Lynch

 I was saddened to read that David Lynch passed away last week. The papers since then have been filled with various people offering anecdotes and tributes to the man. He was a fantastic visionary and his movies are all worth watching as is the Twin Peaks series decades after conception. I have all of his movies and although I haven't rewatched many of them in some years I made a promise to myself to rewatch Eraserhead. I recall in the early 80s at school us kids would chat about movies in the playground and it was known to us back then as a horror movie, this was the peak of the "video nasties" hysteria and going to the video store to rent out of a movie was a highlight of our weekends. The collective chatter from the kids was this was a horror movie akin to Evil Dead, or Alien, but when I finally got around to viewingit, I realized it was something else and much more. The is a creeping sense of dread but it seemed to me to be more about parenthood and relationships, there was nothing demonic here, just how every day interactions can have a dark undertone. We've probably all had weird conversations struck with a stranger while waiting at a bus stop or a bar where things don't seem quite right and this movie seemed to capture an element of that. RIP Mr Lynch, your art will live on for generations to come. 

The Festive Season

 I didn't have any vacation days left so I worked on all days other than the two Christmas and Boxing Day bank holidays (but had to work New Years Day) so I didn't really get to relax or unwind much before having to be at the coalface again. I did however get to rewatch the Tarkovsky movie Solaris from the early 1970s. Its been hailed as a great movie but honestly on the rewatch I found it really drab and implausible. The only thing it really has going for it is the philosophical dialogue but even this I found very clunky. The editing it terrible also, I didn't see the need for the long 2 minute cut of stock footage of what I am guessing was a motorway in Korea. I guess in 1970 it was deemed as futuristic looking but nowadays very dull. On the whole I was underwhelmed with it, if I wanted better sharp deep think dialogue I will always be better off with My Dinner with Andre which has barely aged in comparison.