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De Palma a la Mod

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Recent Headlines
a la Mod:

Domino is
a "disarmingly
straight-forward"
work that "pushes
us to reexamine our
relationship to images
and their consumption,
not only ethically
but metaphysically"
-Collin Brinkman

De Palma on Domino
"It was not recut.
I was not involved
in the ADR, the
musical recording
sessions, the final
mix or the color
timing of the
final print."

Listen to
Donaggio's full score
for Domino online

De Palma/Lehman
rapport at work
in Snakes

De Palma/Lehman
next novel is Terry

De Palma developing
Catch And Kill,
"a horror movie
based on real things
that have happened
in the news"

Supercut video
of De Palma's films
edited by Carl Rodrigue

Washington Post
review of Keesey book

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Exclusive Passion
Interviews:

Brian De Palma
Karoline Herfurth
Leila Rozario

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AV Club Review
of Dumas book

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« October 2022 »
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Interviews...

De Palma interviewed
in Paris 2002

De Palma discusses
The Black Dahlia 2006


Enthusiasms...

De Palma Community

The Virtuoso
of the 7th Art

The De Palma Touch

The Swan Archives

Carrie...A Fan's Site

Phantompalooza

No Harm In Charm

Paul Schrader

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The Master Of Suspense

Alfred Hitchcock Films

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and the Infield
Fly Rule

Movie Mags

Directorama

The Filmmaker Who
Came In From The Cold

Jim Emerson on
Greetings & Hi, Mom!

Scarface: Make Way
For The Bad Guy

The Big Dive
(Blow Out)

Carrie: The Movie

Deborah Shelton
Official Web Site

The Phantom Project

Welcome to the
Offices of Death Records

The Carlito's Way
Fan Page

The House Next Door

Kubrick on the
Guillotine

FilmLand Empire

Astigmia Cinema

LOLA

Cultural Weekly

A Lonely Place

The Film Doctor

italkyoubored

Icebox Movies

Medfly Quarantine

Not Just Movies

Hope Lies at
24 Frames Per Second

Motion Pictures Comics

Diary of a
Country Cinephile

So Why This Movie?

Obsessive Movie Nerd

Nothing Is Written

Ferdy on Films

Cashiers De Cinema

This Recording

Mike's Movie Guide

Every '70s Movie

Dangerous Minds

EatSleepLiveFilm

No Time For
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The former
De Palma a la Mod
site

Entries by Topic
A note about topics: Some blog posts have more than one topic, in which case only one main topic can be chosen to represent that post. This means that some topics may have been discussed in posts labeled otherwise. For instance, a post that discusses both The Boston Stranglers and The Demolished Man may only be labeled one or the other. Please keep this in mind as you navigate this list.
All topics  «
Ambrose Chapel
Are Snakes Necessary?
BAMcinématek
Bart De Palma
Beaune Thriller Fest
Becoming Visionary
Betty Buckley
Bill Pankow
Black Dahlia
Blow Out
Blue Afternoon
Body Double
Bonfire Of The Vanities
Books
Boston Stranglers
Bruce Springsteen
Cannes
Capone Rising
Carlito's Way
Carrie
Casualties Of War
Catch And Kill
Cinema Studies
Clarksville 1861
Columbia University
Columbo - Shooting Script
Congo
Conversation, The
Cop-Out
Cruising
Daft Punk
Dancing In The Dark
David Koepp
De Niro
De Palma & Donaggio
De Palma (doc)
De Palma Blog-A-Thon
De Palma Discussion
Demolished Man
Dick Vorisek
Dionysus In '69
Domino
Dressed To Kill
Edward R. Pressman
Eric Schwab
Fatal Attraction
Femme Fatale
Film Series
Fire
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Fury, The
Genius of Love
George Litto
Get To Know Your Rabbit
Ghost & The Darkness
Greetings
Happy Valley
Havana Film Fest
Heat
Hi, Mom!
Hitchcock
Home Movies
Inspired by De Palma
Iraq, etc.
Jack Fisk
Jared Martin
Jerry Greenberg
Keith Gordon
Key Man, The
Laurent Bouzereau
Lights Out
Lithgow
Magic Hour
Magnificent Seven
Mission To Mars
Mission: Impossible
Mod
Montreal World Film Fest
Morricone
Mr. Hughes
Murder a la Mod
Nancy Allen
Nazi Gold
Newton 1861
Noah Baumbach
NYFF
Obsession
Oliver Stone
Palmetto
Paranormal Activity 2
Parker
Parties & Premieres
Passion
Paul Hirsch
Paul Schrader
Pauline Kael
Peet Gelderblom
Phantom Of The Paradise
Pimento
Pino Donaggio
Predator
Prince Of The City
Print The Legend
Raggedy Ann
Raising Cain
Red Shoes, The
Redacted
Responsive Eye
Retribution
Rie Rasmussen
Robert De Niro
Rotwang muß weg!
Sakamoto
Scarface
Scorsese
Sean Penn
Sensuous Woman, The
Sisters
Snake Eyes
Sound Mixer
Spielberg
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Stepford Wives
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Thursday, October 20, 2022
SOME THINGS ABOUT 'CARRIE'
DESIGNER DIGS BY JW ANDERSON; AN APPRECIATION OF DONAGGIO'S SCORE BY JIM HEMPHILL; JENNIFER REEDER ON GENRE FILMS ABOUT WOMEN
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/carriejw1.jpg

