David Lynch (France-U.S.)
In sharp contrast to his last outing, The Straight Story, David Lynch's latest film, derived from an ABC television pilot, is a return to the weird and Byzantine. Set in Hollywood, the "land of dreams," the movie jumps between three stories. In the main tale, a young dark-haired beauty who looks like Rita Hayworth (Laura Elena Harring) nearly dies in a car accident and develops amnesia. She ends up in an apartment where the alarmingly perky Betty (Naomi Watts) has just arrived, straight from Deep River, Ont., in the hopes of pursuing her career as an actress. Next, a young director (Justin Theroux) learns that his film has just been taken over by mobsters and is sent to meet a terrifying cowboy up in the hills. In the third story, a young hitman kills everyone in an office as well as the vacuum cleaner. Pay close attention to the clues about Betty and her new friend and you'll see the grisly horror tale under the movie's colour-saturated bright exterior. Lynch finally exhausts the viewer's patience with one or two too many twists but fans of Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks will welcome this return to the dark side. - L.L.

(Sat. Sept. 8, 9:30 p.m., Visa Screening Room, Elgin; Thurs., Sept.13, 12:15 p.m., Varsity)