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I've been holding back from jumping into the Lynch movies. I've seen the first, and would like to watch that first. However, like a rare treat, something that is a bit excessive, there is a time and place for such things. This was not it. A movie was recommended to me long ago, and then many times since by vary strange and different sources. I... avoided watching it, believing I wasn't quite ready. Or maybe not ready. Tonight was the night. Donny Darko was the title. Not bad. For me, actually, not even strange. I won't say I believe, or don't, only that some of the possibilities, for some, are probabilities, in the positive sense of the more common understanding of that term. Maybe. Anyway, I think so. Or I did, or will. I can't always remember.
I did set the dishes to a fresh soak. The laundry is all done. Some things need folded, some things need hung. I hope to do a bit of work in the bathroom as well. The kitchen will be after that, along with tearing down boxes. Trash will be readied for taking out Sunday night. As well, I am hoping to swing my sleep schedule around a bit. I'll need a bit of luck and a lot of push for that. Medicine... yeah... I keep missing that. Though if that is at an end, I should just get used to the fact. I lived without it for decades, I suspect I can do so for more decades. Time isn't what it seems, nor is life or death, really. Important, in a certain way, but not at all what some would tell you or believe.
Hmm... I'll get going in a bit. Just a bit of music, then maybe back to some work. Then rest and work through the night and maybe on through tomorrow if I can push. Later.
I first saw "Eraserhead" years ago, at a comics convention at 2 in the morning. Me and four other guys in the video room. When the movie was over we looked at each other and asked what the heck did we just see?
ReplyDeleteBrilliant film. Perhaps a bit too brilliant.
"Wild at Heart" and "Lost Highway" are my favorites among Lynch's works.
Super. I was a bit on the fence about Eraserhead. Yeah, it's in the basket, just... Well, and finances have just gone a bit haywire. Still, it's in the basket and will probably get punched a little quicker, thanks to your plug. Never heard of Wild... I also have a grouping of shorts by him, is that a short?
ReplyDeleteI'm finally in a mental place where I can go a little further in my exploration. As I suggested, I went looking when everything when bad and black. There were some places I could not go. Though, too, I am having a bit of fun as well. There are movies I never saw that I wanted to see, or saw but can't quite remember if I thought there was something more to them. I can't do a whole lot else, might as well looksee.
As to too brilliant? Yeah. Can be nosebleed high dose thought rich. Though, sometimes, that's just... well, it's just not. I sort of trust you. I've seen you stretch to go there. I have to guess you have probably attained. :p You've got that itch. Too bad for most of us that it always comes down to "what have you done lately" (as in yesterday). Bleh.
"Wild at Heart" is a 1990 feature film by Lynch, and contains what is, to my way of thinking, one of Nicolas Cage's better performances. On the surface it's a crime thriller. But, with Lynch directing, it's also another custom-made roller-coaster ride through a dark and bizarre interpretation of America.
ReplyDeleteI keep wanting to hate Cage's performances. While some are quite lackluster, everybody has duds. The truth is, he can do all right. And he has picked some good parts. Something about him or his acting is just... not preferred? And yet I can't fully argue with some of what he does. Alright, I'll look into it. Lynch sort of caught my attention. Now that I am alive and well enough to deal with looking through that dim looking glass, I suppose it is time. Before I can't again? Something.
ReplyDeleteAny other directors you might mention in that sort of area? Or even films that have a bite like that. Might be surprised how many I have seen, from Angel Heart to more recently Donnie Darko. Still, I'll bet there is a whole, nearly invisible, side genre out there that is barely tapped.
Cage is one of those actors who needs a good director to bring out the best in him. As with you I feel he's been through some duds (in spite of him being a comic book fan, he should not have played the Ghost Rider. I'm a comic book fan and no one would consider putting me in spandex anytime soon).
ReplyDeleteLynch is indeed an attention-catching director. As for other directors "in that sort of area", that's a tough one. Lynch has a definite unique voice which causes his work to easily stand out. The late Satoshi Kon (a brilliant director of anime who is sorely missed) also possessed a nicely unique vision, but his material isn't for everyone's tastes. If you can stand to watch Roman Polanski, his 1961 short film "The Fat and the Lean" is bizarre, and so much so that you can't tear your eyes away. Of equal interest in Chris Marker's 1962 short "La Jetee" (which the feature film "12 Monkeys" was adapted from).
Always glad to help when I can.
I'll look at some of those others. About Polanski, it isn't so much can't as won't. Oh, and reminder, they don't have to be on the darker side. From Creator to House (not generally a fan of comedy/horror but that was good) to little history gems. Indie more so than most. Anyway... Definitely going to have to seek La Jetee. I would do more with books but focus just isn't there. That and I need bifocals, finally, and am not working well with the V.A. They do have a good glasses shop, I just don't trust to go in there anymore.
ReplyDeleteThey don't have to be on the darker side.
ReplyDeleteUmmm.
Three recommendations immediately come to mind. One is Howard Zieff's 1973 film "Slither" (not to be confused with the 2006 yawnfest of the same name). It features James Caan in a rare comedic role in a film which is just a bit off-kilter.
Second: "We Married Margo", a 2000 film from J.D. Shapiro. Yes, it's the same Shapiro who burdened us all with "Battlefield Earth", but he also made this quirky little comedy about two men who married the same woman (not at the same time, of course).
Third: a personal favorite of mine, and perhaps the most familiar one on the list. Theodore Flicker's 1967 film "The Presiden't Analyst: a wild satire starring James Coburn, and a film which got the FBI mad at the director.
Oops, almost forgot Basil Dearden's "The Assassination Bureau". Set in the early 1900's it stars Diana Rigg as an intrepid would-be reporter attempting to infiltrate and expose an organization of professional assassins (led by Oliver Reed). Rather fun period piece which also features a zeppelin (a rule of thumb: I'll watch any movie with an airship in it).
ReplyDeleteYou can definitely tell a man by his movies. All I'm saying, air ship fan boy! (Yeah, I'm close enough to being in that club, or once was, but that's NOT the point.)
ReplyDelete