David Cronenberg has directed greater than 20 characteristic movies in all kinds of genres, however he stays greatest identified for provocative ’80s sci-fi movies like The Fly and Videodrome. Humor author Tom Gerencer is a lifelong fan of Cronenberg’s creative imaginative and prescient.

“He is an absolute genius, and he has merged that with an absolute mastery of craft,” Gerencer says in Episode 533 of the Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy podcast. “Often you see one or the other. You see someone who’s very workmanlike and can produce a good movie, or you see someone who is a genius and is just all over the place, and there are good ones and bad ones. But he is both, and that’s rare.”

Science fiction creator Matthew Kressel loves the best way that Cronenberg movies like Videodrome and Existenz blur the road between biology and know-how. “Even though he’s talking about technology, often the technology is not what we think of as technology,” Kressel says. “We don’t see computers and flashing lights. Oftentimes it’s biological, or just sort of in the background, which I thought was very interesting. You don’t really see that take in a lot of film and TV and media.”

Cronenberg has labored with a lot of Hollywood’s high actors, together with Michael Ironside, Jeff Goldblum, and Viggo Mortensen. TV author Andrea Kail notably loved James Woods as sleazy TV producer Max Renn in Videodrome. “A lot of Cronenberg’s genius is in his casting,” she says. “He casts the perfect people for his roles. James Woods is perfect for that role. He looks sleazy, he acts sleazy. He’s the perfect person for that, that fast-talking, sleazy grifter who allows the story to get the better of him.”

Cronenberg’s most up-to-date venture is Crimes of the Future, a jaw-dropping exploration of sadomasochism and physique modification. Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy host David Barr Kirtley wasn’t a fan of the movie, however he nonetheless admires Cronenberg for taking dangers. “There are so few science fiction movies that come out now that aren’t franchises and that aren’t tentpole blockbusters and that make serious points and have artistic vision and are original, and this movie is definitely all of those things,” he says. “I wasn’t crazy about it, but you have to respect someone who has an artistic vision and doesn’t just want to put out formulaic films.”

Listen to the whole interview with Tom Gerencer, Matthew Kressel, and Andrea Kail in Episode 553 of Geek’s Guide to the Galaxy (above). And try some highlights from the dialogue under.

Tom Gerencer on Scanners:

It’s completely a traditional. I used to be in sixth grade when this got here out. Everybody in my junior excessive was speaking about it, everyone was quoting it. Everybody was saying, “I’m going to suck your brain dry.” I had not seen that till later. My buddy Greg confirmed me that scene and I used to be like, “Holy crap, that is horrifying.” And the scene the place the man’s head explodes, everyone talked about that for years—for years and years and years. And nonetheless, to at the present time, if I consider the phrase “scanners,” even when I’m pondering of one thing that has nothing to do with the film, I’ll image that man’s head blowing up.

Matthew Kressel on The Fly:

The transition of Seth Brundle—Jeff Goldblum’s character—from this nerdy, confident-but-kind-of-shy man who’s clearly drawn to this girl to this insane, murderous fly creature, it was so gradual and excellent. … I had forgotten numerous the physique horror, like the place he vomits on the man’s hand and it dissolves or the arm wrestling within the bar, the place he breaks the man’s arm and the bone pops out. I used to be like, “Oh right, I forgot about that!” The physique horror was, in fact, grotesque, however one way or the other it managed to do it in a approach that didn’t really feel superfluous or gratuitous. It simply felt prefer it labored with the story.

Andrea Kail on Existenz:

My first thought when [Jennifer Jason Leigh] walks in and everyone claps was, “Oh, a roomful of men clapping for a woman game designer. That is science fiction.” But I actually loved it. The story itself hung collectively rather well for me, and I favored the world they create and the dynamic between the 2 characters. This was the primary film on this collection the place I really gagged. The scene the place he eats the meals within the Chinese restaurant was horrific. And then the NPCs and the way they transfer, after they’re ready for the dialog. I simply actually loved this one. I type of put every little thing down and actually watched it.

David Barr Kirtley on Crimes of the Future:

The concept of individuals adapting themselves to eat poisonous waste is a cool concept. I don’t know if David Cronenberg ever learn Paolo Bacigalupi, nevertheless it form of jogs my memory of Paolo Bacigalupi’s story “The People of Sand and Slag,” which is one among my favourite science fiction brief tales. So I believe that’s a cool concept, and there have been some putting photos in right here. There’s a scene the place Viggo Mortensen and Léa Seydoux are embracing nude whereas this autodoc type of machine is reducing at them. I assumed that was a cool picture. And then there’s this artist who sews his eyes and mouth shut and covers his physique in ears and does an interpretive dance, and I assumed that was a cool picture. So there have been issues like that within the film that I favored.

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