I recently became friends with this 56-year-old man and we’re having a movie night tomorrow together. He wants to show me the “trio” of the greatest movies ever made: The Godfather, The Shawshank Redemption & Casablanca. Haven’t seen any of those (probably cause of my age: almost 22). For me the 3 greatest movies ever are Titanic, Lord of the Rings 2003 & Spirited Away. Wondering what those are for you.
To pay tribute to the late director, David Lynch, I finally got around to watching Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and The Straight Story.
The Straight Story was an homage to the American Midwest, and despite being as slow as the protagonists method of transportation, kept my interest throughout.
Mulholland Drive had some brilliant acting, some amazing scenes, and really left a lasting impact on me. Most notably, I was left saying “WTF?”
While Blue Velvet is like a crime drama with Camp turned up to 11. Had some great scenes, and was interesting, but some of the acting choices and dialogue were bewildering to me. (“It’s time to FUCK! Let’s FUCK!” comes to mind lol)
Mullholland Drive is fucking fantastic and I almost put it on the list over Blue Velvet. I’m sure this will forever be debated by film nerds as long film nerds continue to exist. There’s something about that heightened, unreal 80’s vibe in Blue Velvet, plus what a fuckin’ cast. I also like the “dark side of a quaint small town” theme, which reminds me of his work in Twin Peaks a bit, where Mullholland Drive feels more like he’s expressing more a criticism(?) of the place Hollywood occupies in the cultural consciousness. I’m a sucker for a suburban dystopia, it feels more relatable. Ultimately though, Mullholland Drive feels like a second take on the same kind of ideas, and it’s glossier and more plotty, but I personally I like the smaller, more raw version. Lynch was a master of the medium and almost all of his films are either outright masterpieces or at least incredibly artistic curiosities.