Angus Jung wrote:
Harry Dean Stanton gave a fine performance. He looks quite close to death, and probably is. Salut, Harry.

That will be a shit day.

I saw him in this Hunter S. THompson doc where he sang a song on video since he didn't get to at the funeral. Bummer.

Repo Man...fuck.

Angus Jung wrote:For better and/or worse, I didn't feel that any new ground was broken in this movie.

i disagree.

The surrealism is the same kind of surrealism. The humor (and I like David Lynch's sense of humor) is the same kind of humor. The 'evil' is the same kind of 'evil.' The sexuality is the same kind of sexuality. The old songs on the soundtrack are the same kind of old songs. The creepy, prophetic old people characters are the same kind of creepy, prophetic old people characters. Justin Theroux is the same kind of ineffectual, schlubby male lead as Balthazar Getty in "Lost Highway."

I agree.

HOWEVER

I thought the Hollywood Boulevard scene with the homeless woman and the asian girl touched on a level of pathos I haven't seen in other Lynch films. I was surprised. It was bizarre and grotesque, yes, but also had something else to it.

gio wrote:I thought the Hollywood Boulevard scene with the homeless woman and the asian girl touched on a level of pathos I haven't seen in other Lynch films. I was surprised.

I'm thinking you haven't seen either "The Elephant Man" or "The Straight Story."

Anyway, the Hollywood Blvd. scene is pretty good (Pomona is part of the real "Inland Empire," by the way). But there had to be a pet monkey, didn't there? It'd be nice to think that Lynch was capable of self-parody, or at least better self-parody.

And in case any big Lynch fan who hasn't seen this movie was reading through my "Lynchian" list earlier and was concerned that I left something out- rest assured, there are a few scenes where a woman gets beaten up/humiliated by a man.

Angus Jung wrote:

gio wrote:I thought the Hollywood Boulevard scene with the homeless woman and the asian girl touched on a level of pathos I haven't seen in other Lynch films. I was surprised.

I'm thinking you haven't seen either "The Elephant Man" or "The Straight Story."

I always forget about these two films. The Elephant Man bums me out every time I watch it, and the Straight Story pulls at the old heart strings a bit as well. Farnsworth.

Steve V. wrote: Farnsworth.

There's a good piece on Richard Farnsworth here, by David Thomson. I'm a fan of both.

sparky wrote:

Steve V. wrote: Farnsworth.

There's a good piece on Richard Farnsworth here, by David Thomson. I'm a fan of both.

That's incredible.

why won't that guy show his damn movie in Philadelphia? It's the 5th largest city in the USA ferchrissakes. he's from philly...I know he claims all his darkness comes from living here, but no need to be a jerk about it. show your damn film here already.

bought my sister a membership to his website for xmas. it's creepy.

I saw this film yesterday afternoon. In reply to my brother, I went off on one and accidently wrote the following drivel of adjectives:

...saw the new David Lynch film, Inland Empire yesterday. It is really long 3 hours), largely-incomprehensible, but after my brain stopped vibrating, I thought it was very good. I don't think that I have been as disturbed by a movie in my adult life as I was by this film yesterday. I had to have a burger and watch a few episodes of Peep Show to cancel it out.

I strongly suspect that you might not like it, as it is out of control and can easily be described as self-indulgent and pretentious. The film is irrational, the plot collapses almost immediately, characters change lives and personalities, and there are endless slow shots of corridors, lamps, corners of rooms, cigarette burns in silk, and the like. But, if you treat it like a dream, which plays several versions of a similar story on top of each other, with a stilted sitcom involving a room full of static rabbit people occasionally dropping in, it has a lot to offer. It was shot on DV, which looks grainy, blurred and often hallucinatory, and the sound is plain awesome. There are several very violent edits, which suddenly drop in distressing images (often someone screaming) accompanied by large volume jumps to Psycho-like terror music, which work extremely well. When the first one of these cuts popped up, it scared me stiff, and had the effect of unsettling me for the rest of the film - in most films, you have at least a little warning of something horrible coming in. With no warning, you are constantly on edge.

Andy made the comment that David Lynch needs restraint - shepherding, to stop him going over the top crazy, like in Inland Empire. We bumped into a guy we knew from Lincoln leaving the cinema, who reckoned that it was 50% genius and 50% bullshit. I have sympathy for both of these opinions. They have a point. Lynch has basically strung together a series of hallucinations around a vaguely similar set of themes. But I also think it is a great work of art. It looks and sounds like nothing else that I have seen, it is occasionally hilarious, and the acting is highly impressive. See it when drunk!

I'd add to this that Lynch has performed the feat of making Mulholland Dr. look like a classically made Hollywood movie.

Angus Jung's point above about it not breaking ground with regards to themes is probably fair. But it is more intensely Lynchian than any of his other films, and I think he avoids self-parody through this intensity.

Or maybe I'm wrong. It was a gruelling 3 hours, but I find myself wanting to see it again.

It is definitely worth watching in a cinema with good sound. The low rumbling that the music reaches in parts unsettled me. I wondered if this was meant to simulate San Andreas tremors.

Here is a cute example of promotion by the man himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut6zdE8qWj0

I like the bit when he asks the lads if they get his joke, and they reply in the affirmative. I think that they might be fibbing there.

"Cheese is made from milk. Cheese is made from milk. Do you get it?"

sparky wrote:Here is a cute example of promotion by the man himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut6zdE8qWj0

I like the bit when he asks the lads if they get his joke, and they reply in the affirmative. I think that they might be fibbing there.

"Cheese is made from milk. Cheese is made from milk. Do you get it?"

This is so fucking awesome.