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Reviews
Mulholland Dr. (2001)
Huh?
In my younger day, I would have marvelled at this movie, and then gone home to do a hit of acid and contemplate the meaning of life, as seen through the camera of David Lynch. Perhaps then I would have had a revelation and come to understand the point, if any, he is trying to make. But now I'm just a clear-headed old fart trying to figure out what I just saw. You know, I tried really hard too. I watched it a second time without once hitting the fast-forward button.
Maybe that's the point - watching it multiple times trying to figure it out while pouring money into the production company and Lynch's pockets. Is the joke on us?
I'm a Lynch fan, and this film will not tarnish my opinion of his earlier work. "Blue Velvet," for example, kept me on the edge of my seat, and then everything was pulled together in the the end. But ask ten people what they think is going on in "Mulholland Drive" and you'll likely get ten different answers. I don't necessarily want the plot outcome handed to me on a silver platter, but neither do I want to walk away wondering if there even was a plot at all.
I suppose, if you're a Lynch fan, nothing I am going to say will stop you from seeing it. So at least enjoy the scenery, but don't waste time trying to unravel the story.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1934)
Historical value
One look at this ten minute feature, and you know it would never win any awards. The acting was horrific, the script confusing and corny, the special effects terrible even by contemporary 30's standards. But we view this with the advantage (or disadvantage?) of time, and thereby measure it against the accomplishments achieved through the intervening years.
So why bother? Well, perhaps it will bring back a memory or two of sitting in a theater on a Saturday morning 50 years ago and catching the next episode in the serial of Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon, followed by an Abbott and Costello short and a cartoon before the main feature, which more often than not was of the same poor production quality. But who cared as we munched on Jujubes and popcorn and, from the balcony, threw our wrappers at our buddies down below.
This Buck Rogers episode was the first one made, and was shown to adoring crowds several times a day at the 1935 World's Fair in Chicago. Of course, sales of Buck Rogers paraphernalia accompanied the showing. But you've got to wonder - were the folks of that depressed era more gullible? Did they not realize those little spaceships were just models circling around at the end of a string? Or is it us that have become naive in our own advanced sophistication?