Rating: 
Summary: Mulholand Drive
Review: This movie is Lynch at his best! I would have rated it a 5 if it wasn't for the DVD's lack of special features. One major problem is there is no chapter selection. After viewing this film 5 times already, I have become a little irritated by the fact that I cannot view particular scenes in a non-linear breakdown. If figuring out this movie is important to you this feature would of been nice to have. Also, it would of been nice to have a making of or interview session with the cast. Besides that the visual and audio quality are great. In the same tradition as Lost Highway Lynch has created a masterpiece that will be anaylized for the rest of time. Definately a classic. Buy it now!! I'm just waiting now for Lost Highway on DVD...whatz up?
Rating: 
Summary: WARNING - DVD HAS NO EXTRAS!! not even chapter selection!
Review: I am only rating the DVD itself with the above 2 stars - not the film which I give 5 stars ++++ This DVD (not the actual film!) is a HUGE disappointment. There are no extras other than the trailer for Mulholland Drive. There is a _very_ short cast list with a picture of the featured cast members and their bio & previous works listed.
NO interviews
NO director's commentary - NOTHING!
NO chapter selection!
NO deleted scenes
IT'S ONE BIG CHAPTER!!
I mistakenly turned off my DVD player (instead of pausing) & then had to very-slowly- use the search->> forward on my remote instead of being able to skip chapters to find where I left off. That was beyond frustrating.. I had expected at least a chapter selection. I had been looking forward to the DVD hoping for some Director's commentary, maybe even the making of, some interviews, deleted scenes & maybe even trailers for other Lynch movies!!! (Wouldn't that have been great?!!) The DVD does offer subtitles/captions available in English, Spanish and French. The 2nd star I threw in is for the interesting leaflet inside the DVD: " David Lynch's 10 clues to unlocking this thriller." The picture itself is pretty good and so is the sound. Still the overall the DVD lack of features are a huge disappointment. I was too eager to purchase this DVD and should have waited for a special edition. To me this film was the most emotionally engrossing and powerful of all of David Lynch's works. The scene that affected me the most and continues to stick in my mind is the Silencio sequence, which had me in tears. The intensity of Mulholland Drive had me on the edge throughout the film. Mulholland Drive is very complex, emotional, ironic, tragic, cruel, eerie and hauntingly beautiful. This film is not as straight forward as some of David Lynch's other projects (Blue Velvet etc). The twists and turns and sudden switches between reality and illusion only add to the film's & Director's merits in my opinion. Not that any Lynch films are (meant to be?) very straight forward. You'd never hear someone watch a Lynch film and exclaim at the end "That all made perfect sense!".. Perhaps Lynch films are never meant to be 'understood' but only enjoyed in all their outrageousness and hilarity. (Take "Wild At Heart" for example.) Mulholland Drive's ending is a bizarre free-for-all that I was unable to piece together. I was still left with some unanswered questions. This didn't disappoint me, rather every time I watch it I find something new. And that only adds to the intrigue and encourages me to watch the film again and again. Summing it up, another reviewer *Kaleido Logic* so eloquently wrote:
"I could probably come to some conclusion about the meaning of it all, but everyone should come up with their own. And that is why Lynch is such an essential filmmaker, no one will ever do it like he does, and no one ever has. People can debate the meaning of his films for all of eternity and never agree, and that alone makes this film a worthwhile entry in the Lynch legacy." The acting is flawless and very impressive. Laura Harring is heartbreakingly beautiful! She perfectly conveys the helplessness, desperation and terror felt being held captive by her own failed memory. She is absolutely yummy! I am still awestruck with Naomi Watt's dynamic performance as Betty / Diane Selwyn. Her character reveals her complexities slowly and enticingly. First the naive small town girl, secondly the heated seductress (WOW) during her audition and then her unabashed courage and determination to solve the puzzle of Rita's true identity and finally as tortured and vengeful Diane. I recommend this movie to absolutely any David Lynch fan or person who appreciates a mystery that takes you on a stormy ride People not accustomed to David Lynch's work might find this film difficult to follow, confusing and maybe difficult to understand. ( I won't be recommending it to my Grandparents any time soon).. I imagine anyone experiencing David Lynch's work for the first time through this film will either love it or hate it. People do tend to have very strong reactions one way or another to David Lynch's work. Any Twin Peaks fan should find this right up their alley (even if they did not like any of Lynch's work other than the Twin Peaks series). Not that I can imagine not liking any of Lynch's work!! Again my rating of 2 stars is just for my absolute disappointment in the lack of extras on the DVD edition, not the film itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Baedeker in Hollywood
Review: I must admit I have not yet had a chance to look at the DVD of this movie. But the last time I was comparably impressed by a new release dates back a couple years now, when I saw Eyes Wide Shut for the first time. The New York Film Critics chose Mulholland Drive as best picture of the year and I certainly don't think they erred in doing so. Two films came out last year that employed unconventional narrative techniques, Memento and this picture, yet who could be in doubt about which work is the more challenging of the two? Memento has an arresting premise, but no one who watches the beginning of the movie closely should miss the premise or experience difficulty in following what comes after. By contrast, in Mulholland Drive David Lynch is constantly throwing the viewer off balance. It would be going a bit far to compare Lynch's new creation with Alain Robbe-Grillet and Alain Resnais' Last Year at Marienbad, but hardly any movie of equivalent narrative complexity,visual richness, and difficulty has been made in the United States for years.
