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Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good, but you have to watch carefully to understand
Review: There is really only one idea you need to get to watch this movie and understand what is going on. Dreams figure very large in the movie and many references to dreams and sleeping are made early in the movie to clue you in to the fact that much of the movie is a dream.

The "plot" is only revealed in the end, but plot is not the main focus of the movie. The movie focuses on the hopes, fears, and emotions of the dreamer as revealed through the narative of Betty and Rita, and other seemingly unrelated vignettes. They are all related. Pay attention to the end of the movie about who plays what role, and then imagine how you might dream such scenes if you just went through the experience of the dreamer's real life.

I gave 4 and not 5 stars because Lynch doesn't do a good enough job cluing the viewer in to the fact that everything is a dream. As I mentioned, dreams are emphasized early in the film, but there are many ways to use dreams in themes. It is too much of a leap to think the viewer will make the connection that the whole thing was a dream in time to understand the movie--or maybe it is just the transition from dream to awake that he mangles. When the dreamer wakes up, some of the characters change names--though I guess that can happen in dreams too. The cowboy clues the viewer into who is doing the dreaming just before the person awakes. From that moment, there is just not enough time to keep up with the sudden switch to the waking world. As soon as the dreamer awakes, the viewer is taken into a series of flashbacks explaining the context of the dream. If you don't get the dream thing(sadly it seems some go through the whole film and don't pick that up) the movie will make no sense. Other than Lynch's confusing of the audience, it is a very good movie, especially if you like movies driven by themes.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Best Lynch film in a long time
Review: ...or possibly ever. I'm a fan of his work, so i have a hard time saying i don't like something he's directed. However, i don't even have to try to sugarcoat this review. Mulholland Drive is the culmination of all the dark symbolism and stange, occult subject matter Lynch has focused on over the years. If it doesn't make sense to you maybe you're just looking into it too deeply, or it could just be that you're not familiar with David Lynch's style. I belive this kind of movie is not meant to be disected - some of the stuff he thows in just for fun ( like the cowboy, for example). Apart from the unnecessary and overly gratuitous lesbian scenes, this film is a work of art. Great acting too!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Great movie; lousy DVD
Review: I loved this movie. I saw it three times in the theater. But this DVD redefines "no frills". No chapters, even!

This DVD is worth renting if you would like to see the movie, but buying it would be a waste of money.

It's sad that an innovator like David Lynch would fail to exploit the potential of the DVD medium and go all Luddite on us instead.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If something could get less than 1 star, I'd rate it that.
Review: Sorry to all the fans of this movie out there, but I've got to say that this was by far one of the Top 5 WORST movies I've ever seen. A sentiment shared by the 5 or so other people in the room when we watched it.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A pretentious bore..
Review: Before I begin, I have to say that my little review will contain "spoilers," so if you are the type of person who can't stand having a movie, however dull and contrived, spoiled for you, I suggest you do not continue reading.

I know that David Lynch has a strong cult following. I also know that many consider "Mulholland Drive" his magnum opus, alongside "Twin Peaks," of course. However, I can't say that I enjoy Lynch's work. "Mulholland Drive" is boring and so pretentious that it makes "Donnie Darko" (which I thoroughly enjoyed) look like "Pirates of the Caribbean."

The much-debated storyline is really not as confusing as most people seem to think. The first two hours are basically comprised of a long and utterly tedious dream sequence that combines a hodgepodge of barely-connected plots and characters, none of whom interesting enough to retain the viewer's attention if it were not for the odd shocker: a scary fuzzball at the back of Winkie's restaurant, an erotic but rather random lesbian sex scene, a humorous Tarantino-esque accident-prone hitman. Finally, the dream ends. But does Lynch mercifully end it there and call it quits? No, there's still another half hour in which he attempts to rationalize the dream.

If taken chronologically, the basic plot is so simple it's really terribly cliché. Diane Selwin, a young woman who, after winning a jitterbug contest in Ontario, came to Los Angeles to become an actress, finds herself doing.. well... not that great. Making it big is difficult. Her lover, Camilla Rhodes, is a beautiful up-and-coming movie star; she took the part in "The Sylvia North Story" that Diane wanted. After going to a dinner party hosted by director Adam Kesher's mother, known to everyone as "Coco," Camilla and Adam announce that they are engaged. This revelation causes much dismay for Diane, and she later meets a hitman at Winkie's, giving him a rather hefty bag filled with money to kill the woman who was once her lover. He accepts the deal and tells her that when Camilla is dead, Diane will find a blue key. What does this blue key open? Lynch apparently had no ideas about this one, so he has his hitman answer with a knowing laugh. Knowing laughs always bail you out.

So later, Diane has a dream, which makes up the grunt of the movie, in which she is an aspiring actress named Betty (a nom de reve taken from a reality-based waitress's nameplate) who comes to Los Angeles to make it big. So far so good. She stays at a glorious mansion owned by her aunt, who was once a famous movie star herself, in which she meets Rita, a woman who looks suspiciously like Camilla in reality. Rita was the object of a hit, but after a car accident foiled this attempted assasination, Rita escaped with everything intact- except her memory. Betty and Rita then spend the remainder of the dream playing detective, trying to discover Rita's true identity. Along the way, they encounter a decomposing corpse, a weird monotoned cowboy, a creepy club called "Silencio," and lots of sex.

