I remember a crazy experience I had in the autumn of 1988. I went to an elegant old two screen cinema that was completely encircled by angry mobs of protesters. The media was there, the police were there. Huge crowds waited on line at the box office and argued with the huge mob of protesters. It was all because the theater was showing Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ". I was frisked by cops entering the theater. That has never happened to me, before or since, over a film. Anyway, the other screen was showing David Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers". I remember a few protesters complained because the cinema showed, not only the controversial Scorsese film, but what they considered 'pornographic perversion' on the other screen, as well (the Cronenberg film). I saw both films in the same afternoon. Talk about a LOT to process all at once. I thought both films absolutely brilliant, and when I came out of the theater roughly five hours later, there was even more chaos outside. I broke through, and then walked about a block away, stopped, and looked back at the madness from a distance. I somehow knew this would be one of the more memorable times I would ever spend at a cinema. It was. Somehow, cinema just seemed to MATTER more, then.
My top five: 5 Naked Lunch (for its sheer weirdness) 4 Shivers (a bold vision) 3 The Fly (good central duo, strong metaphor and dialogue) 2 eXistenZ (Inception ripped this off - one of his funnier horrors, and a counterpoint to the Matrix) 1 Videodrome (for the reasons you stated plus its evocation of Toronto media in the 80s and call back to Marshall McLuhan) Honourable mentions to The Dead Zone (one of my two favourite Walken performances, alongside his turn as Max Shreck) and The Brood. His best post-2000 film is Cosmopolis.
At the end of "The Fly", when Goldblum's character pleas wordlessly for some mercy, I totally lost it. I fell over and started weeping. Probably Cronenberg's most emotional, sad film. Above and over most horror and/or sci-fi films.
'Dead Ringers' - no contest. And in light of the recent pronouncements re: Miss America, the organisers should take a leaf out of Cronenberg's book and ensure the contestants are judged not by their outward appearance, but by the beauty of their internal organs. After all, it's what's on the inside that counts. And spleens and whatnot are more tangible than souls. Elliot Mantle (played by Jeremy Irons), in David Cronenberg's 'Dead Ringers (1988): "I've often thought there should be beauty contests for the insides of bodies. You know, best spleen, most perfectly developed kidneys. Why don't we have standards of beauty for the entire human body, inside and out?"
1. Dead Ringers (one of my top 5 favorite films ever) 2. The Fly 3. Spider 4. Dead Zone 5. A History of Violence I think there's a lot of very understandable rankings. I personally like the way he does drama, and it shows in my list. Videodrome would be 6, I think. Honorable mention to M. Butterfly and Naked Lunch.
1. Dead Ringers 2. The Dead Zone 3. Videodrome 4. Crash 5. A History of Violence I've also seen ( and liked very much) The Brood, Scanners, The Fly, Naked Lunch, and Eastern Promises. I have not seen any of his other feature or short films.
Being a huge fan of Cronenberg this is a difficult question. I can pick three that are most important for me: 1. Dead Ringers - Kermode mentioned pretty much all the reasons why; 2. Videodrome - probably one of most powerful films ever made, and a brilliant score; 3. Crash - I'm also a huge fan of J G Ballard, so an obvious choice there (and Shivers has elements of High-Rise in it); another brilliant score from Howard Shore; Aside from those three, it's a very difficult choice. I like the "coldness" of the early ones - from Stereo/Crimes of the Future till The Brood (this one I put a bit above the others in this group because of Oliver Reed's master performance) - but the newer ones are much more complex psychologically and much more rewarding in the dramatic sense. Depending on the mood, any two of those could make fourth and fifth. Fast Company is the only one I haven't seen. The only one I didn't like is Dead Zone - it's simply boring and it doesn't look/feel like a Cronenberg movie at all.
My two faves of his are A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Both of those are amazing and Viggo Mortensen sinks so into each role you kind of forget its him. Oh and the end scene of Eastern Promises where its just Viggo sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette is great as you process what you have seen and the revelations of the final act.
Shivers was made by Cronenberg in like three weeks with literally no preceding filmmaking experience of any kind and though quite flawed it is quite well done overall, as well as the film of his that scarred me the most, which is saying something.
You forget how many great films this man has made. A great front 5. My back 5: -Eastern Promises -Scanners -Existenz a personal favorite) -A History of Violence -Naked Lunch
Cant disagree with the choices but I really love the atmosphere of Naked Lunch (not the best but probably my favorite) and thought The Dead Zone was excellent as well.
