Lynch'd

I got the idea for the title of this post from a thread of messages on IMDb. An individual copy-pasted a magazine review of Inland Empire and tried to pass it off as his/her own, and was caught--the next46 posts were pretty much about how this user had been "Punk'd."

Anyway.

I should probably do the personal-travelogue portion of this entry first, just because that's the blog's main purpose and I don't think many people will be left after attempting to wade through the mire of...well, you'll see. I didn't want to write anything resembling a review of that movie, but thoughts just keep coming.

On an impulse, I decided to see Inland Empire last night, even though I should probably have stayed in and nursed my flu which has now degenerated into a nasty hacking cough. Tired of hanging around Micklegate House, especially since for the last 3 days it has been home to the most abominable slice of mankind--150 12-14 year olds. Which pretty much means noise 24 hours a day. Screaming, stopming up and down stairs, you name it....plus I'd run out of Tess Gerritsen medical thrillers to read. [Don't hate. She's an M.D.-cum-novelist, and because of her detailed descriptions of medical procedure, autopsies and gruesome killings I now was able to precisely identify what Nikki Grace--or Susan Blue, I guess--died of on Hollywood Boulevard in the film: pulmonary edema. The blood caused by the screwdriver wound slowly filled up her abdominal cavity, including her lungs, until she finally drowned. That's why she spat up all the blood. Slow, nasty way to die. I should be an M.E., eh?]

Sorry, back to the real story. So I impulsively decided to see this movie. On a further impulse, I emailed my friend from choir Marion to ask if she wanted to come, because she had mentioned once that she was a fan of David Lynch. I wasn't really expecting her to say yes, since I knew she was studying for exams, but she ended up emailing me back and saying she'd be happy to come.

I had to rush home after work, because the movie started at 8:05 and I had to do laundry first. That got done. What didn't was dinner. I had planned on picking up some Mickey D's before the show (yeah, yeah...but it's the cheapest fast food there is and it's right by the York City Screen). But when I got there, there was a crowd standing outside and they weren't letting anyone in. Turns out the smoke alarm had gone off for some reason and they had to close for an indefinite amount of time. Bugger.

I know Inland Empire is not a popcorn kind of movie, but I was hungry. And, happily, movie theater popcorn tastes the same here in the UK.

Now for all of you people out there reading this who think you've been to nice theaters--yes, that includes all of you Los Angelenos--you have not been to the York City Screen yet. I am telling you, this theater although small could beat the crap out of any theater in LA I've been to in terms of class, style and comfort (I haven't been to the ArcLight yet). Restaurant on the mezz level. Bar and internet cafe downstairs. Classy glass walls, bloack leather couches...all very chic. And upstairs, in the hallway that leads to the theaters themselves, the whole left wall as you're walking in is glass, affording an amazing panorama view of the River Ouse. I wish I had brought my camera--I'll have to go back. The Bridge at Howard Hughes promenade can suck me.

About the film itself: I wasn't really going to say anything, but I have a few comments.


three films kept coming to mind: Mulholland Dr. I guess goes without saying. People say it's a lot like Lost Highway too, but I can't asy that myself becuase I've never seen it. The other two films are The Shining and The Ring. Before you even say it, i KNOW The Ring does not belong anywhere near the same category as the first two films, but I was reminded of it several times as I watched Inland Empire. I can't remember if it was the music or the camera angles or the SFX, but if it can turn my mind to that film more than once, I think it's worth noting. I felt a lot of Kubrickian things in the film too. It started right off with the rabbit people(OK that was just me. People in animal suits. Whatever.), and then and quite a fair amount of the music, especially when Nikki/Susan gets skewered with the Philips. And one sequence in particlar towards the end where the camera is from Nikki/Susan's POV, moving toward the window of a room on an upper floor of a building on that snowy street, and you can hear a pulsating rhythm that reminds you of a heartbeat. I just KNOW Lynch had to be thinking of that slow, MOS scene in The Shining where Jack Torrance inches toward the bathroom in Room 237, the heartbeat sound growing ever louder. Lynch is no fool; filmmakers pat each other on the back like that all the time (Think the "Pullman party" scene in Some Like It Hot. That was Billy Wilder saying "I salute you" to the Marx Bros.' crowded-stateroom scene in A Night at the Opera).

You have for all intents and purposes no real idea what is "actually" happening, yet you laugh, cry, get really scared...react and respond to what is happening on an emotional level. (That should be anybody's clue first off that the film is not a waste of time!) That's one thing that fascinated me about Mulholland Dr. and fascinated me again with Inland Empire. I had no freaking clue what was happening when Nikki/Susan fired those gunshots at the man in the hallway, but damned if that scene didn't scare me so badly I almost started to cry. And I can't say that of many movies.

Heh heh... watch enough of David Lynch and you stop getting nervous when characters approach and turn corners. If it was any other director, watch your back cuz something's going to pop the hell out and scare you!...but not Mr. Lynch. He's just messin with ya ;-)...well, most of the time, anyway. *** (Side note: clearly this is an indication of how much of film is convention and what we come to expect as audience members. Therefore, I don't know anybody else but if I were ever to make a suspense/thriller and I needed someone to walk around a corner and have the audience be really, really nervous about it...I'd watch Lynch for some tips.)

too long. Perhaps some of you might think, well, this is a criticism typical of someone who does not know how to appreciate film that isn't mainstream. Not the case. The latter end of the middle of this film did drag a bit, and I was in danger of nodding off a few times. There doesn't have to be plot movement to keep me up, but there has to be something to keep people intrigued pretty much at all times. Can't let things languish for too long, even when you're David Lynch.

dizzying. I started to feel like I was going in circles. And I was too fascinated to be annoyed about it! Like being in a hall of mirrors, or a spiral. I actually chuckled at the end when the girl is sitting in the room and watching herself sitting in that same room on the television, and in the TV you can see the TV with her sitting in the room watching herself on the TV...that pretty much sums it up. ***(Another side note: My brothers and I did that once. We set up the camcorder in our TV room and taped ourselves watching ourselves on TV, and in the TV you could see the TV with us on it, etc. etc...). Kinda blows your mind if you try to think about it too hard.

i KNEW that was Naomi Watts' voice! ...I also recognized Laura Harring. Hardy har.

I understand some Polish. Not very many, but some very basic words are intelligible across the Slavic-language board. Words such as "understand", "recognize,", "heart", "know", and the phrase "I have the key" were ones I was able to understand without the help of subtitles.


Don't feel like writing any more.

...except can someone please set me up with Mr. Theroux? That guy is HOT STUFF. Thought so ever since that episode of Sex and the City where he plays Vaughn, the guy with the really awesome family. I want in his pants.