The Bus

Could be the source material. I am a fan of DeLillo but could never get through this novel, and it's a small book.

The Bus

Just saw this tonight. This may be Cronenberg's most divisive film in recent memory. The showing I attended broke a record for highest number and percentage of walkouts I have ever seen.

There's very little action, to the point where doing a stage version of this would be pretty simple. It's a lot of dialogue, and a lot of very strange, Mamet-type dialogue at that. For me, it worked, but I can see why some people wouldn't like it.

The acting by Pattison is well done and I bought him as a detached financial genius.

This is not your typical movie, or even your typical Cronenberg movie. I enjoyed it.

islandclaws

I do find it slightly concerning that someone who "loved Spider" would consider this to be a bore. To me, even though I appreciate Spider, it's undeniably slow and stuffy.

Dan

I don't see the problem. Some "slow" films can be really good. Some are bad. I'm pretty sure I read the book before I saw Spider, so maybe that's why I was able to get more out of it, but I still consider it to be a fantastic film.

I didn't read Cosmopolis, but the film was just a lot of talking for the sake of talking with absolutely no pay-off. It was like Waking Life (which I didn't like), but with worse dialogue. There's a ton of conversations, and sure, some of them are interesting. But in the end I just didn't care about a single character. Not one.

There's one thing that a bunch of the characters say over and over. "I know this." That must be carried over from the novel because, although I've heard people use that phrase in conversations, when used in the movie it felt like it was forced into the mouths of the actors every single time they uttered those three words. It was distracting.

Osiris3657

This sounds exactly like the complaints people had about "Coriolanus"

islandclaws

Well, of course slow films can be either "good" or "bad". I liked Spider, but I also thought it was painfully slow at times. So, if you're saying this is a bore compared to that then I'm just tempering my expectations accordingly.

I also didn't know it was a book. Interesting.

Dan

Fair enough. Maybe that's why I was so disappointed. It was definitely not advertised as a "talky" film but as soon as I realized that (about 5 minutes in), I accepted it and tried to like it. I just couldn't.

I will say, the more I think about it, the more I WANT to give it a second chance.

Cosmopolis or Spider? If Spider, you should definitely check it out. I was going to read Cosmopolis, but I don't think I'll bother until it drops below $5 on the Amazon Kindle store.

islandclaws

Actually, neither. But I'd be more interested to read Spider. Hell, at the rate I read I'd be happy to finish anything. Another thing I need to make more time for...

mdc3000

I saw this a few months ago and hated every minute of it - the worst flick Cronenberg has made in a long time... not for me.

inri222

Spider had me mesmerized from beginning to end, I loved it.
One of Ralph Fiennes' & Miranda Richardson's best performances.

Osiris3657

so it's not even worth a rental? oh well

inri222

Just about every Cronenberg film has been divisive.
Especially the ones where he wrote or co-wrote the screenplay.

Supermallet

Managed to catch this tonight. It will be very divisive but I can see why Cronenberg was drawn to it. I didn't realize it was based on a book by DeLillo, whom I consider to generally be somewhat toothless as a satirist, but Cronenberg brings an edge to his work that makes up for it to a point. In some ways, it feels like the anti-American Psycho, Pattinson playing a man who reflects too much on himself, versus Patrick Batemen who is incapable of reflecting on himself at all.

It's certainly not a film I would watch often, but it is worth a viewing, especially for Cronenberg fans.

slowcloud

I loved it. I actually watched a preview on my computer from the studio. Here's the review that resulted:

http://indieethos.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/cosmopolis/

As post 5 in this thread shows, I've been highly anticipating its release, and it didn't let me down. Yes, it's chatty and stagey, but that only enhances the film's unreal quality (note the green screen as the limo drives through NYC in utter silence). I'm looking forward to watching it again, as the dialogue was dense at points, almost essay-like. Also, the big screen would of course do this film immense justice. How can a Cronenberg fan pass up that chance? His films are always so distinctively shot they deserve a theatrical experience.

The Bus

My thoughts exactly. About half of the time, I was really enjoying it. When I wasn't, I kept thinking, I'm really glad this got made.

RagingBull80

I'm really hoping this comes to my city. I was about half interested in seeing this film as I really like Cronenberg and dislike Pattinson. After seeing one of those bat-shit crazy trailers and seeing others post about how well Pattinson did I'm interested in seeing this.

slowcloud

I loved this interview with Cronenberg. I love the part when he says, "There was one critic who said “The dialogue is making me think kill me, kill me now, I can’t take any more of this,” and I thought, “Yes, I’d be happy to kill you now, no problem.”:
http://www.filmcomment.com/entry/int...vid-cronenberg

RagingBull80

For those who have seen it, what previous Cronenberg work does it resemble the most?

slowcloud

This is closer to eXistenZ than anything since that film.

Dan

But eXistenZ is a thousand times more enjoyable.

Supermallet

I'd actually say it's the most like Naked Lunch, but take out the aliens, hallucinations, and drugs.

slowcloud

I like the

This is indeed another "new flesh" Cronenberg. The "new flesh" being a man of capital and the technology that drives it. He is on a quest away from the isolation from humanity that seems to have defined him due to this state. The journey for a hair cut across town the the barber shop where he remembered his dad taking him as a kid is quite significant in that journey. As a matter of fact, I think this film is more transcendant than eXistenZ and Videodrome because of how far he gets back in touch with all that.

sharkstank

Some movies just love the smell of their own farts. This is one of them.

The Bus

Ladies and gentlemen, the pull quote for the Blu-ray case.

Osiris3657

Comes out next Tuesday. Is it not even worth a rental? I'm conflicted. I'm not expecting to like it, but I'll be pissed if it's also a waste of time.