David Lynch Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Years ago, the Internet was an accessible haven for meeting people across the world -- for learning about new cultures and expanding horizons without leaving your desk. With the commercialization of this space over the years, however, that push has been forgotten. But the new project from David Lynch's son Austin and a friend named Jason S. is changing that, just a little.

If you've heard about the Interview Project already but haven't gone, I implore you to head over right now and check it out. The pair traveled across the U.S. for 70 days, interviewing random people they came across, young and old, both men and women. The collection of footage was then edited, and gets released every few days over at davidlynch.com. Lynch's vision definitely runs in the family. It doesn't hold the eeriness associated with much of the director's work, but it has the same eye for humanity (think mini bits of The Straight Story).

What I love most about the collection is how cinematic each piece is, even when utterly simple or mundane. It goes to show how great any documentary can be with just a little more attention given to art and the subject. (Which, of course, also makes me demand more from homegrown projects.) It's like a little spotlight on the random people we pass on a daily basis without thinking about twice -- this swarm of stories and quirks we're close to but blind to -- that's captured and projected onto a canvas.

What do you think of Interview Project?

In 2007, a film called Chacun son cinema was created for the 60th anniversary of Cannes (briefly mentioned here). Like a Paris je t'aime for the cinematically minded, the film collected 33 shorts from directors across the world capturing their feelings about cinema. The collection was any movie-lovers dream -- David Lynch, Gus Van Sant, Jane Campion, Atom Egoyan, Elia Suleiman, Wong Kar Wai, Lars Von Trier, and even the Coen brothers.

After Cannes, it screened at TIFF and other film festivals across the world, and got two region 2 DVD releases. But not only has there been no Region 1 disc for the North Americans eager to see the film, the Coens' World Cinema also got shafted -- not appearing on the StudioCanal DVD and not listed on the Pyramide DVD -- even though their short was a part of screenings.

But now the short, in its entirety, has popped up online and it's awesome. The clip stars Josh Brolin (during the days of No Country for Old Men), Grant Heslov (who just helmed Men Who Stare at Goats), and Brooke Smith (Grey's Anatomy). A cowboy of sorts heads to a movie theater to catch a flick, confused about the two art films available to him. Heslov's ticket guy answers his questions, which includes the gem: "Is there livestock in any of 'em?"

Saying any more than that would ruin the magic, so check it out after the jump. And below that, you can check of Lynch's goosebump-inducing Absurda.

Hearing that Werner Herzog and David Lynch were teaming up for a guerrilla-style project back in 2008 sounded too weird to be true. Granted, the former would be directing while the latter would just produce and present, but still -- it's a merging that seems too epic for one small film. It might be epic, but if the trailer is any indication, it'll also be quite good. After the jump you can check out the first trailer for My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done, which will premiere at TIFF next month.

Inspired by a true story, My Son focuses on an aspiring actor performing Sophocles, who then acts out the play by killing his mother. "The mystery unfolds in a series of flashbacks displaying the psychological destruction of the killer set off by an ill-fated white-water kayaking trip in a distant land." (Synopsis over at Collider.) I'm not sure how that all fits together -- a mystery about the why rather than the who of the killing -- but I can't say I care. I'm hooked.

That being said, must we still be presented with trailers boasting ridiculous voiceovers? It's quite apparent that there's a lot of goodness in My Son, and it doesn't really need the deep, somber voice explaining about the unexpected crime on a quiet street. It makes the whole thing sound ridiculous, rather than wholly intriguing with a cast that boasts Michael Shannon, Chloe Sevigny, Willem Dafoe, Brad Dourif, Michael Pena, Udo Kier, and the wonderful Grace Zabriskie.

Diane,

It's June 17, 2009, and I'm coming back to Twin Peaks.

How's this for a shocking piece of news: Seventeen years after Kyle MacLachlan last appeared as Special Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, WENN reports that the actor wants to resurrect the legendary show on the Internet. The actor says: "I have a crazy idea to bring back Twin Peaks on the net as five-minute webisodes." Should this become a reality, it will be without David Lynch, whose "focus is more on transcendental meditation now."