Remember last month when Dua Lipa walked around Buenos Aires like a tourist wearing her Carrie sweatshirt? Yesterday the JW Anderson Carrie Capsule went live. Here's the writeup from Hypebeast:
Jonathan Anderson‘s eponymous British brand, JW Anderson, doesn’t shy away from a bold print or a heavy reference. In recent times, the designer has drawn influence from the South Korean cartoon Run Hany, delivered a Spring/Summer 2023 runway show dispersed with kitsch nods like goldfish swimming in a bag, and has also released his infamous FW22 pigeon clutch. Now, the designer gears up for spooky season as JW Anderson has collaborated with MGM on one of its most notorious horror films, Carrie.

Released in 1976, the Stephen King-adapted film directed by Brian De Palma went on to become a cult classic. With Carrie White — played by Sissy Spacek — as the film’s protagonist, it was a film unlike many others of its time as the bullied Miss. White became the unlikely star of the film, using psychic powers at her school prom to release her telekinetic terror.

As for the capsule collection, Anderson spotlights Carrie herself across a number of key womenswear-centric items (although, much of JW Anderson’s clothes lean into the genderless realms of fashion). Here, a black shirt sports classic Carrie masthead branding alongside a depiction of a prom tiara, while another graphic shirt shows the moment Carrie is crowned prom queen — moments before she massacres students en masse.

Printed co-ords expand this theme with the help of formal pants, while T-shirts, hoodies and a puffer jacket round off the capsule’s RTW, with accessories including the Bumper Moon bag, a baseball cap, and tote bags also making an appearance. Take a look at the Jurgen Teller-shot campaign (staring the model Lily McMenamy) above, and shop the collection online or in JW Anderson’s flagship Soho, London store, now.


Also yesterday, IndieWire posted an article with the headline, "Spooky Strings and Scary Synths: IndieWire’s Favorite Horror Scores." It features a nicely-stated appreciation of Pino Donaggio's score for Carrie by Jim Hemphill:

Brian De Palma worked with one of his heroes, Bernard Herrmann, on “Sisters” and “Obsession,” and he planned to have Herrmann score “Carrie” as well. When Herrmann passed away, De Palma was faced with an unusual challenge: How do you find a composer worthy of following in the footsteps of arguably the greatest that ever lived? The director must have been happy with what he found in Italian composer Pino Donaggio, because they would go on to collaborate on many future films, including “Dressed to Kill,” “Blow Out,” “Body Double,” and “Raising Cain.” “Carrie” remains one of their greatest triumphs, a film in which Donaggio’s lyrical strings and woodwinds seem to be speaking for telekinetic high school outcast Carrie White herself — and in which the stabbing, shrieking strings interrupt her reveries to pave the way for her assaults on her enemies. Donaggio viewed “Carrie” as less of a horror film than a tragedy, and his music evokes almost physically painful feelings in the viewer toward the doomed title character. It also makes the film all the scarier when the horror does kick in, because we’ve grown to care about Carrie to a degree uncommon for a film of any genre. —JH

And on a final note, last week, New City Film posted an article by director Jennifer Reeder, with the headline, "Made for Horror: Favorite Genre Films, Led By Women." The article focuses on films directed by women, but at the end, Reeder adds on "Special-mention genre films I love about women but directed by men." --

Carrie (1976), Brian de Palma
This film features the most perfect ending to all films ever made. It’s a great example of why the “teen film” is a perfect nest for horror. Sissy Spacek is brilliant as both hero and villain.

