How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Discussion of all things David Lynch

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comeongethappy
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by comeongethappy »

1. Mulholland Drive
2. The Elephant Man
3. Blue Velvet
4. Fire Walk With Me
5. Lost Highway
6. Wild At Heart
7. Eraserhead
8. The Straight Story
9. Inland Empire
10. Dune

As someone who only recently started watching Lynch through Twin Peaks (finished the series a few months ago and Inland Empire this week) this is a ranking that will undoubtedly change over time with rewatches and a more comprehensive look into his works.
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Saturn's child
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Saturn's child »

comeongethappy wrote:this is a ranking that will undoubtedly change over time with rewatches and a more comprehensive look into his works.
I was thinking earlier today, my first viewing of a Lynch film is rarely (if ever?) my favourite run-through. It's always amazing & unique in its own way but it's usually the second or third time around that the whole thing hits me hardest. Which is pretty exciting considering there's 18 hours of new Lynch on its way... should I be more excited for the re-watch?

Also, will be interesting to see if INLAND EMPIRE rises in the ranks for you. It was probably the slowest growing of his films for me but it's now my favourite.
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by krzhuva »

1. Inland Empire.
2. FWWM / TP episodes.
3. Blue Velvet.
4. Lost Highway.
5. Eraserhead.
6. Wild at Heart.
7. Mulholland Drive.
8. The Straight Story.
9. The Elephant Man.
10. Dune.
Last edited by krzhuva on Sat Jul 08, 2017 10:52 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by guest315 »

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Nocturne
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Nocturne »

1.Eraserhead
2.Mulholland Drive
3.Blue Velvet
4.Inland Empire
5.Lost Highway
6.The Elephant Man
7.Fire Walk with Me
8.The Straight Story
9.Wild At Heart
10.Dune
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AgentEcho
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by AgentEcho »

This is hard but I'll give it a shot:

1. Mulholland Drive
2. Eraserhead
3. Fire Walk With Me
4. The Elephant Man
5. Blue Velvet
6. Inland Empire
7. Lost Highway
8. The Straight Story
9. Wild at Heart
10. Dune

1 and 2 are interchangeable, 4-6 are pretty dependent on mood. 9 and 10 are pretty set where they are.
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Nikki Grace
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Nikki Grace »

Ooooooh.

1. Inland Empire
2. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
3. Blue Velvet
4. Mulholland Drive
5. Lost Highway
6. Eraserhead
7. The Straight Story
8. Wild at Heart
9. Dune
10. The Elephant Man
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Panapaok
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Panapaok »

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Blue Velvet
3. Fire Walk with Me
4. The Straight Story
5. The Elephant Man
6. Lost Highway
7. Wild at Heart
8. Eraserhead
9. Inland Empire
10. Dune
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MoondogJR
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by MoondogJR »

1. Fire Walk With Me
2. Mulholland Dr.
3. Blue Velvet
4. Lost Highway
5. Wild at Heart
6. Eraserhead
7. Inland Empire
8. The Straight Story
9. The Elephant Man
10. Dune

But I kinda like 'em all!
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Jatriot »

Nice thread idea. No losers ....well pan & scan Dune aside.
1. Blue Velvet
2.Cannot chose-Mulholland Drive/Lost Highway
4. TP:FWWM
5.Eraserhead
6.Wild At Heart
7.Inland Empire
8.The Straight Story
9. The Elephant Man
10.The Grandmother ( but I know that's not a feature ) so Dune.
Huge honourable mention to Industrial Symphony #9 Dream Of The Broken Hearted
This was painful!
6.


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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by TheAlien »

After the current new Twin Peaks episodes it's looking rather like:

1 Fire Walk With Me/Season Three Episode 8 :wink:
2 Eraserhead
3 Inland Empire

4 Mulholland Drive
5 Blue Velvet
6 Lost Highway

7 Wild At Heart
8 Dune
9 The Elephant Man (still a really emotionally compelling film)



10 The Straight Story (meh)
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Jatriot
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Jatriot »

Thatfabulousalien wrote:After the current new Twin Peaks episodes it's looking rather like:

1 Fire Walk With Me/Season Three Episode 8 :wink:
2 Eraserhead
3 Inland Empire

4 Mulholland Drive
5 Blue Velvet
6 Lost Highway

7 Wild At Heart
8 Dune
9 The Elephant Man (still a really emotionally compelling film)



10 The Straight Story (meh)
Hey that's outside the rules of this list is it not? Otherwise That is absolutely my choice for DL's best work EVER in TPs03-8. I have been staring at my white baron wall non stop since it aired. Completely fractured me!


