Movie Thread

[rabidtictac]

She married five guys. Did she get a burger with that too? A name like Pat should have been a clue he was a catholic. He was just saying what a lot of guys at that time thought but didn't say. He's always played characters of conscience. Even in acting, he kept to his beliefs, as far as I can tell.

[rabidtictac]

It's about time for me to watch Scanners again. Say what you will, but I still think it's Cronenberg's best.

Far from it. For the Cronenberg movies that come to mind now, at least The Fly, Dead Ringers, Videodrome, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises are all much better and at the very least they had a competent lead actor. Scanners is still good though, funny how the only guns used in the movie were shotguns (budget reasons or what?), Iroside is the shit, as always, and that final face-twisting contest is legendary.

I'm of the opinion that was done deliberately in Scanners. Look at the acting in every single other Cronenberg film, and then look at Scanners. Cronenberg didn't suddenly "get better." He did that shit intentionally. He gave us a leading man with no past, no personality and no ability to be human. Because he's not human. He's a Scanner. He's doesn't have a personality because he has 500 personalities inside him all the time that he can't block out. He can't emote because he doesn't understand emotion-he lives in his mind and the minds of everyone else. He has no past because a past is made of discrete experiences and he lives 100 lives every time he walks down the street. He's a bum because his psychic power has driven him insane. When he's forced on medication and given serenity, he becomes a blank vessel because he's never had a chance to fill himself with anything.

The Fly and Videodrome just build on the foundation laid by Scanners. The Fly feels more fantastical and less realistic. Videodrome is great, but not the best. Videodrome was very much a product focused on the technology of its time and it has become dated, sadly.

A History of Violence and Eastern Promises are good mob movies, but I don't think either is particularly mind-blowing. I prefer Eastern Promises, but the bar for mob movies is high. Goodfellas and Godfather II stand at the pinnacle (along with Scarface maybe) and these two aren't at that level. Dare I say it, I might even accuse Cronenberg's mob films of being a bit derivative and dull compared to his other films.

You didn't mention Naked Lunch or ExistenZ. I only saw Naked Lunch once, but I was quite impressed. I'll reserve judgment on that one until I rewatch it. I love ExistenZ, but it's like a much more conventional retread of concepts from Scanners mixed with bideo james. The whole "what is reality" thing was done in The Matrix and the esoteric mental body horror was done better in Scanners. The characters in ExistenZ are more trite too, and it has a twist at the end that's appropriate but not really mind-blowing. You didn't mention The Brood either. That's an interesting film with a lot of big ideas. Extremely ambitious. I could see an argument favoring it over Scanners for what it tries to do. Few films deal with the true horror of the female pussy.

[VoiceOfReasonPast]

I just love this scene:

[veris leta facies]

I'm of the opinion that was done deliberately in Scanners. Look at the acting in every single other Cronenberg film, and then look at Scanners. Cronenberg didn't suddenly "get better." He did that shit intentionally. He gave us a leading man with no past, no personality and no ability to be human. Because he's not human. He's a Scanner. He's doesn't have a personality because he has 500 personalities inside him all the time that he can't block out. He can't emote because he doesn't understand emotion-he lives in his mind and the minds of everyone else. He has no past because a past is made of discrete experiences and he lives 100 lives every time he walks down the street. He's a bum because his psychic power has driven him insane. When he's forced on medication and given serenity, he becomes a blank vessel because he's never had a chance to fill himself with anything.

In that case, if they ever intend to remake Scanners, they really should consider Orlando Bloom or Hayden Christensen play the main role, they really excel at this "500 personalities inside him" acting.

I don't consider Naked Lunch, ExistenZ or The Brood truly top-tier Cronenberg, they're OK, but the movies I listed are all vastly better. The only Cronenberg movie I forgot to list, now that I checked his filmography, was The Dead Zone. I wouldn't compare History or Promises to classic mob movies like Goodfellas, they are more like dark thrillers/crime dramas that focus on the double lives the main characters live. Never thought in my head: "Hmph, The Godfather did this so much better" while watching Eastern Promises.

[Cuckara]

Whether Stephen Lack, the guy who plays Cameron in Scanners, is talentless or not, I agree with rabid that Cronenberg intentionally made Cameron emotionally vacant because that reflects how being a scanner has made him process emotions very differently from normal people.

As for Cronenberg's filmography, his artsy drama films are solid, but I personally prefer his body horror stuff. The Fly, Videodrome, and Scanners are all excellent, and The Brood is an underrated gem. The Brood has some of Cronenberg's weirdest body horror ideas, and I find it amusing how Cronenberg so blatantly puts his pent-up anger into the film; he wrote it right after he went through a messy custody battle with his ex-wife.

[CuckTurdginson]

If his artsy movie has Viggo Mortensen its usually breddy gud.

[rabidtictac]

Whether Stephen Lack, the guy who plays Cameron in Scanners, is talentless or not, I agree with rabid that Cronenberg intentionally made Cameron emotionally vacant because that reflects how being a scanner has made him process emotions very differently from normal people.

As for Cronenberg's filmography, his artsy drama films are solid, but I personally prefer his body horror stuff. The Fly, Videodrome, and Scanners are all excellent, and The Brood is an underrated gem. The Brood has some of Cronenberg's weirdest body horror ideas, and I find it amusing how Cronenberg so blatantly puts his pent-up anger into the film; he wrote it right after he went through a messy custody battle with his ex-wife.

The Brood is so fascinating. The hatred of everything female and particularly the female reproductive system oozes out of the movie. The children as mindless zombie drones who kill everything at mother's whim... I have to give a fat chef kiss to that concept. It's such a fucking weird movie even for a director who made a career out of weird movies.

I love Cronenberg's movies.

[Cuckara]

My favorite part of The Brood is when the evil wife wickedly tells the husband that she'll never let him have their daughter and he proceeds to brutally strangle her to death. I really wonder what Cronenberg's ex-wife thought of the film, particularly that scene.

[rabidtictac]

I think I like the monster womb the best.

psychoplasmically-induced external womb

Thanks wikipedia

[Rapeculture]

I have never seen The Brood, but now I'm going to make it a priority.