The Fly - Lisa's Review

I'll start this review by saying, I'm not a fan of David Cronenberg.  I did mention this previously in my review of Videodrome.  I did also state that there were a couple of his movies that I loved.   The Fly is, in my humble opinion, the best thing he's ever done.

I hark back yet again to my late pre-teens and early teens and beloved family memories of Saturday nights sat around the toploader VHS with whatever gem my dad had picked up from the local video store.  We generally ended up watching a horror movie and I very vividly remember my mums discomfort and embarrassment at some aspects of nudity and sex scenes in this movie.  Having watched it again a few times since then, I can see it is not sexually graphic at all, but it was certainly enough to leave me red-faced and have my mum reach for the remote and the FFWD button back then.

So, the movie... I will make no bones about it.  I adore this movie.  I'm a massive Jeff Goldblum fan.  Not only is he a wonderfully talented actor with an imposing presence, but he is absolutely beautiful with a voice that makes my lady parts sing!  Although he became much more attractive in later years, he is definately appealing in The Fly.  As the movie starts Jeff plays Seth Brundle, a socially awkward but immensely intelligent scientist, with a nervous tension that only comes with being an eccentric scientist.  I've always found this kind of character oddly appealing and Jeff Goldblum plays it perfectly.

The Fly (1986) - Will's Review

Not that long ago, I said that I enjoyed Cronenberg's more liner work, and The Fly is the perfect example of Cronenberg at his strange, but lucid, best.

Videodrome - Will's Review

I love David Chronenburg's more linear work, but I'm not always a fan of his more surreal / abstract movies. As such I can safely say I appreciated Videodrome... But I didn't really enjoy it.

It begins straightforwardly enough; Max (James Woods) is the owner of a small TV station, which keeps its viewers by showing a steady stream of sleaze, violence. And soft porn. Max is delighted when a friend of his discovers and decodes a scrambled satellite signal of a show called "Videodrome" a plotless (fake?) snuff show, in which a bound person is beaten, tortured, and murdered. Believing that Videodrome could be the next big thing for his station, Max sets out to track down the makers of the show, with hope of buying the rights and bringing it to his channel.

Videodrome - Lisa's Review

I'll start this weeks review by putting it out there - I hated Videodrome!  I seem to be standing out there in a very lonely place with that viewpoint.  I've read so much about manipulation of mass media, subliminal messaging and how clever the movie is, but it most certainly isn't something that I would choose for a nights viewing.

The movie is directed by David Cronenberg who is known for his love of movies with an underlying message.  He also is a big fan of body horror, which Videodrome definately falls into the category of.  I am no Cronenberg fan, it has to be said., with the exception of a small number of his movies that I can count on one hand and still have some fingers left over, I find his work incredibly dull and self indulgent.  The effects artists he works with on movies are where the talent lies.  I will admit some of the actual body horror itself is impressive in a disgusting kind of way.  That's where I find myself intrigued and glued to the screen.  If I wanted to start watching political movies or movies with a specific hidden agenda, I would.  Mostly I just want to be entertained and carried away to somewhere much more interesting not educated on "the impact of mass media perversity on the human psyche".

Dead Ringers - Will's Review

Jeremy Irons stars as twin genius gynaecologists (female fertility specialists, to be exact) who share everything; including women. When younger, quieter, twin Beverly falls in love with their latest conquest, trouble brews between himself and the more confident Elliot, and they spiral into schizophrenia and drug dependency.

Once again I'm left wondering what this weeks movie is doing on a list of horror movies; for the first 80 minutes of its 115 minute runtime this is a straight up drama, and even after that point it barely makes it into thriller territory, and it certainly never crosses into horror. Indeed, for most of its runtime it came across as a (very well made) racy version of one of those TV movies that you see on 'movies 24' or 'true movies'. I mention true movies, as this film is loosely based on a true story.

So, unsuitability for a horror site aside, is the movie any good?

