David Lynch - Classic or Dud

with its Aussie soap stars, Mulholland Drive is like a lost episode, at least outdoingFire walk with Me me in episodic tension or edge (but to be fair, what can be expeced from a prequel)

Mulholland Drive is a great film for Lynch, yanking him out of his US weirdo cult niche and projecting world class ideas onto the world stage. I fail to see how it could stand a chance at BAFTA with Princess Ann on the board however (Oscars and Globes out-of-th-qn i assume).

His outsiderness, and his adoption finally by Cannes, like a Roman Polanski.

Most certainly did -- his third film after Eraserhead and The Elephant Man.

Did anyone ever see that interview he did for scene by scene - i loved the bit where he's talking about "the eye of the duck" to describe the key scene in his films.

Also i highly recommend the book "Lynch on Lynch" - so much fun!

Umm. This movie is two years old. Why are we speculating on its award chances?

*waiting for backlash*

crosspost

Yeah, quite right. I read the book a year before the movie came out so my timing was perfect there...

although, N. has had my copy of the cinema one for nearly a year, now.

cremaster's opulent mythboredom reminded me a lot of dune

Yeah, they traded a lot of music, much to Rollins and Lynch's delight. (They were mutual fans.)

Also gave some insight into how someone like Lynch can feasibly make movies - they may get name stars but they have very tight budgets.

His compound's up for sale - $15 million asking price.

I hope the buyer preserves his workshop, at least in a way that can allow it to be recreated if they have no interest in keeping it intact and in use. Wouldn't be unprecedented - in the last few years, I was stunned to see Martin Scorsese's original family home's living room reconstructed from the original furniture (which he preserved) and a recreation of Hal Willner's studio at the NYPL.

(Willner's studio was also put together from his actual belongings, of which there were MANY since it was his working studio until his untimely death from COVID.)

Yeah they should turn it into a museum.

Link to the Zillow listing for pics, etc.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7017-Senalda-Rd-Los-Angeles-CA-90068/20803620_zpid/

Am I wrong in thinking that's a low listing price?

I can contribute 5k to the ilx crowdfund

We failed to buy the silverdome let’s not make the same mistake twice

Michael Jordan's former mansion sold for less than $10 million after languishing on the market for a long time. Given the location (and as part of that, the cost of upkeep and insurance) for Lynch's compound, I think $15 million may be a bit optimistic.

Yeah, take out the "Lynch" factor and this is a very optimistic price.

Am I wrong in thinking that's a low listing price?

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, September 13, 2025 7:26 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

as someone on the market to buy in LA now, though at a tiny fraction of that sticker price, $1364/sqft is pretty high. obviously with the amenities and history I understand why it’s a bit inflated

but the market is really bad for sellers right now. If it closes any time soon I doubt they’ll get the asking price

yeah, i was going off memory of an old friend trying to sell their Washington Heights place some 5-6 years back and forgot about market changes/wildfires/etc.

It looked like a lot of cement rooms (and per the description more bathrooms than bedrooms) - I kind of wonder if it was more suitable to turn it into a school or some kind of arts center or artist studios rather than to use it as another home.

It's 3 separate houses, with some outbuildings. I wonder if it'll be divided back into 3 properties and re-sold individually.

Even though this seems high from a real estate perspective, I was just looking back over his estate sale, and every last item was bid up massively over the expected price, which makes me think $15M is totally reasonable or possibly way less than what it will end up selling for.

Market is bad for sellers across the board, or just LA? Last I saw something like 30% of all house sales are cash, which is insane. Everyone I know that recently sold in Chicago sold at or over asking in just a day or two.

think it’s across the board. had read that sellers vastly outnumber buyers to a degree that hasn’t been seen in a while. and if you’re on Redfin a lot it’s pretty obvious — houses/condos on the market for months, closing price frequently below asking etc

I think I must just live in a particularly heated market.

We sold our house in LA at list price in June in about 3 1/2 weeks, and everyone I tell that to is shocked.

15 million is a lot for that, I think as far as the location goes it’s iconic in a Lynch sense but it’s not necessarily the most sought after area either. Not just bc these days people are more likely to reflect on the possibility of a fire sweeping through the hills, but also it’s just not the best use of 15 million if you’re lucky enough to have it. Being Hollywood adjacent is not the lure that a lot of people might imagine it to be, not in 2025 anyway.

