Naked Lunch
(R, 1:55:43, Released 1991)
| Provider: | Hulu |
| Genres: | Drama |
| Released: | Dec 31, 1991 |
| DVD Released: | Nov 11, 2003 |
| Starring: | Peter Weller, Judy Davis, Ian Holm, Roy Scheider |
| Directed by: | David Cronenberg |
| Synopsis: | Story about a pest exterminator who injects some of his own insecticide, thus invoking a world where reality and hallucination are indistinguishable. |
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Other Top Reviews
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November 17, 2008
What can be said that hasn't been said before?? rare that a film has the effect of making you feel that you've been on the piss for the weekend after watching it. Willam Burroughs - repeat - William Burroughs - does this not say it all???
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November 15, 2008Probably one of the worst movies I've seen in my life!! Seriously, it's awful and meaningless, don't watch it!
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October 12, 2008Naked Lunch is a really strange movie. Not surprising, considering that most did not believe that it was possible to transport the book onto the screen. The plot to this one was actually pretty intriguing and I really liked the way that Cronenberg makes the audience question which parts (if any) are reality and which are fantasy. There's a great mix between the two. The score, while quite subtle, was actually pretty affective as well and complimented all of the weird visuals nicely. The negative aspect of this film is the somewhat pedestrian acting performances, which may or may not have been deliberate, but at times was unpleasant. Also, it was very difficult to make sense of. No surprise there. I have a feeling that, if you've read the book then this would be very enjoyable. On the other hand, if you don't like movies that can be confusing to watch or that don't wear their purpose on their sleeve then this one won't be for you. For everyone in between, it's worth checking out.
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October 9, 2008It's weird as hell but that's why I like it. Cronenberg does an excellent job in containing the weirdness. What an ending!
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October 8, 2008
This film is in the same vein as a David Lynch movie, making absolutely no sense, with the exception of it didn't suck poop like a David Lynch movie. Until I find out more about it, it seems to me this movie was written by Cronenberg after he fried on acid, and he basically just wrote down his drug trip word for word. Still, who doesn't love to see tree-somes between a guy, a girl and a typewriter, a bunch of aliens chained up to have their gizzum drained from tubes on their heads, and countless references to giant centipedes that get ground up into drugs?
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September 30, 2008Oh those cheeky junkies.Authors of the urban cataract.Burroughs invokes a deliberately fictional tale from the perspective of a wanna-be detective figure,captured in the midst of brainless activities and organized criminal misdemeanors.Oh the truthfulness of misery and hallucination.
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September 24, 2008I was going to write a lot more, but about halfway through I realised I had an essay on my hands, so I'll just say that Naked Lunch is really not like any other film out there and it's not really a film you like or dislike (unless it's "too weird" for you), it's just a film you experience and let wash over you.
I'm glad I was able to enter William Lee's life for a few hours. -
September 20, 2008
this movie was good and weird but
it was worth watching it and i thought
Roy Scheider did great in it
and this movie was kinda disturbing in some parts and I'm always dubious when books I love are made into movies. They never QUITE translate and something is always lost. The idea of filming 'Naked Lunch' is even more difficult than usual, because it isn't really a novel with a coherent, chronological narrative, more a sequence of surreal, absurdly dark and funny "skits". As such it would be impossible to make a successful movie out of the raw material Burroughs created. Luckily Cronenberg (and who would have been better equipped to make this?) has cannily blended scenes from the book with incidents inspired by William Burroughs real life, and made it work. Very well.
and its about Exterminator Bill Lee finds himself following his wife into an addiction to the bug powder he uses. After accidentally killing her, he descends into a hallucinatory existence in which he imagines himself a secret agent answering to a series of bizarre creatures. He channels his energies into writing "reports" on his delusional mission, while trying to break his addiction. -
September 16, 2008
I didn't enjoy this at all. Far too weird & uninteresting. I like Surreal films like Eraserhead & Hour of the Wolf, but Naked Lunch did nothing for me. I admire its artistry the effort put into the film, but I just didn't like it at all.
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August 21, 2008Cronenberg does Lynch in this highly overrated and overanalyzed hodgepodge.
Loved the Mugwumps though.
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August 15, 2008
Naked Lunch is, I think, Cronenberg's best film by far. Eschewing his standard, if quality, horror fare for a more serious approach, he's given the audience the best filming of an unfilmable novel since who knows when. I'm still shaking my head over how he was able to transfer this "novel" to the screen...it's a pity that M. Butterfly and Crash weren't as successful, but at least he's trying, which is a LOT more than I can say of some other directors.