Well, it looks great, Cronenberg is a great director, and Irons is superb as the twins, like really good; you can tell witch twin is witch at all times just by his body language, facial expressions, and the way he holds himself. In fact, all of the performances are great.

Sadly, the film is entirely too long, about the time the thriller elements kicked in, I found my attention drifting; whether this is a matter of timing, or if those elements didn't quite gel I quite quite decide, I suspect a little of both.






Almost, but not quite, worth seeing for Iron's acting alone, there's little else to recommend, although nothing to really slate either. Ultimately, it's just a little too forgettable.

Dead Ringers - Lisa's Review

I knew this week was going to be a weird one.  Its's David Cronenberg for gawds sake, so what else could I expect?  He's a director you probably either love or hate.  Oddly I would have said that apart from 'The Fly' I wasn't a fan at all.  That was until I had a look at his credits and realised he was responsible for 'A History of Violence', 'Existenz' and 'The Dead Zone'; all movies I do really like.  On the whole though, I find his movies too obscure and surreal.  I'm not saying for a moment I'm thick, but I don't want to have to have a psychology degree to work out what the hell is going on in a movie I watch.

This movie is one that has me divided.  At times, I think it's brilliant, but then other times, I find myself getting bored and restless.  I find myself wishing certain scenes hadn't been so long and other were longer.

To give a bit of information for anyone who hasn't seen the movie. Dead Ringers is based on a book called 'Twins', the real story of twin Gynecologists.  The movie was to be called Twins but ironically came out the same year as the Arnie/Danny De Vito offering, so it got second choice on the name stakes.  So back to some background.  The movie follows Elliott and Beverly Mantle, identical twins, who both happen to share the same profession.  Elliott is the much more confident, aggressive personality, while Beverly is the shy, deep thinker behind the scenes.  The men are very close and it is suggested several times throughout the movie that one would not exist or would not experience things without the other existing or experiencing the same things.  Sounds wierd right?  It is.

One thing which links the twins is the women they share.  The ever confident Elliott has his way with the lady first and when he has grown bored, Beverly is allowed to continue the romance with the women being none-the-wiser.  That is until someone gets in the way.  Beverly falls for one of the women - an actress, Claire.  She is the first to be aware that 2 men exist.  From this point on, the relationship with the twins is never the same.  The comfortable existence they had led before this is thrown into disarray.

Even though Claire is obviously not amused by the deception, she decides to give Beverly another chance and they continue their relationship.  It's when Claire leaves to work on a new movie, that Beverly starts a rapid descent to new depths.  He becomes addicted to prescription drugs, starts drinking heavilly and begins to have really weird dreams/hallucinations.  Most of these are regarding mutant women.  Beverly even has a friend fashion extremely odd gynecological equipment he can use on these 'mutant women'. These tools are typical Cronenberg and similar design can be seen in other movies, I'm thinking 'Existenz' and 'The Fly' for sure.  There are also some wierd surreal moments where the twins are joined together by a wierd fleshy substance on their abdomens.  This adds even more weight to the constant undertones of their need for each other to survive and 'experience' life.

Elliott tries to help his brother by getting him off the drugs, but he himself takes them to achieve the same state as his brother.  Although Beverly successfully achieves sobriety, his stronger brother Elliott now is the one with the problem and needs his weaker brothers help.

This all builds to the ending which I am not going to include, in case anyone reading has not watched this movie as yet.  It is probably the most powerful point of the movie for me though.

So would I recommend it?  I'm not sure.  Are the thought provoking parts worth sitting through the entire movie for?  I suppose if you have a lot of spare time and don't mind spending a couple of hours watching a movie you may or may not enjoy, then go for it!  I won't recommend it, as I was dying to press fast forward several times whilst watching it, but it's one of those movies, where you know if you do, you'll be completely lost (well, more lost than you are anyway) when you press play again.

People with lots of downtime, go for it.