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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Cipher »

Having finally seen Inland Empire the other day:

1) Eraserhead
2) Inland Empire (these two are very close)
-------- Twin Peaks as a whole (no separate ranking for Fire Walk With Me, as I haven't yet considered it uncoupled from the series -- Season 3 Episode 8 on its own might be my third favorite Lynch work, but it's even better in context of the whole)
3) Lost Highway
4) Mulholland Drive
5) Blue Velvet

Still need to see The Elephant Man, Dune, Wild at Heart, and The Straight Story.

I like them all, but those first two in particular are haunting and memorable in ways that cement them as some of my favorite pieces of film ever. Those two are raw doses of someone else's spirituality, utilizing genuinely nightmarish and disarming imagery to communicate how it feels to be a gendered person in a surprisingly coherent way.

It's actually surprising to me that most people don't have Eraserhead and Empire closer together -- lover them or hate them. They feel like sister works.
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Jatriot »

Cipher wrote:Having finally seen Inland Empire the other day:

1) Eraserhead
2) Inland Empire (these two are very close)
-------- Twin Peaks as a whole (no separate ranking for Fire Walk With Me, as I haven't yet considered it uncoupled from the series -- Season 3 Episode 8 on its own might be my third favorite Lynch work, but it's even better in context of the whole)
3) Lost Highway
4) Mulholland Drive
5) Blue Velvet

Still need to see The Elephant Man, Dune, Wild at Heart, and The Straight Story.

I like them all, but those first two in particular are haunting and memorable in ways that cement them as some of my favorite pieces of film ever. Those two are raw doses of someone else's spirituality, utilizing genuinely nightmarish and disarming imagery to communicate how it feels to be a gendered person in a surprisingly coherent way.

It's actually surprising to me that most people don't have Eraserhead and Empire closer together -- lover them or hate them. They feel like sister works.
Could you please elaborate on how and what brought you to such a conclusion? There are some tone elements at work and both have a haunting song in them but Jack Nance similar to Laura Dern I can only make tenuous connections to their characters at best. Love both films. Oh BTW-See WILD AT HEART!!!! Worth it for the the Sherilyn Fenn Cameo. Ya won't be shaking that one in this life ... no idea why I went old Timmy, Scottish at the end there? Probably a stroke LOL.
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Re: How would you rank David Lynch's films?

Post by Cipher »

Jatriot wrote:Could you please elaborate on how and what brought you to such a conclusion? There are some tone elements at work and both have a haunting song in them but Jack Nance similar to Laura Dern I can only make tenuous connections to their characters at best. Love both films. Oh BTW-See WILD AT HEART!!!! Worth it for the the Sherilyn Fenn Cameo. Ya won't be shaking that one in this life ... no idea why I went old Timmy, Scottish at the end there? Probably a stroke LOL.
Have been meaning to reply to this for a few days now.

Just as Eraserhead is about the feeling of being a man in an uncaring world, Inland Empire is about the feeling of being a woman in a predatory one. The make similarly nightmarish, surrealistic moves to communicate each experience.

That isn't to say that the films are only communicate as gendered experiences -- in fact a lot of what makes them so affecting is how communicative they are about particular forms of emotional experiences regardless of the gender of the viewer. But I do feel they are his most gendered films, and the the gender of the protagonist in each is important in eliciting the right kind of response from the viewer.

They're inverses and parallels in so many other ways as well. Compared to Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, which I also see as something of a sister pair within Lynch's catalogue, with their active protagonists trapped by inescapable consequences of evil actions, Eraserhead and Inland Empire offer similarly passive leads. Yet the decisions that trap both Henry and Nikki are also inverted. Henry traps himself by failing to take action at multiple points. Nikki traps herself by walking through a door she shouldn't (and this is true both figuratively and literally regardless of which incarnation of Dern is the "real" one). The nightmarish structures we surround ourselves with, and I think the films indict these thoroughly, are such that a man must speak out to survive; a woman has it worse; she must forgo assertive actions.

I think their endings also mirror each other in certain ways. Without going too far into it (and I'd probably need another viewing of each to offer a compelling argument) Eraserhead's is comforting without being cathartic. Empire's is cathartic without really offering comfort.

They're twin explorations of the kinds of evil that target passivity, of gendered experiences in arbitrary and bizarre social structures. I find both incredibly moving.

LATE EDIT -- Having recently watched Fire Walk With Me on its own and found it really, really does work as a powerful stand-alone feature, my list would more firmly be:

1. Eraserhead
2. Inland Empire
3. Fire Walk With Me
4. Lost Highway
5. Mulholland Drive
6. Blue Velvet

I love the first three; I like but don't love the latter three. Anyone with Eraserhead, Inland Empire, and FWWM occupying the top three slots in any order is basically sympatico with me.
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