INLAND EMPIRE
DVD Review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 179 minutes (disc 1)/ 190 minutes (disc 2), 17 deleted scenes, ballerina scene, 3 multi-chapter featurettes, 3 theatrical trailers, and still slideshow.

VIDEO: 1.85:1 (Anamorphic Widescreen)
AUDIO: English 2.0 Stereo (deflaut), 5.1 (Near Field) Dolby Surround, 5.1 (Far Field) DS
Subtitles: French, English Close Captioning

STUDIO: Absurda/ Rhino/ Studio Canal
RELEASE DATE: 8-14-2007

INLAND EMPIRE is the latest trip into the world of dream and nightmare realities from director David Lynch. Sometimes it feels a little long like it is a little rough. As soon as INLAND EMPIRE plays for lonmg enough, I was sucked into David lynch's latest film. Laura Dern is actress Nikki Grace who is hired to be in a remake of a film that was never finished. Soon she is falling for her co-star, Devon Berk, and her reality begins to shift into something different.

The film shifts between human sized rabbits to people in Poland to East European circus performers to dancing hookers to a filkm within a film within a film. INLAND EMPIRE is the movie that David lyunch found as he made it. He would come up witha scene and shoot it. Eventually the unconnected scenes would connect. The digital camera gives more life to the nightmare and dreamlike textures in INLAND EMPIRE. The score helps weave the worlds within. It is a progression from LOST HIGHWAY and MULHOLLAND DRIVE. Definitely, INLAND EMPIRE should be watched more than once to dig through all of the layers and meanings of David lynch's latest masterpiece.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Disc 1 has picture optimizer to adjust your TV screen in addition to three audio options for the film.

Disc 2 has 190 minutes of extras (and not 211 like the case says, but the disc gets the runtime right). 17 deleted scenes (75 minutes in length) known as MORE THINGS THAT HAPPENED contain lots of interesting scenes which would have been fascinating to see how they would have fit in if David Lynch left some of them in the final film. The 12 1/2 Ballerina scene is skippable to me. David Lynch shows how to cook one of his favorite dishes in the 20 minute QUINOA featurette. 3 theatrical trailers and a 73 still slideshow are also featured on this disc.

Besides the deleted scenes, the other gems are the behind-the-scenes matrials-

LYNCH 2- a 30 minute behind-the-scenes look at the filming of INLAND EMPIRE that doesn't take itself too seriously.

STORIES (41 minutes)- 19 tales David lynch tells about the making of INLAND EMPIRE.

FINAL ANALYSIS: INLAND EMPIRE is an interesting addition to the work of director David Lynch. He is still at the top of his art with this masterpiece. Plus the 75 minutes of deleted scenes and the behind-the-scenes material makes the DVD worth watching.

Related DAVID LYNCH articles-
http://enterline2.tripod.com/mulholland_drive.html
http://enterline2.tripod.com/mdrive.html

this DVD Review is (c)8-25-2007 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com and look for additional news/content at http://enterlinemedia.livejournal and http://enterline-media.tripod.com