Comments on: Driving Mulholland With David Lynch

By: Mike Winder

Mike Winder — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:05:12 +0000

Don’t forget about Lynch’s “Lost Highway,” which covers some of the same themes that the director later re-explored with “Mulholland Drive.”

And while we’re on the subject of great films about Hollywood, I’ll give you a few of my faves: “Ed Wood,” “Swimming with Sharks” and “Gods and Monsters.”

By: Burns!

Burns! — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 23:07:28 +0000

I’m a Lynch fan and loved Mulholland Drive the first time around. I’m inspired to watch it again, too.

By: Travis Koplow

Travis Koplow — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:43:20 +0000

I know I’ve outed myself as a Lynch fan here before. (FWIW, in high school I went on a first–and last–date with a guy to Eraserhead. Ahem.) I think M.Drive is the ultimate Lynch film. When I saw it, I really thought he should just stop making films now; that he had achieved his vision. And then I saw Inland Empire, and I thought the same thing–that he should have stopped making films after M.Drive.

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:46:36 +0000

That’s weird, I was thinking about “Get Shorty” shortly after taking the pics on Mulholland. Specifically, Gene Hackman’s teeth.

By: lamapnerd

lamapnerd — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:36:36 +0000

Cross-posted.

Hooper was (rather loosely) based on some of the real-life exploits of its director, longtime stunt coordinator Hal Needham.

If you watch it, you may notice that one of his stunt-guy sidekicks always dresses in blue Levi’s jeans and a blue denim Levi’s jacket. That character is based on Chuck Bail, the real-life stuntman (and actor and director), who played stunt coordinator ‘Chuck Barton’ in The Stunt Man.

Aside from that, they’re not very closely related (that I know of, anyway.) The Stunt Man was based on Paul Brodeur’s novel of the same name – which I frequently cite as an example of the fact that, on rare occasions, the movie is actually much, much better than the book it’s based on. :-)

By: Lucinda Michele

Lucinda Michele — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:23:27 +0000

You’ve inspired me to watch it again!!! Thanks Matt!

By: lamapnerd

lamapnerd — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:06:21 +0000

Oooh, and I almost forgot: Get Shorty. Sort of the flip side of The Stunt Man. :-)

By: Matt Mason

Matt Mason — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:56:49 +0000

@lamapnerd — “The Stunt Man” was on my list in the draft of the post, but alas, it didn’t make the final cut purely for space reasons. I agree with you about this amazing film that, commercially, was largely overlooked. I’m also told that the same story that inspired “The Stunt Man” was earlier dumbed into the Burt Reynolds movie “Hooper.” If so, that pretty much says it all. I’m also a fan of the other films you mentioned. Good taste!

By: lamapnerd

lamapnerd — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:40:46 +0000

Personally, as much as I like Sunset Boulevard, Mulholland Drive, Barton Fink, and The Player (and I do like them a lot), I think they're all fairly overamped melodramas that don't really tell you all that much about the realities of working in the movie business. For that, I'd recommend The Big Picture, Living in Oblivion, State and Main, and possibly The Stunt Man. Those cover Film-School Grad Gets Eaten Alive By The Big Studios; Indy Filmmaker Gets Eaten Alive by Nightmarish Reality of Indy Filmmaking; Hollywood On Location Collides With Small-Town America; and Naive Outsider Gets Seduced By Hollywood Glamor, respectively. And The Stunt Man features the finest performance of Peter O'Toole's career, IMHO, which more than compensates for its other (fairly mild) deficiencies.