Now, if Sandy didn't make that horrible face in Blue Velvet. I love how pure she is.

When all is said and done, I think I've got to go with Nikki, for her terror and mystery.

 youve got a point there. but i guess that depends on how one qualifies a favorite. now, for a certain organ of my body, its Lula or high water. but maybe i should think with my whole being(or as much as i can muster) in judgement. even with that face in BV, i have to say i like the purity of sandy, and well as the not so pure side that helps jeffery with the case he is unraveling. and the last shot of IE proper, with dern in the light blue dress, sitting calmly, somehow always reminds me of sandy. i dont know if this is the best place to get into an IE discussion, because im of the opinion that all the personas dern plays are aspects of the same person/spirit. a woman that is in trouble. so its hard for me to call her nikki and only nikki. i had actually started to write about this in my last post but thought i was goin too OT so i cut it out. but now that youve mentioned it, id like to say that dern in IE is definitely if not the most, one of the most complex characters lynch has ever put to film. so its hard for me to refer to her as nikki, but the terror and mystery, as well as the redemption at the end, of not only dern, but LG and piotrek as well, is the most satisfying ending ive seen from lynch. especially after 3 hrs of head spinning! but i cant see your point about her accents. i like her head-in-the clouds carolina Lula quite a bit, even if its not the best representation of that region's accents. same goes for her in IE. i love the way she speaks to mr. k. i can see how it could be taken as forced, but even that i have no problem with. im especially fond of how she says a copule of choice words(peculiarities comes to mind) and that line when shes talking about a foiled rape and the paramedics showing up which is something like "he come to reapin' what he been sowin' thats what. they say,'f*cker been sowin' some kind of heavy sh*t". POETRY! forced or not, i like it nonetheless. POETRY! but i still say, if im going to have to dance with one of them, as much as a high school basement party with sandy and julie cruise singing is enticing, id still go with Lula. shes a bit more my type.

Why do all these people lament on Laura's sneer in Blue Velvet. To me it's great. She's got a face that is like a mask from an ancient tragedy. That's pretty much all the great thing about her physicality nowadays. Okay, back when she did Wild at Heart she was smoking hot as well, nobody can deny that. But the basic point is acting and being suitable visually. Lynch knew her enough and experimented with her facial expressions enough to know that sneering would augment the visual and emotional tension.

By the way, I definitely am for her interpretation in IE, it's her best ever!

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

Sneering is more what Nic Cage was doing, that Elvis lip curl thing.

I don't know what you'd call Laura's.... expression of horror.  In acting classes, they always tell you not to "pull faces."  It's a shortcut to really acting. If Frank was cutting off her ear, she could make that face.  Eyes brimming over with tears and a fierce blush would have been much more impressive in that context.  

The expression is so weird it's no wonder Lynch warps it into the grotesque, vomiting clown face in IE.  But it works. From the Reeler:

"No one can grimace like Laura Dern. Her smile is a grimace, her scowl is a grimace, her terror is a grimace and her abject confusion is the grimace to wrench the life out of all grimaces."

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

"smorfia" or "ghigno"

they're both hard to pronounce for anglosaxons, but they are the exact correspondents of grimace

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

Oh, come off it. I love sluts.

But here are some arguments for Lula as a candidate for the adjective 'slutty':

1) Lula is okay having sex with Sailor even though he pretty much says he's not into marrying her. Some (not me) would call that slutty. 

2) She is definitely acting provocatively with the elderly man at the gas station

3) She gets aroused when Sailor talks about boning other girls.

4) And finally, she totally gets into being sexually assaulted by the less-than-irresistible Bobby Peru. She says "fuck me" and might even be climaxing (if you use her splayed palm as a sign.)

Also note I said "slutty," not "that slut Lula". It's something 3rd Wave Feminists actually embrace. Pffft

Actually, she pulls the same face also when she's on the phone crying.

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

QUOTE: QUOTE: QUOTE:I feel stupid now, but at what point does Sandy pull this face? I really need to see it now...  It's when Dorothy says "I love you, love me!" and throws herself, naked, into Jeffrey's arms. Got it... Wow, what a face.

1. That's the same face I make when I think about the Fire Walk With Me deleted scenes.

2. I thought La Dern was magnificent in Inland Empire.

3. I've always felt it was important to embrace my inner slut.

4. I've come to the conclusion Marietta is one of my all-time favourite Lynch characters. The Wild At Heart deleted scene that's been posted on the internet is perfect.  

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

What a great movie- why did I put off watching it for so long?!

Although Lula is a lot more fun, I think Sandy is more interesting than most people give her credit for. She is every bit the voyeur that Jeffrey is, what with eavesdropping on her father and listening intently to Jeffrey's lurid tales. Jeffrey is a watcher, Sandy is a listener. She's Jeffrey once removed.

And that grimace is disturbing. Have you ever tried to get your mouth into that shape? I can't do it!

"What? Did your life pass before your eyes? Cuppa tea, cuppa tea, almost got shagged, cuppa tea..."

"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