The Cronenberg Thread

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Those two are awful. Crash generated more walkouts than any movie I've attended.

Any movie named "Crash" is doomed to ignominy.

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:05 (twelve years ago) link

gtfo

strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:06 (twelve years ago) link

Cronenberg's awful Crash better then Haggis' even more awful Crash.

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:08 (twelve years ago) link

I've lived my whole live waiting for a sex scene between Holly Hunter and an Oldsmobile.

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:08 (twelve years ago) link

I hated Crash too; at the time, I tried envisioning an SCTV parody with Edith Prickley in the Holly Hunter role..

clemenza, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:10 (twelve years ago) link

Anyway I like most of Cronenberg's films and his recent track record is fine by me as both HoV and EP are well worth watching (as is Spider.)

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:11 (twelve years ago) link

i seriously loved ahov, and liked ep a good deal - i think with the latter it was a much livelier movie than maybe it had any right to be. kinda like inside man, which was undoubtedly garbage on the page but had all these spike lee moments stuffed into the margins that kept you watching.

i dont love crash, but i appreciate some scenes in it. i dont really 'get' whatever he was doing with that movie, but i dig how detached and minimalist it is. but it makes for a pretty dry viewing experience

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:20 (twelve years ago) link

I liked Inside Man too.

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:24 (twelve years ago) link

Inside Man is like the best movie Spike Lee has made in 20 years or so

I can feel it in my spiritual hat (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:26 (twelve years ago) link

its not better than malcom x mate...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:28 (twelve years ago) link

somehow I watched HOV without realising it was Cronenberg. I liked it but then when the penny dropped I felt a little disappointed. Think I should probably see it again to make an informed decision but I feel like it can be grouped in with EP in the films Cronenberg has made that don't drill his hallmarks home quite so aggressively. Apologies if this has been said elsewhere as I think it's a pretty obvious point.

owenf, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 22:45 (twelve years ago) link

Crash > Crash

Gus Van Sant's Gerry Blank (Eric H.), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:01 (twelve years ago) link

have you seen Malcolm X lately? doesn't hold up imho

I can feel it in my spiritual hat (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:02 (twelve years ago) link

Yeah, Malcolm X is tepid. Summer of Sam is the last good non-for-hire Spike joint.

Gus Van Sant's Gerry Blank (Eric H.), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:04 (twelve years ago) link

25th Hour

Gukbe, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:08 (twelve years ago) link

Summer of Sam over Malcolm X? That's quite a leap for me.

clemenza, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:10 (twelve years ago) link

Summer of Sam is quite good except for the punk club scenes which are just silly.

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:11 (twelve years ago) link

Guess I'm in the minority there--it was the first Spike Lee film I really hated. I even liked some things about Girl 6 and Crooklyn.

clemenza, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:14 (twelve years ago) link

Clockers is better than 25th Hour.

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:14 (twelve years ago) link

I don't remember anything about Girl 6. Crooklyn is good though.

Fig On A Plate Cart (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:15 (twelve years ago) link

It's been a while, but Girl 6 had "Erotic City," Spike brandishing a Ken Griffey rookie card, and Theresa Randle. Good enough for me.

clemenza, Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:17 (twelve years ago) link

clockers is a p rad movie imo and i liked crooklyn too

eastern promises was just enjoyable to watch, i think, if not a 'great' movie. its also the sort of movie where i could get engrossed w/o really caring about action on screen or anticipating the action, like it was pleasurable just to watch the screen as it happened

am/sand (Lamp), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:18 (twelve years ago) link

Clockers is better than 25th Hour.

It is but there's some strong emotional undercurrents in the latter. I watched it again with a friend a couple years ago who was far less forgiving of its absurdities (I couldn't bear to watch the Anna Paquin-Hoffman scenes again, or endure Edward Norton's besty's obsession with being prison bait).

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:19 (twelve years ago) link

i'd be curious to know what clemenza hated about ahov - it really feels to me like something by the same guy who did the Dead Zone, really confident and scary and funny. makes for an interesting comparison w/road to perdition, the other paradox press funnybook turned 'serious' movie. neither flick cares much about the comics they're based on, but cronenberg is much more comfortable working with the pulpiness of the material. mendes clearly looks down on it, and he has a very primitive point of view and a very ponderous and self-serious way of expressing it. the result is one of the crappier movies ive seen in the last decade.

have you seen Malcolm X lately? doesn't hold up imho

― I can feel it in my spiritual hat (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, August 31, 2011 7:02 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah, i actually havent seen it in quite a while. still feel like i'd take most of the 90s stuff over inside man though (which i think is good, dont get me wrong!). inside man's story is such gimmicky bullshit, but the movie comes to life whenever spike finds time for his little asides - clive owen sitting down with the kid playin a video game, denzel's interactions with white cops, the sikh in the restaurant. but i wouldn't take it over clockers or crooklyn. those movies didnt have to smuggle in those cool little moments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:41 (twelve years ago) link

okay so maybe I should have said in 15 years. now are you happy

I can feel it in my spiritual hat (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, 31 August 2011 23:44 (twelve years ago) link

One specific thing I hated about History was something many people liked: William Hurt. I do understand that he gave the kind of florid performance that divides reaction--there are similar performances in other movies I like a lot. Speaking just generally--I haven't given the film a second thought since it was released, and I don't remember a lot--I found it very dull. All through the '80s, Cronenberg's films were really interesting to me, like nobody else's. I felt at the time that History was drained of all that, and could have been made by any skilled technician.

clemenza, Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:00 (twelve years ago) link

The Bello-Viggo scenes are as good as Irons-Bujold's.

