Nerd Hurdles #27 - Naked Lynch

David freaking Lynch. Not for everyone. Jakob and Mandi love him so much they made a Twin Peaks cake.

Steve Buscemi has featured in many of the Coen brothers' films , he's usually the best aspect of their otherwise quaffable films . The Coen brothers seem to know how to extract every inch of talent out of Buscemi. An analogy perhaps is that he also seems to be casted as an archetype in lots of these films. The lonely miser , a doomed castaway of the ineffable American dream . That's what I like about him most. There's a faintly disconcerting air about him in all his roles , as if there's something more going on behind the gleaming eyes and trademark crooked teeth.

Going on this episode I really should watch Twin Peaks sooner than later, it is bloody expensive in the UK.

I realised that during this episode, I'd never actually watched any Lynch films. I'll get round to it soon, but first, I'm gonna watch the first Highlander.

That raises an interesting point. Why hasn't Buscemi been in any Lynch films?

I thought Buscemi played the baby in Eraserhead. Am I giving him too much credit for range then?

Nope, you're right. That was him. I just looked it up on IMDB. Good eye GAB.

Here he is, in full make-up. If you look closely you can see where they covered his moustache with latex.

Mulholland Drive was the first Lynch I saw and it did not do a good job of getting me into his other work. It might have been the sluggish pace of the film or how I was not at all (at the age of maybe 12-13) used to such disjointedness in film. It wasn't until much later a friend recommended Blue Velvet, which I was astounded by and remains one of my favorite movies, that I watched and thoroughly enjoyed Twin Peaks and Lost Highway. I should probably at this point go back and watch Mulholland.

How do you guys feel about Inland Empire? I don't think it was mentioned on the show. I watched it after becoming a self-proclaimed Lynch fan, knowing like Mandi said to "just let it happen" and not bother about trying to solve every little idea he puts into the movie, but I was still incredibly bored by the first 20 or so minutes, and turned it off, brought the DVD back to the library, and have not yet returned to it. Should I give it another chance?

We didn't talk about it because we haven't seen it yet. Oddly I have seen a few of the extras. Notably the Lynch (Two) documentary which is pretty awesome.

Great episode intro but I did miss the admiral.

Twin Peaks is a good intro. Three episodes, and by that I mean through Episode 3, is the best start for me. I knew from the "Dance of the Dream Man" on that I was seeing the whole story.
My favorite Angelo Badalomenti song as well.

That admiral will be back next episode. We were beginning to think no one appreciated the red room intro!

I was very impressed with the backwards intro, I just haven't commented because you finally out-nerded me. I've only seen Dune, and Come Firewalk With Me, and since I had never seen Twin Peaks the movie completely eluded me.(my friend insisted I didn't need to have seen the show...she was wrong) How did you all figure out the backward stuff?

The backwards stuff was probably the nerdiest thing I've done this month, season, year? We recorded ourselves saying the things we wanted to say. Then we reversed that and learned to say and recorded the same thing backwards. One word at a time. Then we reversed that. It took hours. We are ridiculous. Did any of that even make sense?

Fire Walk With Me is somewhat elusive even having seen Twin Peaks. I hope it didn't dissuade you from giving the show a try, since it's almost entirely different in style and substance.

Never seen any Lynch, but from the way people talk about him, I figure I'd love his work. I have the DVD of The Elephant Man, so I guess I'll start there.

We haven't watched that yet. We have it too.

Lynch is a minor hurdle for me, it's not that I don't want to see what he's about, it's more that I've just not really gone out of my way to put myself in front of one of his films yet. I keep thinking that when I'm in the mood for something challenging and/or moody I'll grab one of his films but then when I do find myself in that frame of mind I've forgotten about him and so I've always ended up choosing other films. When I finally do get around to it I figure it'll be Mullholland Drive so Naomi Watts can hold my hand.

I do think, if I understood correctly what you guys were saying, that it's more common than you think for directors to continue to work with the same actors though. Scorcese had DeNiro and now has DiCaprio, Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe, Tony Scott and Denzel, Fincher with Brad Pitt, Soderberg with The Cloon, Woody Allen with a string of leading ladies ... I think more directors have that trait than don't.

And I have to say, even though I know and appreciate exactly how hard it is to nail a backwards take like that, and you guys did really well at it, I still prefer the Admiral's. In fact I think it's because I know how hard it is to do the backward take that I don't enjoy hearing it, it makes me think of work and strain.

I wasn't sure if the intro was backwards or not because it sounded so natural , that's why I forgot to mention it ! It's a great job but I think Admiral's intro cannot be equaled . It sets the right tone right away. Sorry for having to be so honest.

There was no intention to replace the admiral, the intro was an homage to Twin Peaks. Get watching!

All of Twin Peaks is available streaming on CBS's website, by the way.

http://www.cbs.com/classics/twin_peaks/

I think I'm going to watch it again soon.

What a great link! You're a hero. Now no one has an excuse to not watch Twin Peaks.

If they're american.

Jakob wrote:Fire Walk With Me is somewhat elusive even having seen Twin Peaks. I hope it didn't dissuade you from giving the show a try, since it's almost entirely different in style and substance.

Actually it did erect such a hurdle. My friend who convinced me to see it and I had quite an argument that night since I was appalled that she'd think I'd like that movie. I don't recall anymore what it was about the film that upset me so, but it left me quite angry.

Probably a) it makes no sense; b) it's willfully obtuse; c) it's graphically violent in a way I know you're not a fan of; and d) not enough Agent Cooper (though this probably didn't affect you much).

Jakob wrote:If they're american.

Oh, teh sad.

Marius wrote:Actually it did erect such a hurdle. My friend who convinced me to see it and I had quite an argument that night since I was appalled that she'd think I'd like that movie. I don't recall anymore what it was about the film that upset me so, but it left me quite angry.

It's pretty disturbing and very weird, even if one has watched the series. Jakob and I watched it on our 4th date. Not really your typical date movie.

I first discovered this show by accident when it was originally aired in the UK. Agent Cooper was laid on the floor shot and a big bloke with a broom kept walking by the door. Everytime he asked for help, the big bloke winked and gave him the thumbs up before walking away again and not helping! I instantly became curious and got hooked. I then managed to miss a few episodes. I don't know how many I'd actually seen, but it was quite a few. However, when I returned, I couldn't figure out what was happening and interest waned. A program I always meant to revisit from the beginning and just never did. Now, I'm just not really bothered....

I don't have anymore Lynch feedback, I just want to say again how much I love the Nerd Hurdles theme tune. I can't help but shake my booty and grin like a loon everytime I hear it.