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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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« December 2024 »
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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

Alfred Hitchcock
The Master Of Suspense

Alfred Hitchcock Films

Snake Eyes
a la Mod

Mission To Mars
a la Mod

Sergio Leone
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
Love, Dr. Jones!

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
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Beaune Thriller Fest
Becoming Visionary
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Bill Pankow
Black Dahlia
Blow Out
Blue Afternoon
Body Double
Bonfire Of The Vanities
Books
Boston Stranglers
Bruce Springsteen
Cannes
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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
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De Palma & Donaggio
De Palma (doc)
De Palma Blog-A-Thon
De Palma Discussion
Demolished Man
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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
Icarus
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
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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
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Predator
Prince Of The City
Print The Legend
Raggedy Ann
Raising Cain
Red Shoes, The
Redacted
Responsive Eye
Retribution
Rie Rasmussen
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Rotwang muß weg!
Sakamoto
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Sisters
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To Bridge This Gap
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Monday, December 16, 2024
SUSAN FINLEY & MORE - 'PHANTOM' 50TH AT AERO THURSDAY
SARAH BALLANTINE & SAM PRESSMAN WILL JOIN Q&A w/ JUSTIN HUMPHREYS IN SANTA MONICA
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/phantomparadiseballantine.jpg

Justin Humphreys will moderate a Q&A this Thursday, December 19, following a 50th anniversary screening of Brian De Palma's Phantom Of The Paradise, at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, California. The on-stage Q&A will include Sara Ballantine, producer Ed Pressman’s son Sam Pressman and widow of actor William Finley, Susan Finley.

 


Posted by Geoff at 11:54 PM CST
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Saturday, December 14, 2024
CHARLIZE THERON PAYS TRIBUTE TO MICHELLE PFEIFFER'S ELVIRA
FOR A GANGSTER-THEMED PARTY - "THE GODFATHERON" - THROWN BY THERON
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/charlizescarface1.jpg

People Magazine's Gil Macias posted an article today with the headline, "Charlize Theron Transforms with Uncanny Scarface-Inspired Look for Theme Party — and Michelle Pfeiffer Responds!" Here's an excerpt:
Charlize Theron just wowed Michelle Pfeiffer by dressing up as her iconic character in Scarface.

Theron, 49, threw a gangster-themed party she dubbed “The Godfatheron” and transformed into Pfeiffer’s Elvira Hancock, the wife of Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino in 1983's Scarface.

The Mad Max: Fury Road star also stepped behind the lens to do her own photo shoot while dressed up as the character and posted the stunning images on her Instagram on Dec. 11. The carousel featured nine shots of herself as Hancock followed by a still of Pfeiffer, 66, as she appeared in Brian De Palma’s classic gangster film.

“An ode to the best to ever do it. Love you @michellepfeifferofficial ❤️,” Theron wrote in the caption.

Pfeiffer responded, sharing her appreciation for the uncanny resemblance.

“WOW. Im speechless. Love you too❤️🔥,” she commented on the post.

Released on Dec. 9, 1983, Scarface — which is famous for the line, “Say hello to my little friend!” — turned 41 this year and is often cited as one of the greatest gangster films of all time. In addition to Pfeiffer and Pacino, the movie stars Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Steven Bauer and F. Murray Abraham.

Theron invited a number of her celebrity friends to her Godfather-themed shindig, including January Jones and Kate Beckinsale, who both received “Godfatheron” makeovers of their own — albeit digital ones.

“Parties should have a theme and @charlizeafrica delivers every time. TheGodfatheron🕴️💃🏼🎲🃏,” wrote Jones, who posted two images on Instagram where she appears to have been given her own Old Hollywood/film noir looks courtesy of AI.



Posted by Geoff at 10:44 PM CST
Updated: Saturday, December 14, 2024 10:48 PM CST
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Thursday, December 12, 2024
KOEPP'S CORNER - HOW DE PALMA INFLUENCED 'STIR OF ECHOES'
SUGGESTED THAT THE BOY MIGHT "LOOK RIGHT DOWN THE BARREL OF THE LENS WHENEVER HE IS TALKING TO THE GHOST"
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/stirofechoes545.jpg

Yesterday, Variety's Todd Gilchrist posted an article with the headline, "Stir of Echoes at 25: Kevin Bacon, David Koepp Discuss the Influence of Brian De Palma and Steven Spielberg, and the Shadow of The Sixth Sense" - here's an excerpt:
How did you decide on the visual language of the supernatural?

Koepp: I like the idea of an unsettling movie. And when you make them, it’s all about how well can you create an atmosphere. The more real it seems, the more unsettling it’s going to feel. The idea of having the kid start the movie talking to the presence was in the script. Brian De Palma, who I was working with a lot then, read the script and one of his first ideas was, “Why doesn’t he look right down the barrel of the lens whenever he is talking to the ghost?” And I knew enough to hear a good idea and take it when I was handed it. And then the rest was a collaboration between the production designer and the director of photography Fred Murphy. We just tried to really get everything very, very specific and accurate.

