Daniel's 150 favourite films so far

You and I touch many of the same points and observations. And you pointed out a few things I did not. It was a good read. It is a fantastic movie and Scorsese's masterpiece. And we both love it!

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

Just another vote for the last two films.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

David Lynch's dark and disturbing film takes a look at the perfect peaceful town and the horror that lies in a hidden underworld beneath it, an idea he would later apply to his greatest achievement and one of my favourite television shows - Twin Peaks.

The film is often bizarre and violent, in fact these two very things are personified in its main villain - Frank. This saw it famously given a negative review by Roger Ebert who hated the film, accusing it of unfair exploitation of its actors, in particular Isabella Rossellini, but generally it was met with positive reception and in modern times has been rightfully regarded as a great film, finding itself within the top 70 of Sight&Sound's critics and directors polls.

Good versus evil is a simple explanation of this film, but is probably the best. Kyle MacLachlan is the good, an innocent but curious young man who finds himself, with the help of Laura Dern, investigating mysterious criminal activites (the severing of an ear) in true noir style. The dark, thrilling atmosphere is maintained throughout the film, and I've chosen two very appropriate shots from the film to show you this, below is my review that I posted within days (I believe) of watching the film.


My second viewing of a David Lynch film following the extremely impressive Mulholland Drive, if there is one word I would choose to describe the two films I would simply choose ‘weird’. That is not meant as an insult though and although both films are strange and unusual; they are entirely different in style and unique in their own ways. Mulholland Drive was weird in a fascinating, mysterious and intriguing way that made us question the dreamlike world we were watching and attempt to get to the bottom of it. Whilst Blue Velvet is also a mysterious film where the characters dig deeper in to a world filled with a dark sinister side where everything is not what is seems, I would use the word ‘weird’ best to describe the bizarre characters that inhabit the world and fill it with their violent and sick actions.

This film is a crime film like no other, with the sinister underworld discovered leaving a lasting impact on the viewer due to its disturbing and psychopathic violence. It is impossible to talk about the film’s darkness without specifically talking about the film’s main villain, Frank, a man in charge of a criminal organisation that share their violent fantasies with each other. Dennis Hopper’s character is one of the scariest and most disturbing characters that I can remember, constantly inhaling drugs from a canister attached to a face mask that only further enhances his appearance as a character who we truly despise. The first scene that we see him in is particularly disturbing but brilliant as we see the young and innocent character Jeffrey Beaumont face the harsh realisation that the town in which he lives in is not as pleasant as it seems.

The opening scenes themselves are brilliant as we see a lovely little garden with a nice picket fence and red roses, the ‘Blue Velvet’ song that is heard throughout itself is soft and calming and when we see Dorothy Vallens (Frank’s victim) sing it we see her through the eyes of young Jeffrey who becomes sexually involved with the woman who he sees as a beautiful and unfortunate victim that he wants to protect.

Kyle MacLachlan is very good in his role as Jeffrey; he is young and naïve and genuinely looks lost and innocent. He finds himself sickened that such people as Frank exist in the world and wants to become the hero for an older woman who he shares a secret relationship with after initially only going to her apartment to further his investigation in to a cut off ear he comes across at the start of the film.

The film is often labelled as ‘noir’ due to its dark themes and visual style. The use of little light in scenes adds to the mystery and suspense and in other scenes we see tints of more vibrant colours such as blue to give a great contrasting edge to the look of the film. The use of music as mentioned before is brilliant; we know we are viewing a dark world so the soft and calming sound of songs such as ‘Blue Velvet’ seem even more disturbing and eerie. Stanley Kubrick famously used songs to give an ironic touch to dark scenes in films such as Dr. Strangelove and A Clockwork Orange and I was reminded of his work when Frank is sent into a psychopathic rage, kisses and beats up Jeffrey to the tune of ‘In Dreams’ as a woman dances to the tune in the background of the violent attack.

After watching both Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet I can definitely say that the two films have been two of the strangest yet greatest viewing experiences I can recall in recent times, both will certainly not be easily forgotten and I would definitely label them must watch films as I would now label David Lynch a must watch director, a man whose films that I have never seen anything like before.

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Good choice!
It's probably my favorite Lynch movie of those that I've already seen from him (Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart and Mulholland Drive). Which other movies of him do you recommend?

I loved its weird noir atmosphere and the many stylistic elements in it. The film is cruel and filthy in a very artistic way.


I'm also a big fan of the theme song.

I've only seen: Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks (TV), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. Got Eraserhead to watch but for some reason keep delaying it. I know a lot of people on here really like The Straight Story and The Elephant Man, but I also want to see Lynch's more 'weird' films like Lost Highway and Inland Empire, his bizarre style in such films is not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it.