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August 10, 2008
Peter Weller is amazing!!! Its not an easy film to be loved and you sure need to be in the right mood
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June 27, 2008
David Cronenberg films the unfilmable. Though almost nothing like the book the title get's it's name from it's nonetheless an excellent film about the life and works of author William S. Burroughs. Like "I'm Not There", "Naked Lunch" takes a fragmented persona and mixes autobiography into fiction, and cuts them together. So it helps to know a few things about William S. Burroughs before going on.
Things like he "accidentally", shot and killed his wife in mexico while tryng drunkenly to perform this films William Tell Routine, an event which would start Burroughs in his writing career(William and "Tell" being a strange coincidence for a writer named William), he was addicted to various drugs until his death in his 80's, heroin longer than any, did once work as an exterminator, spent a good deal of time in Tangiers and North Africa, was monotone voiced and always sharply dressed, though the film shows him as more bi-sexual than gay(he did have children), but was overwhelmingly gay(read a few of his books and you will get the overwhelming part). Was also an expret marksman, a gun entusiast, and afraid/obsessed of centipedes. His freinds in the film(who help get his book published) are supposed to be young versions of beat writers Jack Kerouc and Alan Ginsberg. If you look closely you can see that several different places are built out of the same sets, as the protagonist Bill Lee, doesnt really go anywhere, but into his head. (Oh the murder aspect of the Burroughs story is also basis of another film from 2000 with Kiefer Southerland as Burroughs, called "Beat", but it's not so great.)
But does any of that really explain why the type writers are insects who speak out of their assholes? Well the asshole story in the car ride, is a "routine' he used to do at dinner parties, as well as the asshole in general being both for Burroughs as a gay man a place of desire(or desires not spoken) and a social symbol of everything in life we avoid or would rather not say. As for what the title "Naked Lunch" means,
it's the point during a meal when one looks down theire fork and realizes what it is they've been consuming and eating all this time, where the true nature of the meal is revealed(not that this get's discussed in the movie)
Without any of that information and before I started reading Burroughs, I had no idea what was going on, in this movie save something about drug addiction, sexual identiy confusion, and paranoi (which it is too) afterwards though I was amazed at how much David Cronenberg was able to bring together. It's not really an adaptation of "Naled Lunch" the book, but a Burroughs inspired film about Burroughs, that uses the techniques, preocupations, and ideas of the author and his life to tell a Burroughs story. Because any type of literal adaptation of the book would probably be banned in every country on Earth...well maybe not Japan where incidentally you can buy the insect/asshole type writer (Who can say Christmas wish?)
So yeah if you like "wierd movies" you'll like this, if you like William S. Burroughs or David Cronenberg you should like it, everyone esle though, approach with caution, even for "drug" cinema, there really isn't anything like this. -
June 26, 2008
Very good, but excessively strange, often simply for the sake of it. Apparently based loosely on the book and the life story of it's creator, who got messed up on heroin and murdered his wife
- it doesn't take wild imagination to see the metaphors throughout - in fact, this film leaves very little to the imagination at any and every point.
A bit too much. -
March 28, 2008This is not a movie to watch at 2 in the morning. I am still confused as to which is reality and which is hallucination.
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March 24, 2008
Movie adaptation of the classic William Burroughs novel. One of Cronenberg's best. Great cast, great acting, bizarre plot. Don't watch this if you don't like weird movies.
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March 20, 2008
I didn't particualary like all the scenes, however the kafka references, the frames and the twists make this a highly interesting movie.
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March 12, 2008
hablar de la obra de willam s burroughs no es nada sencillo, sino mas bien todo lo contrario. sus textos, verdaderos laberintos de la mente, son acidos, polemicos, extraños pero siempre polemicos. a la hora de llevar una adpatación de su libro mas famoso a la pantalla, no podria haber sido otro que cronenberg quien se ponga en esa dificil tarea.
se sabe: naked lunch es un libro intrincado, del que muy pocas cosas quedan claras, algo innearrable, dificilmente adaptable.
pero bueno, cronenberg lo hizo. y mas alla de hablar de la pelicula en si (que si uno no esta bastante familiarizado con la obra de burroughs, puede llegar a ser algo muy complicado), tiene, entre muchos de sus logros, justamente ese: el de hacer posible algo imposible, narrar lo innenarrable. -
March 9, 2008
Amazing. Cronenberg's best work IMO. A trip from start to end, not for the close minded. William S's work was done great justice in this movie.