1. Dead Ringers 2. Videodrome 3. The Fly 4. Naked Lunch 5. The Dead Zone 6. Crash 7.The Brood The rest I can take or leave, though I haven't seen 'A Dangerous Method' or 'Cosmopolis' yet.
Videodrome is my favourite too. I've heard that after seeing the first cut of the movie the money behind it sent Cronenberg to reshoot and and re-edit so a lot of the material ended up on the editing room floor. Cronenberg's original vision is supposed to have been even weirder - a lot weirder. Sorry, but I can't resist: Death to Videodrome! Long live The New Flesh!
I've recently had the good fortune of my partner agreeing to fill in some gaps in her film history, by letting me hold a roughly-weekly Cronenberg-a-thon. I started with Crash, which she enjoyed, and I'm thinking Dead Ringers next. Others I'm planning include eXistenZ and of course, Videodrome. I'm trying to build up the overt "weirdness" gradually, hence Crash then Dead Ringers as starters. I think The Fly would fit nicely right in the middle.... Has anybody got any recommendations for what to include, and where in the playlist? I'm definitely going to enjoy this process. :)
1 - Dead Ringers (His most Burroughsian movie imo - much more so than _Naked Lunch,_ perplexingly!) 2 - Videodrome (it gets under your skin, and makes new cathode ray tube veins crawl about under it) 3 - Crash (nice to see someone else giving it some love, even if it is quite different from JG Ballards' - much more fucked up - book) 4 - The Fly (ewwww! Glub! Glub!)
Going to a film studies open course tonight ( first class since actual college/ university) . Sadly they aren't showing any of my 3 faves - Dead Ringers, The Fly, and Shivers, but are showing my other 2 faves, The Brood ( tonight) & Maps to the Stars. Looking forward to this 8 week course but worried I've lost too many brain cells and will be the idiot in the room!
I think for me it's Dead Ringers but I well remember seeing Videodrome at the Cinema and feeling really disturbed for days after and even now the idea of it makes me a bit queasy.
Cronenberg is one of my faves. Love the brood!!! Crash is amazing!!! Gotta love Ballard Naked Lunch. About the time Burroughs was writing his 1959 classic. Im searching auction houses to buy a mugwump for my home. Love dead ringers too 'we both like italian furniture' Videodrome is real!!! #2 fassbinder, probably because I love genet.... Qurelle of Brest. Amazing!! And dreamlanders brilliant john waters..... Because i am Divine!!
Dead Ringers is his most fully realised. After that, I would say Existenz, A History of Violence and Crash. Scanners, The Fly and Maps to the Stars are very good too. So,my top 5 would be 1 Dead Ringers 2 Crash 3 A History of Violence 4 Existenz 5 The Fly
Sorry I come to this so late. Wonderful choices! Dead Ringers and The Fly are certainly my two fave Cronenberg films, both epic tragedies which leave me weeping helplessly after watching them. While Videodrome doesn’t move me in the way of those two, it remains a pinnacle of my cinematic delights. If only James Woods hadn’t heeded its message and in real life turned into the very demon against which it warned.
Brilliant list Mark :-) Videodrome changed the way I view films and their underlying themes. I've not yet seen The Brood but I'm gonna make it a point :-) My top 5 5. Eastern Promises 4. A History of Violence 3. Scanners 2. The Fly 1. Videodrome Honorable Mentions: Rabid Naked Lunch Dead Ringers eXistenZ
It says a lot for Cronenberg's back-catalogue that only one of Dr K's choices (Videodrome) makes my top five - the others being The Dead Zone, Naked Lunch, eXistenZ and A History of Violence.
A History of Violence was pretty damned good. It's the only Cronenberg film in my DVD collection but it's so well made and such a good story I keep going back to it.
It's good top five. I haven't seen all Cronenberg films. I only saw:The fly, Naked lunch, M. Butterfly, Crash, Exiztenz, Spider, A history of violence, Eastern Promises, A dangerous method, Cosmopolis, A map of stars. I don't know how to rank them because I love them all equally. All of them left with a visceral reaction. I must say Cronenberg is a talented filmmaker and is really a shame that as of 2018 he hasn't got a new film project in production. Sorry to know that.
