Post by klep on Oct 26, 2015 6:34:40 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Mulholland Dr.
Though the first couple minutes feature a bunch of 50's era dancers composited over a purple background, Mulholland Dr. seems otherwise to start off fairly straightforwardly. But then you get to Winkie's and David Lynch's flair for surreal horror asserts itself. Mulholland Dr. was billed as a psychological thriller and while that's certainly accurate, it fails to capture the whole of the film. Even before you get to the twist/reveal late in the film, there's a sense of heightened or dreamlike reality to much of what goes on. The aforementioned scene at Winkie's is perhaps the most disturbing, but you can also see it in scenes like Betty's overly-lit arrival in Los Angeles or the studio head sequestered away in his own little poorly-lit room.
Ultimately Mulholland Dr. defies any sort of easy interpretation, as multiple readings can be suggested by the text. David Lynch himself doesn't help matters, as he refuses to give his own reading of the film (even as he asserts it tells "a coherent, comprehensible story"). But whatever your particular reading, Mulholland Dr. is a tense and often frightening film with two great core performances among an overall strong cast. I think perhaps my favorite scene is Betty's audition, in which she drops the camp of her earlier practice with Rita and creates a moment that's enthralling both for the people in the room and for us viewers - showing a certain steel and passion that Betty had not heretofore displayed. It's not the only meta moment in the film - the Club Silencio scene is both playful and unsettling in how it confuses both Betty&Rita about what sound is live and what is recorded even as it confuses us about what is and is not diegetic.
There's far more to unpack with Mulholland Dr. than I could possibly cover here, but there's plenty of comment space below. What are your favorite pieces of Lynch's noirish puzzle? Do you have a favorite interpretation of the plot? How many more times will I see you?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/2: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
It was close voting all weekend, but ultimately this animated Batman film eked out Some Like It Hot by a single vote. I probably would have thrown it to the older classic if there had been a tie, but Mask of the Phastasm will be the first animated feature we'll have covered since moving to Facebook, and it's a good example of the kind of thing DC's animation department could do at their height. To this day, no one has managed to make a better Batman than Kevin Conroy.
Though the first couple minutes feature a bunch of 50's era dancers composited over a purple background, Mulholland Dr. seems otherwise to start off fairly straightforwardly. But then you get to Winkie's and David Lynch's flair for surreal horror asserts itself. Mulholland Dr. was billed as a psychological thriller and while that's certainly accurate, it fails to capture the whole of the film. Even before you get to the twist/reveal late in the film, there's a sense of heightened or dreamlike reality to much of what goes on. The aforementioned scene at Winkie's is perhaps the most disturbing, but you can also see it in scenes like Betty's overly-lit arrival in Los Angeles or the studio head sequestered away in his own little poorly-lit room.
Ultimately Mulholland Dr. defies any sort of easy interpretation, as multiple readings can be suggested by the text. David Lynch himself doesn't help matters, as he refuses to give his own reading of the film (even as he asserts it tells "a coherent, comprehensible story"). But whatever your particular reading, Mulholland Dr. is a tense and often frightening film with two great core performances among an overall strong cast. I think perhaps my favorite scene is Betty's audition, in which she drops the camp of her earlier practice with Rita and creates a moment that's enthralling both for the people in the room and for us viewers - showing a certain steel and passion that Betty had not heretofore displayed. It's not the only meta moment in the film - the Club Silencio scene is both playful and unsettling in how it confuses both Betty&Rita about what sound is live and what is recorded even as it confuses us about what is and is not diegetic.
There's far more to unpack with Mulholland Dr. than I could possibly cover here, but there's plenty of comment space below. What are your favorite pieces of Lynch's noirish puzzle? Do you have a favorite interpretation of the plot? How many more times will I see you?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/2: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
It was close voting all weekend, but ultimately this animated Batman film eked out Some Like It Hot by a single vote. I probably would have thrown it to the older classic if there had been a tie, but Mask of the Phastasm will be the first animated feature we'll have covered since moving to Facebook, and it's a good example of the kind of thing DC's animation department could do at their height. To this day, no one has managed to make a better Batman than Kevin Conroy.