Brian De Palma, the De Pollma

Sisters!

Carrie

i wonder what dark horrible thing happened to him in 1988 that turned his brain to muck

Femme Fatale -- as Rosenbaum said, at last a film entirely of set pieces & fantasy from a guy who can't do anything else.

Nah, it would've been after "Carlito's Way."

xpost to JJ

Carrie for the win over Blow Out and Carlito

and Scarface

Carrie is just inestimably better than any of these

so i am getting the impression ilx hates the untouchables, why is this?

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 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i agree w/ this but so what? is that supposed to be a zing?

when you consider that he does set pieces & fantasy better than basically anyone ever i mean

more like Brian de Lolma

untouchables rules

so hard to choose here

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 (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i agree w/ this but so what? is that supposed to be a zing?

-- deeznuts, Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:46 PM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

when you consider that he does set pieces & fantasy better than basically anyone ever i mean

-- deeznuts, Wednesday, May 14, 2008 4:47 PM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

ya totally as if those are any small things when it comes to filmmaking

It helps to be able to tell a story. Archers, Spielberg, etc.

But Carrie, The Fury, and Blow Out have strong narratives!

and two of them are good!

he does set pieces & fantasy better than basically anyone ever

*sigh*

the great thing about de palma is he's like the totally perverted spielberg.

lol, like spielberg isn't totally perverted

body double is great and has a fantastic soundtrack

didnt we already do this?

now is time for the Brian De Palma's best film

But ... The Fury ... have strong narratives!
-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Wednesday, May 14, 2008 5:06 PM (5 minutes ago)

Thank you!

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.)

I'd probably vote for the unseen Untouchables vs. the one I've seen.

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 no offense but you sound like an asshole

dressed to kill

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.

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)

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.

Go pet a puppy, deeznuts.

Referring to him as a legitimate peer of Scorsese, Coppolla, etc. is nuts.

No shit. Those two suck compared to De Palma.

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

the day after i watched body double this summer i spent like 6 hours trying to track down a copy of the soundtrack

body double is really crazy.

carlito's way still rules.

so many incredible movies on this list.

so many terrible ones too but who cares.

Where is the love for Phantom of the Paradise?

BEEF

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?

when did kael and her most literal followers imply that?

(genuine interest not passive-aggressive zing attempt)

xp: The incredible ones ARE the terrible ones, or at least the ridiculous ones.

like wise guys and raising cain?

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.

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.

I think movies like Dressed to Kill are more "meta Hitchcock" rather than just "borrowing from Hitchcock".

I didn't like The Fury.

Hitchcock's glam musical was amazing

Phantom of the Paradise is forgettable crap

as Benny Herrmann told him, YAWWWW NAWWT HITCHCOCK

Why has nobody made a clip of Raising Cain when the boy says "I know what you're doing" in a hilarious voice? Perfect for when someone's trying to get away with some shit.

that entire movie's full of gold, i tells ya

Watched the directors cut a week later, I guess it probably is better but there is something I like about the more confusing early part of the theatrical cut.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The best 4th of July movie is Brian DePalma's BLOW OUT.</p>— Walter Chaw 周瑜 (@mangiotto) <a href="

The best 4th of July movie is Brian DePalma's BLOW OUT.

— Walter Chaw 周瑜 (@mangiotto) July 4, 2020

(ugh, me and code today)

I'd never seen anything between Carrie and Scarface, so I decided to start with Blow Out last night, god that's good. Lithgow is such a creep. Dressed to Kill soon.

the gender/racial politics in DRESSED TO KILL are…a bit dated!

Dressed to Kill got lots of flak at the time even.

I'm sure this is really good, but unfortunately you just get the intros: Sarris and Hoberman arguing out the film.

https://www.villagevoice.com/2016/06/30/is-brian-de-palma-derivative-or-dazzling-critics-andrew-sarris-and-j-hoberman-duke-it-out/

I think I’m just not a de palma guy. everything I’ve seen has seemed missing something essential

Have you seen Casualties of War? Besides being my favourite De Palma film, it's the one I'd recommend to someone who's not crazy about him otherwise--markedly different from anything he's ever done.

Same post by me, just swap in Carrie

You know I love Carrie, but isn't that through-and-through 100% De Palma?

Also guessing that anyone who's decided they're lukewarm on De Palma has already seen Carrie.

I don't know how one can be lukewarm about Carrie.

For anyone contemplating entering into a 1976 young adult mindset I think it is an amazing movie.

It is also one of my favorite horror films of all time

I'd suggest Hi, Mom! or maybe Phantoms of the Paradise for the DePalma skeptic.

...not that they would make you love his other films, but you'd get a different perspective on what he's about.

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!

Hi Mom! is definitely worth your time.

I always suggest Carlito's Way to people who just can't take the histrionics of Scarface.

even the quotes are better

The Untouchables: Capone Rising (2008) (in production)

lol wait, what?

Hi, Mom! has the one brilliant sequence (“Be Black, Baby!”) but the rest is scattershot

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!

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

“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.

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

Is she talking about Dressed to Kill or Blow Out?

I just checked -- it's Blow Out.

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.

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