Rebecca (1940), Alfred Hitchcock (based on a book by Daphne de Maurier)
A wickedly morose telling of a lady love triangle between a newlywed, her maid and a ghost. I saw this film for the first time when I was very young, and it’s been under my skin ever since. It’s possibly one of the reasons I am a filmmaker who works in genre.



Posted by Geoff at 7:56 AM CDT
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Monday, October 17, 2022
'REFLEXIVE PANACHE'
PASTE'S RORY DOHERTY ON 'CARLITO'S WAY' & PACINO IN THE '90S
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/stefstory22.jpg

An article written by Rory Doherty, posted today at Paste Magazine, kicks off with the headline, "Just When They Thought I Was Out: The Brilliance of ‘90s Al Pacino," and includes some consideration for Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way:
Made with the reflexive panache that would make most modern directors weep, De Palma’s second collaboration with Pacino proved to be a much more muted affair than their first. Carlito’s Way sees a reformed Puerto Rican gangster trying to keep things clean upon his release from prison, but his attempts to own a garish nightclub that’s an assault on the senses of sight and sound inevitably gets tied up with the nefarious deeds he wanted to avoid. Poor guy! There’s not much hope for him throughout the two-and-a-half-hour runtime, seeing as the opening shots show his dead body being carried away. It’s great seeing Pacino, the same year he won his Oscar, slum around as a noble ex-con building his life up from nothing.

In terms of delirious performances, Pacino actually struggles to let his Hooah-ness shine, thanks to the dominating lifeforce that is Sean Penn as Carlito’s insecure, belligerent, coke-fiend best friend. When Pacino isn’t trying to calm down Penn’s sweaty turn, he has to fend off a scenery-chewing Viggo Mortensen (wired and wheelchair-riding in his one scene) and a luminescent John Leguizamo as the flashy wannabe bigtimer Benny Blanco (from the Bronx). And, like all good movies, Luis Guzmán is in the background somewhere. It’s understandable how straight Pacino plays it; even in a De Palma movie, there’s a limit on how many insane performances you can have before a movie bursts at the seams. And while Pacino hadn’t yet leaned fully into the shouty, eye-bulging indulgences that the ‘90s would represent for him, he did get to lead a classic dialogue-free De Palma suspense sequence, evading sinister characters across a big railway station. Little victories.


Posted by Geoff at 11:17 PM CDT
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Saturday, October 15, 2022
SCARFACE 4K PART OF 'FILM VAULT' LAUNCH IN DECEMBER
PACKAGE FROM VICE PRESS IN THE U.K. INCLUDES NEW ART, POSTER, ETC., ETC.
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/scarfacefilmvault.jpg

Brian De Palma's Scarface is one of four titles making up "The Film Vault," a 4k line-up from U.K. company Vice Press. Here's the introductory scoop at Tripwire:
THE FILM VAULT is launched this December, a brand new collector’s range featuring titles across the Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal Pictures catalogues, with four highly-collectable and beautifully packaged titles on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-rayTM: BLADE RUNNER, GOODFELLAS, SCARFACE and 1917. With striking, newly-commissioned artwork based around a key scene from each of the films, and unique packaging, these limited edition 4K releases are sure to be a must-have for any serious film collector’s shelves. Each title will build towards a numbered Film Vault collection, comprising some of the greatest titles in cinema…

The four titles are on 4K UHD for ultimate home cinema picture and sound, and packaged in an acetate slip-cover detailing the title’s numbered entry in the collection, with newly commissioned key art from Vice Press by renowned artists Matt Ferguson and Florey, printed on a rigid clamshell outer case with a magnetic clasp, that contains a digipak housing a 4K Ultra HD and a Blu-rayTM copy of the film, a branded envelope, deluxe art cards, and in some cases a reproduction ‘in world artefact’ from the film. Completing each set is a new premium collectable – a beautifully etched and individually numbered crystal display plaque, bearing each film’s title treatment and motif.