The fact that it's a "compound" with 3 houses may give a "sum is worth more than the parts" aspect to some buyers, but a famous ex-owner doesn't give that much of a boost.

With estate sale auction items you can put them on the wall/bookshelf/counter/music room without upending your life by moving.

Apparently the main building was designed by Lloyd Wright. Son of Frank Lloyd Wright. Which raises the question of whether Frank Lloyd Wright's grandson was just called Wright. But alas no, he was Eric Lloyd Wright.

There's a bunch of photos of the place from when Lynch was alive, and they seem to have tarted it up since he's left. In particular the exterior doesn't look great when it's damp:
https://www.reddit.com/r/davidlynch/comments/11g9dkx/david_lynchs_la/

The screening and editing rooms are interesting. I wonder if they still have the equipment, or if it was auctioned off? It raises the question of whether he used the screening room to have final say on the picture quality of his films, or if it was just for fun. It's a pretty substantial room:
https://i.redd.it/snxgjakgtrof1.png

There's a bunch of photos of the place from when Lynch was alive, and they seem to have tarted it up since he's left. In particular the exterior doesn't look great when it's damp:

I'm not a structural engineer or anything, but is it a cause for concern over the long run when water reveals so many cracks in the cement?

Nm, found this: https://www.a1concrete.com/concrete-repair-learning-center/concrete-crack-types

Police arrested an asshole believed responsible for the Palisades fire. Besides the mass destruction he caused, one of my first reactions was "this is the asshole that killed David Lynch." Granted, Lynch had a serious health problem, but regardless, fuck this guy.

A video (11.5 min) of the guy who bought the Parker Fly guitar from the auction. Maybe only of interest to guitar people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbJZR_l7Cak

Those guitars are so ridiculous except for who they're great for (Belew, Joni).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB_Fw5MKUoU

Good 15 minute doc about Lynch's houses

Yeah that was really interesting

I always knew about Ebert's infamous "Blue Velvet" pan, but I had no idea he didn't dig "The Elephant Man," either.

Hadn't seen "The Straight Story" in ages, what a miracle that movie is.

Truly

agreed

is there a better screen performance than harry dean stanton's in this?

Btw, I have the StudioCanal 4k (looks great) and it starts off with a disclaimer, sort of like what they put in front of Tom & Jerry cartoons or certain animated shorts. "It was a different time and this movie may insensitively depict those times," something like that, though a little longer and better written. I was a little surprised, because the movie is rated G, and while not for kids, per se, it's famous for being generally inoffensive. So having not seen it in so long, I kept an eye out for what possibly got flagged, and the only thing I could imagine is Sissy Spacek's performance. She has a slight stutter, and at one point is described as "a little slow." That's the best I could come up with.

Might be there as a pre-emptive measure in case some fraudster tries to sue for 'emotional trauma' or the like

Saw it when it came out so had no knowledge of HDS's cameo, when he appeared onscreen a golden glow of happiness suffused me

HDS interviewed Madonna, I just discovered:

https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/madonna-harry-dean-stanton-interview

Spacek is wonderful opposite Farnsworth; she deserved a nomination just for the scene where she looks out the rain-splashed window.

It's great that Lynch was able to bring in Spacek, who helped fund Eraserhead.

FWIW, about 01:13:30 into this, there's a pretty amusing description of what it's like to be randomly assigned to a table with David Lynch and Albert Maysles. The posts mentioning Sissy Spacek reminded me of this. (It'll make sense when you hear the anecdote.)

Hilarious that I bought the blu-ray in great anticipation of rewatching, and before I could do so there's a 4K release. Oh well. I remind myself I live in an incredible era when near-cinema-level film experience at home costs less than a couple of cinema tickets.

xp Not loading for some reason, but at one point, the guy (who does a great David Lynch impression) recalls Lynch spotting Spacek in the distance and repeating out loud "Sissy Spacek! Sissy Spacek!"

Ah, even better, it's on Spotify - here's the direct link

Okay that is truly awesome, thanks

I sometimes imitate Lynch talking about Naomi Watts but I've got nothing on that guy.

and of course Spacek's husband Jack Fisk is one of the all-time great production designers.

He directed her and Kevin Kline in the movie Violets Are Blue which I remember as being pretty good.

Fisk was the man in the planet in Eraserhead. Lynch’s… unorthodox makeup techniques were miserable for him.

Lynch and Fisk knew each other since they were kids and they lived together for a while, they were both painters.