Excluding watching some scenes, I have yet to see Eraserhead, and Inland Empire.

Eraserhead looked too depressing from the scenes I saw. I E, I just had a gut feeling I would be let down.  So his first and latest remain unviewed.

1. elephant man - don't consider this "real" lynch.

2. dune - watched the first 10 minutes, yuck.

3. the straight story - see #1 

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

Then give me DL , color ( I exclude Elephant man in B/W- that worked for me) ,and film.          I know that works.

With a not so much for Wild at Heart. Wild/Heart had lead actors I don't feature for some reason and it's not Fenn.  She was the saving ace for me. 

It just occurred to me I have never seen Dune, so that is three. Dune was made with studio strings on Dave I understand.

Dune, Eraserhead and The Straight Story.

I really want to see the two latter ones, i'm really not that fussed at all about Dune though.

The only one I've never in the theater is Dune.  Through age and the Fest I've managed to see them all on the big screen.

I agree that Dune is not a "Lynch" movie but remember that David put all his negative emotions and experience of Dune when creating Blue Velvet, Blue Velvet became the birth of Twin Peaks.

I do encourage folks to see The Elephant Man. Its a wonderful movie, yes its sad but David got an Oscar nomination for his work.

I find it astonishing that there are Lynch fans out there who haven't seen Eraserhead. It's the first Lynch film I saw and instantly convinced me he was a genius. In fact until repeated viewings of Mulholland Drive just edged it out Eraserhead was my favourite Lynch movie. "Depressing"? Nonsense!

"Harry, I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don't plan it, don't wait for it, just let it happen. Could be a new shirt at the men's store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot, black coffee. Like this."  -Dale Cooper

I would argue that The Straight Story is more like Lynch than Elephant Man.  If you listen to the dialog of Straight Story you can see bits of Lynch poking through.  And he sets up scenes with some of his hidden symbolism as well.

Elephant Man seemed like it could have been directed by anyone.  I would say it is his most mainstream movie (including Dune).

PsychoAU

I don't know Suave. i hear ya on the feel good train of films DL made aftet E-Head. But those i dug. 

My conclusion is I must like my depression in color.

I'm in no rush to see Dune, and I'm still waiting for the right mood to hit before I can settle in to watch a 3-hour digital video nightmare. I'm pretty much content to listen to "Ghost of Love" again and again, on that front.

Speaking to the mini-debate of this thread, when I finally watched Elephant Man start to finish, I saw a lot more of Lynch's hand in the film than I suspected there would be. Though it is someone else's script, stylistically it's EH-lite: deformities, pregnant pauses, factories spewing black smoke; Merrick's vision at the end is very evocative of Henry in the radiator.

I don't believe I've ever felt depressed by a Lynch film. TP's end shook me, FWWM fascinated me, W@A left me cold, the list goes on, but I've never found any of his work to be emotionally wrecking.

Logic Hat Online- logichat.org

I agree.  Lynch's movies aren't depressing to me.  I think everyone is making that distinction with Eraserhead because it isn't all "Hollywood in the 1950s" that his later movies have become. 

Requiem for a Dream would take the title as most depressing movie in my opinion.

I have yet to watch a DL film that I found depressing. I know Dave made his bones with Ehead an all but -I'm not ready for it yet.... :) Now, that Blue Velvet To Mulholland Drive stretch I did see was right in the sweetspot.

David Cronenberg is a perfect example of that.  He went from Shivers/Rabid to Scanners/Videodrome to Naked Lunch to Dead Ringers to History of Violence/Eastern Promises.  That guy has got some killer range in his works.  And while not all of them feel like a "Cronenberg" movie, you can tell that they all would have been very different if someone else had done them.

Actually, I see a common thread among almost all of Cronenberg's films up until existenz.

Since then, he makes standard fare, without that signature Cronenberg style. It's worth noting that he does not write for his films anymore.  

I bought Strait Story and thought it was well done and I could discern DL's touches throughout. To me it was a solid movie an a true reality based DL film.

Yes, I am reluctant to see E-head, and IE. but never say never, I MAY OVERCOME MY FEAR- RELUCTANCE MORE ACCURATELY- ONE OF THESE DAYS. 

I wonder if his next one will be about "A Woman in Trouble".