OLIVER REED & ART HINGLE IN DAVID CRONENBERG'S 'THE BROOD'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVR03Pp4vh7MYeuSZMlL2f6KKVTVKPY6DXJprtvtPRCJACw9AGnql98XZzUV3n9bJnQEx7PaCmk5NPWVbKXtTpugG5qFRx1rvpLIz-6ucll7VVqqcWPsWBbc1UHnWo-8Cag4d3lSTXTLztP3L4k6Tpuj31L2XBVpLjLSrsrnAQeDZyOojTuU5zKyFJw/s531/ollie+brood.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="531" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLVR03Pp4vh7MYeuSZMlL2f6KKVTVKPY6DXJprtvtPRCJACw9AGnql98XZzUV3n9bJnQEx7PaCmk5NPWVbKXtTpugG5qFRx1rvpLIz-6ucll7VVqqcWPsWBbc1UHnWo-8Cag4d3lSTXTLztP3L4k6Tpuj31L2XBVpLjLSrsrnAQeDZyOojTuU5zKyFJw/w400-h253/ollie+brood.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1979 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The term “watch your temper” has never been so relevant and palpable than in THE BROOD, where Oliver Reed’s Dr. Hal Raglan, a psychiatrist in complete control of his mentally childlike subjects, has a favorite patient with serious issues: Enter Nola Caverth, played by THE COLLECTOR actress Samantha Eggar, intensely listening to the doctor’s advice… But who's really in charge?</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well neither British actors are the main stars despite top billing: The investigative buried lead is third-billed INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS patient-x Art Hindle as Nola’s separated husband and father of a vulnerable little girl, Candace, played sublimely by Cindy Hinds, aesthetic precursor to Heather O’Rourke from POLTERGEIST...As dad pieces clues together, various characters are stalked by what look like psychotic school kids combined with the pint-sized literal little devil from DON'T LOOK NOW and/or a taller yet equally aggressive TRILOGY OF TERROR's Zuni Fetish Doll: shifting the aura from an intriguing psychological thriller to a genuinely frightening horror flick...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitHqIhWhg3n-cKjUJijkAoPTRphYL563DbffhZzRELJ3BKBllfpelhB5j4vs80J8jV4azc0mNPwceEPRhmfL3BoVGFmAnWGXUCI77tyeAe83PkxaZkWw066uWE00ngYwzNLg-a52ZoRWErbzX1uFaaY4Lhbn7WwLLtT-ry1dmjrXSDW6xiTmBpHEnfQ/s1263/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-09%20at%206.12.54%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1263" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhitHqIhWhg3n-cKjUJijkAoPTRphYL563DbffhZzRELJ3BKBllfpelhB5j4vs80J8jV4azc0mNPwceEPRhmfL3BoVGFmAnWGXUCI77tyeAe83PkxaZkWw066uWE00ngYwzNLg-a52ZoRWErbzX1uFaaY4Lhbn7WwLLtT-ry1dmjrXSDW6xiTmBpHEnfQ/w400-h210/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-09%20at%206.12.54%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Art Hindle in THE BROOD</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With distorted, nightmarish faces and the power to kill anyone connected to Nola’s bitter dream-state, the origin and purpose of the evil tykes should be kept secret. But anyone familiar with THE BROOD already knows what's up. Let’s just say, catharsis has rarely been as creepy, vicious and grotesque.. Horror auteur David Cronenberg keeps the story moving with a dark, ominous pace even though much of the film occurs in the dayligh</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Despite too much scientific dialogue between bloodshed, not always enhancing the storyline, with Oliver Reed spouting exposition, it's forgivable. But humans aside, those killer mutants really steal the show: Too bad they didn’t have a larger playground to wield their lunacy as the best scenes include their body count hunting spree: first with Nola's parents, and then the perfect woman/school teacher (Susan Hogan). And the very, very end, involving a bizarre form of childbirth, should send men right back into the waiting room, chain smoking cigarettes while anticipating the outcome.</p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

art hindle, cindy hinds, david cronenberg, horror, nuala fitzgerald, oliver reed, samantha eggar, seventies, susan hogan

OLIVER REED & ART HINGLE IN DAVID CRONENBERG'S 'THE BROOD'

Year: 1979 Rating: **** The term “watch your temper” has never been so relevant and palpable than in THE BROOD, where Oliver Reed’s Dr. Hal...

