Well, I'm listening back to an old song I mixed up back in the day using clips from Lost Highway - and it's bringing back some memories. Plus, I don't believe we've ever discussed the Lynch'ster here on the site, which is a shame!

During the early 'Aughts' I went through a hard and heavy Lynch phase where I tracked down all of his work and bore through it like a man out of control. Although his work probably isn't for all tastes, I just love the style and imagination of his work. I think Inland Empire was a bit much to take, even for me, but I still have respect for its audacity. My top five films of his would probably go:

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Lost Highway
3. Wild At Heart
4. Blue Velvet
5. Fire Walk With Me

I have lots of love for The Straight Story and even Inland Empire to a degree, but for me I can watch any of the above films at nearly any time. Over and over again. Just always amazed when I rewatch any of them.

Lynch is totally great. Blue Velvet and Eraserhead would have to be my favorites.

Still haven't seen Fire Walk with Me because I intend on watching the TV series first...which I own...so I should probably get on that.

As much love as I have for Lynchmeister, though, I really did not like Inland Empire the one time I saw it. A lot of people say that Lynch movies make no sense, but I think they all follow some sort of narrative, and making sense of them isn't very difficult—but Inland Empire, I just couldn't make any sense of it, I couldn't follow along with anything, and it was just boring, and ugly. (That's another rant below.) I was totally unsurprised when I learned later that Lynch hadn't even really written a script before filming—he just "went with the flow," or whatever.

I can't stand how the movie looks, either. Lynch movies have always been exceptionally well-photographed. Lynch, however, was very intent on using a digital camera (and stating in an interview I saw, "FILM IS DEAD"—well, it shouldn't die if your movie looks like such ASS), which gives the movie a very dead look. It's just a horrible movie to look at. Inland Empire let me down in all regards. AND IT'S THREE FUCKING HOURS LONG!

The End

Well, I didn't think it looked SO horrible. Not for me at least. I think there are some inspired moments in it, like that one scene where we see a distant figure with a spotlight on them in the far off distance. Then as the character starts slowly walking towards the camera we see that it's Laura Durn and she runs directly into the camera with that massive light beaming off of her face while she has this horrifying look on her face. That was soooo creepy. As horrible as that scene with the homeless person in Mulholland Dr.

Yet, I totally understand your point and I certainly agree with everything you said about the narratives. There is no understanding Inland Empire, that I have found. I've only seen it 1 and a half times myself, even though I own it on DVD. Mulholland Dr. and Lost Highway were both brilliant in the fact that you could dissect these movies and portion out the REAL narrative, which was kind of hidden below the surface. Inland Empire plays like a massive experiment that goes on for far too long.

With that said, it is quite beautiful to look at in terms of technique and general Lynch creepiness. I have this feeling that I might grow to respect it more upon subsequent viewings but it's incredibly hard to get in that kinda 'mood'.

I'll have to watch it again at some point and see if my opinion changes at all, ha. At a time when I feel like throwing away three hours. ;)

Exactly, really hard to find that kind of time in your day to waste on something you've already seen Especially when Netflix Instant has so much awesomeness going on with it!

My five favorite David Lynch films are...

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Blue Velvet
The Elephant Man
Lost Highway
Wild at Heart