BRIAN DE PALMA

Started by godardian, May 13, 2003, 02:03:06 PM

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adolfwolfli

#30
July 12, 2003, 11:34:46 AM
Oh my God the single most puzzling thing to me is WHY this man is so revered.  If you take away the fancy camera tricks (which often serve NO purpose) you are left with bad dialogue, bad acting and bad editing.  DePalma seems to be the type of director who is worshipped by people who think talent begins and ends with the ability to stage long Steadicam tracking shots.

Femme Fatale was one of 3 movies in my life that I have turned off half-way through (the other 2 being The Mummy and Haunted Honeymoon).  It was just SO awful.  Pointless slo-mo, cheesy sub-B movie dialogue and cheap nudity, completely incomprehensible plot points, unbelievable coincidences, ridiculous time-jumps: "3 weeks later, 4 years later, 18 seconds later, etc.".  It was a MESS.  

I was actually laughing at how bad it was.  Was I supposed to be laughing?  The lesbian seduction scene at the beginning was something out of a cheap 80s made-for-cable exploitation film that you only see on Cinemax at 2 in the morning.

There's a scene where the chick gets out of a car and walks into a building with red boots on.  The WHOLE SHOT is in slo-mo.  Why?   Just to looks at legs?  Don't get me wrong, I like to look at legs as much as the next guy, but in the context of this movie it was just ludicrous.

I read a review that called this DePalma's "return to form".  So was this a return to REALLY bad movies like The Fury, as opposed to just BAD movies like Snake Eyes and Mission to Mars?  

Then there's the argument that these films are "tongue-in-cheek" and therefore, what?  This tongue-in-cheek argument seems like a desperate ploy to cover up the fact that these are just really bad movies.

In order to please his "fans" he feels the need to always include a scene where the camera pans over several rooms, which only amounts to revealing that we are looking at a crappy set without ceilings instead of actual spaces.

I am no film snob that feels to need to ridicule form over function.  There are plently directors I admire that are primarily masters of visual flair (Fincher, Aronofsky, etc.)

I apologize to any DePalma fans out there for this tirade, but Femme Fatale was the final nail in the coffin.  It just made me mad that I had actually spent 3 dollars to rent it.

MacGuffin

#31
July 12, 2003, 11:54:39 AM
Quote from: adolfwolfliFemme Fatale was one of 3 movies in my life that I have turned off half-way through (the other 2 being The Mummy and Haunted Honeymoon).  It was just SO awful.  Pointless slo-mo, cheesy sub-B movie dialogue and cheap nudity, completely incomprehensible plot points, unbelievable coincidences, ridiculous time-jumps: "3 weeks later, 4 years later, 18 seconds later, etc.".  It was a MESS.  

There's a scene where the chick gets out of a car and walks into a building with red boots on.  The WHOLE SHOT is in slo-mo.  Why?

If you ever see the end, it'll all make sense.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

RegularKarate

#32
July 12, 2003, 01:12:05 PM
Yeah, it makes sense, but it still sucks.

bonanzataz

#33
July 12, 2003, 02:12:02 PM
how could ANYBODY not like carrie or mission:impossible? snake eyes and dressed to kill i like too. they're fun, even if they are shitty.
The corpses all hang headless and limp bodies with no surprises and the blood drains down like devil's rain we'll bathe tonight I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls Demon I am and face I peel to see your skin turned inside out, 'cause gotta have you on my wall gotta have you on my wall, 'cause I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall hack the heads off little girls and put 'em on my wall I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls

©brad

#34
July 12, 2003, 03:10:01 PM
alright i did see femme fetale last sunday i think, but i need to watch it again b/c i wasn't in the right mental state, if u will, to really get into it.

Pubrick

#35
July 13, 2003, 02:27:28 AM
phantom of the goddamn paradise, childhood favorite. underrated classic like jessica harper was an underrated hot chick.

i saw Greetings a couple of nites ago, lot of talk, pretty funny sumtimes. very 60s. deniro's peeping tom character was ekzellent, haha he's such a seedy fucker.
under the paving stones.

RegularKarate

#36
July 14, 2003, 10:47:38 PM
Quote from: Pphantom of the goddamn paradise, childhood favorite. underrated classic like jessica harper was an underrated hot chick.

all about P of the P, P.

Really is a magnificent film.  That fuckin' mask alone is worth the price of the DVD.

MacGuffin

#37
November 10, 2003, 06:45:21 PM
Josh Hartnett in Talks for The Black Dahlia
Source: Production Weekly

Josh Hartnett is in talks for The Black Dahlia, an adaptation of James Ellroy's classic noir novel which Brian De Palma will direct.

The film, written by Josh Friedman, is a fictional account of the notorious murder in 1947 of an actress in Los Angeles and the investigation into the case. Based on a notorious, unsolved murder, the mystery begins in the late 1940s when the body of Elizabeth Short is discovered in a vacant lot with evidence she had been tortured for several days before dying. Two L.A.P.D. cops become obsessed with the victim.

