There are some directors who seem to be able to summon great casts with a simple snap of their fingers and the great David Cronenberg is one of them. His latest film, 'Maps to the Stars,' has not only secured financing, but a cast that includes Robert Pattinson, John Cusack and Julianne Moore.
David Cronenberg's 'Naked Lunch' -- the film 'The Simpsons' mocked when Bart and his friends snuck into it and Nelson Muntz came out saying "I can think of at least two things wrong with that title" -- is getting the Criterion Collection Blu-ray treatment this April, alongside cult classic 'Repo Man' and more.
Welcome back to the Weekly Dose of Ridiculous, in which you join us in shaking our heads disapprovingly at the most absurd news stories of the week, collected in one post for your convenience. This week we're dealing with a remake of 'Videodrome,' Todd Phillips replacing Martin Scorsese, and an over-abundance of 'American Horror Story' promos.
Universal is plunging ahead with their remake of David Cronenberg's body horror classic 'Videodrome,' and they've chosen an interesting director to helm the project: award-winning commercial director Adam Berg. Long live the new flesh?
Director David Cronenberg has made some fantastic films over his career including 'The Fly,' 'Videodrome,' 'A History of Violence,' 'Scanners' and 'Cosmopolis' which opens in theaters tomorrow. But don't expect him to direct a superhero movie any time soon. The director recently was asked about 'The Dark Knight Rises' and had some harsh words for the Batman franchise.
Mainstream cinema is currently driven by franchises, though sometimes it's questionable what should or shouldn't get a sequel. Surely Warner Brothers would drive a truck full of money up to Christopher Nolan's house if he did 'Inception 2,' but some stories are best left to one film only. David Cronenberg thought 'Eastern Promises' could make for a franchise, and word was out that a follow up was moving forward. Now Cronenberg says that the sequel is dead.
It's better to think of David Cronenberg's 'Cosmopolis' as a dream than a movie. It might not work in cinematic terms -- it's talky, it's stiff, it's aimless -- but it makes perfect sense in hypnagogic ones.
The film, based on a novel by Don DeLillo, has been billed in some corners as a science-fiction story, but that's not quite right. Other than the protagonist's hi-tech limo -- which has touchscreens, swivel chairs, and a hidden pull-out toilet -- nothing in the New York City of 'Cosmpolis' looks all that different from our own. When our hero eats lunch, it's at a generic coffee shop. When he passes people on the street, they're dressed like normal 2012 citizens. Things grow increasingly hostile -- and increasingly weird -- on the other side of his limousine windows, but they never get any more technologically advanced. This is more of a twisted fantasy of the present than a vision of the future.
After David Cronenberg's more subdued last couple of films, we're happy to see something a little stranger from the master director. And if the trailer for 'Cosmopolis' is any indication, there's definitely some weird things afoot, even if it does star 'Twilight's Robert Pattinson.
We're curious to see what David Cronenberg will do with a television series, but he's definitely casting it to our interest. Tim Roth has signed on as the lead of Cronenberg's 'Knifeman,' which currently does not have a network.
Rumors about a sequel to David Cronenberg's 2007 film 'Eastern Promises' have been circulating for a few years now, but it seems like this is one of those times when rumor is about to become fact. 'Eastern Promises 2' looks like it's actually coming together.
