Monday, December 21, 2009

The World of David Lynch, 2000-2009

As the first decade of the new millennium comes to a close, it's a good time to take a look back at what David Lynch has done over the past 10 years.

First, David turned a rejected TV pilot into one of his greatest films ever (and one of the greatest films ever), Mulholland Drive.

Next, he established DavidLynch.com, his official website, and used it as a home for some short films and other projects. The material he put up on the site has spawned two DVDs, Dumbland and Dynamic:01.

In the middle part of the decade, he established The David Lynch Foundation, whose ultimate goal is to create world peace through teaching transcendental meditation to children in schools and others who are in need. That was followed by the creation of DLV.TV, a video companion site to the main foundation site. We wholeheartedly support David and the foundation in their mission, and we encourage people to volunteer with the foundation.

In 2006, David released his most experimental film to date, the dark and mysterious Inland Empire. The film is noteworthy because it was shot with digital video over a long period, with David writing scenes as the process went along. This is an exciting development in the world of independent filmmaking.

This decade saw the release of Season 1 and Season 2 of Twin Peaks separately on DVD, but it was in 2007 that Twin Peaks fans really got what they'd been wanting, the Definitive Gold Box Edition of the show, complete with the pilot (original and European cuts), both seasons and tons of special features.

The decade also saw a number of music releases by David and/or related to his projects:
-- The Mulholland Drive soundtrack
-- Blue Bob, David's music project with John Neff
-- The Inland Empire soundtrack
-- "Ghost Of Love"/"Imaginary Girl" CD single
-- Twin Peaks: Season 2 Music and More
-- Polish Night Music, David's project with pianist Marek Zebrowski
-- The Air Is On Fire, background music for David's art installation of the same name
-- The Eraserhead soundtrack was released on mp3
-- David Lynch Presents: Fox Bat Strategy: A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi
-- Dark Night of the Soul -- although it officially hasn't been released, you can find this collaboration with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse online if you go looking for it

We won't get into all the details, but David was involved in numerous art projects and exhibitions this decade, including contributing photos to the Dark Night of the Soul project.

There have also been a number of books written about David (and some by him), which you can find on this page.

Here's a quick roundup of the other Lynch-related DVDs that came out this decade:
-- Eraserhead
-- The Short Films of David Lynch
-- The Elephant Man
-- Dune
-- Dune (Extended Edition)
-- Blue Velvet special edition
-- Wild at Heart special edition
-- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
-- Lost Highway
-- The Straight Story
-- Lynch (One), the in-depth documentary about David made during the filming of Inland Empire
-- I Don't Know Jack, a documentary about Jack Nance

And finally, 2008 saw the release of a true treasure trove of Lynch material in the Lime Green Set, a box set that includes the following:
-- Eraserhead
-- The Eraserhead soundtrack
-- The Short Films of David Lynch
-- The Elephant Man
-- The Elephant Man extras
-- Wild at Heart
-- Industrial Symphony No. 1
-- Blue Velvet (with new 5.1 audio)
-- Dumbland
-- Mystery Disc (which contains deleted scenes from Wild at Heart)
-- 40-page picture book

We look forward to whatever David works on over the next decade (and we really hope that includes at least one feature film). We also really hope the next year or two sees the release of a new edition of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me that includes the famed deleted scenes.

Happy New Year, everyone!