Lost Highway (5 Stars)

Finally I'm watching my favourite film again. It's a masterpiece. Maybe I shouldn't say finally, because I watched it twice last year. It's a film I could watch every day, or maybe only once a week, because it's overpowering and I need time to recover.

It's a film that I'd like to watch with friends who appreciate it as much as I do. It's a film I'd like to discuss with friends, preferably over a beer. Tonight I was sitting alone, during and after the film, so I tried something new. I started a discussion with ChatGPT. First I asked what the film meant, and I was glad that ChatGPT gave the time loop interpretation, not the fantasy interpretation that Fred Madison invented everything while he was in his prison cell. The latter interpretation was popular for years, until David Lynch came out and said it was wrong. That's probably why ChatGPT sticks to the time loop theory.

Our discussion revolved around two questions:

1. Who is the executioner?

2. Did Fred Madison really kill his wife?

A couple of times I contradicted ChatGPT, saying "That isn't true, because..." and I always got insightful replies. Either ChatGPT said "Yes it is", giving arguments to back up its position, or it agreed with me.

This was clearest in the case of Fred Madison killing his wife. ChatGPT said a few times that Fred was a murderer, but when I said "I don't think Fred really killed his wife", it backed down and said "There are a lot of arguments in favour of your position". After the alleged murder the body is never shown on screen. More to the point, at the end of the film Fred finds his wife in the hotel having sex with Dick Laurent. The only other explanation for this is that in the time loop the final scenes of the film might have happened before the murder. Maybe. That doesn't add up, because Andy is alive before the murder, but he's dead at the end of the film.

The executioner must be Fred. He kills Dick Laurent in cold blood. Dick Laurent was guilty of killing people in snuff films, so he was condemned to death. Where was he sent to wait for his execution? Into the time loop. Where was the executioner? Fred was hiding in Pete Dayton's body.

The main argument against Fred being the executioner is that he dies at the end of the film. Or does he? The final scene takes place outside of the time loop, where anything is possible. In the opening scenes, when Dick Laurent's death is announced, we hear the police cars chasing Fred; but Fred is still in his apartment.

Interestingly, ChatGPT tried to smooth over all our disagreements by saying David Lynch is painting a surreal picture which can't be fully explained; it doesn't matter if Fred killed his wife or not.

A friend of mine – if you're reading this you know who you are – said to me that David Lynch makes films which only he can understand. That's not a viewpoint I like. I prefer ChatGPT's surreal picture explanation.

I'd still prefer to discuss the film with a person. Preferably in person, but if anyone wants to leave comments on this post I'll answer him.

Success Rate:  - 3.9

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Lost Highway (5 Stars)

Finally! This has been my favourite film for years, but today is the first time I've seen it in the cinema. The film stunned me as if I were watching it for the very first time.

I'm unable to write any more today. I'll try to explain my problems later this week.

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Lost Highway (5 Stars)

David Lynch is dead.

I read the news late last night, and it hit me like a bombshell.

He's best known for the TV series "Twin Peaks", which he made in 1990. I didn't watch it until 20 years later, but I was already aware of it. I had friends who talked about it. Based on their descriptions, I thought it was nothing for me. I couldn't have been more wrong.

The first film I watched made by David Lynch was "Mulholland Drive". I forget when. Probably round about 2004. After that I bought all his films in quick succession. "Lost Highway" immediately became my favourite film, knocking "Donnie Darko" off the top spot. I've often changed my mind about my favourite film, but it doesn't look like "Lost Highway" will be removed from the top spot any time soon. It's a masterpiece.

"Lost Highway" isn't an easy film to understand. There are different theories about its meaning. The most commonly held opinion is that it's a story about a man who's killed his wife and spends his final days lying in his cell making up a fictional story about her while he waits to be executed. The other theories are variations on a supernatural time loop. Interestingly, in an interview David Lynch said that he'd read the explanations of "Lost Highway" in forums and nobody had got it right. I'm glad that he rejected the fictional story theory, because it always seemed absurd to me. That leaves the many variations of the explanations based on a time loop. I have my own explanation, which I've never read in any online forum, so maybe I'm right.

On the other hand, a friend of mine who also loves "Lost Highway" says that there's no explanation. He says that David Lynch makes films for himself and doesn't intend them to be understood.

Lynch has hardly made any films in the last 25 years. His only major work was a third season of "Twin Peaks". Maybe he was put off by the poor reception of his last film, "Inland Empire". 

