R.I.P. David Lynch (1946-2025)

Remembering David Lynch (January 20, 1946 - January 16, 2025)

We here at the Nut are enormous fans of the artist and auteur known as David Lynch. I'd like to honor him by putting together a little tribute of all his works.

You will be missed, sir. Have a slice of cherry pie or a cup of damn fine coffee in his memory.

Eraserhead (1977)

The Elephant Man (1980)

Dune (1984)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Wild at Heart (1990)

Twin Peaks: Season 1 (1990)

Twin Peaks: Season 2 (1990-91)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

Lost Highway (1997)

The Straight Story (1999)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Inland Empire (2006)

Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)

Check out Lynch's final on-screen role as John Ford in The Fabelmans (2022)

.llac niatruc eht ta uoy eeS

The Last Showgirl (2024)

The last showgirl revue in Vegas is about to close and a seasoned performer working since the '80s is forced to confront retirement from the only job she loves and still feels qualified to do. Pamela Anderson (making her comeback at 57 and still looking glamorous) heads this sparse indie drama shot on 16mm about a dancer coming to terms with an uncertain future in a rapidly evolving world, all the while attempting to make amends with her estranged daughter. 

It's a good film, but there's something odd about it that stands out in your mind. It's more about the naturalistic performances at the center of it than anything plot-related. There are layers to the sadness, and Pamela shines in a sublime star-turning role.

3 Razzle Dazzles out of 5

Better Man (2024)

Robbie Williams narrates his life story, with the twist that he sees himself as a godless ape. It really shouldn't work, and yet, it's kind of a brilliant play that separates it from the tired musical biopic genre. The gimmick helps to sell the over the top life he's lived, and you honestly forget all about it once you're invested. It's also helpful that his story plays out like a real life Trainspotting. Clinically depressed and drug-addicted, we see his meteoric rise and fall as the "bad boy" of Take That into a floundering solo career. Is it self-serving? You bet. But there's a refreshing candidness and self-loathing behind all the glamour on screen which makes it richly compelling and deeply authentic. 

This is one of the best of 2024, in my opinion.

4 My Ways out of 5

Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)

14 years after they last graced our screens, the cheese-loving inventor and his cheesed-off dog return in a follow-up (of sorts) to The Wrong Trousers, featuring the villainous Feathers McGraw. This time, Wallace's latest invention is Norbot, a garden gnome variety smart robot, whose modern conveniences threaten to outwit Gromit's usefulness. The stopmotion animation looks sheen and smoother than ever, as it tells a story warning about the dangers of AI gone bad. I do think this would have worked better as a half-hour short, but it's a very quick-paced 75 minutes, and it's kind of a miracle to see this series revived again after all this time. It's charming pip pip wholesome fun for all.

Ben Whitehead takes over as Wallace after the passing of Peter Sallis in 2017.

3½ recharges out of 5

Note: The company that supplied the modelling clay for all of Aardman's productions shut down in 2023, so Aardman purchased up all their supply in order to cover this film. Looks like they've have to find a new source for their further adventures, but Nick Park promises W&G will be back in some form.

2024: A Year in Review

Following in cuckoo's tradition of annual year-end lists (although delivered in a more timely manner) and submitted for your approval: here is my wrap-up of 2024 [liable to change in the upcoming weeks; keep an eye on this post].

Top 10 (in no particular order):

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice: In terms of nostalgic entertainment value, this gave me the best bang for my buck. Comfort food for the weathered soul.
Deadpool & Wolverine: Pure joy at the cinema. Rewards 20+ years of watching Fox superhero films. Ryan Reynolds has completely won me over at this point.
Joker: Folie à Deux: We get what we fuckin' deserve. It's a winner in my book, even if audiences prefer the cookie-cutter shit instead. 
Anora: Anti-mainstream and nonconformist "romance" for the ages.
Nosferatu: An unsettling mood piece that feels separated from time.
A Real Pain: The real pain was the friends we made along the way.
Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023; released in 2024): Loneliness and pain; repeat.
Strange Darling: Go into it knowing nothing for best results.
The Substance: Body horror is alive and well in 2024.
I Saw the TV Glow: Apparently a metaphor for the trans experience, it works on a completely different level for those of us trapped in the past by nostalgia. (Currently my favorite film of 2024.)

