The best movies and TV shows from the late , great directorDavid Lynchinclude a strong premix of indie and experimental flick diverge from repulsion and sci - fi to noirs and mystery thriller . Lynch got his start with direct by making shortsighted motion picture in the later 1960s and former 1970s . He enjoyed his breakout picture show when he directedEraserheadand release it in 1977 when it became a cult classic and took on a use like to that ofThe Rocky Horror Picture Show , as a film playing at midnight screenings across the United States .

Thanks to its clandestine success , Lynch get some financing to move on to make big plastic film , and he achieve his first significant critical achiever when he aim the movieThe Elephant Man , ground on the truthful history of Joseph Merrick . That earned eight Oscar nominating speech , and Lynch dead found himself with the margin to make more experimental motion-picture show over his career . This ensue inLynch only make 10 feature - length film , but also result in three Best Director Oscar nominations and an Honorary Award in 2019 .

10Dune (1984)

David Lynch Adapts Frank Herbert’s Sci-Fi Masterpiece

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After turning down the opportunity to directReturn of the Jedi , David Lynch turned to another sci - fi franchise when he was commit the chanceto direct the big - sieve adaptation of Frank Herbert’sDune . Lynch work on the handwriting based on the first novel and help plan the sets they used . While he purge his future henchman Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides , Lynch detest the experience , saying he lost controller of the film and did n’t have the net cut , so he made too many " compromises . "

David Lynch ’s misunderstood 1984 sci - fi epic made several changes and revisions to its definitive source material : Frank Herbert ’s epical novel , Dune .

The film was a box seat business office and vital flop . Universal released an " extended cut " later with scenes re - added that were cut from the original , but it was n’t what Lynch had in mind . While the studio apartment felt it made for a better photographic film , Lynch had his name removed from that cut and replaced with the name " Judas Booth , " which he said referenced the perfidy . Lynch refused to ever return to make a director ’s cutting , but it has since become a cult classic for many fan .

Dune book Lynch movie

9Inland Empire (2006)

A Hollywood Actress Takes On The Personality Of A Character She Played

Released in 2006,Inland Empireis a movie that tells the taradiddle of a Hollywood actress who starts to take on the personality of a character she played in a " cursed " yield . Laura Dern is the confidential information in the film , andInland Empireproves a very unusual movie from the jump . This was the first time Lynch made a movie without having a finished scriptbefore he start out shooting . The managing director then wreak on produce the flick on a scene - by - scene cornerstone while shooting it using digital video with a handheld photographic camera .

Inland Empireis most known as the net feature of speech - length movie of Lynch ’s career .

The film is a hypnotic picture , with it ill-defined what is actual and what is in Nikki ’s mind while shooting the picture show within the movie . Lynch preferred to let watcher determine any hidden signification inInland Empireand allow it to verbalise for itself . The photographic film had a very special exit but received overconfident followup from critics , who emphasized that it would only attract fans of Lynch ’s filmography . However , Inland Empireis most roll in the hay as the net characteristic - length moving picture of Lynch ’s vocation .

Alice and Pete looking at each other with Lost Highway poster in between them

8Lost Highway (1997)

A Musician Is Convicted Of Murder Before A Man Replaces Him

Released in 1997,Lost Highwayis a whodunit noir about a musician convict of murder only to disappearand recover himself now supervene upon by a untried mechanic named Pete Dayton in his prison cell . The entire situation is surreal , and the viewer are never certain what is occur throughout the movie . Fred was convicted for the murder of his married woman Renee , although he had no memories of invest the murder and had been receiving strange VHS tapes filmed inside his rest home before the offence took place .

From Mulholland Drive to Blue Velvet , many of David Lynch ’s dark , surrealistic movies become fad classics . Alas , Lost Highway has n’t earned that position .

Bill Pullman , Patricia Arquette , and Balthazar Getty star in the cinema , and it also include the final film functioning of Richard Pryor , Jack Nance , and Robert Blake . The full movie is a flakey closed book with Feed and Pete switching place , unlike people involved in various scandals , and a story that David Lynch once again leaves up to the viewers to interpret . lose Highwayreceived mixed review , although it has become a cult classic in later year and has been analyze by film learner .

David Lynch in Twin Peaks

7Eraserhead (1977)

David Lynch’s Debut Horror Film

Eraserheadwas the first feature - length movie that David Lynch made . It was also the picture that made him a headliner , although that took a while since it received very warm motley review too soon on . Some festivals reject to screen it , calling it a bad movie , while others praised it and proclaim its aesthetic brilliance . Eraserheadis a consistence - horror flick about a human beings ( Jack Nance ) who is left to care for his deformed childwith an inhuman face after his married woman leaves him .

Eraserheadwas added to the National Film Registry in 2004 .

The entire film is experimental in nature , which explains the wide polarizing reply to it . However , its outre nature , fantastical imagery , and disturbing situations allowed it to become a monolithic cult pet , work across the nation at midnight screenings , similar toThe Rocky Horror Picture Show . Lynch distinctly found inspiration in former dreamlike films like Luis Buñuel ’s 1929 workUn Chien Andalou , and like that celluloid , it occupy time for audience to understand its brilliance .

David Lynch’s best movies photo montage

Original SR Image by Shawn Lealos.

6The Fabelmans (2022)

David Lynch Played John Ford

While most of the near David Lynch movies were 1 he directed , he also make as an histrion occasionally . In 2022 , Lynch appeared in the Steven Spielberg movieThe Fabelmans . This moving picture was a semi - autobiographical tale based on Spielberg ’s life as a child as he hones his passion for film while his parents ' marriage unravels . Michelle Williams and Paul Dano starred as the parents , while young Gabriel LaBelle spiel Sammy , their teenage Word and the embodiment for Spielberg .

