Peter Weller | Cinema Parrot Disco

Naked Lunch (1991)

Directed & Written by David Cronenberg

Based on Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

Starring: Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Julian Sands, Roy Scheider

Music by Howard Shore & Ornette Coleman

Plot Synopsis: (via IMDb)
After developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife, and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.

My Opinion:

I’m a fan of Cronenberg but had never seen this so was glad to see it on services. It has a great noir look but I was slightly disappointed at first until the vagina-looking thing on the typewriter-bug started talking & then the penis-tentacles on the other bug started oozing & I was like “There’s the Cronenberg I love!”

The story is indeed bizarre, even more so than the original films written by Cronenberg himself. I liked it but it’s not up there with his other body horror for me, although I still prefer this kind of work to things such as A History Of Violence, etc. I mainly just wasn’t as into this story. I’ll blame William S. Burroughs for that, as I’ve loved other adaptations Cronenberg has done such as The Fly & The Dead Zone. I admit to having no knowledge of this work, though, so hope fans were happy with this adaptation. I did throughly enjoy the visuals I was expecting from the body horror master and am happy to say it’s yet another Cronenberg film I’ll never forget thanks to some imagery that will be stuck in my brain forever.

I’ll be totally honest on the story, though – I don’t know what the hell was going on but I’m too old & too tired to care enough to look into what his oozing & talking vaginas and penises were meant to represent THIS time. I think there may have been a little bit of “Be true to yourself” in there. Or not. I have no clue. But I like that idea. I’ll pretend that’s what the talking vagina bug was telling me. Besides the obvious “Don’t snort insecticide“. Which you’d think would be obvious but didn’t some people do similar thinking it would stop them getting Covid? Oh I love humans!

I’ve ranked all the Cronenberg films I’ve seen here. Yes, I need to explore more of his work besides just the body horror.

My Rating: 7/10

Star Trek Into Darkness

Directed by JJ Abrams

Starring:
John Cho
Benedict Cumberbatch
Alice Eve
Bruce Greenwood
Simon Pegg
Chris Pine
Zachary Quinto
Zoe Saldana
Karl Urban
Peter Weller
Anton Yelchin

Plot Synopsis:

After devastating attacks on Starfleet, the USS Enterprise is sent on a mission into enemy territory in order to find the man responsible for these terrorist acts.

My Opinion:

I won’t go into how much I know about all things Star Trek – I already did that here when I reviewed Star Trek (2009), which I re-watched this past week, and The Motion Picture & The Wrath Of Khan, which I’ve just watched for the first time: Star Trek Reviews

Basically, I loved The Next Generation and then watched the original series after TNG & have just now started on the movies with the original cast. So, this review is from someone who likes Star Trek but is not exactly a Trekkie (or is it Trekker?).

I really enjoyed Star Trek Into Darkness. I thought the 2009 movie was a decent enough intro to a new series of movies but it didn’t really blow me away. Plus, I fell asleep both times I tried to watch it all the way through. Well, I can say you’re not likely to fall asleep during Into Darkness. 😉

I enjoyed the main characters more in this one as they were able to just kind of “be themselves” as opposed to in the first movie where they had to spend time setting them up for those in the audience new to Star Trek. It also meant they were able to spend more time focusing on the story and the action in this one – and there’s A LOT of action. It was pretty non-stop from beginning to end. I liked the opening scene (even if it was maybe a bit silly). The bits set in London and in San Francisco looked great. The emotional bits felt more “real” in this one than in the 2009 one (perhaps as we’re more used to the main actors now). Alice Eve is sexy, especially in all the different uniforms. And Benedict Cumberbatch is an EXCELLENT villain. He’s by far the best thing about this one. The only slight downside is he’s so good that it shows off the weaknesses in all the other actors in the film.

I’m reading mixed reviews of this movie now and see that some die hard Trekkies (Trekkers?!) are hating it. That’s unfortunate – I thoroughly enjoyed this but now, after seeing the first two Star Trek films, I can see why they’d take issue with certain things. To those who don’t hold the original movies so dear, I think it’s a lot easier to just sit back and enjoy the new films without overanalyzing them. To those who are pretty new to Star Trek, I can see them really liking the new films. Especially Into Darkness – I thought it was quite exciting (and much better than the first one).

My initial reaction was that Into Darkness was “fantastic” and I called it the best Star Trek film yet. Well, I stand by what I said about it being fantastic. It’s probably not the “best” one, though. I haven’t watched First Contact since it first came out but I do remember how much I loved it at the time. And I don’t think Into Darkness would EVER top The Wrath Of Khan for any big fans of the original Star Treks. So I think Into Darkness is “one of” the best films of the entire series. But, okay, yeah… I think, for its time and what it will have meant to fans when they first watched it, The Wrath Of Khan is still the “best”. It just didn’t have the emotional impact for me watching it for the first time all these years later.

Summary:

Star Trek Into Darkness is a thoroughly entertaining & action-packed film with a great villain played brilliantly by Benedict Cumberbatch, who is the highlight of the film. It’s a worthy addition to the Star Trek universe and, in my opinion, one of the best in the entire series. However, after the adrenaline wore off and I thought about the film a little more the day after seeing it, I can see some of the faults. There are minor things (Like the way Alice Eve ends up in her underwear. Yes, she’s hot. But the scene was silly). But there are a few major things as well, which I unfortunately can’t discuss without major spoilers. All in all, this film had the chance to possibly end up (almost) as much of a classic as The Wrath Of Khan. But it doesn’t manage it. None of the Star Trek films, for me, manage the depth needed to make any of them truly stunning films. And now that I’ve thought about things a bit more – Yes, The Wrath Of Khan is the one that actually came the closest to achieving the greatness that, hopefully, we’ll someday get from a Star Trek film. Star Trek Into Darkness was great fun but they’re going to need to get much more bold with the next film if they wish to ever achieve true greatness.

My Rating: 8/10