Micro-people living in a dumpster? You understood that? Really? Gimme a break.

GI Joe went transitioned from a “Real American Hero” to an “International Hero” long before that movie. I think it made that transition back in the 80s, or possibly the early 90s at the latest. I don’t think they even waited for the end of the Cold War. Incidentally, a few months back I posted the clip of Robot Chicken’s great G.I. Joe spoof. One of the two or three funniest things I’ve seen on that show, possibly the funniest.

Mulholland Drive was lifted in part because of critical bias towards the original and unexpected. When reviewers see the same sorts of movies over and over again, they over-emphasize originality at the expense of the criteria used by regular movie-goers. Reviewers are often immune to the things that captivate less fanatical movie-goers.

That being said, the various oddities in MD were somewhat indicative of reality coming apart at the seems, which was a relatively central aspect of the movie. The witch behind the Denny’s knockoff itself may or may not have represented something specific (and if it did, I agree that most people don’t really know what), but the sheer unreality of it had its own significance.

On the other hand, I agree with Web that the movie was a veritable buffet of missed opportunities. I actually didn’t think it was all that bad of a movie, as far as action movies go, but it wasn’t really a GI Joe movie.