Honorable mentions (unlike cuckoo, I will not limit myself to just 10!):

Perfect Days: Simplicity at its best.
Flow: The best animation to come out of 2024.
Memoir of a Snail: Deeply affecting and hard to shake.
Better Man: Robbie Williams is an ape man; a unique take on the biopic genre.
A Different Man: A deeply strange film that still rubs me the wrong way, which seems like a triumph on its own.
Kinds of Kindness: WTF for WTF's sake!
Hundreds of Beavers: Technically produced in 2022, it wasn't widely released until this year. It's too fucking weird to discount.
Sasquatch Sunset: A funny and surreal journey.
Wicked: God damn it.
Hit Man: Better than it has any right to be.
Touch: Simple and sweet.
Here: High concept schmaltz.
Civil War: Hits a bit too close to home.
Sing Sing: Convicts put on a play for their own sanity.
A Complete Unknown: Bob Dylan is an asshole. There, I said it.
Thelma: Grandma strikes back!
Tuesday: A modern-day fable.
Heretic: Hugh Grant is in a league of his own.
Stopmotion: A tribute to a dying art style.
MaXXXine: An homage to giallo set in the '80s.
Smile 2: The rare sequel that is as good as the original.
Orion and the Dark: Inside Out as scripted by Charlie Kaufman.
Robot Dreams: A unique, traditionally animated silent film.
The Wild Robot: AI finds harmony with nature.
IF: A cute family film with its heart in the right place.
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl: The return of old friends.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire: The best we're gonna get at this point.
Oddity: Hard to define.
Longlegs: See above.
In a Violent Nature: A slasher from the killer's POV.
Late Night with the Devil: A host's descent into madness.
Cuckoo: We miss you, buddy.

And last but definitely least, the cream of the crap:

Bad Boys: Ride or Die: No review at this time.
Borderlands: Soulless, corporate consumerism.
The Exorcism: A metaphor for sum or another.
Megalopolis: I feel bad for shitting on auteurism, but I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
Not Another Church Movie: Not even worth nutting.
Red One: A big red shiny no.
Sam and Colby: The Legends of the Paranormal: The worst "movie" I've ever had the displeasure to sit through at the theater.
Tarot: It's even worse on reflection.
Transformers One: A brain-numbing, watered-down children's film that was apparently well-regarded by fans. (Sorry.)
Werewolves: A piece of shit if there ever was one.

Note: I will be reducing my Nut activities in 2025 to focus more on my first passion: fapping. But worry not; I will continue to post as long as there is still blood left flowing through these veins (also applies to fap).

-bud

Adaptation. (2002)

Pathetic, fat, balding, worthless loser Charlie Kaufman is tasked with adapting the screenplay to an unfilmable novel about orchids. How does he accomplish this task? By inserting himself into the narrative, of course. Nicolas Cage gives the performance of a lifetime as not one, but two versions of Kaufman. I've spent most of my life thinking about this film and unintentionally emulating it. No amount of words I devote to this nut would ever do it justice. Layers upon layers of inspired brilliance, elegance and meta-commentary that works on multiple levels. If I have two favorite movies of all time, this is the other one.

5 wanks following a writer's block out of 5

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

What lengths would you go to forget your painful past and wipe the slate clean? Undergo an experimental treatment to surgically remove those memories forever? We view the inside of one such mind as this procedure is being conducted. Past and present blend together as we begin to understand the reasons for such extreme measures. Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry's poignant sci-fi romantic drama explores the nature of love and memory in an intimate fashion, where you feel the loss right along with the characters. It contains all of the ways in which regret, disappointment and baggage weigh us down in life. It's a deeply rich and layered experience, and an absolutely genius example of cinematic achievement that rewards repeat viewings. The world that's created feels real and lived in and it's easy to lose oneself in the smallest details. This is one of those "comfort" films for when you're feeling isolated and disconnected from the rest of the world.

5 trips to Montauk out of 5

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

How did this movie ever get made? I have no idea, but I'm so glad it did.

The Daniels follow up their breakout film, the wildly inventive Swiss Army Man, with a movie that is not bound to a single place and time, and simply exists on its own terms. A laundromat owner gets caught up in the multiverse while attempting to do her taxes. What follows is a mind-bending journey into the unknown, which borrows liberally from martial arts movies, slapstick comedies, Marvel superheroes, Pixar, anime, Wong Kar-wai, Fight Club and The Matrix. One of the most fiercely original, beautiful, contemplative, wacky, irreverent, soul-purifying and consciousness-expanding movies I've ever seen. Not only the best to come out of 2022, but also of the past five years. 

Have I managed to do this film justice? Not even close.

6 googily eyes out of 6 (in the universe where 6-nutters exist)

Beau is Afraid (2023)

Beau lives in a perpetual state of fear and anxiety. (Same, Beau, same.)

Without going into specifics, he is drawn into anxious-driven journey inspired by the likes of Kaufman and Lynch. If you're paranoid, this movie will fuck with you deeply. It's three hours of a neverending hellscape, but the humor is so sharp and the directions so unpredictable, it manages to ensure your safe journey home. There is a looming darkness hovering over it that encapsulates that feeling of dread so well. I found myself holding my breath during certain scenes for no reason at all, while other scenes are cemented in my brain for life. Joaquin's performance contains so many subtle moments of brilliance which for some reason were not recognized by the awards committee. This film is palpable for no other reason than he is such a compelling actor. The whole thing feels like a fever dream and I'm just delighted there are still filmmakers willing to go there, knowing it will alienate 90% of its audience.

