We take a little drive through a squeaky clean wholesome American town. Or is it? A college kid comes home to see his sick father. Walking home from visiting his dad in the hospital, killing time the boy tosses some rocks at an empty bottle in a vacant lot and in the course of doing that he finds a severed ear. He takes the ear to the cops and starts to do a a little detective work on his own to find the mystery behind the ear. He finds that maybe the old hometown has more than a few nut jobs inhabiting the stomping grounds.
David Lynch takes us on a “joyride” into his distinctive style of film-making. I love films that don’t play it straight. Blue Velvet doesn’t play it straight in fact it is really bent. Norman Rockwell on drugs and a lot of other stuff. Lynch creates a world inside a world. Creepsville. It’s a nightmare, horror ride which we get swept up in. Lynch builds it up and then hits the freak show button with Dennis Hopper and his friends with Dean Stockwell being the gem of them all. Both of these guys are great actors playing a couple real sick guys that need head help. Just watch Hopper as he watches Stockwell do his Roy Orbison. What the hell is that? I don’t know but I like it.
The film creates a definite feel and mood. Noir/mystery/nightmare/head-trip. Everything is off kilter with this film but David Lynch knows what he wants and gets it from his story, his cast and his crew. It’s a good piece of film and it works for CB. Good soundtrack.
Take a whirl into Lynch’s world and see what’s under the surface. It’s not like anything you are used to. “It’s a strange world isn’t it?”
The film leaves us with one big question “Why are there people like Frank?”
“LETS GO FOR A JOYRIDE!!”
Wonderful CB. I haven’t seen this for about 25 years but I still feel queasy about the opening of it, something about the colours.
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He does have a color thing he does. All about creating the mood he wants. “Queasy”is a good word. Nightmare city.
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It was bright and all blanched out, I seem to remember.
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Yup then it got dark and wacked out.
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I haven’t seen this since it’s release either. Lynch is one strange dude. Let us not forget he also did ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Eraserhead.’ Is he capable of playing it straight, one wonders?
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Check out ‘The Straight Story”. That’s the title of a film he did that goes “straight”.
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I heard of that. That’s a guy’s name, yes?
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I think so. It’s a good film based on a true story. Richard Farnsworth plays the lead and he was terminally ill while filming. It fit in with the story. Harry Dean is in it also.
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If CB was an actor, I’d picture him as a cross between Harry Dean and Christopher Walken.
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Throw in a little Jethro Bodean.
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Lynch has a Philadelphia connection. He went to art school in Philly in the second half of the 1960s. The city had a big effect on him. He found a sense of moodiness and danger on some of its streets, and those mindsets influenced his film making.
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Interesting Neil because that feeling is in his films. I’ve mention Pete Dexter to you before. He’s a Philly guy and his books have that bent side also. Hmmm. I’m feeling something here.
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Right, Dexter used to write for the Philadelphia Daily News. He was a local hero of sorts when he lived in Philadelphia.
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I know a bit of his history. Interesting guy. I really like his writing and his stories.
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If you don’t get irony and satire, you won’t get this movie. If you do, it will be multi-layered and you will be moved. If you know David Lynch’s later work you’ll recognize recurrent images.
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I just got swept into the world he created on this one. I’m not up on his later films. I guess I have some catching up to do.
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There are some other works by David Lynch you may interest: “Wild At Heart” is still a good ride of movie. I also enjoyed watching “The Straight Story”. Another movie I love is “Lost Highway”. Terrifying and beautiful visuals and some good music.
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I’ll revisit ‘Wild At Heart’next. It’s been a while. He always uses good music. Thanks Fox.
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This was one of the last Lynch things I saw… I was late to the Twin Peaks party. I saw Mulholland Drive and spent a large part of it saying ‘what the fuck?’…. this I was expecting to be really off the rails and was pleasantly surprised that it was only slightly so – enough to inspire the odd Tim Allen style ‘eurgh?’ but enough to really enjoy.
I don’t think I’ll bother with Inland Empire, the most recent slaughtering of Twin Peaks and his own attitude in interviews has kinda shut down my interest.
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I seen this when it came out and I think Eraserhead (What a beauty) and The Elephant Man were the only other films I was familiar with. I got caught up in the whole n’Velvet vibe. Plus I always dig performances and I loved Hopper.
I’ve never seen Twin Peaks or Empire I’ve heard Lynch interviewed once in a Harry Dean Stanton doc. He came off good in that. Sometimes those interviews come off lame and boring. The whole feel of the chat is off.
