About a month or so ago I got a text from my brother Wayne telling me that a certain favourite filmmaker of mine would be in Bryn Mawr. As luck would have it, Wayne lives but three blocks from the Bryn Mawr Film Institute and snagged us a couple seats for the event.
Last night I met Wayne ahead of time for a quick bite to eat. I arrived about 15 minutes late and found him sitting at the bar. "I'm sorry I'm late, but I have a really hilarious excuse. I was watching Dynasty and lost track of time." After a hearty laugh, Wayne said, "The only thing that could have made that funnier is if you'd said you were watching Hotel." (Mmmm....James Brolin. I need to add that series to my Netflix queue!)
After dinner we headed over to BMFI to wait in line for about thirty minutes (we were a little over an hour early) then immediately snagged two seats way in the back (I scored the aisle, of course.) Neither of us had any intention of asking questions and were more than happy to view the evening from afar. However, I must admit, it was thrilling when they announced the guest's name and asked him on to the stage and David Lynch, in white dress shirt buttoned all the way up, black trousers, shoes, and knee-length black suit jacket passed within arms reach of me. He looked fabulous.
The evening was very brief, only a little over an hour, and I was disappointed and slightly annoyed at the set up. They had David Lynch hold a mic the entire time. I'm sorry, but how hard is it to find a microphone stand? Oh, and on the table between the two of them were cheesy bottles of water. You can't freakin' get the guest of honour a glass?? Come on. And the interviewer was a hack. Sad to say, but for someone who had apparently met and supposedly interviewed David Lynch in the past, she was terrible. She seemed to race through her list of questions as though she had a late night dental appointment. "Time to wrap this up, Lynch, I got a teeth cleaning at 8:15 in Rosemont." Honestly, that's how she came across. And after he answered the questions, there was no flow or segue. She simply said, "Thank you" or "How true" and went right on to the next one on her paper. (James Lipton, you have spoiled us all. We now expect and frankly, demand, a very high standard of professionalism and warmth from interviewers and this gal did not deliver the Lipton quality we've come to admire.) Now, her questions weren't the best, but she did manage to get some wonderful answers out of the guest. Mr. Lynch was charming, intelligent, soft spoken, and insightful. I so wanted to have a smoke with him out back after the show and just have a real conversation. He seems completely genuine and likeable.
All in all, Wayne and I had a great time and it was lovely to see David Lynch in person and listen to him speak. Plus, on our way to the parky lot we saw a DeLorean. Anyone who grew up in America in the 1980s will immediately feel their stomach flip and their pulse race at the sight of a DeLorean. What a strange and dreamlike way to end the evening.
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