De Palma replaces David Fincher who was long attached to direct but dropped out earlier this year.
"Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art." - Andy Warhol


Skeleton FilmWorks

ElPandaRoyal

#38
November 10, 2003, 07:07:41 PM
Any new DePalma film is very welcome 8)

By the way, I voted for Blow Out in the pool, but I'mnot sure it's my favourite. I think DePalma is a really cool filmmaker. Yes, cool is the word that comes out easily when Italk about him. Great visuals above all. The way he tells his stories are just so damn perfect.

Out of curiosity, you can see a lot of him in Kill Bill (split-screens, long shot at The House of Blue Leaves, etc...) as he's Tarantino's favourite director.
Si

Ernie

#39
November 10, 2003, 08:16:51 PM
Blow Out is definitely a great film but my fave is definitely Carrie - it's the most well shot horror film other than The Shining imo - I also like Dressed to Kill and Casualties a lot too. De Palma rocks. Mission: Impossible I actually just saw recently and I thought it was really cool, much better than the second one. I actually really wanna see Snake Eyes cause Cage is a genius. I'm actually not the biggest fan of Scarface. I liked it but Goodfellas and the first two Godfather's and then Mean Streets really killed it. They're so much better. I hate when people say Scarface is better than them just to be unique, my uncle does that, I hate that. I mean, they may very well feel that way but to me, it's inarguable, I don't know.

QuoteOut of curiosity, you can see a lot of him in Kill Bill (split-screens, long shot at The House of Blue Leaves, etc...) as he's Tarantino's favourite director

Yea, the split screen sequence was definitely influenced by De Palma...not sure which shot your talking about in the House of Blue Leaves scene though. Is it the one with the fountain thingy? That long shot?

ElPandaRoyal

#40
November 11, 2003, 05:44:44 AM
Quote from: ebeamanYea, the split screen sequence was definitely influenced by De Palma...not sure which shot your talking about in the House of Blue Leaves scene though. Is it the one with the fountain thingy? That long shot?

The long steadicam shot that follows the bride to what seems to be a bathroom, then follows the lady (who seems like the owner of the House of Blue Leaves) and the guy in the yellow suit, then goes to the 5.6.7.8.s playing, then follows Sofie into the same bathroom the Bride was in... You know, that shot  :wink:
Si

modage

#41
November 12, 2003, 12:10:34 PM
ellroy and depalma sounds fantastic.  how interesting that would be.
Christopher Nolan's directive was clear to everyone in the cast and crew: Use CGI only as a last resort.

godardian

#42
November 12, 2003, 12:14:01 PM
Quote from: RoyalTenenbaum
Quote from: ebeamanYea, the split screen sequence was definitely influenced by De Palma...not sure which shot your talking about in the House of Blue Leaves scene though. Is it the one with the fountain thingy? That long shot?

The long steadicam shot that follows the bride to what seems to be a bathroom, then follows the lady (who seems like the owner of the House of Blue Leaves) and the guy in the yellow suit, then goes to the 5.6.7.8.s playing, then follows Sofie into the same bathroom the Bride was in... You know, that shot  :wink:

I thought the entire Darryl Hannah introductory sequence absolutely screamed Brian De Palma...
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.

pinkerton310

#43
November 12, 2003, 05:21:51 PM
Quote from: ebeamanBlow Out is definitely a great film but my fave is definitely Carrie - it's the most well shot horror film other than The Shining imo - I also like Dressed to Kill and Casualties a lot too. De Palma rocks. Mission: Impossible I actually just saw recently and I thought it was really cool, much better than the second one. I actually really wanna see Snake Eyes cause Cage is a genius.


Whatever  you do....don't see Snake Eyes. That's 90 minutes of your life that you will never get back. You will thank me later.
They say we all lose 21 grams at the exact moment of our death... everyone. The weight of a stack of nickels. The weight of a chocolate bar. The weight of a hummingbird...

godardian

#44
November 12, 2003, 05:36:10 PM
Quote from: pinkerton310
Quote from: ebeamanBlow Out is definitely a great film but my fave is definitely Carrie - it's the most well shot horror film other than The Shining imo - I also like Dressed to Kill and Casualties a lot too. De Palma rocks. Mission: Impossible I actually just saw recently and I thought it was really cool, much better than the second one. I actually really wanna see Snake Eyes cause Cage is a genius.


Whatever  you do....don't see Snake Eyes. That's 90 minutes of your life that you will never get back. You will thank me later.

...but different people have said that about all of De Palma's films. I haven't seen Snake Eyes, but I'd be more than willing to give it a chance. Hell, I'd be more than willing to give Mission to Mars a chance!

My favorite of his is Blow Out, but Carrie certainly is among the best horror films and, as ebeaman pointed out, it stands near The Shining as a well-shot horror film.

I'm watching The Fury today...
""Money doesn't come into it. It never has. I do what I do because it's all that I am." - Morrissey

"Lacan stressed more and more in his work the power and organizing principle of the symbolic, understood as the networks, social, cultural, and linguistic, into which a child is born. These precede the birth of a child, which is why Lacan can say that language is there from before the actual moment of birth. It is there in the social structures which are at play in the family and, of course, in the ideals, goals, and histories of the parents. This world of language can hardly be grasped by the newborn and yet it will act on the whole of the child's existence."

Stay informed on protecting your freedom of speech and civil rights.
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