The cult film ERASHERHEAD was booked in the movie theater I worked at for a midnight showing back in the early 80s. I was not familiar with the movie or the director. It had a modest crowd for a strange black and white film playing at midnight in Birmingham, Alabama. I thought it was brilliant and I was captivated. The film had a punk rock indie film feel to it. It was totally breaking the norm of cinema at the time.
This made me take notice of the director and his films to come throughout his career. It was David Lynch, who took his final taxi on January 17, 2025, at the age of 79.
Lynch was the visionary filmmaker and television director whose surreal and often unsettling works redefined modern cinema and television. Lynch’s unique artistic voice—characterized by its dreamlike imagery, unsettling soundscapes, and exploration of the darkness lurking beneath the surface of everyday life, influenced generations of filmmakers.
Lynch’s filmography includes some of the most memorable and critically acclaimed films of the late 20th century, including Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), and edging into the new century, Mulholland Drive (2001), which many consider his master work. Each of these explored themes of identity, trauma, and the surreal. His films were often as perplexing as they were beautiful, with a mix of dark humor, surrealist imagery, and psychological complexity that earned him both admiration and controversy. Twin Peaks (1990-1991), his television series about a small town’s dark secrets, became a cultural touchstone, blending mystery, horror, and soap opera in a way that had never been done before on television.
Throughout his career, Lynch maintained an unyielding commitment to personal expression, pushing the boundaries of narrative and visual artistry in both film and television. Lynch offered more than visual feasts. He was also a musician with three studio albums, two collaborative studio albums, six soundtrack albums, two spoken-word albums, one extended play, twenty singles and six music videos to his name.
He also produced Floating into the Night, the debut studio album by American singer Julee Cruise. Songs from the album were featured in Lynch’s films. The album peaked at number 74 on the US Billboard 200 following the success of the Twin Peaks TV series in 1990. The lead single “Falling” reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number seven.
I also enjoyed Lynch’s strange comic strip The Angriest Dog in the World. Running from 1983 to 1992 every strip is introduced with a small caption: “The dog who is so angry he cannot move. He cannot eat. He cannot sleep. He can just barely growl. Bound so tightly with tension and anger, he approaches the state of rigor mortis.” Visually each strip is the same. The first three identical panels feature the black dog growling, tied to a post in a yard by a chain. Also a word balloon appears in a panel from a member of one of the house’s unseen inhabitants each time.
Even with this just a drawing of a dog tied to a tree I could related to the feeling of being tied with a short leash. Lynch had that way of making you understand these sometimes-strange characters. I related to the being an outside in 1980’s The Elephant Man. The need for understanding your purpose in life like in 1984’s Dune. The need for being with your family as in 1999’s Straight Story.
Now those of us who have revered this cult movie icon in his extraordinary 50-year career have the need for understanding loss.
Writer: Jeff Burson
Editor: Lesa Rosato Burson
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: cinema, Comic, cult, david bowie, David Lynch, death, dune, eraserhead, film, movie, movies, music, obit, oscar, strange, Twin Peaks | 2 Comments »
Katherine Helmond, who starred in the controversial TV show ‘Soap’, played a cosmetic surgery-addicted mother in ‘Brazil, and portrayed a man-crazy mother on TV’s ‘Who’s the Boss?’ took her Final Taxi this week at age 89.
One of my favorite game shows has always been MATCH GAME. I loved all the panelists and their wacky answers to the questions. One who was on the show for many years, since his first appearance in 1973, was Bill Daily. Daily was better known as the actor who starred as Major Roger Healey in the TV series, “I Dream of Jeannie.” Daily has taken his Final Taxi.
Mr. A. The Creeper. Blue Beetle. Capt. Atom. Dr. Strange. Thunder Agents. The Question… and someone named Spider-man. These are a few of the comic book characters that were created or drawn by the artist, STEVE DITKO. All of them touched my life in many ways and I have Mr. Ditko to thank for his genius in fleshing them out.
After leaving Marvel, Ditko created Mr. A, a black-and-white comic aimed at adults and unconstrained by the Comics Code. Mr. A, attired in a white suit and conservative hat, was named after “A is A,” the idea in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” that there is one unassailable truth, one reality, and only white (good) and black (evil) forces in society. Unlike mainstream superheroes, he killed criminals. For Charlton Comic Mr. Ditko created the Question, also in a suit and hat but devoid of facial features but.The Question followed the Comic Code.
The Final Taxi 