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March 5, 2008
David Cronenberg did the impossible with this one: He filmed a virtually unfilmable novel, and did so expertly. Highly recommended for Cronenberg fans, everyone else, run away.
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March 3, 2008
It can not get any weirder than this. But I did overall like this film. Just be ready for some over the top hallucinations and sex.
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February 21, 2008
A failed writer decides to inject himself with insecticide, kills his wife, and starts hallucinating. Now, bearing in mind that this is a Cronenberg film, these are no ordinary hallucinations. You haven't lived till you've seen a couple having sex with a hermaphrodite typewriter. Visually, it's what Terry Gilliam would produce if he got depressed and took lots of acid. Not a bad film, but a definite case of style over substance.
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February 11, 2008
my hubby loves this movie...and i think this is one of the most disturbing movies of all time...i cant get myself to watch it...but i know he loves this!
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February 3, 2008
Bizarre and erotic, a fascinating work where the desires and every obscure emotion of the writer is explored and brought out for all to see, the perversities and confusion of a writer and the creativity and confusion and difficulties are stretched out. Very similar to Cocteau's Death of a Poet, innovative like it too, especially the scene where the guy talks but the lips don't sync, personally one of the best scenes in the movie and some shots of the reflection were really beautiful.
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January 31, 2008
Moi et le surréalisme, nous nous marrierons. Non, peut-être pas à ce point là, mais je n'arrive pas à concevoir la raison de mon attraction envers le surréalisme tandis que le postmodernisme me répugne et m'épuise. Devrais-je plutôt me tourner vers l'absurde et le burlesque? Le fait est que Naked Lunch m'a vraiment fasciné du début jusqu'à la fin, et ce, peu importe ce qu'en dise les critiques. Cronenberg réalise un film qui s'inscrit dans la ligne sacrée des réalisations surréalistes et fait presque même rougir par là le Pape Breton.
Ce qui est merveilleux, c'est que, non seulement le spectateur retient ce qu'il veut bien retenir du film, mais que, contrairement au pur surréalisme, chaque élément a un lien, il est sous-entendu, sous-relié par une conspiration qui guette la monotonie. Par sa machine à écrire, Bill Lee exprime son inconscient. Par Cronenberg, nous exprimons aussi le nôtre.
Ce film, n'eût été du surréalisme, en serait un kafkaïen. -
January 19, 2008
I didn't know how to grade it or what to think of it at all. The movie is for sure disgusting (considering those awful bugs) and it is very personal, as the movie is based on a novel written by Burroughs and as immpossible as it seems, some things that are happening in this movie really happened to this writer. I wouldn't watch it again, but I do find it special.
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January 16, 2008
Hank: See, you can't rewrite, 'cause to rewrite is to deceive and lie, and you betray your own thoughts. To rethink the flow and the rhythm, the tumbling out of the words, is a betrayal, and it's a sin, Martin, it's a sin.
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January 14, 2008
among the 5 weirdest films i ever seen..!!spectacular direction and verry well made screenplay from the book..!!i didn't believe this book could be put on screen..!!well it did..!!
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December 21, 2007
Some one say that this classic Bourroughs book couldn't be translated to a film. The craziness of this TRIP is the perfect illussion, just like in a dream, or life sometims, nothin makes sense in itself but ecerithng does. The perfevt tranlation from book to flm makes a fantastic, terrific, surrealist , beatnick dark and brillian masterpiece. The exepyion to he rule that stands "Tradutore traitore"
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November 28, 2007
Probably one of my favorite Cronenberg movies.. because lets face it, he doesnt do a lot of good stuff
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October 22, 2007
A completely surreal experience where the viewer feels like he's on drugs, thinking he knows what's happening but is never completely sure. Hints of reality cleverly seep through into lead character, Bill Lee's, consciousness but never quite gel there. Cronenberg boldly incorporates his own themes as well as William S. Burroughs's novel and personal experiences into what is perhaps the most original adaptation of any novel.
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October 19, 2007
Although this is an adaptation, it has to be among the most creative, original films ever made. Cronenberg's stamp is all over Burrough's novel and beyond the novel, incorporating parts of the author's life and other things from the director's vast imagination. As a film it is unthinkable, although slightly more conventional than the book.
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October 15, 2007
Boy was this dense. It's almost too odd to really take a stance on. I mean I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I can't interpret it really.
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October 8, 2007
I give this movie 3.5 for sheer creativity. I don't think it was enjoyable enough for a 3.5, but I like originality.
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September 3, 2007
Challenging, disturbing, meditative and dowright bizzare. Not exactly a great date movie. The surreal nature is strangely compelling. A one-of-a-kind Cronenberg experience.