As for Lynch , he star as the mankind - renowned filmmaker John Ford . This view came at the end of the movie whenHogan ’s Heroesco - Divine Bernard Fein ( Greg Grumberg ) invited Sammy to see four - time Oscar - winning director John Ford , who was one of his vainglorious influences . It is Ford ’s advice ( as spoken by David Lynch)that convince Sammy ( a stand - in for Spielberg ) to labour on and make moving-picture show . The Fabelmansreceived seven Oscar nominations .

5Wild At Heart (1990)

A Mother Hires Killers To Murder Her Daughter’s Boyfriend

In 1990 , David Lynch team up up with Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern for the quixotic crime movieWild at Heart . In this movie , John Cage play Sailor Ripley , a human race who loves Elvis Presley and his lady friend Lula Fortune ( Dern ) . However , Lula ’s mother Marietta is not a fan of Sailor . As a very wealthy and hefty woman , Marietta hired someone to obliterate Sailor , but it was Sailor who went to jail for killing his attacker . When Sailor gets out of prison house , he and Lula run off together , and Marietta sends mass after them again .

Diane Ladd received an Oscar nominating address for her performance .

Lynch plays with the themes in this movie a peck , add an homage toThe Wizard of Ozby shew Lula ’s female parent is the " Wicked Witch " and that Sailor and Lula have to find their own route down the road to achieve happiness . Wild at Heartwas released at the Cannes Film Festival to rabbit on reviews and won the Palme d’Or . However , Lynch stop up being hale to edit the film to avoid an tenner - paygrade in the United States . While it receive mixed reviews , Diane Ladd received an Oscar nomination for her performance as Marietta .

Dune Movie Poster

4Mulholland Drive (2001)

An Aspiring Actress Befriends An Amnesiac

David Lynch originally developedMulholland Driveas a television set showto follow up his religious cult favoriteTwin Peaks . However , after see his cutting of the buffer , ABC canceled the serial , and Lynch took it and find financing to twist it into a motion-picture show by adding a unexampled end and dash more scenes to lead to it . The original architectural plan was for an open - ended secret ( similar toTwin Peaks ) , but that changed with the picture , where he secernate the history of an shoot for actress who befriends an amnesiac in Los Angeles .

Mulholland Driveearned David Lynch a Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival and an Oscar nomination for the same award . Like many of Lynch ’s movies , he refused to elaborate on the termination and allow viewers to set what they felt the movie was trying to say . Mulhollandhelped raise Naomi Watts into a star , and it has a gamey 84 % Fresh Rotten Tomatoes tally , although it also take in scathing reviews as well from other critics .

3Twin Peaks (1990-1991, 2017)

David Lynch’s Surreal Murder Mystery

In 1990 , David Lynch brought his bizarre and surreal storytelling to television with the horror dramaTwin Peaks . This series followsan FBI particular agent name Dale Cooper ( Kyle MacLachlan),who is puff into the mysterious probe of murdered local stripling Laura Palmer . The serial uses the tropes of detective fabrication but adds in surrealistic repulsion - centric imagery and very eccentric and camp melodrama to make it unlike anything else on television .

Twin Peakswon three Golden Globes and two Primetime Emmy Awards .

Thanks to its strange designing , it was never a ratings succeeder , but it did cull up a very truehearted sports fan follow thanks to its cultus classic - friendly data formatting . The series also received a picture show follow - up calledTwin Peaks : Fire Walk with Me , which was a prequel , and then a revitalization series in 2017 , which include most of the original cast returning 27 geezerhood later . Twin Peakswon three Golden Globes and two Primetime Emmy Awards .

Headshot Of Kyle MacLachlan In The 7th Canneseries International Festival pink carpet day 2.

2Blue Velvet (1986)

A Criminal Conspiracy Surrounding A Lounge Singer

After David Lynch stop his work onDunedisappointed with the final product , he went to work on his next movie , which was an original story calledBlue Velvet . The film ’s introductory tale follow a college student who finds a human ear in a field of operation , which then moderate him to expose a criminal confederacy surrounding a lounge Isaac Bashevis Singer . Kyle MacLachlan is the college student , and Isabella Rossellini bring lounge singer Dorothy Vallens . However , the human beings most masses colligate to the film is Dennis Hopper .

Hopper plays Frank Booth , a trigger-happy drug bargainer who has a drug addictionthat has him perpetually snort gas from a tank he carry around with him . He stay on one of the chilling villains in movie account , order on the list of AFI ’s top 50 film villains ( viaAFI).Blue Velvetholds a grand 91 % Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes . Lynch also received a Best Director nominating address at the Oscars and a Best Screenplay nominating speech at the Golden Globes , while Hopper also receive an act nomination .

1The Elephant Man (1980)

The True Story Of Joseph Merrick

After his breakout movieEraserhead , David Lynch get a chance to manoeuvre a feature - duration picture with a existent budget . He choseThe Elephant Man , which was based on the material life of Joseph Merrick and was accommodate from a pair of books about the piece . Merrick was a world with grievous physical deformity who was force to act as an showing at carnival showsin the 1800s before he had a luck to meet a sawbones name Sir Frederick Treves . John Hurt spiel Merrick , while Anthony Hopkins starred as Treves .

David Lynchmade some alteration in the substantial - spirit story to well create his film , and it ended up a commercial and critical success , making $ 26 million on a $ 5 million budget . The film has a 92 % fresh musical score on Rotten Tomatoes , and it received eight Academy Award nomination . While it did n’t win any , it was nominate for Best Picture , Best Director , and Best Actor . It did acquire three BAFTAs , let in Best Film and Best Actor .

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