My biggest (and only one I can really make) recommendation would definitely me Twin Peaks the TV show, it really is brilliant. I really liked the film too, which gets a flack and hate it seems, but I thought it was a fantastic disturbing horror type film.

And yeh, the theme for Blue Velvet is absolutely brilliant, but I think I like the use of Roy Orbison's In Dreams even more, I love Orbison and the song, it's one of my favourites, and it's used brilliantly in the film.

Yeah, the whole soundtrack for this film is just outstanding. The In Dreams scene is indeed incredibly stylish.

Is it possible to understand the Twin Peaks movie, without watching the series, by the way?

Yeh it is but I definitely wouldn't recommend it. The film is a sequel and spoils the entire mystery of the tv series that lasts a season and a half, who killed Laura Palmer. The film just shows you so expects you to know from the TV series, which I can't imagine being as great without the mystery.

I still need to see Blue Velvet. Need to fix that in the coming weeks.

Fantastic choice! I knew it was coming, but I'm glad to see it so high up. I definitely agree with you that Blue Velvet is the screen's definitive tale of good vs evil, but what's so fascinating is that it's just as much about Jeffrey's internal struggle as the one he has with Frank. It's my favorite Lynch as well; there's probably more to puzzle over in Mulholland Drive, but as a child of suburbia myself there may be no other film which hits me as hard as that one.

Among Lynch's features, I haven't seen The Straight Story or Dune, but make sure you check out Inland Empire. It's tends to polarize people but it's by far my favorite of his films that you have yet to see.

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"Puns are the highest form of literature." -Alfred Hitchcock

Yeah, good choice. Not my favourite Lynch but still a great film.

Of those you haven't seen I've only seen The Straight Story but I definitely recommend it. It's not recognisably Lynch for the most part (just a couple of subtle Lynchian stylistic flourishes, with the camera work in particular) but it's great in its own right.

I agree, it's an amazing film, and one of the many Lynch master pieces. Just such a creepy film, and it's the most surreal noir I've ever seen. Obviously I'd reccomend Eraserhead for Lynch, and also elephant man, which is an amazing drama. Had me close to tears. And as Hitchfan stated, it speaks to us suburban kids, and so does Eminem , I hope someone gets the reference.

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Yeh one of my real life friends told me he watched Inland Empire and recommended it, although described it as an 'at times incredibly tough watch', I think I will love it though.

When I first saw Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet back to back I slightly preferred the former, but the latter has improved on me over a couple of viewings and I think Twin Peaks has improved my love for it as well

I'll have to try and watch The Straight Story soon, and if I like it to hopefully get some Lynch on the 90s list

Like I said I have Eraserhead available but just haven't got round to it, I don't get the reference but cheers for the comment once again Donnie

I'll probably get number 3 up soon, later or tomorrow as I've had some good responses to this one, I should think my top 3 is fairly predictable, unless everyone just ignores most my posts

I know Pulp Fiction will be up there but I'm honestly drawing a blank on the other two. Which is a good thing

Possibly the most disturbing film I've ever seen and I've always found Frank terrifying.

BTW, The Straight Story is my 4th favourite film, so make sure you see it before you hand in your 90's list. You'll only regret it if you don't.

Blue Velvet is awesome, it is weird to me that I only saw it for the first time a couple months ago.

Thanks HK, yeh I will definitely watch The Straight Story, think from now on I'm gonna try and watch 90s films, not really got that long left I've realised

Glad you like it, like I've said before your film taste seems pretty similar to mine, so I hope you'll like the remaining three

Nice outline of your love for Blue Velvet. I myself am not that fond of it as you are. I'd rate it . I still think this falls into the same category as Mulholland Drive, where Lynch fused his creative weirdness with the confines of making a film suited for a slightly bigger audience (having to follow an actual plot and such). To me, that's when we see the best Lynch.

There's the completely flipped Lynch of Inland Empire and Lost Highway, where he goes wild with his creative output, but makes an overall mess. That's what happens when he has complete creative control I think. And then you've got stuff like Elephant Man, The Straight Story, and Dune, where he had to stick to linear plot development and cut out his regular weirdness. I don't think he's at his best then, but definitely better than when he goes in full-on mental mode.

I don't think the guy can do much better than Mulholland Drive though. *****, that movie knocked me off my block.

I feel like I have talked about my love for this film many times, it is a film that seems to have gathered a kind of 'cult following' for a reason, and in my opinion is by far the funniest film ever created.

There's just so many things to love about this film, some people 'don't get it', and that's fair enough, but I will say that when I first watched it I thought it was a good film, but didn't enjoy the humour that much, but on repeat viewings, I have found myself laughing all the way through.

