Eraserhead

[senorcorazon]

I saw it at a museum too (and everyone laughed through it), and then got into an elevator with an old lady -- the door closed and she turned to me and asked "what the hell was that?"

[Josh]

It's playing at the Regent Square in Pittsburgh from the 28th thru the 3rd. I'm pretty excited!

[dave from knoxville]

Has anyone read his book, Catching the Big Fish?

There's not much in terms of new ideas, but I found it offered an interesting perspective on the way he creates his films.  On the surface, it's really a much simpler process than I would have thought.

I just read this about three weeks. I find it ironic that so many of his images are so ugly (although there's also a wealth of beauty to be found), but despite the violence expressed in his stuff, he seems like just the sweetest guy, both in the book and in interviews.

[A.M. Thomas]

Has anyone read his book, Catching the Big Fish?

There's not much in terms of new ideas, but I found it offered an interesting perspective on the way he creates his films.  On the surface, it's really a much simpler process than I would have thought.

I just read this about three weeks. I find it ironic that so many of his images are so ugly (although there's also a wealth of beauty to be found), but despite the violence expressed in his stuff, he seems like just the sweetest guy, both in the book and in interviews.

I think it has been expressed on this board before, but David Lynch: The Guy is indisputably lovable.  Those videos of him cursing about watching movies on the iPhone and subliminal advertising are so great.

[Phantom Hugger]

Has anyone read his book, Catching the Big Fish?

There's not much in terms of new ideas, but I found it offered an interesting perspective on the way he creates his films.  On the surface, it's really a much simpler process than I would have thought.

I think Ive mentioned this elsewhere, but getting Catching the Big Fish on cd is awesome. It's nice to sprinkle into a random mix on your iPod, suddenly his impish little voice shows up between songs and turns the lens a bit.

[<<<<<]

His use of contemporary music has swung both ways.  In Lost Highway, the use of NIN and M. Manson certainly provided short term gain and probably drew a lot of people in to see what he likely knew to be one of his least accessible works.  Problem was in how it stuck the film in a time capsule.  Simply doesn't age well.

Yet in Wild at Heart, the use of the band Powermad was done masterfully (imo).  I can watch that over and over and the presence of an old school thrash metal band still enhances it favorably, even though that genre had aged very badly within a couple short years of the film's release.

Eraserhead is one of the finest slices of pure, unapologetic surrealism on film.

[<<<<<]

I just read this about three weeks. I find it ironic that so many of his images are so ugly (although there's also a wealth of beauty to be found), but despite the violence expressed in his stuff, he seems like just the sweetest guy, both in the book and in interviews.

He was a formally trained painter first, wasn't he?

[Dan B]

I just read this about three weeks. I find it ironic that so many of his images are so ugly (although there's also a wealth of beauty to be found), but despite the violence expressed in his stuff, he seems like just the sweetest guy, both in the book and in interviews.

He was a formally trained painter first, wasn't he?

Yeah, he went to the Art Institute of Philadelphia.  His first film is actually an animation of his paintings projected onto  sculptures.

[<<<<<]

Yeah, he went to the Art Institute of Philadelphia.  His first film is actually an animation of his paintings projected onto  sculptures.

Ah yes, I remember now.  Eraserhead was heavily influenced by Philadelphia too, I believe.

[folksnake]

An all time favorite for me, Eraserhead. When I first saw it (at the Charles Theater in Baltimore, back around 1980) a new friend introduced it to me; he kept watching to see if I was going to walk out or react badly. After I hung on for the whole ride (and that first time was definitely a wild ride for me) our friendship was sealed.

I really love that the DVD is configured so that you have to watch it from the beginning, straight through. If you stop it and then try to start again from the place you stopped, you find yourself back at the beginning.

[Sarah]

I really love that the DVD is configured so that you have to watch it from the beginning, straight through.

Not mine.  Thank heaven.

[folksnake]

I really love that the DVD is configured so that you have to watch it from the beginning, straight through.

Not mine.  Thank heaven.

Yeah, it's annoying, especially if you've seen it many times and simply want to go to a spot you especially like...but I still like the naughtiness of the concept, especially in the hands of folks who are used to getting what they want, whenever they want (that being many of us). I think the version I speak of is the one called Eraserhead 2000 (something like that). He doesn't let the viewer have any control over the movie--I don't think you can even rewind or fast-forward on that version. It's a really great print, though.

I wonder--for those of you who might own the version(s) that are more forgiving/less hostile to the viewer--does he start the film with a "black-level" calibration screen? I found it helped a lot for seeing the movie well.

[zonny the nun]

Eraserhead haunted me for years after I saw it as a young teen. I would get spooked out thinking about it as I fell asleep.

I saw a new print of it a little while ago. No troubled nights. I must have finally grown up.