Were there other inspirations or influences from folks that you had worked with, be it De Palma or Steven Spielberg? I guess every filmmaker to some extent steals from Spielberg.

Koepp: They’re not that hard to spot. “Close Encounters,” obviously there’s a great deal in common — there’s something wrong with dad. He’s obsessed. He’s wrecking the house. There was a moment in “Poltergeist” where when the weird things first started happening in the house, Craig T. Nelson comes home and there’s JoBeth Williams on the floor with the kid and the football helmet and lets the kid slide across the floor and she whoops and jumps up and down. It’s fun at first, and I think it’s very true to human nature. If something extraordinary happens, it’s fascinating and exciting, you can’t leave that out just to have the spooks and scares and jumpstarts. So Spielberg, obviously not so much for visuals or shots, but for thematic things like extraordinary things happening to normal, regular people. And there’s some of “The Shining” in that.

As a writer of many stories full of fantastical ideas, what’s your barometer for storytelling where you give a character a choice that may not be the most believable choice, but you know that it serves a story?

Koepp: It goes back to Hitchcock’s thing — in every thriller, and ghost stories are thrillers of a different type — where you must answer the fundamental question, why don’t they call the police? And sometimes the answer is they do, and the police don’t do anything, or they do and that makes it worse. Before my first movie, as long as you’re encouraging me to name-drop, Bob Zemeckis had said, “You’ve got to read ‘Hitchcock/Truffaut’ twice before you do anything.” His other advice was, “Go stand in an airport for 12 hours. That’ll train you to be a director.” I didn’t do the airport one, but I read “Hitchcock/Truffaut” a few times and I picked that up from there. And in “Stir of Echoes,” I have [Tom’s wife Maggie] say, “We’re calling the police.” And he says, “And tell them what? Run it by me. I want to hear how it sounds,” which I thought adequately addressed that. But I also think the answer for Kevin’s character was because he’s compelled and he has to know.

This film comes after you’d worked on “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World,” which used computer-generated effects in such an inventive and groundbreaking way. What was your experience like with CGI on this film?

Koepp: The CGI stuff we did was less fun, certainly, and less effective than practical solutions that we found. The thing where he pulls his tooth out was very old-fashioned kind of switcheroo makeup. And for the movements of the ghost, Fred and I watched this music video that we liked, and there was some very strange movement in it. So we shot at six frames a second whenever the ghost appeared, but we told the actress to move at quarter speed. So if she was walking across the room, it plays at apparently normal speed, but with a very bizarre shudder about her. Even when she’s just looking at him, there’s these tiny little movements in her face. And it was real, so that made it work better.



Posted by Geoff at 10:08 PM CST
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Monday, December 9, 2024
'STEAL HER BREATH' IS INSPIRED BY DE PALMA, DEFINITELY
GERMAN PRODUCTION WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY ANDREAS KRONECK, CURRENTLY STREAMING


Premiering last week and streaming for free (with ads) on the Roku Channel and other outlets, the German film Steal Her Breath is a De Palma-inspired movie that you are definitely going to want to watch, possibly more than once. It's written and directed by Andreas Kröneck (a longtime reader of this blog), and watching his new movie (it's his second feature), you can see and feel that he has more than a superficial understanding of De Palma's cinema. Steal Her Breath nods to De Palma all over the place, and you will recognize these for sure: Mission: Impossible (there is a sought-after "Nox List"), Femme Fatale, Carlito's Way, Passion, Dressed To Kill, Blow Out, and even The Bonfire Of The Vanities. But the film also moves in much the same way a De Palma film will move. It's a loving tribute, and the actors are very good, as is the music. It's not pure De Palma - Kröneck does have his own way with things, as one would hope - but it's a delight and highly recommended.

See also: Variety - Embracing Pulpy Genre, Germany’s Hnywood Aims for the Stars


Posted by Geoff at 11:21 PM CST
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Sunday, December 8, 2024
NEW VIDEO ESSAY BY CHRISTINA ALVAREZ LOPEZ & ADRIAN MARTIN
THEY ALSO HAVE A BOOK COMING EARLY 2025 - BRIAN DE PALMA PURE AND IMPURE
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/marnieobsession1.jpg

In a new audiovisual essay, The Thinking Machine #86: Girl Interrupted, Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin juxtapose Hitchcock's Marnie with De Palma's Obsession. Here's the description posted with the video:
Brian De Palma is generally a bit dismissive of Alfred Hitchcock’s work after Psycho (1960), claiming it to be too artificial and old-fashioned. There can be little doubt, however, that at least one element of Hitchcock’s Marnie (1964) impressed itself deeply on De Palma’s unconscious: the use of an actor to project psycho-physical states of both adulthood and childhood, veritably regressing to relive a primal scene of trauma. Let’s look at the interplay between Marnie and Obsession (1976).

