node @node - 8h
Just watched Infinity Pool (2023), directed by Brandon Cronenberg. His second movie. It’s a sci-fi horror film set on a fancy resort on a fictional island with a unique legal system. Main character is a struggling writer on vacation with his wife. He meets a seductive tourist who brings him into a pursuit of pleasure and violence. Lots of body horror elements. Nice blur between reality and nightmare. Reminiscent of Possessor. Really enjoyed this movie. Saw it when it came out. Enjoyed it as much this time. 8.3/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 1d
Just watched Possessor (2020), directed by David’s son, Brandon Cronenberg. It’s about an elite assassin who uses brain implants to inhabit other people in order to assassinate people. Excellent movie. Body horror and sci fi are very present. Like in his father’s movies. It explores themes of losing the self and splitting identities. Second time watching this. Still as good as the first time. 8.2/10 #nodereviews
Watched Both Sides of the Blade (2022) yesterday, directed by Claire Denis. Another romantic drama starring Juliette Binoche. It seems like she’s playing a similar role as in Let the sunshine in: someone who doesn’t know what she wants, manipulative. TLDR She’s married to one guy and cheats on him with the previous husband. This movie has the dreamy feeling that Claire’s movies usually has. A bit better than the other one. 6/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 2d
I watched Let the sunshine in (2017), directed by Claire Denis, this weekend. A romantic drama about a woman navigating love and relationships, starring Juliette Binoche. The movie was okay but I really despised Juliette’s character. (Great acting though). Manipulative and second guessing herself constantly. Not as dreamlike as Claire’s other movies. Gerard Depardieu makes an interesting appearance at the end of the movie. Helps understand the main character better. 5.5/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 17d
Just watched The Shrouds (2025) directed by David Cronenberg. His latest movie. It stars Vincent Cassel as a widower who builds Geavetech, a technology that allows people to monitor the decomposition of their loved ones in real time. Absolutely wild premise!😂 It blends body horror, thriller with conspiracy theories. Cronenberg is also back to filming in Canada. This one is set in Toronto. It also stars Diane Keaton and Guy Pearce. The story was amazing. Some elements remind me of Crash, but done way better. 8/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 21d
Just watched White Material (2009), directed by Claire Denis. A movie about a French plantation owner in an unnamed African country during a civil unrest. Isabelle Huppert gives a stellar performance as the plantation owner who stubbornly refuses to leave her land even though there’s increasing violence. Her staff was leaving, family members were leaving, but she held on. The story is dreamlike, consistent with the director’s style. We don’t fully know/understand the plot and this adds to the tension. Really good movie. 7.8/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 27d
Just watched Chocolat (1988) directed by Claire Denis. Her first movie. It’s a semi-autobiographical movie about life in a French colony. It’s unclear when it exactly takes place. Some of the plot elements are vague. Both on purpose. (She’s developing her style.) The costumes, the setting and the photography were beautiful. 7/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 28d
Just watched Crimes of the Future (2022) directed by David Cronenberg. His last movie. This movie is about organ mutation and performance art. He returns to body horror with this one. Feels good to see him excel again. Where Crash failed, this one succeeded. A weird movie, but a really good one. 8.2/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 29d
Just watched Maps to the stars (2014) directed by David Cronenberg. His 15th movie. Last one in the crime/drama phase His second to last movie. It’s a Hollywood satire. Really showcases how ridiculous the day to day lives of big movie stars are. Funny at times. I enjoyed this one more than his pretentious movies. It does get weirder, as the movie progresses. 6/10 #nodereviews
node @node - 1mo
Just watched Cosmopolis (2012) directed by David Cronenberg. Second to last movie in his crime/drama phase. His fourteenth movie. It follows a billionaire breaking down in his limo, during a crisis in the city. Pretentious word salad from start to end. How does he manage to make amazing movies and also this one? 4.6/10 #nodereviews
