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April 14, 2022 6:15 PM Subscribe
A new Cronenberg film will soon be upon us. (content warning for, well, David Cronenberg; NSFW) A teaser trailer for Crimes of the Future* has appeared. So has another one.
From Variety's writeup:
Here’s the official logline: “As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed… Their mission – to use Saul’s notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.”
The Onion's A/V Club is horrified and excited, appropriately.
*This was also the title of a very early Cronenberg film. This does not seem to be a remake.
From Variety's writeup:
Here’s the official logline: “As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice (Léa Seydoux), Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen), celebrity performance artist, publicly showcases the metamorphosis of his organs in avant-garde performances. Timlin (Kristen Stewart), an investigator from the National Organ Registry, obsessively tracks their movements, which is when a mysterious group is revealed… Their mission – to use Saul’s notoriety to shed light on the next phase of human evolution.”
The Onion's A/V Club is horrified and excited, appropriately.
*This was also the title of a very early Cronenberg film. This does not seem to be a remake.
New (surprise, secret) David Lynch film coming our way, too. It's a good year for cinema.
posted by hippybear at 6:22 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 6:22 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
The man himself says no on the Lynch rumors, sadly.
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 6:31 PM on April 14, 2022
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 6:31 PM on April 14, 2022
Nice little callback to Videodrome near the start of the French trailer. Or, at least that’s how I took a closeup shot of an old tube tv.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:32 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 6:32 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Put that tape straight into the fleshy office in my stomach.
posted by rodlymight at 6:51 PM on April 14, 2022 [11 favorites]
posted by rodlymight at 6:51 PM on April 14, 2022 [11 favorites]
Long live the new flesh film!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:56 PM on April 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:56 PM on April 14, 2022 [6 favorites]
Well, damn on the lack of Lynch, but yay for the new Cronenberg. I really only ever watch any of his movies once, because for me that is enough, but they have all been worth watching for me. (And also reading a lot about for years afterward.)
posted by hippybear at 6:59 PM on April 14, 2022
posted by hippybear at 6:59 PM on April 14, 2022
The Cronenbergs (David and his son, Brandon) are two of the best working directors out there right now who understand and are toying with our current cyberpunk dystopia.
posted by gucci mane at 7:02 PM on April 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by gucci mane at 7:02 PM on April 14, 2022 [7 favorites]
Looks like he finally talked Viggo into some straight-up body horror - Eastern Promises, A History of Violence, and A Dangerous Method are all brilliant, but on the non-body-horror end of the Cronenberg canon.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:05 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:05 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Cannot wait. The "hardware" looks like Existenz with a bigger budget.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:08 PM on April 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 7:08 PM on April 14, 2022 [9 favorites]
To be sure, you could probably do 1999 graphics on like a $20 budget today...
posted by kaibutsu at 7:11 PM on April 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by kaibutsu at 7:11 PM on April 14, 2022 [1 favorite]
This was also the title of a very early Cronenberg film. This does not seem to be a remake.
Looks like there's a full version of the 1970 one kicking around on Youtube. Massey College is used quite extensively as a location.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:36 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
Looks like there's a full version of the 1970 one kicking around on Youtube. Massey College is used quite extensively as a location.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:36 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
The "hardware" looks like Existenz
I got that pistol vibe, too, and wondered if it was a callback of some kind.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:43 PM on April 14, 2022
I got that pistol vibe, too, and wondered if it was a callback of some kind.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 7:43 PM on April 14, 2022
A/V Club: “Oh, great, it’s another one of those ‘Kristen Stewart: Organ Investigator’ movies.”
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:18 PM on April 14, 2022 [12 favorites]
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 8:18 PM on April 14, 2022 [12 favorites]
Glad to see that he's doing what he was meant to do, although I've enjoyed his slightly sinister turn as a far-future Federation official in Star Trek: Discovery. The weirdest (and most surpisingly funny) thing that I've ever laid eyeballs on was his adaptation of Naked Lunch.
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:28 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Halloween Jack at 8:28 PM on April 14, 2022 [3 favorites]
As it happens, I just recently revisited both The Matrix (and its sequels) and ExistenZ. The Matrix is fun for the first act, but once the big reveal happens, the quality goes downhill. And the sequels are perhaps even worse than I remember, which was kind of a surprise. (The recent reboot was actually kind of compelling, kind of, but was a little on the smug, ain't-we-cute? side and ultimately completely unforgettable.)
ExistenZ, though? The "Matrix on a budget" or "arthouse Matrix," as they have similar themes and came out at the same time.
It totally holds up! It's a great SF/body horror flick, what Cronenberg excels at. The bone gun scene at the restaurant is forever burned into my brain. Great cult movie, and for me maybe Cronenberg's best, though The Fly is neck-and-neck.
Which is a long-winded way to say I am looking forward to seeing this movie.
posted by zardoz at 4:30 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
ExistenZ, though? The "Matrix on a budget" or "arthouse Matrix," as they have similar themes and came out at the same time.
It totally holds up! It's a great SF/body horror flick, what Cronenberg excels at. The bone gun scene at the restaurant is forever burned into my brain. Great cult movie, and for me maybe Cronenberg's best, though The Fly is neck-and-neck.
Which is a long-winded way to say I am looking forward to seeing this movie.
posted by zardoz at 4:30 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
This trailer is the most Cronenberg it could be and I am into it. Surgery is the new sex, indeed.
