Mulholland Drive

Rating:
Summary: Metaphor Galore
Review: ...I appreciated the acting, direction, and basically the whole movie. This is a deep thinker. Many metaphors you have to go home and figure out. Like what the blue box is, the old people...No this is not just a movie to put sex scenes between two beautiful women, which is not far off from the metaphor it provides, but GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! You may be disappointed the first time, but see it again, and you'll the apreciate the mystery of Mulholland Drive.

Rating:
Summary: LET'S NOT BE REALISTIC HERE!!!
Review: AHAHA!! MULHOLLAND DRIVE, YET ANOTHER GREAT MOVIE FROM DAVID LYNCH. LEFT ME MESMERIZED IN THE THEATRE, MAYBE I WASN'T PAYING ENOUGH ATTENTION OR MAYBE THIS FILM IS LIKE ERASERHEAD... MINDBENING!! MULHOLLAND SORT OF REMINDS ME OF A CONTINUUM TO LOST HIGHWAY OR SOMETHING... SUBTLE AND SPOOKY. SEXY. SEDUCTIVE... MULHOLLAND DRIVE...

Rating:
Summary: Lynch at his best
Review: When I saw Lost Highway, I was puzzled. I wasn't sure if it was an incredible film or if it was just plain stupid. After seeing Mulholland Dr., I now know that Lost Highway was stupid. Mulholland Dr. is everything that Lynch was trying to do in Lost Highway, but failed.

This is not to say that I wasn't confused by this one. I can't explain exactly what happened and my interpretation of what happened would take far too long. But, it's all fruitless anyway. We're all going to take something different from this film and there is clearly no definite answer.

A lot of filmmakers say that they want to leave you with more questions than answers with a film. But, more often than not, there is a nice explanation of everything towards the end. Mulholland Dr. takes this notion and slaps you across the face with it.

And just a quick note to anyone who hated this movie and thinks that it was simply a bunch of nonsense; I won't say that you're wrong, I'll just say that you really should have known that before you saw it.

Rating:
Summary: A Cohesive Nightmare with a Moral Message
Review: In spite of the doubters who cite "unnecessary" salacious elements and those who condemn Lynch for being pretentious and nonsensical, Mulholland Dr., mostly the protracted dream of an aspiring actress, is a very moralistic movie, scouring the depravity of Hollywood in a film that is absorbing, consuming, and powerful, dealing with themes of success, ambition, and megalomania on the scale of Citizen Kane. An aspiring actress, scorned by her lover and scorned by Hollywood, commits a hideous crime and then, regretting her actions, has a drug-deranged fantasy-nightmare that attempts to recollect all the pieces of her life. We see her futile attempt to dream about all her longings and Lynch sucks us into this aspiring woman's world. Much of the film's power is the contrast between the false innocence of middle-America juxtaposed with the seedy corruption of Hollywood. Both elements feed off the other and are in a way each other's Shadow, in the Jungian sense. About a hundred minutes into the movie you see what Lynch is up to in terms of the the parallel worlds of Diane, the real actress, and Betty, her dream-induced alter-ego, and what you end up with is a variation of the Citizen Kane theme, someone hellishly isolated in her personal ambition and regrets. There is a scene in "Club Silencio" where we see real weeping and mourning and this is indicative of the tone for Lynch's real compassion and anguish for what he sees as the depravity of Hollywood, which is, more than a city, a sensibility that informs and shapes the attitudes of the entire planet. Lynch should be praised for combining so much heart, imagination, and wit in this movie. Mulholland Dr. is a film about the nihilism that results from blind ambition, but its moralistic stance never descends into nihilism. Each scene is a very engaging story of its own so that even those who don't understand the full story-line of Mulholland Dr. will never be bored by this very beautiful and often disturbing movie.

Rating:
Summary: just see the movie
Review: better than lost highway (which was great). If you like lynch, just go see it. If you haven't seen it, go watch it and don't try to understand the movie. You won't really get it, because lynch himself only half gets it. Just watch it and enjoy it. It's meant to be experienced and emotionally move you while at the same time sort've keeping your mind in the dark.

Rating:
Summary: A seemingly senseless movie that makes very much sense
Review: David Lynch movies are kind of like enjoying "The Telltale Heart" while being enormously grateful you aren't Edgar Allan Poe. Part of you realizes that he can rattle you because he explores the shadowy regions of the soul that you try to ignore.