To be, or not to be ... I can't decide. At the very least, the idea doesn't fill me with revulsion or dread, but rather curiosity and a whole lot of questions. Would Cooper still be the same without Lynch molding him? And what of co-creator Mark Frost -- would he be involved? Even if the other quirky half is too busy meditating, Peaks webisodes are a much more worthy project than Frost's recent stints writing the Fantastic Four movies. Would these just be more tapes to Diane? Would other faces come back? Would it matter? *Spoiler Alert*

There's not many faces that could come back -- and definitely not many of the more desirable ones, unless MacLachlan is looking to dip into the Black Lodge more. Okay, should this get a little bit evil -- I'm sold. Who wouldn't want to see Bob's wicked control of Cooper, plus more Laura, Leland (Ray Wise!!), and of course, The Man From Another Place?

My fangirl has gotten the best of me, but what about you? Are you in for more Twin Peaks if it's without David Lynch?

My synapses are tingling! The gears are finally turning on Alejandro Jodorowsky's latest project, King Shot, which has been getting indie weirdos chattering since 2006 or so. According to ScreenDaily, it will begin shooting this October.

Jodorowsky is the director of such cosmically trippy films as El Topo and Holy Mountain that were only recently released in region 1 DVD format after years of legal wrangling with his former partner Allen Klein of ABKCO films. He's also a tarot card reader and, according to his bio, "has developed a mixture of psychotherapy and shamanism called Psychomagic."

A so-called "metaphysical spaghetti western," King Shot stars Marilyn Manson, Asia Argento, Nick Nolte, Udo Kier, and Alejandro's son Adan Jodorowsky (who was also in his father's film Santa Sangre). Nolte and David Freaking Lynch are executive producers. Lynch's Absurda production company is also the worldwide sales rep.

According to Hollywood Reporter, "Marilyn Manson is touted to appear as a prophet in the Sin City-style film, which producer Eric Bassett said has enough sex and violence to guarantee an NC-17 rating."

Sorry, have to take a breather.

Okay, I'm back.

There have been rumors for quite some time about a collaboration between Jodorowsky and Marilyn Manson, and in fact the director performed Manson's uber-goff wedding ceremony to Dita Von Teese. There was also talk that Manson and Johnny Depp would star in The Sons of El Topo movie, which was later changed to Abelcaín, but has been abandoned due to difficulties financing the project.

Of course, since there's hardly any real info about King Shot, it's possible that King Shot is Abelcaín aka The Sons of El Topo, but as with many Jodorowsky-related things, who the hell knows?

When a score pops up in a film, it's there to move you -- to do what just a scene in silence cannot, whether it's the utter doom of Kronos in Requiem for a Dream, the strength of Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra, or the quirk of teenage suicide in Heathers. Although a very close second could be given to Requiem, no score or mood-enhancing music has ever affected me more than the work created between David Lynch and the incomparable Angelo Badalamenti.

Twin Peaks fans will recognize the video below -- it's part of a TP DVD special feature, where Badalamenti discusses how the pair make music together. Specifically, he describes how a simple conversation brought the Twin Peaks theme, with no sprucing, or editing -- just a conversation and some instinctual notes tapped on a keyboard.

Frankly, it baffles my mind that something so haunting came so simply, but I think that's a good, or maybe Real Indication of both of the men's talents. And speaking of "A Real Indication," you can check out a brief blip of the one Lynch/Badalmenti gig that allowed Angelo to sing after the jump, straight from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.

When it comes to interesting pairings, it would be hard to top the combination of Meditation proponent and surrealist filmmaker David Lynch with techno artist Moby. The two have worked together in the past on benefit concerts and the occasional segment for the bizarrely captivating Lynch TV, but the latest effort from these two eccentrics is an animated video for Moby's new single, Shot in the Back of the Head. It may only be a simple black and white animation, but it is everything you would expect from a man who makes freaked out weather reports and drags a cow down the street as a marketing ploy.

