Watched: Wild at Heart

You know, it's funny watching Wild at Heart after having watched all of David Lynch's other films. Because really, you can see it all starting here. You can see the things Lynch had already done that he was still playing with (Isabella Rossellini shows up as a femme fatale, Jack Nance has a cameo as some kind of creepy nutjob-- although, sidenote, who isn't in this film?-- Laura Dern is a sexier, trashier version of her Blue Velvet self) and the things that he was going to play with in the future or was at the moment (his endless obsession/love with The Wizard of Oz, half the cast-- Sherilyn Fenn shows up to die dramatically, Grace Zabriskie plays a more sadistic version of her Inland Empire character, Sheryl Lee is Glenda the Good Witch (?!), there's some creepy cowboy lurking around, hits being assigned and done, Harry Dean Stanton playing a shmuck, random and seemingly pointless cameos (CRISPIN GLOVER, WHO LET YOU IN HERE?!) and a respected character actor playing a truly vile and horrifying antagonist (Willem Defoe, nice fake teeth!)). To be honest, this movie is everything I love and dislike about Lynch films. It's got all the funny weird bits that have no real purpose but to make the film wholly and unquestionably Lynch's own, enough stunningly composed stationary shots that I finally had to choose a handful of my favorites, and a running length that made me antsy but a story that kept me hooked. The only thing featured here that was not either recycled or soon would be was Nicolas Cage (thankfully, he's kind of dopey), and yet despite Lynch's frequent use and reuse of the same elements, he manages to keep them funny and interesting. I probably prefer this to Blue Velvet, mostly because I don't really like Kyle Machlachlan's face (sorry), but it's still no Mulholland Drive or Twin Peaks, and I don't even really think it's as good as Lost Highway, but it's still a hell of a sexy/violent ride and has lots of fun bits. Okay, I'll shut up now. Screencaps!