David Lynch’s top 10 movie lines

Yesterday I discussed the problem that I’d had trying to prepare a blog post about David Lynch in honor of his 64th birthday. Today I’m going to recreate that lost post.

It has to do with Lynch’s unique ability to create screen dialogue, either single lines spoken by characters such as Dennis Hopper’s Frank Booth in “Blue Velvet” (who never met an f-word he wouldn’t embrace and so will be missing here) or dialogue between characters such as Nicolas Cage’s Sailor Ripley and Laura Dern’s Lula Fortune in “Wild at Heart.”

Thus I offer, my top 10 lines from Lynch’s various films:

Lula : “One of these days the sun’s gonna come up and burn a hole clear through the planet like a giant electrical x-ray.” Sailor : “I wouldn’t worry about that, Peanut. By then people’ll prob’ly be drivin’ Buicks to the moon.” ( “Wild at Heart,” 1990)

OO Spool : “My dog barks some. Mentally you picture my dog, but I have not told you the type of dog which I have. Perhaps you even picture Toto, from “The Wizard of Oz.” But I warn you, my dog is always with me. WOOF!” (“Wild at Heart”)

Mr. X : “I put every damn pipe in this neighborhood. People think that pipes grow in their homes. But they sure as hell don’t! Look at my knees! Look at my knees!” ( “Eraserhead,” 1977)

Dorothy Vallens : “What are you doing in my closet, Jeffrey Beaumont?” ( “Blue Velvet,” 1986)

Jeffrey Beaumont : “Do you see that house? I used to know a kid who lived there, he had the biggest tongue in the world.” (“Blue Velvet”)

Dale Cooper : “Harry, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it. Don’t wait for it. Just let it happen. It could be a new shirt at the men’s store, a catnap in your office chair, or two cups of good, hot black coffee.” ( “Twin Peaks,” 1990-91)

Deputy Tommy “Hawk” Hill : “One woman can make you fly like an eagle, another can give you the strength of a lion, but only one in the Cycle Of Life can fill your heart with wonder and the wisdom that you have known a singular joy.” (“Twin Peaks”)

The Log Lady : “When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out. The tender boughs of innocence burn first, and the wind rises, and then all goodness is in jeopardy.” ( “Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me,” 1992)

Coco Lenoix : “You know, there was a man that lived here once that had a prize-fighting kangaroo. Well, you just wouldn’t believe what that kangaroo did to this courtyard!” ( “Mulholland Drive,” 2001)

Nikki : “All I see from this is blue tomorrows.” ( “Inland Empire,” 2006)

Below : The trailer for “Eraserhead.”