October 25, 2002
6:43 AM Subscribe
Last night I watched David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" It made me think of the (paraphrased) question asked of Rob in the movie "High Fidelity"-
List the top 5 musical attrocities committed by Stevie Wonder in the 80's
-subquestion: Is it fair to blame a once great artist for their current crappy product? Is it better to burn out than to fade away?
I'd like to know what you thought about the latest Lynch offering- and about other artists (any type) you think have crossed the line into mediocre.
This post was deleted for the following reason:
Lynch has most certainly NOT crossed any line into mediocrity. Mullholland Drive was brilliant.
posted by jbelshaw at 6:53 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by jbelshaw at 6:53 AM on October 25, 2002
Mullholland Drive was, for me, terrificly creepy and unsettling. It was also a welcome return to form after the phoned-in piece of disappointment that was "Lost Highway" (haven't seen "A Straight Story").
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:55 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:55 AM on October 25, 2002
Mullholland drive is at times confusing and annoying, but I'd rather have that then Pearl Harbor. The fact that it is immedialtely recognizable as Lynch is, for me, enough reason for him to keep working. I still think it was a a pretty good film, but that's just my my opinion.
And it's fade away every time for me.
posted by ciderwoman at 6:56 AM on October 25, 2002
And it's fade away every time for me.
posted by ciderwoman at 6:56 AM on October 25, 2002
agreed. brilliant, indeed. admittedly, mulholland drive was not lost highway. lost highway was not twin peaks. twin peaks was not blue velvet. and none of them are eraserhead, mercifully.
who's crossed the line? joni mitchell, george lucas, stevie wonder (as mentioned, but it does bear repeating). i could think of more, but i need another cup or two of coffee.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:58 AM on October 25, 2002
who's crossed the line? joni mitchell, george lucas, stevie wonder (as mentioned, but it does bear repeating). i could think of more, but i need another cup or two of coffee.
posted by grabbingsand at 6:58 AM on October 25, 2002
Gee, any other year-old topics out there to talk about? Mulholland Drive is a masterpiece, critically acclaimed and damned confusing the first time you see it... but keep watching! All the pieces are there... once you figure it out, maybe you'll appreciate it better.
posted by Ben Grimm at 7:00 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by Ben Grimm at 7:00 AM on October 25, 2002
I have to say that I liked Mulholland Drive. I'm not a fanatic of his earlier work, but don't dislike it either. I think he's got an entertainingly unleashed visual imagination.
But did anyone here ever have the displeasure of seeing his stage work, Industrial Symphony #9? It was horrible. Worse. Incriminating. It was a mere procession of his overwrought fetishes (skinless deer, backwards-talking, midgets, 50s rock, blah, blah, blah) and it made me think about how much of his work was just an agressive waiver of conventional plotting in order to house his visual obsessions.
The theme of so much of his work, if there has been such a thing, has been about irresolution. Who killed Laura Palmer? I've seen Fire Walk with Me and damn near every Twin Peaks episode, and I'm probably less suited to tell you than someone who only caught the first season.
But in Mulholland, he did something surprising: The plot was actually causually interelated. He gave us a bread-crumb trail, and by the end, all that delicious surrealism seemed to rest on something interesting and substantive.
I thought it was his kindest work. (Plus, the lesbians, right?)
posted by Pinwheel at 7:00 AM on October 25, 2002
But did anyone here ever have the displeasure of seeing his stage work, Industrial Symphony #9? It was horrible. Worse. Incriminating. It was a mere procession of his overwrought fetishes (skinless deer, backwards-talking, midgets, 50s rock, blah, blah, blah) and it made me think about how much of his work was just an agressive waiver of conventional plotting in order to house his visual obsessions.
The theme of so much of his work, if there has been such a thing, has been about irresolution. Who killed Laura Palmer? I've seen Fire Walk with Me and damn near every Twin Peaks episode, and I'm probably less suited to tell you than someone who only caught the first season.
But in Mulholland, he did something surprising: The plot was actually causually interelated. He gave us a bread-crumb trail, and by the end, all that delicious surrealism seemed to rest on something interesting and substantive.
I thought it was his kindest work. (Plus, the lesbians, right?)
posted by Pinwheel at 7:00 AM on October 25, 2002
Whoa whoa whoa. Mediocre? Oh wait. You probably saw the DVD, which is a different version from the widescreen release. I forgive you, then.
posted by drinkcoffee at 7:01 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by drinkcoffee at 7:01 AM on October 25, 2002
It's always better for the viewer that the artist burns out rather than fades away, but sometimes it's difficult for the artist to know when they've jumped the shark.
If you had brought up "Lost Highway" after Lynch had just released it, I would have agreed with you. But thankfully he grew by an order of magnitude artistically to make Mulholland Drive, a movie as fiull of twists and turns as the road itself.
posted by stevis at 7:02 AM on October 25, 2002
If you had brought up "Lost Highway" after Lynch had just released it, I would have agreed with you. But thankfully he grew by an order of magnitude artistically to make Mulholland Drive, a movie as fiull of twists and turns as the road itself.
posted by stevis at 7:02 AM on October 25, 2002
Like it or hate it, I don't think 'mediocre' is a good word to describe Mullholland Drive. I really enjoyed it.
posted by blamb at 7:03 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by blamb at 7:03 AM on October 25, 2002
Can I be the one to point out the emperor is naked and say that I didn't like that movie?
