Watching a David Lynch film is always an experience. I’m definitely going to have to check this one out. Thanks for the heads up.

Oh geez… I thought 4cr was above this types of things.

You MUST be joking right?

I saw this film at the theatre and my first thought upon leaving was that I would never get that 3 or so hours back.

The film is all over the place, the narrative is complex and confusing. Not in a Pulp Fiction/Donnie Darko/The Fountain way, but in the way a film school student would try to put his/her spin on the aforementioned films.

If I had been seeing it with friends, I would have left after 60 minutes, but seeing as my missus was with me, I stayed until the end. I, luckily, haven’t had to ensure real torture before, but I imagine it is a far more pleasant experience that watching this film.

Be warned, it sucks and you WILL hate it

you dont cover much ds stuff anymore.

I could never get into David Lynch. Its funny though how that picture of people with rabbit heads comes across as overly weird and bizarre to me, yet if it were a video game with rabbit people (like say, animal crossing) it wouldn’t seem weird at all, but fun and charming and completely normal.

did you see the special gold-box edition of Twin PEaks that is coming out? damn fine!

I have got this DVD sitting ‘wrapped in plastic’ until I get my new widescreen TV. Can’t wait!

I missed this showing at the melbourne film festival (australia), so DVD is my only way to see it! Hope it messes with my head Lost Highway/Mullholland Drv style

Rumas Recommends: Sticking a Fork in your Eye.

I guess now nintendo is popular its not fun to support?

yup, that’s why currently 14 of the 15 posts on the front page are either about or directly related to nintendo

(and LMAO @ Sticking a Fork in Your Eye)

I can’t thank you enough for this. I love that man and everything he does and I had no idea that this movie existed. Eraserhead and Twin Peaks left me speechless, hopefully this is just as good.

And while we’re talking about movies that most people think are horrible: Testsuo, the Iron Man. Riki-Oh - The Story of Ricky.

oops. Riki-Oh - The Story of *Riki.

I watched Inland Empire last weekend.
***1/2 (three and a half stars)

Because it is such a “David Lynch movie”, it goes without saying that at least 50% of people (probably higher) will HATE it like johnnywashngo did. I don’t blame them at all. Many people (my wife included) can not enjoy a movie that makes no effort whatsoever to be understood. Also, many other people believe Lynch’s movies are pointless, pretentious, or “weird for the sake of being weird” (By the way, these people are mistaken).
I happened to like Inland Empire, but not nearly as much as Mulholland Drive, which remains one of my most loved films of all time. Inland Empire was a LITTLE too difficult to follow even for my tastes. I found it a bit too disorienting at times. And the three-hour running time means I’m not terribly eager to watch it again right away. But even though I did not absolutely LOVE it, I definitely did enjoy it. And even though I certainly do not understand it completely, I found enough meaning in it to admire it’s boldness and originality, and was moved deeply several times by the marvelous performances.
My recommendation would have to vary by person, so here it goes:

-If you have ever liked a David Lynch movie, I would HIGHLY recommend that you watch Inland Empire. Because it is an extremely well-made work of art, and is so obviously a crystallization of many of the themes, ideas, and styles he has always explored. There is a very good chance you will like it, as Nick and I did.
-If you have never seen a David Lynch film, I would not recommend watching Inland Empire. You would be better off to start with something more approachable (and more brilliant, in my opinion), such as Mulholland Drive.
-If you HAVE seen David Lynch’s work before, but have never liked any of his films, DO NOT WATCH INLAND EMPIRE. I think as a general rule, if you did not at least like Mulholland Drive, there is a 99% chance you will hate Inland Empire.

Is anyone keeping score to how many of Rumas’ suggestions are actually successful with the 4CR readers?

well said, kiddkalen. Inland Empire definitely isn’t as watchable as Mulholland Drive, but im not sure which i like more…

there are moments in MD that are some of the finest in all of cinema: the discovery of the ‘hobo from hell’ (i say he represents the evil force that moves hollywood) behind the diner, the audition scene, the part where the two girls discover the dead woman, the theater segment, the old couple gone freaky in the end, etc. that stuff is beyond amazing.

in Inland Empire, i don’t think there are nearly as many standouts, but rather the whole film gets under your skin in a way unlike anything else lynch has done. it’s just different. the ending pre-credit roll is without a doubt my favorite part of the movie — once the fright reaches its climax and dern sees the blue lens flare, and then the song from the beginning comes on. that’s just amazing, and the whole sequence is one of the most genuinely touching things iver ever seen on film.

jamie: hehe, that’s kind of the point of these recommendations — a lot of the time i pimp stuff that not many people like, and i love hearing the backlash. how fun would it be if i recommended universally loved stuff all the time?

The more confusing films are, the more they seem to be percepted as “deep” or “artistic” by some people.

Lynch hype is all about praising a films that nobody understand, but only few have guts to say that.

The king is naked, folks.

Abstract art is tricky. It’s easy for anyone to take a bunch of random crap, slap it together, and label it “abstract art.” That’s why films like Inland Empire (which I’ve never seen, and am not defending, by the way) are so eagerly labeled “pretentious” or “meaningless.” by critics. I guess, in the end, only the supposed “artist” knows if their work truly means something or not.

I know it was trolling, but I can’t help but elaborate on Czesc’s point.

To say ‘nobody understand’s David Lynch’s films is a bit wrong. He has done straight narrative films (Elephant Man, Dune, The Straight Story (!)) as well as more abstract films. His most recent films, such as Lost Highway and Mullholland Drv, have had rather more complex narratives. But if you watch them more than once, there is a story that makes sense. I loved both those films but it took ages to work out the ‘real story’ that was going on.

You really only get out of his films what you put in. But I guarantee that you will get a lot more out of his film than .

PS. Naked kings burn my eyes.

I saw this film many times in theaters. Incredible. Those that are labeling it as pretentious or over-hyped are really, really missing out on something beautiful. I suppose those same people would have preferred Matthew Barney remained a football player, though…

I saw this in the cinema, having seen a few Lynch films before and mostly enjoyed them (Lost Highway is probably my favourite of his films), but this really isn’t worth the bother. There are undeniably some very powerful and well shot scenes, but there are many more which are sloppily shot, poorly scripted and with acting that, while not bad as such, simply isn’t good enough to save it.

And, of course, the film lacks cohesion and even metaphorical continuity (I didn’t expect actual continuity anyway), to an extent that left me feeling that it hadn’t been worth sitting through the many poor scenes to see the few where Lynch showed his talents (and he does have them) as a creator of visual and mental imagery.

Oh, and the story is ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, not ‘The King’s New Clothes’. Not that I think it applies. I will still go and see his next work, but this one definitely fell flat.

I thought the death scene with the street people was one of the greatest moments in cinema history.

was pretty amazing, wasn’t it?

‘no more blue tomorrows…you on high now, love’

so haunting. after writing the above post, i actually discovered that there was one theater showing it in seoul, and just one time a day, ending this sunday. i went to see it with my friend on thursday morning, we were the only ones there. it was so weird, just like that scene from the movie. really glad i saw it in the theater, it was a far more immersive experience.

Yeah, I missed its theatrical release, but I had a friend show it at our lecture hall. Nobody but my girlfriend and I showed up, and the experience was all the better for it.

I’ll return your recommendation with one of my own:
Possession by Andrzej Zulawski. Check it out if you haven’t seen it.

thanks, dude. i think ive heard of it before…will definitely check it out!