A word of advice: Don't go to see Brandon Cronenberg's unsettling Antiviral if you're getting over a cold or have recently undergone a medical procedure that involved the withdrawal of blood or a skin biopsy. The 33-year-old filmmaker's debut feature makes such effective use of hypodermic needles and flesh samples that I left the screening room on unsteady feet, feeling like I'd just donated a pint of my own plasma. But do go see the movie. more »
Possibly setting a record for most images of needles piercing human skin in a motion picture, Brandon Cronenberg’s syringe-tastic Antiviral suggests the fledgling filmmaker has some corporeal-horror preoccupations in common with famous dad David. Set in an icy near-future where celebrities’ diseases are sold like crack vials, this creepy speculative satire tends to hit the same notes in its dissection of seriously unhealthy celebrity obsession, but exerts a queasy fascination regardless. Overlong Canadian production may prove too clinically distanced for gorehounds and too yucky for specialty auds, though the Cronenberg imprimatur is sure to stir theatrical interest. more »
King of body horror David Cronenberg hasn't dipped his toes back into the creepy-crawly well in years (his next, the Rob Pattinson starrer Cosmopolis, arrives later this month) but fear not: son Brandon Cronenberg is here to follow in his father's footsteps with his own disturbing directorial debut! Who's hungry for a story about cloned flesh-chomping, disease-surfing celeb hobbyists? Snack on the trailer for Antiviral after the jump.
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The Toronto International Film Festival unveiled its Canadian lineup Wednesday, including new work from Sarah Polley, Bruce Sweeney, Xavier Dolan, Michael McGowan and Bernard Émond. Today's 19 titles will screen in the September festival's various sections. The lineup also spotlights first-time feature work from Jason Buxton, Brandon Cronenberg, Igor Drljaca and Kate Melville.
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