So what's so great about it? I could talk all day about certain specifics, but when you get down to it it's just the amount of times it makes me laugh. Each character is brilliant and hilarious in their own way, the screenplay is brilliant and contains mainly memorable lines which I am sure you will have heard quoted. Multiple viewings make me feel like I know these characters, like I am hanging out with them and having a good time with them, it's very much a 'feel good' film for me, and reminds me of why I love films so much. Like the last post, here is my original review:


I’ve seen the film a number of times now and on each viewing I have been more impressed by what I have seen. The movie combines a talented cast with each actor bringing their own unique character to the screen, humour that is intelligent and subtle in places, brilliant sets such as those used in the bowling alley, costumes and a soundtrack that brilliantly adds to the feel of film.

Although ‘The Big Lebowski’ is nothing like the films of ‘Fargo’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’ (which are darker, more 'colder' films), it contains many of the Coen Brothers usual plot devices and techniques that they used. The plot of the film is relatively straight forward, but is layered over with bizarre twists with nothing going as easy as planned. The film is focussed around a millionaire whose wife is kidnapped for a $1,000,000 ransom with Jeffrey Lebowski hiring a ‘bum’ of the same name to act as a middle man in a deal to get here back.

Immediately ‘Dude’ as he likes to be known suspects that the kidnapping is not as straightforward as outlined and that Lebowski’s wife Bunny has kidnapped herself in order to get rich from a man who would not normally allow her such money, sound a bit like ‘Fargo’?

Unlike Fargo which can be seen as a ‘dark comedy’, The Big Lebowski is more a feel-good film that’s style can probably be better compared to an earlier comedy of the Coen Brothers ‘Raising Arizona’, a film also which featured John Goodman (who also appeared in the Coen Brothers’ film ‘Barton Fink’).

I feel that John Goodman’s performance in this film is one worthy of a best supporting actor Oscar. Goodman portrays Walter; one of the Dude’s bowling buddies that becomes involved in the Dude’s task to transfer money between Lebowski and the kidnappers. Walter provides a lot of the film’s humour and best scenes; he is an aggressive war veteran who makes constant references to his fighting at Vietnam and is constantly arguing with fellow bowling buddy Donny.

Donny is portrayed by Steve Buscemi who is one of my favourite actors who seems to play a totally different character in every film he appears in. It seems strange that him and Goodman would go on to star together again in ‘Monsters Inc.’ but the two have great chemistry in this film, Donny is mocked throughout by Walter and the two provide some great scenes for us such as ‘I am the walrus?’.

John Turturro (who starred in ‘Barton Fink’ and later ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’) also features in a less prominent role as Jesus Quintana, a convicted paedophile that is set to facethe Dude’s bowling team in an upcoming tournament round. Although he doesn’t have much time on screen, when he does he provides us with some of the films most enjoyable scenes, in fact this is the case for nearly all the scenes that are set in the bowling alley. Sam Elliott is also used effectively in his role as the mysterious narrator.

There are other strong supporting performances such as those from Julianne Moore and Philip Seymour Hoffman but the star is undoubtedly Jeff Bridges as ‘the Dude’. Jeff Bridges brings character and style to the leading character who is ultimately a bum that spends his life getting high and bowling with his friends. It’s hard to imagine anybody else in such a role, the film acts an ode to the characters laid back, chilled lifestyle which makes the film so enjoyable.

As it is with other Coen Brothers’ films, the cinematography is superb and the duo have created a fantastic setting for a film. In ‘Fargo’ we saw the gritty and dark atmosphere reflected in the cold setting of North Dakota, in ‘The Big Lebowski’ the Coen Brothers’ use Los Angeles as their location, at times the film can feel dark but at others we get light, as already said the bowling alley provides an excellent setting for many of the films’ scenes. The Coen Brothers’ also use a number of bizarre yet enjoyable dream sequences to give their film another dimension.

I wouldn't consider myself part of the Lebowski cult, but I do think it's a funny film, that I will be revisiting soon for the MoFo Hall of Fame, so I'll see if it holds up. I gave it a -, which is solid. My favorite character Walter, and as you said the Coen Brothers are amazing at creating setting.

That's a pretty good rating for you, so I'm glad you like it I just think when I watched it the first, maybe first couple of times, some of the genius lines just went straight over my head, I didn't hear them all properly, understand the context of them, or know why they were funny - like why a character would say a particular line, I really do thing this works like a 'hang out' film in which we get to know the characters like our friends when you watch it more. I feel like I know these characters perfectly, and I honestly think I laugh at almost every line when I watch the film now.

An example of this is Walter, I know him as an aggressive man, but a man of principles, someone who is still obsessed with Vietnam etc. and how he always thinks he is right (briefcase plan, wheelchair etc.) this knowledge makes everything he says a whole lot funnier to me.

I got this in the post today by the way: Coen Brothers Collection , so I finally own The Big Lebowski, on Blu-Ray too, I haven't seen any of the other films on it either so I'm looking forward to them