So I've been watching some David Lynch movies recently.

The Elephant Man
Eraserhead
Wild at Heart
Mulholland Drive
Blue Velvet
The Straight Story

Still need to see Lost Highway and Inland Empire... I'm not sure if I want to risk seeing Dune.

Anyway, to my point: ...what the fuck?

I loved TSS, TEM, BV, and WAH. But I guess that's because they're his most accessible. I really liked Mulholland Dr. and was patting myself on the back for kind of understanding it until about half way through when the story changes COMPLETELY. And Eraserhead is a completely different story.

So my question: Can these movies be understood? I mean, is there a point to them at all? Am I an idiot?

And I hear Inland Empire is even worse...

I saw Mulholland Dr. and was pretty confused/freaked out. I had a sliiiiight idea what was going on, but next to nothing really. My uncle then looked the movie up and found an explanation. It was pretty ridiculous.

To be honest, it annoys me. If his movies had amazing cinematography, I would make an exception for the god awful storylines, but they don't.

Twin Peaks

Most watched Lynch bullshit ever.

I've watched Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive and I think I really gave them a chance.

But I honestly think they're just really fucking bad. I heard when he shot Inland Empire that he didn't even plan a story, he just shot some scenes each day not worrying about how they'd fit together.

That's not how Inland Empire went down. Before he had conceived any idea of a movie, he had begun to shoot a few shorts: He'd write out a script and then shoot it a week later.

After he had a few of these shorts, he looked at what they were about and the idea of a movie finally hit him. He then crafted the movie around the shorts he already had.

It's not as if he was prepared to shoot an entire movie and not worry about how it fits together until the editing room. Once he had the concept of a movie, he planned the story.

The thing with Eraserhead, Inland Empire is that it's interpretive cinema. It's like seeing a painting and looking at it a thousand different ways. Lynch wants people to look at those movies like they look at a painting - he wants them to interpret it in their own way.

Inland Empire isn't so much composed of a bunch of scenes that create a story, it's composed of a bunch of a metaphors that create an idea. That's what he's going for. It's a different kind of movie.

I don't understand any of his movies that I've seen:
Blue Velvet or Mulholland drive..

That makes me feel stupid but then I go and watch a cool movie like Arlington Road and forget why I care..

That's pretty cool, actually. I'll have to watch the movies again with this in mind.

Otherwise, they can be frustrating to watch.

I'm planning on renting Lost Highway on my next visit to Blockbuster.

I'll keep what you said in mind.

Im a big David Lynch fan but i still havent seen Lost Highway or Inland empire and those are the only two movies i havent seen. Dune sucked, don't bother. I love how he can build up so much tension over something you can't even put into words. Eraserhead is so great just for this reason. I was just amazed the first time i saw it.

I've seen Eraserhead and Mulholland Dr. Both made me feel really stupid and really dirty. I don't know why. I don't know-- I know it's his "style" and everything but often times, I can't help but think he's just throwing shit together just to confuse people and make them think they aren't "deep" enough to "get" it. I'm calling.. pretentious on his part, mostly. But I think a lot of people think that.