I haven't seen all of Cronenberg's films but my favourites out of the ones I've seen are: 5) Naked Lunch 4) The Fly 3) Eastern Promises 2) The Fly 1) Videodrome
Great to see Videodrome at number 1, but what about Dead Zone? Or, Naked Lunch? Or, Scanners - let's face it there should be a top 20 of Cronenberg movies, the amount of movies he has made, all killer and no filler!
1. Videodrome 1. Crash 3. The Brood 4. Eastern Promises 5. eXistenZ I wish Cronenberg would return to the body horror of his earlier films just one more time, because no-one does it better than him.
It would have to be a toss up between A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Both atmospheric, loaded with subtext, and featuring two very different but equally brilliant performances from Viggo Mortensen.
Gotta be The Fly. One of the all time best performances ever, its just so terrifically heartbreakingly sad. Neither fear nor emotion are sacrificed in the pursuit of the other.
Lovely films, but no Naked Lunch? or the History of Violence? Still, I have to agree, The Videodrome was one of the best (if not the best) cinema experiences for me too.
man this could be my top 5! only problem is there are some many great ones that i could easily put a history of violence, naked lunch, the dead zone, spider, existenz and even cosmopolis in any of these places
He's so prolific, and I don't really think my vote counts because I haven't seen half of his films, yet. Right now, I like his earlier stuff Scanners, Rabid, Shivers, and Existenz (which is not early). He is a great director because, for one, he chooses the best actors to fit the parts in his films. --Marilyn Chambers? --Jennifer Jason Leigh? --yes! I think Crash is totally overrated. I remember everyone hating it when it came out, and that still sticks for me.
superb film. Probably one of the best and nastiest fight scenes in film history, very well acted, and most notably, Mortensen is the coolest dude in the world.
hoping to see Spider somewhere up there.. Damn you Kermode! last week you forgot to mention Paul Thomas Andersons next movie while listing your most anticipated movies of the year, and now you don't mention Spider as one of Cronenbergs best...
I'd go with the The Fly as my favorite with A History of Violence as a close second. I'm definately putting The Brood on my to watch list. Shame I have to wait uuntil August to see Cosmopolis.
My God. You're right. I've been viewing all manner of art completely the wrong way, and all because of a learning disability. I'd better totally re-evaluate my life. Will you take me through a crash course on reading and writing to start with? How about we begin with the red coloured books with plenty of pictures, don't want to overload me at the start, then progress to orange, yellow and so forth.
This is going to be difficult but... 1)The Fly 2)Naked Lunch 3)Dead Ringers 4)Existenz 5)History of Violence The Brood could definitely make this list. I love Videodrome, but I think of as 2 good movies (one about the fly by night cable underground & one about reality/s&m) and one bad one (the conspiracy/thriller part). I've tried to like Crash, but it's just TOO glacial, and there's something about Deborah Unger's performance that really bugs me. The soundtrack is awesome though.
I keep going back to eXistenZ. For the wonderful performances and the quiet beat at the tail end, I think it's a very great film. I was devoted to Crash and watched it so many times while I was in High School. I can't wait for the new blu ray! I also love The Brood, Scanners and Videodrome. Dead Ringers is just so creepy, I think my reaction to that film is similar to Kermode's reaction to Crash - it's brilliant but I really don't like to be in that world with those characters. It's extremely disturbing, while Crash fascinated me with it's open sexuality and the gorgeous soundtrack. The Fly is brilliant as well, and so extremely unique and powerful, but I am almost too horrified by the excitement that the lead feels when he prepares to dissolve a man's head with his acid. It just felt so horrifying, I am fascinated, but can't watch it. One thing is for sure, Cronenberg is a genius.
Still have Videodrome on VCR. Sometimes I can hear it breathing.
I remember a crazy experience I had in the autumn of 1988. I went to an elegant old two screen cinema that was completely encircled by angry mobs of protesters. The media was there, the police were there. Huge crowds waited on line at the box office and argued with the huge mob of protesters. It was all because the theater was showing Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ". I was frisked by cops entering the theater. That has never happened to me, before or since, over a film. Anyway, the other screen was showing David Cronenberg's "Dead Ringers". I remember a few protesters complained because the cinema showed, not only the controversial Scorsese film, but what they considered 'pornographic perversion' on the other screen, as well (the Cronenberg film). I saw both films in the same afternoon. Talk about a LOT to process all at once. I thought both films absolutely brilliant, and when I came out of the theater roughly five hours later, there was even more chaos outside. I broke through, and then walked about a block away, stopped, and looked back at the madness from a distance. I somehow knew this would be one of the more memorable times I would ever spend at a cinema. It was. Somehow, cinema just seemed to MATTER more, then.
