103 / Naked Lunch (B+)

Like Videodrome and the Fly...Naked Lunch manages to pour out phallic references, slimy alien/bug orifice scenes (emphasis on the slimy ooze and orifice), and creepy-dark-well-thought-out characters with major issues in their lives.  This David Cronenberg "masterpiece" takes place in 1953.  I list it as a masterpiece (per me) because I liked it equally to the Fly and the Brood and better than Scanners and Videodrome.  Perhaps due to the time period the movie is set in, Cronenberg can get away with normal everyday life occurring in the background without any notice to extreme oddities that occur in plain day.  The pedestrian pace and slow overtones of the plot and characters seem to fit perfectly with the visual landscape he created.  And within a few minutes, the movie takes off (albeit at a slow pace) with a very....shall I say Eraserhead-type turn. Basically typewriters turn into bugs and eat each other and everyone ODs on centipede bait.  Also, Robocop is the main actor in this bizarre experience so that's a bonus.  He goes to bed in a hotel room each night and wakes up in a pile of soot and dust on the side of the street.  What an odd movie.  I feel like Roy Scheider should be in this movie.

Part of me wants to say, "What the hell just occurred?"  But another part of me gets it.  If you understand Brazil and Eraserhead, you'll get this movie.  But not Lost Highway, Eyes Wide Shut, or other Lynch films....no one gets those.  Basically, this one isn't THAT mentally challenging.  But I caution those that think because I mentioned the Brood and Videodrome that it automatically makes this awesome.  I actually don't think this movie will suit everyone, so go more off the other movies I've mentioned before pushing play.

Steven Wright?  Man...I don't recall him sounding like Steven Wright in Robocop.  Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen all of Robocop.  Only the few scenes as a kid.

Note: David Cronenberg movies I've seen that I didn't love are Crash, Spider, and Eastern Promises.  All were okay, but not among his best in my mind.  This is the guy who put together other potential greats (not seen yet) like Rabid, Shivers, Nightbreed, and Dead Ringers.  I think Cronenberg is just twisted enough for me to bump all of these up in my queue.  Well, maybe not Rabid, that looks pretty whack.