Calling Lynch fans to come vote for Eraserhead. Star Wars fans are not needed. Thank you. https://forum.chorus.fm/threads/1977-in-film.58333
Got this today. I normally don’t care for dust jackets, or whatever they’re called, but this cover is pretty cool. I’m excited to dig in, especially the chapter titled Judy.
It’s a good read. It leans more on the things from the original Mark Frost was associated with like the small town elements rather than the Lynch dream-like stuff.
I listen to this podcast called “Death is Just Around the Corner” which is mostly a fun vibe-y 45mins-1 hour of listening to a dude talk passionately about different JFK theories and Thomas Pynchon novels and other topics for the terminally skeptical (or paranoid, depending on your view of things), but he did a great episode on nostalgia recently and had a great line about how “nostalgia is when you return home, but as a ghost” and i thought of the Return. And it looks like other people have too, because he’s gotten some tweets about it.
It’s a pretty light-hearted enjoyable movie and you wouldn’t have thought it was a Lynch movie, which is funny since he regards it as his most experimental film
How strange after seeing it that he calls it experimental. It’s one of his most traditional in approach I think. I loved it though. Really gorgeous shots of the rural midwest and some beautiful dialogue that tugged on my heartstrings. I found Alvin as a character very flawed and fascinating—he is unshakably committed to this absurd mission partly because he knows its the end of his life and wants to “travel” one last time (seeing as he describes himself as a “traveling man” to one stranger). He also refuses help and sabotages himself because it’s almost like he wants to suffer through his plight. I got subtle vibes like this is a stubborn old man’s vision quest to punish and forgive himself, which felt very Lynchian even in its atmosphere despite being a sort of unusual film for him.
Episode 8 really is one of the most incredible and profound metaphors about the birth of modern evil / American indoctrination and the poisoning of culture. Honestly could be considered a standalone film in its own right. I’ve really been enjoying my rewatch of The Return.
It is a miracle that they let him make it, especially as a revival of a niche show whose director hadn't worked in a decade. As a standalone season, The Return might be the best ever on television. Just the other day I was watching the scenes where Cooper finally wakes up. By withholding that moment from us for so long, it really is able to weigh on even the most cynical of viewers. When he turns to the camera and says he is the FBI, you feel like Cooper can do anything.
Absolutely one of the best ever. On a second watch, there's no expectation of Cooper returning as he was, so I'm appreciating the messages Lynch is giving us through Dougie. The fact that we get a meme-ified version of Cooper in Dougie is an amazing meta-exploration of nostalgia and time's passing. Beyond that, I'm also noticing it's much less challenging to watch than it was made out to be at the time. I remember people complaining about its glacial pace but honestly, it's often hilarious despite its darkness, and true to that classic TP-feel in how it keeps you guessing. Every episode hits.
The Return is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen on television and I don’t know how anything could ever top it.