But now he's gone.

David Lynch
January 20, 1946 – January 15, 2025

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Ed Wood (5 Stars)

True Stories #22

Name: Ed Wood

Lived: 10 October 1924 – 10 December 1978

Film dates: 1953 to 1957

Film made in 1994

Yesterday I watched "Mulholland Drive", a film about Hollywood. It's more than just a film that takes place in Hollywood. Today's film is the true story of Edward D. Wood Junior's prime years in which he made his most famous three films: "Glen or Glenda", "Bride of the Monster" and "Plan 9 From Outer Space". Those are three films I need to watch again soon, maybe early next month after finishing my true stories marathon. The reason why I mentioned "Mulholland Drive" is because "Ed Wood" also takes place in Hollywood, and the location is significant.

"This town, it chews you up, then spits you out".

Tragically, those words are spoken by Bela Lugosi, one of the best actors of the mid 20th Century. He was an icon. Even today, when you mention Dracula, Bela Lugosi's face is the one most people think of.

The film "Ed Wood" is just as much about Bela Lugosi as about Ed Wood himself. The two men meet in 1953, and we see Bela die in 1956 during the filming of "Plan 9 From Outer Space". The film was completed with a double who looked very little like him. The double was younger, taller and had no hair.

"Ed Wood" is directed by Tim Burton and filmed in glorious black and white. It's appropriate. I'd hate to see the film any other way. The film gives the impression that Ed misused Bela by talking him into a film without telling him what it was about. I'm curious to know whether that 's true or not. Ed's first film with Bela was "Glen or Glenda", a film about a transvestite who was struggling to find the courage to come out. All he told Bela was that it was a film about people having two sides, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

"Glen or Glenda" was a thinly disguised autobiography. Ed himself was a transvestite, a secret that he even withheld from the woman he lived with. I can understand his difficulties. Today people are enlightened, but in the 1950's it was an enormous scandal to be a transvestite.

Ed's girlfriend Dolores accepted his transvestism, but it still disturbed her. Eventually she walked out on him, accusing him of gathering misfits around himself who unquestioningly accepted whatever he did.

Was Ed Wood successful as a director? That depends on your definition of success. His films were rejected by critics and made hardly any money at the box office. In his later years (not shown in the film) he gave up making films and descended into alcoholism. He died in poverty. However, his films have gained cult status after his death. The first film I ever bought on videotape was "Plan 9 From Outer Space". It's a case of a man's success not coming until after his death.

Success Rate:  - 3.1

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Lost Highway (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #1

It's taken me eight months, but I've finally reached the top film in my countdown of my 100 favourite films. It's only a surprise to my casual readers. My close friends already know "Lost Highway" is my favourite film, and I've even mentioned it once or twice in this blog.

"Dick Laurent is dead". That's him in the photo above, played by Robert Loggia. His death is announced at the start of the film, but we soon see that he's alive and well. He's a gangster in Los Angeles who's involved in the production of snuff movies. By all means, he's an evil man who deserves to die. He's living on borrowed time.

"In the East, the Far East, when a person is sentenced to death, they're sent to a place where they can't escape, never knowing when an executioner may step up behind them, and fire a bullet into the back of their head".

Dick Laurent's sentence has already been pronounced. His death is inevitable. He doesn't recognise his executioner, because he's hidden in the body of another man.

The identity and occupation of the mysterious Man In Black isn't completely clear, although I'm sure that he represents the Devil. He's described as an associate of Dick Laurent, but there's no hint of what he does for Dick. When Dick's throat is cut and he's struggling to keep the blood in, the Man In Black presents Dick with evidence of his past sins, the reason for his death sentence. Is he the judge, or merely a prison guard, standing at his side until the moment of execution comes?

Dick goes for a ride with the young car mechanic Pete Dayton. He thinks he has nothing to fear.

The jazz saxophonist Fred Madison is more capable of murder. This is one of the key events on which reviewers disagree. A videotape shows him cutting his wife to pieces. So he really did kill his wife, didn't he? I think not. When Fred sees the tape he's shocked and calls for his wife, thinking she's in the bedroom. He stubbornly declares his innocence to the police. Was her body ever found? The film doesn't make it clear whether a dismembered body was found in his bedroom. The only thing we know is that later in the film we see that she's still alive, in bed with Dick Laurent.