My top five:
5 Naked Lunch (for its sheer weirdness)
4 Shivers (a bold vision)
3 The Fly (good central duo, strong metaphor and dialogue)
2 eXistenZ (Inception ripped this off - one of his funnier horrors, and a counterpoint to the Matrix)
1 Videodrome (for the reasons you stated plus its evocation of Toronto media in the 80s and call back to Marshall McLuhan)
Honourable mentions to The Dead Zone (one of my two favourite Walken performances, alongside his turn as Max Shreck) and The Brood. His best post-2000 film is Cosmopolis.
Fantastic. Kermode is my new Ebert.
I have been on a Cronenberg kick for the last few days, not sure why all of the sudden I have become so interested with him and his work.
1. Scanners (also my favourite film ever)
2.the brood
3.videodrome
4.dead ringers
5.naked lunch/rabid
At the end of "The Fly", when Goldblum's character pleas wordlessly for some mercy, I totally lost it. I fell over and started weeping. Probably Cronenberg's most emotional, sad film. Above and over most horror and/or sci-fi films.
1. Dead Ringers
2. Naked Lunch
3. eXistenZ (say what you will, I love the idea of technology becoming organic)
4. Videodrome
5. The Brood
'Dead Ringers' - no contest. And in light of the recent pronouncements re: Miss America, the organisers should take a leaf out of Cronenberg's book and ensure the contestants are judged not by their outward appearance, but by the beauty of their internal organs. After all, it's what's on the inside that counts. And spleens and whatnot are more tangible than souls.
Elliot Mantle (played by Jeremy Irons), in David Cronenberg's 'Dead Ringers (1988): "I've often thought there should be beauty contests for the insides of bodies. You know, best spleen, most perfectly developed kidneys. Why don't we have standards of beauty for the entire human body, inside and out?"
Here's My top 5 David Cronenberg films.
1. The Fly.
2. Videodrome
3. Dead Ringers
4. The Dead Zone
5. Crash
1. Dead Ringers (one of my top 5 favorite films ever)
2. The Fly
3. Spider
4. Dead Zone
5. A History of Violence
I think there's a lot of very understandable rankings. I personally like the way he does drama, and it shows in my list. Videodrome would be 6, I think. Honorable mention to M. Butterfly and Naked Lunch.
That's a solid list. I like the way he does drama too, so I would include Eastern Promises among the honourable mentions.
Dead Ringers is incredible.
Videodrome's my favourite, although I feel Naked Lunch is up there aswell.
Dead Ringers is perfect. I like the hallucinatory scenes like the red operating theater
1. THE FLY
2. DEAD RINGERS
3. VIDEODROME
4. NAKED LUNCH
5. SCANNERS
5:existense
4:the fly
3:scanners
2:dead ringers
1:the brood
1. Dead Ringers
2. The Dead Zone
3. Videodrome
4. Crash
5. A History of Violence
I've also seen ( and liked very much) The Brood, Scanners, The Fly, Naked Lunch, and Eastern Promises. I have not seen any of his other feature or short films.
Surprised that The Dead Zone doesn't get a look in. Heartbreaking stuff, beautifully performed.
1 - Dead Ringers
2 - Crash
3 - Naked Lunch
4 - Eastern Promises
5 - The Fly
Being a huge fan of Cronenberg this is a difficult question. I can pick three that are most important for me:
1. Dead Ringers - Kermode mentioned pretty much all the reasons why;
2. Videodrome - probably one of most powerful films ever made, and a brilliant score;
3. Crash - I'm also a huge fan of J G Ballard, so an obvious choice there (and Shivers has elements of High-Rise in it); another brilliant score from Howard Shore;
Aside from those three, it's a very difficult choice. I like the "coldness" of the early ones - from Stereo/Crimes of the Future till The Brood (this one I put a bit above the others in this group because of Oliver Reed's master performance) - but the newer ones are much more complex psychologically and much more rewarding in the dramatic sense. Depending on the mood, any two of those could make fourth and fifth.
Fast Company is the only one I haven't seen. The only one I didn't like is Dead Zone - it's simply boring and it doesn't look/feel like a Cronenberg movie at all.
My two faves of his are A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Both of those are amazing and Viggo Mortensen sinks so into each role you kind of forget its him. Oh and the end scene of Eastern Promises where its just Viggo sitting in a chair smoking a cigarette is great as you process what you have seen and the revelations of the final act.