Separately, I delight in that both Pattinson and Stewart have now made films with Cronenberg (Pattinson has been in two, in fact). Those two couldn't have picked more interesting career paths post-Twilight. Absolutely love to see it.
posted by slimepuppy at 4:37 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
Separately, I delight in that both Pattinson and Stewart have now made films with Cronenberg (Pattinson has been in two, in fact). Those two couldn't have picked more interesting career paths post-Twilight. Absolutely love to see it.
posted by slimepuppy at 4:37 AM on April 15, 2022 [9 favorites]
The voiceover sounds like a Night Vale intro. I feel like Cronenberg could use a little Cecil Baldwin in his life.
posted by allthinky at 5:48 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by allthinky at 5:48 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
Brandon Cronenberg already got a shout above but if you are a fan of his papa and have not seen the son's Possessor, you should get on that. It's on Hulu and even if you didn't know who made it, the first word out of your mouth to describe it would be "Cronenbergian."
In that one, a cadre of high tech assassins can take over people's minds/bodies and use them as both killers and patsies. The lead assassin starts to come unraveled...
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:53 AM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
In that one, a cadre of high tech assassins can take over people's minds/bodies and use them as both killers and patsies. The lead assassin starts to come unraveled...
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:53 AM on April 15, 2022 [7 favorites]
Metafilter: The first word out of your mouth to describe it would be "Cronenbergian."
posted by Thorzdad at 6:09 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 6:09 AM on April 15, 2022 [3 favorites]
I’ve been so bored by movies. I thought I’d never feel excited by a movie again. I’m actually looking forward to this.
posted by Vociva at 8:26 AM on April 15, 2022
posted by Vociva at 8:26 AM on April 15, 2022
Soundtrack...?
No, it looks like this film draws on longtime Cronenberg collaborator Howard Shore, at least according to IMDB.
posted by doctornemo at 8:27 AM on April 15, 2022
No, it looks like this film draws on longtime Cronenberg collaborator Howard Shore, at least according to IMDB.
posted by doctornemo at 8:27 AM on April 15, 2022
I don't particularly like horror movies and body horror squicks me out, but for whatever reason I'm still fascinated by Cronenberg movies. Though weirdly the only ones I've seen in full is A History of Violence (sure), The Fly and, um, eXistenZ. Which I thought was pretty good but I think is one of the lesser appreciated works in his canon? I think I've seen most of Crash too but this was back in the days when prestige cable channels would actually show movies like Crash late-night, so I probably randomly caught it while flipping channels.
Regarding that 1970s Crimes of the Future movie: reading the synopsis of it, man it seems even more messed up than this movie is, and that's saying a lot. Where did he even get the idea for it?
posted by chrominance at 8:50 AM on April 15, 2022
Regarding that 1970s Crimes of the Future movie: reading the synopsis of it, man it seems even more messed up than this movie is, and that's saying a lot. Where did he even get the idea for it?
posted by chrominance at 8:50 AM on April 15, 2022
Yeppers, perhaps I'll see this sometime but not even clicking those links right now. ExistenZ was so much better than the Matrix but wouldn't it be cool if Cronenberg did a kung fu flick?
posted by sammyo at 9:03 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by sammyo at 9:03 AM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
I don’t like to have my body penetrated… surgically.
posted by misterpatrick at 9:04 AM on April 15, 2022
posted by misterpatrick at 9:04 AM on April 15, 2022
[just for the sake of closure on the non-Lynch Cannes-secret-surprise mentioned at the top of the comments: One Cut of the Dead as re-made by the director of The Artist 🤯]
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 9:48 AM on April 15, 2022
posted by a box and a stick and a string and a bear at 9:48 AM on April 15, 2022
If that's not enough crimes to satisfy, Toronto's premier Cronenbergian punks, The Soupcans, have a song, Crimes of the Future, PtII
posted by rodlymight at 1:41 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rodlymight at 1:41 PM on April 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
The oddest duck in Cronenberg's ouvre is also available on YT in its entirety.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:29 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 3:29 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
The bone gun scene at the restaurant is forever burned into my brain.
Some behind-the-scenes on the practical effects involved. Bonus: crafting the bioports!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:28 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
Some behind-the-scenes on the practical effects involved. Bonus: crafting the bioports!
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:28 PM on April 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
I was a little alarmed by this headline:
Body shock: why Cronenberg’s kidney stones could be the saviour of NFTs
However, it would appear that this might be the only NFT that's backed by a tangible, underlying asset:
...Cronenberg has indicated that, if the NFT auction goes high enough, he will consider throwing in his actual kidney stones as an add-on. And that’s where things get exciting. Because, while NFTs still have the ugly air of a pyramid scheme about them, getting to hold Cronenberg’s real kidney stones in your bare hands would be a genuine, once-in-a-lifetime thrill.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:36 PM on April 28, 2022
Body shock: why Cronenberg’s kidney stones could be the saviour of NFTs
However, it would appear that this might be the only NFT that's backed by a tangible, underlying asset:
...Cronenberg has indicated that, if the NFT auction goes high enough, he will consider throwing in his actual kidney stones as an add-on. And that’s where things get exciting. Because, while NFTs still have the ugly air of a pyramid scheme about them, getting to hold Cronenberg’s real kidney stones in your bare hands would be a genuine, once-in-a-lifetime thrill.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 12:36 PM on April 28, 2022
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posted by aubilenon at 6:21 PM on April 14, 2022 [2 favorites]