And finally, Diane wakes up only to go insane. After a short and uninspired battle with an old couple (quite possibly the scariest cinematic old couple ever), Diane shoots herself. The End.

There's much more, of course, but 1,000 words is not enough to fully describe the pretentious, ridiculous, and hopelessly convoluted plot that is "Mulholland Drive." If you are the type of person who enjoys movies that try to be as confusing as possible, then by all means! Watch this film! Love it, even! I, on the other hand, cannot possibly consider this movie to be anything but an irksome piece of pap that plods along portentously. The movie's plot is not that difficult to decipher, but most of us finish watching it... and just don't really care anymore what it's about. Just as long as it's over.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: OUTSIDE OF A DREAM.
Review: (This review reveals many details about the plot, so consider yourself warned..) I think that Mulholland Drive is one of David Lynch's most complex and puzzling movies of all time.(except for maybe Lost Highway) In a nutshell-Mulholland Drive is about a character, named Dian Sewlwin, escaping reality through a dream. Only to be brought back to a horrifying reality that she has created for herself. The first half of the movie is the dream which is subtly hinted at numerous times in the movie. The movie starts with a close-up of a pillow and slowly fades to black. The dream is again hinted at with the line "I left Ontario and suddenly I'm in this dream place. The dream ends when the character cleverly named "The Cowboy" pops into Dianes room and says "time to wake up pretty girl."

Anyways, now that I'm done trying to convince you that the first half of the movie is a dream, we can return to the story now.
In the "reality" portion of this film, Diane moves to Hollywood to pursue an acting career, but to no avail. That is until she meets an up and coming actress named Camilla Rhodes. Camilla helps Diane get small parts in some of her movies. They end up becoming romantically involved until Camilla meets a young Director named Adam. Diane becomes increasingly jealous which culminates to a climax with the announcement that Adam and Camilla are going to get married. This sends Diane in a rage which leads her to actually hire a hitman to kill Camilla. She regrets what she does and can't get over what she has done. The guilt becomes to much to bare. Now we're up to speed.

O.K. back to the "dream" portion of the film

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Pish-posh, said Horonomus Bosh
Review: I don't like David Lynch. I do not think he is very creative. I have a fondness for books or movies that's sole purpose is to express just how imaginative or creative the artist behind them is. However, this movie, while it has its moments, is not terribly creative. Before you furiously click the "not helpful" button, spit on the ground, and wash out your eyes to clean them from the filth they have just read, I would like to say that I know Lynch has a message with this movie. The "last thought of a dying woman," and the whole complex psychology situation with the two women equalling different parts of the same person...I've read it. I respect that it's not complete mindless self-indulgence, and that's why I've spared it the 1-star review. However, do not mistake this very mediocre film for a brillaint piece of cinema. Just because something is intentionally esoteric doesn't automatically make it something profound. Lynch took an average idea, and decorated it with as much lavish bunk as he possibly could. To me, the whole thing wasn't worth it. Overly complicated, and even more pretentious, Lynch wants the audience to leave the theater in awe, as if the film was just so genius it is above their understanding. The characters weren't very interesting (well the Cowboy, the old man in the wheel-chair, and that magician with the evil smile were all very good) on whole, and I guess that was another major issue I had with the movie.
The movie isn't worth it. Lynch wants you leaving thinking it's profound, but it isn't. The acting is decent, with Naomi Watts being very good, but the woman who was actually some past Ms. America champion was awful. Everything else was pretty bad. If you want to see it because...well, because, by all means. Better to see then to not see. But it's definately not as amazing as it has been hyped up to be.

Now go head, click that "not helpful" button. I can take it.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Worst movie ever
Review: Out of all the movies I have watched, (and I have watched a lot)Mulholland Drive is the most boring, pointless one I have seen. It is so boring, and has no story at all. I couldn't stand having to act in a movie as boring as this. The first hour in a half is just a bunch of people walking aroud. During that first hour in a half, they say about 15 words. Then, the last half hour is the most weirdest thing you've ever seen. And that weirdness has no point, or relation to the story whatsoever.I even whatched it again, too give it a sencond chance or see if I missed any important plot, but still, it was the same boring slow movie. There's no suspense, just people doing normal stuff. Please don't watch this movie, it will be a waste of 2 hours of your life, and you will be dissapointed, and bored. I have never seen anything so boring, not even a Ken Burns documentary. TERRIBLE!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A brilliant, mindbending treasure, even for non-Lynch fans
Review: Let me first say that if you have not yet seen "Mulholland Drive", then by golly PLEASE stop reading these or any other reviews!! There are spoilers all throughout, and they could severely hamper the rare filmgoing experience to be had while watching this film. I for one knew absolutely NOTHING about the story, and I experienced one of the rarest treats in my 20 some years of avidly watching movies. This film has helped restore my faith in modern filmmaking. Not to mention it finally did what I thought would never happen: I became a David Lynch fan. I personally did not like "Blue Velvet" when I finally saw it a few years ago (though I now know that I must see it again). And I did not at all like "Wild At Heart" when I saw that about 11 years ago. I thought this guy obviously possessed a unique filmmaking vision, but I simply didn't get it. I'm really not even sure why I gave "Mulholland Drive" a try. I think part of it had to do with having seen Naomi Watts in "The Ring". Not that I fell in love with her or anything, I just found her interesting to watch in that movie. But let me say that I also walked away from this movie as a fan of Naomi Watts. She is simply smashing in this movie, tackling a most difficult role that I'm sure not many young actresses in Hollywood could pull off (though I saw in the cast bios that she's been in movies since 1986).