I have reviewed Mulholland Drive on my Web site (davesothermovielog.com), but I wanted to record some additional comments here. First of all, the movie is not a crossword puzzle to be deciphered by filling in the blank spaces. To his credit, Lynch leaves some of his spaces permanently void--not to be filled in at all, not even by the most ingenious exegete. Second, the film does have a recognizable subject, which is not Hollywood so much as the act of making motion pictures itself. The nearest thing to a narrative Ariadne's thread through the labyrinth of Mulholland Drive concerns the planned production of a new movie in Hollywood that even affords Lynch an opportunity to throw in a brilliant production number with 1950s decor that puts to shame anything in Moulin Rouge!
This highly fluid story line allows Lynch to cover a lot of territory, including a devastatingly funny look at present day movie financing as experienced by an arrogant, wannabe auteur. (I have the feeling the director was settling old scores in some of these scenes.) But what Mulholland Drive is "about," is none of the areas the film passes through en route to its conclusion. Several famous movies about the movie industry--among them, not only Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, but also George Cukor's A Star Is Born, and Robert Mulligan's Inside Daisy Clover, based on the novel by Gavin Lambert--have dealt with the way stars become alienated in their screen images. Norma Desmond ends up acting out offscreen the goofy roles she played onscreen at the height of her fame, and at the end of A Star Is Born, the viewer might well want to ask, "Who is the 'real' Mrs. Norman Maine?" Esther Blodgett? Vicky Lester? But Lynch, I think, pushes the dialectic of images and identity considerably farther than any American director has done since Orson Welles made Citizen Kane and The Lady from Shanghai.
Revision is a characteristic mode of postmodernism. But often what starts as a homage--for example, to a traditional genre like the musical--almost involuntarily degenerates into parody, as Moulin Rouge! well illustrates. In the past, Lynch has not, in my opinion, always succeeded in walking this particular tightrope with the greatest of aplomb--the end of Wild at Heart seems to me an absolute disaster in that regard. But the "revision" here is truly "re-vision," seeing over again film genres and Hollywood history, in a very large sense of the word, but most importantly "re-viewing" the ever problematic task of telling a story with images.
Rating:
Summary: put on your thinking cap
Review: Before it became one of the most acclaimed films of 2001, David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" was actually going to be a television series (a la "Twin Peaks") before ABC scrapped the idea. As a result, you get a film that's innovative and intriguing, but also plays like a sitcom at moments when it should be commandingly theatrical. The performances of the lead actresses (Naomi Watts & Laura Harring) also seem weak and unconvincing (well, not convincing enough to see this 2 1/2 hour movie through), another element carried over from TV-land. Plot: a woman named Rita is involved in a car wreck, gets amnesia, meets a Hollywood hopeful named Betty, and the rest of the movie follows their misadventures through Lynch's usual bizarre mindscape. Examples of what you'll see during "Mulholland Drive": Midgets with links to the underworld(?); Cowboys who provide useful information; and retro 1950's dance numbers. I've always found Lynch to be a pretty overrated director, stealing the thunder from other directors who do better work and get less credit (David Cronenberg comes to mind), but "Mulholland Drive" is clearly his best film since "Blue Velvet," in part because it requires the focus of the viewer to piece together the mystery. Unlike the self-indulgent, equally overlong "Lost Highway," which was trickery told within the 'logic' of a dream, "Mulholland Drive" is hypnotic and complicated (where it counts). Lynch's sense of humor is also more prominent here (note the cappucino scene). It may raise more questions than it answers, but it IS an achievement in this day and age to see a movie that sticks in your head long after you've left the theater. That's what "Mulholland Drive" has to offer.
