Lost Highway

#2 in my definitive ranking of David Lynch's films. This movie has convinced me that David Lynch does not make difficult movies. He makes movies that require the audience's attention and investment, but the central idea isn't some obtuse thesis on an obscure philosophical idea. There's always an intensely human core to his films, and…

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Wild at Heart

#10 in my definitive ranking of David Lynch's films. This is probably the most extreme example of the combination of wildly variant tones that David Lynch revels in. Adapted from the novel by Barry Gifford, Wild at Heart is a combination of Badlands, The Wizard of Oz, and Blue Velvet thrown into a blender and…

Blue Velvet

#5 in my definitive ranking of David Lynch's films. In some ways, this reminds me of Stanley Kubrick's reaction to directing Spartacus, a movie he had no creative control on and found deadening, by directing Lolita as his follow up. For Lynch, Dune was a draining experience of constant compromise that led to the end…

Dune (1984)

#11 in my definitive ranking of David Lynch's films. I hold David Lynch's Dune up as the perfect example of an adaptation done wrong. It's too concerned with capturing moments from the book to actually tell a story, and it even misses the basic point of the book on top of all that. If you're…

The Elephant Man

#8 in my definitive ranking of David Lynch's films. David Lynch's second film is held up as one of his best, but I think it's hampered a bit in a couple of spots that keeps it from greatness. There are wonderful performances from an incredible cast throughout, the production is amazing to simply look at,…