David Lynch
Celebrities weigh in on the debt ceiling
From David Lynch to Denis Leary, Hollywood stars tell the government how to do its job
David Lynch has an opinion on Congress...we just can't figure out what it is. Celebrity activism usually comes around every four years … right around election time, you’ll notice. But sometimes issues are important enough that even Hollywood has to stop counting its money for a moment and weigh in on our political system. The debt ceiling debate has provided just such an opportunity. (If the day comes when I am forced to ask Snooki about fiscal policy, however, just remind me that I always keep a cyanide capsule in one of my molars. I’ll be ready.)
David Lynch’s ambient, ambiguous video called “How Things Have Been Going” shows that the director knows as much about this crisis as the rest of us.
On the other side of the spectrum, you have Matt Damon, who always keeps abreast of current affairs … especially when they concern the GOP using his buddy Ben Affleck for its videos.
”The Office’s” Rainn Wilson chose Twitter as his megaphone, agreeing with Damon that as a wealthy person, he should be taxed more.
Denis Leary also chose to tweet his opinions about cigarettes, debt and taxes.
And last but certainly not least, Harry Belafonte admonishes Obama on CNN:
“There has never been such a void in moral truth as it now exists,” Belafonte said. “And what the expectation has been for many of us was that Barack Obama would bring to the table a great sense of moral fortitude. I think were he to apply that in the decisions that he would have to make, he would find that his presidency might touch on a level of greatness that he has not yet considered.”
He added, “He [Obama] has only listened to the voices that shout the loudest, and it’s all those reckless right-wing forces. It’s almost criminal.”
Cold words from the crooner, but maybe he has the right of it after all. Thoughts?
Drew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
Five pop culture items we missed
Today's catch includes: A "Muholland Drive" nightclub, Louis C.K.'s Twitter rage, and a LeAnn Rimes non-sex tape
The "Muholland Drive" night club...opening in Paris! 1. Movie-themed nightclub of the day: Club Silencio, a new Parisian nightspot brought to you by David Lynch and based upon the Rebekah Del Rio room from “Muholland Drive.”
It kind of looks like half the nightclubs in the Meatpacking District already.
2. Sex tape rumors of the day: LeAnn Rimes claiming that a video of her changing in front of a mirror doesn’t count as a “sex tape.” We are inclined to agree. She still wants to sue the guy who put the footage online, though.
Continue Reading CloseDrew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
David Lynch phones it in with dismembered Barbie head commercial
In his new coffee commercial, the "Eraserhead" director can't even be bothered to be vaguely unsettling
David Lynch and a special friend want to talk to you about overpriced coffee. As much as it pains me to say this, David Lynch has been totally phoning it in for the last couple years. Ever since his last feature, “Inland Empire,” David’s just been coasting: doing his lecture circuit about Transcendental Meditation, an occasional art show or music concert, and then updates to his web page. Which is fine! You are no longer a young Eraserhead, David, if you want to go retire to the red room or hang out on a deserted beach while Robert Blake paints his face white and laughs manically behind you, no one is going to say you didn’t earn it. Plus, we have “The Killing” now, so we can finally dust off our ole Laura Palmer Lil’ Autopsy Kits (TM) and give it another go.
Continue Reading CloseDrew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
10 year time capsule: The puzzle movie hits made possible by DVD
"Memento," "Donnie Darko," "Mulholland Drive." The link between them may go deeper than their release dates
The least coherent films of 2001. In 2001, DVD players outsold VCRs for the first time ever. I can’t claim that this advent of home technology was the reason that “puzzle films” like Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” and Richard Kelly’s “Donnie Darko” caught on, but it’s a reasonably sound guess. With VCRs, you could watch a film at home, you could pause it, and you could rewind it. But DVDs were made to withstand intense scrutiny: high-res freeze-frames, replaying and jumping chapters, and of course those neat little bonus features that held the promise of providing supplemental material to the film.
Continue Reading CloseDrew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
David Lynch to direct Duran Duran interactive concert
The '80s New Wave band teams up with "Eraserhead" director for a live streaming film/concert/conceptual art piece
Start making sense Before last year, watching a concert on TV was a bitter-grapes kind of experience: Sure, it was entertaining, but it also served as a reminder that you weren’t actually in the audience. All that changed last when the National hired D.A. Pennebaker to “direct” their live-streaming concert on the Internet. That led to Terry Gilliam and Arcade Fire joining forces in August during a Madison Square Garden show, where they turned the conert into an interactive multimedia experience on YouTube that went beyond the auteurism of “Give Me Shelter.” People watching the show online could interact with the performance by choosing camera angles and submitting images that would show up onstage, creating a participatory experience that took full advantage of the medium as a two-way receiver. It was a definite game changer, and something Marshall McLuhan would have especially loved.
Continue Reading CloseDrew Grant is a staff writer for Salon. Follow her on Twitter at @videodrew. More Drew Grant.
Watch David Lynch’s new video
Meet the "Mulholland Drive" auteur's new prot
David Lynch directing Ariana Delawari Whatever you make of David Lynch’s eerie, visionary films or his numerous extracurricular projects — from his 20,000-mile road trip across America interviewing ordinary citizens to his enthusiastic support of Transcendental Meditation — you can count on the director of “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” to avoid the conventional and the predictable.
Continue Reading ClosePaul Hiebert is an editorial fellow at Salon. More Paul Hiebert.