the great thing about de palma is he's like the totally perverted spielberg.
― s1ocki, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:10 (sixteen years ago) link
lol, like spielberg isn't totally perverted
― gabbneb, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:11 (sixteen years ago) link
body double is great and has a fantastic soundtrack
― max, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:11 (sixteen years ago) link
didnt we already do this?
― max, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:12 (sixteen years ago) link
now is time for the Brian De Palma's best film
― Eric H., Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:12 (sixteen years ago) link
But ... The Fury ... have strong narratives! -- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, May 14, 2008 5:06 PM (5 minutes ago)
Thank you!
― Eric H., Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:13 (sixteen years ago) link
This one is totally different because it has a stupid pun in the title and includes a movie that hasn't even been made yet.
(sorry, I searched, really I did.)
― Oilyrags, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:13 (sixteen years ago) link
I'd probably vote for the unseen Untouchables vs. the one I've seen.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 14 May 2008 17:14 (sixteen years ago) link
Femme Fatale -- as Rosenbaum said, at last a film entirely of set pieces & fantasy from a guy who can't do anything else. -- Dr Morbius, Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:40 PM (1 hour ago) I think you might be misreading Rosenbaum's take on the movie to your advantage here. The guy did include Obsession, a film almost devoid of those set pieces, in his all-time top 1000.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 14 May 2008 18:12 (sixteen years ago) link
eric no offense but you sound like an asshole
― deeznuts, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 18:14 (sixteen years ago) link
dressed to kill
― latebloomer, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 18:18 (sixteen years ago) link
I was about to make fun of people for liking Body Double, but then I remembered I liked Mission to Mars. We DePalma fans need to stick together.
― Pete Scholtes, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 22:22 (sixteen years ago) link
Here's how I'd rank him:
Top 13
the first half hour of Scarface (1983), and maybe the rest while I do dishes Blow Out (1981) Carrie (1976) The Fury (1978) the pool hall scene in Carlito's Way (1993) "Dancing in the Dark" (1984) Mission: Impossible (1996) the last scene in Dressed to Kill (1980) what I remember of Mission to Mars (2000) The Untouchables (1987) while folding clothes the "love" scenes in Body Double (1984), which are hilarious Snake Eyes (1998) if nothing else is on what I remember of Raising Cain (1992)
Bottom 4:
The asylum scene and the basic conceit of Dressed to Kill the telescope scene and mall-chase scenes in Body Double (1984) The Black Dahlia (2006) Casualties of War (1989)
― Pete Scholtes, Wednesday, 14 May 2008 22:46 (sixteen years ago) link
I think "Carrie" is probably the best all around movie in this batch, but I have a serious soft spot for "Body Double" (which I voted for), which is one of the most batshit crazy movies of all time (and is packed with things I am obsessed with, like: L.A. in the 80s, Behind-the-Scenes of the porn biz, The Chemosphere (which is the amazing house Craig Wasson lives in in the movie, owned now in real life by the owner of Taschen Books!), power drills, etc.).
I love Brian DePalma's movies, but I think the fact that anyone treats them as anything by whacked-out B-movies is just insane. The Pauline Kael gushing apologist stuff is utterly preposterous, the Hitchcock stuff is all surface (and embarrassing, usually). Referring to him as a legitimate peer of Scorsese, Coppolla, etc. is nuts. He's a glorified Grindhouse director! (I mean that as a compliment, btw - seriously, I think his movies are a blast).
Also: - Antonio Banderas' turn in "Femme Fatale" is a goddamned comedic masterstroke - "The Black Dahlia" is one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life (HOW do you fuck up that story?!) - "Sisters" is genuinely pretty scary - God help you if you saw "Redacted."
And finally, Holly Body's words to live by: I do not do animal acts. I do not do S&M, or any variations of that particular bent. No watersports either. I will not shave my pussy, no fistfucking, and absolutely no coming in my face. I get $2000 a day, and I do not work without a contract.
― Savannah Smiles, Thursday, 15 May 2008 13:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Go pet a puppy, deeznuts.
― Eric H., Thursday, 15 May 2008 13:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Referring to him as a legitimate peer of Scorsese, Coppolla, etc. is nuts.
No shit. Those two suck compared to De Palma.
― Eric H., Thursday, 15 May 2008 14:00 (sixteen years ago) link
I think he's more then a glorified grindhouse director...I think as a craftsman he's as good as anybody, regardless of originality or script or any of that stuff.
the telescope scene and mall-chase scenes in Body Double (1984)
that's the best!
http://acuterecords.com/BodyDouble.mp3
― dan selzer, Thursday, 15 May 2008 14:04 (sixteen years ago) link
the day after i watched body double this summer i spent like 6 hours trying to track down a copy of the soundtrack
― max, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:03 (sixteen years ago) link
body double is really crazy.