So with all of that said, I don't want to say anything about the story. Nothing at all. Other than just stick with it. It works itself out, but you will have to see the movie at least one more time and you'll need to think about it. Be prepared to put aside at least six hours. And be sure to read the ten clues on the DVD insert card, BUT don't read them until you've watched it once. If you still don't get it, then come back here and read some of the reviews by the few people that got it and wrote about it. Just know that while not exactly everything in the story is relevant to the core plot, part of the great pleasure is sorting out what does fit and what are simply red herrings.

You'll be glad you gave this one a try. But be ready to actively participate. If you just sit back and let the images fly by you, then you will miss out on a rare opportunity to be sucked into a movie that will do to you what very few films can. One critic was right when s/he said "it gets in your head and stays there". This kind of thing has never really happened to me as an adult. Or maybe I'm just regressing to my teenage years and I'm acting like a kid. Who knows; I just know that I LOVED this movie. And I am a very demanding customer.

It's got to be the best film made since 1980. I mark that as the year that Hollywood filmmaking exited its final golden era. And the two films that mark that exit for me are "Ordinary People" and "Raging Bull". I'm not saying that movies got worse. Our pop culture in general somehow changed at that time and became more commercial, something that we still feel in a much bigger way today.

But on the down side, I must say the DVD itself is disappointing. There's no reason a 2001 film should come with no extras. It's not like they have to dig through the vaults to find bonus materials. And what's funnier, I personally never care about chapters on a DVD, but for the first time I could have really used them here--but David Lynch didn't want it released that way. How ironic for me.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Passafist Reviews Mullholland Drive
Review: How do you review a film like Mullholland Drive? What do you tell people? How do you explain what you've just witnessed? That's the most agrivating thing about this film. There's a story here, after one viewing I think I have it, but do I?

I've actually driven on Mullholland Drive. Even in the Daytime it's a little freaky, it's up in the Hollywood Hills, and even though you're in one of the biggest cities in the world, it feels like a no mans land. All these big houses with huge gates, and yet not a soul in sight. Man that movie was on big mind freak!!!

Naomi Watts (The Ring) plays Betty a small town girl who's just stepped off a plane into the City of Angels. She has a rich aunt who's letting her stay in her apart while she shoots a movie in Canada. Betty has dreams of making it as an actress, she won a jitterbug contest at home why couldn't she? Now imagine you shock if you got home and there was a naked woman in your shower. That woman calls herself Rita. The enchantingly beautiful Laura Elena Harring (Willard) plays her, she doesn't know who she is or how she got where she was. Except that the night before she was in a horrible car accident, in which she was the only survivor.

There is also a film director named Adam, who's being forced to cast an actress he doesn't want in his new film. There is a cowboy (Monty Montgomery) who's looking for him. Plus there's a hitman (Matt Pellegrino) and two executives, one who never says a word (Dan Hedya), the other who hates the studio Espresso ((Composer Angelo Badalamenti) I guess it's too bad he never got that damn fine cup of coffee in Twin Peaks) and a guy in a restaurant who had a bad dream.

As the film progress all these characters and more walk in and out, and for the most part your not sure why. The film is full of clues to solve the mystery, but what are clues and what are red herrings? We'll probably never know.

I liked the scenes where Betty is practicing her lines for an audition with Rita. I like how the lines are played with the dashing old actor (Chad Everett). What a difference playing close and playing far away make. I liked the Director in the scene (Wayne Grace) who is manipulated by everyone else.

The films last 40 minutes have to be seen to believe. Yes, there is the infamous lesbian sex scene. But there's more than that. The film also begins to unravel? The dream begins to end and the film which up until then has been very light and tongue and cheek takes a very, very dark turn. Everything gets tied up, but only more questions are left unanswered.

Mullholland Drive is the kind of movie that will be discussed forever. What does everything mean? Who is the dark wino who freaks out the man who had a dream about Winkies? What was the point of that scene? What is the blue box? What is the blue key? What is the woman singing about at the strange concert? What's in the Black Book? What David Lynch's Dwarf friend up to this time? I'm convinced David Lynch knows, but he's not telling.

So I'll leave you with one Word: SILENCIO!!


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