Screaming Sunday - The Fly

Sati's movie rating - 85/100
Plot: Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), a brilliant but eccentric scientist attempts to woo investigative journalist Veronica Quaife (Genna Davis) by offering her a scoop on his latest research in the field of matter transportation, which against all the expectations of the scientific establishment have proved successful. Brundle thinks he has ironed out the last problem when he successfully transports a living creature, but when he attempts to teleport himself a fly enters one of the transmission booths, and Brundle finds he is a changed man.
The heroes: Jeff Goldblum's likable and bizarre Seth.
The antagonists: One tiny little fly.
What makes it so great? Few weeks ago Alex of "And So it Begins..." asked a question on his blog - what films make you sick? - and I'm astonished I forgot to mention this one. I'm a tough one - there is only a handful of movies that repulse me and it's never anything about blood, surgeries or beheadings, but when it comes to Cronenberg and his gross, disturbing body horror images, that's a different issue. While Naked Lunch and Videodrome I was fine with, Seth's changing, due to Oscar winning make up job is really something that always prevents me from eating long after seeing this movie. It's a great movie, probably Cronenberg's most quintessential and famous, but I can't watch it too often. Also Jeff Goldblum's performance is really mesmerizing and this movie is to "body horror" what Alien is to "space horror".
Best scene: Seth watches as his body starts to rot off, change and collapse in front of a mirror.

Videodrome

83/100 (87 min, 1983)
Plot: A sleazy cable-TV programmer begins to see his life and the future of media spin out of control in a very unusual fashion when he acquires a new kind of programming for his station.
Director: David Cronenberg
Writer: David Cronenberg
Stars: James Woods, Deborah Harry and Sonja Smits

"Long live the new flesh!"

Before "The Ring" made people scared of videotapes nearly two decades earlier came "Videodrome". Andy Warhol called that movie the "A Clockwork Orange of the 1980s". Disturbing, provocative and shocking, "Videodrome" is one of the signature works of David Cronenberg, who has very unique style and can make repulsive and potentially scarring things look curiously sensual and fascinating.

The film follows Max Renn, determined and unscrupulous TV produced who wants to find the new exciting show to be aired on his station. Due to coincidence he discovers the show called "Videodrome" featuring torture, sex and humiliation. There is no plot there, there is just senseless violence. Max thinks that the show can be a big success, but as the plot unravels we, along with him, find out more and more about Videodrome and the horrifying effect it can have on people who watch it. Soon his situation is starting to become very dangerous and he is beginning to experience disturbing hallucinations.

A Dangerous Method

56/100 (2011, 99 min)
Plot: A look at how the intense relationship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud gives birth to psychoanalysis.
Director: David Cronenberg
Writers: Christopher Hampton (screenplay), John Kerr (book)
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen

Dangerous method? Empty outcome.

I was waiting so eagerly for "A Dangerous Method". But then I read this little piece of trivia which said that David Cronenberg told Keira Knightley that if she won't want to do any nudity, there will be none in the movie. Why would such a great director compromise his vision because of an actress? If it was a very talented actress, I could maybe understood his actions. But Keira Knightley, even if it was a great movie, would managed to ruin it with one of the worst performances I've seen in years.

I do not know what possessed Cronenberg to cast her. Is he on some charity mission where he takes actors from blockbusters and casts them in ambitious project? I see in his next movie he has Robert Pattinson in a lead role. Knightley is fine in romantic productions like "Never let me go", "Pride and Prejudice" and "Atonement", but despite her Academy Award nomination she really has not much of a talent. Her performance as Sabina Spielrein, Jung's disturbed patient is simply awful. Knightley's way of portraying her character involves trying to speak with bad Russian accent, uncontrollable yelling, hysterical crying and presenting what can only be described as annoying, fake mannerisms. I couldn't believe my eyes as I was watching her. You would think that as Sabina gets better, as the movie progresses,  Knightley would be less annoying, but it's not the case. Everything about her - her voice, her bland expressions, her fidgeting is truly embarrassing to witness. I thought that Knightley was a decent actress until I saw this movie. For her own sake and especially for the sake of the movie goers, I truly hope she will stick to less ambitious material.