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Dumbland and Short films

Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 10:28 pm
by shemsha
Hello all,
I am a fan of Lynch, I adore all of his movies and I was thinking about purchasing his Dumbland and short films DVDs.
I am not a member of DL.com and I don't have much experience with Lynch besides his movies.
I'll be happy to hear a bit about those DVDs, are they worth it?

Thanks!

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 1:12 pm
by imhotep
I think they are. It's David and it's good.

Re: Dumbland and Short films

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 4:05 pm
by Red Room
shemsha wrote:I'll be happy to hear a bit about those DVDs, are they worth it?
I purchased both Dynamic: 1 and Dumbland recently, but have so far only watched the latter in full, which (to me) is a mini classic. Sure, it's a crudely animated Flash short, but the content is pure Lynch... I love it! :-)

So far I've only scanned part of the Dynamic (Best Of DavidLynch.com) disc, and therefore can't comment fully, but from what I've seen so far I don't expect this to be in my DVD player too often - But who knows? I may feel differently after giving it a chance... Whilst the visuals are generally pretty low-tech, some of the content that I've viewed so far has been interesting nonetheless.

I've owned The Short Films Of David Lynch DVD for some time, and in my view this is a "must have" if you enjoy Eraserhead, INLAND EMPIRE, or indeed any of David's more leftfield film works, (which covers 99% of them I guess).

Re: Dumbland and Short films

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:05 pm
by Red Room
Red Room wrote:So far I've only scanned part of the Dynamic (Best Of DavidLynch.com) disc, and therefore can't comment fully, but from what I've seen so far I don't expect this to be in my DVD player too often - But who knows? I may feel differently after giving it a chance... Whilst the visuals are generally pretty low-tech, some of the content that I've viewed so far has been interesting nonetheless.
Re: Dynamic: 01 - Now I've watched the whole thing, and whilst my first impressions were pretty true, (low tech visuals vs. high quality writing / content), the end results are more pleasing than I first surmised. This is a worthwhile addition to any Lynch collection, which contains moments of tenderness, hilarity, fear, and glorious absurdity ' much like his general output - plus further insight into the man's creative process...

Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:04 pm
by DarkGlobe
I don't yet have Dynamic:01 (soon hopefully) but I do have Dumbland and Short Films. I do think they are worth getting - as long as you are aware of what they are - and that they're quite different to his full length films. The square box packaging is great too and makes them very collectable. Don't forget to get the Eraserhead 2000 Edition too!

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 6:43 am
by Let's Rock
The short films are essential! I enjoy Dumbland very much, but they're pretty crude, and probably not all that essential.

Posted: Tue May 08, 2007 10:52 am
by Red Room
Let's Rock wrote:I enjoy Dumbland very much, but they're pretty crude, and probably not all that essential.
I disagree with you a little Let's Rock. I know you said you enjoyed it, but I personally find Dumbland to be way above most (if not all) of David's other Internet-based work, and is in my view "essential viewing!" :-)

Sure, it's crude, but it's also the funniest thing he's ever produced - Maybe it's just me (?) but I was crying with laughter when I viewed this, as was my wife, (who is also a big Lynch fan).

Despite the technical limitations and limited themes, Dumbland still 'looks' and 'sounds' like a David Lynch production. Every black and white scribbled frame is beautifully done, and the pacing of the dialogue is just so.

This was a happy and unexpected find for me. :-)

Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 7:06 am
by FaceInTheLeaves
The Short Films is an essential purchase. Six Men Getting Sick, The Alphabet, The Grandmother and Lumiere are in keeping with the moods and themes of DL's full-length films and are jaw-droppingly beautiful. The Amputee was shot to test film stock and is nice to have for completist reasons. The amputee is played by Catherine Coulson (goddess).

Dumbland's entertaining but you might not want to watch it a second time - it's not bad, there's just not much to it. The DVD's short (around 35 minutes) and has no special features. To be honest your money would be better spent on the book of DL's The Air Is On Fire exhibition or even the Pretty As A Picture documentary DVD, if you don't have them already.