My pick for the best film of 2023, and I'm fairly confident I won't see anything this arresting again anytime soon. It's really fucking sad how much I identify with this character.

5 I'm sorry, thank you, sorry out of 5

Poor Things (2023)

How to condense this film into a concise summary without giving away key plot points? It's the type of film that needs to be seen to be believed, without any prior expectations set. Bella (Emma Stone, at the tip-top of her game) is a Frankenstein-like creation who wants to experience the world for herself and sets out on an epic journey of self-discovery. Yorgos is the perfect filmmaker to handle this weird, sometimes off-putting material, which is both hilarious and tragic. It's a brilliant movie and I hope I haven't said too much or too little.

5 furious jumping out of 5

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

"Do you think God gives a damn about miniature donkeys, Colm?"

"I fear he doesn't. And I fear that's where it's all gone wrong."

Set against the backdrop of the Irish Civil War of 1923, off a small village isle of Ireland, a man refuses to speak with his lifelong best friend without any given explanation. That's all you need to know. I honestly didn't know how they'd stretch that premise out to two hours, but I felt compelled throughout. This is a modern masterpiece and one of the best films I've seen in a long time.

5 dreams gone out of 5

Note: Unless you're familiar with Irish vernacular, watch it with subtitles on. 

Oppenheimer (2023)

The most overrated movie of 2023. I love Christopher Nolan as much as the next film nerd, but he excels at making epic, original sci-fi films. I'm not quite as thrilled with his heady, awards-baiting historical dramas. This is essentially a 3-hour "talkie" picture about the Manhattan Project, and its literal fallout and legal ramifications. Does it really need to be that long to tell this story? Feels like a lot of pretentious showboating to me. The performances are all great and worthy of the acclaim they received, it's just that the whole thing feels a lot more self-important than it actually is. It does a fine job at telling its story, but isn't half as memorable or noteworthy as everyone else pretends it to be.

Won the "Best Picture" Oscar for 2023, but if the Academy had any balls, it would have gone to Poor Things.

3 Destroyer of Worlds out of 5

Barbie (2023)

There's no way to defend this. I fucking loved it. Who knew a movie about a toy with tits could be this poignant, existential and moving, all in one? Barbie becomes self-aware and travels out of her fantasy bubble into the real world, where she's confronted with the realities of being a woman. On the flipside, Ken realizes he's been a slave to Barbie all his life and achieves a form of self-actualization without the need for external validation. Cynics may call it feminist propaganda, but it's riotously funny with tremendous heart, and tells a story that kids ought to hear while their brains are still soft and malleable.

I cried like a bitch and I'm man enough to admit it.

4½ beach-offs out of 5

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

With his past adventures behind him, Indy grapples with his destiny as an older man on the verge of retirement, when adventure comes calling once more...

Nostalgia goggles on. Indiana Jones is my favorite film franchise of all time, so I'm clearly biased, but this is still a solid action-adventure flick. The only thing this movie has going against it is its bloated runtime, but since this is purported to be the last in the series (Ford is 81 and claims the character will die with him), I will give it a pass. With its ruminations on life and death, this is the kind of movie that will age well as you revisit it again later in life and realize: Yes, I know exactly what they were trying to say about getting older. Life ain't all sunshine and roses, even when you're the world's greatest hero. It doesn't diminish the legacy of the character at all, despite the heavy subject matter. Harrison can still kick my ass up and down the block.

4 Tuk-Tuks out of 5

Note: For the sake of completion, I would give the first three films 5 out of 5, and the fourth would get 3 out of 5. This one is still not quite as divisive as the previous entry.

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

J.J. Abrams is inconceivably, ill-advisedly back in the director's chair (after a last minute shake-up in plans when Colin Trevorrow backed out) and attempts to course-correct the universe back to where The Force Awakens left it. Consequently, it feels like a push and pull between two different creative forces at war with each other, and the trilogy does not feel as satisfyingly consistent or tied together as it could have been had they actually plotted out its three-film structure (or better yet, followed Lucas's original outlines) before embarking on this fool's errand. Rey has now taken up the mantle of resident Jedi and attempts to do battle with the ghost of Star Wars past. They position her as the next savior for the future of the franchise, which is all this trilogy ever set out to do. At the end of the day, it manages to be a competent enough film with standard entertainment value that doesn't attempt to ruffle many feathers. The series is neither better nor worse for it; it simply is.

3 "they fly now?!" out of 5

Note: For an alternate version of what Episode 9 could have been, check out Trevorrow's original draft, entitled "Duel of the Fates."