TMT: “Hey you wanna go for a ride?”
This is the next entry in a Theatre… a Movie… and a Time, a series that was begun here. I’ll tell you a secret about this series. There is a list of films/theaters I put together when I started this project… and I sometimes refer to it. But, what really kicks off an entry (whether it’s on that list or not) most of the time is other bloggers. Meaning, someone will write something interesting I’ll read and that will trigger the memory (and the rest is putting it down in a post). In this case, it’s tied with film blogger Tony Dayoub’s celebration and giveaway last week of the recently released Blu-ray Disc of one of his all-time favorite films for its 25th Anniversary Year (his article is located here).
“See that clock on the wall? In five minutes you are not going to believe what I’ve told you.”
Theatre
The Fox Theatre:
[photos courtesy of the Cinema Treasures site]
Movie
Time
October 11, 1986: as work and life began to change for me during the 80s, there was always the movies. And the simple, familiar, and comforting act of going to see them at a theater. Any one would do. A good number of times, work colleagues would join in on the experience. One such person, another like me at the time, was an assistant to a physician performing medical research. We’d periodically went to see films after work hours.
His girlfriend wasn’t into the cinema as much as him, and I…well, she-whose-name-must-not-be-spoken were beginning our separation act. These things either take longer or shorter time than expected. Taking in a flick was just good therapy in those days. Blue Velvet was all the talk among newspapers, TV critics and people at work when it debuted. At a time when there was no internet (Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau wouldn’t deliver that to the populace till the 90s, so chill).
Strangely similar to my experience with Blade Runner, the two of us headed out to the small (a paltry 647 seats) Fox Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard for this one. My friend loved it, which I duly credit him here. My first experience with David Lynch’s film was instant… I hated it. Whether it was related to what was happening in my life at the time, not understanding the noirish surreal quality of the motion picture, or just plain not getting it, I don’t know. Likely all of the above.
Yet, I found myself watching it on VHS rental the next year and began to be mesmerized by the film. Years later, I’d take it in at a revival theater. Though made to feel just as uncomfortable in certain scenes (if you’ve seen it, you know the ones I refer to) as my first time visiting the town of Lumberton, somehow couldn’t let it go. I now consider it one the director’s finest. It must be…I bought that Blu-ray Disc of the film last week.
The entire TMT series can be found here. If you’re interested how it’s put together, click here.
It Rains... You Get Wet 
11 Responses to “TMT: “Hey you wanna go for a ride?””
Another great TMT post! Y’know, I don’t think I could handle seeing Lynch film on the big screen. I surprise myself in that I’ve actually seen Blue Velvet, though it’s really not my cup of tea. I can see why it was the buzz even today though. I don’t know if this would make a good date movie, to be honest, but then again, depends on who the date is 🙂
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You’re very kind, Ruth. Yeah, David Lynch’s films are unique and not everyone likes what he puts together (his Twin Peaks TV series, at least for the first season, was highly popular and the exception that proves the rule). True, this film is not one I’d recommend for a first date movie, but you never know ;-). As always, thank you for the comment.
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Interesting movie to see in theater. David Lynch certainly isn’t for everyone but I’m glad you gave it a second chance. I wished I had seen Mulholland Dr. in theater
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It was somethin’ alright. I, too, would have wished I could have taken in his Mulholland Drive film in a movie hall… especially if it was in the old Tower Theatre in downtown L.A. (which stood in as Club Silencio). Thanks, Castor.
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Great post, Michael. I would love to see Blue Velvet in the theater. Maybe I can persuade the local arthouse cinema to do a Lynch marathon. 😉
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Great idea. I wish I had that kind of clout with an arthouse theatre. Thanks.
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[…] Let the record show I did not hold in high regard any of the following initially: Pulp Fiction, Blue Velvet, and Blade Runner. The same was the case here. My initial viewing of Children of Men left me with […]
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Nice one Michael. Glad to hear you eventually came round to this. I regard it as one of the best from the 80’s and of course Lynch himself. I love everything he does (exept Dune) 😉
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Yeah, this one took awhile to register. Lynch’s films do have that mesmerizing quality.
Re: DUNE, I really should write up my thoughts on that one. I’ve come around to that one, too, but it’s a meandering journey ;-).
Thanks, Mark.
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I can TOTALLY understand hating this movie. Its very confrontational in terms of putting discomforting subject matter in front of the audience… its certainly NOT an easy movie to come to terms with.
Another winning installment of this series… I like how the movie comes around to win the day in the end. LOL! 😀
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You describe it quite well with the word ‘confrontational’. I don’t know what I was expecting going in, but it wasn’t what Lynch placed on the screen. It’s an extraordinary film that I’m glad I came around to (just like Pulp Fiction). Thanks, Fogs.
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