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:02 (twelve years ago) link

William Hurt only has a few minutes at the end, so you're lucky.

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:03 (twelve years ago) link

I've got it on the shelf, so I'm going to take another look. I often set myself up for disappointment with favourite (or at least one-time favourite) directors.

clemenza, Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:17 (twelve years ago) link

Disappointment is more edifying than fandom, thankfully.

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:19 (twelve years ago) link

the bello-viggo stuff IS great, and led to me being disappointed that bello hasnt appeared in anything substantial since then...

william hurt's one of those guys who i think is a considerable actor within a certain range, but if you get him in the wrong role it's usually a disaster. i would've expected this to be one of those wrong roles, but i loved him in it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:28 (twelve years ago) link

He's unusual, isn't he? When cast to project plodding WASP intelligence, he can be affecting.

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:29 (twelve years ago) link

Crash was funny, you dingalings

incredibly middlebrow (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:54 (twelve years ago) link

like jizz on vinyl

a 'catch-all', almost humorous, 'Jeez' quality (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:57 (twelve years ago) link

agreeing with morbs omg

strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:59 (twelve years ago) link

i feel dirtier than anything j.g. ballard ever cooked up

strongo hulkington's ghost dad, Thursday, 1 September 2011 00:59 (twelve years ago) link

"Crash" is awesome if only for the pull-quote emblazoned on the DVD: " ...sex and car crashes ..." I chalk the movie up as a failed attempt at filming the unfilmable, a la "Naked Lunch," but like that one is has a lot going for it.

I've pretty much found something to like or love in all his films, save "Spider," which I never finished, and "M. Butterfly," which I've never seen. I think his somewhat overlooked masterpiece may be the short "Camera."

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 September 2011 01:21 (twelve years ago) link

Hey, look!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQlQgzRyBfY

Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 1 September 2011 01:21 (twelve years ago) link

I've never seen History, for exactly the criticism Clemenza levels at it –– it seems technically skilled, elegant, and dull. I'll take unskilled, ugly, and interesting any day; somebody like Araki or Korine, even if I end up hating the film.

notorious ilx wet noodle (remy bean), Thursday, 1 September 2011 02:21 (twelve years ago) link

"technically skilled, elegant, and dull"

are yo usaying the first 2 ensure the 3rd?

I don't much like it, but it springs to life occasionally (eg, on the stairs).

I've avoided Eastern Promises, for the violence.

incredibly middlebrow (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 1 September 2011 02:31 (twelve years ago) link

Well, I'd hold out for the hat trick (skilled, elegant, and exciting) but ... I wouldn't be watching a lot of movies. What I mean is that if I'm deciding between two films, and one of them is technically skilled and classically beautiful and looks a little inert, it would be a trailing second choice behind a movie that appears ugly, amateur, and exciting. I guess my main film-selecting rubric (especially given my background in LA) weighs dramatically/narratively interesting films more heavily than technically sparkling and well-composed ones.

notorious ilx wet noodle (remy bean), Thursday, 1 September 2011 02:37 (twelve years ago) link

I also hate being "shocked" or "moved" by watching people doing new iterations of old terrible things to each other. My taste doesn't see it as enlightening, just as shit-wallowing. I love Cronenberg's early career, but he lost me with Spider, and History of Violence didn't seem to be the film to bring me back into the fold.

notorious ilx wet noodle (remy bean), Thursday, 1 September 2011 02:40 (twelve years ago) link

the bello-viggo stuff IS great, and led to me being disappointed that bello hasnt appeared in anything substantial since then...

US prime suspect! cautiously optimistic over here.

aaaand 'the cooler' heh

goole, Thursday, 1 September 2011 02:42 (twelve years ago) link

"The Cooler" was 2 years earlier, even.

Halal Spaceboy (WmC), Thursday, 1 September 2011 02:55 (twelve years ago) link

Remember Hello in Towelhead? No? You're lucky then.

Status Update...in my Seether? (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 1 September 2011 03:09 (twelve years ago) link

Bello. Stupid phone.

Status Update...in my Seether? (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 1 September 2011 03:09 (twelve years ago) link

two months pass...

"Cosmopolis is an upcoming drama film starring Robert Pattinson and directed by David Cronenberg"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmopolis_%28film%29

owenf, Thursday, 17 November 2011 01:45 (twelve years ago) link

"do the worm on acropolis. slamdance cosmopolis."

encarta it (Gukbe), Thursday, 17 November 2011 01:51 (twelve years ago) link

on Freud, Jung etc:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-11-16/film/freudian-trip-in-dialogue-with-david-cronenberg/

has anyone seen that Last Jew in the World short that's mentioned?

Dr Morbois de Bologne (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 17 November 2011 03:25 (twelve years ago) link

I can guiltily say I enjoyed Cosmopolis as a book and await Cronenberg's treatment

mh, Thursday, 17 November 2011 14:51 (twelve years ago) link


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