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Cronenberg’s ‘Crimes of the Future’ to 'create way more chaos and controversy' than Crash (1996)

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matrix-cat

matrix-cat

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Oct 27, 2017
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David Cronenberg hasn't made a movie since Map to the Stars back in 2014, but his long awaited Crimes of the Future is premiering at Cannes this May and chaps, it sounds like we're eating:

I cannot say much, obviously, but if people thought "Crash" was divise back in 1996, this is going to create way more chaos and controversy for sure. The last twenty minutes are a very tough sit. I expect walk-outs, faintings and real panic attacks (I almost had one myself!) at the Lumière theatre. No hyperbole, I promise.
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That's not the famously bad Oscar-winning Crash, btw, that's Cronenberg's Crash, aka the best Cronenberg, aka the one where they get desperately, irresistibly aroused by car crashes and James Spader fucks Rosanna Arquette's gaping leg wound. And Crimes of the Future is going to outdo that?

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EDIT - Adding the synopsis:

Taking a deep dive into the not-so-distant future where humankind is learning to adapt to its synthetic surroundings. This evolution moves humans beyond their natural state and into a metamorphosis, altering their biological makeup. While some embrace the limitless potential of trans-humanism, others attempt to police it. Either way, 'Accelerated Evolution Syndrome' is spreading fast. Saul Tenser is a beloved performance artist who has embraced Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, sprouting new and unexpected organs in his body. Along with his partner Caprice, Tenser has turned the removal of these organs into a spectacle for his loyal followers to marvel at in real time theatre. But with both the government and a strange subculture taking note, Tenser is forced to consider what would be his most shocking performance of all.
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EDIT - Trailer:

 
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heathen earth

heathen earth

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Mar 21, 2020
2,007
WhySoDevious said:
What the actual fuck?!?!

I like movies. I don't like shit like that.
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It's an excellent movie, but definitely not for the faint of heart. Transgressive, for sure.

Anyway, can't wait to see this! Cronenberg's recent films have been kind of hit or miss for me, but anything he makes is required viewing. By the way, if you like his movies, you should definitely read his novel.
 
Hoggle

Hoggle

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Mar 25, 2021
6,171
I still need to watch Ctash. I even have the 4k blu ray. And now I'm curious what's under that spoiler tag.
 
StraySheep

StraySheep

It's Pronounced "Aerith"
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Oct 26, 2017
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I'm too intimidated to watch any Cronenberg movies. What's the tamest of his classics?
 
Lord Fanny

Lord Fanny

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Apr 25, 2020
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I'm sure they'll try, but with as much weird and shocking shit that gets produced, I doubt it'll make that big of an impression. I'm sure it'll be a good movie though
 
Strings

Strings

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Oct 27, 2017
31,985
StraySheep said:
I'm too intimidated to watch any Cronenberg movies. What's the tamest of his classics?
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Dead Ringers is probably a good flick to start with. Two top-tier performances from Jeremy Irons:

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Dead Ringers (1988)

Elliot, a successful gynecologist, works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly. Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the...
letterboxd.com letterboxd.com

It's a fictionalised version of this story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stewart_and_Cyril_Marcus
 
Lord Fanny

Lord Fanny

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Apr 25, 2020
26,536
StraySheep said:
I'm too intimidated to watch any Cronenberg movies. What's the tamest of his classics?
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Most of his movies really aren't that crazy. It's really just a select few in the late 70s where he was heavy into the body horror. Most of his more modern output has been pretty normal, he hasn't made a real 'out there' film in a while
 
Loreth_94

Loreth_94

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Oct 27, 2017
674
Canada
I've watched like 5 Cronenberg movies and had no idea about Crash or the spoiler tag posted and all I can say is what the fuck?
 
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matrix-cat

matrix-cat

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Oct 27, 2017
10,284
Loreth_94 said:
I've watched like 5 Cronenberg movies and had no idea about Crash or the spoiler tag posted and all I can say is what the fuck?
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Cronenberg loves to make movies about an unsuspecting person finding themselves dragged into the seedy, sinister underbelly of some strange subculture. Sometimes it's psychic powers, sometimes it's the people controlling our brains from the TV world, and sometimes it's crashing your car on purpose because it turns you on.
 
Ridley327

Ridley327

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Oct 25, 2017
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Considering that most folks had the most outrage for the scene that's not under the spoiler, I expect that the last 20 minutes will be a straight-up gay orgy. Which is fine by me!

But yeah, can't wait to see him back in the saddle again after all this time.
 