― latebloomer, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:12 (sixteen years ago) link
carlito's way still rules.
― s1ocki, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:15 (sixteen years ago) link
so many incredible movies on this list.
so many terrible ones too but who cares.
― s1ocki, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:16 (sixteen years ago) link
Where is the love for Phantom of the Paradise?
BEEF
― emil.y, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:19 (sixteen years ago) link
xp: The incredible ones ARE the terrible ones, or at least the ridiculous ones.
Eric, that is weird re Rosenbaum and Obsession (which I like) -- he didn't write exactly what I said about FF, but look...
I'd always been annoyed by De Palma's intricate borrowings from Alfred Hitchcock, which I've tended to see more as mangled tributes than as perceptive appreciations. My misgivings were only reinforced when his biggest fans, especially Pauline Kael and her most literal followers, implied that Hitchcock was a bit of a hack next to the genius De Palma -- suggesting that Hitchcock churned out dross, which his disciple somehow turned into the pure gold of sublime trash... Say what you will about Hitchcock's calculation, his work displays an almost limitless curiosity about human behavior, whereas De Palma's shows an interest in people (as opposed to types and figures) that approaches zero.
http://www.chicagoreader.com/movies/archives/2002/1102/021108.html
How does that square w/ putting one of those "mangled tributes" on an all-time 100 list?
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:27 (sixteen years ago) link
when did kael and her most literal followers imply that?
― max, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:28 (sixteen years ago) link
(genuine interest not passive-aggressive zing attempt)
― max, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:29 (sixteen years ago) link
like wise guys and raising cain?
― s1ocki, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:29 (sixteen years ago) link
i agree that de palma is colder, perhaps less "interested in people" than hitchcock... or a lot of other director's. he's no renoir. but i don't really care. i like him for different reasons. not everyone has to be a great expansive humanist.
― s1ocki, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:30 (sixteen years ago) link
Haven't read Kael/Kaelites on BdP recently enough to know where JR's coming from...
I find the ridiculousness in The Fury to be about 40% entertaining and 60% annoyingly empty tech moves.
― Dr Morbius, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:35 (sixteen years ago) link
I think movies like Dressed to Kill are more "meta Hitchcock" rather than just "borrowing from Hitchcock".
― latebloomer, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:36 (sixteen years ago) link
I didn't like The Fury.
― dan selzer, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:44 (sixteen years ago) link
-- latebloomer, Thursday, May 15, 2008 4:36 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
ya, this. they go beyond homage or allusion into their own weird category.
― s1ocki, Thursday, 15 May 2008 16:54 (sixteen years ago) link
Phantom of the Paradise by leaps and bounds.
― methanietanner, Thursday, 15 May 2008 21:06 (sixteen years ago) link
Blow Out! One of my favorite films. Alfred's right about Craig Sheffer (feh) in Body Double. And The Black Dahlia is the worst, not just of DePalma, but of everything ever.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Thursday, 15 May 2008 21:19 (sixteen years ago) link
It would be really hard to choose between these two for a worst poll.
― Eazy, Thursday, 15 May 2008 21:24 (sixteen years ago) link
Craig Sheffer
Craig Wasson! Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors!
― Savannah Smiles, Thursday, 15 May 2008 22:37 (sixteen years ago) link
Redacted is pretty safely in the lead as De Palma's worst.
― Eric H., Thursday, 15 May 2008 23:40 (sixteen years ago) link
What's that thing Orson Welles said, something about how being a director is like a child having a huge Erector set at its disposal? More than any Hollywood film this decade, Femme Fatale comes closest to conveying the excitement in that statement. So that one.
― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, 16 May 2008 20:33 (sixteen years ago) link
What an odd but cool career this guy has had. I saw the Fury for the first time a few months ago, and it was pretty wacked-out.
I haven't seen Sisters since I was, like, 13 years old or something, but I remember it being super-creepy.
― dell, Friday, 16 May 2008 20:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― ILX System, Friday, 23 May 2008 23:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― ILX System, Saturday, 24 May 2008 23:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Didn't expect a Hi Mom! vote.
― C0L1N B..., Sunday, 25 May 2008 00:56 (sixteen years ago) link
haha, less voters = better results
― Eric H., Friday, 6 June 2008 23:08 (fifteen years ago) link
Got my copy of the Criterion version of Blow Out yesterday: will watch again tonight. Beautiful packaging.