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August 11, 2007
An attempt to be a take on William S. Burroughs, the movie is mostly about him writing the book while he's on some crazy drug. Filled with gay sex and talking insect typewriters.
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July 31, 2007
Adaptation libre du célèbre roman de William Burroughs. Wow, ça c'est un film bizarre. Des extra-terrestres éjaculant de la drogue, des centipèdes géants et une machine à écrire qui se transforme en cafard qui parle par un gigantesque anus! Si c'est pas assez étrange pour vous... Mais malgré cet univers déstabilisant, le film réussit à conserver une certaine intrigue qui garde l'intérêt du spectateur, bien que selon moi l'intérêt se situe plutôt au niveau du scénario inusité et du visuel halluciné. Je ne pense pas que ce film puisse plaire à tout le monde, mais dans le pire des cas c'est quand même une curiosité qui vaut la peine d'être vue. J'ai bien aimé.
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July 26, 2007
Good lord, this is a great movie. Greater book, but a great movie. Cronenberg is a great director, to be honest, I'd never thought this book could become a movie, but oh well...
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July 24, 2007
The typewriter bugs make me feel pukey every time, but I can't stop watching this film. It's important to remember that this is not an adaptation of Burrough's book. It's more like the 'story behind the book,' it's about a feel, a tone, a skewed way of looking at the world that filmmaker Cronenberg shares with author Burrough.
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July 21, 2007
Just completely surreal to say the least. But Cronenberg deffinatly got the feel of William S. Burrows classic book. I mean the typewriter had a sphincter!
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July 17, 2007
An awesome take on a book that is truly unfilmable. To those who say it was to different , its different in a way that let it see the light of day. I suggest this for any body who enjoys a good mind fuck
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July 9, 2007
The film and the book are two totally different beings, yet also one in the same. The novel is virtually unfilmable in it's original form. I loved Cronenberg's take on the story! It is absolutely brilliant the way he incorporated Peter Weller's hallucinations. Weller's monotone/mumbling performance is so perfect! I believe this to be one of those "love it or hate it" films.
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July 5, 2007
Foquer rare. C'est normal car c'est une nouvelle de William S. Burroughs. Mais c'est dangereusement bien réalisé
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June 29, 2007
Not quite as disturbing and weird as the book, but about the weirdest movie you'll see from a western director.
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June 28, 2007
A bizarre head trip as seen through the eyes of a writer being investigated by "Interzone". Cronenberg's style is a perfect match for the material, and the resulting confusion is entertaining and intriguing. The movie never pretends it's going to tie things together in the end, thus be warned, if that sort of thing frustrates you.
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June 26, 2007
Cronenberg is unpredictable. And I like it. Because he always surprises me with something unusual.
Naked Lunch is my favourite of Cronenberg, but I haven't seen Crash yet... -
June 12, 2007
Tied with Adaptation as the best adaptation of all time. I first watched it in my teens when it first came out and was very impressed but confused by it's outlandishness. Now that I know who William S. Burroughs is and have attempted to read Naked Lunch I appreciate this film even more.
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June 12, 2007
It doesnt get much wierder than this.... EXCEPT... the weidest film of all time 'Bed Sitting room' by Spike Milligan...again not listed Damn!
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May 29, 2007
Swanky, sweaty, surreal, and....sexy? Cronenberg's Naked Lunch has more in common, theme and plotwise, with Burrough's later cut-up "Nova Trilogy," though there's plenty for fans to catch. Guaranteed to profoundly disturb anyone unfamiliar with Burroughs, and quite nearly everyone who is.
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May 17, 2007
book is better. this movie seems to be more about the writer (william s. burroughs) than the actual book it's named for.
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May 14, 2007
I almost forgot all about this movie, first movie to ever make me feel "dirty" while watching it, Cronenberg takes a book that is basically unfilmable, and makes a brilliant, although not always coherent, masterpiece, definitely worth a viddy, oh my brothers
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May 9, 2007
ok here it is - the most confusing, bizarre, irrational movie ive ever tried to comprehend or watch - i gave up and decided to play video games instead lol
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May 2, 2007
Definitely one of my top Cronenberg favourites! Absolutely brilliant! So freaky and funny and scary and beautiful! One of Cronenberg's best!
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March 14, 2007
by far the most strangest movie i have ever seen in my life
there are parts of it i still don't get
and i have seen it over 30 times
i love it
yes i already know i need therapy -
March 10, 2007
okay, anyone who attempts to put a william burroughs novel to film has some respect in my book. i loved this movie, but most will not care for it.