The video was made by the Man In Black, and it's obvious that he has supernatural abilities. He chose to frame Fred, to put him into a position to act as executioner. I know it's not fair, but when was the Devil ever fair?

At first Dick's girlfriend Alice Wakefield seems to be a victim, but as the film progresses we see that she's evil. She uses Pete to kill her enemies.

And then she walks away, leaving Pete lying in the dirt.

This sequence is beautifully filmed.

As I've written in my past reviews, there are different interpretations of this film. There are many differences in opinion on details, but there are two main theories: One theory is that the film shows a time loop. The other theory is that Fred Madison has a mental breakdown after murdering his wife and imagines a supernatural conspiracy while waiting to be executed. The second theory is so ridiculous that I'm surprised anybody believes it. It would mean that 90% of the film is either a dream sequence or imagined. If that were the case, it would be very poor screenwriting. The German edition of the "Lost Highway" DVD even prints this explanation on the back of the box. That's bad.

"Lost Highway" is a work of genius. I'm surprised that more people don't know it. It's a film that everyone should watch at least once; or better still, three times. After one viewing you won't understand it.

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Ed Wood (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #34

"They're driving me crazy. These Baptists are stupid, stupid, stupid!"

This film was made in 1994, but I didn't see it until at least 10 years later. I even remember a friend in Ludwigsburg telling me she was going to see it in the cinema with a few friends and asking me if I wanted to join her. I said No. It's possible that I didn't even know who Ed Wood was at that time. It's significant that the first film I ever bought on VHS tape was "Plan 9 from Outer Space".

As I've often said, I have a weakness for films based on true stories. I'm biased towards them, so I give them higher ratings than they deserve. In fact, maybe I should do a true story month later this year. That would be fun. Do I have 30 true stories on film? I'm not sure. I need to sit down and check.

Ed Wood was voted the worst director of all time, and "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was voted the worst film ever made. That puzzles me. I've seen five of his films, and they're all entertaining. It's true that they have poor quality special effects and ridiculous plots, but they're never boring. For me, a boring film is a bad film. Look at my alphabetical list of posts and you'll find a few films that I gave a one star rating. "Jupiter Ascending" is an awful film, despite the millions of dollars poured into it. "Plan 9 from Outer Space" cost $60,000 and it's a wonderful film.

Nevertheless, the worst director and worst film awards have been useful. They've given Ed Wood a notoriety that he would never otherwise have had. If a film is called the worst film ever made, people have to see it. This biopic would never have been made if Ed Wood had only been considered average.

The film deals with themes that are relevant today. Ed Wood was a transvestite. John "Bunny" Breckinridge (played by Bill Murray) was a transgender. All his life he wanted an operation to "become a woman", but he never had enough money.

Ed Wood, Bunny Breckinridge and the other actors who appear in "Plan 9 from Outer Space" are baptised. It wasn't until later that the Baptists discovered that Ed was a transvestite. What a terrible sin! They would never have baptised him if they'd known.

Martin Landau won an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi. Bela wasn't baptised, because he was already dead.

Martin Landau's daughter Juliet also appears in the film as the actress Loretta King. She wasn't baptised either. Only the cast of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" was baptised. Loretta had no contact with Ed Wood after appearing in "Bride of the Monster".

Success Rate:  - 3.1

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Little Nicky (5 Stars)

Dancer's Top Films #82

Here's something strange. Today, 16th February 2021, my last review of "Little Nicky", which I wrote on 16th January 2019, is one of my most commonly read posts. It's been in my top 10 for more than a month, and it's currently in fifth place. When I first wrote the post it only had a moderate amount of readers, not enough for it to enter my top 10. Then it was (mostly) forgotten for two years, until December 2020. Here are the readership stats for the post.

That's weird. The beginning is typical for my posts. 113 hits in January 2019, 9 hits in February 2019, then 0 hits in March 2019. Most of my film posts follow a similar curve. 50 to 100 for the first month is typical for new posts, not enough to enter the top 10. After that, interest drops. If you look at my current list, only one film review this month, "Ip Man 4", has received enough hits to enter my list. The rest are older reviews that have remained popular for one reason or another. My "Little Nicky" post was largely ignored until March 2020. Then there was slight interest for eight months. Then bang! The readership figures shot up in December 2020, and they've remained high for the last three months. Someone pointed out to me that "Little Nicky" was added to Netflix for the first time at the end of last year, but that doesn't explain it. I have lots of reviews of films which are shown on Netflix.

