One way to delineate the Left vs. Right divide is as a clash between the Ideal and the Real, between the Utopian and the Pragmatic. Or between the experienced and the untested, in the sense that even what had begun as utopianism became, over time, 'established' with a set of dogma and sense of limits,... Read More

"Come on, it’ll be just like in the movies. We’ll pretend to be someone else." – ‘Betty’ If you haven’t yet seen MULHOLLAND DR., the following piece has ‘spoilers’. What is the most horrible thing in the world? For an answer, we can concoct all kinds of theories, explanations, speculations, imaginations, and fantasies. But in... Read More

David Lynch’s second feature film, The Elephant Man (1980), is one of his finest works. In many ways, The Elephant Man is Lynch’s most conventional “Hollywood� film. (Dune too is a “Hollywood� film, but a failed one.) The cast of The Elephant Man is quite distinguished, including John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Sir John Gielgud, Dame... Read More

David Lynch’s 1992 movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is his prequel to the Twin Peaks series, which ran on ABC from 1990 to 1991. Fire Walk with Me was a flop with critics and moviegoers, except in Japan. This is unjust, because Fire Walk with Me is a very fine movie. I won’t... Read More

I feel like I grew up in Twin Peaks, the fictional Washington logging town that gave its name to David Lynch’s iconic TV series, which aired on ABC from the spring of 1990 to the spring of 1991. Twin Peaks has one of the best pilots in television history, which was followed by an abbreviated... Read More

When I saw Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks, I was convinced that David Lynch is an essentially conservative and religious filmmaker, with a populist and mystical bent. Arguing that thesis was an uphill battle as his work got increasingly dark in the nineties. Many people interpreted Lynch’s portrayals of quirky, salt-of-the-Earth white Americans as parody,... Read More