Posted by Geoff at 1:39 PM CDT
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Thursday, October 13, 2022
B-SIDES & BANGERS
PODCAST ON "THE ONES THEY MADE IN BETWEEN" HAS NEW EPISODE ABOUT DE PALMA
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/depalmabsides.jpg

From The Film Stage comes a new episode of The B-Side:
Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars and directors! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones they made in between.

Today we get a little nasty. We get a little creepy. We dig into the works of Brian De Palma! Conor and I are joined by filmmaker and returning guest Chadd Harbold, whose new film Private Property is now available on Hulu! We also examine the film Private Property from 1960, which Harbold’s 2022 film reimagines, along with the new film’s De Palma-esque inspirations.

The B-Sides discussed are: Phantom of the Paradise, Casualties of War, Femme Fatale, and The Black Dahlia. We also take lengthy pit-stops at The Fury and Mission to Mars.

Harbold explains why Femme Fatale is De Palma’s best film, why the old, great directors need to hire young DPs when shooting digital, which actors know what they’re doing in The Black Dahlia, and which actors do NOT. There’s references to this Slant Magazine article as well as De Palma, the superb documentary from Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow (now streaming on Showtime). Finally, we must mention the intensive retrospective of De Palma The Film Stage took on in 2016.

Oh, and we talk about the greatness of that Mission to Mars by Ennio Morricone.


Posted by Geoff at 9:57 PM CDT
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Wednesday, October 12, 2022
'SISTERS' THIS SATURDAY AT ST LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY
PART OF "GOLDEN ANNIVERSARIES" DISCUSSION SERIES ON THE FILMS OF 1972
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/sistersstlouis.jpg

A free screening of Brian De Palma's Sisters will take place this Saturday, October 15th, at 1:30PM at the St. Louis Public Library. The screening is part of the Cinema St. Louis discussion series, "Golden Anniversaries," which features screenings and discussions centered around classic films from 1972. Saturday's event will include an "intro and discussion by Andrew Wyatt, editor and film critic of the Cinema St. Louis’ The Lens film blog, and Joshua Ray, Lens film critic and podcast host." Here's the program description of Sisters:
Margot Kidder is Danielle, a beautiful model separated from her Siamese twin, Dominique. When a hotshot reporter (Jennifer Salt) suspects Dominique of a brutal murder, she becomes dangerously ensnared in the sisters’ insidious sibling bond. A scary and stylish dissection of female crisis, Brian De Palma’s first foray into horror voyeurism is a stunning amalgam of split-screen effects, bloody birthday cakes, and a chilling score by frequent Alfred Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann. Film critic Carrie Ricky writes: “In movie shorthand, ‘Sisters’ paraphrases elements of ‘Rope,’ ‘Rear Window,’ ‘Vertigo,’ and ‘Psycho.’ Yet its searching camera work — often doubled in split screens suggesting both split personalities and clashing perspectives — is uniquely De Palma’s. While ‘Sisters’ is not his first overt nod to Hitchcock — that was ‘Murder à la Mod’ (1968) — it is the best, and most mordantly funny, in a career that also includes the glosses ‘Obsession’ (1976) and ‘Dressed to Kill’ (1980).”

Posted by Geoff at 10:48 PM CDT
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Tuesday, October 11, 2022
TARANTINO, AVARY, ELI ROTH DISCUSS 'DRESSED TO KILL'
TO KICK OFF Pt.1 OF 'AMERICAN GIALLO' - PAIRED WITH 'EYES OF LAURA MARS' ON VIDEO ARCHIVES PODCAST
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/videoarchivespodcastdtk.jpg

"Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary invite you to become a customer at Video Archives, the store that started it all," reads the podcast description for The Video Archives. "Joined by their announcer Gala Avary, they’ll travel back in time to revisit old classics and discover new favorites, pulled from the actual VHS tapes that Quentin and Roger used to recommend to customers at the original Video Archives store in Manhattan Beach. From controversial James Bond films to surprising exploitation flicks, the duo will expose you to movies you didn't know you'd love, give awards to their favorites, and of course, rate the quality of the video transfer."