Early 2025 will see the publication of a new book by Adrian Martin and Cristina Álvarez López, titled Brian De Palma Pure And Impure. The collection of essays will be published by The Sticking Place, who earlier this year published the English translation of De Palma on De Palma: Conversations with Samuel Blumenfeld and Laurent Vachaud, as well as an English translation edition of Casualties of War: An Investigation by Nathan Réra.

Regarding De Palma picking up on Hitchcock's cinematic language post-Psycho, I know there are more instances in De Palma we can trace back to these films, but it's always seemed to me that among the elements that make up the centerpiece sequence in De Palma's Mission: Impossible are strong vibes from both Marnie and The Birds. The way that Hitchock shows Marnie waiting in the stall of a women's restroom as everybody leaves introduces a strong sense of silence as Marnie then exits the ladies room, and gets the combination to the safe. As Marnie empties the safe, Hitchcock essentially splits the screen to show us that there is a lady mopping the floor on the other side of the room. Still in complete silence, Marnie has taken money from the safe and as she makes her way toward the exit, she notices the cleaning lady, and removes her shoes. More suspense, as Hitchcock shows the shoe about to drop out of Marnie's pocket - and then it does drop, breaking the silence - but the cleaning lady doesn't seem to have heard it. Between the silence, the suspense, and then the shoe drop, I think we can see (hear?) echoes in De Palma's CIA set-piece: the "complete silence," the suspense, and not only the drop of sweat, but finally, the dropping of the knife, which De Palma shows us in Kubrickian slow motion. In between, there is the creepy moment when our hero, Ethan Hunt, is waiting up above CIA analyst William Donloe like a bird of prey. This moment often makes me think of the playground scene in Hitchcock's The Birds, where flocks of crows have quietly gathered behind Tippi Hedren.

As Cristina Álvarez López and Adrian Martin suggest, these and other Hitchcock elements in De Palma's work are likely imprinted on his subconcious. Although it certainly seems that De Palma can recall any or most of these elements quite vividly, he has likely absorbed them so deeply, they are very much a part of his cinematic ways of thinking.


Posted by Geoff at 11:20 PM CST
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Thursday, December 5, 2024
THE PLACE OF THE SPECTATOR
OLIVIER ASSAYAS - DE PALMA TENDS TO GRANT AN ARCHETYPAL VALUE NOT TO SITUATIONS, BUT TO DEVICES
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/dominobaby.jpg

Cine Doré / Filmoteca Española in Madrid has a Brian De Palma series this month. One of the films on the schedule is Domino, and the program decsription quotes from a review by Manu Yañez. Here's a Google Translation:
DOMINO -
In a fantastic text entitled The Place of the Spectator, Olivier Assayas argued that Brian De Palma tends to grant an archetypal value not to situations but to devices, claiming that the device is the only subject of cinema. This bold hypothesis, corroborated again and again by the eminently self-reflexive work of the director of Carrie (1976) and Mission: Impossible (1996), is confirmed again in Domino, a film in which the plausibility of the ‘situations’ counts much less than De Palma’s interest in reflecting on the ‘devices’ for capturing images that populate our contemporary reality: in this case, microcameras built into rifles or drones.

...also, photo books on a cell phone


Posted by Geoff at 12:01 AM CST
Updated: Saturday, December 7, 2024 1:22 PM CST
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Wednesday, December 4, 2024
'THE WIZARD OF THE IMAGE' - NEW BOOK ABOUT DE PALMA
BY ALEJANDRO LORENTE
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/lorentebook.jpg

Via Google Translate, here's the editorial description at Loto Azul of the new Spanish book, Brian De Palma: El Mago de la Imagen, which translates to "The Wizard of the Image" - by Alejandro Lorente:
Appreciated for his elaborate camera movements, Brian De Palma, one of the most gifted directors of his generation, constantly engages in dialogue with other filmmakers through his films (Kubrick, Hitchcock, Godard, Welles, Michael Powell or Buñuel).

De Palma's universe frequently immerses us in bizarre, fast-paced stories with an unstoppable thread of cunning, irony, criticism, humour, horror and a highly refined technique.


Posted by Geoff at 12:01 AM CST
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Tuesday, December 3, 2024
DENISE VASQUEZ REMINISCES ABOUT WORKING ON 'CARLITO'S WAY'
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/denisevasquez.jpg

Posted by Geoff at 12:01 AM CST
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Monday, December 2, 2024
PHIL JOANAU - DE PALMA 'INSPIRED ME IN SO MANY WAYS'
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/philjoanou1.jpg

Posted by Geoff at 11:29 PM CST
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Saturday, November 30, 2024
PODCAST DISCUSSES DE PALMA'S TWINS & SPLIT PERSONALITIES
https://www.angelfire.com/de/palma/mainlydepalma.jpg

Posted by Geoff at 12:01 AM CST
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