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March 2, 2007
Far more entertaining than the book itself is this conception of how the book might have been written.
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February 26, 2007
The ultimate cult film about the writer, William S. Burroughs and his life and the story behind his novel of the same name.
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February 24, 2007
An outrageous journey in and through the bizarre world of dope, beatnoks 0f '50s, and fame...if you like or know anything about Burroughs life after the "William Telli-sh" murder of his wife... much about drugs thier influence and the early beat movement
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February 22, 2007
This movie made absolutely no sense. However, the nonsensical aspect of it all was so solid and consistent that, in a strange way.... it made it's own kind of sense. Get it? And so, I followed this movie along, and as time went on, the movie became less and less strange. This really frightened me. So much so, that I immediately picked up the phone afterwards and made an appointment with a psychiatrist. The results? Well, guess where I'm typing this review from?
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February 11, 2007
If there was no better scene in the movie than when Ian Holm starts speaking over his own dialouge, this would still do it for me. I loved this movie.
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February 9, 2007
Not being a direct adaptation of Naked Lunch pissed off a lot of Burroughs fans, but really what did you expect? Instead, Cronenberg takes Burroughs' literary mythos, and the semiautobiographical nature of some of Burroughs' writings, and adds his Cronenberg style to make the beautifully disturbing world of WSB come to life. I think Burroughs and Cronenberg are a match made in Hell, and that this film works well. Peter Weller gives one of his best performances, to boot.
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January 30, 2007now this sounds like a really interesting show! Yeah right. the name is enough to scare you of. i'd rather eat my lunch when it's dressed
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January 29, 2007
Perserve, but not as much as the book. Worth a look for Peter Weller and of course if you like Cronenberg you'll be at home here. Slow
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January 10, 2007
I bought this film wanting to see one of David Cronenberg's more extreme films (I chose this one because I thought "Videodrome" might be too much for me). Weird doesn't even begin to describe this movie and the only thing I can imagine comparing it to is "Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas" and that isn't a very good comparision. Ultimitely, I think I liked this film and appreciate how shocked I was with it's content. Without going into to much detail, I will say that amount that the subject of homosexuality was weaved into the story was a total surprise by me. I knew that drug usage would play a part in this film, but it also played a much larger part than I had expected. This film is not for everyone.
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January 2, 2007
Well here it goes with "Naked Lunch" As much have been into werid and unexplainable movies this one really took me there, and i know i was alittle late cuz this movie was release in 91. its still stands as a movie ahead its time. But fantastic acting and plot. William S. Burroughs's story was intresting enough make you realize if he actually did encounter giant bugs. a must see for sci fi fans.
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December 31, 2006
Because there aren't enough movies about insectoid typewriters, getting high on bug spray and extracting mugwump...juice.
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December 28, 2006
This is one Messed up movie! thats really all i can say about, if youve seen it you can understand!
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December 27, 2006
Beyond bizarre. You would expect that with Cronenberg of course, but even I didn't expect talking bugs.
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December 24, 2006
This movie includes a giant bug that talks out of an anus on its back. You're either sold or you're very much not.
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November 10, 2006
Naked Lunch, directed by David Cronenberg starts off interesting, however after the first forty minutes it declines rapidly. The narrative becomes very old and repetitive and in some places is confusing. The performances by Peter Weller and Judy David were good. Personally I much prefer eXistenZ by David Cronenberg, done later.
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October 25, 2006
Exterminate all rational thought,Cronenberg is genious.He did what everyone was saying it is impossible to make this book's movie.
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October 20, 2006
Burroughs and Cronenberg. Do I have to say anything else? Plus the commentary states that Peter Weller has a Master's and plays the trumpet.
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October 17, 2006
Hmm, as a huge fan of Burroughs i felt this totally missed the mark, based thinly on the novel of the same name and thinly on Burroughs himself (such as shooting his partner in the head). I think it was extremely brave to attempt to film the book but it ultimately fails.
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October 3, 2006
a real love it/don't understand it flick and i fucking love it and understand it and a career best performance from Paul Weller
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October 1, 2006
Almost unwatchable, but sporadically entertaining. "I can think of at least two things wrong with that title..."
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September 24, 2006
Off-putting, challenging, confusing... and gooey. A true Cronenberg gem, with something new to pick up on each time you watch it.
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September 18, 2006
I was thoroughly impressed that an adaptation of the book into a movie was even possible.. but they achully did a pretty good job.. and man, there are some really freaky things in here too..
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