Here's the description of the newest episode, which was let loose today:

American Giallo Pt. 1: Dressed To Kill / Eyes Of Laura Mars (with Eli Roth)
Quentin, Roger and guest customer Eli Roth (director of Hostel and Cabin Fever) kick off our first themed series: American Giallo! After outlining their thoughts on the genre, they start with Brian De Palma’s Dressed To Kill. A mysterious tall blonde woman wearing sunglasses murders a psychiatrist’s patient, and now she’s after the prostitute who witnessed it. Quentin, Roger and Eli talk about how the villainous Bobbi affected them, discuss the controversy surrounding the film, and reveal how the story changed from script to screen.

Next, we’ll look through Irvin Kershner’s Eyes Of Laura Mars. A famous fashion photographer develops a disturbing ability to see through the eyes of a killer. The hosts discuss strange plot devices, read excerpts from interviews that shed light on the true history of the film, and hear how Eli would have rewritten the ending. Tune in next week for the conclusion of this two part episode, with Alice Sweet Alice and Happy Birthday To Me!

Learn more about this week’s films, get Video Archives merch and more at videoarchivespodcast.com. Follow us on Twitter @videoarchives, and on Instagram @videoarchivespod. You can also write us a question by sending a letter to The Video Archives Podcast, c/o Earwolf Media, PO Box 66, 5551 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA, 90028.


Posted by Geoff at 6:58 PM CDT
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Monday, October 10, 2022
THIS HAPPENED TONIGHT ON TCM - 'ROPE' & 'OBSESSION'
MARIO CANTONE ON DE PALMA'S OBSESSION -
"HE'S NOT AFRAID TO BE BIG, AND I LOVE THE WAY
HE USES THE SCORE IN THIS MOVIE - IT'S DISTURBING"

https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/tcmropeobsessionvid.jpg


Posted by Geoff at 10:32 PM CDT
Updated: Monday, October 10, 2022 10:53 PM CDT
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Sunday, October 9, 2022
'BODY DOUBLE'S SELF-CONSCIOUS EXCESS SERVES A PURPOSE'
BBC'S RACHEL PRONGER LOOKS AT INTERRELATED HISTORIES OF PORNOGRAPHY & FILM INDUSTRIES
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In an article for the BBC timed for the 25th anniversary of Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights, Rachel Pronger delves into the interrelated history of the pornography and film industries:
As Karina Longworth highlights in her podcast series Erotic Eighties, the mainstreaming of porn in the 1970s also fed directly into Hollywood. A wave of erotic thrillers released across the 1980s and 1990s – films such as American Gigolo (1980), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) and 9½ Weeks (1986) – drew directly on the aesthetics of pornography, offering up naked movie stars as sex symbols. Aside from these erotic thrillers, another way in which porn has clearly influenced Hollywood lies in the small but significant subgenre of films set in the industry. Like Boogie Nights, the best of these films have as much to say about the power dynamics and ethical challenges of working in Hollywood as they do about pornography.

Unlike other films of the 1980s erotic thriller boom, Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984) is explicit about the crossover between Hollywood and porn. This campy and heightened B-movie homage centres on Jake (Craig Wasson) a struggling actor who becomes obsessed with performer/body double Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) and is sucked into LA's seedy underworld. Intentionally lurid and violent, Body Double split critics on it release. While some responded positively – Roger Ebert called it "an exhilarating exercise in pure filmmaking" – others criticised the film as sensationalist schlock and "creepy crud". Body Double was particularly strongly critiqued by feminist commentators who drew a link between De Palma's depiction of violence and real-life violence against women, an accusation that has followed the director across his career, much to his annoyance. "I got slaughtered by the press right at the height of the women's liberation movement," remembered De Palma in a 2016 interview. "I thought it was completely unjustified. It was a suspense thriller, and I was always interested in finding new ways to kill people."

Body Double has enjoyed something of a renaissance lately, with a new generation of critics restyling the film as a misunderstood gem. As time has passed De Palma himself has evolved from enfant terrible to filmmaker's filmmaker, becoming the subject of an admiring documentary helmed by Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow, and increasingly celebrated for his influence. Certainly, one can sense Body Double's bloody fingerprints all over Ti West's X (2022), a kitsch slasher flick about a porn crew who are stalked by a frenzied killer, which draws heavily on 70s exploitation films but has more than a dash of De Palma's camp sensibility, dark humour and stylised violence.

