BRIAN DE PALMA

[Pubrick]

don't buy it,. unless ur into buying things u only watch once.

snake eyes has sum replay value at least for the start.. mission to mars is just wack. but not as atrocious as the critics say, i saw it once when i was really hung over and it made me feel better. whatever that's worth.

[modage]

i havent seen it since the theatre, but i seem to remember that there is cool camerawork and some long takes and such, but its pretty bad.  but, if you REALLY love depalma, maybe its 'good bad' where its watchable.

[Stefen]

I just watched casualties of war for the first time tonight. I never kenw this had so many people in it at easrly stages of their careers, C. Reilly, Leguizamo, David Keith (or is it Keith David, i know im not the only one who gets these two guys names confused). I liked it, but I didn't like Michael J Fox, he seemed very out of place. Plus I think I enjoyed it more because I bought it for $5.50 in the wal-mart bargain bin (along with Seinfelds Comedian) It didn't seem like Depalma at all for some reason, I can't pinpoint why though. Overall I give it a B-

[Henry Hill]

stefen...no mention of sean penn? its my favorite role of his.

[modage]

I just skimmed over the rest of this thread, because i started my De Palma week a few nights ago, and realized that somewhere between then and now i've been somewhat of a convert to the De Palma church.



first we watched BODY DOUBLE, which was a shameless rip-off (combination) of VERTIGO and REAR WINDOW, but with tons of sex thrown in and an extremely 80's look.  but it was sort of good.  because some of the themes of the film like 'real vs artiface' that was set up in the first five minutes and returned at the end in the ditch, made you think maybe this piece of trash had a point?  and it was stylish as hell, and it was kind of cool.  
 


next up was OBSESSION, which was a shameless rip-off (combination) of VERTIGO and REBECCA, but with Uncle Ben from Spider-Man and a pretty cool twist ending.  at this point i sort of realized that the feel of these movies isnt strictly a hip hitchcock update for the 70's or 80's, but somehow combined the feel of the more arty foreign films like BlowUp, etc. with hitchcocks suspense (and story ideas) and a modern (for the time) feel.  which was sort of cool, i thought.



then it was time for THE FURY, which unfortunately wasnt a hitchcock rip-off, but a muddled storytelling combination of Carrie and a govt conspiracy.  the movie couldnt decide if it wanted to be with Kurt Douglas or Amy Irving.  it wasnt very suspenseful and i would say it was almost not worth watching had it not been for the AMAZING full body explosion at the end that happened at (i counted) THIRTEEN (thats right 13) different camera angles!  the last two minutes of the film should be shown as its own short film, and i would say 'brilliant!'

i guess, as i said to my girlfriend if you didnt know better, it might seem like his movies are terrible.  but somehow, if you happen to like what he does THE SHAMELESS HITCHCOCK STEALING EROTIC THRILLER, then you'll have a lot more fun.  i used to only like his more non-depalma movies like Untouchables, Mission Impossible, Carlitos Way etc. but ever since Femme Fatale sort of clicked with me i've been finding his movies a whole lot more interesting.  next up is Phantom of the Paradise and Bonfire of the Vanities.

[modage]

okay, we finished off our DePalma week on quite a painful stretch with Bonfire of the Vanities, which was just...not good at all.  and Phantom of the Paradise which was ridiculously awful to the point of being almost watchable.  BOTV was just disatrous all around, bad overacting from everybody in the film, characters you couldnt give a shit about, etc.  i had heard what a disaster it was but still couldnt believe it might have something worthwhile about it.  it doesnt.  POTP might be good if you like camp like this, but i really dont.

[MacGuffin]

okay, we finished off our DePalma week on quite a painful stretch with Bonfire of the Vanities, which was just...not good at all.

Now that you've seen it, I highly recommend this book and you'll know why it was failed production right from the start:

[picolas]

could someone please tell me specifically why i also hate that movie?

[Henry Hill]

Nobody should EVER see Raising Cain.  EVER!

[Pubrick]

Nobody should EVER see Raising Cain.  EVER!

i'm watching it right now!

[eward]

Nobody should EVER see Raising Cain.  EVER!

no but they should, if they enjoy having fun.  intentional cheese to the max, just splendid.

[eward]

so yeah, anyway, i just watched blow out again and i felt like posting here because that classic is keeping me from sleep.  De Palma is a master.  ive seen almost all of his films with the exceptions of mission to mars and  snake eyes, but im in no hurry to pick em up.  the few i dont like are scarface, body double, wise guys and bonfire.  blow out, carrie, the fury, untouchables i love beyond belief, and the rest are, at the very least, just great masterful bits of entertainment.  i love depalma.

[SHAFTR]

first we watched BODY DOUBLE, which was a shameless rip-off (combination) of VERTIGO and REAR WINDOW, but with tons of sex thrown in and an extremely 80's look.  but it was sort of good.  because some of the themes of the film like 'real vs artiface' that was set up in the first five minutes and returned at the end in the ditch, made you think maybe this piece of trash had a point?  and it was stylish as hell, and it was kind of cool.  

I don't think I've ever seen a movie that was such a combination of great and bad.  There are many sequences in this film that are just great, Hitchcock inspired, but great.  Than there are sequences that are pretty bad and the writing is pretty bad at points but I still loved it.  I was either having fun watching it due to it's craft or to it's cheesy 80s parts.

[Pastor Parsley]

I voted for Blow Up... and Carrie is a favorite of mine.  A lot of his films are nicely shot and entertaining, but I would never say they are good films.

I have to agree with adolfwolfli on Femme.  It really is laughable as are many of his films.  I think he's so revered because most of the filmmakers who make a b-movies do so by accident, attempting something better.  Where De Palma's purpose from the beginning is to make a b-movie.  I always think of Tarantino as being another De Palma...he makes b-movies on purpose.

B-movies are a genere now and some directors actually try to make them.

[eward]

I voted for Blow Up...

out, my boy, out.