Lynch's movies (with the glorious exception of "The Elephant Man") and TV shows ("Twin Peaks") are usually mired in self-indulgent non sequitirs, pointless nonconformities, and dwarf fetishes. "Mulholland Drive" still has enough of those qualities to put many people off but it redeemed itself - for me - by searing itself into my conciousness. I rolled my eyes a few times but I was also captivated by seeing some of humanity's greatest dreams, nightmares, and - above all - self-deceptions on the screen.

And this is the difficult part. This isn't a narrative story with a sequential plotline and "three acts and an emotional climax" storytelling. You have to strap your thinking cap on and tap into your own past experiences to "get" this movie. If you need some escapism, this ain't the place to go. But if you're in the mood for some symbolism, mysticism, and often disturbing psychological drama, give this a try.

Part of the film's magic is the drive home, where you say, "Of course! That's what the cowboy at the gates represents!" Or the morning after when you think, "Now I get the pillow at the beginning," while brushing your teeth.

Rating:
Summary: Shuffled Cards
Review: What Lynch attempted with Lost Highway, he perfects in Mulholland Drive. Lost Highway was a great ride, helper demon character and all, but I think Mulholland Drive will be more accessable to a general audience looking for interesting substance in a contemporary film. Lynch constructs this film as if the plot were written on index cards and then they were shuffled. Lost Highway introduced a helper demon into this mix, while Mulholland Drive introduces a phantasm (check your dictionary). Originally a TV pilot, so what? The end product is quality for those who appreciate quality. The interesting thing about this film is that the story only materializes after the ending credits start to roll. The story exists in your mind, not in a linear format. Those who claim this film makes no sense, please watch it again, and this time, don't get up for popcorn during all the key moments.

Rating:
Summary: captivating and haunting
Review: I have seen this film twice in the past week, and all i can say is, i cannot get it out of my head! not only is the film stunningly gorgeous, and the plot surrealistic and moving, but the film is also perhaps the greatest homage--and indictment--of los angeles ever made. bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Lynch has done it again!!
Review: This film blew me away. I have been a Lynch fan for a while now, holding his films in very high regards mainly Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Lost Highway. This film is a masterpiece, Lynch's cinematic and often nightmarish vision incarnate. You people can bash this film all you want, but just remember, you didn't like it, cause you couldn't or didn't want to understand it. Lynch asks the viewers: What does it mean to you? Think for yourself, trust intuition and instict, find the meaning, find the plot. To me, I'm like many other reviewers, it's all about dreams. Whose dreams? In my opinion, Ritas. Dreams blending her life before the accident with her life after, to create a chaotic montage of characters, events, and situations. Wonderful film, one of the best of the year!!!

Rating:
Summary: Mulholland Drive
Review: I agree that this is one of the greatest movies ever made. For the first time ever i had to watch a movie more than once in the theater to actually get it. Eventually i watched it four times and it got better with each viewing. The two actresses chosen by David Lynch are ravishing and Justin Theroux, the director, is amazingly funny in this. Lynch is famous for making women look beautiful in his films and making the men look like him, totally geeky and smart.

The whole 50's vibe of this movie gave a sense of nastalgia back into classic cinema. It makes movies feel alive again. A powerful visceral experience all together, expecially the climax. The climactic point in the film really makes the whole audience scratch their heads when the two main characters Betty and Rita switch identities after a blue cube or a "pandora's box" is opened. This brings us back to reality and the incidences that led up to Diane and Camilla's ill fate. I think the second half of the film was brilliantly done and directed despite what others think about it. Some may believe that it didn't make sense but it does if you put thought into this thinking film. The story is a very simple one about a love story in the city of dreams gone wrong. Most of it is a dream sequence and the rest is a mixture of what happened before and after Diane woke up from that dream.

The acting is superb in this especially by Naomi Watts who plays Betty/Diane Selwyn. She shines especially in a love scene when she makes love to Rita played by Laura Harring. Its honestly one of the most erotic films i have ever seen. Laura Harring is stunningly beautiful and Naomi Watts deserves a Best Actress Award. The music composer, Angelo Badalementi, even makes a cameo appearance. He is the man who drinks the coffee and spits it out in a scene where the director and the casting agents argue about which girl to cast in their film.

The only flaws I can think of this film having is in the DvD. There is no chapter search and no special features other than the theatrical trailer and the bios. I was expecting at least a commentary by David Lynch, interviews, and deleted scenes. David Lynch fans will be disappointed about all this. Hopefully someday, we will see a re-release of this Dvd in a new two disc special edition.