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pmw
09-18-2004, 11:24 PM
Cronenberg's Videodrom has been released by Criterion (next week I think actually...) and is delightful. The movie, first of all, is so damn good and reason enough.

The extras are great; anytime you can listen to Cronenberg speak about his work, philosophy and filmmaking in general, I suggest you do it. He is a very smart guy and grounds his films in very well conceived ideas. He articulates some of these ideas quite effectively in his commentary.

There is also an interesting special effects segment which shows a young, renegade effects crew trying to figure out how to make a tv come to life on a minimal budget. I wont say how they ultimately pull this off, but its great. There are quite a few nice effects in this one and not suprisingly the crew was a very enthusiastic bunch.

Perhaps more than anything, the dvd represents a long lasting appreciation of a director whose work (apart from The Fly) doesn't take off at the theaters. And this particular film is perhaps the most themeatically represenative of Cronenberg's outlook/work.

Cronenberg says that he always feels like his work will have resonance for audiences in the long run, and thus was very happy to be working with Criterion. It's great to see it!
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oscar jubis
09-24-2004, 08:21 AM
I liked Videodrome when I saw it ages ago, but I have to admit I don't find it as accomplished as the films he released later, beginning with Dead Ringers. I am particularly fond of Spider, Crash and the revolutionary, brilliant Naked Lunch, available also in Criterion edition dvd. It's quite a film that manages to be a biography of William Burrhoughs, a portrait of an artistic community (the beat writers of the 50s) and a body-horror tale extracted out of several of Burroughs's fiction pieces. I first experienced this unhinged treatise on drug-induced artistic inspiration during my first visit to Paris, and return to it again and again, always finding new sources of pleasure and edification. Ain't that what a masterpiece is supposed to do?

wpqx
10-17-2004, 09:34 PM
Got the Videodrome DVD and couldn't be more pleased. A generally great film, and good special features. For my two cents though, Shivers is my favorite film of his.