Saturday, July 25, 2009

Mulholland Drive

#26 on Glenn's Top 100 Movie List

Mulholland Drive is a nice movie about a young aspiring actress who comes to Hollywood to make it big! It was made by the director of Walt Disney's Dune, and is really uplifting and fun. Ha ha, just kidding about all the nice stuff. This movie doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it does manage to create a complex tonal and emotional landscape. I'm not big on decoding symbolism or meaning in art - that junk is for science nerds, math nerds, and philosophy douchebags. If it doesn't make me feel something, then it fails, and Mulholland Drive takes me through a terrifying spectrum of emotion every time I watch it, so there.

RATING: 93%

23 comments:

Walter Benjamin and the Mechanical Reproductions (the band) said...

terrifying spectrum of emotion: horny, confused, honry

DCP said...

Also, what's with movie posters with extreme closeups of Naomi Watts in distress?

Sad.

Terrorized.

Timmaaay!!! said...

Speaking of Disney movies directed by David Lynch, did you see The Straight Story?

I.J. said...

IMO, The trick to "decoding symbolism or meaning in art" is that at least 1 or 2 of those 3 things have to be kicking around. I betcha Matthew Barney's seen this motherfucker like 9 times.

Narrative fail.

DCP said...

@Timmaaay!!! - No, I still haven't seen The Straight Story. I've meant to, and also Inland Empire, but I haven't gotten around to them. I have to finish Star Trek: Voyager first.

@IJ - You of all people should know that narrative is just a representation of the phallus of time. True, feminine art should be free of the historic oppressiveness story expectations hold.

Bluto said...

True feminine art comes out of a vagina, inherits your yacht club membership and inflicts your last name on some lucky heiress.

John said...

As far as the human brain's ability to process information is concerned, narrative is the only game in town. A child whose mind was free of "story expectations" would be incapable of doing anything except maybe masturbating and eating butterscotch pudding with his hands. I'm sure a game of Uno in the T.V. lounge evokes a complex tonal and emotional landscape for someone who lacks the cognitive tools to decode the symbolism and meaning of all those colours and numbers.

Nice pic, BTW. If Jason Vorhees and Helena Bonham Carter had a blonde baby...

DCP said...

You sound just like a poetry MFA student.

I.J. said...

I doubt it. It's nice to see you baiting me for a change, though.

Viking Andrew said...

Once, somebody told me fragmented narrative was a feminine thing. I immediately directed them to Bill Burroughs, who shot his wife in the head.

I.J. said...

Also, he fucked kids.

The thing is that classic "linear" narrative is actually nonlinear to begin with. Blah blah blah. Hélène Cixous. Pearl necklace. Tater tots. Lobotomy.

Anonymous said...

My favorite part is when she cries and masterbates. Wow, who does that for real?

Walter Benjamin and the Mechanical Reproductions (the band) said...

was viking anderw talking about the hobbit cause we read that book and the dudes name was bilbo bagens and they didnt have guns in the midevil times so i dont think the story you read was canon

Walter Benjamin and the Mechanical Reproductions (the band) said...

(book club)

DCP said...

Is there any other way to masturbate?

laurie said...

Blah blah blah. Obligatory accusations of sexism.

shoppista said...

masturbating and eating butterscotch pudding with his hands...

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Walter Benjamin and the Mechanical Reproductions (the band) said...

glen check out the second blog you showd me

Encyclopedia Brown said...

It's spelled "masterbate."

John said...

It's spelled "encyclopædia."

Walter Benjamin and the Mechanical Reproductions (the band) said...

its spell "its" (contraction's dont exist)

John said...

It pelled "it" (s dont exit)

Jacqui said...

I don't know what you're talking about. I thought Naomi Watts seeing Polly Pocket sized people running through her apartment was really fun and uplifting.

But that's just me, I guess.