Eraserhead 1977
Nayman calls it arguably the cult film of the last 50 years in America, and the thing Lynch was already semi-famous for before Blue Velvet.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Review · Rankings
The David Lynch Episode
October 11, 2022/ 95 min/ Sean Fennessey
Sean Fennessey and Ringer contributor Adam Nayman mark 30 years of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and 25 of Lost Highway with a new Criterion restoration, then rank all ten Lynch features.
18 films across 4 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Where David Lynch sits nowwith Ringer contributor Adam Nayman
The Elephant Man 1980
The Mel Brooks-produced follow-up that got Lynch his first Oscar nominations and nearly landed him Return of the Jedi.
Dune 1984
The disastrous studio project both agree derailed his trajectory as an artist, even as they admit to liking pieces of it.
Blue Velvet 1986
The film that made him seriously famous; Sean says it's been picked over so thoroughly it's nearly immune to analysis at this point.
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me at 30
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 1992
Nayman calls it his most primal movie and top tier for him personally. Both trace how Lynch built a prequel forcing viewers to watch what actually happened to Laura Palmer, largely without the show's original cast, and land on it as a horror film that's also deep melodrama.
Lost Highway at 25new 4K Criterion restoration
Lost Highway 1997
The pair frame it around voyeurism and Bill Pullman's line 'I like to remember things my own way' as a mission statement for Lynch, and note the Robert Blake role riffing on the O.J. Simpson case.
Mulholland Drive 2001
Discussed as the sunnier half of the same Hollywood story Lost Highway tells, with Naomi Watts singled out as the best-directed performance in any Lynch film.
Inland Empire 2006
Called the unofficial third part of the Hollywood trilogy with Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, and probably his least-seen film.
The David Lynch Rankingsbest to worst
No. 1
Mulholland Drive 2001
No. 1 for both. Nayman: it's the movie where culture decided he'd come out the other end of his unfashionability, and it was a date-night movie he and his now-wife dissected for hours.
No. 3
The Elephant Man 1980
No. 3. Nayman's sentimental favorite even knowing it won't win: John Hurt's performance and Lynch making the conventional feel unconventional.
No. 4
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me 1992
No. 4, the spot they agree feels right after an hour of arguing for it.
No. 5
The Straight Story 1999
No. 5. Nayman would rank it higher; Sean notes one site once ranked it below the Pokemon movie in a 1999 roundup.
No. 7
Eraserhead 1977
No. 7. Both admit a recent rewatch wasn't much fun, precisely because its influence has been so thoroughly absorbed.
No. 8
Inland Empire 2006
No. 8. Nayman: high on obsession, lower on pleasure, though he rates it a bit above Sean.
No. 9
Wild at Heart 1990
No. 9. Nayman's clearly stated least favorite, despite its Palme d'Or and defenders who'd rank it near the top.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing Some Call It LovingShowgirlsBoogie NightsBlondeThe FabelmansThe Wizard of OzLynch/OzSide by Side
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Twin PeaksTwin Peaks: The ReturnHotel RoomOn the Air