Video Essay: “The Trippiest Movies Ever Made”

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This Friday, David Cronenberg unleashes Cosmopolis, a film which marks something of a return to the filmmaker’s roots; after the rather straight-forward (for him, at least) storytelling of A History of Violence, Eastern Promises, and A Dangerous Method, Cosmopolis finds the filmmaker returning to his signature style of mind-blowing visuals and mind-bending narratives. In celebration of Cronenberg and the other filmmakers who’ve blessed us with some of the more far-out cinematic works, our latest video essay assembles some of our favorite images from the trippiest movies ever made. Check it out after the jump:

CREDITS: Editor: Jason Bailey Music: “Red Is the Night” by The Accent Films (in order of appearance): The Trip (1967, Roger Corman), Head (1968, Bob Rafelson), Glaze of Cathexis (1990, Stan Brakhage), Allegro Non Troppo (1976, Bruno Bozzetto), Natural Born Killers (1994, Oliver Stone), Fantasia (1940, Armstrong, Algar, et. al), 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Stanley Kubrick), Viva La Muerte (1971, Fernando Arrabal), The Holy Mountain (1973, Alejandro Jodorowsky), Performance (1970, Donald Cammell and Nicholas Roeg), Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg), Dark City (1998, Alex Proyas), Belle De Jour (1967, Luis Buñuel), Eraserhead (1977, David Lynch), El Topo (1970, Alejandro Jodorowsky), Tetsouro, the Iron Man (1989, Shin’ya Tsukamoto), Inland Empire (2006, David Lynch), Dead Alive (1992, Peter Jackson), Waking Life (2001, Richard Linklater), Anchorman (2004, Adam McKay), Mulholland Dr. (2001, David Lynch), Un Chien Andalou (1929, Luis Buñuel), Requiem for a Dream (2000, Darren Aronofsky), Lost Highway (1997, David Lynch), Pi (1998, Darren Aronofsky), Easy Rider (1969, Dennis Hopper), The Big Lebowski (1998, Joel Coen), Naked Lunch (1991, David Cronenberg), Skidoo (1968, Otto Preminger), Being John Malkovich (1999, Spike Jonze).

Check out our recent video essays: “Faces: 105 of Cinema’s Most Beautiful Close-Ups” “135 Shots That Will Restore Your Faith in Cinema” “All of Woody’s Surrogates” “Wes Anderson’s Favorite New York Movies” “The Semi-Obligatory Lyrical Interlude (A Case Study)”