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Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a 4-star movie and a 5-star disc
Review: this movie is brilliant. there's nothing i can say that hasn't already been said. it's like a dream, like a piece of music. it's meant to be experienced, not understood. i know lynch never breaks up his films into chapters, so this didn't really bug me about the disc. it's wonderful because it contains a wonderful movie. speaking of which, the only reason i don't give MULHOLLAND the full 5 stars as a film is because of the scene where 'rita' removes her towel and gets into bed. we briefly see her fully nude in a dark room, but her crotch has been blurred out for some odd reason! what kind of weirdo censorship is this? i demand an explanation. why did they film her fully nude? why didn't they pan up to avoid getting her "downstairs" in the shot? lynch's film is full of inventive visuals and special camera/editing effects, and this is just stupid. i hope there was a reason behind this other than censorship. it's not like i have some emotional reason for WANTING to see her lower body, but i thought blurring it out was ridiculous. other than that, i loved everything about MULHOLLAND DRIVE.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Yep, It's good
Review: I have to admit, it's a very well put together piece of cinema and it has a finally apparent, though certainly not pervasive, clarity and message. Beautiful.
But.
It is really pretentious, and that is reflective of Lynch's maddened little artiste's ego. Whatever you say about Mulholland Drive's message about the moral malleability of Hollywood and how it strives to twist human issues for monetary gain, Lynch only portrays this message on a level visible to those educated in the cryptography of the arthouse film. He doesn't, and never has cared to speak to an intellectual audience that is interested in smart films but doesn't have the time to sit through unending viewings of Eraserhead and Begotten. There's a certain amount of talent involved in making a film palatable, and I would say that Lynch has decided to distance himself from it in order to create for himself a dedicated fan base who in good turn built him an ivory tower.
Don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the film. The casting was spot-on and the acting was excellent. But Dune was execreble and nothing's ever going to change that.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Easy enough to understand
Review: Why so much confusion over the non linear approach to this great movie? I have seen it twice but I understood the framing the first time. It is told in thirds. The first third which lasts approximately one and half hours is the fantasy life and rememberances of Diane Selwyns life. She wanted to come to Hollywood and become a star, which in her dream she has all the makings of one. In the dream she helps Rita who needs her desperately to find out what happened in her accident. Rita also gives all control to "Betty" until Club Silencio. When Diane/Betty wakes up from a prod from the cowboy...She is her real self which is Diane. Diane is a washout..burnout third rate actress who got to Hollywood through the help of neopotism. Rita/Camilla is the star who stole her thunder and her heart. So to get revenge she hires a hit man to knock her off. About 10 min into the the second third when Diane has her roommate remove her stuff from her apartment there is a jump in time as to Diane remembering how things really went down with Camilla. You can discern this because the roommate picked up her ashtray yet when Diane and Camilla are having hot and bothered sex the ashtray is very much present. Diane is then rapt with confusion, guilt, and completely depressed over the fact that she does not know herself, she was not a strong actress or a good enough lover to keep Camilla. Depressed she kills herself finally putting a silence to her turmoil. Brilliant

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A lot of great ideas that go nowhere
Review: I love the first hour and a half of this movie. David Lynch is true to his form, spinning a story that just draws you in from the very beginning. Which is why the anticlimactic ending is such a dissapointment. I remember seeing this movie in a theater, and when the closing credits rolled, half the audience said in unison "that's it?" I have to give it up to the actors though: they really got into their characters and acted quite convincingly. That goes especially for Naomi Watts (Betty/Diane) who manages to play two characters that are diametrically opposite of each other, both with the same gusto. If you are a David Lynch fan, this movie is as David Lynch as you can get. However, if you just like watching movies, Mulholland Drive may be a little (or a lot) frustrating to watch.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Garbage
Review: I like deep movies, i like artsy movies, i like thinking movies. This is none of those. This is over-hyped garbage. Blue Velvet, good movie. Not great, but good. Every other thing this man has done is [junk]. He is laughing at all of us. I can only hope he is doing an experiment to prove to everyone, that a man can make movies that stink, and if he packages them well enough, he can convince everyone he is a genius. That.....is David Lynch's only genius.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Hard to follow
Review: but also hard to stop watching!
I generally am not a fan of Lynch's work. I think his movies are extremely bizarre and the story always hard to follow because of the weird fashion they seem to be in.
While this movie did have me totally lost, I was intrigued by the story. Naomi Watts plays "Betty", a fresh faced girl who has just moved to L.A. to make it as an actress. I appreciate films about the making of actors, but this goes beyond that. She meets "Rita", who has been involved in a nasty car accident(This is the start of the film). Rita has lost her memory, and Betty decides to help her figure out who she is.
Do we really ever find out who "Rita" really is? I watched this movie three days ago, and I still don't know. This movie was confusing, really confusing. I think they were going back and forth in time, but the viewer doesn't really know for sure. At least I didn't.