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You said it, CB – this one is quite the head-trip (though in comparison to some of Lynch’s later head-trip head-tripping stuff it’s a walk in the park) and Hopper and Stockwell are absolutely electrifying.
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I haven’t seen a ton of Lynch’s work but I dig performances. Like I said to Tony, Hopper to me was the “lynch” pin in this one. He was the secret shit that as going on in the town. Plus all his friends like Dean.
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I’ve seen a few of them… and I mostly like them. They can be incredibly challenging, thoughtful, or just pure obtuse.
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I’ve seen a couple also. I always like people that take big swings in film/music so his work gets my interest. I’m kind of pecking away at his films.
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He’s certainly not afraid to make the films he wants to make – they’re not for a wide audience.
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Him and Mel Brooks were an interesting team for Elephant Man
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No kidding! I didn’t know Brooks was involved.
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A bit of a cool creative collaboration.
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Great write-up CB! It’s between this and Mulholland Drive as to my Lynch favourite. But, I haven’t seen Blue Velvet in quite a few years.
I still haven’t seen Twin Peaks (slaps forehead) although my father raved about it.
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Thanks Matthew. I haven’t seen all his films. Straight Story might be a Lynch film worth checking out. I liked it. I’m a sucker for those simple slice of life things.
Give me a slap while your t it. I haven’t seen it either.
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Wow, I still remember seeing that picture on the big screen in Germany when it came out in 1986 – what a creepy film!
Lynch really must have a twisted mind to have come up with the plot – sort of like Edgar Allan Poe or Stephen King. Guys like them are scary on some level!
That being said, even though “Blue Velvet” is really twisted, I liked it. Much of it had to do with Dennis Hopper. I think he’s a terrific actor. In my opinion, his portrayal of Frank is comparable to Jack Nicholson as Jack in The Shining.
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I agree on the Poe/King thing. I also agree on Hopper. He stole the spotlight a few times.
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This was one of those movies that really divided the critics- i’d see one star and four star reviews and little in between–myself- I really liked the movie- pretty creepy though. Dennis Hopper was awesome!
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The only two critics that matter are you and I Hans. Hopper let loose for sure. I think he was swamped with calls to keep playing Frank.
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I like your statement! … those were in Dennis’s comeback years- loved him also in River’s Edge- where he loses his arm- and said what he thought about while laying in the road- was seeing a beer can and wondering if there was any beer left in the can….. and of course Hoosiers.
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I have to watch ‘Rivers Edge” again just for that line. Dennis has a pretty good batting average on his work.
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I bet that was an interesting movie set- with Hopper and Crispen Glover!
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I think the best part was Hopper was clean and sober when he was doing those roles. I guess he had some life experience to draw from.
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I agree it’s a great film. Always sucks me in if it’s on. My favorite scene is Dennis Hopper taking about “you’re the neighbour”. You just don’t know what Frank is going to do next.
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I can him saying that. His performance was out there.
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Lynch is another guy I could never get into. I do want to give this one a watch. I think it is on the movie networks here a lot.
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Lynch is another one of those styles that can rub the wrong way. Try ‘Straight Story’ he tones down the weirdness and tells a straight story,
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My first Lynch film was Eraserhead…this was my second one. I’ll NEVER listen to Roy Orbison’s In Dreams the same again.
Hopper became that character…There is no copying Lynch’s style. For a month Bailey and I dived into his films and Twin Peaks. I turned him on to Rabbits…I still watch that from time to time.
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That’s funny about the Roy song. They kind of tainted it in the film but what a great scene. Hopper was like CB and Max, he was just so moved by the music.
“Rabbits”? Enlighten me Max?
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Oh CB…Rabbits is one of the most interesting, creepy, mysterious films I’ve seen. The actors and actresses are dressed in rabbit suits and you hear broken up conversations…I hope you don’t mind but I’m leaving a link to the youtube. It’s so hard to describe…hey it’s Lynch!
It’s 42 minutes long…if you watch it…tell me what you think if you don’t mind. People have websites trying to interrupt it.
Here is the link
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Perfect. Thanks. I’ve seen a lot of his work but not all. Just did a rewatch of ‘Wild At Heart’. Enjoyed that.
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I haven’t seen that one…so that is one for me to watch.
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Phenomenal film. Watch it every year or so. Still packs a punch. Love Lynch here. Must see Wild At Heart again too. Messed me up back in the day. Probably not a good film to watch whilst tripping.
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None of his films would be to good on the head while under the influence because they put you in that state anyways. “Lets go for a (*&^#@$ joyride”
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