perhaps those usually alienated by Lynch's flourishes. Perhaps from what Christian has said and listed he would know what I mean. But then if you love Lynch there are so many ways to like and dislike him. He jams my circuits in a way I don't mind and am totally okay with.
"If I had to hold up the most heavily fortified bank in America," Bolaño says, "I'd take a gang of poets. The attempt would probably end in disaster, but it would be beautiful."