Top 15 of the 2000s: #13

The next entry on our countdown comes from cinema's grand maestro of the weird and deeply disturbing. When I saw this film, it was my first brush ever with his work, and I've been fascinated and frightened by him ever since. Originally conceived as a TV series, it was then completed and tweaked to make a movie for theatrical release, and what a movie it is. At times delightfully weird, eerily mysterious, and disturbing and scary as hell, it is a beautifully acted, challenging, and above all else, original, cinematic achievement that earned its director his fourth Best Director nomination, and gave one of Hollywood's current most talented actresses the role of a lifetime. The film in questions is none other than...






#13. "Mulholland Dr." by David Lynch: As unbelievably disturbing as David Lynch can be (I'm still recovering from "Blue Velvet"), he does know how to create atmosphere, and "Mulholland Dr." is no exception. And while portions are certainly mind-benders, even the segments that present unanswered questions still remain compelling, because of the way Lynch is able to, whether by means of framing, lighting, sound, or dialogue, create a sense of mystery and dread. Even when scenes are bright and sunny, he still has the ability to create terrifying scenarios. Take the scene in the diner, early on in the film. A nervous looking man relates to his friend about a scary figure who he is convinced can see him through the walls. He then walks with his friend out behind the diner. As they approach the fence at the back of the gravel covered space, a dirt covered figure simply slides out from the abyss to a blaring flourish of music. The man falls to the ground screaming while his friend looks on stoically, and the sound is all but cut out. It's a prime example of how Lynch can turn scenarios that should either be laughable or just plain nonsensical absorbing, scary, and haunting. Performance wise, the film also contains some of the best work in Lynch's career thanks to Naomi Watts. Her transformation from pure, wide-eyed aspiring actress into self-destructive mess is a strange thing of beauty to watch unfold. But it's quite early in the film that Watts blows us away. We see her audition in front of some casting agents, and the way in which she slips from wide-eyed innocent to compelling seductress is nothing short of mesmerizing. Her chemistry with Laura Elena Harring is strong as well, given the film's central mystery a solid core as the weirdness escalates. Of course, then we get to the Club Silencio scene, in which once again Lynch demonstrates how well he can blend light and sound to create atmosphere (the color blue is used to great effect throughout the film). It's after this scene that the film becomes a little harder to understand, as the story becomes concrete and begins its slow descent into an abyss of oddity. But even if you're left baffled as to what the last hour of the film means, it's hard to deny Lynch's ability to create an absorbing piece of strangeness with such lasting impact.

Final Grade: A

Best Performance: Naomi Watts

Best Scene: