On a Cronenberg kick lately. Is it really his best?
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The Fly (1986)
On a Cronenberg kick lately. Is it really his best?
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Naked Lunch is his masterpiece, it encompasses almost all of his favorite themes from both before and after it.
Hands down his best film. Then videodrome.
i cannot imagine how fricking shit a modern fly remake would be
They did a sequel in the 90s with Eric Stoltz
Funny, I was thinking the same thing in 1958.
I love them both btw. Vincent Price version really is worth watching if you Zooms haven't seen it. Genuine old skool kino.
I know this site has a lot of old fricks that refuse to let go but without proof I will not believe that an anon is old enough to remember 1958.
>modern remake
There should be a slasher movie called They/Them starring a transvestite.
Pretty sure they weren't really talking about ants in the 50's:
Fricking Commies and homosexuals that need to be destroyed before they infest everything.
It would star that israeli twink from Dunc and Tessa Thompson.
No. Watch the 3 films David Cronenberg made starring Sarah Gadon
Don’t you have a Nastassja thread to derail?
Literally who?
Is this not you?
Many people post Sarah Gadon across Cinemaphile
What did I do to you man, he gives me enough trouble without anyone egging him on 🙁
PSA: Do not listen to Gadongay.
GYAT
It’s really good.
I haven't watched too many of his flicks but I did see Videodrome, Eastern Promises, Scanners, History of Violence and maybe one or two others. I think The Fly is his most "straightforward" film that I've seen, which is a good thing. The sci-fi premise is established, and there is a slow degeneration which climaxes in a truly horrific way. It's a pure tragedy which is told convincingly. The lead becomes upset, gets drunk and decides frick it, let's do it (he has a woman in his life now, one he'd like to impress).
One of the best thing about the film is that its climax and end are absolutely merciless, one of the nastiest and most dramatically merciless endings in film history. An abomination threatens to incestuously absorb a woman and their baby into himself after having melted a guy's limbs off, the guy is in shock for a bit but manages to regain consciousness and thwart the plan. The abomination breaks free, begs for death (thus signaling the final remaining trace of humanity) and the distraught woman blows his head off. Fade to black, THE END. No epilogue, no nothing. Roll credits with dark dramatic music. Brought to you by Brooksfilms, the same fine people who backed The Elephant Man and had the good sense not to undercut the dramatic power of the productions by giving the backer's full name.
I also like Scanners but the Fly is my favorite. It can easily stand next to other classics like the Thing or Terminator and has qualities of its time that can't be found in modern movies anymore. The closest recent movie that has the same sincerity and good direction is Upgrade.
Haven't seen all of his films, but Maps to the Stars is my favorite of his of late, highly recommend. I also like Cosmopolis, Eastern Promises, and History of Violence.
I love Sarah Gadon in Maps To The Stars and Cosmopolis.
Please see a therapist. You need help, mate.
>History of Violence
I thought it was fine the first time I saw it, but the second time, it was almost unwatchable for me. That movie has a LOT of problems in it.
too many coincidences or conveniences? I wouldn't remember, it's been years since I saw it.
I agree. I saw this movie when it first came out and then again this year. I actually don't hate it and wouldn't call it unwatchable, but it has a few nearly fatal flaws that keep it from being truly great.
>Some shockingly poor performances (Maria Bello, that homosexual who plays Jack and the homosexual that plays his bully, namely) which are emphasized by some really great performances (one of Harris' best roles, imo) which makes it feel inconsistent and almost very low-budget. It sometimes feels like they didn't do enough takes or Cronenberg couldn't get his actors to act.
>Pacing problems. The ending sequences happens way too quickly and there's too much bullshit happening in the middle that, while necesary, ends up feeling like a slog sometimes. It feels it should have been longer to focus more on the effects of his history of violence on his family in a more subtle way than what occurs. But honestly, I'm not sure if the writing and performances could have held up for long enough.
>Some bad writing. I alluded to this earlier. I don't know whose fault this is because I didn't read the graphic novel, so idk if they just lifted the dialogue from the source material but it felt like it at times because it didn't sound natural. And even when it did, sometimes it really wasn't good (I would cite the exchange between Jack and his bully, god I fricking hate that scene and those actors)
Still, I don't absolutely hate it. I feel like there's enough there to enjoy between the well done action scenes and the buildup of tension once Fogerty shows up, so I would say people should watch it but I always hesitate to recommend it because it's such an iconsistent movie. I guess that would be a 5/10? This movie also has the best marital rape scene known to mankind and I'm willing to bet Cronenberg blew his budget doing 98 takes of that one scene.
Videodrome I feel I'd slightly better because it's less Hollywood.
Existenze is very underrated but people are discovering it.
Videodrome is awesome, I just made a webm from it earlier. Scanners is also great
SEX
She was distractingly hot in Scanners.
I wanna add I really enjoyed Crimes of the Future.
Something about the little bit of gray hair.
Yeah, graying at only 32 no less. I looked Jennifer up afterwards and she still looks good for 76.
Damn, if she dyed her hair she would look 40.
Imagine your wife aging as gracefully as her. You would win at life.
I already had a crush on her, now it just hurts LOL
I’m finally going to watch The Fly at 5:30am, hopefully it’s great bros.
Would
MEGA WOULD. Good lord.
Kinooo
>changing her name to Debbie
truly immersive
It's great but Videodrome is his best.