Just watched A Dangerous Method (2011) directed by David Cronenberg. His third movie in the crime/drama phase. It’s about Freud, Yung and the start of psychoanalysis. Didn’t enjoy that one as much. It’s blend and vanilla/boring. At the same time it’s also pretentious. The many jumps in time are lazy storytelling. Don’t watch it. 4.5/10 #nodereviews
Just watched Eastern Promises (2007) directed by David Cronenberg. His 12th movie and the second one in his crime/drama phase. It’s a Russian mob drama starring Viggo Mortensen. It’s interesting to see it chronologically with the rest of his work. There’s definitely a parallel to be made with the story of an History of violence: some things are not as they seem. All the murder scenes and even the baby in the beginning of the movie: all Cronenberg’s special effects skills. Vincent Cassel is excellent as the boss’s son. He has some funny lines like this one: “This man was like brother to me. Now he’s like ice cream” 😂 I really like this movie. Watched it a few times before. 8.8/10 #nodereviews
Just watched History of Violence (2005), directed by David Cronenberg. First movie in his crime and drama phase. His 11th movie. It’s about a small town man’s past life. Captivating story. Special effects in the action scenes are fantastic. Viggo Mortensen is great in this. Perfect for the role. The family life adds a drama/emotional side to the movie. Reminds me of the Sopranos where the family life plays the same role. Last time I saw this movie was at least 15 years ago. Still holds up well Fun fact: all of his movies so far are filmed in Canada 🍁 8.4/10 #nodereviews
Just watched ExistenZ (1999) directed by David Cronenberg. The last movie in his psychological/existential phase. It’s about virtual reality, warped reality and biotech game consoles. The story was great. Special effects were top notch. His experience with horror movies really shines in a Johnny mnemonic/matrix type movie. I like that there’s still some ambiguity at the end of the movie. 8.1/10 #nodereviews
Just watched Crash (1996) directed by David Cronenberg. The third movie in his psychological/existential phase. It’s about people who are sexually aroused by car crashes. Another weird one but rooted in reality, compared to the other movies of this phase. The story was okay but disintegrates in the last 20 minutes. Ending makes no sense. Some very questionable erotic scenes. 4.5/10 #nodereviews
Just watched Naked Lunch (1991) directed by David Cronenberg. Second movie in his existential phase. It’s about drug addiction and hallucinations about insects. Worse than Dead Ringers. One positive thing: the special effects. yawn/10 #nodereviews
Just watched Dead Ringers (1988) directed by David Cronenberg. His seventh movie. First movie of the psychological/existential phase. It’s about twin gynecologists who spiral into madness. Terrible movie. Don’t watch it 😂 3/10 #nodereviews
Just watched The Fly (1986) by David Cronenberg. His sixth movie. The last one in the body horror era. What an incredible movie. The story is excellent. It’s about a scientist who slowly mutates after a teleportation experiment. The special effects are excellent. His best yet. Makeup, costumes, prosthetics, animatronics. Top notch. All of it. No wonder this is one of his most famous works. The creature is absolutely disgusting. Fun fact: Cronenberg plays in the movie. 8.8/10 #nodereviews
Watched Videodrome (1983), directed by David Cronenberg yesterday. His fifth film. Second to last one in his body horror era. This one is about the media and hallucinations. Cronenberg is a master of special effects. They are absolutely incredible in this one. Some mind bending stuff in this one.The special effects shine but the story not so much. The Brood’s story is much better. A quote from the movie: “We’re Overstimulated by television”. Interesting that they used to say the exact same thing as today 😂 7.9/10 #nodereviews
Saw Scanners (1981) directed by David Cronenberg yesterday. Still in the body horror genre, with much more action than the previous films. This time the story is about people with telepathic and telekinetic powers. The story wasn’t as good as The Brood. Still good but just not as good. Where it shines is the action scenes (lots of gunfights) and the special effects. Way better than CGI. 8/10 #nodereviews