Shivers was made by Cronenberg in like three weeks with literally no preceding filmmaking experience of any kind and though quite flawed it is quite well done overall, as well as the film of his that scarred me the most, which is saying something.
Tough call but here's here's mine:
1. The Brood
2. Eastern Promises
3. Videodrome
4. Spider
5. eXistenZ
You forget how many great films this man has made. A great front 5. My back 5:
-Eastern Promises
-Scanners
-Existenz a personal favorite)
-A History of Violence
-Naked Lunch
Yup, number 1 Videodrome, watched it back in the 80's and it pickled my brain.
Cant disagree with the choices but I really love the atmosphere of Naked Lunch (not the best but probably my favorite) and thought The Dead Zone was excellent as well.
Scanners is a fantastic film, as is The Fly, but Videodrone is an absolute masterpiece.
1. Dead Ringers
2. Videodrome
3. The Fly
4. Naked Lunch
5. The Dead Zone
6. Crash
7.The Brood
The rest I can take or leave, though I haven't seen 'A Dangerous Method' or 'Cosmopolis' yet.
5. The Fly
4. Crash
3. Videodrome
2. Naked Lunch
1. Dead Ringers
Honorable Mentions: The Brood and Eastern Promises
Videodrome is my favourite too. I've heard that after seeing the first cut of the movie the money behind it sent Cronenberg to reshoot and and re-edit so a lot of the material ended up on the editing room floor. Cronenberg's original vision is supposed to have been even weirder - a lot weirder.
Sorry, but I can't resist:
Death to Videodrome! Long live The New Flesh!
We share the same favorites! But...Dead Ringers is my fav.
I've recently had the good fortune of my partner agreeing to fill in some gaps in her film history, by letting me hold a roughly-weekly Cronenberg-a-thon. I started with Crash, which she enjoyed, and I'm thinking Dead Ringers next. Others I'm planning include eXistenZ and of course, Videodrome. I'm trying to build up the overt "weirdness" gradually, hence Crash then Dead Ringers as starters. I think The Fly would fit nicely right in the middle.... Has anybody got any recommendations for what to include, and where in the playlist?
I'm definitely going to enjoy this process. :)
1. Crash (which happens to be my second favorite film in general)
2. Dead Ringers
3. Videodrome
4. Shivers
5. not a clue it's to damn hard to choose!
A History Of Violence.
Great central performance, and an absolutely crazy final act.
1 - Dead Ringers (His most Burroughsian movie imo - much more so than _Naked Lunch,_ perplexingly!)
2 - Videodrome (it gets under your skin, and makes new cathode ray tube veins crawl about under it)
3 - Crash (nice to see someone else giving it some love, even if it is quite different from JG Ballards' - much more fucked up - book)
4 - The Fly (ewwww! Glub! Glub!)
Going to a film studies open course tonight ( first class since actual college/ university) . Sadly they aren't showing any of my 3 faves - Dead Ringers, The Fly, and Shivers, but are showing my other 2 faves, The Brood ( tonight) & Maps to the Stars. Looking forward to this 8 week course but worried I've lost too many brain cells and will be the idiot in the room!
I think for me it's Dead Ringers but I well remember seeing Videodrome at the Cinema and feeling really disturbed for days after and even now the idea of it makes me a bit queasy.
1.The fly
2.The Brood
3.Naked Lunch
4. History of Violence
5. Fast Company
Cronenberg is one of my faves. Love the brood!!!
Crash is amazing!!! Gotta love Ballard
Naked Lunch. About the time Burroughs was writing his 1959 classic. Im searching auction houses to buy a mugwump for my home.
Love dead ringers too 'we both like italian furniture'
Videodrome is real!!!
#2 fassbinder, probably because I love genet.... Qurelle of Brest. Amazing!!
And dreamlanders brilliant john waters..... Because i am Divine!!
I got that same Videodrome feeling from borrowing a recorded from TV copy of Ringu from a friend.
The Dead Zone is a fantastic movie, one of the best ever made. I have seen it about 20 times.
Dead Ringers is his most fully realised. After that, I would say Existenz, A History of Violence and Crash. Scanners, The Fly and Maps to the Stars are very good too. So,my top 5 would be
1 Dead Ringers
2 Crash
3 A History of Violence
4 Existenz
5 The Fly
1. Naked Lunch
2. The Fly
3. Dead Ringers
4. Scanners
5. Videodrome
Hard list to make.
