Rating: 
Summary: NOT NAKED ENOUGH
Review: "Exterminate all rational thought." Packed with extras, the new digital edition of David Cronenberg's adaptation of William Burrough's NAKED LUNCH stars Peter Weller, who plays Burrough's as a monotonic wife-killing misanthrope engulfed by hellish visions. This macabre comedy attempts to makes rational the irrational but does not quite gell as a film. Nice try.
Rating: 
Summary: It's a Kafka high
Review: Criterion makes the very best DVDs and "Naked Lunch" is an amazing addition to the collection. Beautiful in every respect... from booklet and menu design to audio and video transfer quality. And the outstanding supplemental material includes: William Burroughs reading excerpts from his novel, a fascinating commentary from the filmmakers and an hour long documentary on the making of the film. As for the film itself: it's disturbing, beautiful and challenging... just what you'd expect from director David Cronenberg.
Rating:
Summary: It'll "Bug" Ya
Review: Whack. Wigiddy-wigiddy-whack! Cronenberg's Naked Lunch makes it to Criterion, I was starting to worry. Needless to say, this movie doesn't appeal to a very broad range of people. About 5% of the movie going population perhaps. If you haven't though, rent it first. Taking a financial gamble on this dvd could be a big mistake if your dvd collection is littered with titles like Dude, Where's My Car? and Kangaroo Jack. This film, like all of Cronenberg's films, is messed up-really messed up. Leaves you with that cold feeling at the end. But even though you got that feeling, you can't shake the movie off right away and you can't help but admit that you've just been on a helluva ride. Many slam this movie coz of how far it strays from it's source material. Well, c'mon now! Cronenberg's not a dumb man-he obviously knew how impossible the novel was to film. But it's obvious he loves Burroughs and wanted to do a project involving him. Even on the dvd you see that Burroughs himself endorsed this project 100%. This is a Cronenberg movie, not a Burroughs movie. He only uses what he needed from the novel. Similar to Kubrick, who made a fantastic version of The Shining, though it had very little to do with King's novel. Cronenberg decided to do a movie very much like Soderbergh's Kafka, where the film's main character is the author himself thrown into his own literary creations. Basically, this film could be called, "William Burroughs as seen through the eyes of David Cronenberg." If you can accept that, then you should like this film. Criterion has done another great job handling this dvd. It comes with a cool documentary from 91, a commentary(I was hoping for that), and even Burroughs himself reading from Naked Lunch. Pretty cool. My wife despised the flick, so I wouldn't suggest it for a romantic evening coz she will NOT be in the mood after the film. But I'd strongly encourage you to rent it on your own, or if you like the flick, get the Criterion.
Rating: 
Summary: Drugs must make it better
Review: Smoke another doobie if you watch this one. Extremely bizarre and disturbing.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome to Interzone...
Review: If David Cronenberg was the ideal filmmaker to adapt William S. Burroughs' complex novel, Naked Lunch, into a film, then the Criterion Collection is the perfect company to finally release this challenging movie on DVD. Both have never shied away from releasing challenging material (Cronenberg with Crash and Criterion with Salo), so it is rather appropriate that their paths should converge on this particular project.The first DVD features an audio commentary with director David Cronenberg and actor Peter Weller. The filmmaker has always provided thoughtful, informative tracks and this one is no different. For those not familiar with Burroughs' life or his body work, both men go into great detail about how the film is a pastiche of prose and real life incidents. This track is a good listen for the uninitiated, confused by all of the surreal imagery, and for the hardcore fan, with the in-depth discussions of all things Burroughs. The second DVD starts off with a real treat for Cronenberg fans. "Naked Making Lunch" is a fantastic documentary made by Cronenberg expert, Chris Rodley in 1991. Rodley had complete access to the production and so there is some great behind-the-scenes footage here. There are several still galleries located on this disc: a special effects, film stills and a small collection of photographs of Burroughs with his fellow Beat writers by poet and friend, Allen Ginsberg. For Burroughs fans there is an hours worth of audio of the writer reading excerpts from Naked Lunch. Nothing beats hearing the ancient, sardonic drawl of the man reading his own work. The Criterion Collection has provided a solid compilation of supplemental material that puts the film into the proper context and helps in understanding this complex test. They have also provided extras that will please fans already familiar with both artists' work-it's a tricky balancing act that Criterion pulls off effortlessly.
Rating: 
Summary: People Spotting in Interzone...