Although not to everyone's taste, Body Double's self-conscious excess serves a purpose, indulging in Hollywood excess while simultaneously critiquing it. Like Anderson, De Palma constantly references other filmmakers, particularly Alfred Hitchcock – the film's plot riffs directly on Vertigo and Rear Window – and these references have gained new potency over the years. Watching Body Double today brings to mind Hitchcock's abusive treatment of actor Tippi Hedren (Griffith's mother) and this connection adds another layer to the film's commentary on Hollywood's abusive dynamics. With its nudity and violence Body Double has its cake and eats it, but it nevertheless asks provocative questions. If Hollywood can serve up the same salacious thrills – and exploitative dynamics – as porn, where does the division between the two industries lie?

Alongside other explicit Hollywood films of the era, Body Double was caught up in a furious debate around depictions of sex on screen which became known as the "porn wars". One of the key arguments of the porn wars was that pornography inevitably exploits female performers. In 1986, Linda Lovelace herself became an ally of anti-porn campaigners when she testified before Congress that she had been violently coerced into appearing in Deep Throat, stating shockingly that "virtually every time someone watches that movie, they're watching me being raped". Lovelace's testimony called into question the idea of sexually liberated femininity that underpinned "porno chic" and exposed the potentially troublesome dynamics of the industry.


Posted by Geoff at 10:14 PM CDT
Updated: Sunday, October 9, 2022 10:15 PM CDT
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Saturday, October 8, 2022
TIFF CINEMATHEQUE SCREENS 4K 'SISTERS' TONIGHT
50TH ANNIVERSARY SCREENING - 'SISTERS' PREMIERED AT FILMEX IN L.A. ON NOV. 18, 1972
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/tiffsisters50th.jpg
Brian De Palma's Sisters screens tonight at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, as a TIFF Cinematheque Special Screening. Here's the description from the TIFF event page:
Brian De Palma goes full Hitchcock with this stylish mix of psychological thriller and horror film, his first true genre-film outing and the prototype for much of his subsequent work. After meeting on a TV game show, French Canadian model Danielle (Margot Kidder) and a young ad executive spend the night together, but the morning after is bloodily interrupted when Danielle’s insane twin Dominique shows up and kills her sister’s lover in a jealous rage. Danielle and her ex-husband, creepy psychiatrist Dr. Breton (William Finley), manage to conceal the evidence of the crime, but ambitious reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) — who witnessed the slaying from her rear window (of course) — sets out to track down the killer, leading to a sinister institution and a dark secret from the past. Sporting a nerve-scraping score from frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann, Sisters, now marking its 50th anniversary, is “sensational … the use of the split-screen to show scenes from different angles and the elaborate tracking shots indicate the arrival of a prodigious new stylist forging an original signature” (Philip French, The Guardian).

Posted by Geoff at 3:12 PM CDT
Updated: Saturday, October 8, 2022 3:14 PM CDT
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Thursday, October 6, 2022
ARMOND WHITE REVIEWS 'BLONDE'
AND BRINGS UP THE 'GONE WITH THE WIND' AUDITION SCENE IN DE PALMA'S 'BLACK DAHLIA'
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/miamedium.jpg
In his National Review review of Andrew Dominik's Blonde, Armond White brings up Brian De Palma's The Black Dahlia:
Monroe and her movies are probably unfamiliar to most contemporary film watchers. What’s notable about Blonde is that a distinct Netflix style emerges: slick, cynical nonsense, usually interposing black-and-white artifice for effect (as in Roma, Mank, The Irishman, Power of the Dog, etc.). This fanciful treatment comes together, after an introductory crazy-mother childhood-trauma sequence, when Monroe submits to sodomy by Fox studio president Darryl F. Zanuck to get her first feature-film role.

Her tryout, playing a psychotic babysitter in Don’t Bother to Knock, presages doom. Monroe (played by Ana de Armas) lacks MM’s space-cadet trick but comes off pretentiously literary (although she’s never seen cracking a book). This ominous audition does not connect the actress to her culture as did the Gone with the Wind audition of the tragic girl in Brian De Palma’s revelatory Black Dahlia.


Posted by Geoff at 11:56 PM CDT
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