Naked Lunch, anyone? (1 Viewer)

[Mark-W]

Joseph Young-

I couldn't have said it better. Compartively, they make David Lynch seem like a neo-reaist.

This films isn't to everyone's tastes, but that does not deter from the brilliant craftsmanship of it.

(I knew I'd love it the minute Ian Holm's mouth fell out of sync with his words.)

 

[Matt Pelham]

I couldn't find this one at Best Buy, and Circuit City can't even find it in their computers. Anyone pick this up at a B&M?

 

[MartinTeller]

I didn't pick it up, but I saw it at Border's.

 

[JonBoriss]

I couldn't find this movie in my local video store and I'm really interested by the movie but I'm not sure if I should get the dvd. Judging by the movies in my collection any way anyone could say whether I would like it? I know its a weird question but some opinions on it would be great.

 

[Damin J Toell]

I notice you don't own any films by David Cronenberg. It is a stranger film than most anything you have in your collection, with only Pi and maybe Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas coming anywhere close to it (and even those aren't particularly close). If this is your introduction to Cronenberg, it will likely either make you fall in love with his work or turn you off from seeing anything else. Personally, I consider myself to be a big fan of his work, but this is probably my least favorite film of his; I find it to be an uncompelling mess. Other people, obviously, have the opposite opinion and quite love the film. I would recommend dipping my toes into the Cronenberg waters with other films of his available on DVD that I find to be much more interesting and accessible, such as Scanners or The Fly (1986). My favorite of all his films is Videodrome, but it may not be any more accessible of a film than Naked Lunch.

DJ

 

[Will K]

I love Naked Lunch and most of Cronenberg's films, with the exception of M Butterfly. That said, the movie is mostly impenetrable, especially for the uninitiated. Hard to say by your collection(a nice one, by the way) but definitely worth a look for the curious. If you have a taste for surrealism or reality-bent films, you may find some value in NL.

The downside if you're having trouble finding it to rent is that is a relatively expensive DVD, being a 2-disc Criterion.

 

[Jon Robertson]

I'm a fan of Cronenberg, but I found Naked Lunch to be really very tedious and meandering. It's adapted from all kinds of different snippets of Burroughs' writings and life and feels it. As one would expect, there's all kinds of grotesque imagery, but it doesn't have anything like the impact it should, and when it's all over, one is left with an overwhelming feeling of "So?".

I can understand Criterion wanting to work with Cronenberg again, but I really wish they'd leant on Universal a bit more to get Videodrome instead. That said, their edition of Naked Lunch is an absolute class act, and I can't imagine any fan of the film being disappointed by it. The supplements haven't done much to change my opinion of the film, as I'd hoped they would, but I thoroughly enjoyed them all anyway.