Review: This, almost 'absurd', drama is one of my favourite films of the nineties. It is intriguingly nonsensical, and stylistically lush in its execution. A very fitting tribute to not only William Burroughs himself, but to his fans: Knowing the life history of Burroughs as well as a familiarity with his work and milieu will allow you to formulate a very tentative semblance of meaning from all the strange happenings in this drug induced 'reality' (an oxymoron?). Jack Kerouac and Allan Ginsberg are depicted, albeit very obtusely. But one thing that doesn't seem to get much of a mention is that Iam Holms' and Judy Davis'(Interzone based) characters are infact also a depiction, in this instance of Paul and Jane Bowles - famous in their own right, both well respected writers living in Tangier/Interzone (Interzone being a depiction of Tangier, which was at that time an International Zone). Paul Bowles wrote 'The Sheltering Sky', a book that will appeal to anyone interested in Beat writers (Paul often being referred to as the 'guru of the beats'(much to his chagrin)). Infact much of their lives is referred to in this movie: Janes affair with a Moroccan woman (Chefira), and Pauls' relationship with a local Moroccan man (Muhammad Mhrabet?). Now these two are crying out for a movie of their own. And this is why I give this movie 4 instead of 5 stars: One would be forgiven for thinking that the Bowles' and William had alot to do with eachother and were intimately involved in eachothers lives after watching this movie. When infact Paul only met William a few times, and Jane actually didn't like William much at all (she having her own neurosis to deal with). Thus I am left with the feeling that Cronenberg overplayed their importance in Burroughs biography for the sake of substantiating Burroughs time in Interzone/Tangier. But I am being churlish and I digress... Regarding the special features, the booklet is exquisite and erudite; doesn't insult your intelligence and assumes you already appreciate Burroughs without being polemical (is that such a word?). Also the commentary is great, Peter Weller is obviously a big fan of the Burroughs and also helps to explain some of the symbolism. Anyway, this is one of the few movies to deal with this Tangier based group of misfits and incredibly influential bunch of artisits and for that I am thankful.
Rating:
Summary: The centepedes are getting downright arrogant!
Review: This movie is incredible and it makes me laugh quite a bit. Thank God for David Cronenberg for wanting to tackle the amazingly abstract work of author William Burroughs. It works. Well. On many different levels. Firstly, it's true to the novels and life of the late author. (The Death of his Wife, Junk sickness, dialogue from Interzone, etc.) Secondly, it works wel as a David Cronenberg film. (Weird bodily secretions and disfunctions, ripped apart or mangled human flesh, dark outlook on world) It's all here, friends Kerouac and Ginsberg with different names, mugwumps, a giant grasshopper that kills a young boy after sex, anything and everything. Watch it if you can handle it. Me? I love it. "Say, Bill. Would you rub some of this powder on my lips?"
Rating:
Summary: It's about time...
Review: It's about time that this movie gets a fantastic dvd treatment. I read the book back in the late 80's during Banned Books Week, and I found it the most bizarre and fasinating novel that I have ever read. Then in '91 when I heard that David Cronenberg was making a movie out of this novel, I thought that there is no way that this can be turned into a movie. I saw this movie opening week and sat there in stunned silence during the end credits. And though "My God, he did it." Watch this film, and don't try to figure it out in the fist sitting. Instead watch this film for what it is. That is a wonderful film by a truely gifted and brilliant filmmaker.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent film, Excellent DVD
Review: All I have to say is this: IS THERE NOTHING CRITERION CANNOT DO? FOR FANS OF THE FILM, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR BY BUYING THIS DVD. IT WILL BE THE CROWN OF YOUR COLLECTION, NO DOUBT.
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Summary: JOURNEY TO INTERZONE.....
Review: In NYC, 1953, married couple Bill and Joan Lee are addicted to a narcotic roach powder Bill has access to through his job as an exterminator. When he's arrested by narcotic agents, they introduce him to a giant talking bug kept in a suitcase that informs Bill he is being recruited by a subversive agency and must kill his wife as she is an enemy agent. Bill breaks free and returns home where he "accidentally" shoots Joan in the head playing their usual game of "William Tell". He panics and escapes to a seedy waterfront bar frequented by gay men and meets a humanoid bug creature that tells him he must go to Interzone where he will learn more about his situation. Interzone is an exotic, North African type city where the most seductive of drugs is manufactured from centipedes. There, he meets writers whose typewriters morph into typewriter size talking bugs. One of the writers is Joan Frost, a doppelganger for Bill's "late" wife Joan. Once ensconced in Interzone, Bill is confronted with his personal demons: drug addiction, paranoia, conspiracy theories, repressed homosexuality and his own frustrated desire to write...specifically, a novel to be called "Naked Lunch". David Cronenberg wrote and directed this incredible film based on the writings of William S. Burroughs and patterned the character of Bill after him. The film is hallucinatory, strange, with grotesque elements involving giant mutated bugs that may disgust those with lesser tolerance for challenging viewing. However, it's extremely well made and acted with Peter Weller as the numb and dazed Bill, Judy Davis as both Joans and Julian Sands, Ian Holm in odd character roles, and Roy Scheider in a bizarre role as Dr.Benway. The ending brings the film full circle as you come to understand the tortuous process of writing a novel and how one man's mind produced a masterpiece of underground literature during an age when normality seemed to be the only option. That is until the beat writers paved the way for future writers to explore the dark aspects of the human psyche. "Naked Lunch" is a must for Cronenberg fans and for those familiar with Burroughs and the beat writers of the 50's. References to a couple of those underground writers appear as friends of Bill's. There's an excellent moody progressive jazz soundtrack by Howard Shore that's true to the era and great 50's period design and atmosphere with faithfully recreated costumes by Denise Cronenberg. DVD package includes a good booklet with essays on "Naked Lunch" and Burroughs plus a second supplementary disc that includes a documentary on the film's making. I can't recommend this package enough. It's in a league of it's own. For those enthusiasts, exterminate all rational thought and enjoy.
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