I thought I had seen this but I guess I haven't, a very reasonable skewering as far as I can tell, and similar to the reaction I had to Mulholland Drive, where it wasn't so much mankind subjected to Lynch's dripping contempt, but his audience for the final third of the movie, after an enthralling, stunning first 2/3 (your punch/spit analogy holds here remarkably well).

I think I like Lynch a little better than you do, though: I think Blue Velvet is brilliantly creepy while ultimately redemptive, I love the first season or so of Twin Peaks, and his use of music is often towering.

Since I actually have an autographed CD and video of "Wild At Heart" by David Lynch (and was at the North American premiere of "Blue Velvet", though by accident) I guess I'm somewhat prejudiced about this here movie.

The scene which you cite as being so obnoxious should really be put into context (Willem Defoe's mossy teeth, flies feeding on vomit on the motel room floor). Given how Lynch portrays babies (sweet zombie jesus - little innocent babies!) in "Eraserhead", what were you expecting?

So, can I have your copy of the DVD?

I'd forgotten most of this movie and I really want to see it again, but the part I do still remember is THAT scene. He takes a whiz and then brags about the deep sound his peeing made. I think the scene was meant to show that Lulu was as confused and easily led astray as everyone else, like her mother. I suppose it was deeply debasing but, man, powerful stuff. Eraserhead proved that a movie barely needs a plot if it's weird enough. The main thing I still remember about it is when the guy stands there waiting for an elevator for three minutes, and we wait right along with him. It takes a big hammer to drive a scene that retarded this deeply into my brain. I'd rather watch David's worst movie that 99.9% of everything else out there. Thanks for more fine critiquing Mr. Mondo.

lol....Mondo Irlando

Fine piece of work this is, and I am glad your opinion does not place Mr. Lynch upon the high pedestal many do. Wild At Heart is one of Lynch's weakest films, and I walked away shaking my head. This is not to say it is his weirdest film, as others hold that lofty plateau. However, I had a gist of inkling as to what the man was trying to achieve in previous films. You use the wod "superficial" with Wild At Heart and I think it is aboslutely correct. I have noticed that people whom normally detest David Lynch, like Wild At Heart. I am sorry you have not seen Straight Story as it is Lynch's finest film. A flick in which nothing really happens, and yet eventually everything does happen. It sneaks up on you in small, enlightening ways. Like Elephant Man, Straight Story is an example of Lynch embracing life without pretension or self-satisfied gimmicks. It is profound. There are no Dennis Hoppers breathing from an O2 mask. There are no Cages dancing by the highway. There are no lesbian scenes with Naomi Watts (Hiyawa!)......It is life, as boring and exciting and the same as it ever was.

Lynch has made a mark for himself, and his vision goes against the grain of typical Hollywood. When he doesn't try so hard, he can create brilliant works. Wild at Heart tries way too hard......Great post on a film probably not deserving of such terrific writing and hilarious references.

P.S. We go into The Village with preconceived notions. Had we not, I believe it would have been a more satisfying film......

thanks for the fine comments, folks.

Eric, i haven't seen the Twin Peaks telly show (she was a slut, right?), but Blue Velvet is a flick i loathe.

Perhaps whats most annoying about Lynch is not just that when he wants to, he can create truly sublime films, as D.B points out above, but that he gets away with reprehensible garbage by masking his vile musings with the old "tongue-in-cheek" cry, or, alternatively, having things so messedu p that folks are too busy trying to understand why the hell Keanu Reeves just turned into somebody else to gibve much consideration to the underlying message.

And as for the "message"... Wild At Heart takes two hours to say what GG Allin took fifty seconds to squack, and at least he had the decency to take a shit and then maybe roll around in it.

It maybe seems odd that i championed the ignorance inherent in SS Experiment Camp a while back, and then turn on this like some rabid hound. There are numerous differences though, not least the air of respectability Lynch has hanging from him. How many Palm D'ors did Isla, She Wolf Of The SS get? About none or less, i'm guessing. At least those flicks present their shocking disregard for humanity at face value, not cloaked in "quirky" contrived tactics.

Jim, you say that the scene should be put in context... For one, i didn't wanna spoil it, but it's pretty obvious now what transpires, and other is that, if anything, adding details of the puke and the teeth just backs up the argument i forwarded. No matter how utterly repellent the situation, eventually, when you get her just right, a woman will instinctively want you to fuck her. Puke on the floor, rotten stumps on your face, don't matter. Grab her crotch and you'll see how soon she relents.

Fucking sickening.

Antfreeze, i think there was more going on in Eraserhead than weirdness for weirdness sake. I think it talked a lot about guilt and shame and such, perhaps Lynch's own. His own child was hooked up to machines left and right when he was writing Eraserhead, something that makes the baby all the more distressing. That's how the man seems to have felt about his daughter. Again, unbelievable, but i think there's enough worthwhile things going on to make it, well, worthwhile.

And D.B, that point about The Village is something i been wrestling with for a while, but the best i can say about it is that it's a rewarding film to think about, and a pain in the hole to watch, if that makes sense.

Thanks folks

argh, i meant to write keifer sutherland, not keanu reeves. Still, you never know...