Thursday 22 January 2015

Mondo Cronenberg




I really like this artwork for the recently released Mondo/Death Waltz double album of Howard Shore's scores for The Brood and Scanners.

I rewatched Scanners a couple of nights ago for the first time in a few years. Still love it. Michael Ironside is just so good in it. Very few characters exude madness, barely controlled rage and sheer, seething menace in the way that Darryl Revok does. The laughable primitiveness of the computer tech (that comes into play near the climax) may be a turn-off for young viewers, but there's still more than enough meat on Scanners' bones to keep it relevant and interesting for newcomers who are willing to look past that. That said, I think Cronenberg's most commercially successful movie up until The Fly is now ripe for a good R-rated remake*, probably more so than any of his other films (and I'd like to see Videodrome left well alone thanks!).




*Directed by Rian Johnson maybe? Looper had the right tone, and I like the way he handled the telekinesis aspects of the story.

4 comments:

  1. Simply stunning work! I hope "Videodrome" gets this type of release as well from them

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  2. Yeah, same. I love all of Shore's Cronenberg scores. Videodrome is still probably my favourite of DC's movies.

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  3. Oh, these are great. Scanners was on TV here on Friday evening - hadn't seen it for years and really enjoyed revisiting it. One of the things I love so much about Cronenberg's work is that it's so seemingly ever-relevant. He be a dark prophet!

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    1. It's true, rewatching his movies over the years you can always find something new in them to ponder. However, even though his new movies are still obviously deeply personal, I do think he's gone off the rails a bit since Eastern Promises. Have yet to see Maps to the Stars.

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