― My mom is all about capital gains tax butthurtedness (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 30 April 2011 18:32 (thirteen years ago) link
ha yeah i picked that up yesterday too, can't wait to watch it!
― shamefully blowable (latebloomer), Saturday, 30 April 2011 22:00 (thirteen years ago) link
i bought a vhs of obsession at a book sale for $.50 today
― johnny crunch, Saturday, 30 April 2011 22:59 (thirteen years ago) link
Not a huge fan of it, myself.
― scissorlocks and the three bears (Eric H.), Sunday, 1 May 2011 04:27 (thirteen years ago) link
I'm trying to come up with a parallel for calling Bri underrated. Derek Jeter, maybe.
― your generation appalls me (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 1 May 2011 04:43 (thirteen years ago) link
got this on Blu-Ray and am very much looking forward to see how it looks. i did watch the Baumbach/De Palma interview and it had its moments. funny for revealing bits like "what was that movie we watched the other day? how they did that thing, TERRIBLE!". guess they're pals.
this has been pretty solidly my favorite De Palma film, but it's been a while. looking forward to a re-watch.
― circa1916, Sunday, 1 May 2011 09:04 (thirteen years ago) link
Really, this movie is political? Uh-uh.
btw, aside from Obsession on TV, probably the first film of his I saw, on initial release.
― your generation appalls me (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 1 May 2011 09:25 (thirteen years ago) link
never saw the early films Hi Mom! or Greetings but I did see The Wedding Party and Sisters, both of which were interesting. I loved Phantom of the Paradise!
― Dan S, Saturday, 29 April 2023 23:45 (one year ago) link
Hi Mom! is definitely worth your time.
― circa1916, Sunday, 30 April 2023 02:54 (one year ago) link
I always suggest Carlito's Way to people who just can't take the histrionics of Scarface.
― Cthulhu Diamond Phillips (Neanderthal), Sunday, 30 April 2023 18:48 (one year ago) link
even the quotes are better
The Untouchables: Capone Rising (2008) (in production)
lol wait, what?
― Cthulhu Diamond Phillips (Neanderthal), Sunday, 30 April 2023 18:50 (one year ago) link
Hi, Mom! has the one brilliant sequence (“Be Black, Baby!”) but the rest is scattershot
― Josefa, Sunday, 30 April 2023 18:57 (one year ago) link
aside from the first couple of scenes I wasn’t a big fan of carlito’s way either. appreciate the recs from everyone, but generally it’s going to be a tough sell for me to want to check out some of the minor stuff if I don’t really like a director’s major works. too many movies to watch!
― k3vin k., Sunday, 30 April 2023 19:05 (one year ago) link
Those two early films - Greetings and Hi, Mom! - are I assume highly improvisational and are funny to the extent Gerrit Graham and Robert De Niro are funny
― Josefa, Sunday, 30 April 2023 19:06 (one year ago) link
“Hi, Mom!” is ramshackle, but it’s a much more interesting film than you’re billing it. Essential viewing for anyone interested in BDP. It’s not about De Niro yucks.You can probably skip “Greetings” though.
― circa1916, Sunday, 30 April 2023 21:03 (one year ago) link
ummm
I think De Palma has sprung to the place that Altman achieved with films such as MCCABE & MRS. MILLER and NASHVILLE and that Coppola reached with the two GODFATHER movies—that is, to the place where genre is transcended and what we're moved by is an artist's vision. (1981)— pauline kael bot (@paulinekaelbot) May 21, 2023
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Sunday, 21 May 2023 21:01 (one year ago) link
Is she talking about Dressed to Kill or Blow Out?
― clemenza, Sunday, 21 May 2023 21:05 (one year ago) link
I just checked -- it's Blow Out.
― underwater as a compliment (Eazy), Sunday, 21 May 2023 22:16 (one year ago) link
Thanks--missed the date at the bottom. She stuck with De Palma much longer than with Altman/Scorsese/Coppola/Spielberg; she had good things to say (post-retirement, in an interview) about Mission to Mars.
― clemenza, Sunday, 21 May 2023 22:32 (one year ago) link
THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY IT LOOKS LIKE A ROMCOM 😭Pls share posters that TRULY do not match the actual tone/vibe of the movie, it’s my favorite. pic.twitter.com/mNcP2VSLzu— 𝕯𝖎𝖑𝖉𝖔 𝕭𝖆𝖌𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖘 (𝘚𝘩𝘰̄𝘨𝘶𝘯 𝘦𝘳𝘢) (@EmmaTolkin) April 12, 2024
― paisley got boring (Eazy), Friday, 12 April 2024 20:22 (one month ago) link