NAKED LUNCH!!!!!
Missed out Scanners and Spider. Glad eXistenZ got a mention.
The Fly is def my fave cronenberg movie and one of my fave films, followed by a history of violence, the dead zone, videodrome and finally shivers
I haven't seen all of Cronenberg's work, but I think Videodrome is the one that has impressed me the most so far.
1 - Naked Lunch
2 - The Fly
3 - Dead Ringers
4 - Crash
5 - Videodrome
Sorry I come to this so late. Wonderful choices! Dead Ringers and The Fly are certainly my two fave Cronenberg films, both epic tragedies which leave me weeping helplessly after watching them. While Videodrome doesn’t move me in the way of those two, it remains a pinnacle of my cinematic delights. If only James Woods hadn’t heeded its message and in real life turned into the very demon against which it warned.
Brilliant list Mark :-)
Videodrome changed the way I view films and their underlying themes. I've not yet seen The Brood but I'm gonna make it a point :-)
My top 5
5. Eastern Promises
4. A History of Violence
3. Scanners
2. The Fly
1. Videodrome
Honorable Mentions:
Rabid
Naked Lunch
Dead Ringers
eXistenZ
It says a lot for Cronenberg's back-catalogue that only one of Dr K's choices (Videodrome) makes my top five - the others being The Dead Zone, Naked Lunch, eXistenZ and A History of Violence.
Naked Lunch
Videodrome
M. Butterfly
Crash
The Fly or Maps to the Stars (I feel like I'm the only one who liked this film)
+lyricsfromsweden I feel like Maps to the Stars got too much flack for its third act, but I actually thought it was fantastic.
Loved "Maps to the Stars", if that's a word that can be applied to that film.
A History of Violence was pretty damned good. It's the only Cronenberg film in my DVD collection but it's so well made and such a good story I keep going back to it.
Videodrome is my favorite too! I remember watching it on VHS,long ago...I love Cronenberg,he scares me!
Iain Sinclair wrote an excellent book on Crash for the BFI
It's good top five. I haven't seen all Cronenberg films. I only saw:The fly, Naked lunch, M. Butterfly, Crash, Exiztenz, Spider, A history of violence, Eastern Promises, A dangerous method, Cosmopolis, A map of stars. I don't know how to rank them because I love them all equally. All of them left with a visceral reaction. I must say Cronenberg is a talented filmmaker and is really a shame that as of 2018 he hasn't got a new film project in production. Sorry to know that.
1. Dead Ringers, 2. Videodrome, 3. The Brood, 4. Naked Lunch, 5. The Fly
1.videodrome
2. The fly
3.the dead zone
4. A history of violence
5. Scanners
I still haven’t seen dead ringers but is next on my list
The Fly is not only the greatest Cronenberg film, but my own personal favorite film of all time.
A Dangerous Method is my top Cronenberg film, he really captured Freud & Jung perfectly well...
Videodrome, Scanners and Naked Lunch are my favourites!
Spider is underrated, Dead Ringers probably my favourite
Dead Ringers was incredible....
I haven't seen all of Cronenberg's films but my favourites out of the ones I've seen are:
5) Naked Lunch
4) The Fly
3) Eastern Promises
2) The Fly
1) Videodrome
5. Shivers ... 4. Scanners ... 3. Videodrome ... 2. The Dead Zone ... 1. The Fly.
2. Dead Ringers 3. Videodrome 4. The Fly 5. Crash
Scanners, Eastern Promises, and History of Violence should be on this list.
Great to see Videodrome at number 1, but what about Dead Zone? Or, Naked Lunch? Or, Scanners - let's face it there should be a top 20 of Cronenberg movies, the amount of movies he has made, all killer and no filler!
1. Videodrome
1. Crash
3. The Brood
4. Eastern Promises
5. eXistenZ
I wish Cronenberg would return to the body horror of his earlier films just one more time, because no-one does it better than him.
It would have to be a toss up between A History of Violence and Eastern Promises. Both atmospheric, loaded with subtext, and featuring two very different but equally brilliant performances from Viggo Mortensen.
My top 5:
1.) The Fly
2.) Videodrome
3.) The Dead Zone
4.) Naked Lunch
5.) Crash
I know they are not on your list but "A Dangerous Method" and Eastern Promises"
Can someone please tell me what that massive thing Cronenberg is holding in the opening. It is not a director's view finder, is it?