There are some really strange characters, as with every Lynch project, that join Betty and Rita along the way to figuring out the truth about Rita's life. This is a twisted tale of Hollywood.
Both actresses were excellent, and Justin Theroux, who plays a director in the film, was very good. I just saw him in a play in Boston, and he is a great actor.
It's been so long since I've watched any of Lynch's other work, but I think only diehard fans of his will truly appreciate this film. It's extremely hard to follow but at the same time it's interesting. I found myself engrossed in it, and wanting to know what the turnout would be. I'm still trying to figure it out.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Spectacular movie, wretched DVD
Review: Mulholland Drive is one of my favorite movies, but I regret that I cannot recommend buying the Mulholland Drive DVD. Though reasonable in theory, David Lynch's decision to present the entire film as one chapter on the DVD is in fact a terrible idea, for reasons of unfortunate technical reality.

If you a typical blundering idiot like me, you sometimes scratch a CD or DVD. If your DVD player finds a scratch, it can freak out and jump to the beginning of the current chapter. Woe be the David Lynch fan, for his scratch will deliver him back to the beginning of Mulholland Drive, from whence he has to fast-forward to find his place again. Talk about a breach of cinematic continuity.

My advice is to (a) rent it while some copies are still scratchless (b) buy it on VHS or (c) be vewwy cayfow with your Mulholland Drive DVD. Don't lend it to any David Cronenberg fans.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: In dreams, I walk with you.
Review: David Lynch's subversive and compasionate film is his most coherent ever. It's the story of two women with very different agendas. One deeply personal and the other one ruthlessly professional. When these two worlds collide, the results are tragic. I wouldn't say that this film is a criticism of Hollywood as a previous reviewer did - that would be too literal - I think it's more about what happens when passions run too deep and people loose their way in a world of self made delusion.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Different Perspective
Review: First of all, let me make this clear: I REALLY enjoyed this movie! The sets, the color, the direction and especially the performances were all first rate. I do, however, have some ideas and thoughts about what was presented on screen. Word has it that this was to be a television series that Lynch was working on. Whether it was being shopped around or whether it had a network behind it, I do not know. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the plug was pulled. Mr. Lynch was then faced with a dilemma: shelf it or try to condense it into a feature film. Obviously, the choice was to save this story as a film. I do believe, however, that there are many instances where the viewer can see the results of the failed television series. To wit:
1) Robert Forster plays a detective that is in the movie for all of 2 minutes and delivers one line. I do not believe that Lynch would insult a fairly well-known actor by asking him to deliver one line. I believe this character was to be seen much more during the series. 2) The entire "this girl gets the part" storyline, which started off so fascinating, dried up and blew away. It seemed much to intriguing to just drop. Plus, again, you have Dan Hedaya, a fine actor, delivering one or two lines. I don't buy that it was planned that way. Television series. 3) The whole scene concerning the thug stealing the black book. Obviously, that book should have had some signifigance. And yet, that entire scene can be removed from the movie and no one would know the difference. 4) The "Cowboy". Lynch sets up what may well be the most interesting character in the movie....and then does nothing with him. The "Cowboy" warns that "...if you see me again once, you've done good, if you see me again twice, you've done bad...". I realize we get a brief glimpse of him later, but I have to believe Lynch had bigger and better things planned for this character. Television series.
Now, that said, let us give Lynch immense credit for piecing together a movie that is thought-provoking, thoughtful and one-of-a-kind. For him to be able to put together a movie of unfinished pieces into an Oscar nominated (director) film is absolutely a stunning achievement.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: No hay banda.
Review: The reason Blue Velvet will always be David Lynch's masterpiece is because Blue Velvet makes sense. Ever since Wild at Heart, David Lynch has abandoned all hint of believable plots. This is by far David Lynch's greatest movie since Blue Velvet. Not because it makes sense, but because it has some moments that will enchant you and moments that will change your life forever. David Lynch has already blown me away, but he blew me away even further. From the moment you hear the words "Silencio. No hay banda," your world as you know it will never be the same again. There is a version of Roy Orbison's "Crying" in Spanish that will leave you always wanting to see that movie again just for that scene. There is the usual nudity, violence and language.


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