Cinematical

David Lynch is one of my favorite film makers, and there's a terrific profile of him over at The Age. The best part of the piece is when the interviewer casually asks Lynch about all the rumors circulating about him. Specifically, is it true that he keeps a bottled uterus on his desk? "I don't have a uterus on my desk, " Lynch answers, shaking his head vigorously. The interviewer presses him -- maybe you've got one somewhere else? Lynch's response: "Yes, I have a bottle with a uterus in it. It was never on my desk, it's somewhere in the house. That belonged to Raffaella de Laurentiis, Dino's daughter. She had it removed. I didn't ask her for it. She thought I might appreciate it, and she had the doctor package it and send it for me." Just...wow. I think the funniest part is that he's not at all fazed by the uterus question, only that somebody would have the balls to think that he keeps it on his desk. That's what I love about David Lynch -- you think Ron Howard ever gets bottled uterus questions?

Question two -- Did Lynch ever dissect a cat? "For sure. Now here is the deal. Is this a sickness? Nooooah! In school, many classes will dissect a frog or salamander, maybe a fish. How many chefs are working with fish? It was important for me for many reasons to check out some real organic material. I called the vet. He asked me some questions to ascertain whether I was a nutcake. He determined that I was serious, but said at the present time he had no cat for me. Five minutes later, a cat had just come in, and he called me." Here's the cherry on top: "It was just a learning experience."

Definitely check out the interview. In addition to cat dissection, there's some great stuff about Blue Velvet and Inland Empire, which is due out on DVD August 14th. If you haven't seen Empire, let's just say it's not first date material. That film was just three long hours of nuts, and the DVD has 90 minutes of deleted scenes! There were portions in Empire as strong as anything he's done, and there were portions in it that were just short of unbearable. It was hilarious (My friends and I still act out the "bus to Pomona" scene), frightening, frustrating, and often boring as hell. I'm a huge fan of the man's work, but it's a true challenge, in a kind of wonderful way. Oh, and you Los Angeles readers should check out Lynch's weather reports on radio station Indie 103.1 each morning. Yeah. David Lynch doing weather reports. It's a heck of a way to start the day.