DAVID CRONENBERG'S A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhai-cA7a0awHq3Vz8eReFzHkkchct2xIAwS418sldYVZ6cA6zHe2jumUyjz82INwJmKcOR0tPTMBMcKPmtVfd1RUFB2YEgLnSOYLuyMH0EVascXLkaqOfKLFWG8tK5wJ_RVw7MP65mlFyS/s1600/HISTORY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhai-cA7a0awHq3Vz8eReFzHkkchct2xIAwS418sldYVZ6cA6zHe2jumUyjz82INwJmKcOR0tPTMBMcKPmtVfd1RUFB2YEgLnSOYLuyMH0EVascXLkaqOfKLFWG8tK5wJ_RVw7MP65mlFyS/s320/HISTORY.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2005 Score: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Prepare to get serious, very, very serious. Viggo Mortensen plays an average guy with an average family... Well they’re fantastic looking but nothing's extraordinary about their personal lives: residing in a small town dream house and running a local cafe, life’s as easy as it’s simple. Until two vicious thugs rob the place and Viggo displays too much tactical know-how in taking them out single handed, becoming a media hero and bringing attention to… well there’s the plot of this searing, melodramatic tale of a man who might not be what he appears.<br /> <br /> Maria Bello, as his beautiful wife, remains in a blissful, dazed denial about her husband’s true identity, until bigger fish Ed Harris and his formidable goons move in to take Viggo out since he was once, in their opinion, a successful hit man. After all, how could an average Joe be that good with a gun? While EASTERN PROMISES director David Cronenberg sets a nice platform of slowburn suspense, reminiscent of exterior, woodsy Film Noirs like HIGH SIERRA, the good stuff i.e. our hero becoming an antihero takes too long to get happen and once it does… with the 11th hour introduction of a mob boss played by a completely miscast William Hurt… it’s too little, too late. <br /> <br /> Although Viggo Mortensen, displaying an old school tough guy countenance (think early 70's Charles Bronson) does play the part well – there’s simply not enough for his true self to fight for, or against. Based on a graphic novel, this needed to be more... enjoyably violent. But the main problem is the script, so full of ponderous cliches and drawn-out, uninteresting bouts of dialog with brooding characters talking and talking about things almost happening, or just about to happen, yet nothing really ever does.

david cronenberg, ed harris, maria bello, neo noir, suspense, viggo mortensen, zeroes

DAVID CRONENBERG'S A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE

year: 2005 Score: *1/2 Prepare to get serious, very, very serious. Viggo Mortensen plays an average guy with an average family... Well t...

A DANGEROUS METHOD

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClvDPcIHJnwF4M4XHS3QzQH00xkCb8I5Cvw5POQcWvm56-POUphZu_vJEiP_KPfe6RSvekyiErm47GBJqVHn63N_PzJe6Ahc37Pp3RGbyR5z8oNMNW0L6P2Jt5A2bV_YIHrUyQL_YdXrT/s1600/method.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClvDPcIHJnwF4M4XHS3QzQH00xkCb8I5Cvw5POQcWvm56-POUphZu_vJEiP_KPfe6RSvekyiErm47GBJqVHn63N_PzJe6Ahc37Pp3RGbyR5z8oNMNW0L6P2Jt5A2bV_YIHrUyQL_YdXrT/s320/method.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>title</b>: A DANGEROUS METHOD<br /> <b>year:</b> 2011<br /> <b>cast:</b> Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen<br /> <b>rating:</b> **1/2<br /> <br /> The analysis for this biopic directed by David Cronenberg is that Carl Jung, played by a metronomic Michael Fassbender, and Viggo Mortensen’s quietly concentrating Sigmund Freud, didn’t agree on everything. The film begins in turn of the Century England as Jung, a psychoanalyst with a beautiful pregnant wife, takes on a new patient: a savagely unglued Keira Knightley as Sabina Spielrein, a gorgeous Russian woman whose spasmodic tantrums seem more parody than authentic. But Fassbender, remaining calm throughout the tensely nerve-wracking scenes, moves the story forward as he, practicing mentor Sigmund Freud’s methods of psychotherapy, wants to take things a step further – instead of simply diagnosing patients, to provide them a means of recovery. This gives Viggo a genuine, subtle performance, mentoring Jung who's drifting towards a surreptitious affair with Spielrein. Enter Vincent Cassel as Otto Gross, a philandering maverick that Jung’s supposed to treat but who, with a devilish gleam, steers the conservative doctor into the affair that eventually ruins Freud and Jung’s friendship; which had been established through breezy bouts of dialog, each discussing their methods that, despite the title and the usually controversial director, never feels that dangerous. And despite the risque sexual romps with Knightly and Fassbender, the film lacks edge and particular scenes, like both doctors traveling to America, wind up feeling incomplete – yet the acting, reminiscent of a royal stage play, makes up for what the story leaves out… But perhaps it’s the subconscious we’re intended to embrace.