>I just made a webm from it earlier
Poast.
It’s this one
I also made the thread
Interesting how Existenz and The Matrix came out within one month of each other, given the similarities.
That is interesting. Existenz goes slightly deeper with a similar theme, but visually looks like it was shot ten years earlier than the matrix.
Existenz
The Matrix
Dark City
The Thirteenth Floor
Serial Experiments Lain
Very strange. Perhaps it has something to do with the collective unconscious
>Very strange. Perhaps it has something to do with the collective unconscious
I don't want to know what the collective unconscious is now when all we get is reddit quip 2 electric boogaloo slop.
The Matrix is just a Hollywood investor's mashup and ripoff of two Alex Proyas kinos that came out prior.
I can respect The Fly as the answer, also Videodrome and Eastern Promises
should I watch Crimes of the Future?
Which one?
crash is my favorite but I'm a degenerate
I don't think I could pick a favorite.
My top 3 in no particular order:
Existenz
Videodrome
The Fly
>Cronenberg
I'm partial to Scanners.
I haven't seen them all, only about 4 or them. It's a brilliant movie at any rate and hands down better than Videodrome. The Brood, and Existenz
For me it's Cosmopolis with Sarah Gadon
Kino. I love Sarah Gadon
It was his crossover with better known actors.
i like Rabid.
Rabid’s the penis armpit one, right?
Scanners is pretty ok, but it is a bit lack. It's kind of B movie tier, but well done for a B movie. I like Psychic related stuff, so I am partial to it.
>it’s a bit lack
I see what you did there lol. I’m still wondering whether Stephen Lack’s robotic performance was intentional
I've watched it maybe like 10 times over the years and I don't mind. It just makes everything uncomfortable.
Easily. My favorite of his stuff too.
My favorite Cronenberg films all have Sarah Gadon
It is not his best.
the fly now?
Subtle
You motherfricker.
1-800-Come on now.
Videodrome is scary real. It's also why I like Existenze because we are just now entering the world of VR headsets and games within games.
His most accessible without compromising his le vision. So yes.
The gene-splicing idea was genius and it's now part of the fabric of our collective thinking.
That's an incredibly powerful metaphor for common use too. It's a movie that makes the people who watch it subtly smarter than they were going in.
Not this anon
but Videodrome is also incredibly prescient, arguably even moreso than The Fly. You’re right about it being his most accessible though
Yeah Videodrome felt like it had much more interesting themes and obviously the extreme content of Videodrome itself and Max's descent into depravity feels very real, reminds me of my life wasted on here. Plus Debbie Harry is an absolute 10/10 and James Woods is great as a sleazy TV guy
>It's a movie that makes the people who watch it subtly smarter than they were going in.
How so?
The Fly is great but I think Videodrome is his best by far.
Spooky flick.
I miss practical effects of this kind. Feels more brutal, more visceral than CGI. But maybe it't not the CGI but the fact that modern hollywood is sanitized and the gore is more le funny as if the filmmakers were afraid to create something like this with sincerity.
Crash is his best followed by Eastern Promises, Scanners, The Fly and Videodrome
Cronenberg movies are a mixed bag. When he's really focused and trying to entertain, his movies are fantastic. But some of his movies are overrated self indulgent crap (Crimes of the Future, Dead Ringers).
My favorites
>The Fly
>Eastern Promises
>Scanners
>The Dead Zone
>VideoDrome
>History of Violence
>Dead Ringers bad
No, frick off
Videodrome is the best in my opinion. It's perfectly ambiguous Lovecraftian horror with a biting social commentary. His scariest to me even though the actual gore and SFX are underplayed compared to something like the Fly.
Surprised at the lack of love shown for Dead Ringers, that one is very unique in his catalogue and a great film. Jeremy Irons turns in a 10/10 double performance.
My least favorite I have seen so far is Scanners followed by A Dangerous Method or A History of Violence. Scanners is just not that good I feel other than a few moments and scenes. I watched it for the first time last year, I am sure it was more interesting when it came out but today it feels pedestrian. Neither of the other two are bad they just don't stand out as personal favorites.
Crimes of the Future was kino, but also clearly felt limited in some ways. Not a movie I would return to I think, but I am glad I watched it in theaters.
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.”
Yes.
No one likes coalburners.
Nobody likes you, homosexual
What did he mean by this?
He's pretty based for a israelite.
Cronenberg is very based. He cast Sarah Gadon in 3 consecutive films.
Naked Lunch or Crash are probably the most fun and impressive to watch once you immerse yourself in the experience. Naked Lunch is particularly good because it doesn't try to adapt the book outright and is more a movie about writing and writers. Crash is the best of Cronenbergian eroticism and is truly hilarious to watch as long as you're not some kind of moralizing prude. In fact, none of his movies are for moralizing prudes, not even his movie about THE moralizing prude.
The Fly is a lot of fun though and if you enjoy that, you should check out Shivers as well. It's not as good, but has a similarly claustrophobic and uncomfortable atmosphere.
The Brood is misogyny kino
This is such a Canadian film lol, but yes it's fun and totally Cronenbergian in style. Deserves more praise imo, but it also feels extremely low budget which is fine because I think it does well with what it has and that's kind of what matters. Indeed, a lot of Cronenberg's older films come off that way pre-Videodrome which feels comparatively high budget. That ending hehehehe
A documentary on David Cronenberg made in 1986
Nice. Cool poster too