David Lynch Merges With The Infinite

Writer and Director David Lynch has passed.

A lot of ink will be spilled over Lynch, and, in my opinion, rightfully so.  Whether you liked or disliked Lynch's work, he carved a path through cinema and television that was so singular, discussions of movies that went deep would often bring up his work as if by force.  Maybe that's because from Eraserhead to the weather reports he did from his home, Lynch's work was so clearly of David Lynch, it was impossible to ignore.

I have seen some of Lynch's work, but not all.  Like a lot of people my age, I learned who he was through Twin Peaks, and in high school saw Fire Walk With Me, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart.   I've caught up with much of his work since, finally seeing The Elephant Man, Dune and more.  In recent years I finally watched The Straight Story, which I highly recommend.  

The dreams that Lynch put to screen have been and will be much imitated, but I hope they really just inspire the next wave - and I think they already have.  

Like a lot of folks, I am deeply grateful for Twin Peaks hitting my life at just the right time, in both the early 90's and again a few years ago.  I needed the wonder, mystery, tragedy and uncanny state that the show provided.  I'm grateful for the world of nightmares, the story of true love of Wild at Heart, and the acknowledgement of the dark we keep at bay out here in the world that permeates all of his work.  For the dreams within a dream that are Mulholland Drive.

His fearlessness as a filmmaker, and someone who told us that to love people and love the little things is what staves off the darkness seems so simple - but he knew it's not, and he showed us both.

I'll miss knowing that Lynch, as Gordon Cole, is out there telling people to change their hearts.  We'll see you under the sycamore trees.

Disney Watch: The Cat From Outer Space (1978)

Watched:  01/15/2025

Format:  Disney+

Viewing:  Unknown, but probably 3rd

Director:  Norman Tokar

As a kid, I found live-action Disney comedies to mostly be a grating disappointment.  Sometimes in elementary school, teachers would roll in the 16mm projector and thread up one of these movies and that was the middle of the day for us so they could grade papers or have a smoke or whatever.

If you want to know why Gen-X has trust issues, its because we never knew what we were getting from a 16mm film projected movie in the common area at school, while required to sit silently.  And, sometimes it was something good!  But much more often it was a safety film*, or - if the teachers were feeling daffy, something like The Cat From Outer Space (1978).  Which is where I think I saw this first.

It's mind-boggling that a year after Star Wars, Disney's response was to put out a 108 minute sitcom about a cross-eyed cat who lands on Earth and kind of sits there hopped up on tranquilizers while name talent runs around being "funny".  

Pope Watch: Conclave (2024)

Watched:  01/14/2025

Format:  Peacock

Viewing:  First

Director:  Edward Berger

All Christmas season long, Jamie's sister-in-law, K, kept lightly suggesting we go see Conclave (2024), and I was pretty direct in my opinion of "no, I do not want to see that".  But curiosity, gentle nudging and my Peacock subscription got the best of me, and I went ahead and watched it over two nights.

Conclave centers around the events that take place in the wake of the passing of a Pope, and the politicking among the clergy (cardinals) who are called together to determine who will be the next Pope.  

Sadly, it turns out there is no Catholic sorting hat to handle this task.

I will start by saying, there are many things I liked about this film.  As promised, the performances by Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, and many others are impeccable.  This movie is an opportunity for these actors to do amazing work - enough so that my immediate thought was "really, this would be a tremendous play" after the film ended.  A sort of 108 Angry Cardinals.  

Viking Watch: The Northman (2022)

Watched:  01/14/2024

Format:  Disc

Viewing:  Second

Director:  Robert Eggers

A long while back now, I picked up the 4K of Eggers' The Northman (2022) after liking it quite a lot on a first viewing, and knowing that it deserved a second viewing.  And since Jamie had actually liked Noferatu, a movie I wasn't even going to take her to, she voted for The Northman.*

I re-read my post from May of 2023, and I think I agree with myself here.

SPOILERS

I can say confidently that I am very glad I rewatched the film, especially when you aren't walking in blind as you start to realize "oh, wait... is this some imagined proto-Hamlet?"  And, indeed, go Google "Amleth" because, boy, while I knew Shakespeare didn't really come up with original stories, was I surprised to find out about the many versions of Hamlet existed story prior to Billy Shakes putting it down.

TV Watch: Landman (on Paramount+)

Curiously, not a superhero show.  Or, if it is, worst superhero ever.

I'd not watched any of the Yellowstone stuff by Taylor Sheridan.  By the time I heard it was watchable there were 23 seasons of it and a few spin-offs, and I couldn't be bothered to enter that particular multiverse.  

But when I saw Billy Bob Thornton, John Hamm, Demi Moore and Robyn Lively would be on a show, I was curious.  Then I saw it was about the energy industry and set in Texas, and my ears perked up.  I have lived the vast majority of my life in Texas, and my father worked for companies that produced instrumentation and valves for oil rigs, derricks, etc..  Anyway - like a lot of folks who grew up around oil, I have a passing interest in the industry.

What's curious is that during my youth, Texas was considered pumped dry.  There were oil fields, sure... but the fracking and all that came along later.  By the time I was in high school in the early 90's, if you saw an oil jack going, it was always worthy of comment.  and, yes, pump jacks could be anywhere and were.   

Someone figured out the fields were *not* dry, and fracking eventually happened, especially out in West Texas.   And when I travelled out that way for work, all of a sudden the hotels were full of guys off a hard shift, getting rest, uniformly polite but eyeing me with suspicion as I went by in my tie.  

Oil wise, things are definitely cooking in Texas.

Landman is, basically, a soap opera that sure feels like a modern spin on the dramas we used to watch, like Dallas.  There's a wide array of characters, oil is at the center of it, but only some are involved directly with the business.  And because it's TV, it's the lives and loves of those working around oil (read: men) that drive the show, and the women who love them.