INLAND EMPIRE + GHASTLY CITY SLEEP

FILM:

as promised, here is an entry on david lynch's latest, INLAND EMPIRE. i watched this movie a few days ago, at 10pm, alone and in my dark basement. this was a mistake by any measure - i am easily frightened, and this film is pretty fucking unsettling. at 3 hours, it's a bit of a chore to get through too, but, if you've had positive experiences with lynch films in the past (i certainly have), then maybe it's a worthwhile chore. actress and lynch regular laura dern really carries this film, seamlessly jumping from persona to persona through most of INLAND EMPIRE's 3 schizophrenic hours. it's difficult to make sense of how her different roles are related, though some of the main plot is pretty clear; dern is playing an older actress who is offered a role in a supposedly cursed film opposite an actor whom she may or may not have feelings for. while this is going on, we are shown other strange and seemingly unrelated scenes, some of which are in polish, and some of which include humans with rabbit heads (see youtube link below.) some of these things tie together towards the film's end, but i'm not sure that i've made much sense of it as a whole.

on a list of my favorite david lynch films, this one is pretty far from the top. that said, i think that i liked it. i went in expecting a confusing and strange film, and that's what i received. lynch shot this whole thing using digital cameras, so it looks pretty different from most of his other films. i'm not sure whether or not i like the change, but it appears that he is going to do everything that way from now on. in conclusion, i'm not sure that i'll ever want to watch this movie again, but it was pretty cool while it lasted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gLAMIJbAMI (one of INLAND EMPIRE's weirdest scenes. one of the rabbits is voiced by naomi watts, i guess. this is also available as a standalone short film, i believe.)

MUSIC:

the first time i ever went to the wallingford american legion, a central connecticut rental hall that hosts most of the state's hardcore shows, it was to see this band, GHASTLY CITY SLEEP. i was super excited; even though ghastly sound more like SIGUR ROS than screamo, they feature ex-members of CITY OF CATERPILLAR, and i was super into them at the time. GCS ended up taking an hour to set up and only got to play 2 songs (which still equates to about 15 minutes); however, i remember them being pretty fantastic, and listen to their self-titled "ep" (it's 4 songs in about 30 minutes - not exactly an ep by my standards) frequently to this day. it's lush and beautiful, not unlike those aforementioned icelandic post-rock dudes, but concise and relatable in a way that most post-rock bands never manage to accomplish.

the music on "ghastly city sleep" is mostly pretty and subdued and the vocals, never screamed, always sung, compliment that really well. 'ice creaks,' which is the record's first track, is both the longest song and the clear highlight (always a good combination). though the song is 9 minutes long, it's far from boring or repetitive. GHASTLY CITY SLEEP move slowly but once they get going, they really soar. at its best, this record is earnest, ethereal, and real interesting; at its worst, it's still cooler than any EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY album. i think this band just put out a full length, which i need to track down really soon. in the meantime, i'll just listen to this ep again.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6b9oj796d4cj9cq