The simple truth is that I don't understand my readers. There must be something that's attracted them to my post, but I have no idea what it is.

After all that rambling about my old review, let's start my new review, I'm curious if it will be as popular.

The film's premise is ridiculous, to say the least, but it's easy to accept in the context of a comedy. It's been ordained that each ruler of Hell has a 10,000 year term in office. Americans are lucky that their president has to be re-elected every four years. Imagine if they had to put up with Donald Trump for another 9,996 years! Satan (most ably portrayed by Harvey Keitel) declares that his 10,000 years are almost up, so it's time to pick one of his sons as his successor. From right to left, the sons are:

Adrian, smart and ruthless.

Cassius, smart and tough.

Nicky, such a sweet boy.

Satan announces that he won't pick anyone because he's decided to remain in power for another 10,000 years. Nicky rejoices, because he thinks his Daddy is a good Devil. Adrian and Cassius are angry, so they hatch a plot to kill their father. They go to Earth – New York. Where else? – which automatically causes Hell to freeze over. Unless they return, Satan will slowly fall apart. Nicky is sent to New York to capture his brothers and bring them back.

There's a frantic search for the two sons of Satan, in which Nicky is aided by various people. There are two heavy metal loving Satanists. We know that all heavy metal fans worship Satan, don't we?

There's a bulldog called Beefy.

There's a pretty young girl called Valerie.

There's a bulldog called Beefy. Or did I already mention him?

Yes, I did, but in my last review I promised to post a few more photos of him. Isn't he cute?

There's only one thing wrong with him? Can you spot it?

Now you see it. He won't let go of the television remote. That's bad manners. If two or more people are watching television together, the remote should be in a central place where anyone can grab it.

But he's so cute.

Wouldn't you fall in love with a dog like Beefy?

A look like this would melt anyone's heart.

Admit it, you'd immediately let him in if he were standing outside your window.

He's a horny dog. This is the only sex scene in the film.

You can't accuse Beefy of racism. He likes human women as well. Hmmm... but that isn't racism, it's specism. Does that word even exist?

This is a brilliant film that's appealed to me ever since I first saw it in the cinema. Is it too low in my list? Probably. And it's criminal that it still hasn't been remastered for Blu-ray.

Success Rate:  - 1.5

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Little Nicky (5 Stars)

I wasn't always the big film fan that I am now. There was a time in my life when I rarely went to the cinema, at most three or four times a year. That didn't change until 2013 when I joined the Birmingham Film Group. I can hardly believe it was so recent! Only five years ago! Now I go to the cinema twice a week, on average.

When I rarely visited the cinema the films that I saw had a big effect on me. I treasured them more. The films that I saw on the big screen became my favourite movies. That's not just because they were good films. It's because they were somehow imprinted on me.

"Little Nicky" is a film that I saw in the cinema when it was released in 2000. It immediately became one of my favourite films. It's a film I can never forget. I have to admit that the story is ridiculous, even for a comedy, but I can't help liking it. Would I like it so much if I'd been watching two films a week in 2000? I don't know. I'll never know.

The story starts with the Devil, played by Harvey Keitel. He's the coolest Devil I've ever seen. He has three sons, and one of them has to take his place as the new ruler of Hell for the next 10,000 years. They each have different qualities.

Adrian is the oldest. He's smart and ruthless.

Next comes Cassius, who's strong and tough.

The youngest is Nicky, who's a sweet little boy.

The choice is too tough to make, so the Devil decides to remain ruler himself. Adrian and Cassius are angry about this this, so they travel to the surface of the Earth – New York, of course! – to create a new Kingdom of Hell on Earth. This is against the Devil's will, so he sends Nicky to stop them.

This is why Nicky is so sweet. His mother is an angel.

On Earth Nicky is confronted by a blind preacher played by Quentin Tarantino.

Nicky is assisted by a demon dog called Mr. Beefy.

"You like acting, I like pissing".

Mr. Beefy is such a cool dog who spends his time visiting strip clubs when he's not helping Nicky save the Earth. I could post dozens of screenshots of him. Maybe that's what I'll do next time I watch the film.

It's difficult to understand why the film isn't more popular. Everyone I've spoken to who's seen the film loves it, but there aren't many. Hardly anyone has seen the film. It needs a flashy Blu-ray release and a big promotion campaign to get people to buy it.

Success Rate:  - 1.5

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