I'm all for a bizarre flick but Mollholland Drive was just too weird to be enjoyable. If you're going to add on to a pilot episode at least try to continue the story a bit.
It wasn't a matter of me not "getting" it. It just wasn't worth getting.
Some decent eye candy, but that was about it.
posted by bondcliff at 7:09 AM on October 25, 2002
I'm all for a bizarre flick but Mollholland Drive was just too weird to be enjoyable. If you're going to add on to a pilot episode at least try to continue the story a bit.
It wasn't a matter of me not "getting" it. It just wasn't worth getting.
Some decent eye candy, but that was about it.
posted by bondcliff at 7:09 AM on October 25, 2002
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posted by matteo at 7:12 AM on October 25, 2002
A good post to MetaFilter is something that meets the following criteria: most people haven't seen it before, there is something interesting about the content on the page, and it might warrant discussion from others.
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posted by matteo at 7:12 AM on October 25, 2002
bondcliff: can I be the one to point out that people's tastes differ?
Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite Lynch works. I like that I was able to follow the story for once. I like that it didn't contain gratuitous midgets. I like that I wasn't able to predict what the final scene of the movie would be until it was upon me.
If you think Mulholland Drive is too bizarre, I have a hard time imagining that you'd enjoy any of Lynch's works at all.
posted by mosch at 7:21 AM on October 25, 2002
Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite Lynch works. I like that I was able to follow the story for once. I like that it didn't contain gratuitous midgets. I like that I wasn't able to predict what the final scene of the movie would be until it was upon me.
If you think Mulholland Drive is too bizarre, I have a hard time imagining that you'd enjoy any of Lynch's works at all.
posted by mosch at 7:21 AM on October 25, 2002
"Everything You Wanted to Know About 'Mulholland Drive'"
posted by RavinDave at 7:22 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by RavinDave at 7:22 AM on October 25, 2002
Considering that it was originally meant to be a television pilot and could have went in countless interesting directions, It saddens me to think that ABC wouldn't take a chance on it. As a film, it still stands on it's own and demands multiple viewings...i think in a lot of ways it married the ambiguity of Lost Highway with the more digestible Twin Peaks.
posted by boost ventilator at 7:23 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by boost ventilator at 7:23 AM on October 25, 2002
Silencio.
While I think "Mulholland Drive" is brilliant -- I, too, watched it again just the other night -- and while this is a question not totally without merit, matteo is right. The guidelines are pretty clear. This isn't really suited to Metafilter, if only because it's bound to degenerate into little more than an "That's crap!/No it isn't!" argument.
posted by UnReality at 7:26 AM on October 25, 2002
While I think "Mulholland Drive" is brilliant -- I, too, watched it again just the other night -- and while this is a question not totally without merit, matteo is right. The guidelines are pretty clear. This isn't really suited to Metafilter, if only because it's bound to degenerate into little more than an "That's crap!/No it isn't!" argument.
posted by UnReality at 7:26 AM on October 25, 2002
Pink: you should totally see The Straight Story. It is not typical Lynch -- it is rated G after all -- but it is a very good, thoughtful movie.
posted by spilon at 7:31 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by spilon at 7:31 AM on October 25, 2002
You ever make up a joke that you and a few of your friends find really funny, but when this joke is retold to other people outside your group of friends the joke doesn't make any sense, or isn't funny at all?
That's what Mulholland Drive was to me, I felt like an outsider watching it.
posted by CrazyJub at 7:32 AM on October 25, 2002
That's what Mulholland Drive was to me, I felt like an outsider watching it.
posted by CrazyJub at 7:32 AM on October 25, 2002
Thanks RavinDave for reminding me about the Salon link. I thought Mulholland Drive was an interesting headscratcher until I read the Salon piece, which made me want to go back and watch it again. There's no doubt it's brilliant, but it sure as hell is weird.
posted by skimble at 7:35 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by skimble at 7:35 AM on October 25, 2002
It's rare to find a film with a mix of self-important pretension and hot girl-on-girl action.
posted by toothless joe at 7:35 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by toothless joe at 7:35 AM on October 25, 2002
1) Mulholland Drive was brilliant, although often incomprehensible on first viewing; I look forward to seeing it again.
2) What matteo said.
posted by languagehat at 7:36 AM on October 25, 2002
2) What matteo said.
posted by languagehat at 7:36 AM on October 25, 2002
completely off topic (kind of). I personally love Stevie Wonder AND Kool and the Gang's 80's work. My Cherie Shamore (butchered spelling), Fresh, Part-Time Lover, Jungle Fever, Get Down On It...I love these songs and when I play them (I'm a dj) people get loopy (good thing). I just get sick of all the early 80s R&B hating (I love parentheses)
posted by LouieLoco at 7:37 AM on October 25, 2002
posted by LouieLoco at 7:37 AM on October 25, 2002
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