1: A History of Violence
2: The Fly
3: Crash
4: Eastern Promises
5: Videodrome
:)
Videodrome great choice for number one. Way ahead of it's time with the theme
Gotta be The Fly. One of the all time best performances ever, its just so terrifically heartbreakingly sad. Neither fear nor emotion are sacrificed in the pursuit of the other.
Lovely films, but no Naked Lunch? or the History of Violence? Still, I have to agree, The Videodrome was one of the best (if not the best) cinema experiences for me too.
man this could be my top 5! only problem is there are some many great ones that i could easily put a history of violence, naked lunch, the dead zone, spider, existenz and even cosmopolis in any of these places
I watched eXistenZ recently and I'm not sure about it yet
Videodrome is my favourite and definitely his best movie.
Ive just brought Eastern Promises and I have really high hopes for it, what was everyones opinion of it?
1. The Fly
2. eXistenZ
3. Eastern Promises
4. Videodrome
5. A History of Violence
He's so prolific, and I don't really think my vote counts because I haven't seen half of his films, yet. Right now, I like his earlier stuff Scanners, Rabid, Shivers, and Existenz (which is not early). He is a great director because, for one, he chooses the best actors to fit the parts in his films. --Marilyn Chambers? --Jennifer Jason Leigh? --yes! I think Crash is totally overrated. I remember everyone hating it when it came out, and that still sticks for me.
superb film. Probably one of the best and nastiest fight scenes in film history, very well acted, and most notably, Mortensen is the coolest dude in the world.
1. Eastern Promises
2. Cosmopolis
3. A History of Violence
4. Dead Ringers
5. Scanners
Videodrome was never ever cut by the BBFC, it was pre-cut by a somewhat paranoid studio.
Agree with them but i also love dead zone Stephen King and David cornenberg a match mad in heaven
no scanners?
hoping to see Spider somewhere up there.. Damn you Kermode! last week you forgot to mention Paul Thomas Andersons next movie while listing your most anticipated movies of the year, and now you don't mention Spider as one of Cronenbergs best...
I'd go with the The Fly as my favorite with A History of Violence as a close second. I'm definately putting The Brood on my to watch list. Shame I have to wait uuntil August to see Cosmopolis.
Yep, Videodrome is my favorite too.
A History of Violence.
If not for it's tension then for it's skin crawling role by William Hurt.
5. Cosmopolis
4. A History of Violence
3. Scanners
2. Maps to the Stars
1.Videodrome
In fact...
Scanners, Dead Ringers, Eastern Promises, Rabid, Videodrome.
honourable mention: Spider.
My God. You're right. I've been viewing all manner of art completely the wrong way, and all because of a learning disability. I'd better totally re-evaluate my life. Will you take me through a crash course on reading and writing to start with? How about we begin with the red coloured books with plenty of pictures, don't want to overload me at the start, then progress to orange, yellow and so forth.
Could not agree more.
This is going to be difficult but...
1)The Fly 2)Naked Lunch 3)Dead Ringers 4)Existenz 5)History of Violence
The Brood could definitely make this list. I love Videodrome, but I think of as 2 good movies (one about the fly by night cable underground & one about reality/s&m) and one bad one (the conspiracy/thriller part). I've tried to like Crash, but it's just TOO glacial, and there's something about Deborah Unger's performance that really bugs me. The soundtrack is awesome though.
1.eastern promises
2.a history of violence
3.crash
4.spider
5.videodrome
and cosmopolis looks really good, i didnt like a dangerous method tho.
1. Naked Lunch
2. Videodrome
3. The Brood
4. Existenz
5. The Fly
I keep going back to eXistenZ. For the wonderful performances and the quiet beat at the tail end, I think it's a very great film. I was devoted to Crash and watched it so many times while I was in High School. I can't wait for the new blu ray! I also love The Brood, Scanners and Videodrome. Dead Ringers is just so creepy, I think my reaction to that film is similar to Kermode's reaction to Crash - it's brilliant but I really don't like to be in that world with those characters. It's extremely disturbing, while Crash fascinated me with it's open sexuality and the gorgeous soundtrack. The Fly is brilliant as well, and so extremely unique and powerful, but I am almost too horrified by the excitement that the lead feels when he prepares to dissolve a man's head with his acid. It just felt so horrifying, I am fascinated, but can't watch it. One thing is for sure, Cronenberg is a genius.