Rating: 
Summary: The plot doesn't matter
Review:
First, let me address the lack of chapter selections in this movie: bad choice. Bad! The movie is super long, and if you don't have time to watch the whole thing in one sitting, it would be nice if you could advance to the point where you had to leave off. If there had been chapters, this movie would have gotten five stars.
Secondly, the plot of this movie doesn't matter. At least, not to me. While most movies tell a discernible story, Lynch films usually provide the viewer with a subjective experience unique to him or her. When I'm watching a long, moody scene in a Lynch film, I feel like it's distorting my emotions, and as I ponder why things are happening on the screen, how the movie is mirroring life, I develop thoughts about how our world actually works.
Lynch portrays life in a way that is totally unique and genuinely interesting. Mulholland Drive works not only on this level, but also as an original portrayal of Hollywood. It also delivers quite a few genuinely funny moments. Plus, the women in this movie are incredibly beautiful.
If it wasn't for the lack of chapters, definitely a five! He went out on a limb, I know he wants you to watch the whole thing through, but you don't always have 3 hours to sit and watch a film.
-- JJ Timmins
Rating:
Summary: Organized Confusion!
Review: A lot of reviewers put this film on their "Best of 2001" list,and with very good reason. Although the story and plot get really twisty,and occaissionally defy their own parameters,I think the critics just loved the performances so much,the rest could be overlooked! Yes,it's definitely a David Lynch film,but it's definitely a whole different animal. Laura Elena Harring,Naomi Watts, and Justin Theroux,all put in top notch performance in a tale of Amnesia,Murder,Blackmail,Hollywood,and a Lynch favourite: Duality. What is real and what is imagined? What do you see? Lynch supplies several clues in the DVD insert...good luck. I think what makes this film such a paradox,and hard to pin down,is it's history. "Mulholland Drive" was originally a television pilot,and it didn't get bought. That is why the film introduces numerous characters and sub-plots that don't get fully realized in the full length film.( He later brought back Harring & Watts to shoot additional footage,for the theatrical version.) I give Lynch a lot of credit for making the effort,and creating this odd and amusing little creature,it's fun & quirky,and you'll think about it. With a supporting cast featuring Michael J.Anderson,Ann Miller,and Billy Ray Cyrus as the Pool Guy,how could you not enjoy it?
Rating:
Summary: The Best Move You'll Never Understand
Review: The non-spoiler plot summary:
Sexy mysterious woman has car accident, wanders into apartment where naive Ontario young woman is staying. Sexy woman has anmesia. They try to figure out who she is among other things.
This is classic David Lynch. Think Twin Peaks, earie music, strange goings on. The mood is fantastically woven into a state of surreal mystery without danger. Our two young women get along well. It seems as though this film will be just a wierd buddy film. Then all breaks loose. At one point in the film, after we have met all of the characters and think we know who is who and what is what, David Lynch works his usual magic and we realize we have no idea. One wonderful scene after another leads us to doubt our memories. Is that the idea? I don't know, but usually when I'm this confused I say something vulgar and give up. Not with Mulholland Drive. This is the best movie you'll never follow!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Directing, Great Cinematography Worth Watching
Review: Ok... I enjoyed this movie until I saw the credit lines coming up! Then I asked myself "what was that all about?"
The making of the film is obviously great. The production and cinematography just jump out. But I cant rate something that I didnt understand a 5 star movie! The plot twists were all good too. But the pieces just didnt fit together afterwards. Just as soon as I thought I got it, there was another twist which threw everything out the window... But like I said it's worth watching for the cinematography. I will try to follow some suggestions and watch this one more time. Maybe I'll understand some more...
Rating: 
Summary: You will think it is good but as the kids say it 's bad
Review: What a waste of time. 80% of the movie can be followed, the last 20% is a mess. If you are into weird freak shows with no redemming qualties plus a total lack of realism, this is your movie.
Rating:
Summary: A Hell Of a Ride
Review: Probably Lynch's best film, easily. This incredible film etches itself into your mind and keeps you thinking about it for quite some time.
A woman is in an accident on Mulholland Drive and wanders into the home of an actress who is filming a movie in Canada. Her niece, an aspiring actress herself, has just arrived in Hollywood completely awestruck and finds the amnesiac "Rita" in the home and shrouds herself in helping the woman find who she is.
Filled with tons of climaxes and the usual creepy characters that Lynch is so famous for, this flick takes hold of you like a disturbing dream and doesn't let go, only to leave you shaking once it has ended.
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