biopic, courtroom drama, david cronenberg, michael fassbender, period piece, viggo mortensen

A DANGEROUS METHOD

title : A DANGEROUS METHOD year: 2011 cast: Michael Fassbender, Viggo Mortensen rating: **1/2 The analysis for this biopic directed ...

EASTERN PROMISES

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51S4e3sDCDtGuoolZr6EG5Htoml8OphoK4wUXLWSUoJ4NiansOtFYvuQXeLkkV2g0Ni480vSQxyOPJ-xx00QJAUxwnAwA8rtHREKNUN64MRP3aimVPBFLY9oB02huzY1JuBiHOz6LmD7I/s1600/VIGGO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh51S4e3sDCDtGuoolZr6EG5Htoml8OphoK4wUXLWSUoJ4NiansOtFYvuQXeLkkV2g0Ni480vSQxyOPJ-xx00QJAUxwnAwA8rtHREKNUN64MRP3aimVPBFLY9oB02huzY1JuBiHOz6LmD7I/s1600/VIGGO.jpg" /></a></div> <b>title:</b> EASTERN PROMISES<br /> <b>year:</b> 2007<br /> <b>cast:</b> Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent Cassel <br /> <b>rating:</b> ****<br /> <br /> In David Cronenberg’s riveting mob exploitation, a dead young girl’s diary provides a posthumous narration while Naomi Watts, as the emergency room nurse who delivers her baby, seeks answers at a restaurant where the girl had worked – but there’s so much she doesn’t know: the owner is a dangerous Russian mobster who wants the diary since it provides information about his only son, a brash, unpredictable firebrand played with a sinister childlike edge by Vincent Cassel. His only friend is the family’s driver/hitman Viggo Mortensen as Nikolai – a Siberian thug  sent to recover the diary and who’d already “cleaned-up” the remains of a spontaneous hit that ignites the movie with the kind of (somewhat gratuitous) ultraviolence occurring throughout, reminiscent of the horror genre where Cronenberg made his ground. But as the director of a suspenseful mob film, and using only a few dark lit locations – each bathed in a stark, Noir inspired visage – he makes each moment seem as if anything can happen at any time. There are a good number of important twists that would be a crime to mention, but what really matters is the dark-edged, underplayed performance of Mortensen – who this reviewer’s been a fan of since his irascibly savage turn in 1991’s THE INDIAN RUNNER. Not since Sally Kirkland's ANNA has an American pulled off an East European accent so well, you don’t even think about it. Armin Mueller-Stahl, as the aged mob boss hiding his own secret, embodies the subtle pride of his Russian lineage with a lethally formidable countenance growing darker as Watts, wonderfully mixing a lithe vulnerability with a spirited strength, gets deeper into a world that she, and perhaps even Nikolai, doesn’t belong.

david cronenberg, mob, naomi watts, neo noir, suspense, viggo mortensen, zeroes

EASTERN PROMISES

title: EASTERN PROMISES year: 2007 cast: Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent Cassel rating: **** In David ...