On High In Blue Tomorrows

I was thinking about typing out what exactly I admire/love/obsess about in my top ten (below), but I'm too inarticulate and lazy to bother. BUT, I found another person discussing INLAND EMPIRE (I waver between thinking Lynch is an asshole to insist on the all-caps title and thinking, what the hell, it's Lynch). Rich from fourfour (which, btw, is probably the funniest website in this immense series of tubes, especially if you're into ANTM) talks about what he loves about Lynch's latest, helpfully providing us with visual aids of the myriad of expressions Laura Dern can contort her face into. It's a hilarious, fascinating read and he highlighted what I, myself, loved about the film.

I think, why I love INLAND EMPIRE so much.,,, Lynch's principal character is right there with the audience trying to sort things out, and I find so appealing -- it's like having a friend who stares blankly at you for just under three hours. Whether it's intentional or not (that Lynch's intentions are so oblique so much of the time make his work inherently review-proof, as identifying intention is, like, the first thing to do when critically analyzing something, even if you go on to reject that intention), what Lynch is doing is answering the criticism that his films are about being disorienting by making a film about being disoriented.Disorientated? YES. I watched this film in my bedroom one evening. At various points, I had to stop it to catch my breath, turn on a lamp, take a break for a few seconds. It's long, it's terrifying, it's funny and it's brilliant.

Anyway, head onto to fourfour and read the post. It's illuminating, really. Don't worry if you haven't seen the film - spoilers are pretty much obsolete in a film like this.