Lord Fanny

Lord Fanny

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Apr 25, 2020
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I think the only film he's made that can just feel inaccessible is Naked Lunch, but largely because of how it's structured and how it relies a lot on knowing about the source material's author to really grasp.

Most of the other stuff is easy to follow and even the 'grosser' stuff like Videodrome and The Fly aren't really that gross by today's standards. Most of it has been so aped and outdone in pretty visceral nature that I don't think it'd shock anyone unless you just have never watched anything with any degree of gore or grossness or whatever. I think most people can power through it fine at this point.
 
Strings

Strings

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Oct 27, 2017
31,985
Loreth_94 said:
I've watched like 5 Cronenberg movies and had no idea about Crash or the spoiler tag posted and all I can say is what the fuck?
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Honestly, outside of that brief scene, it's not viscerally disturbing or anything. If you've seen a New French Extremity flick, you'll wonder how the fuck anyone was ever offended by it.
 
HStallion

HStallion

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Oct 25, 2017
63,154
Im game Cronenberg but you're going to have trouble topping the theater experience that was Antichrist. People were walking out before any of the truly fucked up stuff started happening.
 
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matrix-cat

matrix-cat

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Oct 27, 2017
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It's also worth noting that Cannes audiences are famously dramatic, and practically every year you hear about entire rows of people fainting, walkouts by the dozen, or a movie getting a forty-minute standing ovation. It's entirely possible that this unnamed source is factoring the Cannes hysteria into their prediction and it's actually going to be perfectly tame :P
 

kowhite

Member
May 14, 2019
4,956
So does anyone know what it's about? I looked it up didn't see, cept he made a movie with the same title in 1970 and apparently this is not a remake.
 
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matrix-cat

matrix-cat

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Oct 27, 2017
10,284
kowhite said:
So does anyone know what it's about? I looked it up didn't see, cept he made a movie with the same title in 1970 and apparently this is not a remake.
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A synopsis:

Taking a deep dive into the not-so-distant future where humankind is learning to adapt to its synthetic surroundings. This evolution moves humans beyond their natural state and into a metamorphosis, altering their biological makeup. While some embrace the limitless potential of trans-humanism, others attempt to police it. Either way, 'Accelerated Evolution Syndrome' is spreading fast. Saul Tenser is a beloved performance artist who has embraced Accelerated Evolution Syndrome, sprouting new and unexpected organs in his body. Along with his partner Caprice, Tenser has turned the removal of these organs into a spectacle for his loyal followers to marvel at in real time theatre. But with both the government and a strange subculture taking note, Tenser is forced to consider what would be his most shocking performance of all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
Tfritz

Tfritz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,659
bro kstew was already in movies where her on-screen husband had to bite his way through her stomach while she was giving birth and her ex-side piece fell in love with her infant daughter, so you're gonna need to try pretty hard to top that imo
 
Loreth_94

Loreth_94

Member
Oct 27, 2017
674
Canada
Strings said:
Honestly, outside of that brief scene, it's not viscerally disturbing or anything. If you've seen a New French Extremity flick, you'll wonder how the fuck anyone was ever offended by it.
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matrix-cat said:
Cronenberg loves to make movies about an unsuspecting person finding themselves dragged into the seedy, sinister underbelly of some strange subculture. Sometimes it's psychic powers, sometimes it's the people controlling our brains from the TV world, and sometimes it's crashing your car on purpose because it turns you on.
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Oh okay. I am kinda interested in it now, it sounds like a trip.

I've seen: Scanners, Videodrome, The Fly, Naked Lunch, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises.

So odds are I'd like it.
 
Ridley327

Ridley327

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Oct 25, 2017
14,691
Georgia (the state, not the country)
StraySheep said:
I'm too intimidated to watch any Cronenberg movies. What's the tamest of his classics?
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Dead Ringers and The Dead Zone are firmly R-rated affairs, but they're not particularly icky and have very minimal violence in them. From there, things do get a bit more graphic, but the strong emotional core in films like The Fly, A History of Violence and Eastern Promises are prominent enough that I feel one can stomach the violence and gore in them as they're a big element of each story and don't feel like they overwhelm the drama. Past that is where you get into the very disturbing stuff like his late 70s/early 80s genre works and Crash, but they're all made with such intelligence and with a real sense of prescience that forecast a lot of commonplace elements in today's society that the shock value subsides rather quickly and you can really sink your teeth into the concepts that they play around with and marvel at how much he was able to see ahead of a lot of folks out there.
 

Deleted member 110527

Mar 11, 2022
1,311
Man, that description with that cast has immediately multiplied my hype for this. Cannot wait to see Cronenberg back, his son's fantastic Possessor a couple years back has just got me itching for more.
 
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