eXistenZ

Cafe Society
#1

I never even HEARD of this trippy movie until yesterday! Amazingly they had it at our video store so I rented it. People who’ve seen it, what did you think? I know it’s from '99, seems like that was the year for movies that explored virtual reality. I thought this movie was very confusing but visually bizarre. It reminded me a bit of Eraserhead. Not in the story of course, but in the way things looked.

This might also be a good time to ask, how do I make a spoiler box? That way I can maybe discuss this in more depth without ruining it for anyone?

#2

[**spoiler]like this[/spoiler]

Rent Videodrome, by the same director, for a trippy experience.

#3

type the word SPOILER in brackets to start, type /spoiler in brackets to end. Simple as pie (although, pie is rather hard to make if you’ve never done it before, so…)

Anyway, I saw the film a long time ago and thought it was okay. Some of the visuals were really cool (the gun made from bones that shoots teeth, for example), but overall, I saw the plot a bit…odd. It was an interesting movie and a neat idea, but the whole idea that someone’s role in the game was to be a chef really stuck me as kinda screwey. I mean, I’d hate to be that guy, with no real role in the game. But overall, it was pretty cool. I liked the ending, too, and like you said, the visuals were pretty smart.

#4

type the word SPOILER in brackets to start, type /spoiler in brackets to end. Simple as pie (although, pie is rather hard to make if you’ve never done it before, so…)

Anyway, I saw the film a long time ago and thought it was okay. Some of the visuals were really cool (the gun made from bones that shoots teeth, for example), but overall, I saw the plot a bit…odd. It was an interesting movie and a neat idea, but the whole idea that someone’s role in the game was to be a chef really stuck me as kinda screwey. I mean, I’d hate to be that guy, with no real role in the game. But overall, it was pretty cool. I liked the ending, too, and like you said, the visuals were pretty smart.

#5

You might also want to try a bizarre Japanese(?) film salled Tetsuo: Body Hammer. Very similar “body horror” type stuff.

#6

There is nothing David Cronenberg did in eXistenZ that he didn’t do a whole lot better in Videodrome. While the latter (which is also better acted, btw) was seen as prescient and ahead-of-its time, the former, by the time of its release, seemed obvious and redundant.

However, if you liked it, keep your eyes out for the recently-released Demonlover, which also owes a lot to Videodrome in its cyber-industry plotting.

#7

Reminded me of Dark City and The Thirteenth Floor – both of those had better plots, better acting (thought the female lead was very wooden).

#8

What a crapfest this was. Cronenberg’s movies seem to get less lucid with every picture.

This one felt like there was 45-minute chunk missing from the middle.

#9

eXistenZ, like every other “What is reality?” film, rips off Philip K. Dick. eXistenZ at least has the decency to admit it. That’s why at one point they’re eating fast food from Perky Pat’s.

#10

I saw it when it first came out and thought it was prett good. I guess it got overshadowed by The Matrix which, IIRC, came out at roughly the same time.

Dark City, now that was a terrific SciFi movie!! With KS’s fame on 24, perhaps this will get dusted off more often.

#11

I can’t remember the film exactley but i’m pretty sure that this character may not have actually been real, i’m not entirley sure how many ‘layers’ of game they were in…

#12

I haven’t seen it since maybe 2000, but I remember really liking the surreal atmosphere of the film. I don’t recall being too enthusiastic about the acting or characterization, however.

#13

Yeah, I saw those. I think it’s interesting that all these movies came out around the same time.

#14

The concurrence of Dark City and eXistenZ is not an interesting phenomenom when you consider the concurrence of other movies. Like Antz and A Bug’s Life or Armageddon and Deep Impact.

#15

I agree. Videodrome was pretty dang disturbing, and used the tools of reality play much better. eXistenZ, if you can stand to do it, does pick up more nuance on repeated viewing, such as realizing that Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character repeats things slowly (meaning that she is cueing her gaming partner’s next action) much sooner than expected, etc. Of course, this kind of thing would be pretty much expected.
Then, there’s that moment that all the guys in the audience went "…ohhhh’ in sympathy to Jude Law. Yowza.

#16

I thought the acting was very good. The point was that the actors were supposed to be awkward/wooden given that they were characters in a video game.

Overall, I’ve got to say I liked it a lot