history of violence really shocked me at how good it was. I really was expecting pure shit just from the concept. Same with Eastern Promises. I thought the concept was lame but it ended up being fucking awesome. Even cronenberg's "mainstream" films are brilliant.
I maintain that existenz is his worst film. What's weird is, it explores a lot of similiar themes as videodrome. It's not even a bad film, it's just.. .you know... nothing. Love the rice gun though!
I think something that puts off most people about Cronenberg's films is that you have to WANT to like them. You can't just sit there and hope to be impressed, as the pacing of his films is often very glacial. Also, there's a lot bubbling under the surface. It's like Dead Ringers: on the outset, it's a very simple story of two twin gyneacologists, one who begins taking drugs and his life begins to spiral downhill. But the look at the way the twins are connected in every way -- the subtleness of certain quotes and scenes, compounded by an amazing music score -- is just heartbreaking and unnerving. Also, his films are often intentionally vague but not in a Lynch way... they all make perfect sense, he just doesn't give you all the details. I think his films are just constructed perfectly.
Funny Tsukamoto was mentioned. I said on the "dedicate a post to your favorite director" thread that he was my favorite director. And he is. And having seen every single Tsukamoto film (even the shorts) and every single Cronenberg films, I'm shocked you don't see him and Cronenberg's similarities. They're virtually identical in style (not colors, which Tsukamoto is known for, but moreso the pacing and framing of shots) and explore a lot of the same themes. Seriously, A Snake of June and Bullet Ballet could've easily been Cronenberg films. Anyway, both brilliant directors, who are very generous with the running times of their films as well
(look at someone like Miike or Lynch who seems to HAVE TO make every single film well over 2 hours to get their point across -- too much of a good thing) Another funny thing about both directors, as I said earlier, is Cronenberg seeming to focus on guns in a lot of films but only in the ending, with one exception (A History of Violence which features tons of gun action). Tsukamoto also does this, ending many of his films with gun violence, including A Snake of June, Tetsuo II (which is ABOUT a guy turning into a gun but there isn't much gun action until the end), and of course Bullet Ballet (which is about a guy making a gun, amongst other things). Very interesting. Anyway, now that Tsukamoto's been mentioned, I want to say that everyone NEEDS to watch Tokyo Fist, easily one of the best films ever. It makes Raging Bull look like a fucking joke.