Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Let's do (David) Lynch, His Best

"Wild at Heart" is his best in my opinionated vision. Nicolas Cage's best too. Why it wasn't well received (except at Cannes) is something I do not understand. It has great energy, especially the violent beginning. It's just Sailor and Lula (Laura Dern) in a love story. Wow.
"Blue Velvet" showcases weirdness and Dennis Hopper. Wait, that's the same thing. Laura Dern, a Lynch favorite, is in this one, as she is in "Wild at Heart". D.L. got an Oscar "Best Director" nomination for this great & disturbing film.
"Lost Highway" has a brilliant soundtrack and Patricia Arquette has never looked better than in this surrealistic film. Can she act? I don't care. Robert Blake has never looked worse-creeeeepy. This was Richard Pryor's last act, from a wheelchair.
"Mulholland Drive" has great chemistry between Naomi Watts and Laura Elena Harring and lots of twists. Lynch got a "Best Director" Oscar nomination for this dream sequence, unusual for the genre.
"The Elephant Man" is based on a true story, Lynch style. John Hurt is tremendous as the deformed star. This film garnered Lynch his first "Best Director" nomination in Hollywood, in 1980. He should have gotten the award.

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Offbeat Movie Directors-6 Wild and Crazy Guys

For my money Stanley Kubrick is the best. The reason I think this: Every movie directed by him seems like it's done by a different guy, who seems to be one of the best directors of all time. No style is great style. His record speaks for itself. Basically unflawed.

My wife prefers the Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel, as she says that they can always be counted on to do good work. I cannot disagree. They are consistently quaintly bizarre.

Quentin Tarantino is a most consistently shocking guy: see "Hostel". It ain't quaint. While he didn't direct it he did produce and approve it. Scary, depraved stuff. This guy is way out of control. Violence is a trademark, but it's often funny. "Hostel" ain't funny. If you see it more than once, you I don't want to know.

Alfred Hitchcock is the original king of the macabre. (Edgar Allan Poe didn't make movies.) His "Americanized" stuff is just tremendous. His old movies with the British accents I can't get into much. He always did a cameo in his movies. As a bonus, he had a great TV show with a great theme song ("Funeral March of the Marionette"). You're too young to remember it.

Then there is Federico Fellini. I have 12 of his movies on tape or DVD, so I am fanatical. Everything is in Italian (subtitled in English) though, and some people can't handle that. He's considered one of the greatest European directors, but there's a lot of autobiography in his movies. He's not for everybody, but he's for me. He used very few well known actors. Marcello Mastroianni was his favorite actor.His work has to be watched more than once. Nuns and scaffolding and Rubenesque (Italian) women??

David Lynch is an enigma. His best work is probably better than anybody's. His bad stuff is the worst. "Inland Empire" is hours of black screen-can't see a thing. "Eraserhead" is a cult classic, but it's quirky enough to be creepy. What do I know, I don't like "Rocky Horror Picture Show". This guy is also not for everyone.

Sadly, Hitchcock, Fellini and Kubrick won't be doing any more movies.

Honorable mentions to Clint Eastwood, who does what he wants (it's good and sometimes offbeat) and to Robert Altman, who is inconsistent.

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