comment #1

Aguirre says ...

as an iphoner and a film lover i obviously agree with mr. lynch here. but when i'm on the subway and plowing through a season of the west wing... i'm convinced that it's a lovely means of watching most (but not all) television.

comment #2

Dan Revill says ...

Well a lot of TV, until recently at least, was designed for smaller sets etc...not everything had HBO budgets etc...so I don't see a problem with watching some shows on smaller screens. The point gets across, and it's not like everything has clues creeping from every which way like Lost, which benefits from a bigger TV screen.

comment #3

Craptastic says ...

That is one of the best things this site has ever posted.

HAZZAAAAA!

comment #4

AJW says ...

If anyone has seen Dennis Hopper's interview on the Blue Velvet disc in which he discusses Lynch's aversion to saying 'that word' in the script, "fucking telephone" is a great quote and delivery.

("That word" is not 'telephone'.)

comment #5

mutinyco says ...

It's interesting. There's actually two arguments in play at the moment. There's Lynch's, which is that movies designed to play on a big screen should not be watched on a small display, because the experience will be diminished. The other argument posed recently by Spielberg was that if online and mobile filmmaking takes off as a legitimate format, it will decimate film language -- he foresees a situation worse than TV, where because of the small player sizes, filmmakers will only be shooting in close-up with no medium or wide.

comment #6

D.Z. says ...

mutiny: Don't they already shoot in close-ups?

comment #7

mutinyco says ...

Who? Theatrical filmmakers or online?

comment #8

MathewM says ...

Lynch is off base here. Sure watching Lawrence of Arabia on an iPhone is not the way to go. However smaller scale films and documentaries are very watchable on a 3.5" screen. When viewed a foot away from your face, the screen is roughly the same size as watching a 27" tv from across the room. Not the best way to watch a feature though. Lynch himself has promoted short films. I actually think the intimate nature of watching something like The Grandmother on an iPhone might be better than being heckled for watching it in the accompany of others.

comment #9

D.Z. says ...

mutiny: Theatrical filmmakers.

comment #10

Josh Massey says ...

Those 30 seconds make up for Inland Empire.

Well, almost...

... OK, not even close, but it was great.

comment #11

mutinyco says ...

Well, bad filmmakers maybe. But I don't know that that's any worse than directors in the old days who shot everything in masters like it was a stage play.

I use plenty of wide shots in my pieces. I love well-composed wides. I think it comes down to the filmmaker and his understanding of film language. You can make any shot work for any format, so long as you know what you're doing.

comment #12

lazarus says ...

I don't know how long anyone's battery really lasts for, but I'd be surprised if it would last the length of a feature film anyway, as playing video files probably uses up the most energy.

comment #13

christian says ...

I heart Lynch.

Seeing him on the corner of Hollywood and La Brea next to a cow might just be my favorite Los Angeles moment.

comment #14

PokeyJones says ...

I don't necessarily think the size of the screen is the problem, it's just all the other shit you're doing instead of absorbing the movie-- riding the subway, for example, watching for your stop, and god, she's cute, oh and that crazy person is doing something, and take a sip of your coffee, did I miss my stop, how many to go, did I get a transfer? So much getting lost in the moment.

comment #15

Chicago48 says ...

The directors and producers should be on strike against Iphones!

comment #16

bluefugue says ...

The only way to watch a movie is on Super 8 through a tiny viewfinder on an editing/splicing device. Or, failing that, on 16mm running through one of those old Moviolas from the 1940s. That is true cinema!

comment #17

Terry McCarty says ...

I love it, especially with the Mark Mothersbaugh Mac/PC ad jingle underscoring Lynch.