Maybe it's not the most revolutionary video you have ever seen, but there's just something about the animation that suddenly adds just a little something to the song -- and isn't that what a good video is supposed to do in the first place? I really have to hand it to them, because I'm not necessarily Moby's biggest fan. I liked Play as much as the next girl, but that didn't mean I wanted to hear those tunes played into the ground by every commercial in prime time. Like I said, I'm a tough audience, and after watching the video even I may have to give the little vegan one more chance.

The one thing I do know is that I think I prefer Lynch the music video director over Lynch the commercial director, how about you?


Shot In The Back Of The Head from Moby on Vimeo.

Last year, it seemed too strange to be true that Werner Herzog and David Lynch were teaming up for a film together -- My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done. Almost any other directorial combo I could see, but the minds of Herzog (director) and Lynch (producer)? Merging directorial quirks is one thing, but when two men have distinct visions and artistic sense, that isn't the most stable situation. Who wins out when grizzlies face backward-talking little people?

Surprisingly enough, the project is still in motion, and it's definitely not featuring any common Lynch players. The Hollywood Reporter posts that Michael Peña (Lions for Lambs), Brad Dourif (Humboldt County), and Bill Cobbs (Night at the Museum) have joined a cast that already includes Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, and Chloe Sevigny.

The last three aren't big surprises (but very welcome and excellent choices) since each has had their share of alternative feature work, but the first three definitely suggest that this won't be your typical film from either filmmaker. And man, it's nice to see Pena getting busy with a meaty project that isn't about war. This time around, the film is a loose adaptation of a story of "a San Diego man who experiences a series of mystifying events that lead him to brutally murder his own mother with a sword."

Here's to hoping at least some of the wacky events are helmed by Lynch, or, at the very least, we get a Angelo Badalmenti score.

Not long ago, we brought you a video called Hollywood Director Attack Ads in which some clever folks created three John McCain attack ads ... as if they were directed by John Woo, Kevin Smith and Wes Anderson. Well now they're back with the sequel and three more Hollywood directors (except one features a writer and a director): Diablo Cody/Jason Reitman, David Lynch and M. Night Shyamalan. For the Cody one, the dialogue is absolutely hilarious -- all Juno-esque, as you can imagine. The David Lynch one is also quite fantastic if you happen to be a Lynch fan or that the guy's flicks are a little beyond weird and absurd. I was somewhat iffy on the M. Night commercial, however it does include a twist ending and a moronic cameo from a guy playing M. Night, and so it's totally worth the watch. Still in love with the Wes Anderson commercial from last time, though I'm diggin' these and hopefully we'll see more before election day.

Which one is your favorite so far, and which directors should they tackle next? (Ahem, I'm still waiting for Michael Bay, though something tells me these cats probably don't have enough in the budget to do Bay.)

"In a way, there's no original ideas -- it's just the ideas that you caught." -- David Lynch

I think I could seriously listen to David Lynch talk for hours. It's not that I always understand what he's talking about -- or want to understand what he's talking about -- it's just that I love his passion, the way he carries himself and his commitment to being the kind of artist he wants to be, on his terms. Sure, he always seems to be playing in a sandbox on some distant planet, but I gather that's because there's a constant creativity party going on inside his head. In the video posted above (courtesy of TheAtlantic.com), Lynch talks about ideas -- where they come from, how to catch them, how to use them to create and so on and so forth.

One interesting point he touches upon is how some artists feel suffering is necessary in "order to make it real through their own experiences." Lynch points out that, "in reality, the artist doesn't have to suffer to show suffering -- they just need to understand the suffering. Any kind of suffering cramps the flow of creativity." Lynch points to the painter Vincent Van Gogh as an example, saying his paintings were beautiful and memorable not because he suffered in life, but because of his talent and love for the craft.

Watch Lynch explain it in the ways only he can ... and, who knows, maybe this video will help spark an idea in you.