eXistenZ - what is real?

[Bluebell]

when i saw this movie years ago it made a big impression on me. i remember it came out at the same time as The Matrix and The Matrix stole all the attention. i was really annoyed by that. eXistenZ is a more intimate and less clinical take on virtual reality and what reality really is. it's also beautiful and visceral like all or most Cronenberg movies. but it made me realize nothing can be proven as more real than something else. everything and nothing is real. what is reality but a playground?

also JJL is always a treat to look at.

[AnthroHeart]

I remember when seeing that guy that played in the Lord of the Rings there as Bilbo Baggins.
I don't recall his part though.

And when she hooked into a diseased pod I thought that was weird.

[Matt1]

I think Real is simply a changing perspective of an individual consciousness. What is real or not real is simply ones evolving opinion.

[APeacefulWarrior]

Yep. You should see Cronenberg's earlier "Videodrome," if you haven't. It covers many of the same themes, about how technology is warping people's ability to tell what's real and desensitizing people to violence. (Although like a lot of Cronenberg's stuff, there's a fair amount of body horror stuff and general squickyness.)

Also, speaking of movies overshadowed by The Matrix, "The Thirteenth Floor" ALSO came out that same year and is a neat little sci-fi noir about humans creating virtual life. It's among my favorite 90s SciFi films that few people know about.

[Matt1]

Videodrome is a great film, they live as well. the network too

[APeacefulWarrior]

Speaking of Network (and risking going off-topic) the recent movie "Nightcrawler" is something of an update of it. It's basically what would happen if Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver got dropped into Network. Jake Gyllenhal stars as an incredibly creepy loner/sociopath type who gets a job as an overnight ambulance-chaser, getting bloody footage for morning news shows to scare people with. Then he branches out into making his own news.

[Bluebell]

Also, speaking of movies overshadowed by The Matrix, "The Thirteenth Floor" ALSO came out that same year and is a neat little sci-fi noir about humans creating virtual life.  It's among my favorite 90s SciFi films that few people know about.

oh i've actually seen that.  didn't know it came out that year too. Craig Bierko is in that.

[Minyatur]

The cool part of the Matrix was that machines used humans as electricity generators though.

[Bluebell]

i thought that was cool too. and the goo.

[Monica]

Also, speaking of movies overshadowed by The Matrix, "The Thirteenth Floor" ALSO came out that same year and is a neat little sci-fi noir about humans creating virtual life.  It's among my favorite 90s SciFi films that few people know about.

oh i've actually seen that.  didn't know it came out that year too. Craig Bierko is in that.

I saw it too and liked it. Now you've got me interested in eXistenZ.

[AnthroHeart]

The Lathe of Heaven (the older one). His dreams alter reality.

[Bluebell]

sounds good Gemini Wolfe!

[AnthroHeart]

when i saw this movie years ago it made a big impression on me. i remember it came out at the same time as The Matrix and The Matrix stole all the attention. i was really annoyed by that. eXistenZ is a more intimate and less clinical take on virtual reality and what reality really is. it's also beautiful and visceral like all or most Cronenberg movies. but it made me realize nothing can be proven as more real than something else. everything and nothing is real. what is reality but a playground?

also JJL is always a treat to look at.

I can't view it in my country because of copyright reasons.