I have never watched any David Lynch but have kind of wanted to for a while. Several people have recommended Twin Peaks to me and yesterday I heard some college DJs discussing "Twin Peaks music" and for some reason this pushed me to actually watch an episode. (The music is very good though I don't know that I would listen to it often out of context.)
I watched it on Pluto TV which is one of those "free-with-ads" streaming services. yt-dlp's support for it seems to be broken so I begrudgingly used their web player. With uBlock Origin I only saw one short ad, conscientiously placed at what was originally a commercial break, during the whole pilot episode, which is around 90 minutes long. So I can't complain too much, but I might look into other means which are more convenient and flexible.
But about the pilot: Wow! Stunning. The first 15 minutes are totally harrowing. I really feel for these people, even if they occasionally deliver lines which I assume must be deliberately written as "slightly off". Hard to explain but every now and then someone says or does something odd or comical and I can't quite grasp why. Even the cast of World's Oldest High Schoolers seems to fit into this wrongness although that might just be typical TV casting.
The strangest character by far is the FBI agent, who is a sort of vampiric presence, too sharp and clean looking, full of himself, unsympathetic, but ultimately good at his job. Delights irrelevantly in the local flora and fauna.
People will harp on about the strangeness of Lynch, though, so I suppose what surprised me the most was actually the careful verisimilitude of the production. Characters are upset by things which are upsetting. No one is "Hollywood handsome", they all look pretty normal (the only character who is notably made-up is the mill owner). Nothing really seems amiss except for the very obvious central drama.
And - what an ending! I must know why that happened. Fantastic pilot.
Twin Peaks.
ohhhh yes welcome to the world of Twin Peaks. You did a great job nailing what stands out for that show. The characters are all INCREDIBLE, even though they approach caricature at times, Lynch and Frost do such a great job with giving everyone their own inner world. You truly feel for all of them (except maybe James lol). The first two seasons are amazing - watch Fire Walk With Me film after that, then Twin Peaks The Return (which was made 25 years after the original run).
As far as other Lynch, Blue Velvet is my recommendation which carries that same small town with a dark secret vibe without going too far off the deep end. Alternatively, Eraserhead would be the other end of the spectrum to get a taste of how deep the Lynchian well goes. I feel like understanding the breadth of his work helps contextualize the restraint and surreal elements that peek through in the more normal Twin Peaks style stuff, it was broadcast on network TV after all.
As far as other Lynch, Blue Velvet is my recommendation which carries that same small town with a dark secret vibe without going too far off the deep end. Alternatively, Eraserhead would be the other end of the spectrum to get a taste of how deep the Lynchian well goes. I feel like understanding the breadth of his work helps contextualize the restraint and surreal elements that peek through in the more normal Twin Peaks style stuff, it was broadcast on network TV after all.
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agafnd
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I still don't know how to feel about James! There are a lot of Angry Young Men about and I am excited – perhaps apprehensive – to see what they doYou truly feel for all of them (except maybe James lol).
I am so down for watching more Lynch.As far as other Lynch, Blue Velvet is my recommendation which carries that same small town with a dark secret vibe without going too far off the deep end. Alternatively, Eraserhead would be the other end of the spectrum to get a taste of how deep the Lynchian well goes. I feel like understanding the breadth of his work helps contextualize the restraint and surreal elements that peek through in the more normal Twin Peaks style stuff, it was broadcast on network TV after all.
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I echo curio's sentiments precisely. blue velvet is my favorite lynch movie.
i finally got around to watching eraserhead while on an overnight flight. i found an ancient 480p avi on an old hard drive so that's what i put on. then i fell in and out of sleep throughout the whole movie with it playing on my headphones. i can't really recommend a better viewing experience.
i finally got around to watching eraserhead while on an overnight flight. i found an ancient 480p avi on an old hard drive so that's what i put on. then i fell in and out of sleep throughout the whole movie with it playing on my headphones. i can't really recommend a better viewing experience.
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flowercorpse
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Shamelessly budging in here to send you a very nice article on Lynch, one in which MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUND https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts ... in-trouble
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agafnd
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I'll be glad to read that at some point. "Women in trouble" sure describes this showShamelessly budging in here to send you a very nice article on Lynch, one in which MAJOR SPOILERS ABOUND https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts ... in-trouble
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agafnd
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Yesterday I watched episodes 2 & 3 (or 1 & 2? some people seem to count the pilot as episode 0). Here are some thoughts
Sometimes the soundtrack is diegetic! For example a character will start a jukebox and it will play a soundtrack piece that I've previously heard.
Wow this gets complicated! There are so many plot threads that it is almost hard to keep track. They all seem to connect though in a sort of grand conspiracy. Or maybe not.
I take it back about the people here being relatively normal. Particularly the richer people are very weird in that way that rich people often are. Practically everyone is having affairs which half the town is aware of. The FBI still turns out the biggest weirdos though: Cooper has summoned his Boys who are all 10x as impersonal and curtain-ironing as he is.
The general strangeness has increased too, particularly thinking of the hallucination scene in ep. 2 & the dream sequence which ends ep. 3
My favorite joke so far is this: Agent Cooper is doing some silly bullshit with a blackboard. The local cops are humoring him. Cooper flips over the (rather large) blackboard to reveal an enormous map of Tibet. First: he doesn't actually need that map! He goes on to briefly explain the history of Tibet but at no point refers to its geography. Second: where the hell did he get that map? Does he travel around with it?
Anyway it continues to be riveting viewing.
Sometimes the soundtrack is diegetic! For example a character will start a jukebox and it will play a soundtrack piece that I've previously heard.
Wow this gets complicated! There are so many plot threads that it is almost hard to keep track. They all seem to connect though in a sort of grand conspiracy. Or maybe not.
I take it back about the people here being relatively normal. Particularly the richer people are very weird in that way that rich people often are. Practically everyone is having affairs which half the town is aware of. The FBI still turns out the biggest weirdos though: Cooper has summoned his Boys who are all 10x as impersonal and curtain-ironing as he is.
The general strangeness has increased too, particularly thinking of the hallucination scene in ep. 2 & the dream sequence which ends ep. 3
My favorite joke so far is this: Agent Cooper is doing some silly bullshit with a blackboard. The local cops are humoring him. Cooper flips over the (rather large) blackboard to reveal an enormous map of Tibet. First: he doesn't actually need that map! He goes on to briefly explain the history of Tibet but at no point refers to its geography. Second: where the hell did he get that map? Does he travel around with it?
Anyway it continues to be riveting viewing.
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agafnd
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Another thought I just had: people are frequently talking with their mouths full. Like talking around huge bites of food. Or sometimes avoiding talking with a huge bite of food.
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